Occum’s Razor
20070930
Now:
The modeling has its problems, but what bugs me most is the lighting on this piece. The sky is pretty great, but the guillotine itself is rather poorly lit. Hindsight, I suppose.
Then:
Archive for September, 2007
Behind My Eyes: A Dark Poem
20070928
Webs painted behind my eyes
Sleep is forsaken
Devils dance behind my eyes
Skin draws tighter
Take another shot
Still they refuse to die
Cackling and taunting
I grow weary of fighting
Smoke rises behind my eyes
Dark haze with no escape
Demons grin behind my eyes
Intent on my suffering
Spines
20070927
Now:
I can still enjoy this piece as a 3d doodle. The simplicity and reasonable textures feel more forgivable than some of my overworked and under-designed 3d images. A part of me, seeing this again, wants to develop more simple, iconic 3d images and achieve better results on such a low level of complexity, before attempting more involved scenes again.
Female Face Drawing
20070925
Now:
I remember this as one of the early drawings where I made use of reference. Drawing from a reference photo (probably a magazine) was a new thing for me at the time; it felt like it had to be cheating somehow. Nevertheless I had trouble getting proportions correct, and obviously the hair was a disaster. Then there was my inexplicable choice of presentation; it probably seemed like a good idea at the time to use some Photo-Paint effects.
I do feel that this piece works to show my skills progression, compared to others before and after it in my timeline.
Hallway
20070924
Now:
A very simple piece, this is probably the most basic modeling I’ve used in a rendering. It might have been fine, but the materials and lighting don’t feel like they do enough to add significant interest to the basic modelig setup.
On the other hand, I think I still enjoy long perspective shots. This was made before I had experience using depth of field, and it might have been nice to see some of that employed here; I have to admit I have a soft spot for distance and compositions that pull the viewer into the frame with great depth.
Power: Animation Test
20070923
Download the animation test videos:
power1.avi (320×240, 1.99MB, MPEG4)
-or-
power1.mpg (320×240, 6.99MB MPEG1)
Download an early test animation of the pod and its holder:
podtest1.avi (320×240, 840KB)
Liar’s Smile: a Poem
20070921
Retching into the toilet
Bile burning
Searing my throat as it pumps up
Splashing down to join the rest of the night’s festivities
Cleaning up (myself, my apartment, my life)
I wonder what it would be like
Thoughts stir and brew
Like the coffee I’ll have to bring my head around
Highway
20070920
Now:
I think that when I was composing this piece, I had some (vague, at least) idea of the composition I was seeking. That drove me to produce it.
The unfortunate part is that I had no idea what to use when filling in those compositional elements. Something dark in this lower corner of the image? An amorphous blob. Color? Er, yes! To bad they’re all over the place (in every sense of the word). Value? That means something in a visual design sense?
Ah, strangely it feels sort of good to MST3K my own work. Perhaps I’ve moved on from this level, though it might be hard to tell since I’ve also moved away from making 3d images, primarily due to time constraints. If I had the time, and could remember what Tom Servo’s profile looked like, I’d add an MST3K silhouette mouseover to this image.
Murder
20070919
Now:
What still interests me in this image is the attempt to tell a story. Most of my earlier pieces were either abstract or lacking any suggestion of a story, but here I started to imagine a narrative and fit this image into the puzzle. I was originally planning multiple images in a series that would tell more of the story, before software woes bade me move on.
Maleficent Head Model
20070918
Now:
Back in my Max R2.5 days, I was still very new to 3d modeling. Organic curves and shapes were (and still are, most of the time) a big challenge. Working from, I believe, a Maleficent postcard image, I started practicing by roughing out basic features and then refining into finer details. Of course it seems that I didn’t get all that far into the refining stages, but it was fun for a time.
Then:
Maleficent is a modeling project, my effort to create a 3D variant of the dark majestic villain.
M:tG Deckbuilding Tips Now on Pair O’ Dice Games
20070917
This article has moved - same content with a new home: Click here to read it now
My original article on MtG Deckbuilding Tips appears over on the Games Blog at Pair O’ Dice Games. Check it out, and take a look at a bunch more gaming articles while you’re there!
Time Wisp
20070913
Now:
For me this was a landmark piece in several ways. It marked the first time I combined a 3d rendered image with processing and effects in a 2d raster image application (in this case Corel Photo-Paint, probably version six or eight).
Pair O’ Dice Games Launched!
20070903
I’ve just teamed up with a long-time gamer (and best friend) to start a new games blog at Pair O’ Dice Games!
From now on, all of my game-related articles will be published at Pair O’ Dice Games, head over and check it out!
