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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 211154   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 563280   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 426375   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:13
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 432131   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:15
Notice Tutorials Top 15 Highest-Rated Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 376041   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:12
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 for Blender 2.8 file 345203   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 684506   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 408580   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 15:48
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file 345106   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 10:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2018: Winners Annouced file 381839   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:20
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file 376234   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:42
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file 969176   Jan 09, 2018 Jan 25, 2019 23:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file 696969   Jan 01, 2018 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file 550946   Dec 26, 2017 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file 765582   Jan 16, 2017 Jan 16, 2017 05:18
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Admin 1060494   Dec 29, 2016 Feb 01, 2017 10:28
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file 790729   Jan 20, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 03:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file 762458   Jan 12, 2016 Feb 20, 2016 22:40
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file 805810   Jun 26, 2015 Jan 01, 2016 05:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file 814024   Jan 02, 2015 Jan 02, 2015 16:04
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file 852891   Dec 11, 2014 Jan 24, 2015 21:31
386 Render of the Week 'Poseidon' by Shaun Homan - the Winner of the Week of February 15, 2016 file 32309   Feb 17, 2016 Feb 17, 2016 02:35
 
385 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of February 15, 2016 file 30895   Feb 17, 2016 Feb 17, 2016 02:12
 
384 Render of the Week 'Lab' by Erwin Sokólski - the Winner of the Week of February 1, 2016 file 35453   Feb 02, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 13:08
 
383 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of February 1, 2016 file 31432   Feb 02, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 12:49
 
382 Render of the Week 'The Bunny' by Glenn Melenhorst - the Winner of the Week of January 25, 2016 file 35694   Jan 26, 2016 Jan 26, 2016 22:12
 
381 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of January 18, 2016 file 29613   Jan 20, 2016 Jan 20, 2016 02:22
 
380 Render of the Year Render of the Year 2015--the Finalists Announced file 30433   Jan 13, 2016 Jan 14, 2016 01:36
 
379 Render of the Week 'Yet Another Apartment' by Enrico Cerica - the Winner of the Week of December 21, 2015 file 36707   Dec 23, 2015 Dec 23, 2015 01:38
 
378 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of December 21, 2015 file 31759   Dec 23, 2015 Dec 23, 2015 01:22
 
377 Render of the Week 'Hands of a Mechanic' by Anssi Karppinen - the Winner of the Week of December 14, 2015 file 34189   Dec 16, 2015 Dec 16, 2015 01:17
 
376 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of December 14, 2015 file 34020   Dec 16, 2015 Dec 16, 2015 01:01
 
375 Render of the Week 'R2D2' by Neil Taylor - the Winner of the Week of December 7, 2015 file 36031   Dec 08, 2015 Dec 08, 2015 22:13
 
374 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of December 7, 2015 file 39492   Dec 08, 2015 Dec 08, 2015 21:55
 
373 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of November 30, 2015 file 34058   Dec 02, 2015 Dec 02, 2015 01:16
 
372 Render of the Week 'Epic Pumpkin' by Christoph Beckeri - the Winner of the Week of November 30, 2015 file 34515   Dec 02, 2015 Dec 02, 2015 01:15
 
371 Render of the Week 'Crystals Inspiration' by Ivaylo Gogov - the Winner of the Week of November 23, 2015 file 37844   Nov 25, 2015 Nov 25, 2015 01:33
 
370 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of November 23, 2015 file 31717   Nov 25, 2015 Nov 25, 2015 01:08
 
369 Render of the Week 'The Sparrow' by Pratik Solanki - the Winner of the Week of November 16, 2015 file 34741   Nov 17, 2015 Nov 17, 2015 21:17