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!