Posted on February 24, 2007

• I’ve posted an updated version of “Crucible“. Quite a few of the comments I received on the image centered on the lava not looking quite right so I went back and made some changes. I hope you like them. Some of you also asked if I could post a version without the foreground. Both the previous version and the planet-only version are available in the Pickle Jar.

  I had originally intended this piece to be “planet only” and I had crafted a number of interesting volumetric effects to make it appear that the planet was surrounded by millions of rocks and dense clouds of ash. It would have looked cool, but I couldn’t get the ash clouds to work. They were taking far too long to render properly. So I scrapped that idea and decided to go with the image you see posted.

  I plan on doing a multi-screen version in the next few days and then I will move on to something else.

• I realized when I added the comment system back in October that people would not always agree and that there might be arguments. I have no problem with this. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and are welcome to express them through the comment system.

  I do not expect all of the comments to be positive and if something can be improved I want to hear about it (sometimes I lose perspective when I’ve stared at an image for too long). After all I would not have kept putting my work out for everyone to see all these years if I couldn’t take criticism (believe me, I’ve heard it all by now).

  I would really appreciate it, however, if the discussion could be kept civil and the name calling be kept to a minimum. A good rule of thumb is if you wouldn’t say something to someone’s face, then don’t post it. I am referring to some of the comments made regarding the first version of “Crucible” which you can read here if you are interested.

  Thanks!

Posted on February 23, 2007

• Added “Crucible” to the gallery this morning. It took quite a bit longer to complete than I expected due to some of the volumetric effects I tried. Even with my new machine, volumetrics take an unacceptable amount of time to render in Lightwave. Unfortunately, you don’t know what you are getting in Lightwave until the render is completely finished (unlike Vue which displays the full-size render in progress) and it took a few long multi-day renders to get the final product I wanted. Anyway, it’s up now and I hope you enjoy it.

02/21/07

• Yes, I am still alive and I am working on a new wallpaper. For better or worse I will have it up before the end of the week. I’m just not happy with it at this time.

• I’ve been receiving quite a few emails asking if I will be working on animations for use with the new Windows Vista (Ultimate) “Dreamscene“. At this very moment I am installing a Vista on my old workstation for use as a testbed (I’m not ready to install it on my main machine yet) and I will explore the possibilities.

  The main issues are: Render times (already my single frame wallpapers take far too long to render so I can’t really imagine rendering 60 or so frames), and development time. I have always tried to balance developing “cutting edge” content (multi-screen wallpapers, etc) with the time it takes to develop wallpapers for the majority of my members (single screen, static images). Basically, I’d rather not spend a lot of time and resources working on something that only a small percentage of my Members can use. As more and more users start using animated wallpapers however I will shift more of my attention to developing them.

02/13/07

• I just wanted to let you all know that I’m still alive (snowed in at the moment, but alive) and I’m busy rendering a new “Planetscape” wallpaper. It’s a pretty complex piece (even my new machine is chugging a little bit) and the full size render will most likely take between 24-36 hours when I start it. I hope to be ready to render sometime today or tomorrow and I hope to have it up shortly after it’s finished. Unless, of course, I see something that needs changing…

02/03/07

• I’ve (finally) finished rendering the dual and triple-screen versions of “Cloud Canyon”. I’ve posted them in their respective galleries and on the new images page.
• I’ve consolidated all of my previous news postings onto one page (they were turning into a tangle of different linked files). Having them on one page should make it easier for me to keep this page short and current. The link to the previous news postings (going all the way back to 10/99) can be found at the bottom of this page.
• It’s been a while since I’ve posted any pictures of the kids and I know some of you have been asking. Here’s one of Jason taken a recently (he will be 9 months old in a couple of weeks), and here’s one of Ian showing his support for our favorite football team.

01/27/07

• My experiments with Vue 6 continue. I’m really trying to master the new atmospheric system. The render times are still kind of crazy but I think the results are worth it.

  My latest render, “Cloud Canyon”, is now up on the new images page. I will see if I can post multi-monitor versions sometime next week. Enjoy!

01/20/07

• Thanks to everyone for the wonderful comments on “Planitia”. I really enjoy reading your feedback! Some of you asked if I could do a blue version, but I think a blue sky would look too much like our own. My goal with “Planitia” was to do something “out of this world” and that is why I chose green over blue.

  Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from opening the file in your favorite photo editor and shifting the hue to your liking.

  I’ve posted dual and triple-screen versions of “Planitia”. I’ve also updated the “non-widescreen” versions to fix some composition issues. The versions I posted on 1/17 looked a little cramped on the sides (due to how they were cropped from the widescreen original) and the new renders should look better if you are using a 4:3 screen.

01/17/07

• My last few wallpapers have been somewhat normal (tropical sunsets and snowy forests) so I thought it would be nice to start 2007 with something a little wild. I’m satisfied that Vue 6 is great at simulating Earthbound environments, but I wanted to see how it would do with something more “out of this world”. The new render, “Planitia” (def.), is now up on the new images page.
• If you are a fan of George R. R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” series (I’m a huge fan) you might be interested to hear this. I couldn’t be more stoked!

Posted on January 9, 2007

• I’ve added dual and triple screen versions of “Tropic of Capricorn (2006)”.

Posted on January 6, 2007

• Some users noticed a rendering error or two in “Capricorn (2006)”. These occurred when the render was interrupted and I had to piece together three different “render-strips” into one image. The composite looked fine on my screen but apparently it was not seamless on other screens.

  I’ve completed a “one-pass” render (only took 52 hours!) which should look fine on all screens and I’ve posted it in place of the original.

Posted on December 31, 2006

• I hope you all are enjoying your holidays. We had a great Christmas this year, with Ian anticipating Santa Claus for the first time. Now we have a parking lot of trucks and tractors to deal with…

• I added “Tropic of Capricorn (2006)” to the gallery this morning. The image wasn’t designed as an update to the original “Capricorn“. Sitting here trying to think of a title (usually the very last thing I do before posting an image) it occured to me that the scene was very similar (sunset to the right) and would make a nice revision. Hopefully it will provide some (simulated) warmth if it is cold and grey where you are.

  Happy New Year!