Sintel is a 2010 computer-animated fantasy short film produced by the Blender Foundation as the third installment in their series of open movies—following Elephants Dream (2006) and Big Buck Bunny (2008)—designed to demonstrate the open-source 3D software Blender.[1] Directed by American filmmaker Colin Levy and produced by Blender Foundation chairman Ton Roosendaal, the 14-minute-48-second film follows a young woman named Sintel who discovers and nurtures an injured baby dragon named Scales in a mythical world, but embarks on a perilous journey after the creature is taken by an adult dragon.[2] Released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license to encourage free distribution and remixing, Sintel was created entirely using open-source tools, including Blender for modeling, animation, and rendering, alongside GIMP, Inkscape, and other software.[1]The project, codenamed "Durian," began in May 2009 with a core team assembled by Roosendaal, including concept artist David Revoy and writer Esther Wouda, who developed the screenplay from an original concept by Martin Lodewijk.[1] Funded through public donations, the Netherlands Film Fund, and Cinegrid Amsterdam, production wrapped in July 2010 after addressing technical challenges like realistic cloth simulation and motion blur in Blender.[1][3] The film premiered on September 27, 2010, at the Netherlands Film Festival, followed by its online debut on September 30, 2010, and has since been screened at numerous international film festivals.[1] Available in 4K resolution, Blu-ray, and digital cinema package formats, Sintel also released its full 114 GB production database via SVN for educational and artistic reuse.[4]Among its notable achievements, Sintel was selected for the SIGGRAPH 2010 Computer Animation Festival from over 1,000 submissions, marking a milestone for open-source animation.[4] The film's original score by Jan Morgenstern earned two Jerry Goldsmith Awards in 2011 at the International Film Music Festival in Úbeda, Spain—one for Best Score for an Animated Short and another for Best Original Song with "I Move On."[5] As a pioneering effort in collaborative open production, Sintel advanced Blender's development, influencing features in subsequent versions and inspiring global artists to contribute to free software ecosystems.[1]
Production
Development
The Blender Foundation initiated Project Durian, the production codename for what would become the animated short film Sintel, in May 2009 as its third open movie endeavor following Elephants Dream (2006) and Big Buck Bunny (2008), with the primary goal of driving improvements in open-source 3D creation tools through collaborative filmmaking.[1] This project adhered to the Foundation's established open-source model, wherein production files and assets would be released publicly to foster community contributions and software enhancements.[1]Ton Roosendaal, founder and chairman of the Blender Foundation, served as producer, managing funding and overall oversight for the initiative, which carried an approximate budget of €400,000 derived from crowdfunding donations by the Blender user community, pre-sales of merchandise such as DVDs and Blu-rays, corporate sponsorships, and grants including a key subsidy from the Netherlands Film Fund in November 2009 and support from Cinegrid Amsterdam in March 2010.[1][6][7]Key creative roles were filled starting in May 2009, with Colin Levy selected as director; the screenplay was developed from an original story concept by Martin Lodewijk, and Esther Wouda joined as screenwriter in August 2009. Together, they developed the foundational concept for a fantasy narrative exploring motifs of loss and revenge during pre-production meetings in Amsterdam that August.[1]The core production team assembled at the Blender Institute in Amsterdam starting October 1, 2009, initially comprising a small group of international artists and expanding to 14 full-time members by March 2010 to handle the project's ambitious scope.[1]Among the project's early milestones were its official announcement on May 5, 2009, and a major public reveal on October 27, 2009, which unveiled the title Sintel, initial character designs, and a preliminary minute of footage.[8][9]
Creative Process
The creative process for Sintel began with story development based on an original concept by Martin Lodewijk, led by screenwriter Esther Wouda, who was approached in August 2009 as a consultant and subsequently took full responsibility for the screenplay.[1] Working closely with director Colin Levy, art director David Revoy, and Blender Foundation chairman Ton Roosendaal, Wouda finalized the script by early November 2009, incorporating revisions to adopt a flashback structure that enhanced emotional depth.[1] This phase emphasized a narrative aimed at adolescents, focusing on emotional impact through action sequences and a strong female protagonist, drawing from Hollywood blockbuster and video game trailer aesthetics.[1]Character design was spearheaded by art director David Revoy, who created initial concepts using digital tools like GIMP and MyPaint to establish the visual style for the protagonists.[10] For Sintel, Revoy developed model sheets depicting her in various poses, including younger and older versions to reflect narrative progression, while ensuring a rugged, determined appearance suited to the fantasy world.[10] The baby dragon Scales featured in detailed concept art exploring wing structures, scale textures, and size comparisons, portraying it as vulnerable yet endearing.[10] Similarly, the adult dragon received a model sheet emphasizing its majestic, battle-scarred form, with Revoy iterating designs in collaboration with the team to align with the film's epic tone.[10] Dutch actress Halina Reijn provided the voice for Sintel, with recording sessions held in Amsterdam in early 2010 to capture the character's intensity.[11]World-building centered on a dark fantasy setting crafted through Revoy's extensive concept art and mood boards, which visualized environments like icy mountains, remote villages, dragon caves, and ancient structures such as ziggurats and shaman huts.[10] These elements created a cohesive atmosphere of isolation and peril, with mood boards illustrating scenes like snow fights and hunts to guide the pre-production ambiance.[10] Initial storyboards followed script finalization, mapping key sequences to support the visual narrative without delving into technical execution.[1]The artistic direction under Colin Levy pushed for a darker, more mature tone than previous Blender Foundation films like Big Buck Bunny and Elephants Dream, shifting from humor and abstraction toward an epic, emotionally resonant fantasy style.[1] This vision prioritized high-detail character and environment designs to evoke a sense of gritty realism within the mythological framework, setting Sintel apart as a bolder storytelling endeavor.[10]
Technical Production
The Amsterdam-based production team utilized early alpha and beta versions of Blender 2.5 for the core technical workflow, encompassing modeling, rigging, animation, and compositing, from September 2009 through the summer of 2010.[1] Modeling involved high-detail multi-resolution sculpting techniques, while rigging focused on advanced facial controls using shape keys to enable expressive character performances.[1]Animation was handled through keyframe-based workflows in Blender's 3D viewport, with compositing leveraging tile-based rendering for efficient handling of high-resolution outputs.[12]Key milestones included the completion of principal animation by late June 2010, marking the transition to rendering and final polish.[13] Rendering commenced shortly thereafter on a dedicated farm comprising 16 Intel i7-930 nodes, six Dell servers, and additional studio workstations—and took several weeks to produce the 1080p master, processing approximately 17,000 frames in OpenEXR format.[14][12]Sound design and music composition were led by Jan Morgenstern of Wavemage Media, who created the score and effects using a combination of open-source audio tools integrated with Blender's audio capabilities for synchronization.[15][16] Post-production encompassed editing sequences directly in Blender's Video Sequence Editor (VSE) to assemble shots, apply transitions, and integrate audio layers, followed by color grading to achieve a consistent cinematic look with enhanced contrast and tonal depth across the film's icy and volcanic environments.[15][17]The team faced challenges in optimizing assets and pipelines for the film's 14-minute 48-second runtime at 1080p resolution, including script revisions that extended the length from an initial 6-8 minutes and required iterative adjustments to animation complexity and render settings to fit within hardware constraints.[1] These efforts were supported by targeted budget allocations for render farmhardware and team stipends, ensuring timely completion without external commercial dependencies.[18]
Narrative
Plot Summary
The film Sintel is set in a fantasy world with elements inspired by Norse mythology, where a young woman named Sintel lives in a frozen village.[1] She discovers a wounded baby dragon and nurses it back to health, naming it Scales; the two quickly bond, playing together amid icy landscapes and ruins.[7] One day, while Scales chases a flock of birds, a large predatory bird attacks and carries him away, leaving Sintel devastated.[19]Determined to reunite with her companion, Sintel trains rigorously with a sword over several years, honing her skills in combat and survival.[20] She embarks on a arduous journey through harsh mountains and remote villages, facing dangers such as bandits whom she defeats to claim their weapons.[20] After an encounter with a bandit that leaves her injured, Sintel is rescued and taken to the hut of an old man. She shares her story with him, and he warns her that she has entered the lands of dragons before giving her a map to a nearby cave where one is rumored to live.[7]Arriving at the cave after a perilous trek, Sintel confronts the massive adult dragon inside, engaging in an intense, prolonged fight amid echoing caverns and falling rocks.[20] She ultimately slays the beast with her spear, but upon examining its body, she recognizes familiar scars on its wing from the long-ago bird attack and realizes it is Scales, now fully grown and aged like herself over the years of separation.[20] Overcome with grief, Sintel mourns her lost friend as she tends to the body.In the resolution, a small baby dragon—Scales' offspring—emerges from the shadows, having been hidden during the battle; it hesitantly approaches Sintel, who departs the cave into the snowy wilderness, with the young creature following behind.[20] The 14-minute, 48-second film unfolds primarily through stark, icy environments, culminating in the dramatic cave confrontation.[1]
Themes
Sintel explores the central theme of loss and redemption through the protagonist's grief-fueled pursuit of revenge following the separation from her beloved dragon companion, culminating in a redemptive realization tied to the cycle of life exemplified by the discovery of the dragon's offspring, which symbolizes hope and renewal. This narrative arc underscores the emotional weight of bereavement and the potential for personal healing amid adversity.[2][21]Recurring motifs in the film include interspecies friendship, depicted in the deep bond between Sintel and the dragon Scales, which transcends typical boundaries to emphasize mutual care and loyalty; isolation within unforgiving, icy landscapes that mirror the character's internal desolation; and the repercussions of vengeance, illustrating how obsessive retaliation can perpetuate suffering rather than resolve it. These elements collectively probe the complexities of attachment, solitude, and the moral costs of retribution.[22][23]Stylistically, Sintel distinguishes itself with a darker tone and instances of mature violence, setting it apart from the lighter, comedic style of prior Blender Foundation productions like Big Buck Bunny, while deliberate slow pacing and naturalistic lighting foster a sense of immersion and emotional intimacy. The film's influences draw from mythological traditions, evoking undertones of sacrifice—seen in the protagonist's self-imposed hardships—and resurrection through themes of rebirth and continuity, though these remain subtly woven without overt closure.[24][25]Visually, symbolism is conveyed through details such as the scars on Scales, which embody enduring trauma and vulnerability, reinforcing the narrative's focus on healing from past wounds. The concluding open-ended journey further highlights personal growth, as Sintel embarks on a path of self-discovery informed by her experiences. Character designs, with Sintel's weathered appearance and Scales' expressive features, subtly enhance these emotional arcs by visually conveying resilience and tenderness.[22][26]
Release
Premiere and Promotion
The promotion of Sintel commenced with the first public unveiling of film sections at the Blender Conference on October 25, 2009, where director Colin Levy presented a teaser trailer, storyboards, and initial production progress achieved in under three weeks.[27]On May 13, 2010, the official teaser trailer was released online, offering audiences an early look at the film's striking animation and atmospheric visuals.[28]This teaser paved the way for a pre-premiere screening held on July 19, 2010, at the Blender Institute in Amsterdam, allowing select viewers to experience nearly the complete film ahead of its official debut.[29]Throughout production, the Blender Foundation ran a dedicated promotional campaign via the Durian project blog, posting regular behind-the-scenes updates, concept art releases, and team insights to engage the open-source community and heighten anticipation.The world premiere occurred on September 27, 2010, at the Netherlands Film Festival in Utrecht, attended by director Colin Levy and key members of the production team.[1]Following the premiere, the film's initial online release on September 30, 2010, sparked widespread buzz, surpassing 1 million views on YouTube within its first week to underscore the project's rapid audience reach.The sponsor-funded budget of the Durian project also covered essential promotional assets, including high-resolution posters and trailer production.
Distribution
Sintel was made available online on September 30, 2010, through the official project website on Blender.org and the Blender Foundation's YouTube channel, released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license to encourage widespread sharing and remixing with proper credit.[30][31][1]Physical copies were distributed starting in October 2010 via DVD and Blu-ray sets, which featured the film alongside making-of documentaries, production materials, and tutorials to support educational use.[32][33]The film circulated through the festival circuit, with over 50 international screenings, including at SIGGRAPH Asia 2010 and SIGGRAPH 2011's Computer Animation Festival, where it was selected from 891 submissions as one of 77 honored entries.[4][34]Early viewership was strong, surpassing 1 million views on YouTube within weeks of launch, and the official upload has since accumulated approximately 5.8 million views as of November 2025.[35][31]To promote global accessibility and demonstrate Blender's open-source capabilities, free high-quality downloads and streaming options were provided in multiple formats, including 4K, facilitating international audiences without geographic restrictions.[1][36]
Technical Contributions
Blender Software Improvements
The production of Sintel, known as the Durian open movie project, played a pivotal role in advancing Blender versions 2.50 through 2.54, integrating features tested in real-world filmmaking scenarios to enhance stability and functionality during the 2009–2010 development cycle.[1] These releases addressed core UI overhauls from the 2.5 series, enabling smoother workflows for the project's complex animation pipeline.[37]A key improvement was to the node-based compositor, which saw refinements for handling advanced visual effects such as volumetric fog and dynamic fire simulations essential to Sintel's atmospheric scenes.[38] The compositor's integration with render layers allowed for efficient post-processing of environmental elements, reducing render times while maintaining photorealistic quality in multi-pass outputs.Rigging and animation tools received significant enhancements, including the introduction of the Rigify auto-rigging system, developed specifically for Sintel's characters to streamline the creation of modular rigs from metarigs.[39] This system supported seamless IK/FK switching, crucial for fluid character movements like the dragon's flight sequences, where animators could toggle between inverse kinematics for broad poses and forward kinematics for precise control without disrupting continuity.[40] Additional refinements to spine and neck rigs incorporated bio-mechanically inspired controls, such as pivot sliders for adjustable bending points, improving animation efficiency for organic motions.[40]Rendering capabilities were optimized in Blender Internal for handling intricate materials like the dragon's fur, scales, and subsurface scattering under dynamic lighting conditions. These updates focused on strand-based hair rendering and multi-resolution modeling to manage high-detail scenes, enabling faster previews and final outputs in 4K resolution without compromising detail in complex shaders.[38]Modeling tools were refined to better support organic shapes, particularly through enhanced sculpting and multiresolution modifiers used for the dragon's textured skin and environmental foliage.[41] These features allowed artists to iterate on high-poly details efficiently, with particle systems improved for elements like eyelashes and scales, facilitating realistic deformation during animation.[42]The Sintel production contributed substantially to the open-source community, rigorously tested in the high-pressure context of deadline-driven filmmaking to ensure robustness for professional use.[43]
Open Source Release
Sintel was released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which permits free use, modification, and distribution of the film and related materials as long as proper credit is given to the Blender Foundation.[1] This licensing approach aligned with the project's open-source ethos, enabling global audiences to remix, study, and build upon the production without legal barriers, while excluding trademarks and non-project elements from reuse.[44]The project's funding model relied on crowd-sourced donations from thousands of online supporters, supplemented by subsidies from the Netherlands Film Fund and Amsterdam Cinegrid, as well as contributions from corporate sponsors such as DivX and pre-sales of DVDs and merchandise through the Blender e-shop.[1][18] This decentralized approach demonstrated a sustainable path for open-content creation, raising sufficient resources to support a team of up to 14 full-time artists over 18 months without traditional studio backing.[1]Following the film's premiere in September 2010, all production files—including Blender source files, character models, textures, scripts, and assets—were made publicly available for download via the official project website and later through Blender Studio, encouraging educational use, remixing, and further development within the open-source community.[1][2]Philosophically, the open-source release of Sintel aimed to validate Blender as a tool capable of professional-grade animation production and to promote collaborative creativity across international contributors, building on prior open movies to refine the software's pipeline for complex storytelling.[1] This initiative not only highlighted the potential of free tools for high-quality output but also fostered a sense of shared ownership, inviting artists worldwide to engage with and extend the project's creative elements.[1]The release significantly boosted the Blender ecosystem, driving increased software downloads and community contributions during the 2009–2010 production period as enthusiasts explored the film's techniques and assets to enhance their own work.[1] By making the entire pipeline transparent, Sintel exemplified how open-source projects could accelerate innovation and user adoption in 3D graphics.[1]
Reception
Critical Reviews
*Sintel's animation quality received widespread praise from critics, who highlighted its technical sophistication and visual fidelity. A review in the Dutch newspaper Het Parool described the film as comparable to Hollywood productions in terms of image quality, details, and character design, noting its darker and less accessible tone compared to previous Blender Foundation works.[45]Aggregated professional scores reflected strong approval for the film's concise storytelling within its short format. On Rotten Tomatoes, Sintel holds a 74% Tomatometer score based on 19 reviews, with critics commending its effective narrative compression and emotional resonance in just 15 minutes. Similarly, the film earned a 7.4 out of 10 rating on IMDb from 3,738 user votes, though professional critiques echoed appreciation for its ambitious scope.[46][7]Some reviewers critiqued the pacing, praising the emotional depth of Sintel's journey and themes of loss but pointing to an abrupt conclusion that left certain plot threads unresolved. This maturity in tone marked a departure from the lighter, child-friendly style of its predecessor, Big Buck Bunny, fostering greater empathy for the protagonist's internal conflict.[45][47]In terms of recognition, Sintel garnered nominations and wins at various 2011 film festivals, though it did not secure major awards like the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. It won the Grand Jury Award for Best Animation and the Audience Award for Best International Animation at the Washington DC Independent Film Festival, as well as the Best Short Animation award from 3D World Magazine's CG Awards; additionally, its score won the Jerry Goldsmith Award for Best Score for an Animated Short and its theme song "I Move On" won for Best Original Song.[48][22][49]
Audience Response and Legacy
Sintel has achieved significant viewership since its release, with the official YouTube upload surpassing 5 million views by 2020 and reaching over 5.7 million as of late 2025, reflecting sustained interest particularly in educational and open-source communities.[31] This popularity stems from its accessibility as a free, high-quality demonstration of Blender's capabilities, encouraging repeated viewings in tutorials and classrooms worldwide.[1]The film's open-source assets have fostered extensive community engagement, inspiring hundreds of fan-created animations, remixes, and tutorials utilizing Sintel models and scenes since 2010. For instance, community projects like the "Tears of Steel Remix Featuring Sintel" showcase how artists repurpose the film's elements to create new content, highlighting its role in promoting collaborative creativity within the Blender ecosystem.[50] These efforts have built a vibrant repository of user-generated resources on platforms like Blender Artists, aiding aspiring animators in learning advanced techniques.In terms of legacy, Sintel is credited with validating Blender as a viable tool for professional feature-length animation, paving the way for subsequent productions such as the 2018 Netflix film Next Gen, which relied heavily on Blender for its pipeline.[51] This milestone demonstrated the software's potential for complex, high-end workflows, influencing industry adoption and further open movie projects by the Blender Foundation.[52]Educationally, Sintel serves as a cornerstone in 3D animation curricula globally, with its source files and production assets downloaded extensively for hands-on learning in courses at institutions like UC San Diego and through resources like the Learning Blender textbook series.[53] The film's complete production data, released under Creative Commons, enables students to study rendering, rigging, and compositing, while its adaptation into datasets for computer vision research underscores its broader academic impact.[54]Culturally, Sintel has inspired ongoing discussions about open-source creativity, as evidenced in a 2025 interview with art directorDavid Revoy, who reflected on the project as a pioneering effort in using free software to produce accessible, shareable art that empowers global creators.[55] Revoy emphasized how Sintel's model of collaborative, licensed content continues to influence free culture initiatives, reinforcing the film's enduring significance in promoting ethical, community-driven animation practices.[10]
Post-Release Developments
Sintel The Game
Sintel The Game is an official video game adaptation of the Blender Foundation's animated short film Sintel, announced on May 12, 2010, as a third-person role-playing game (RPG) developed using the Blender Game Engine by a volunteer team from the Blender community.[56] The project aimed to expand the film's universe, allowing players to control the protagonist Sintel in a shared narrative environment inspired by the original story.[56]In terms of gameplay, players guide Sintel through exploration of the film's world, including Norse-inspired landscapes such as tundras, docks, and deserts, while solving environmental puzzles and interacting with non-player characters like villagers, animals, and the dragon Scales.[56] The game incorporates adventure elements, such as side missions and collectible items, with an estimated playtime of 2 to 3 hours in its core experience, all powered by Python scripting within the Blender Game Engine for AI, level management, and character controls.[56][57]Development progressed with the release of an alpha version in July 2012, which integrated open-source assets from the Sintel film, including models and environments created during the movie's production.[58] Subsequent updates, such as Alpha 0.2 in 2013, added more playable levels and refined mechanics, though the project remained in early stages; the codebase, licensed under MIT, is hosted on GitHub to encourage community contributions and modifications.[57][58]The game was made available as a free download for Windows and Linux platforms, with compatibility for macOS requiring minor adjustments, and could be run directly within Blender versions 2.68 to 2.79 (as the Blender Game Engine was removed in Blender 2.80). Community ports to modern engines like UPBGE allow running on current Blender versions.[57][59] Community reception highlighted its accessibility for open-source enthusiasts and educational value in demonstrating the Blender Game Engine, but noted its unfinished state with incomplete levels and polish; the active GitHub repository continues to support forks and mods, such as ports to modern engines like UPBGE.[60][58]
Copyright Incident
On April 5, 2014, Sony Pictures filed a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice against the official Blender Foundation upload of the short film Sintel on YouTube, resulting in the video being blocked worldwide.[61][62]The incident stemmed from YouTube's automated Content ID system, which erroneously matched footage from Sintel to material Sony had added to its official 4K demonstration pool for ultra-high-definition televisions, despite the film's release under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits free use with proper attribution.[63][64]The open-source community responded swiftly with widespread backlash across social media, forums, and news outlets, including coverage on sites like Slashdot and Boing Boing; the Blender Foundation promptly issued a counter-notice to YouTube disputing the claim.[63][64]Within two days, by April 7, 2014, YouTube restored the video after Sony retracted its claim, confirming the takedown was baseless, and no further legal action was pursued by either party.[64][62]The event spotlighted vulnerabilities in automated copyright enforcement tools, sparking broader discussions on the need for better safeguards for Creative Commons-licensed and open-source works against erroneous corporate claims.[63][64]