Posted on June 6, 2011

I’ve posted a new version of “Dødenfell” in the Members Gallery this morning. The camera has pulled back a bit so the reflections show in the water and I’ve extinquished the forest fires. I’m sure some folks will be disappointed but I also took out the aurora. The first two renders will remain available in the Pickle Jar of course!

My Summer Special continues through tomorrow so please feel free to take advatange of my 25% discount on new Memberships and Renewals! Use coupon code “summertime” to get the discount and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Posted on June 6, 2011

Sorry it’s been so quiet around here for the past week or so. Right after I posted “Dødenfell” I had to step away from the computer for a little family time. I’ve had all of my renderers buzzing while I was away however and today I am harvesting the first of their fruits.

I’ve added the dual and triple-screen version of “Interopposite” to the gallery this afternoon. As I’ve been doing with my other recent abstract multiscreens, I choose to change up the camera angle a bit for this version. I hope it works for your setup!

I also wanted to mention that I am running a Summer Special until Wednesday. All Memberships and Renewals (including the Lifetime option) are 25% off. Just use the coupon code “summertime” on the sign up or renewal page to get the discount. Thanks and stay tuned for more renders coming up this week!!

Posted on June 6, 2011

I’ve posted a new version of “Night on Eldritch Mountain” in the Members Gallery this afternoon. Probably the most obvious change will be the new title. I have changed it to “Dødenfell“. Why you ask?

Tueday night, I showed the project to my son Ian and asked him what I should call it. I’d been struggling with a title for the past couple of days and was ready for some fresh ideas. They don’t get any fresher than from a 7 year old. He immediately said “Death Mountain” and even drew a nice picture of his own to illustrate the concept which I posted on my Facebook page as a teaser on Wednesday.

“Death Mountain”, while cool, has “Zelda” connotations that I do not wish to evoke here.

After sleeping on it last night I have settled on the title “Dødenfell”, which is a mangling of the Norwegian “Døden Fjell” (“Death Mountain”).

Ian’s drawing also gave me the idea to set a few fires along the shoreline. It turned out to be the only way to get reflected light in the water from the angle.

Hope you like the changes! The version I posted yesterday can still be found in the Pickle Jar!

Posted on June 6, 2011

I added “Dødenfell” to the gallery this afternoon. I’m proud to say it is my first project designed and rendered entirely on my new workstation (Bucephalus). A huge thanks to all the Members and people who pitched in (over $3000!) so I could work with such an insane tower of technology!

After the Chaiten volcano in Patagonia erupted a lot of people sent me pictures of lightning in the ash cloud and asked if I could do something similar. I received more photos last year after the Eyjafjallajökull eruption. At long last the new version of “Vue d’Esprit” (9.5) adds the ability to limit clouds to a certain area, freeing me to make all sorts of “cloud sculptures”.

This one started as a thunderstorm but as I was working on it I was reminded of the volcano and decided to go in that direction. I would say that I am happy with the top 3/4 of the piece but the bottom could still use something. I thought it looked nice enough to post as is however.

My son Ian drew me a picture of this scene and suggested that I call it “Death Mountain”. I suppose that works too. His version did give me an idea about something I may add to a future render however.

Posted on May 5, 2011

It’s been a hectic couple of days for me, setting up my new workstation, which I have named “Bucephalus“, and sifting through 5 years of digital detritus to separate the wheat from the chaff. I am now finally to the point where I can do some real work done.

This new machine is a real beast and should last me for another 5 years (fingers crossed). The final specs are: 2 Xeon X5690 Hexacore 3.46 GHz Procs, 48 GB of RAM, EVGA GTX590, and some zippy fast SSDs. There’s also 7 fans keeping everything cool so I may have to look into water cooling because it sounds like a jet at times.

First up is posting the next revision of “Riverbend” that I have had rendering on my (old) alternate box for the past week or so. I’ve tweaked the shoreline a bit, smoothed out the water, and changed a few colors here and there. I was still rendering it on my old machine so I haven’t bumped up the atmosphere quality yet. Perhaps when I do a final render on Bucephalus.