Posted on August 2, 2011

I’ve added one last render of “Heliocentric (Night)” to the gallery. This scene is lit simply by the Moon. The stars are a bit brighter and I have brought back the firelight in the lower right corner. The other versions will remain in the Pickle Jar.

I liked the “alien” version but I don’t think the planet was really necessary for the scene. It was fun to try though and I hope those of you who enjoy it will continue to use whichever version you prefer! Thanks again for all the feedback on this one! Ready to render the multiscreen now…

Posted on July 29, 2011

I’ve added the dual and triple-screen versions of “Clockwork” to the Members Gallery this morning.

Speaking of multiple-monitors, one of my Members posted this Youtube video on my Facebook page a couple of days ago. Check it out if you are curious as to how my triscreen wallpapers look “in action”.

I liked it so much I’ve embedded it on my Multi-Monitor Freebie page. Thanks Eric! I need more monitors now…

Posted on July 27, 2011

Added “Clockwork” to the Members Gallery this evening. Just a little something I worked up on my MBP while waiting for “Heliocentric (Night)” to render on my main box. Once it finished I applied the finishing touches on Bucephalus.

I didn’t notice while I was making it but my son Ian (upon seeing this render for the first time) mentioned that it looked like it was from the film we had watched for our “Friday Family Movie Night”. I had to agree that he was right. This piece was definitely inspired by the original Tron.

I also wanted to mention that I’ve rendered “Heliocentric” at 5500 x 3438 (over 4.5x the resolution of my 2560 x 1600 files) for print. Check it out here if you are interested. The largest size available is over 6 ft wide!

The “Colossal” size (the default that first loads) is pretty expensive but smaller sizes are also available .

Lastly, I think I have a good enough handle on Google+ now to give out my profile address. Feel free to follow if you are interested.

Posted on July 25, 2011

“Heliocentric (Night)” is now up on the new images page for Members to download.

I started it rendering on Friday with no idea it would take all weekend. Wow! Fluffly clouds really put the hurt on the render times. I can take solace in the fact that it would have taken a full week to render on my old machine.

I sometimes hear that my night scenes are too dark, so I tried to make this one a little brighter than usual. I played with removing the clouds but this really darkened the scene too much. In the end I tweaked the clouds a bit to make them look a bit more “misty” and also added some beacon fires on the rocks.

One of my Members (David M) said the scene reminded him of the Lord of the Rings so I thought it would make a nice addition to the night version. Happy to say that I resisted putting some huge planet in the sky.

Anyway, I hope you like it. The scene is not without issues and I would love to tweak it in the future. A lot of folks have asked if I could post a “level” version (without the camera tilt) and I have done so in the Pickle Jar.

Feeling the call to move onto new projects now. Going back and forth between abstract and space…

Posted on July 24, 2011

Finally!! I’ve added the long promised dual and triple-screen versions of “Moonlit Citadel” to the Members Gallery this evening. Here’s a larger preview for non-Members.

This 7680 x 1600 frame took nearly a month uninterrupted on my alternate box. I had tried to render it back in 2008 but the version of Vue I was using mangled the clouds when I stretched out the aspect ratio. Rather than post a substandard render I promised I would do it right when the bug was fixed. I hope it was worth the wait!

It feels good to cross another render off my bucket-list and free up my alt-renderer for some new tasks. Hope to have my night version of “Heliocentric” up shortly!