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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 210988   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 563094   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:13
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Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 431946   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:15
Notice Tutorials Top 15 Highest-Rated Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 375839   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:12
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 for Blender 2.8 file 344958   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 684265   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 408354   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 15:48
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file 344872   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 10:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2018: Winners Annouced file 381623   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:20
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file 376016   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:42
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file 968958   Jan 09, 2018 Jan 25, 2019 23:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file 696738   Jan 01, 2018 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file 550704   Dec 26, 2017 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file 765373   Jan 16, 2017 Jan 16, 2017 05:18
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Admin 1060259   Dec 29, 2016 Feb 01, 2017 10:28
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file 790514   Jan 20, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 03:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file 762236   Jan 12, 2016 Feb 20, 2016 22:40
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file 805580   Jun 26, 2015 Jan 01, 2016 05:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file 813798   Jan 02, 2015 Jan 02, 2015 16:04
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file 852671   Dec 11, 2014 Jan 24, 2015 21:31
148 Render of the Week 'Tyrannosaurus Rex Breakout' by Stephen Lund - the Winner of the Week of September 16, 2013 file 40224   Sep 16, 2013 Sep 16, 2013 16:40
 
147 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of September 9, 2013 file 38390   Sep 09, 2013 Sep 09, 2013 14:17
 
146 Render of the Week 'Car Was ... ' by Enrico Cerica - the Winner of the Week of September 2, 2013 file 38255   Sep 02, 2013 Sep 02, 2013 14:10
 
145 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of Sept. 2, 2013 file 37095   Sep 02, 2013 Sep 02, 2013 13:36
 
144 Render of the Week 'Concept Car' by Marco Beretta - the Winner of the Week of August 26, 2013 file 37549   Aug 27, 2013 Aug 27, 2013 01:00
 
143 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 26, 2013 file 34637   Aug 27, 2013 Aug 27, 2013 00:41
 
142 Render of the Week 'Old Zombie' byPaulo Ricardo S. Ribeiro - the Winner of the Week of August 19, 2013 file 56119   Aug 20, 2013 Aug 20, 2013 02:50
 
141 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 19, 2013 file 33283   Aug 20, 2013 Aug 20, 2013 02:01
 
140 Render of the Week ' The Day Our Creators Abandoned Us' by Christoph Becker - the Winner of the Week of August 12, 2013 file 40574   Aug 12, 2013 Aug 12, 2013 22:46
 
139 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 12, 2013 file 34624   Aug 12, 2013 Aug 12, 2013 20:35
 
138 Render of the Week ' Princess' by Jakub Vondra - the Winner of the Week of August 5, 2013 file 36250   Aug 06, 2013 Aug 06, 2013 02:30
 
137 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of August 5, 2013 file 33520   Aug 06, 2013 Aug 06, 2013 01:18
 
136 Render of the Week 'Blue Submarine n6' by Max Puliero - the Winner of the Week of July 28, 2013 file 41338   Jul 29, 2013 Jul 29, 2013 20:35
 
135 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 28, 2013 file 36285   Jul 29, 2013 Jul 29, 2013 20:06
 
134 Blender Whiz The Artist Behind 'Battlecruiser:' Roberto Dailey file 79268   Jul 23, 2013 Jul 23, 2013 02:06
 
133 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 22, 2013 file 33795   Jul 23, 2013 Jul 23, 2013 00:55
 
132 Render of the Week 'Dragonfly' by Julien Deville - the Winner of the Week of July 14, 2013 file 36460   Jul 15, 2013 Jul 15, 2013 21:28
 
131 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 15, 2013 file 39934   Jul 15, 2013 Jul 15, 2013 19:20
 
130 Render of the Week 'Painter Loft' by Enrico Cerica - the Winner of the Week of July 8, 2013 file 38530   Jul 08, 2013 Jul 08, 2013 14:15
 
129 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 8, 2013 file 34659   Jul 08, 2013 Jul 08, 2013 13:36