Posted on April 24, 2012

I’ve added “Synthestructure II” to the Members Gallery this morning. A number of you saw the first version and remarked on how it metallic it looked. I took this theme and ran with it for the second version.

I’ve zoomed in a bit (to better accommodate the future multiscreen version) and inserted some little “filigree” items for contrast.

I hope you find it an improvement.

The new tropical render will be posted just as soon as it finishes rendering. I’m not sure if it is a Vue 11 bug or not, but this render is taking far longer to complete at 3277 x 2048 than my preview renders had lead me to estimate.

Did I mention that I was looking at building a new renderer? As soon as the right memory becomes available I will be building a companion machine for Bucephalus so I can keep designing while these “epic renders” complete uninterrupted. Hopefully the GTX 480 survived the short out that took down my “Hydra” workstation in Jan so I won’t have to purchase a new video card.

Lastly I wanted to mention that those of you on Pinterest can follow my latest artwork here. Happy Pinning!

Posted on April 21, 2012

I’ve added “Synthestructure I” to the Members Gallery this afternoon. This abstract was created using a new piece of software that I’ve been learning called “Structure Synth”. It basically allows you to create 3D geometry by writing little scripts. You can try it for yourself here.

Unfortunately I am still waiting for my new tropical project to finish rendering. I will have it up for you as soon as it is ready!

Posted on April 11, 2012

Just a heads up for everyone who has been waiting for a good Zazzle coupon to pick up a poster or two. All posters are 50% off today if you use the code “SPRINGPOSTER” at checkout. I picked up a 48″ copy of “Portals” this morning…

T-shirts and mugs are 25% off with the same coupon.

My new render is taking a bit longer to process than had hoped but it is making progress. I would love to be making final revisions on “Windflower” in the meantime but unfortunately since my “Hydra” workstation went down in January I haven’t had a machine capable of handling some of the denser scenes that I’ve created on Bucephalus.

Here’s a look at my hardware wishlist that you can keep in mind when you are deciding whether to purchase or renew your Membership.

If I could build Bucephalus II (need to come up with a better name) plus add a decent mobile workstation then I could work on 2 or 3 “HD” projects at a time. I would also like to add another couple of 30″ monitors to Bucephalus so I can finally test rive my multiscreen renders before posting them.

I know a lot of folks would suggest that I outsource my rendering the cloud somehow. That might work if I wasn’t stuck on a slow rural DSL connection. I can barely upload PNGs to my web server so it would take days to upload my 2GB scenes files. Someday though…

If you do decide to join, please check out the little boxes provided for adding a small amount to my general hardware fund. Every little bit helps!

Posted on April 9, 2012

I’ve added a dual and triple-screen version of “Windflower” to the Members gallery this morning but I can’t say I am 100% happy with them.

I had a great deal of trouble trying to fit the entire flower into the wider frame. In the end I decided it was better to crop out a bit than add extraneous geometry on the side. What do you think?

Posted on April 2, 2012

You may have noticed that things were a bit quiet around DB last week as I stepped away from the computer to rest and recharge my batteries with a little family vacation. We’ve had a pretty rough year so far and this trip (which we’d been planning since last year) really helped.

It’s also nice that spring has completely spring in central Illinois. Coming back to The Brown would have been depressing.

First order of business: I wasn’t able to finish the “Windflower” multiscreen before leaving so I am working on putting that together now. Thanks for being patient multiscreen Members!

After that I am completely open as to what to render next (though I am leaning towards something tropical).

Any requests Members?