Posted on December 6, 1999

• I was meaning to work on some holiday graphics this weekend, but I was sidetracked by another issue which required immediate attention. I did, however, manage to tweak “Sierra” into a night version which is up in the Night Scenery Gallery and the WIP. No, I didn’t use Photoshop. I wanted to learned more about atmospheric lightning in World Builder. I do plan on getting started on some holiday images this week. I have a few ideas of my own but I would love to hear what you’d like to see (the more detail the better). Write me!
• A big thanks to everyone who has ordered a copy of my CD so far. Maybe I’ll even make back all the money I spent having them made…
• I’m still ironing out the issues involved with shipping overseas. It’s rather complicated and I want to make sure everyone involved gets the best possible deal.
• Don’t pay any attention to my Amazon.Com wish list at the bottom of my pages. That’s for friends and family who want to know what I’d like to get for Christmas this year. You’re free to check it out to see what my tastes are or to get ideas for someone you care about, but I’m not asking for anything from people I don’t know. Of course, I wouldn’t send anything back… 🙂

Posted on December 2, 1999

• The Digital Blasphemy CD-ROM is now available. Member price: $14.95. Ground shipping and sales taxes are waived. Check out my CDROM page for more info. Get some for the ones you love! Sorry, but it’s Windows only and I’m only shipping within the US for now. If you live outside the US and would like to order the CD-ROM, please write me and I’ll see what I can do. Please include the address you want the disc(s) shipped to and whether you place greater emphasis on speed of delivery or economy.

Posted on December 1, 1999

• Still trying to figure out World Builder. My second offering is now up an ready for your review. I call it: “Sierra”. Hope you like. Check it out in the WIP or the Day Scenery Gallery.
• Thanks to everyone who’s written me with feedback regarding my imminent CDROM release. One common thread was that shipping costs should be low. I hear you. The average “member discount” was somewhere between $10 and $20. The pricing is still undecided though at this writing.
• Look for some holiday themes in the weeks ahead…

Posted on November 26, 1999

• A couple of updates for you today.

  First of all, I should report that I spent most of this week and part of last putting the finishing touches on my upcomng CD-ROM archive. It’s now in the hands of my distributor and is in the process of being being made as we speak. It should be available early next week, and it will contain every image in the gallery up to “Aftermath”. Personally, it think it would make a nice stocking stuffer, but that’s up to you. Aside from the fact that it will be discounted for members, I haven’t decided what to charge for the CD. I’d appreciate any input you might have on what would be a fair price. Either way, it will be available soon…

  Unfortunately the CD will not contain my latest work. “Early Frost” is up in the Day Scenery gallery and the WIP. It’s my first image created using Animatek’s World Builder 2.2, so it’s a little rough around the edges, I apologize. I gotta level with you now: I don’t think you’ll be seeing much Bryce or even Vue d’Esprit for quite a while. I am completely hooked on World Builder.

  Why? First and foremost, it’s multi-threaded (Bryce isn’t) so it uses my dual-processor workstation to its fullest potential. “Early Frost”, for example, rendered in just under 30 minutes at 1600 x 1200 (compared to 24 hours for “The Turning”). What else? Its vegetation model is a lot more realistic (not to mention more efficient). More? Its landscape system allows for winding roads, rippling rivers (complete with whitewater), lapping waves, waterfalls, and footprints. Oh yeah, it also exports entire scenes into Lightwave, which opens up a whole new set of possibilities.

  Anyway, I’ll stop frothing now. I hope you like the new image, but just remember that it’s only a first attempt. Your comments and feedback are doubly appreciated.

Posted on November 20, 1999

• Added “Aftermath” to the Planetscapes gallery and the WIP. Flat out, you can’t do this with Bryce. I’ve tried.
  I guess maybe with some “trick photography” you could do a still image like it in Bryce. But I don’t think you could animate it like this though. (1.8 MB zipped AVI)… The animation is a 2 seconds long and it depicts the entire “explosion”, debris and all. The animation, of course, is made up of some 60 individual frames and about 40 of them would have made cool still shots. In case you’re wondering, the wallpaper is frame 33. Hope you like them both. Comments appreciated.