Posted on April 4, 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 3, 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.

Here’s a page comparing the 2013 version with the 2001…

Posted on March 3, 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 3, 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.

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Posted on March 3, 2013

The fine folks at Disruptive Media have added four new animated PS3 themes to the PSN Store. Themes are listed under “Games” if you want to find these for yourself. I love the animated effects!

Any requests?