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  BlenderRetrospective2016.jpg   

December 29, 2016 3:00 PM

 

by Editor in Chief

 

What were the biggest Blender news in 2016--especially for professional users of Blender? Here are some of the top 10 Blender news from 2016. Please remember hobbyist-grade news or well known facts--such as use of Blender in product and arch viz--may have been omitted. 

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10. Blender Cloud Service Launched


Blender Foundation has launched a membership service; where, for less than $10.00 a month, a user can have access to all the contents from official training DVD and videos and the assets and blend files from previously released Open Source movies as well as 1,500+ textures and HDRIs that are directly accessible within your copy of Blender through internet connection.


Related link: 
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9. Game Development


Blender continued to serve as a quality tool for game development. Blender has been more than good enough for game content creators.
Related link: 

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8. Use in Commercials, Game trailers, and Music Videos

Blender continues to be an attractive 3D solution for established professionals as well as new startups

Related link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cEH7uL0S-k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWEMq0JiB0Y

https://www.facebook.com/outputmedialtd/

https://vimeo.com/184682770

https://www.blendernation.com/2016/09/12/alessandro-dalla-fontana-vfx-reel-2016/

https://www.blendernation.com/2016/09/20/jamberoo-action-parks-perfect-storm-tv-commercial/

https://www.blendernation.com/2016/09/01/rujienas-ice-cream-commercial/

https://www.blendernation.com/2016/05/03/warhammer-40k-inquisitior-martyr-destruction-trailer/


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7. AMD and Nvidia's Support for Blender Development


AMD as well as Nvidia have been supportive for Blender development. AMD reportedly has even helped to hire full time developer on Cycles. And Nvidia has provided latest GTX cards to Blender developers.

Related links: 

Retro2016_06.jpg   

6. Blender-driven Entries Noted at CG Competitions


Some of the CG competition entries created in Blender have made it all the way to the 2nd place in even in the noted CG challenge organized by the CGSociety. This reflects growing recognition among industry experts on Blender’s potentials.

Related link: 
Retro2016_05.jpg

 

5. Blender’s Potentials Recognized 


MAXON’s move to import Blender’s Cycles render engine into C4D has drawn much attention in the industry. Even the VFX supervisor for Warcraft (2016) have confessed using Blender for a character in the movie for budget reason—but with good reviews.

Related link: 

Retro2016_04.jpg

 

4. RenderMan21 Support Blender


Perhaps the most notable sign of industry’s acceptance of Blender is PIXAR’s move to support Blender in RenderMan.

Related link: 
https://renderman.pixar.com/view/non-commercial-renderman
Retro2016_03.jpg

 

3. Success of Short Films Created in Blender


Short films created in Blender have successfully demonstrated Blender’s potentials and some of them have been honored by industry experts. Cosmos Laundromat, for example, have won the SIGGRAPH 2016 Computer Animation Festival's Jury Award. Caminandes series have made it to the Disney Channel. And the short “Alike” has reportedly won 64 awards in film festivals.

Related link: 

Retro2016_02.jpg  

2. Blender-specific Third Party Add-ons and Products 

Amazing third party addons and products—mostly paid versions—specifically designed for Blender continued to put Blender to a newer level:

Related link: 
Retro2016_01.jpg

  

1. New Features in Blender 2.77 to 78a


The most exiting news regarding Blender during 2016, of course, are the new features added to Blender, such as native stereoscopic VR rendering, fire and smoke rendering in GPU, Grease Pencil, Bendy Bones, Micro Displacement, Alembic support and so forth.

Related link: 

List of Articles
No. Subject Author Views Votes Date Last Update
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2020 Blender Retrospective 211193   Feb 20, 2021 Feb 21, 2021 01:20
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 Worthy of Your Note - for Animation & VFX file 563327   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:13
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 Worthy of Your Note - for CG, Games & Viz file 426427   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:13
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 432182   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:15
Notice Tutorials Top 15 Highest-Rated Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 376081   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:12
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 for Blender 2.8 file 345255   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 23:35
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 Worthy of Your Note - for CG, Games & Viz file 684554   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 23:34
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 Worthy of Your Note - for Animation & VFX file 408642   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 15:48
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file 345157   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 10:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2018: Winners Annouced file 381900   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:20
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file 376290   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:42
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file 969229   Jan 09, 2018 Jan 25, 2019 23:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file 697024   Jan 01, 2018 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file 550998   Dec 26, 2017 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file 765637   Jan 16, 2017 Jan 16, 2017 05:18
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Admin 1060552   Dec 29, 2016 Feb 01, 2017 10:28
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file 790789   Jan 20, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 03:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file 762527   Jan 12, 2016 Feb 20, 2016 22:40
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file 805873   Jun 26, 2015 Jan 01, 2016 05:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file 814083   Jan 02, 2015 Jan 02, 2015 16:04
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file 852962   Dec 11, 2014 Jan 24, 2015 21:31
407 Render of the Week 'Briefing Room' by Joshua Cotter - the Winner of the Week of April 25, 2016 file 30876   Apr 26, 2016 Apr 26, 2016 20:42
 
406 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of April 25, 2016 file 30186   Apr 26, 2016 Apr 26, 2016 20:21
 
405 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of April 18, 2016 file 30188   Apr 20, 2016 Apr 20, 2016 01:15
 
404 Render of the Week 'Stormtrooper' by Juho Salila - the Winner of the Week of April 11, 2016 file 33605   Apr 13, 2016 Apr 13, 2016 02:08
 
403 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of April 11, 2016 file 29677   Apr 13, 2016 Apr 13, 2016 01:55
 
402 Render of the Week 'Bazaar' by Sergio Raposo Fernández - the Winner of the Week of April 4, 2016 file 33713   Apr 06, 2016 Apr 06, 2016 01:02
 
401 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of April 4, 2016 file 30724   Apr 06, 2016 Apr 06, 2016 00:21
 
400 Render of the Week 'Different Sides of Nature' by Martti Kaipiainen - the Winner of the Week of March 28, 2016 file 31986   Mar 30, 2016 Mar 30, 2016 01:42
 
399 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of March 28, 2016 file 29097   Mar 30, 2016 Mar 30, 2016 01:22
 
398 Render of the Week 'Dunes' by Jan Walter Schliep - the Winner of the Week of March 21, 2016 file 32481   Mar 22, 2016 Mar 22, 2016 22:13
 
397 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of March 21, 2016 file 32020   Mar 22, 2016 Mar 22, 2016 21:59
 
396 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of March 7, 2016 file 30922   Mar 08, 2016 Mar 16, 2016 02:17
 
395 Render of the Week 'Sunbathing' by Rachel Frick - the Winner of the Week of March 14, 2016 file 34293   Mar 16, 2016 Mar 16, 2016 02:10
 
394 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of March 14, 2016 file 32174   Mar 16, 2016 Mar 16, 2016 01:41
 
393 Render of the Week 'Mud Dauber' by Damien Monteillard - the Winner of the Week of March 7, 2016 file 32854   Mar 08, 2016 Mar 08, 2016 21:13
 
392 Render of the Week 'Natures Mortes' by Enrico Cerica - the Winner of the Week of February 29, 2016 file 33065   Mar 01, 2016 Mar 01, 2016 17:29
 
391 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of February 29, 2016 file 30084   Mar 01, 2016 Mar 01, 2016 17:08
 
390 Render of the Week 'Observatory House - Photo-real Environment Study' by Jonathan Sargent - the Winner of the Week of February 22, 2016 file 33650   Feb 23, 2016 Feb 23, 2016 21:39
 
389 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of February 22, 2016 file 30777   Feb 23, 2016 Feb 23, 2016 21:12