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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. 

Retro2016_10.jpg

  

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 211305   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 563443   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 426525   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:13
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 432294   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:15
Notice Tutorials Top 15 Highest-Rated Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 376203   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:12
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 for Blender 2.8 file 345377   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 684707   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 408744   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 15:48
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file 345287   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 10:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2018: Winners Annouced file 382022   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:20
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file 376386   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:42
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file 969354   Jan 09, 2018 Jan 25, 2019 23:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file 697174   Jan 01, 2018 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file 551103   Dec 26, 2017 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file 765751   Jan 16, 2017 Jan 16, 2017 05:18
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Admin 1060675   Dec 29, 2016 Feb 01, 2017 10:28
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file 790917   Jan 20, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 03:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file 762674   Jan 12, 2016 Feb 20, 2016 22:40
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file 806002   Jun 26, 2015 Jan 01, 2016 05:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file 814208   Jan 02, 2015 Jan 02, 2015 16:04
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file 853091   Dec 11, 2014 Jan 24, 2015 21:31
348 Render of the Week 'Misdirection' by Julian Santiago - the Winner of the Week of September 7, 2015 file 36014   Sep 09, 2015 Sep 09, 2015 00:32
 
347 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 31, 2015 file 34964   Sep 01, 2015 Sep 01, 2015 21:21
 
346 Render of the Week 'Zen Garden' by Henrik Debner - the Winner of the Week of August 31, 2015 file 36435   Sep 01, 2015 Sep 01, 2015 21:19
 
345 Render of the Week 'Brother Bear' by Pratik Solanki - the Winner of the Week of August 25, 2015 file 35975   Aug 25, 2015 Aug 25, 2015 12:35
 
344 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 25, 2015 file 31525   Aug 25, 2015 Aug 25, 2015 12:15
 
343 Render of the Week 'Bees' by Dominik Schatz - the Winner of the Week of August 17, 2015 file 33045   Aug 19, 2015 Aug 19, 2015 01:54
 
342 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 17, 2015 file 32428   Aug 19, 2015 Aug 19, 2015 01:34
 
341 Render of the Week 'Street in Lyon' by Lech Sokolowski - the Winner of the Week of August 10, 2015 file 35216   Aug 12, 2015 Aug 12, 2015 01:41
 
340 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 10, 2015 file 35155   Aug 12, 2015 Aug 12, 2015 01:14
 
339 Render of the Week 'Gun of the Kings' by Pascal Deraed - the Winner of the Week of August 3, 2015 file 36538   Aug 05, 2015 Aug 05, 2015 02:24
 
338 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 3, 2015 file 32529   Aug 05, 2015 Aug 05, 2015 02:04
 
337 Render of the Week 'Memories of the Past' by the brothers Vincent and Zacharias Reinhardt - the Joint Winners of the Week of July 27, 2015 file 34853   Jul 29, 2015 Jul 29, 2015 00:56
 
336 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 27, 2015 file 34133   Jul 29, 2015 Jul 29, 2015 00:17
 
335 Render of the Week 'Chilean Pools' by Alessandro Cordeiro - the Winner of the Week of July 20, 2015 file 45776   Jul 21, 2015 Jul 22, 2015 13:27
 
334 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 20, 2015 file 34093   Jul 21, 2015 Jul 21, 2015 21:17
 
333 Render of the Week 'Postpro/Paintover Study' by Balazs Oszvald - the Winner of the Week of July 13, 2015 file 34829   Jul 14, 2015 Jul 14, 2015 22:27
 
332 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 13, 2015 file 34415   Jul 14, 2015 Jul 14, 2015 22:14
 
331 Blender Whiz The Artist Behind 'My Steampunk World:' Quentin Le Duff file 45620   Jul 07, 2015 Jul 14, 2015 20:45
 
330 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 6, 2015 file 31860   Jul 07, 2015 Jul 07, 2015 22:00
 
329 Render of the Week 'Decor Lights' by Den Voloskov - the Winner of the Week of June 29, 2015 file 36988   Jun 30, 2015 Jun 30, 2015 17:56