Digital Blasphemy | 3D Wallpaper
Posted on April 7, 2013
Sticking with the “minimalist” theme, I have added “Arrakeen” to the Members Gallery this afternoon. Dual and triple-screen versions are also available.
This piece was inspired by one of my all-time favorite novels: Frank Herbert’s “Dune“. I realize it is a bit dark in spots, but I wanted a good deal of shadow between the desert and the Shield Wall.
I still have the hard-back copy of “Dune” that to my Mom gave me for Christmas way back in 1984 and I try to read it every few years. The movie was ok but no adaptation will ever compare to the sights I conjured in my mind while reading it all those years ago.
I recall that it was the first work of art that inspired me to be creative and I started writing my own stories around that time. Creative writing was my primary outlet, in fact, until the mid 90s when my Mom (again) gave me a computer on which to compose my first novel. Things took a different turn after that…
Anyway, I hope you enjoy my simple homage to one of my favorite works of art.
Posted on April 3, 2013
A Member recently wrote…
“Would it be possible to do an abstract at some point that is more minimalist? Generally I love the incredible amount of detail that is everywhere in your work, but for some types of wallpapers (mobile mostly) I prefer things which are towards the minimalist side, and abstracts seem like the perfect place for that.”
I decided to try it out so I put together something very quickly, very “minimally”, in Lightwave. I only used Lightwave’s “Textured Environment” for this piece, no geometry at all, and I previewed it for my Members a couple of days ago. The feedback was generally positive so I kept tinkering.
This “finished” version is a bit more complex than I had originally intended but the construction is still fairly minimalist. I added a single 2D plane and some volumetric lights so it is technically a “3D wallpaper”.
All in all it was a fun exercise and nice to render something that only takes 30 min instead of 30 hours. I will try to have a multiscreen up shortly along with some of the early versions. Hope you enjoy it!!
Posted on March 19, 2013
My updated “Singularity Rising” render looks like it is at least another day from completion. Here’s the updated version of the “Singularity” background to tide you over…
I’ve added some more glow to accretion disk in this version. I’ve also brightened the shadow on the gas giant’s ring system.
The first version can still be found in the Pickle Jar. I will most likely add a version without the planets before all is said and done.
UPDATE:I’ve posted a version without the planets by popular request.
Posted on March 17, 2013
A number of folks seemed perplexed by the planets that I added to my 2013 “Singularity” update. The original did fine without them of course, but I added them to this scene because I wanted to try a “from the ground” render.
This is where I render a space scene using Lightwave (or Vue) and then use it as a sky object in a Vue scene.
That render took Vue a little longer than I had anticipated (84 hrs!) but it is complete and now available to my Members. I’m calling this one “Singularity Rising” (for now) bit that may change as I make some revisions.
I hope the issues that were pointed out for “Singularity” are minimized (or at least partially explained) in this planetary render. Perhaps I will go back and render a version without the planets?
Posted on March 14, 2013
I’ve been working on a new space scene over the past few days. As with all of my space projects, there comes a point where it looks pretty good as the view out of spaceship window. Then I must make the decision to be happy with that or press on a render a view “from the ground”.
“Phraxis“, for example, looks great by its own but “Phraxis Moon” is rated higher.
The new piece is an update to one of my old favorites, “Singularity”. I am already working on a view from the ground but I thought the space view looked nice to enough to compete for a gallery spot all on its own. My Members can now preview my in-progress work before it hits the main gallery here.