Iron Golem Speed Paint

Hay all,

Just wanted to post about my new speed paint video.  I made it for the Jinx t-shirt competition that I made a post about HERE.  Anyway, I didn't make it through to the voting stages of the competition, however I did record EVERYTHING!!  So without further rattling on, here is the video!  Enjoy! 

Jinx T-Shirt Contest

Hi folks,

I haven't done a post recently and for that I am sorry.  However I am making this post to tell you about the Jinx T-shirt design contest.

------  Click here for the details of the contest. ----- 

I have entered the contest myself with an original design and I hope that I will make it through to the voting stages of the competition!  If I make it to the votes I will make a new post here in a couple of days time to ask for YOUR help in voting.  Also I intend to have a speedpaint video of me making my entry for the competition uploaded on my Youtube Channel, so you all get something back for voting for my design.

Thanks alls and finger crossed!!  :D

My New Guitar

I couldn't help but show off my new guitar and while I'm here make a few updates!!

First the guitar:

Ain't it a beauty?  I managed to get an entire starter kit from Gear4Music for a very reasonable price!  I'm going to start teaching myself how to play and might make my own music to add to my speed paint videos (copyright on Youtube has been a real thorn in my side recently).


So, onto the updates!



Firstly I'm still not taking Avatar Drawing Commissions, the work load from my Illustration Degree has increased and I have more deadlines to deal with.  I'm still going to be charging for commissions, however, the price will be dropped and there will be more options available to people depending on what they want.  Also, I'm trying to make a new, better way for people to contact me about avatar drawings, but we'll have to see how that goes.





The let's play series is going strong although there has been little interest from people on Youtube, this is understandable considering that Minecraft Let's Plays are EVERYWHERE on Youtube.  What annoys me is how much work I put into the videos and yet they still get lost under all the others.  Still, if I'm persistent, my channel will eventually grow.  If you are at all interested in watching the videos then here is a link to the Playlist for all the current episodes :)

Okay peeps, I think that's everything.  If you have any questions about anything then don't be afraid to leave a comment or hit me up on Youtube. 

The Beauty of Blender

I'm just gonna leave this here.  I wanted to create something that was both man-made and nature at the same time.  So I present the Steel Rose...enjoy!

Cell Ship Revamp!

Hi Folks,

I've been really busy recently and haven't been able to make any new posts, but I do have a good reason!  First Christmas, second New Years, third working on my degree, fourth releasing a new minecraft let's play!  Yeh that's right.  People have been asking me for a let's play and I finally did it.  Don't forget to like the video and share it to other minecraft lovers!!
Enjoy the video! Anyway, this is not the reason I have made this post.  Oh no indeed!

No, this post is dedicated to one of my most successful videos on my Youtube Channel.  Link to that video here.  That's right, the Cargo spaceship design!  So, I have recently upgraded my computer TO THE MAX and I want to redo the cell ship design but with cycles and better textures and materials!
To that end I have done some test renders with and without the blender compositor.  Tell me what you think about these sample images below:

 

So, thoughts, opinions?  Leave them below.  Thanks!

Spaceship Greeble - Detail FTW!

 What do you think of this!  Eh?

Greeble(this is a wiki link) btw, is where you add detail to an object to make it look more realistic.

Right, there is a fundamental problem with CGI.  In order for something to look realistic you need to have a LOT of detail (as well as good texturing and excellent lighting, lighting is probably the most important of these) BUT, if you add detail you drastically increase your rendering time, but also your work flow will start to slow down. 

Now, thanks to Michalis (a blender artist) I have discovered a technique that allows me to add detail, but still not worry about increasing my rendering time OR my work flow being slowed down.  Here is a link to Michalis' forum post on Sculpting with UVs and displacements.

Anyway, here is my attempt at using this technique, the image above shows a render of a normal Blender cube with a displacement texture that I have created.  It is such a simple and incredibly effective technique!  But also it allows me to create any number of displacement maps which I can use whenever I want to.  I could do a displacement map of pipes, escape pods or just some generic textures to create fine detail on my spaceships!

Oh!  While I'm here I will mention that I am upgrading all of my computer.  I am simply getting a better computer for gaming and CGI, I might do a post later on when I have the computer finished.  Which means that I will be able to do soooooo much more with Blender!  Yay!

I really LOVE Cycles!

Hi folks,

I'm back again!  This time I am looking deeeeeeeper into Cycles.  Really loving the realistic quality that you can achieve with very little input.  Anyway, this scene is an indoor lighting exercise.  With the recent release of Halo 4 I took an interest in Forerunner architecture, so I have modelled everything in this style.

This scene comprises of simple shapes and displacements textures.  The shaders are fairly simple as well; there is a glossy shader for the metal bars in the floor and on the walls, a glossy and diffuse mix shader for the floor and walls (these also have the displacement texture as well) and of course the blue neon lights just to give it that Forerunner feel.
Now the lighting is fairly simple as well, there is a main light source, coming from the doorway, a dark blue light to add atmosphere and a dull white light to lighten the entire image.  The entire scene took approximately 45 minutes to render at 400 samples.

The images below show the scene from the Blender view port so that you can see my set up.

Okay, this image shows you where the lighting has been placed, the objects in the scene and the camera!







This image shows you the scene rendered at 10 samples in the view port.  You can now clearly see where my lighting is placed and the effects of the lighting on the scene.