Grace Denied The human forms were generated in Poser 2, then imported
into Bryce3D for texturing and rendering. I leave it to the viewer to conclude
what this piece means; I'm not sure I entirely know myself. |
Further Shores An alien vessel strikes out for new destinations. The
piece is produced entirely in Bryce3D, though the background nebula is
a freehand composition made in Photoshop. |
Ejection Event This is a frame from a brief animation created in Bryce3D
to illustrate a recent gamma ray flare event in a distant radio galaxy.
The blob of gas ejected from the accretion disk surrounding the black hole
moves at nearly the speed of light towards a nearby cloud. Backscattered
light from the cloud passes through the relativistic blob stimulating the
brilliant flare. |
Sub Search Here is my next Ray Dream Designer 5 image, though the searchlight
has been touched up in Photoshop due to bugs that recently got fixed. RD5
has quite a lot of bang for its buck (you can find out more at the MetaCreations
web site), but it can definitely stand to have its rough edges smoothed
over in a version 5.0.2. This is based on an old spaceship sketch of mine
which I thought might also double as a decent Seaquest-style submarine. |
Phantom Cruiser OK, I admit that I always thought Space Ghost was kinda
cool, and his ship is slick. So I elected to model the Phantom Cruiser
to break in my new Ray Dream 5 upgrade. There's a lot of power and potential
in RD5: this image has not been retouched after rendering. The auras around
the rays, the particle explosion, and the volumetric fog nebulae are all
done inside the program. The new meshform modeller has a lot of power and
is pretty much unmatched in RD5's price class, but boolean combinations
are very problematical in this release. The wing alone took me over 5 versions
before I could produce something with the right shape, enough smoothness,
and would deform properly to get the upswept wingtips, though in principle,
any of my approaches should have worked. Hopefully in version 5.0.2... |
Valles Marineris With the spectacular success of the Mars
Pathfinder mission, it is only appropriate to add a Mars image to this
gallery. This terrain is rendered in Bryce 2 using terrain elevation maps
generated from Viking orbiter data. It shows a high-altitude view of Valles
Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system, named for the Mariner
probe that first discovered this feature. Bonus! You can also view
this image in 3-D! |
Ice and Fire After enjoying the wonderful astronomical art show at
Planetfest '97 I came home motivated to work a little on my "traditional"
techniques. This fantasy nebula is an airbrush creation. Well it is admittedly
a digital airbrush, but the techniques really are pretty much the same.
Clean-up is a lot easier, though. I must admit this isn't entirely
airbrush work; the ice asteroid is a Bryce 2 element. |
Starburst Clouds Here is a 100% Bryce 2 attempt to render a scientifically
accurate representation of a star formation region (hey, this is professional
pride I'm talking about). I envision this being much closer to the center
of a galaxy with a background densely packed with stars. The red nebulosity
is from hydrogen gas ionized by the hot young stars and the blue glow is
light from the stars reflected off the dissipating dust. |
Breaking Free This is another excursion into the world of DC comics
and one of my favorite characters: Green Lantern. This is a little more
sophisticated than my earlier such work as I'm now trying out the limits
of Poser 2. |
Canyon Run Two aerospace fighters play tag through a volcanically active
canyon region. This is a 100% Bryce 2 exercise playing around with multiple
light sources and volumetric clouds. |
The Consultation The pleasure of reading David Brin's latest uplift
novels has proven a visually inspirational source for further Bryce work.
Here is my interpretation of a shipboard branch of the Great Library. A
Thennanin Captain has just entered the chamber to tease out some vital
piece of information. |
Streaker Down This image illustrates a scene from Brin's classic Startide
Rising. The dolphin-crewed Streaker rests at the bottom of the poisonous
oceans of Kithrup. |
These are some of my latest creations. I will keep this page updated as
time permits so if you like what you see, check back periodically. Eventually
I hope to construct some pages with tips and hints, but making the art
is the top priority right now! Of course please do drop
me a line if you see something you like.
Grace Denied The human forms were generated in Poser 2, then imported
into Bryce3D for texturing and rendering. I leave it to the viewer to conclude
what this piece means; I'm not sure I entirely know myself.
Further Shores An alien vessel strikes out for new destinations. The
piece is produced entirely in Bryce3D, though the background nebula is
a freehand composition made in Photoshop.
Ejection Event This is a frame from a brief animation created in Bryce3D
to illustrate a recent gamma ray flare event in a distant radio galaxy.
The blob of gas ejected from the accretion disk surrounding the black hole
moves at nearly the speed of light towards a nearby cloud. Backscattered
light from the cloud passes through the relativistic blob stimulating the
brilliant flare.
Sub Search Here is my next Ray Dream Designer 5 image, though the searchlight
has been touched up in Photoshop due to bugs that recently got fixed. RD5
has quite a lot of bang for its buck (you can find out more at the MetaCreations
web site), but it can definitely stand to have its rough edges smoothed
over in a version 5.0.2. This is based on an old spaceship sketch of mine
which I thought might also double as a decent Seaquest-style submarine.
Phantom Cruiser OK, I admit that I always thought Space Ghost was kinda
cool, and his ship is slick. So I elected to model the Phantom Cruiser
to break in my new Ray Dream 5 upgrade. There's a lot of power and potential
in RD5: this image has not been retouched after rendering. The auras around
the rays, the particle explosion, and the volumetric fog nebulae are all
done inside the program. The new meshform modeller has a lot of power and
is pretty much unmatched in RD5's price class, but boolean combinations
are very problematical in this release. The wing alone took me over 5 versions
before I could produce something with the right shape, enough smoothness,
and would deform properly to get the upswept wingtips, though in principle,
any of my approaches should have worked. Hopefully in version 5.0.2...
Valles Marineris With the spectacular success of the Mars
Pathfinder mission, it is only appropriate to add a Mars image to this
gallery. This terrain is rendered in Bryce 2 using terrain elevation maps
generated from Viking orbiter data. It shows a high-altitude view of Valles
Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system, named for the Mariner
probe that first discovered this feature. Bonus! You can also view
this image in 3-D!
Ice and Fire After enjoying the wonderful astronomical art show at
Planetfest '97 I came home motivated to work a little on my "traditional"
techniques. This fantasy nebula is an airbrush creation. Well it is admittedly
a digital airbrush, but the techniques really are pretty much the same.
Clean-up is a lot easier, though. I must admit this isn't entirely
airbrush work; the ice asteroid is a Bryce 2 element.
Starburst Clouds Here is a 100% Bryce 2 attempt to render a scientifically
accurate representation of a star formation region (hey, this is professional
pride I'm talking about). I envision this being much closer to the center
of a galaxy with a background densely packed with stars. The red nebulosity
is from hydrogen gas ionized by the hot young stars and the blue glow is
light from the stars reflected off the dissipating dust.
Breaking Free This is another excursion into the world of DC comics
and one of my favorite characters: Green Lantern. This is a little more
sophisticated than my earlier such work as I'm now trying out the limits
of Poser 2.
Canyon Run Two aerospace fighters play tag through a volcanically active
canyon region. This is a 100% Bryce 2 exercise playing around with multiple
light sources and volumetric clouds.
The Consultation The pleasure of reading David Brin's latest uplift
novels has proven a visually inspirational source for further Bryce work.
Here is my interpretation of a shipboard branch of the Great Library. A
Thennanin Captain has just entered the chamber to tease out some vital
piece of information.
Streaker Down This image illustrates a scene from Brin's classic Startide
Rising. The dolphin-crewed Streaker rests at the bottom of the poisonous
oceans of Kithrup.
