Posted on June 1, 2021
After rendering many nebulae and other ethereal forms over the past week I felt the need to step back and create something relatively solid. The mountain was modeled using Gaea and the scene was rendered using VUE. Yes, I am invoking Tolkien with the title (though I sure some are hearing Zeppelin right now) 🙂
“Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.”
~The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
I hope you enjoy the scene! Dual and triple-screen versions available.
Posted on May 24, 2021
I’ve spent the last week or so learning how to use Blender’s volumetric system. My goal is to create 3D nebulae but I still have quite a bit to figure out. This first attempt is pretty rough yet and not quite what I initially had in mind, but I think it’s a nice proof-of-concept for now.
I’ve seen some really interesting things done with Blender’s volumetrics so stay tuned 🙂
Posted on May 14, 2021
I designed “Amatheia” in Blender (my first Blender planet) with the end goal of doing a “tribute” to the 20 year old “Tropical Moon of Thetis“. The “day” version was a bit of a departure but hopefully this scene will evoke the original.
I rendered quite a few different atmospheres before settling on this one and I will share some of those in the Pickle Jar down the line.
I hesitate to call this a “night” version, because the sun angle here implies that it’s still day time. How is this possible astronomically?? Easy! Off frame there’s another moon eclipsing the sunlight momentarily 🙂
Posted on May 11, 2021
It’s hard to believe that it has been 20 years since I posted “Tropical Moon of Thetis“. I’ve made lots of similar renders over the years but I wanted to create something with Blender and VUE that was something of a more direct tribute. I hope you enjoy it!! Night version forthcoming…
Posted on May 4, 2021
Nothing too fancy or outrageous here; just my first attempt at modeling and rendering a planet in Blender 2.9. I’d had a very quick process for creating planets in Ligtwave but Blender has a whole new system. I plan on using the planet as a backdrop but found it made a nice wallpaper by itself so I’ve added it to the gallery.
Stay tuned for a another view or two 🙂