McSAnimations Log

Blog Moved

2009-10-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

McSAnimations Log has moved!

I've imported all posts/comments to my domain hosted blog (including full archives) and updated/fixed links and images for every post. Soon I will be implementing the code to redirect each McSAnimations Log post to the corresponding post on Breakaway.

The transition over the next couple days should go smoothly, but if you run across any bad links or redirecting bugs, let me know. Also, any bookmarks, rss feeds, or links you've made to McSAnimations Log should still work correctly, but I would suggest changing them to Breakaway for future posts.

(I will be removing all links on McSAnimations Log to my digital art (currently hosted on Photobucket.com). I am now hosting my digital art directly on my website.)

Chainlink Fence

2008-09-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

My Chainlink Fence product goes live on C3D today!

For both residential and commercial purposes, chainlink fencing is one of the most cost effective ways to secure your Vue scenes. More details and purchase here.

New Website and Blog!

2008-08-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been quite a long time since I've posted - too long, in fact. I haven't unfortunately been doing alot of renders/creating for a while - but have been up to other endeavors which has taken alot of my time. So, I'm happy to be able to announce my latest website and blog for your previewing pleasure!

The Art of Brady McIntosh

(I will keep McSAnimations going for quite a while, as I have no need to disable that site yet - but all of my latest renders/news will be posted on my new site.)

I've been coding/designing bradymcintosh.com since May and finally have it almost finished (there are still a few pages under construction - like the About pages on my website and blog - need to figure out what to write about myself, lol) I used the Joomla CMS for my website, so that's taken quite a while to get used to. It allows me to design my entire site visually without having to know a whole bunch of html/php/etc., but I ended up doing alot of coding myself so I could customize things to my liking. I started out with a premade design, but barely anything is left of it visually and most of the code has changed for the better. :)

Among other things, one new feature that I've implemented on bradymcintosh.com is flash galleries for all my digital art! Very happy with how it turned out and easy for me to keep adding to them. The flash galleries can also handle videos which is quite nice.

My new blog is for everything (including film/game/book reviews, photography, etc., etc.) except my digital art (for now). I'll be keeping McSAnimations Log for my 3d stuff. You can check out my new blog here:

Breakaway

I started out with Blogger on my website (on my own server), but with that you can only use Blogger default themes...and I didn't really dig their default themes, so I trashed that in a hurry. Again, I wanted more control over everything and custom designs, so I decided to try out WordPress. I've been amazed with WordPress and it's expandibility and am so glad I tried it out. I would definitely use WordPress over Blogger anytime now. There are so many custom plug-ins, themes, and widgets that make it your own blog. So, sign up for my RSS feeds on my new blog and comment all you like!

Bug reporting: if you come across any bugs on bradymcintosh.com of my blog, please use the Contact form on my website and let me know about them (i'll hopefully be able to figure them out).

Hopefully you haven't gotten bored reading this long post, lol. Thought I should at least post about what's been going on and no - I haven't forgotten about this blog, lol. I'm still around and have a few more projects up my sleeve (which you'll see soon enough). :)

Universe-al Elements

2008-03-28T16:45:00.000-07:00

My second product goes live today on C3D!!

Universe-al Elements bundle consists of 20 displacement materials for your Vue 6 scenes. With Automoton Widgets, Crystal Trails, Alien Emeralds, and more, the universe is your only limit! More details and purchase here.

Creating Hybrid Characters

2008-02-29T16:13:00.000-08:00

Wow...it's been a while. My health really hasn't been the best the last couple months, so my creating hasn't been up to par. I thought I should post today to show off my new hybrid character I created (Aiko 3/Near Me) (oh, and also because I won't be able to post on this exact day for another 4 years, lol). :)

Creating a hybrid figure (also known as a pop-top) is a great thing to do if you like a certain character's head a bunch but would like to use all the clothing you have for another figure (without using any clothing converter programs such as Wardrobe Wizard, Crossdresser, etc.). Click on the image for full view.

An excellent pop-top tutorial can be found at Ebonshire.net (here's a direct link to the Pop-Top Tutorial). Of course, you're welcome to try this tutorial with any character of your choice, but the tutorial was written specifically for the Anime Doll.

Here's a list of things you'll need for this tutorial:

A text editor like Notepad (although it says notepad won't work all that well with this, I used it and it worked great...go figure)
Morph Manager if you're a PC user or MacConverter for all the Mac users out there :)
Two figures (one for the head and the other for the body)
Poser 4 - 7

I used Near Me's head on Aiko 3's body. Follow the tutorial as well as you can - I had a little trouble while editing the *.cr2 for Near Me...and then figured out that none of the code on that part of the tutorial pertained to this figure, lol.

So, with my finished character, I get the looks of Near Me (and all her head morphs/expressions transferred using Morph Manager) while using Aiko's body for all her clothes I have. :) If you have any questions about the tutorial or creating pop-top characters, you can email me here. Enjoy!

New Year's Premiere

2008-01-01T11:26:00.000-08:00

You're just in time for the New Year's Premiere - dazzling lights, slick cars, and of course, the stars!

Hope you all have a wonderful 2008. Happy New Year!

Shocking Winner!!

2007-12-07T12:01:00.000-08:00

I was notified earlier today that my image "CrimsonTongue" won first prize in Runtime DNA's latest contest, "Utterly Shocking"! First prize is a $150 gift certificate to RDNA's store!!
(More info on CrimsonTongue here...)

Thank you RDNA for the great contest and fantastic prize! :)

Knight of Shadows

2007-11-26T21:20:00.000-08:00

(RoW Nov. 27 - Dec. 2)

I created Knight of Shadows with Poser (character/props), Vue (lighting/foliage/atmosphere), and Photoshop (2d drawings/border/signature).

Over 11 million polygons total in scene. Used the Poser Shader Tree to render character.

Check out what other artists had to say:

Really nice touch with the illumination effect - Kev
Superb imitation of infrared vision! - David Potente

Enjoy!

Indian Summer

2007-11-12T21:24:00.000-08:00

(RoW Nov. 12 - 18)

Colorful leaves fall from trees,
The day is cool, but the birds sing in the high treetops,
The sun shines brightly from the afternoon sky,
One last glimpse of summer before winter.

I created Indian Summer for a contest on C3D - didn't place, but am very satisfied with this image. After the render, I did a few minor color adjustments in Photoshop. Thanks for looking and enjoy!

Vegas Glow

2007-11-05T18:28:00.000-08:00

(RoW Nov. 5 - 11)

Hazem Zoom's Lamborghini Murcielago is too cool a car to keep sitting in my hard drive. :)

In Vue 6, I first set up the HDRI environment (take a look at this post here to refresh yourself on HDRI). Since I only had one photo to work with (and it wasn't a panorama), the background image was stretched and blurred quite a bit. So, I created a single-sided vertical plane and mapped the image to that. I worked with the mapped photo texture a bit to make the colors brighter/more intense. I placed the Lamborghini in the foreground and the sign between the car and the photo. Since I'm using an HDRI environment, notice how the buildings/lights from the photo reflect on the cars' reflective surfaces. Also, the lighting in my scene was created to look exactly like the photo's lighting.

After the 5h10'59" render, I moved into Photoshop. I painted some colors and designs on the ground to match the photo with the 3d and also adjusted the lighting and added some glow to finish off the image. Final: Vegas Glow. Enjoy!

CrimsonTongue

2007-10-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

(RoW Oct. 29 - Nov. 4)

CrimsonTongue, the "official" bloodman of the False Shadowlands. After going in, nobody comes out...

I created this image for a Dream/Nightmare contest online, and then also uploaded it to a contest at Runtime DNA called, "Utterly Shocking". (Warning: this image is very violent and has lots of blood.)

This was a very memory-intensive scene - almost all of the figures and props in this scene were imported from Poser. But with my new machine, I bet I could've squeezed in a few more. :) After setting up the scene and lighting in Vue 6, the image rendered in about 1 hour 30 min.

Trying to match the image with the idea I had, I ended up doing alot of postwork in Photoshop: lighting adjustments, blood, signature, etc.. Final image: CrimsonTongue. Thanks for looking!

Technical Difficulties

2007-10-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

I'm experiencing technical difficulties while trying to update my website, so I'll try updating it again tomorrow. I've got a render of the week ready to go, so expect it sometime this week. :)

Last Cutting

2007-10-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

(RoW October 15 - 21)

My new computer is up and running and I'm having a blast with it! I now have so much power at my finger tips, I don't know what to do with it all, lol. Here's the specs of my new box:

Windows XP Pro x64
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
4Gb of RAM
nVidia GeForce 8800GTS 640Mb
250Gb, 400Gb HDs
Antec Basiq 500W PSU
MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
DVD-ROM, DVD Burner
Wireless Card
Antec 900 Case
X2GEN 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor
(And an old ViewSonic 19" CRT Monitor for a dual monitor setup)

My new system has worked wonders with Vue - faster renders, faster OpenGL, etc.. One of the most noticeable changes is how I can maneuver around my multi-billion-polygon scenes with barely any lag at all. Also, I can be rendering an image and playing a very graphical intensive game at the same time. Just amazing - I'm loving it. :)

So, Last Cutting was my first scene with my new system. After setting up the scene, it rendered in around 4 and a half hours. In Photoshop, I brightened the scene a little and added the border and signature. Final: Last Cutting. Enjoy!

Featured!!

2007-10-09T08:30:00.000-07:00

I was browsing DAZ3D's galleries yesterday morning and came across a pleasant surprise: my image "Boyd Racer" is being featured in DAZ3D's October Gallery! Thanks DAZ!

Summer Glory

2007-10-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

(RoW October 8 - 14)

Well, it's October - one of the busiest times of the year for entering big contests across the web. Been creating quite a few different scenes and images lately, which (unfortunately), I won't be able to show you until next month (when the contests are over). However, I'll still be around and posting until then (hopefully, I won't miss any more RoWs). :)

I created Summer Glory for the "Summer Skies" contest at C3D last month. Unfortunately, there was alot of good competition (lol), so I didn't place. Had fun making the image though. There are three large ecosystems in this scene - totaling 593,135,519 polygons. After the 4 hour and 45 min. render, I adjusted the lighting a little and sharpened the image in Photoshop. Thanks for looking!

Sumatra Jungle

2007-09-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

(RoW September 24 - 30)

Haven't gotten my new computer up and running yet, but hopefully will in the next couple weeks. Until then, I'll continue creating. :)

Sumatra Jungle is this week's Render of the Week - created it in about 3-4 hours today. In the scene, I have two large ecosystems of tropical jungle plants, one distant light, and one volumetric spotlight (that's what's making the amazing light rays).

After the 18 min. render, I adjusted the lighting in Photoshop, blurred it a little, and added the border, signature, and title. Finished: Sumatra Jungle. Thanks for looking!

There is a print available of Sumatra Jungle in my deviantART store here. Enjoy!

No RoW this week

2007-09-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of building myself a computer, so the Render of the Week will be put on hold. If I get my new rig up and running, I might render a scene and post it here during the week. I'll release the specs for the new box when I'm finished building. RoWs will resume September 24. Thanks and have a great week!

Kroluk Place

2007-09-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

(RoW Sept. 10 - 16)

While beta testing some excellent plants and ecosystems for a brokered artist on C3D, I came up with this fun idea for a scene and put it into action. The grass plants are created by Incredibly Lush and the ecosystem of trees from a fall foliage bundle I was testing - very nice plants with realistic textures.

So, after playing with the materials and ecosystems in Vue 6, I placed the fantasy house model in the scene. Next, I worked on the lighting - in the end I used an atmosphere from my Amazing Atmos - Fantastical bundle available here on C3D. I also added a point light inside the house and adjusted the strength of the light for brightness.

The scene rendered in about 3 hours and then I added a little brightness and blur to the image in Photoshop. Final: Kroluk Place. Enjoy!

Boyd Racer

2007-09-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

(RoW Sept. 3 - 9)

After buying this great character and texture pack, I just had to create an image using it. The textures are very realistic and the character morph is very different from the default figure.

I set up the scene in Vue 6 Pro after posing the character in Poser and importing into Vue. I played with the lighting a bit and ended using an HDRI environment with 2 directional and 2 spot lights. I rotated the camera just a little to add some expression to the image.

In Photoshop, I blurred the background, made a few hair corrections, and added the border and signature. Finished: Boyd Racer. Enjoy!

RYO

2007-08-27T17:08:00.000-07:00

(RoW Aug. 27 - Sept. 2)

I created RYO while playing around with my cell shading method in Poser/Vue again. I really enjoy this style of art and had alot of fun creating this image.

In Poser, I began creating my character. I used a few custom morphs on RYO, but the hardest thing to get right was the hair. Usually, I just use one hair figure on my characters, but this time I couldn't find a style I liked. So, using a few different kinds of hair figures/props, I mixed and matched, spun alot of parameter dials, and then textured each one with the same colors. When my character was complete, I applied my cell shading method to him and called it good.

I imported my character into Vue with the "Use Poser Shader Tree" checked. Also, the room in which I placed him was set up first in Poser and imported using that same option. After working with the lighting a bit, I rendered the scene and moved into Photoshop.

In Photoshop, I made a few touch-ups on my figure, adjusted the lighting a little, and added the border and signature. Since I didn't use just one hair figure, it didn't fit that great onto my character, so I touched up the forhead area with a few different brushes. Final image: RYO. Thanks for looking!

There is a print available of RYO in my deviantART store here. Enjoy!

Out of Town...

2007-08-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

I'm out of town at the moment, so there will not be a Render of the Week this week. RoWs will start up again on August 27th.

Darkness and Light Contest Winner!!

2007-08-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

The "Darkness and Light" contest winners were announced this afternoon and my image, Revelation, was at the very top - in first place! Yay!

To view the contest winners, please visit the Gold Gallery on Renderdreams website.

As a first place winner, I will receive a $50 gift certificate to any online marketplace (that sells 3d stuff) of my choice! Thank you Renderdreams!

Revelation

2007-08-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

(RoW Aug. 13 - 19)

This image was created for a recent contest called "Darkness and Light". The voting for the contest got over a few days ago and the winners will be announced shortly. Hopefully, my image will place in the top three. :)

Revelation is my interpretation of "Darkness and Light". I completed this image after working on it for a couple weeks. Something that I had never really tried before was creating two different scenes in Vue, render each one separately, and then add both renders together in postwork to create one image. The hardest thing to do was making sure the camera angles were correct, so that when I added both images together, the angles would match up.

I spent alot of time in Poser posing each figure and prop and then importing them into Vue 6. The angel figure accesses the Poser Shader Tree while rendering for better materials.

In Photoshop, I added each image to one canvas and then started the process of integrating both of them together by making some minor changes. After changing a few things, I painted with quite a few different kinds of brushes, making sure the two images flowed as one (the sword across the middle of the image is a render from Poser I did a while ago). Last of all, I painted on some final details and called it finished: Revelation.

There is a print available of Revelation in my deviantART store here. Thanks for looking and enjoy!

Image Used for Ad!!

2007-08-11T11:32:00.000-07:00

Recently, while visiting e-on software's website, I noticed one of my images being used for an ad on their website! Go visit e-on's website (here) and you'll see the ad on the front page bottom left. When you click on the ad, it'll go to a page explaining the Power Bundle and a larger version of my image. (Notice: The figure's skin may appear to be a little washed out. This is because of what e-on did for the advertisement.)

My image, Spring Meadow, was e-on's Picture of the Day December 18, 2006.

Spring Meadow illustrates the perfect way Poser and Vue 6 interact together (more info on the image here). This is the first time any of my images have been used for promotional purposes, so it is very exciting!

Kirkcolm

2007-08-06T17:34:00.000-07:00

(RoW August 6 - 12)

I created Kirkcolm for e-on software's 2007 3D Environment Competition. Although I didn't place, it was still alot of fun.

There were some rules with this contest - and one of the biggest (at least for me) was that you couldn't do any postwork on your finished image. I played around a bit with some post-processing effects directly in Vue 6, but didn't do anything in any other programs (I added the signature later in Photoshop after the contest was over).

Here's some stats on my scene:

275 Objects
1,165,185,899 Polygons
Global Illumination
No postwork

All in all, it is an image that I'm very satisfied with. Check out what other artists on C3D had to say:

The same outstanding quality work we are accustom to, from you my friend. Very beautiful. - Joe Battle
Beautiful,very good work!!Well done! - Benoit Gaszkowiak
Wow. Truly excellent. The trees look so meticulously placed. - Arthur Dorety
Really nice and very realistic! - Gwenolye

Hopefully, I'll be able to make this into a print soon (for all you that want to hang it on your wall). :) Thanks for looking!

Lamborghini Murcielago

2007-07-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

(RoW July 30 - Aug. 5)

A good friend of mine, Hazem Zoom, modeled a fantastic Lamborghini Murcielago in 3ds Max. He started the modeling in November of '06, and he kept me updated throughout the whole project. Finally, in February of this year ('07), Hazem Zoom finished his model - and sent one to me for free. He is currently selling his model in an online store, 3DExport.com: Lamborghini Murcielago by Hazem Zoom .

I created this image as a tribute to Hazem and all the hard work he put into this amazing model. Scene set up and rendered in Vue 6 Pro Studio. Minor postwork in Photoshop (slight color adjustment, border, signature). Finished: Lamborghini Murcielago.

Thanks for looking!

Tagger's Art

2007-07-23T14:58:00.000-07:00

(RoW July 23 - 29)

I created this image for a workshop in the 2d forum on C3D. The point of this workshop was to create a realistic brick wall with graffiti in a 2d app( like Photoshop). Then you had to map the finished texture map onto a rectangle in Vue.

After creating the brick wall texture in a texture creation program, I painted on all my graffiti and splatters in Photoshop with my Intuos 3 Wacom tablet. When I was finished, I mapped it onto a rectangle in Vue 6. In Vue's material editor, I added the bump map I created from the brick wall so it would give the wall a displacement like effect (not entirely smooth).

Then, to have a bit of fun, I created a gangster in Poser and imported him into Vue to stand by my wall (figure is rendered in Vue with the Poser Shader Tree). I added a couple props and then worked on the lighting. I used Global Illumination with one point light (the sun).

I didn't do any postwork on this scene. Final image: Tagger's Art. Enjoy!

Picture of the Day!!

2007-07-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

"Chika vs. Ryuichi" is today's Picture of the Day at e-on software!

Thanks e-on!

High Velocity

2007-07-16T16:54:00.000-07:00

(RoW July 16 - 22)

High Velocity is about 3/4 3d and I postworked the rest. I imported the figures (ships and pilots) from Poser into Vue after setting up the scene and messing around with the lighting.

In postwork, I blurred the lower half of the image, added the wing trails, and adjusted the color levels a little.

Thanks for looking!

Dream Chapel

2007-07-12T17:38:00.000-07:00

Trying to ease back into things - so I'm having a bit of fun with my Amazing Atmos, a model by my good friend Clark, and some Photoshop filters.

Dream Chapel

Intensive postwork in Photoshop. Thanks for looking!

Meteor Moonlight

2007-07-09T15:12:00.000-07:00

(RoW July 9 - 15)
Hello everyone! Back from a great vacation and off to a start once again.

This week's Render of the Week is called, "Meteor Moonlight". The atmosphere in this image was one of my custom atmospheres and is available to purchase in my Amazing Atmos - Fantastical bundle on C3D. Meteor Moonlight was completely rendered in Vue 6 - no postwork at all (only border and signature).

I created one terrain for this scene and populated it with some alien vegetation. After placing the drop ship in the sky and positioning the jet flames and meteors correctly, I went ahead and rendered the scene. Final image: Meteor Moonlight. Enjoy!

There is a print available of Meteor Moonlight in my deviantART store here.

Outpost Terminated

2007-06-18T07:46:00.000-07:00

(RoW June 18 - July 9)

With the rising of a new and powerful ruler in the far-reaches of the galaxy, many planetary outposts have been abandoned to consolidate military forces in preparation for the biggest stellar battle of all time. As troops are transported back to the home world, they leave behind friends, enemies, and the homes they knew for decades.

______________________________________

The current challenge in the Materials & Terrains forum on C3D is called "Forgotten Planets". I created this scene with an idea I had a while ago - and then it turned into a great "Forgotten Planets" challenge entry. I had alot of fun with this scene since I really enjoy creating sci-fi worlds.

This scene rendered in about 1 hour and 45 minutes. There are 2 directional lights, 34 objects, and 742,859,519 polygons in this scene. I didn't have to do any postwork on this image (only border and signature). Finished: Outpost Terminated.

Note: I'll be taking some time off for the next couple weeks, so I won't be posting any RoWs during that time. I'll start my Render of the Weeks back up the 9th of July.

AA - Fantastical

2007-06-15T12:11:00.001-07:00

My first product as a broker for Cornucopia 3d - "Amazing Atmos - Fantastical bundle" - went live this morning!!

Amazing Atmos - Fantastical bundle consists of 15 spectral atmospheres for your Vue scenes. From the splendor of sunrise to the magic of moonlight, let your imagination fly sky high! This atmosphere bundle is available for Vue 6+.
More details and purchase here

Chika vs. Ryuichi

2007-06-11T14:33:00.000-07:00

(RoW June 11 - 17)

This image was my second entry to the urban fantasy contest. I didn't end up winning anything, but I still had a bunch of fun creating this image.

I used my cell shading method in Vue once again with this image. In Vue 6, I built the Japanese city from free models around the web, posed my characters in Poser, and imported them into my scene. After setting up the atmosphere and lighting correctly, I rendered the image and began the postwork.

I ended up doing alot of postwork on this image. Mostly because I was experimenting with different effects and layers in Photoshop. To begin, I cut the characters out of my image and made duplicate copies of them. I changed the layer opacities on each layer, and I also cut out the red sun and placed that layer on top of the image. When the background was finished, I applied a custom filter to it and called it finished: Chika vs. Ryuichi.

Check out what other artists had to say about this image:

Wow Brady this is pure awesome!! Your really becoming a Pro with unique qualities - ~Michael~
Bradymac, an awesome style and stylish render! - David Martin
Another outstanding one from yourself - I do love this unique style of yours - More please - Gaffer
Are you sure that's not a screen grab from a playstation or xbox? Really good visual Brady! - Kev

There is a print available of Chika vs. Ryuichi in my deviantART store here. Enjoy!

Night Bloom

2007-06-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

(RoW June 4 - 10)

I created Night Bloom for an urban fantasy contest online. This scene really pushed my computer to the limit - I had to work in wireframe mode (usually I use OpenGL) and I turned off the automatic render preview to speed up the scene a bit.

The Lamborghini Murcielago was modeled in 3ds Max and given to me by my good friend Hazem Zoom. It took him 3-4 months of continual work to finish this model. It is extremely realistic and very fun to work with. However, since it is so detailed, there are over 2 million polygons that make up this model! And there are alot of textures for each part of the car. This really slows my computer down, but having fun with this Lamborghini makes up for the lack of speed.

After setting up the overall lay-out of the scene (the scale of the car compared the buildings was tough to match and very time-consuming), I worked on the atmosphere and lighting. I used a custom atmosphere I had created a while back and added a large planet in the sky. Since the viewer cannot see the entire planet (only the top part), it looks more like a burst of light or something in the sky, and adds a great effect to the scene.

The render took about 6 and a half hours to complete. To finish, I adjusted the colors a little in Paint Shop Pro: Night Bloom. Thanks for looking!

Also, this image is available as a print on DeviantArt: Night Bloom Print.

Delta Invasion

2007-06-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

Warning: Violence in short story

The soldiers were dissatisfied with their assignments. They had signed up and trained to be the best of the best. They were the best. Covert-Op missions were supposed to be much more exciting and adventurous than patrol duty at a run-of-the-mill military camp. They all had dreams - and it wasn't happening here.

On August 10th, 2009, an Elite Delta team went dark. They wanted to make a major impact on western civilization. They had plans to carry out that would change the world forever.

The Delta team leader had secret connections with a well-known scientist. This scientist claimed that he discovered a way to travel into the future or back to the past. By twisting elements of time and energy together - the explosive reaction would form a gigantic wormhole to other times. This scientist should've destroyed his machine once and for all, but he wanted something all men want most: the power to control. He was obsessed with his invention, his power - and with the past.

The Delta team had their orders in hand. They were packed and ready to go. One by one, the soldiers, gear, Humvees, and Blackhawks disappeared through the wormhole. The scientist stood nearby, a greedy smile playing on his face. When all was through, he activated the time bombs around his machine. With just a few steps, the scientist traveled into the past - and claimed world domination.

As soon as the team was through the wormhole, preparations began for a major assault on nearby villages and towns. But before the world fell, the now unimportant scientist met his end with a bullet through his skull.

Everyone in the medieval period stood no chance against the highly trained Delta team and their advanced weaponry. The last thing most peasants saw in their lives were machine like birds flying through the sky and four-wheeled motorized carts crawling through the uneven terrain - spreading horrific death all around them. Nothing was spared. And no soldier looked back. They all had a cause and would fulfill their mission to the end.

One by one, in the biggest blood-bath of all time, empires and civilizations fell to the hands of the Delta team. The soldiers didn't care - they were fulfilling their dreams. They were making and changing history.

______________________________________

I created Delta Invasion for the Time Travel Challenge on C3D. Since I co-won the last challenge in the Poser Forum, I'll be submitting this image as non-voting. Hopefully, we'll get a few more entries in the next week before it ends.

I began in Poser - working with my prince and horse figures. This was one of the hardest times I've ever had posing them, because I didn't have any premade poses to work from. Eventually, I got the basic figure positions and then tweaked certain body parts to get them right.

After finishing my prince and horse figures, I worked on the posing of the Delta soldiers. This wasn't nearly as hard as the man on horseback, so it didn't take very long.

In Vue, I imported my figures and saved them as Vue objects.

The scene consists of a few different eco-systems and 249,836,873 polygons. I worked on the atmosphere last (which was one of my custom atmospheres I had created a while back). The atmosphere uses ambient occlusion lighting and the scene rendered in about 1 hour 25 min.. There is no postwork in this scene (except for my signature). Finished: Delta Invasion. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

e-on's Picture of the Day!!

2007-05-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

"Ryuichi" is today's Picture of the Day at e-on software!

Thank you e-on!

Nightfall on Ocufig

2007-05-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

(RoW May 28 - June 3)

I was mostly experimenting with modifying plants in Vue and playing in Corel Painter 3 in this scene and image. Also, there are some really cool layer materials that come with Vue 6 that make the terrain look more realistic and not so smooth. I used a custom volumetric atmosphere I created and was surprised that the render time wasn't longer.

I created the terrain and then textured it with an ecosystem of my modified plant and layer material. After placing the futuristic building in the scene and applying my custom atmosphere (uses Global Illumination), the image took 1h49'57" to render.

After the render, I put the image through a couple filters in Painter and then painted over the image with a few digital oil brushes using my Wacom tablet. In Photoshop, I added my signature to finish it off: Nightfall on Ocufig. Enjoy!

New Blog Design!

2007-05-22T18:04:00.000-07:00

I've finally taken the time to redesign my blog. I created the banner using part of my "Ryuichi" image, and also changed my profile pic using my character from "Hiroki". I hope you all like the colors and new design!

Blue Sailing

2007-05-21T16:48:00.000-07:00

(RoW May 21 - 27)

I created Blue Sailing with one of my custom atmospheres from a bundle I will hopefully be able to sell on Cornucopia 3D. I was accepted as a Published Artist for C3D a couple weeks ago, and am finishing with my atmosphere bundle at the moment. I'll be sending the bundle to my beta testers sometime soon.

After rendering the scene, I adjusted the colors levels, blurred it some, and added the border/signature in Photoshop and Corel Painter.

Thanks for looking and enjoy!

Ryuichi

2007-05-14T07:06:00.000-07:00

(RoW May 14 - 20)

Once again, having fun with my cell shading method in Vue 6.

In Poser, I posed and textured the character.

In Vue, I created the scene with 2 lights (1 spotlight from above and a directional light from the front) The background behind the railing is made up of 1 vertical plane with a custom displacement material.

After rendering, I made a few color adjustments, and added the border and signature. Finished: Ryuichi. Thanks for looking and enjoy!

There is a print available of Ryuichi in my deviantART store here.

Picture of the Day!!

2007-05-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

"Hiroki vs. Ryuichi" is today's Picture of the Day at e-onsoftware!!

Thanks e-on!

The Protector

2007-05-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

(RoW May 7 - 13)

The Protector
I've already written about how I created this scene on my Concept Art page on my website. So I guess I'll link everybody that way.

The Protector In-Depth Review

Enjoy!

Featured!!

2007-05-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

The Backstreets is featured at DAZ 3D's May Gallery this month!

Thanks DAZ!

Laser Girl

2007-04-30T16:02:00.000-07:00

(RoW April 30 - May 6)

I created Laser Girl for the challenge "My Hero" at C3D. The idea for this challenge is to render a scene of a superhero and/or villain in an action scene and postwork the special effects into it.

First, I posed Victoria 4.1 in Poser and conformed the shirt, hair, and laser prop. Then I imported her into Vue 6. I used the Poser Shader Tree to render her in Vue. There are 5 lights in the scene (1 directional, 1 point, and 3 spotlights (1 of them being volumetric)). After I created the scene, I rolled the camera 5 degrees to add a twist to the scene, lol.

After rendering the image, I painted the laser beam in Photoshop with my Wacom Tablet, made some lighting adjustments, blurred the image, and added my border and signature.

Thanks for looking!

Available for Purchase!

2007-04-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

Recently, I set up shop with DeviantART.com in order to sell my images as prints! At the moment, only a few of my images are available, but I will upload more shortly. My prints come in many different sizes and finishes.

Check out my Store page here: McSAnimations Store
My profile on DeviantART can be viewed here: McSAnimations on DeviantART

Also, my Store is accessible from the Store page on my website. If there are any images of mine that you would like to see in print (that are currently not in print), or if you have any questions, please send me an email. I'll see what I can do.

Anarane

2007-04-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

(RoW April 23 - 29)

I created Anarane a while back using a freebie from DAZ 3D. I had fun playing with the vegetation/ecosystems and lighting.

After the render, I blurred the image a little bit in Photoshop and added my signature. Thanks for looking!

Challenge Winner!

2007-04-17T16:18:00.000-07:00

The NGS ties for first place in the Humanoid Challenge on C3D! Final standings:

1. "The NGS" - by bradymac
tied with
1. "The Last One" - by sl701
(sorry, link isn't working at the moment)

Hiroki vs. Ryuichi

2007-04-16T15:42:00.000-07:00

(RoW April 16 - 22)

Hiroki vs. Ryuichi is another image that uses my method of cell shading in Vue. It's a great technique and I really enjoy using it in my scenes.

I posed the characters and customized the materials in Poser. In Vue, I imported the characters and set up the scene. There are 2 spotlights in the scene (one right above each figure) and one directional light (colored gray).

I rendered the scene in Vue 6 with the Poser Shader Tree. The render didn't take very long at all, and then I moved into Photoshop. I painted on some grunge markings and other effects with my Intuos 3 Wacom tablet, adjusted the lighting a little, and added the border and signature.

There is a print available of Hiroki vs. Ryuichi in my deviantART store here. Enjoy!

Picture of the Day!!

2007-04-13T08:35:00.000-07:00

"Backstreets" is today's Picture of the Day and e-on software!!

Thank you e-on!

River Pods on Targus 1

2007-04-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

(RoW April 9 - 15)

I don't exactly remember how long this scene took to render, but I know it rendered through the night. The dome houses and bridge house are models by Clark Cook (very fun to work with) and available at C3D. I spent a bunch of time working with the water, transparencies, and colors.

In postwork, I applied a slight blur and then created the border and signature. Finished image: River Pods on Targus 1. Thanks for looking!

Sandstorm

2007-04-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

I created Sandstorm for the current Materials and Terrain Challenge on C3D: Aftermath. Since I won the last M&T challenge, Aftermath was my idea and we've gotten a good amount of entries. Voting starts tomorrow.

The point of the challenge Aftermath, was to create the aftermath of a natural disaster.

To start, I created an ecosystem of Dystopia City blocks. I then sculpted a dune terrain in the terrain editor and placed it in the city. The Blackhawk helicopters are imports from Poser. I made a huge sphere and placed it right over the city, turned the transparency all the way up on the sphere, and created an ecosystem of helicopters. This was something I had wanted to try for a while. It was quite tough getting the density and scale correct, but eventually it worked out.

In Photoshop, I smudged around some of the dunes to simulate blowing sand. Then I blurred the image slightly. Finished: Sandstorm.

Enjoy!

The NGS

2007-04-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

Created in search of more advanced technology, greater protection and defense, the Next Generation Soldier (NGS) serves many purposes. With bullet proof armor spread over the entire body, night vision, heat sensors, and armed (literally) with the new R10 Chaingun, this soldier can hold positions and fight harder than any other soldier on the face of the planet. Human brain cells are contained in a metal tube in the NGS' head, giving the soldier advanced planning, thinking ability, and a mind to make its own strategic decisions. Driven by the 957 Director chip, these soldiers are able to be controlled from long distances or underground. The NGS is lethal in hand-to-hand combat and also has sniper capability at times using the in-brain navigation system and locator.

The NGS is the future. The future is now.
(short story by McSAnimations)

I created the NGS for the Humanoids Poser Challenge on C3D. The point of the challenge was to pose and morph a figure in Poser and retexture the entire figure with Vue procedural materials.

The render took about 1 hour 25 min.. In postwork, I adjusted the lighting a little, blurred the chaingun, and added the border and signature. Thanks for looking!

Edit: Someone commented that they liked the green plate of color that I put over the image. Actually, the green part of the image is the original. For the border, I colored the image black and white and placed it behind the original. This is the same method that I used on the Backstreets also. Just thought I'd clarify. :)

Backstreets

2007-04-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

(RoW April 2 - 8)

I created the Backstreets using the method for my cell shading tutorial. This image was rendered in Vue 6 with the Poser Shader Tree. There are 3-4 spotlights in this scene and no sun (directional light). After the render completed (40 - 50 min.), I adjusted some colors, blurred it slightly, and added the border and signature in Photoshop.

This image really shows what is capable with my Cell Shading tutorial. No comic or cartoon filters of any kind were used in postwork. If you haven't checked the tutorial out yet, please >>click here<<. Also, on the Manga Art page of my gallery you'll find higher resolutions of this image.

There is a print available of Backstreets in my deviantART store here. Enjoy!

Released!

2007-03-30T10:18:00.000-07:00

My Cell Shading tutorial has been released!
Have fun!

Here's an image I've created using this cell shading method:

Hiroki

This scene was rendered in Vue 6 Pro Studio. In Photoshop, I adjusted the lighting and painted a bit with my Wacom tablet. Thanks for looking!

Special thanks to Stardust Crossing for the translation. :)

There is a print available of Hiroki in my deviantART store here. Enjoy!

Cell Shading Tutorial

2007-03-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a Cell Shading tutorial for the past 4 weeks. I always wanted to get that Manga or comic look with 3d without any postwork, but couldn't find anything online about it. So, I set about trying to figure it out, and soon I did!

Both Poser 6+ and Vue 6 artists will be able to use this tutorial. The point of this tutorial is to introduce two rarely used features in Vue 6 and Poser 6/7: creating cell shading materials in Poser and rendering with Vue 6’s Poser Shader Tree.

At the moment, my tutorial is being tested by my Beta testers. Hopefully, I'll be able to release it very soon. Check the tutorials page on my website once in a while for more news and updates.

Website Redesign

2007-03-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

I've been redesigning and updating my website for the past few days. I've made it more personalized instead of it having the "default" look. There's alot of new pages, graphics, and images up. Go on over a take a look!

McSAnimations

If you come across any errors or missing links, please send me an email. Thanks!

Galaxy Port 518

2007-03-26T18:34:00.000-07:00

(RoW March 26 - April 1)

Galaxy Port 518 was my entry for the recent contest on C3D. This scene pushed my PC to the limit.

I started off by constructing the port base with Vue primitives. I also created an area light and duplicated it multiple times and placed them around the port base. I placed Poser objects on the port to finish it off.

There are 469 objects in the scene and 109,772,706 polygons. The crates around the port are made up of ecosystem materials. I posed the aliens and robots in Poser and created an ecosystem of them in Vue.

The atmosphere was quite fun to create in Vue 6. I played around with spectral cloud layers for a bit and lighting.

The render took almost 11 hours and 40 min.. I slightly blurred the image and added the flames in Photoshop to finish: Galaxy Port 518. Enjoy!

H.M.S. Fury

2007-03-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

(RoW March 19 - 25)

One of my favorite time periods in History is the 1600s - 1800s: Nelson vs. Napoleon. I really enjoy reading about the great ships that sailed the seas, the pirates and buccaneers, and the wars between England and France. I admire the heroes of that time, the men and captains that manned those warships. From these stories and legends, from the fierce battles that raged across the seas, I created an image hopefully worthy of this time and era - the H.M.S. Fury.

This image took a long while to create. I started off messing with waves and different functions in Vue 6. After a while, I got this great idea and began working on it. The ship is a model from C3D and I customized it to look like an English vessel. I tweaked dials and parameters on the atmosphere for a bit and then rendered the image.

I let Vue render through the night. The render took 18 hours in all. After finishing, I started postwork on it the next morning. I added in all the foam and adjusted the lighting a little. Finally finished: H.M.S. Fury. Thanks for looking!

There is a print available of H.M.S. Fury in my deviantART store here. Enjoy!

Dathan

2007-03-12T09:53:00.000-07:00

(RoW March 12 - 18)

I created this image thanks to a friend on C3D. He helped me out with texturing and lighting tips. :)

Starting in Poser, I morphed Michael 3 and applied some HI-res textures. After conforming the clothing, I imported the scene into Vue 6. The lighting in this image is made up of one HDRI environment (see Sounds of Autumn) and uses Global Illumination. The background image is not part of the HDRI, but adds to the lighting and color of the scene. The texture on the background plane is a HI-res photo of Pluto (4000x4000).

I rendered this scene in Vue with the Poser Shader Tree at 96 DPI. After about a 3 hour and 50 minute render, I added a border and my signature in Photoshop. I did not do any postwork on this image. :) Finished: Dathan. Thanks for looking!

Fiat Racer

2007-03-05T14:26:00.000-08:00

(RoW March 5 - 11)

I started with the Fiat Mephistopheles which I downloaded from DMI Cars and entirely retextured in Vue. I used a couple pics of the Fiat from around the web as references while retexturing. After finishing with the model, I opened Poser and began the creation of the driver. I used DAZ's Michael 3 for the base character and morphed him all up with his head and body morphs. When I was done conforming the clothing and posing the figure, I imported him into Vue 6. I adjusted M3 a few times in Poser to make him fit into the car.

Then came the environmental creation. The road was an object I downloaded a long time ago, so I don't remember where it came from. I created a terrain and populated it with some Incredibly Lush vegetation.

The render took about 3 and a half hours to complete, and then I blurred certain parts of the image in Photoshop and brightened it a tad. Final image: Fiat Racer. Enjoy!

Summer Night

2007-02-26T08:50:00.000-08:00

(RoW Feb. 26 - March 4)

A little while ago, I was given the opportunity to beta test a couple models for a modeler before they were sold on C3D. Both models are very detailed with some excellent textures. The Schooner is my favorite. I did a quick test render with the boat to post on C3D when the model was released.

In a new Vue scene, I loaded a water plane and changed the material to calm ripples on the surface. I placed the Schooner in the water, and began the lighting work. I customized a premade atmosphere with some of my own settings, positioned the sun, and then framed up the shot with the camera. This scene rendered pretty quick (20 min. or so). In Photoshop, I slightly blurred the image and added my signature. Finished: Summer Night.

Take a look what other artists had to say:

Artistic brilliance meets modelling genius - SeaCay (modeler of the Schooner) :)
Astounding in it's beauty and simplicity. Excellent! - richard blue
Beautiful and Peaceful!! - coldcoldbushes
Spectacular sky! - Lili
Tranquil... - Kev
What a wonderful and fantastic image! - Stardust Crossing
One of your best yet...Beautiful image. - dennydenning

Mountain Majesty

2007-02-19T09:58:00.000-08:00

(RoW Feb. 19 - 25)

"The EcoSystem revolution has redefined the way CG artists create natural scenery. Populating your scenes with millions of plants, trees, rocks and other objects became as easy as one click." e-on software.com

I've always wanted to populate mountains with a huge forest of evergreen trees. EcoSystems made this possible. In Vue 6, I created 5 terrains with a base material of rock and snow (higher altitudes). I then created an EcoSystem of evergreen trees for each terrain. Sure enough, with one click, I had my forest. But I also wanted to control my forest with altitudes (how high up on the mountain the trees go, etc.), so I messed around with the Influence parameters a bit.

I then loaded in a pre-made atmosphere (with light rays), and played around with the different atmosphere options a little.

After the 2 hour render, I applied a slight blur to the image in Photoshop and added my signature: Mountain Majesty. But, in order to show the mountains' real majesty, I rendered the image at a much higher resolution (applied the same amount of blur in Photoshop and added my signature). This render took a while longer (6-7 hours), but was well worth the wait: Mountain Majesty Hi-res.

Overall stats:
1 light
5 terrains
16,962,444,187 polygons (pretty amazing, huh? Thanks to EcoSystems this scene barely slowed my computer down at all. In fact, I didn't even notice any drop in speed.)

Thanks for looking and enjoy!

Black Bart

2007-02-17T16:38:00.000-08:00

Black Bart (Charles E. Boles, 1830 - 1917) - Outlaw Legend of the Old West

Figure posed and textured in Poser 6 and imported into Vue. In Vue, I created one terrain and textured it with an ecosystem of dirt, rocks, cacti, and bushes.

Postwork (color correction) in Photoshop. Thanks for looking!

Challenge Winner!

2007-02-16T11:35:00.000-08:00

Wyvern Lair wins the Subterranean Challenge on C3D!
Final standings:

1. "Wyvern Lair" - bradymac = 13 points

2. "Following Jules Verne" - jmc = 12 points
3. "Underground Market" - Tony Kodis = 8 points

Wyvern Lair

2007-02-14T09:13:00.000-08:00

Wyvern Lair is my entry to the Subterranean Challenge on C3D.

I posed the dragon in Poser and imported it into Vue. I created the stalactites and stalagmites with regular terrains and upside-down terrains. The light comes from one volumetric light deeper into the cave. After rendering, I slightly blurred the image in Photoshop and added the frame and signature. Thanks for looking and I hope you like it!

Stacy

2007-02-12T15:49:00.000-08:00

(RoW Feb. 12 - 18)

I decided to work with 3d figures (people) some more and this is what I came up with. The figure (Hi-res) and hair were posed in Poser 6, and imported into Vue. In Vue 6, I set up the scene and lighting and rendered the image with the Poser Shader Tree.

In Photoshop, I painted on some more hair with a few brushes. I then brightened and blurred the image a little. Overall, after a day of work, I'm well statisfied with the finished image: Stacy. Thanks for looking!

My Worst Nightmare

2007-02-08T10:18:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had a nightmare like this?

My Worst Nightmare was my second entry for the "Render Dreams" contest.

I posed the figure in Poser, and worked with his expression a bunch. Imported him into Vue 6, set up the scene, and rendered it. After the render, I tweaked the lighting a bit in Photoshop and added my signature. Thanks for looking!

Dystopian Dream

2007-02-05T14:32:00.000-08:00

(RoW Feb. 5 - 11)

...Walking through strange, organic life forms, I was suddenly captivated by a huge city with futuristic ships speeding through the sky. The city dazzled with grand splendor...

I will always remember my Dystopian Dream.

I created this image for a contest that's theme was "Render Dreams". I put the scene together in about 2 days, rendered it, and then did a little postwork on it. The render took 3-4 hours, and I spent probably an hour on the postwork.

In Vue, I used a couple ecosystems- one eco of city blocks, and another of alien plants. I posed the boy in Poser. The lighting was tough to get right, but finally got what I wanted. After all the work, I was pretty happy with the finished image: Dystopian Dream. Thanks for looking!

Battle Morn

2007-02-02T14:14:00.000-08:00

After getting Michael 3's head and body morphs from DAZ, I created this image for a contest in a DAZ forum. The contest was called "Manly Man". I don't remember where I picked up the textures for this character, but they are very detailed and realistic. I tried to capture a sense of deep thinking and remembrance before a battle in this image.

I morphed Michael 3 and posed him in Poser, and then imported the figure into Vue 6. In Vue, I created a custom atmosphere with indoor lighting. I placed Michael into my medieval building prop and adjusted the camera view.

The render took 7-8 hours. The only thing I did in postwork was apply a slight blur to the image and add my signature. The finished image: Battle Morn. Thanks for looking!

Note: Battle Morn may appear really dark on certain monitors. Adjust your monitor's brightness to view this image fully.

e-on's Picture of the Day!!

2007-01-31T09:47:00.000-08:00

"Reflection Bay" is today's Picture of the Day at e-on software!!

Thanks for the surprise, e-on!

Porsche Boxster

2007-01-31T09:36:00.000-08:00

Yet another free model from DMI Cars that I entirely retextured in Vue. The Porsche Boxster is one of my favorite cars, so I just had to create an image with it. :)

After texturing in Vue, the render took an hour or so. I then blurred the image a little and added my signature and frame in Photoshop. Thanks for looking!

How the Cranks Stole Christmas

2007-01-29T11:25:00.000-08:00

(RoW Jan. 29 - Feb. 4)

I created How the Cranks Stole Christmas for Renderosity's Holiday Contest (December 2006). I didn't win anything, but this image was fun to make. :)

I posed all the figures in Poser 6 and imported them and the props into Vue 6. After creating the ecosystem of cartoon trees, I placed the figures/props in the scene, customized the atmosphere, added a red light to each of the motorized reindeer, and modeled the Cranksville pole in Vue.

The render didn't take all that long- maybe 45 min.. I then painted on some more flames for the engines, added the snowflakes, and changed the lighting a little in Photoshop.

Hope you like it and enjoy!!

Phoenix Concept

2007-01-24T11:32:00.000-08:00

Here's another image of a free car model I downloaded from DMI cars and recently retextured. After entirely retexturing in Vue and rendering, there were a few areas of rough edges on the model. I tried to smooth these out in Photoshop (while adjusting the lighting), and the final image came out looking pretty good: Phoenix Concept. Thanks for looking!

Malu Lani

2007-01-22T17:23:00.000-08:00

(RoW Jan. 22 - 28)

Malu Lani (Hawaiian for "Protected by Heaven) was a scene I quickly put together using Linda Daireaux's newest plant pack: Tropical Paradise. These are some of the most realistic and beautiful plants that Linda's ever made. The render time took a little longer than expected (13+ hours), but I am very satisfied with the image (after doing a tiny bit of postwork in Photoshop). Thanks for looking!

Take a look at what other Vue-ers had to say:

Love the water... - Mike M
Beautiful...just beautiful. - coldcoldbushes
Wow! Very colorful!! - Richard Blue
Truly beautiful. - Siun Ni Brid

Asterisk Concept

2007-01-19T10:19:00.000-08:00

I downloaded this free car model from DMI Cars a while ago, and entirely retextured it in Vue 6. Pictured here is the non-textured version- the way it looked after importing into Vue.

After a alot of work with different colors, custom materials, etc., I rendered the final version of the concept car. I also blurred the image slightly in Photoshop and added my signature: Asterisk Concept. Thanks for looking!

Reflection Bay

2007-01-15T11:33:00.000-08:00

(RoW Jan. 15 - 21)

I was in the mood for a refreshing, bright and cheery image, so I played around with Vue 6's new features and some new, high quality plants I recently bought from C3D. I created this scene with a couple procedural terrains, some three-dimensional clouds, and a Spectral atmosphere.

A note on plants: One of Vue's outstanding features is a type of plant only available in the Vue product line: Solid Growth vegetation. Solid Growth technology allows you to grow any type of plant in your scene and no two plants will look the same. Absolutely amazing. (Static plants may come in different sizes and colors, but they'll always be the same no matter how many times you place them in your scene.)

My favorite plants are created by Linda Daireaux who specializes in creating realistic Solid Growth plants. She creates the textures for the plants from actual photos she has taken. Linda's plants are incredibly detailed and Incredibly Lush. Thank you Linda!

The render took an hour or so, and I blurred the image and brightened it slightly in Photoshop: Reflection Bay. Enjoy!

A special thank you to Faith for the wonderful title. :)

Picture of the Day!!

2007-01-13T09:16:00.000-08:00

"Tell Me a Story" is today's Picture of the Day at e-on software!!

Thank you e-on!

The Watchers

2007-01-11T19:56:00.000-08:00

Once defenders of the great and glorious realm of the Free Peoples, the Watchers strove endlessly to halt evil and bring everlasting peace to their country. Just when light shown the brightest, a great evil came from the West, destroying everything in its path. At its head was the most feared Black Queen. Her army was made up of the fowlest creatures that ever roamed the land: hideous beasts that knew no death, armed with crude weapons, bent upon destroying all that lived.

The black wave spread quickly over the realm of the Free Peoples. The Watchers, however, met the blackness in battle on the eve of the same day they were freed from tyranny hundreds of years ago. They marched into battle singing songs of deliverance. But for all their fighting and strategy, the Watchers' army crumbled before the Black Queen, forcing them to flee into the hills.

It was said that the Watchers knew everything that went on around them. It was true until this day. For the Black Queen sent a second surprise force from the East, converging blackness upon blackness. The land lay in ruin. The Free Peoples were defeated. All who did not die a merciless death were sent into slavery. The Watchers were tortured for countless weeks. After many months, any slave still alive did not remember anything about their previous life. The Watchers turned into pitiless, deformed creatures, sent to guard the High Pass, now the only way into the Black Queen's domain.

All that was good, all that was true and just, was lost in darkness.
______________________________________

I created the Watchers for a Poser Challenge on C3D called, "Creature Creations". The point of this challenge is to create your own custom character in Poser using morphs, props, combining figures, etc.. I've never really created a whole creature before (including textures), so I did alot of experimenting.

I started off with the James G2 character from Content Paradise. The first thing I worked on was the shape of the head and face features. I had many options to mess around with and I finally came up with one I wanted. Next, I mesomorphed James' body into a stronger, leaner body.

For the textures, I used James G2's default texture to begin with in Photoshop, and customized it from there. I painted on some different patterns and applied a few filters to them.

After I had created my figure and posed it in Poser, I imported it into Vue. I built my environment around the figure with this story idea in mind.

It took about 3 days to create the custom character, a couple hours to create an environment in Vue, and about an hour to render. The final image: The Watchers. Enjoy!

Tell Me a Story

2007-01-08T09:36:00.000-08:00

(RoW Jan. 8 - 14)

I created this image for my sister, Miss Erin. Today is her birthday, so go on over to her blog and give her some birthday wishes! Happy Birthday Erin!!

All of the props and figures were imported from Poser, and set up in Vue. I started this scene with Vue 5, but the program constantly crashed because of my computer's lack of memory (RAM). Vue 6 has better memory management and also has a new feature that lets you purge all of your memory (clean it up, keeping it from defragmenting). So with Vue 6, I was able to finish the scene without it crashing. The render took about 2-3 hours, and then it was time for a bit of postwork.

In Photoshop, I adjusted the lighting, blurred the image a bit, and painted on some dirt and rock on the book (to make it look like the castle was indeed coming out of the book). I also added my signature somewhere where it couldn't easily be found. Can you find it?

Finished image: Tell Me a Story. Thanks for looking and enjoy!

Skull Island

2007-01-04T11:39:00.000-08:00

I got the idea of Skull Island way before Vue 6 was pre-released. So when I finally got my copy of Vue 6 Pro Studio, I put my plans into action. Skull Island was more of experimenting with Vue 6's new features than actually putting together a full scene. I used a couple palm tree EcoSystems in the scene, and had to figure out how to texture the beach correctly in order for the sand to get darker closer to the water. I used a Spectral atmosphere with one directional light (the sun).

The render took about 2-3 hours- mostly because of the water. I did a little postwork in Photoshop brightening the scene and blurring it slightly. Thanks for looking!

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Well, a year has come to a close, and the year ahead is once again full of surprises.

I started in Poser with V4, posed her the way I wanted, and then imported her into Vue 6. I rendered the image in Vue with the Poser Shader Tree.

After the render, I moved to Photoshop, and began painting on the fireworks with some free brushes I downloaded from the web. When I was done painting, I blurred the image, brightened it a little, and created the text.

Thanks for looking and have a Happy New Year in 2007!

Merry Christmas!!

2006-12-25T08:21:00.000-08:00

Deedee and Sammy would like to wish you a Merry Christmas!

**Credits**
Deedee - Miss Erin
Sammy - myself

Recorded and lip synced with DAZ3D's Mimic
Animated in Poser 6
Scene set up and rendered in Vue 6 Pro Studio

Thanks to Evil Space Fungus for the audio track mix

Have a very Merry Christmas everybody!

Pontiac Firebird

2006-12-24T08:29:00.000-08:00

Day 12 (Christmas Eve):

Note: Come back sometime tomorrow - Christmas Day - for a special surprise!

The Pontiac Firebird image shows how using an HDRI Environment can make things look pretty real. This environment comes as a ready made scene in Vue, but it is still fun to play around with different options and tweeking things. The Pontiac Firebird in the scene was a download from DMI Cars. I worked a long time re-texturing the entire car, and then loaded it into the scene. The render took quite a while (5-6 hours), but the final image was well worth the wait.

I blurred and brightened the image slightly in Photoshop. Thanks for looking!

End of the Severus

2006-12-23T09:08:00.000-08:00

Day 11:
Excerpts from the Severus's Log
The Severus' Log - 3069: We waved farewell to our world that we called home for countless centuries and stepped aboard the Severus. Our destination is the galaxy of Mothali. The reason two thousand and fifty of us are now aboard the Severus is to migrate to another world. Our home world has grown in poplulation for a millenia, and is too small to house all of our race. We are travelers to a distant land. The Severus is going to be our temporary home between homes. The journey could take thousands of years, and yet, we will complete our journey.

The Severus' Log - 3070: After setting our course and getting our final preparations ready to unload to the new world, we will step into our Cyro-Units in the Aquatic Containment Facility, and will dream sweet dreams until the ship awakens us to our new home.

The Severus' Log - 3070 (later in the day): The Facility is sealed. Half of my people are already sleeping. My time has come.

The Severus' Log - 5348: We are awakened by the Regeneraters very suddenly without the slow peaceful counters we were trained for. Everything is all wrong. The screams of sirens and red warning lights punctuate everyone's slumber. I crawl out of my Cyro-Unit as I would have without even having gone to sleep. I grab my oxygen tank off the wall and hurry into the control room.

The Severus' Log - 5348 (later in the day): We are all exhuasted and ready to fall down. It seems that something went wrong while we slept, and we were blown off course hundreds of years ago. Very few stars dot the black sky, and two large planets lay just ahead of us. Neither one is the correct planet we were originally suppose to land on. I hate to say it, but we are lost.

The Severus' Log - 5349: We've past the first planet because our radar showed no signs of any life on the planet's surface. But, yesterday, the radar picked up a few life forms on the second planet. We are going to try and land.

The Severus' Log - 5349 (later in the week): 3 miles away from the planet, the life forms on the surface of the planet suddenly disappeared. We were all very shocked, but couldn't stop the landing process as it has already begun. (Later on) 1 mile out, the planet gave a sudden shift in direction and our ship plummeted to the ground. We scrambled about, trying everything we could think of to slow our descent. Nothing worked. We crashed onto the surface at very high speeds. All electricity was lost in the crash, so we were stuck with our small backup electric source as our only way to stay alive - but it won't last long.

The Severus' Log - 5349 (the next day): We ventured forth out of the ship to explore this planet we ended up on. At first glance, there was no sign of plant life anywhere, but we figured the worm like things were a kind of plant, and decided to stay away from them.

The Severus' Log - 5349 (a couple weeks later): Our backup source is about out of power. We need to set forth from our ship before death comes to us.

The Severus' Log - 5349 (3 days later): Something worse than death has found us. We are stranded inside the Severus, unaware of what is happening outside. Many of us are falling sick with some disease, but we know not what. I am still feeling ok, but will probably not last long.

The Severus' Log - 5349 (a day later): The disease is horrific. I have seen its power on my friends and brethern. Before death, the body is transformed into an alien organism which takes hold of your body and uses it against your comrades to spread the disease even more. All dead bodies are taken outside and thrown away from the Severus. Soon our race will be ended, and all we set out to do will have ended in death.

The Severus' Log - 5349 (later in the day): I am one of the last remaining men on board. Almost everybody has died and have been thrown from the ship. What is that! Something large just hit our ship! The last few of us are running to the windows to see what is happening. It's a large meteor shower! Fire from heaven! There is no chance of safety, no one to rescue us. We have only one..............

So ends the Severus' Log. End of the Severus
______________________________________

I created End of the Severus with this story in mind, but wrote it afterwards. First off, I posed the aliens and textured them in Poser, then moved to Vue. Something I wanted to try was using figures/objects in an EcoSystem. I also put the alien plant life and rocks into the EcoSystem. I experimented alot with the spectral atmosphere and lighting. After my render, I used Vue 6 Pro Studio's post-processing options to change some of the colors and brightness.

The image wasn't even close to finished, so I put alot of work into it in Photoshop. I added all of the flames/fire, brightened and blurred it some, and changed the colors some more. I also blended a rust material into the image. Finished: End of the Severus. Thanks for reading the short story - enjoy!

Guitar Hero

2006-12-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

Day 10:
In this scene, I used the James G2 figure from Poser, and a very detailed electric guitar from Runtime DNA. After posing James in Poser and importing the figure and props into Vue, I began the scene work. I wanted the lighting to appear like a rock concert, so I used 4 different colored spotlights in the scene. I mostly used 4 different shades of green, but there is also one bright white light (the sun) in the scene. The first time I rendered the image, the guitar looked washed out in white light. So (this is where one of the expansion modules for Vue 5 Pro Studio came in play: LightTune), I was able to have the white light hit everything in the scene except for the guitar. This did the trick, and next time I rendered it, everything looked great.

Although the image looked okay, I wanted the scene to appear a little darker and blurrier. My postwork in Photoshop took care of that. The final image: Guitar Hero. Enjoy!

Alien Reflections

2006-12-21T08:42:00.000-08:00

9th Day of Christmas:
I created Alien Reflections a while back with Vue 5. I used an alien figure from Poser for the eyes and head. In Vue, I customized the alien's eyes to look more reflective. It was kinda odd creating a scene through a figure's eyes. I used one procedural terrain for the surface of the planet and used one of my custom materials for the texture. I also changed the entire image's colors in Vue's post-processing options.

In Photoshop, I brightened the image, blurred it a little, and added the title and signature. Thanks for looking!

Grandpa's Bugatti

2006-12-20T08:59:00.000-08:00

Day 8:
Grandpa's Bugatti is my second entry for the Old Time Challenge on C3D. In this scene, I used another car I downloaded from DMI Cars. Before I set up the scene, I spent alot of time re-texturing the entire car.

One of the hardest things to do in this scene was creating the ruts in the road where cars would drive. To get this effect, I created a dune terrain, erased all the dunes except for two, and inverted the terrain (like turning it inside out). This created two ruts in the ground, and then all I had to do was resize the terrain until it was the same size as the Bugatti. That done, I applied a dirt texture and a rock EcoSystem on the road. I also used two EcoSystems for the fields.

This image took about 3 hours to render. I then moved into Photoshop to create the old look. Once again, I used the folded/scratched paper method to make it look old and worn. I also changed the colors to be a sepia tone and blurred the overall image slightly.

Thanks for looking!

Alyssa

2006-12-19T08:35:00.000-08:00

Day 7:
Alyssa is my second portrait I created in Vue. I had to do alot of texture work on the figure before rendering. My buddy Hazem Zoom helped me out a bunch there with his tutorial. The lighting was a little tough to get right and make it look natural. And, of course, the posing of the character took place in Poser.

I just did some minor things in Photoshop with the postwork: mostly blurring the image a little bit to give it a soft look, and adjusting the lighting. Thanks for looking!

Picture of the Day!!

2006-12-18T11:21:00.000-08:00

Spring Meadow has been selected for e-on software's Picture of the Day!

Originally, I created Spring Meadow for my Mom for an advent day gift, but at the same time I decided to enter it into e-onsoftware's Picture of the Day Contest. It also turned out to be a gift for me!

I posed Victoria 4 in Poser, and then began the creation of the environment in Vue 6 Pro Studio. EcoSystems are so handy - I created one from scratch with some tall grasses and flowers on a procedural terrain and used a dazziling spectral atmosphere to give a peaceful, glorious feel to the image. It took about 45 min. to render in Vue using the Poser Shader Tree.

After the render, I finished off the scene by brightening and blurring it a little in Photoshop: Spring Meadow. Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy it as much I do!

The Pathfinder

2006-12-18T08:32:00.000-08:00

(RoW Dec. 18 - 24)

Day 6:
Right now, on C3D, there is a challenge in the 2D forum called, "Old Time": postwork a Vue scene to look in the style of: an old phototgraph (b&w, sepia, or simply weathered and aged), classic oil painting, drawing, watercolor, etc. The point being to make it look as realistic and believable as possible (taken from C3D, thanks to Fromage Bleu).

Starting out in Vue 5, I decided to create an old photograph from WW2. I used a couple airplanes from the Vue library and created a custom HDRI environment from a photo (see Sounds of Autumn). The render didn't take that long to complete, but I still had alot of postwork ahead of me to make it look old and worn.

In Photoshop, I started by adding a layer of scanned paper (all folded and creased), to make the image look all bent up. I then blurred the image quite a bit, brightened it a tad, and turned the colors into a brownish grey. After all the work: The Pathfinder turned out looking like a very old photograph!

The Pathfinder squadrons of the Royal Air Force were elite squadrons of RAF Bomber Command during World War II.

At the start of the war Bomber command made many daylight raids but the losses incurred due to lack of escorting fighters when operating over Europe led them to switch the majority of their bombing missions to nighttime. This reduced losses, but made identifying and then hitting a target accurately very difficult. To reduce this problem Pathfinder squadrons were created. The Pathfinders were to locate and mark the target with flares which the following main bomber force could then home in on. - Wikipedia

Bugatti Veyron

2006-12-17T08:21:00.000-08:00

Day 5:
One of my dream cars is a Bugatti Veyron. Kinda futuristic looking, comfy, and really fast. Who wouldn't want one?

I downloaded the model of the Bugatti Veyron a while ago (from DMI Cars), and retextured the whole thing in Vue. That was a very tough and time-consuming job. You have to make sure the reflections are just right, transparencies aren't very blurred, and colors are pleasing to the eye. I tried to color the model like one in real life.

The image took a very long time to render, because of all the reflections in the scene. Once it was finished, I brightened and blurred the scene a little in Photoshop. Thanks for looking!

The Turtle Pound

2006-12-16T09:29:00.000-08:00

4th Day of Christmas:
The latest challenge on C3D in the Poser Forum was called, "The Great Masters". The point of this challenge was to recreate a famous painting inside of Vue and Poser. Not an easy task.

While looking through an art book one day, I came across "The Turtle Pound" by Winslow Homer. Since the main focus was on Poser (in the Poser Forum), I thought that this painting would work great for the challenge.

This challenge was perfect for me, as I usually don't spend alot of time posing my characters for a scene. I took me a very long time (because I couldn't use any preset poses). After a while, I got kinda annoyed with how long it was taking, because I just couldn't quite get it.

But finally I did it. :) I then imported each character into Vue separately , and began my scene work. I modeled the white-washed boat in the scene by myself with Vue primitives, and spent a while texturing it. For the waves, I created one procedural terrain (look at Spring Heights) and applied a water texture to it. I set the characters one by one into the water and boat, played with the lighting, and then rendered it.

In Photoshop, I added a customized watercolor filter, painted outlines over some of the areas that needed bringing out, and typed my signature.

Overall, this challenge was quite hard (and challenging), but I learned alot more of Poser's ins and outs - so it was well worth it: "The Turtle Pound".

"The Great Masters" challenge is now over, and the winners are:

Old Guitarist - Pablo Picasso - Lacy Choate (Original)
The Geographer - Jan Vermeer - Michael Hale (Original)
Saint Joseph Charpentier - Georges de La Tour - Lili (Original)

Featured!!

2006-12-15T09:56:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let everybody know, that my image Evensong is being featured over at DAZ3D's December Gallery with some other great artwork. I submitted the image a while back, and it recently was picked to be featured in this month's gallery! I also received a $25 voucher to spend at DAZ!! :)

Sign of the Past

2006-12-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

Day 3:
Sign of the Past was a scene I started creating a while ago, and just finished yesterday. One of the main things I worked on here, was creating a custom terrain out of a picture.

Starting in Photoshop, I drew a large dino-footprint in black ink on plain white. I saved the file and moved to Vue 6. In Vue, I created a terrain, and combined the footprint image with my terrain. After adjusting multiple controls, I had the footprint in the terrain. I wanted the water in the fooprint to be kinda muddy, but also show that whatever this thing was, it was here quite a while ago. So I mixed a muddy material with a lily pad material. I used one of the new features in Vue 6 (EcoSystems) to place the grass and rocks on the sand. I had already placed the palm trees and ferns one by one with Vue 5.

Definition of EcoSystem: An EcoSystem is a material that is used for populating areas with plants and objects at the click of a button. Since and EcoSystem acts like a material (and not objects), you could have over a billion (or even a trillion) polygons in your scene and it would barely slow your computer down. Of course, you have total control over the material, and can determine where you want certain plants and objects by adjusting different controls. EcoSystems are a breakthrough technology in the world of 3D.

(Hope I did okay explaining what an Eco was - I made it up as I went.) Sign of the Past took about 20 min. to render, and then I changed the lighting drastically in Photoshop to finish it off. I hope you enjoy it!!

For Your Eyes Only

2006-12-14T08:47:00.000-08:00

Some of my next images for the 12 Days of Christmas I created a while ago and never got them on the web. So I'm not actually creating an image everyday for the next 12 days.

Day 2:
I created For Your Eyes Only with DAZ3D's new figure, Victoria 4, and the new Vue 6 Pro Studio Pre-release (last step before the final version is released - and wow! is it a cool program!). Victoria 4 is an excellent model with some great textures. I rendered this scene in Vue 6 with the Poser rendering tree (so the model would look just like it was rendered in Poser, except with Vue lighting and atmosphere). I found it amazing how close you could get to Vicky 4 and still have excellent detail!

Minor postwork (slight blur) in Photoshop. Thanks for looking!

Streets of L.A.

2006-12-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

The 12 Days of Christmas has begun!

Day 1:
Streets of L.A. was created in Vue 5 Pro Studio and Poser 6. After posing Victoria 3, I moved into Vue and built my set. I wanted a grungy, dark feel to the scene - so I added a brick wall with graffiti, a trashcan, and streetlight. The lighting was difficult to get dark enough, and still make out the character and props.

What lighting I didn't quite get right, I fixed in Photoshop. I also darkened and blurred the scene quite a bit. I hope you like it!

Special Announcement!!

2006-12-12T10:42:00.000-08:00

The 12 Days of Christmas is coming! Starting Dec. 13, visit McSAnimations Log for some fabulous art every day until Christmas!

Sounds of Autumn

2006-12-11T09:58:00.000-08:00

(RoW Dec. 11 - 17)

I created Sounds of Autumn for my entry to C3D's "Autumn in Venice" Fall Contest. Although I didn't place, it still was alot of fun to create. Most artists were doing scenes with gondolas and canals. But, I wanted to try something a little different.

Starting off in Poser, I posed my figure and imported him into Vue. I set him beside the calliope and added the gondolier's hat. I used an HDRI environment for this scene.

HDRI Environment: "HDRI (High Dynamic Range Image) pictures are created by combining several identical pictures taken at different exposures. HDRI images are usually designed to be mapped on a sphere and used as an environment map.

One of the typical applications of HDRI images when setup as an environment map is to use the lighting information in the picture to illuminate the scene. Each pixel in the HDRI picture is then considered as a source of light and traced into a scene to determine illumination. This is known as Image Based Lighting, and is a technique commonly used by a motion picture industry to ensure that the lighting of a CG (computer graphics) scene matches exactly that of the real world environment (captured as a HDRI image.)" - excerpt from Vue manual

Sounds of Autumn is not a very complicated scene, but the lighting took quite a while to get right. After the 3 hour render, I brightened the image and blurred it slightly in Photoshop. Thanks for looking!

Take a look at the winners of "Autumn in Venice":

There is a print available of Sounds of Autumn in my deviantART store here. Enjoy!

Blue View

2006-12-06T12:35:00.000-08:00

A detailed earth model (thanks Mr. Coe!) inspired me to create Blue View. It is a very simple scene (2 objects, 1 light), but beautiful nonetheless. This scene didn't take that long to render, and I only did a little bit of postwork in Photoshop: blurred the image slightly, and softened it.

Take a look what others artists had to say about Blue View:

Magnificent view and great reality! - Stardust Crossing
Lovely work and lighting! - Robert Mackin
The atmosphere of the earth planet is very good, excellent. - Hazem Zoom
The depth of this scene makes me feel as if I could be there! - ~Michael~