divide-byzero.com

A Terrain and Clouds Test

Fri, 01 May 2009 05:08:28 +0000

In preparation for a possible project at work I have been experimenting with rendering some terrain and different ways of creating clouds. Lighting the terrain was fairly easy but the lighting of the water away from the “sun” is proving problematic. And just as I finished writing that sentance I think I can improve it by moving the lightsource further away and increasing it’s emitting distance. Thinking out loud here. Anyway here is what I was able to accomplish the first time around.

(click image to view at full resolution)

I have also included the node setup. It’s really… icky but I don’t care.

(click image to view at full resolution)

New WordPress Theme

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:56:09 +0000

I decided to ditch the old theme since it was just to hard to format anything to include images. This one is much better but as a result I had to undo some of the formating in the old posts. New stuff coming soon.

Updated Bear.

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:34:06 +0000

After viewing that fur-test/bear on several different monitors I found out the majority were dark. So, after gamma correcting my monitor as best I could, I reuploaded a better version. I still could not get it to look quite like the original lighting setup I had but I have to move on. I plan on using that bear on at least one other project in the future. I have a rough idea of what I want it to look like so maybe I will do some sketches and post them with the finished project. I can hopefully get the lighting better since I now have a fairly standard monitor gamma setting now.

(Click image to view at full resolution)

What started as a simple fur test…

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:54:59 +0000

Like the title implies, this was originally just a fur test.

Now this looks fine on both of my monitors and one at work but looks dark on a couple others i’ve looked at. Looks like I need to do some gamma correction or they do. I’m not sure which.

(Click image to view at full resolution)

I may upload a lighter version later. Damn gamma correction.

Update…

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 05:58:43 +0000

Almost 2 months and nothing. Certainly not what I intended.

When I originally started this blog I had every intention of posting a new piece of artwork everyday. Hah. After much thought, I have decided to post something at LEAST once a week. Be prepared for lots of tests.

I already have something lined up for tomorrow. It actually started out as a particles/fur test and turned out much better than I expected.

Composition Tests

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 01:51:49 +0000

I have been using Blender for quite a while but I have just recently decided to explore a portion of the program that I have been ignoring. The Compositing nodes. I will admit the first node setups I saw were these extremely complicated webs of interconnecting nodes that made no sense to me. So I stayed away. However, after having to pass up several time-sensitive projects because I didn’t have the time to learn the node system and complete the project in the time alotted, I realized I needed to learn the node system. So here I am. Not my very first attempt, but my first serious attempts.

All these tests were done with the excellent ManCandy generic character and rig created by Bassam Kurdali. I know he looks odd but rigging is not my cup of tea. Also for these attempts I did not use photoshop to touch up things I was unhappy with.

(Click image to view at full resolution)

This my first recent attempt at compositing 3d with a photo. I chose a photo I had laying around the computer (taken on an extremely awesome day) and added the character in. I wanted the character to be fairly small with little shadow for this first attempt. I think it worked fairly good.

(Click image to view at full resolution)

This was my second compositing test. I got a little closer to the character and had to deal with shadows a bit more. In the end, I think the lighting and character contrast could be better and the dark areas might be a bit too dark. But it’s not terrible and I learned some things doing it.

I am planning to make some modifications to the mancandy character. I noticed his body type looks like a character from one of my favorite childhood books! I just need to add some clothes, glasses, and a walking stick!

New Desktop

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:56:28 +0000

A simple liquid and reflection test turned into my new desktop.

High-Res Image

What is this?

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:43:23 +0000

This is my blog. You won’t find many long winded angry rants or sob stories here. I don’t want to limit the scope of this blog but I do want it to be more of a creative outlet. Expect posts about finished projects, things that are still work-in-progress, “thinking out loud” posts, and other such nonsense.