Non-profit organization responsible for the development of Blender
The
Blender Foundation
is a Dutch
nonprofit organization
(
Stichting
) responsible for the development of
Blender
, an
open-source
3D content-creation program
.
[1]
The foundation has distributed the animated films
Elephants Dream
(2006),
Big Buck Bunny
(2008),
Sintel
(2010),
Tears of Steel
(2012),
[2]
[3]
Caminandes
: Llama Drama
(2013),
Caminandes: Gran Dillama
(2013),
Cosmos Laundromat
(2015),
Glass Half
(2015),
Caminandes: Llamigos
(2016),
Agent 327: Operation Barbershop
(2017),
Hero
(2018),
Spring
(2019),
Coffee Run
(2020),
Sprite Fright
(2021),
Charge
(2022), and
Wing it!
(2023).
Goals
[
edit
]
The foundation is
chaired
by
Ton Roosendaal
, the original author of the Blender software. One of the foundation's stated goals is "to give the worldwide Internet community access to 3D technology in general, with Blender as a core".
[4]
The foundation provides various resources to support the community formed around using and developing Blender. In particular, it organizes an annual Blender Conference in
Amsterdam
[5]
to discuss plans for the future of Blender, as well as staffing a booth to represent Blender at
SIGGRAPH
.
[6]
[7]
Donations are also used to maintain the Blender website and hire developers to improve the Blender software.
[4]
Contributors
[
edit
]
The foundation is funded entirely by donations from
entrepreneurs
, companies, and users.
[8]
Many
video game publishers
such as
Epic Games
,
Ubisoft
,
Activision
,
Valve
, and
NetEase
have made contributions.
Nvidia
,
Intel
,
AMD
,
Meta
,
Microsoft
,
Adobe
, and
Google
have also funded the project.
[9]
In 2019, Epic Games awarded the Blender Foundation a
US$
1,200,000 grant as part of their
Epic MegaGrants
initiative.
[10]
Founder and CEO of Epic Games
Tim Sweeney
stated, "Open tools, libraries and platforms are critical to the future of the digital content ecosystem" and that "Blender is an enduring resource within the artistic community, and we aim to ensure its advancement to the benefit of all creators."
[11]
Open projects
[
edit
]
The Blender Foundation maintains several community-driven "Open Projects" through its affiliated
Blender Institute
program, including several
freely licensed
films and a
free, open-source
video game
Yo Frankie!
(2008).
[12]
According to the Foundation, these projects are intended "to validate and improve the 3D open source content creation pipeline with Blender". Each project was created using the Blender software and released under permissive license terms, along with the source material. In addition to demonstrating the capabilities of the software, the Open Projects provided detailed production material (sketches, tutorials, textures and models, etc.) to serve as examples for the Blender user community, as well as finished products that could be widely used for other purposes.
[13]
On 18 March 2006, the Blender Foundation released its first film,
Elephants Dream
.
[14]
In response to the success of
Elephants Dream
, the Blender Foundation established the Blender Institute to support future software and content development projects. The Blender Institute operates out of a studio within the
Entrepotdok
building in Amsterdam, where the Blender Foundation is also located, and is headed by Ton Roosendaal.
On 10 April 2008, the Blender Institute released its second film,
Big Buck Bunny
.
[15]
[16]
[17]
Based on the movie, the Blender Institute released its first Open Game project
Yo Frankie!
, in November 2008.
On 30 September 2010 the Blender Institute released its third project,
Sintel
.
In October 2011, Concept/Script Development began for Blender's fourth open film project titled
Tears of Steel
. Contrary to previous Blender Institute projects, which were 100% computer graphics, the focus of Tears of Steel was the combination of live action footage with computer generated characters and environments. The live action footage was shot with a high-end
Sony F65
camera. The project was released on 26 September 2012.
[18]
The
Gooseberry Open Movie Project
is the fifth Open Movie Project initiated by the Blender Foundation. Ton Roosendal announced the project in January 2010.
[19]
[20]
The most ambitious project yet, one of the primary goals is for the Gooseberry Open Movie Project to be the first full-length film produced by the Blender Institute. Work on the film, called
Cosmos Laundromat
, began in 2014
[21]
(although a release date was not yet announced). A ten-minute pilot, entitled
Cosmos Laundromat: First Cycle
was released on YouTube and Netflix on 10 August 2015
[22]
and premiered at the Netherlands Film Festival on 24 September 2015.
[23]
The pilot won the Jury's Prize at Animago 2015,
[24]
an international conference for 3D animation.
In 2013, the second episode of a short animated series
Caminandes
was released under the Blender Foundation umbrella.
[25]
In 2016, a third short was released.
Hero
, the sixth Open Movie Project, was announced in September 2017 and released on 16th April 2018.
[26]
[27]
The technical target for
Hero
was to use and improve the Grease Pencil tools.
Sprite Fright
, a short animated
comedy-horror
was announced on 9 November 2020
[28]
and released on 29 October 2021.
[29]
Charge
was released the 15 December 2022.
[30]
Pet Projects
was announced on 19 January 2023.
[31]
The official release title is "WING IT!" and was released the 12 September 2023.
[32]
Project Gold
was announced on 22 May 2023.
[33]
Filmography
[
edit
]
No.
|
Year
|
Release date
|
Title
[34]
|
Film video
|
Note
|
1
|
1994
|
Date Unknown
|
Morkramia
|
Not able to upload due to copyright restrictions.
|
Teaser form upcoming film called Morkramia.
|
2
|
2006
|
March 24, 2006
|
Elephants Dream
|
|
|
3
|
2008
|
May 20, 2008
|
Big Buck Bunny
|
|
|
4
|
2010
|
September 30, 2010
|
Sintel
|
|
|
5
|
2012
|
September 26, 2012
|
Tears of Steel
|
|
Live-Action
|
6
|
2013
|
November 22, 2013
|
Caminandes 2: Gran Dillama
|
|
Part of
Caminandes
series
|
7
|
2015
|
August 10, 2015
|
Cosmos Laundromat
|
|
|
8
|
October 30, 2015
|
Glass Half
|
|
|
9
|
2016
|
January 30, 2016
|
Caminandes 3: Llamigos
|
|
Part of
Caminandes
series
|
10
|
2017
|
May 15, 2017
|
Agent 327: Operation Barbershop
|
|
Teaser for upcoming
Agent 327
feature film
|
11
|
2018
|
Jan 31, 2018
|
The Daily Dweebs
|
|
|
12
|
April 16, 2018
|
Hero
|
|
|
13
|
2019
|
April 4, 2019
|
Spring
|
|
|
14
|
2020
|
May 29, 2020
|
Coffee Run
|
|
|
15
|
2021
|
October 29, 2021
|
Sprite Fright
|
|
|
16
|
2022
|
December 15, 2022
|
Charge
|
|
|
17
|
2023
|
September 12, 2023
|
Wing It!
|
|
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"About the foundation"
.
Blender
.
- ^
McConnachie, Dahna (January 15, 2008).
"Open source on the big screen: Matt Ebb tells tales of Elephants Dream"
.
Computerworld
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-02-18.
- ^
Rui Paulo Sanguinheira Diogo (December 2007).
"Modelling 2.50"
. Linux-Magazin.
- ^
a
b
"Blender Foundation - blender.org"
.
- ^
"About Blender Conference"
.
- ^
"Blender documentation 2.4"
. Archived from
the original
on 2013-09-28
. Retrieved
2013-10-08
.
- ^
"Blender 2.5 progress"
. Archived from
the original
on 2011-07-22
. Retrieved
2009-12-14
.
- ^
Foundation, Blender.
"Blender Foundation"
.
blender.org
. Retrieved
2022-07-14
.
- ^
Foundation, Blender.
"Blender Development Fund"
.
Blender Development Fund
. Retrieved
2022-07-14
.
- ^
"Epic Games supports Blender with $1.2 million Epic MegaGrant"
.
Unreal Engine
. Retrieved
2022-07-14
.
- ^
Foundation, Blender.
"Epic Games supports Blender Foundation with $1.2 million Epic MegaGrant"
.
blender.org
. Retrieved
2022-07-14
.
- ^
"Blender.org - Blender Open Projects"
. Archived from
the original
on 20 October 2013
. Retrieved
5 August
2017
.
- ^
Janko, Roettgers.
"Blender Foundation Releases Open-Source Movie Sintel"
. GigaOm. Archived from
the original
on 2012-08-29
. Retrieved
2010-12-04
.
- ^
"Elephants Dream Released!"
. Blender Foundation
. Retrieved
2009-09-25
.
- ^
"Project Peach is Pretty Proud to Present…"
. Blender Foundation
. Retrieved
2008-02-04
.
- ^
Paul, Ryan (2007-10-03).
"Blender Foundation's Peach project begins"
.
Ars Technica
. Retrieved
2007-10-13
.
- ^
"Premiere of Open Movie Big Buck Bunny"
. Archived from
the original
on 2008-07-25
. Retrieved
2008-04-12
.
- ^
"Tears of Steel | Mango Open Movie Project"
.
- ^
Bart (10 January 2011).
"Project Gooseberry announced"
.
BlenderNation
.
- ^
"Blender Foundation ? Community Meeting"
(PDF)
.
Blender.org
.
- ^
Amidi, Amid (26 August 2015).
"
'Cosmos Laundromat: First Cycle' by Mathieu Auvray"
.
Cartoon Brew
.
- ^
Cosmos Laundromat - First Cycle. Official Blender Foundation release
.
YouTube
. 10 August 2015.
Archived
from the original on 2021-12-21.
- ^
"Cosmos Laundromat"
.
Nederlands Film Festival
. Archived from
the original
on March 4, 2016
. Retrieved
December 27,
2015
.
- ^
"Congratulations! Here come the 2015 winners of animago AWARD"
. Archived from
the original
on January 5, 2016
. Retrieved
December 27,
2015
.
- ^
"About Caminandes"
. Retrieved
February 26,
2014
.
- ^
"Hero, a Blender 2D open movie project"
. Blender Foundation
. Retrieved
2017-09-18
.
- ^
"Presenting Hero - Blender Grease Pencil Showcase"
. Blender Foundation
. Retrieved
2018-05-31
.
- ^
Institute, Blender.
"Announcing Sprite Fright: A Horror-Comedy"
.
Blender Studio
. Retrieved
2021-10-30
.
- ^
Institute, Blender.
"Sprite Fright Premiere"
.
Blender Studio
. Retrieved
2021-10-30
.
- ^
Institute, Blender.
"Charge Premiere"
.
Blender Studio
. Retrieved
2023-06-28
.
- ^
Institute, Blender.
"Announcing "Pet Projects": a New Open Movie"
.
Blender Studio
. Retrieved
2023-06-28
.
- ^
"
"Wing It!" Premiere Date - Blog - Blender Studio"
.
Blender Studio
. Retrieved
2023-09-21
.
- ^
Institute, Blender.
"Announcing Project Gold: the Next Blender Open Movie"
.
Blender Studio
. Retrieved
2023-07-27
.
- ^
Institute, Blender.
"Films on Blender Cloud"
.
Blender Cloud
. Retrieved
2020-09-27
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
General
| |
---|
Films
| |
---|
Series
|
- Caminandes
- Llama Drama
(2013)
- Gran Dillama
(2013)
- Llamigos
(2016)
|
---|
Games
| |
---|
|
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International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|