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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: 
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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: 

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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
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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: 

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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: 
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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: 

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Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials (Videos) Released in 2016 file Jan 16, 2017 765658
Blender Retrospectives 2016 Blender Retrospective file Dec 29, 2016 1060584
Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2015: Seven Winners Annouced file Jan 20, 2016 790819
Blender Retrospectives 2015 Blender Retrospective file Jan 12, 2016 762564
Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2015 file Jun 26, 2015 805892
Render of the Year Render of the Year Awards 2014: Five Winners Annouced file Jan 02, 2015 814116
Tutorials Top 12 Free Online Blender Tutorials Released in 2014 file Dec 11, 2014 852996
Render of the Week 'Blue Submarine n6' by Max Puliero - the Winner of the Week of July 28, 2013 file Jul 29, 2013 41352
Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of January 21, 2013 file Jan 21, 2013 41244
Render of the Week 'In the Arms of Morpheus' by Enrico Cerica - the Winner of the Week of June 8, 2015 file Jun 09, 2015 41194
Render of the Week 'Realistic Dragonfly' by Manuel Peter - the Winner of the Week of March 24, 2014 file Mar 25, 2014 41147
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Render of the Week 'Fish Detective' by Kamil 'mookie' Kuklo - the Winner of the Week of April 21 2014 file Apr 21, 2014 40946
Render of the Week 'All My Loving' by Raphael Bétemps - Winner for the Week of January 14, 2013 file Jan 14, 2013 40944
Architectural Visualization ARCHITECTURAL VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of January 26, 2015 file Jan 28, 2015 40820
Product Visualization PRODUCT VISUALIZATION IN BLENDER for the week of July 9, 2018 file Jul 11, 2018 40812
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