Twas back in August when I first wrote on the Blender Foundations Project: Orange, as the project first began. This has been an undertaking like no other, as the goal was to introduce to the world the very first Open Movie. What this means, is that this was a project based solely on the use of Open Source tools, with the final results to be released on DVD under the Creative Commons license. Now, as the Orange Team is hard at work getting the DVD finalized, with the release coming within the next week or two, I thought it was high time to hype the project again.

It is my constant amazement at the quality of Open Source tools out there, and my love of Blender, that this continues to be a great thrill for me. It is also another chance for me to help spread the word on just how amazing Blender is, and how far it has come over the years through the dedication of its ever-growing user base.

Blender was the program that first sparked my interest in the world of 3D, when I stumbled across it back in 2000. In those earlier days, the full program still fit on a floppy disc! It was great then, but even better now. For those who are not yet familiar with it, Blender is a fully functional, cross-platform, 3D creation suite, all in one tiny download. It even features a game engine! You can check out the full feature list here.

Until I come back with an actual review of the film, Ill give you a glimpse of the work that went into this project, with some picture highlights courtesy of the Orange website. I highly encourage everyone to investigate further, and hey, while youre at it, give Blender a try for yourself!

Though Blender was at the core of the project, other Open Source tools were also used, including Gimp. Blenders creator, and chairman of the Blender Foundation, Ton Roosendaal had stated early in the project: Whilst Project Oranges prime target is to create an outstanding movie short, the secondary goal is to research efficient ways to increase quality of Open Source projects in general.

Work began in September with a small core team gathered in the Netherlands. With Ton Roosendaal at the helm, the core team consisted of: Bassam Kurdali, Andy Goralczyk, Matt Ebb, Bastian Salmela, Lee J Cocks, Toni Alatalo, and composer / audio editor, Jan Morgenstern. Throughout the project, progress has been documented on the Orange website blog, with regular updates by the team members. Just watching the progress, Id say they have done just what they set out to do for Open Source. It surely paves the way for future projects of this magnitude.

Its been great fun to see how everything has come together, from the early days of the work on concept sketches, which you can see strewn along the wall in the following image. The clay models that were made in order to aid in defining the main characters, Emo and Proog, I also found particularly fascinating.

Finally, a date was set for the premiere of Elephants Dream on March 24th in the Netherlands. The showing was complete with an after-party, including a live band. With a great turn-out of Blenderheads and other interested parties, it was a big boost for the Team that had worked so hard, even right up to the day before the showing! Ton had this to say of the event: Of course, everyone was amazed about the quality, and how this silly Blender has done it (well, just involves good artists, you know!). Most of the premiere and party visitors were Blender artists/developers, friends, and Open Source enthusiasts. So, we had a great time together, but the real critical reviews and reactions I'll expect when we do the public launch.

At this time, the DVDs should be almost ready to be shipped to those who have already pre-ordered through Blenders e-shop, but you can still purchase your very own copy today. Though the movie will eventually be available as a free download from the Blender site, the great thing about purchasing the DVD, is the fantastic extras included. Released under the Creative Commons license, all production files, textures, etc., are included, and can be freely used in any way you wish, with proper attributes, of course, which you can read about here. Also included on the DVD, is a 30-minute documentary on the making of the film, as well as 4 commentary tracks.

What I find most thrilling about the DVD, is that it is like the best kind of tutorial. Imagine watching a movie, and asking how did they do that? With Elephants Dream, there will be no guessing. Now you can know exactly how something was done. All you have to do is fire up Blender, load that particular .blend file, and see for yourself!

The Blender program itself has come a long way, and this project has surely speeded development over the last several months. According to Ton, most work was done on the character animation system, and on the integrated rendering-composite pipeline. Advances here, but also in other areas, are quite spectacular, but all of it is completely undocumented yet. This is on the top of my list to-do, and should be online before we ship the DVDs.

If this hasnt been enough to spark your curiosity, I encourage you to check out the Orange website, see the progress in the blog, and view the pictures in the Media gallery. Of course, be sure to look for the movie download, coming soon! Or, better yet, purchase your own copy of the special edition DVD!

• Bender Features
• Orange website
• Renderositys Blender Gallery
• Open Source Definition