So long, LightWave. It’s been aggravating.

Hi everyone! Nope, not dead yet! But as far as I’m concerned, LightWave is. I’ve been gone for a while with no updates, so I thought I’d punch in and let you know what’s going on. After six months of battle, tonight I finally came to the frustrating conclusion that LightWave 2019 is irretrievably … [Read more…]
The Starship Constellation

Work continues apace on the starship Constellation. The Connie has haunted my dreams ever since I was a seven-year-old boy staring transfixed at the Trinitron whenever the local TV station reran “The Doomsday Machine”. How could a giant starship be wrecked like that?! Impossible! But as I got older, I started noticing how, er, undetailed the … [Read more…]
USS Enterprise Initial Modeling Completed

She’s ready to fly! The initial round of modeling on the Starship Enterprise is finished, so this will be the last test video of the model for the foreseeable future. There are a couple of minor tweaks needed that I’ve noted in this video, but nothing significant (some texturing errors on the secondary hull ventral … [Read more…]
Back in the saddle

After a much-needed three weeks off I’m back in the saddle. The model as shown in this image does not include any new features compared to WIP video #121-A from three weeks ago; it’s just a test image that I rendered to reacquaint myself with the Enterprise model and see what’s left to do. Click … [Read more…]
USS Enterprise WIP #121-A
Getting close to the finish line! Today’s work in progress is a test of the warp drive and impulse engine effects. I think the impulse engines are “throbbing” a little too much (as if they were under stress or malfunctioning); I may need to tweak that. I’m also still not quite satisfied with the appearance … [Read more…]
Darker? You decide…

Hmm. Click here for the YouTube version. This is the same source material used in test #116 published earlier today, but without the heavy gamma correction applied (just some minor color curve adjustments that I made in the nonlinear editor I’m using to assemble these test videos). The only reason I’m publishing this is to … [Read more…]
USS Enterprise WIP #116

Just a quickie for today. YouTube: https://youtu.be/AKGQ6o3QExs Vimeo: The exterior of the secondary hull is finally finished, and I revised (again!) the “Christmas lights” visual effect behind the domes at the front of the warp nacelles. Judging by this test clip, I still need to do a little tweaking on the brightness and color … [Read more…]