Decisions: Unreal Engine or Blender first?

ACME's initial pipeline engines are Maya based. And, as tech junkies, we keep a sharp eye on the 3d animation marketplace. The software landscape - especially the VFX software landscape - is always changing; constant adoption of the latest appropriate technology - while not needlessly chasing every shiny new solution - is truly a matter of life and death for tech services. ACME is very interested in both Blender - the open source general 3d application hailing to VFX standards, and also Epic’s Unreal Engine - the heavy hitter with heritage from the gaming industry that has solidly established itself as a core tool for 'in-camera' VFX challenges even in the film industry. Since our two existing Maya based pipelines overlap Blender’s abilities significantly, we're going to prioritize exploratory development on Epic's Unreal Engine first. The deciding factors for us were diversification into new technology, and the potential rendering speed gains that gaming engine provides as a fundamental feature. After that, we'll explore integration of Blender as well; the more options we provide our customers, the better.