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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 Viewssort Votes Date Last Update
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2020 Blender Retrospective 211171   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 563308   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:13
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Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 432168   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:15
Notice Tutorials Top 15 Highest-Rated Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2019 file 376067   Jan 25, 2020 Mar 24, 2020 10:12
Notice Tutorials Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 for Blender 2.8 file 345235   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 684529   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 408620   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 23, 2019 15:48
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2018 file 345142   Jan 23, 2019 Jan 25, 2019 10:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2018: Winners Annouced file 381878   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:20
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2018 Blender Retrospective file 376264   Jan 02, 2019 Jan 02, 2019 13:42
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2017 file 969205   Jan 09, 2018 Jan 25, 2019 23:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2017 Blender Retrospective file 697001   Jan 01, 2018 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2017: Winners Annouced file 550976   Dec 26, 2017 Jan 09, 2018 04:55
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file 765614   Jan 16, 2017 Jan 16, 2017 05:18
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Admin 1060531   Dec 29, 2016 Feb 01, 2017 10:28
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file 790765   Jan 20, 2016 Feb 02, 2016 03:35
Notice Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file 762497   Jan 12, 2016 Feb 20, 2016 22:40
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file 805854   Jun 26, 2015 Jan 01, 2016 05:33
Notice Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file 814058   Jan 02, 2015 Jan 02, 2015 16:04
Notice Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file 852931   Dec 11, 2014 Jan 24, 2015 21:31
788 Render of the Week 'Blue Submarine n6' by Max Puliero - the Winner of the Week of July 28, 2013 file 41351   Jul 29, 2013 Jul 29, 2013 20:35
 
787 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of January 21, 2013 file 41244   Jan 21, 2013 Jan 21, 2013 22:55
 
786 Render of the Week 'In the Arms of Morpheus' by Enrico Cerica - the Winner of the Week of June 8, 2015 file 41194   Jun 09, 2015 Jun 09, 2015 23:33
 
785 Render of the Week 'Realistic Dragonfly' by Manuel Peter - the Winner of the Week of March 24, 2014 file 41145   Mar 25, 2014 Mar 25, 2014 01:10
 
784 Blender Features Food and Blender - the Possibilities file 41067   Jul 02, 2012 Jul 03, 2012 02:27
 
783 Render of the Week 'All My Loving' by Raphael Bétemps - Winner for the Week of January 14, 2013 file 40944   Jan 14, 2013 Jan 14, 2013 23:32
 
782 Render of the Week 'Fish Detective' by Kamil 'mookie' Kuklo - the Winner of the Week of April 21 2014 file 40940   Apr 21, 2014 Apr 21, 2014 10:51
 
781 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of January 26, 2015 file 40816   Jan 28, 2015 Feb 24, 2015 23:40
 
780 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 9, 2018 file 40809   Jul 11, 2018 Jul 11, 2018 01:58
 
779 Render of the Week 'Double Dutch' by Richard Borrett - the Winner of the Week of May 20, 2013 file 40729   May 21, 2013 May 21, 2013 09:29
 
778 Render of the Week ' The Day Our Creators Abandoned Us' by Christoph Becker - the Winner of the Week of August 12, 2013 file 40582   Aug 12, 2013 Aug 12, 2013 22:46
 
777 Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 7, 2014 file 40489   Jul 08, 2014 Jul 08, 2014 19:38
 
776 Render of the Week 'Industrial Loft Corner' by Enrico Cerica - the Winner of the Week of February 16, 2015 file 40476   Feb 18, 2015 Feb 18, 2015 03:59
 
775 Production Focus PRODUCTION FOCUS: REVERSION file 40425   Jun 25, 2012 Jun 26, 2012 12:48
 
774 Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of June 3, 2013 file 40425   Jun 03, 2013 Jun 03, 2013 19:55
 
773 Render of the Week 'Dark Silver Straight Sword' by Wing Wai Sze - the Winner of the Week of January 19, 2015 file 40276   Jan 21, 2015 Jan 21, 2015 04:15
 
772 Render of the Week 'Tyrannosaurus Rex Breakout' by Stephen Lund - the Winner of the Week of September 16, 2013 file 40232   Sep 16, 2013 Sep 16, 2013 16:40
 
771 Render of the Week 'The Brushes' by Gleb Alexandrov - the Winner of the Week of December 2, 2013 file 40224   Dec 02, 2013 Dec 02, 2013 15:54
 
770 Render of the Week 'Big City Sensory Overstimulation' by Gleb Alexandrov - the Winner of the Week of September 14, 2015 file 40137   Sep 15, 2015 Sep 15, 2015 20:52
 
769 Render of the Week 'Fear' by Reynante Martinez - the Winner of the Week of November 24, 2014 file 40115   Nov 25, 2014 Nov 25, 2014 18:13