Neil Blevins' Blog

SoulburnScripts Updated Nov 29th 2011

2011-11-30T10:19:00.000-08:00

Max script update:

New script:

blendedCubeProjectionMaker: Applies 6 projections (Front, Back, Left, Right, Top, Bottom) to the selected objects, hooks the projections up to 6 maps, and then blends between each map. Great for projecting details onto a set of objects, like box mapping, but each side can be a separate map, and the edges of the box are blended so you can place the map on a curved surface and not have horrible seams.

Updated 4 older script:

sLib: Added sLibCameraMapGeminiMapTest software test.
bitmapCollector: Fixed a crash bug when it tried to process a blank bitmap map.
twoDPlanView: Fixed a bug where the script would improperly calculate the size of your scene if it was far from the origin. Changed the cameras from target to free.
blendedBoxMapMaker: Added support for CameraMapGemini plugin (v0.16) by Markus Boos (http://www.projectgemini.net/CameraMapGemini/). The script can now use 2 methods, UVW Mapping Method and CameraMapGemini Method. The UVWMapping method works the same as the old method. The CameraMapGemini Method creates the same sort of mapping, except using cameras for projection. The main advantage to this method is the cameras exist as a rig in world space. So moving objects after applying the blendedBoxMap does not misalign the projection. For more information, visit http://www.neilblevins.com and look for the blendedBoxMap tutorial in the education section.

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_tools/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Maya script update:

Added Optional Hotkeys: This will set up various hotkeys I like to use with the Soulburn Scripts.
Added Optional Shelves: These are OPTIONAL shelves that contain all of the SoulburnScripts. You don't have to install these if you don't want to, but it can give you a leg up on making your own shelves.

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_tools/soulburnscripts_for_maya/soulburnscripts_for_maya.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated Nov 29th 2011

2011-11-30T10:16:00.000-08:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

* Did a complete redesign of my Blended Box Mapping tutorial, including a brand new method for producing a Blended Box Map that is light years ahead of the older method. So if you've ever used Blended Box Maps before, or even if you haven't, check out the new tutorial, it'll be super helpful.

SoulburnScripts Updated Nov 20th 2011

2011-11-20T13:13:00.000-08:00

Max script update:

Updated 1 older script:

parameterManager: Fixed a bug where the mapping coordinate mode wouldn't work.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Maya script update:

Added 1 new script:

UVTransfer: Transfers UVs from one object to a bunch of other objects. First select the object you want to transfer from, then select all the objects you want to transfer to. Automatically collapses history on the object it's transferring to.

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_tools/soulburnscripts_for_maya/soulburnscripts_for_maya.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

NeilBlevins.com News for November 4th 2011

2011-11-04T20:49:00.000-07:00

I am honored to have CGSociety do a 2 page Interview / Article on my personal artwork and work at Pixar, and a "Meet The Artist" Q&A, where readers of the site ask me questions for a week, and I go in and answer them. Feel free to check out the article here.

SoulburnScripts Updated Oct 7th 2011

2011-10-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

Maya script update:

Added 1 new small script and updated another...

HypershadeCleaner: Lets you delete unused materials from your Hypershade.
TransformRandomizerUI: Maya 2011 now does better UI handling, so I removed the unnecessary explicitly set column widths and heights. This makes the interface look much better in Maya 2011 and 2012.

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_tools/soulburnscripts_for_maya/soulburnscripts_for_maya.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

SoulburnScripts Updated June 11th 2011

2011-06-11T16:59:00.000-07:00

Max script update:

First, I've tested the scripts in Max 2012 and all seems to be good. Let me know if you find any weird behavior.

Updated 3 older script:

imagePlaneMaker: Added an option to create a new Layer For Your Template on template creation.
nameManager: Added ability to pre-pend as well as append numbers.

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_tools/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

NeilBlevins.com Is Updated March 12th 2011

2011-03-12T21:24:00.001-08:00

Added a number of odds and ends from last year and early this year, including 11 landscape studies, one color abstract and a quick speed painting. Life as a father sure is busier, although I knew that would be the case going in. Still, think I'm slowly finding the right life balance, and should be able to get back to some more involved artwork soon. My creative side needs an outlet, even if the creativity is dulled by sleep deprivation. More scifi work soon!

Visit http://www.neilblevins.com to see the new work.

New Studies: Marin Sunset V and VI

2011-03-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again, sunsets over the mountains on the drive home. Sunset IV was the day after Marin Sunset V, which is why they are so similar, the atmospheric conditions were almost identical.

SoulburnScripts Updated Nov 7th 2010

2010-11-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

Max script update:

Just a super quick update to give you guys a fix to a critical bug...

Updated 1 older script:

parameterManager: Fixed a bug where no checkboxes could be affected by the script.

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_tools/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

New Studies

2010-10-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

Just about finished with 5 weeks of paternity leave, it's hard to believe our little girl is already five weeks old! Man it's been a big adjustment, so many new things to get used to, so much to learn, so many diapers to change :) They don't tell you when you have a baby that the first few months she's not going to be terribly playful, it's all just eat, sleep, poop and cry. But she's starting to show signs of interactivity, she's started looking us in the eyes, making cute noises and batting at toys we put in front of her.

During the 5 weeks away from the workplace, I decided that my one slice of normalcy was going to be taking an hour every day or two to speedpaint some landscape studies based off photos either I've taken or various photos I've found on the web. Lack of sleep means my creative side hasn't been super strong lately, so I figured brushing up on technique by painting photos that already exist would be a good way to keep my technical skills strong.

Each painting took maybe an hour to get 90% of the way there, then maybe another hour of small tweaks. Hope you like them.

I'll eventually get back to doing my usual scifi stuff, but right now with work starting again tomorrow, I won't have much in the spare time dept. But it's only a matter of time.

New Painting: Color Abstract 7

2010-08-13T07:55:00.001-07:00

A 1 hour color abstract is all I have time for these days :)

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

2010-07-11T17:57:00.001-07:00

So I have a big announcement to make, life changing events are afoot, and I am expecting my first child in the next few weeks! As you can imagine, this is going to really mess with my ability to do pretty much anything for the forseeable future beyond changing diapers and trying to catch any moment of sleep I can! So if you're sending emails, I'm sorry to say it may take me way longer than usual to respond. And sadly, my website probably won't be updated as much as it has been in the past. I apologize profusely for this, but my family needs to come first, so hopefully I have everyone's understanding. Thanks a million for all the emails, questions and comments I've received over the years, I really do appreciate all the support, and I expect I'll eventually be able to find a new balance of life, work, family and freetime, and get back into the swing of art, scripting and tutorials. But right now, it's gonna be all about the baby.

NeilBlevins.com Is Updated July 11th 2010

2010-07-11T17:56:00.001-07:00

Had my image "Over Black Clouds" published in the magazine 3DArtist Issue 16. Added a bunch of new artwork to my gallery: a new environment painting called "Day's End", 7 rough mechanical sketches called "Tech Floor" 1 through 7, and an abstract painting called "Color Abstract 6". If you haven't already, check out the Pixar film "Toy Story 3", and the short film opener "Day And Night", both of which I worked on for a brief stint.

Visit http://www.neilblevins.com to see the new work.

SoulburnScripts Updated July 11th 2010

2010-07-11T17:54:00.000-07:00

Max script update:

Updated a bunch older scripts:

sLib: Added more error handling to sLibGetAllMaterials
objectReplacer: Now you can replace a group with a single object, just keep "Treat Sel Groups as 1 Object?" checked.
nameManager: Added support for max2011's Slate Material Editor.
texmapPreview: Added support for max2011's Slate Material Editor.
materialInfoDisplayer: Added support for max2011's Slate Material Editor.
findByActiveMaterial: Added support for max2011's Slate Material Editor.

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_tools/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

New Matte Painting: Day's End

2010-07-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

Matte painting depicting the fleet's return at day's end to the homebase. These were the sorts of images I loved from the original star wars films, very moody, lots of atmospheric, harsh lighting. This is my homage to this sort of imagery.

Another 2 New Tech Floor Patterns

2010-07-01T10:51:00.000-07:00

2 New Tech Floor Patterns

2010-06-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

Same technique as the last set.

Tech Floor Patterns

2010-06-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

Here's some starship hull test images I've been working on. I made these images to explore variations in greebling and hull plate shapes and configurations. The tests are a little less practical and a little more abstract, but they have been really helpful, and should be a great source of inspiration and practical experience the next time I decide to make a full fledged 3d model of a starship, space station or even a mechanized planet. Parts were modeled in 3dsmax (many wires were done using my wirebundler script), rendered with brazil, some was painted in photoshop (so the image isn't 100% 3d, but the majority is), and many patterns were inspired and produced by Darktree, Bercon Noise and Filterforge procedural patterns.

New Abstract Painting

2010-05-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

Just a new quick abstract doodle in photoshop...

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated May 21st 2010

2010-05-21T19:56:00.000-07:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

* Added a new tutorial called Vector Displacement Map Stamps In Mudbox.

SoulburnScripts Updated May 15th 2010

2010-05-15T18:35:00.000-07:00

Max script update:

First, I've tested the scripts in Max 2011 and all seems to be good. Let me know if you find any weird behavior.

Updated 2 older scripts:

parameterManager: Fixed a bug where the wrong value got passed to relative mode. Thanks ZeBoxx for finding this one.
modifierUtilities: Added Option to unignore instanced objects. Useful if you want to add modifiers to a set of references.

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_tools/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

WWR Photo Site Is Updated

2010-05-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

So recently I've been collecting the World War Robot toys from ThreeA. The toys are based on a universe of fighting robots created by artist Ashley Wood.

As well as collecting them, I've had some fun dusting off my camera and photographing the toys. Photography is something I've dabbled in over the years, but never spent much serious time doing. The toys have given me a good excuse to work on my photography skills, which isn't all that different from my cg skills, you need to work on composition, work on lighting, etc. It has a spontaneity though that's difficult to get sometimes in cg, and I've been having a blast.

Below are a few samples, and feel free to visit my flickr page for all of the photos if you find them interesting.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/soulburn3d

When I update the page with new robot photos, I'll add a note to my blog, the same as when I update my art gallery, tools page or education page.

NeilBlevins.com Is Updated Apr 5th 2010

2010-04-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

Added a bunch of new artwork, most of which made its debut on this blog: 2 new environment paintings, one called "Over Black Clouds" which I made for a CD Cover for the band "God Fear None", and a new painting called "Misty Mountain". Also, a new rough environment painting called "Flat City", a new test called "Spore III" that shows off mudbox 2011's new Vector Displacement Map feature. Two painted studies called "Marin Sunset III" and "Marin Sunset IV", and a new acrylic painting "Intergalactic Night Flight" along with its digital color rough.

Visit http://www.neilblevins.com to see the new work.

New CD Cover: Over Black Clouds

2010-04-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

Painting for a CD cover for the band God Fear None. Depicts a desolate landscape, our travelers come upon a mysterious ancient building, so tall it breaks the clouds that enshroud the planet.

New Study: Marin Sunset IV

2010-03-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

New Acrylic Painting & Speed Painting

2010-03-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

A friend at work is very ill, and some co-workers decided to organize a charity auction for him. So I took the opportunity to do my first Acrylic painting in close to 10 years, and donate it to the auction. Here's the speed painting I did as a test for the final painting.

And here's the final acrylic, went for a more night time look for the final piece. I had forgotten how awesome and at the same time difficult it is to paint traditionally without the advantages of undo or color correction. But I'm glad I had the chance to do it again, I learned a lot.

New Study: Marin Sunset III

2010-03-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

Gotta love those sunsets, twice a year for about 3 weeks each, sunsets happen almost exactly when I head home for the night, so I am treated to some of the more beautiful colors nature can provide my whole drive home. Here another feeble attempt at capturing some of that magic.

New Speed Painting: Flat City

2010-03-11T20:17:00.001-08:00

Environment rough. Did a rare winter piece, which is odd, my life in Canada had so much winter in it, you'd expect I would do lots of winter scenes. Need to do more of that.

New Study: Spore III

2010-03-10T09:54:00.000-08:00

Did a little Vector Displacement Map test using the beta of Mudbox 2011, it is so cool to be able to just paint geometry onto another surface like this.

I started by making this geometric shape in mudbox into a brush...

And here’s the resulting vdm brush

I then started with a fresh sphere, and stamped this vdm all over it. I then used the "Fill" brush to place the more noisy detail on the surface of the sphere without affecting the bubbles. That was using a custom stamp using the reaction diffusion KPT filter in photoshop.

Then exported the result to 3dsmax (The full highres mesh, since neither brazil nor mentalray in max have a good way to use VDM displacing yet). Added the microscope shader, which includes a small bump map, and rendered in Brazil, slight tweaking and compositing in photoshop.

SoulburnScripts Updated Mar 3rd 2010

2010-03-03T07:24:00.000-08:00

Max script update:

The script updates have been coming fast and furious these last couple of weeks, mostly driven from a lot of user feedback. Things will probably quiet down for a bit after this release. Updated 2 older script:

texmapPreview: Fixed an error that stopped the defaults version of the script from running.
blendedBoxMapMaker: Added ability to change the Tile Amount of the maps, separate from the Tile Amount on the modifiers.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

SoulburnScripts Updated Feb 28th 2010

2010-02-28T17:48:00.000-08:00

Max script update:

Updated 2 older script:

texmapPreview: Now mentalray's GI and Caustics are also turned off for a faster render. Exposure control is also turned off, and you can choose if it displays the background as well.
edgeDivider: Now works on Edit Poly modifiers.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

SoulburnScripts Updated Feb 22nd 2010

2010-02-25T07:39:00.000-08:00

Max script update:

Updated one older script:

texmapPreview: Added size feature, and it turns off render elements now when rendering, and turns off Distributed Bucket Rendering if you're using mentalray.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

New Painting: Misty Mountain

2009-12-15T17:23:00.000-08:00

The inspiration for this piece came from the lighting I saw driving into work one morning. The sky was dark with rainclouds, but the sun was pouring through the clouds behind this one hill near the Berkeley / Oakland border. Rather than doing a normal study, I decided to use the ambiance for a more imaginative piece. All painted in Photoshop.

NeilBlevins.com Is Updated Dec 2nd 2009

2009-12-03T08:24:00.000-08:00

Added two new interviews, Camminando Scalzi…Walking Barefoot Neil Blevins Interview and CgAdvertising.com Neil Blevins Interview.

Added a bunch of new artwork, many of which made their debut on this blog: 3 Sketches called "Finbot", "Flat City" and "Nautillusbot", some rough environment paintings called "Alien Forest", "Deadlands", "Twin Peaks III" and "Mountainside Base", a rough scene painting "The Gathering III", and two studies called "Marin Sunset" and "Marin Sunset II". I have some other new more finished pieces ready for release, I just need to get final permissions from the clients, they'll probably get added early next year.

Visit http://www.neilblevins.com to see the new work.

SoulburnScripts Updated Dec 2nd 2009

2009-12-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

Max script update:

Created one new script:

uVAreaDisplayer: Prints the area of the currently selected UV faces.

Updated one older script:

uVFlattener: Cleaned up some code. Fixed an issue that would happen when trying to flatten a uvwunwrap that spans multiple objects. Thanks to Titov Mykhaylo for the code.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated Nov 20th 2009

2009-11-20T18:40:00.000-08:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

* Added a new tutorial called Fractal Noise.

New Study: Marin Sunset II

2009-10-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

Based on a sunset I saw coming home the other day...

New Speed Painting: Twin Peaks 3 Color Sketch

2009-10-19T10:14:00.001-07:00

A quick color sketch based on a sunset I saw driving home from work.

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated Oct 18th 2009

2009-10-18T15:49:00.000-07:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

* Added a new lesson, Glows That Look Really Hot.
* Added mentalray examples to my Chrome Material Tutorial.

SoulburnScripts Updated Oct 12th 2009

2009-10-12T19:38:00.000-07:00

Max script update:

Created one new script:

uVTransfer: Transfers uvs from one object to the next. Useful if you have two identical meshes, but their vertex order is messed up (like perhaps in the situation where you exported the object to a seperate application for uving and that application messed up the vertex order.) This script can transfer the uvs from the new object to your original object in max, even if the order is different. This script may still be a little rough, so make sure to save your scene before you use it, and if you find any models it doesn't work on, let me know so I can try and fix it.

Updated several older scripts, here's the major updates:

imagePlaneMaker: Fixed a bug that shows up if you have max set to use Real World Scale by default.
mirrorObjectAlongAxis: There is a maxscript bug where using the maxOps.CloneNodes function (which this script does) causes not only the objects to be instanced, but their transform controller as well, but only if you're cloning a hierarchy. So if you have say a sphere linked to a dummy, and run the script, then move your sphere, the second sphere will move as well. Hopefully autodesk will fix this bug in a new release, but until then, I added the "Uninstance Transform Controllers?" checkbox. This will uninstance the transform controllers. However, this workaround has the side effect that if you actually meant to have the controllers instanced, it will uninstance them, since the script can't tell whether you meant to have them instanced, or whether they were just instanced due to the maxscript bug.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

SoulburnScripts Updated Oct 3rd 2009

2009-10-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

Max script update:

Updated several older scripts, here's the major updates:

nameManager: Added ability to rename bitmaps themselves inside bitmap maps.
getMatFromSelectedObject: Added error handling for if you don't have any object selected.
materialMover: Fixed a bug found by a user that stopped the script from using the mentalray preset.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated Oct 1st 2009

2009-10-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

* Added a new lesson, Tree Brush In Photoshop.
* Alexander Yergashov again has translated a number of my lessons into russian, here's the list: Ambient Occlusion Rust, Non Linear Displacement In 3dsmax, Converting A Grayscale Image To Black On Transparent, Pelt Mapping, and Reducing Memory Usage To Render A Memory Hungry Scene.

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated Sept 21st 2009

2009-09-22T07:53:00.000-07:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

* Added a new version of my Mudbox to Max tutorial called Converting A Mudbox 2010 Model To 3DSMax. I'll keep the 2009 one around as well for people who haven't upgraded. Also note, this tutorial still uses obj as the primary way to move the model back and forth. At some point in the near future, I'll modify the tutorial to use fbx, which will let you skip 2 or 3 minor steps. But in the meantime, this newer tutorial should give you results that look great and it covers a few changes that have occurred in Mudbox 2010.

New Image: Marin Sunset + Other Speed Paintings

2009-09-18T17:17:00.000-07:00

This started off as a speed painting, ended up finishing it off to be more of a matte painting (total of 4 hours of painting over a few days).

A few words on the technique. This is based on a photograph my wife took, I decided to paint this all by hand rather than doing some sort of photomanip (it's good practice), using the photo simply as reference. The only photo used in the actual painting are the two photoshop tree brushes, which I created by taking real photos of 2 trees against the sky, making them greyscale, and then contrasting the heck out of them. 99% of the image is the three brushes below.

May I say that painting clouds is both fun and incredibly frustrating. But I'm happy to get the practice in.

And here's some other recent speed paintings...

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated Sept 8th 2009

2009-09-08T14:16:00.000-07:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

* Added a new lesson called Procedural Noise.
* Someone has been kind enough to figure out a way to replicate the Blended Box Map technique inside maya (using mentalray). Go here for the youtube video, and click on "More Info" to get a script that creates the shader network for you.

SoulburnScripts Updated Sept 6th 2009

2009-09-06T10:35:00.000-07:00

Max script update:

Updated several older scripts, here's the major updates:

modifierUtilities: Added Select with Mod by Name Mode.
makeObjectsUnique: Fixed an issue that caused objects that are instanced with modifiers to not be made unique. Unfortunately the fix only works for max 2008 and above.
surfaceSnapper: Bug Fix: If your object is scaled, it now keeps the proper scale.
attachSelectedObjects: Now uses a divide and conquer algorithm to attach objects that my friend Zeboxx suggested which can cause the script to attach lots of objects much quicker.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

NeilBlevins.com Is Updated Sept 5th 2009

2009-09-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

Added a whole ton of new artwork. Visit http://www.neilblevins.com to see the new work, or just scroll down below. Most are rough images, many of them have early sketches and some color sketches too. So if you think you see the same thumbnail twice, click to see the full image and you'll get a chance to see some of the images as they developed from sketch to color sketch to final rough painting.

Some new artwork

2009-07-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

This image started out as a simple sphere in the mist. As I continued to work on it, my results kept deviating from my original idea. Finally, I let go of my original idea and finished the piece the way it needed to be finished.

But I still dug the original vision, so I went back to square one and finished this quick speed painting, which captures what I wanted originally.

NeilBlevins.com Is Updated July 3rd 2009

2009-07-06T07:11:00.000-07:00

Added a bunch of new artwork to the art gallery. Added the "Mortuary Robot" model, which is the robot I created for my newly released Gnomon DVD. Added a new speed painting called "Golem". Added 4 Silhouette sketches called "Octobot 2 Silhouette", "Watcher Silhouette", "Hangman Silhouette", and "Alchemy Test A Silhouette". Added 5 Color Abstract tests. Added a shader test called "Alien Craters". Finally added two new robot sketches, "Mortuary Robot Sketch" and "Old Angel Robot Sketch".

Visit http://www.neilblevins.com to see the new work.

Thanks to everyone for your support!

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated July 3rd 2009

2009-07-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

My Gnomon DVD "Hard Surface Shading And Texturing" is now out.

Here's the description from the website: "In this DVD, Neil introduces his pipeline for shading and texturing hard surface models. The pipeline can be used for any highres models, such as models for photoreal fx work, animated feature films, ride films or videogame cinematics. In Part 1, he discusses reference gathering, how to make a visual details list, and common shaders. Then he outlines all of the major methods for placing patterns on your surface, their advantages and disadvantages, and ways of creating patterns, including procedurals, photo manipulation, and hand painting. He breaks up the lecture with practical demonstrations in Adobe photoshop and 3dstudio max using the Scanline, Brazil and mentalray renderers, and stresses how the theory can be applicable to your 3d application and renderer of choice. In Part 2, he uses the theory and pipeline from Part 1 to shade and texture a 2000+ object robot character and simple environment using 3ds Max, Photoshop and Brazil. With a focus on texturing thousands of objects fast and efficiently and theory that is useful in any 3d app or renderer, this intermediate level course is sure to add many new tricks to your personal arsenal."

To order, or for more information, go here.

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

* Added a few new details to Piles Of Rubble
* Added a few new details to Replacing Scatter With PFlow.

SoulburnScripts Updated July 2nd 2009

2009-07-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

Max script update:

Updated several older scripts, here's the major updates:

bitmapCollector: Rewrote part of the script to get around a max bug introduced into max 2010.
edgeDivider: Now works on multiple edges.
objectDetacher: Added a count-up in the prompt area so you see how many objects the script has detached at a given point. Cleaned up the code a bunch, and fixed a bug which caused the script to sometimes not select the correct detached objects.
soulburnScriptsLister: Rewrote part of the script to get around a max bug introduced into max 2010.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

Golem Rough

2009-06-23T07:33:00.000-07:00

The name Golem (not to be confused with the character Gollum from Lord Of The Rings) refers to an animate creature in Jewish Folklore created entirely from inanimate matter. These creatures would be created to do the bidding of their masters, large, bulky, and powerful, usually they were mindless, took orders literally, and didn't speak. This started off as a quick speed painting, ended up being a little more finished than I'd originally intended, but I dug the composition and felt it deserved a little more polish.

4 Quick Silhouettes

2009-06-23T07:23:00.000-07:00

Been doing some quick silhouette sketches recently, here's a few examples...

Also I've been playing with an experimental sketch program called Alchemy. Very cool app for getting those happy accidents.

Some New Abstract Paintings

2009-06-22T06:45:00.000-07:00

Been playing around with some more abstract type speed painting, they're basically just exercises in color and form. Here's some examples, I have to say they're really relaxing to make, you just turn off that literal part of the brain and deal with pure composition.

SoulburnScripts Updated June 12th 2009

2009-06-12T06:39:00.000-07:00

Max script update:

Created one new script:

bitmapPagerManager: The Bitmap Pager controls have been removed from the preferences of Max2010. This script gives you some of that control back, especially the ability to turn it off, which may speed up renders on 64bit OS's that have lots of RAM.

A bug fix to an old script:

modifierUtilities: Fixed a bug I introduced with the last update, now favorites should be working again.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated June 11th 2009

2009-06-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

* Added a new technique to Converting A Grayscale Image To Black On Transparent.
* Added a new lesson Chipped Paint Material.

My Gnomon DVD "Hard Surface Shading And Texturing" will be out July 1st 2009.

2009-06-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

I have just completed an instructional DVD for The Gnomon Workshop called "Hard Surface Shading And Texturing". It contains over 5.5 hours of content. Here's the description from the website:

"In this 2 DVD set, Neil introduces his pipeline for shading and texturing hard surface models. The pipeline can be used for any highres models, such as models for photoreal fx work, animated feature films, ride films or videogame cinematics. In Part 1, he discusses reference gathering, how to make a visual details list, and common shaders. Then he outlines all of the major methods for placing patterns on your surface, their advantages and disadvantages, and ways of creating patterns, including procedurals, photo manipulation, and hand painting. He breaks up the lecture with practical demonstrations in Adobe photoshop and 3dstudio max using the Scanline, Brazil and mentalray renderers, and stresses how the theory can be applicable to your 3d application and renderer of choice. In Part 2, he uses the theory and pipeline from Part 1 to shade and texture a 2000+ object robot character and simple environment using 3ds Max, Photoshop and Brazil. With a focus on texturing thousands of objects fast and efficiently and theory that is useful in any 3d app or renderer, this intermediate level course is sure to add many new tricks to your personal arsenal."

The DVD should be out July 1st 2009, go here for more info, including a sneak peak at the final robot (more images to follow when the DVD is released).

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

* Added a new pic in my Enhancing Bumps Through Rake Lighting lesson.
* Added more pics to my Flat Metallic Surfaces lesson.

And lastly, a big thanks to everyone who came to my talks in Utrecht last week, we had a fantastic time.

SoulburnScripts Updated June 3rd 2009

2009-06-03T06:28:00.000-07:00

Max script update:

Created one new script:

uVFlattener: Lets you flatten a selection of UVs, or in other words aligns all selected UVs horizontally or vertically. The advantage of using this tool over the one provided in the Unwrap UVW editor is you can choose to align the UVs to the average, the min or the max.

Updated several older scripts, here's the major updates:

uVPlacer: Removed the average button, and replaced the functionality with a new script called uVFlattener.
parameterManager: Fixed a crash bug that would crash then script when trying to autodetect a list of maps. Now has a mode to modify the coordinates of maps. Redid the interface somewhat.
blendedBoxMapMaker: Removed the align option and turned it on permanently, as there's no reason not to have this on.
objectReplacer: Now the script won't crash if you are using max 2010's containers.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

SoulburnScripts Updated May 18th 2009

2009-05-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

Max script update:

I have now tested my scripts in Max2010, and everything seems compatible. So if you run into anything let me know.

Added better compatibility with Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Updated several older scripts, here's the major updates:

nameManager: Fixed a mistake in the pad value.
wireBundler: Fixed a bug where hitting the "Add Sel To Deform List" button repeatedly would keep adding the same objects. Fixed a bug where duplicate named nodes would cause the script to crash.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

NeilBlevins.com Is Updated May 18th 2009

2009-05-18T09:04:00.001-07:00

Added a bunch of new artwork to the art gallery. Added a new scene called "Hive Mind I". Added a new environment matte painting called "Twin Peaks II". Five creature, robot and environment sketches called "Crabbot Sketch", "Floater II Sketch", "Hard Back Whale Sketch", "Fat Beast Sketch" and "Rock Towers Sketch". Added a few new speed paintings called "Upstate Sunset", "Flying Wing" and "Cacodaemon". And finally a new hard surface model called "Multilegbot". Expect an update with some new robot models that I should have permission to show soon.

Visit http://www.neilblevins.com to see the new work.

Thanks to everyone for your support!

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated May 18th 2009

2009-05-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

* First off, I updated my Chrome Material lesson with some extra info on the difference between polished, blurred and glossy reflections.
* Alexander Yergashov again has translated a number of my lessons into Russian, here's the list: A White Plane That Fades Into A White Background, Spun Pattern, Dust Material, Replacing Scatter With PFlow, Towels, Carpet Or Grass Material Using Displacement, and Offset Filter To Make Tileable Textures.
* And one last reminder that I will be in Utrecht next week giving 2 presentations for the "End User Event 2009". Can't wait to see everyone there!

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated Apr 7th 2009

2009-04-07T07:24:00.000-07:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

* I will be giving 2 presentations at this year's "End User Event 2009" May 28th-29th in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The first will be the Pixar related talk "The Sets Of Wall-E: Trash Planet" where I will discuss some of the challenges the Pixar sets team encountered making a giant world of trash. The second talk will be called "Shading And Texturing Hard Surface Models", which will be a non-Pixar talk where I show a number of techniques I use in my personal work when shading and texturing hard surface models. While 3dsmax will be my primary example platform, theory from this talk can be applied to the 3d app and renderer or your choice. For more info, please visit here.
* Also added 2 new simple Photoshop tips, Converting A Grayscale Image To Black On Transparent.
* Added Changing A Photoshop Layer's Color To A Different Color While Keeping Transparency.

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated Mar 19th 2009

2009-03-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

* Added a new lesson, Multiple UV Tiles.
* Added more info to my Pelt Mapping lesson about evening out uvs across the entire surface.
* Added a whole ton of new info to my Converting A Mudbox 2.0 Model To 3DSMax lesson, which outlines a far superior export technique.

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated Mar 14th 2009

2009-03-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

Added a new lesson, Replacing Scatter With PFlow.

Thanks For Wondercon 2009 and Art Show

2009-03-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who came out and supported me at Wondercon 2009, the convention was a lot of fun (although I got a nasty throat bug while I was there that's kicking my butt right now). The posters really sold well at the show, and I got a chance to meet some awesome people, including a few artists that I grew up admiring who I caught walking the show floor.

Also thanks to everyone who came to the opening of the Periscope Cellars Science Fiction show, the event had a lot of variety with respect to the artists, and it was cool seeing some of my work on the wall for a change, instead of on the computer screen. Rumor has it this event might become a yearly thing, we'll see how it goes.

Sorry there hasn't been any new artwork lately, I've been hard at work on an instructional DVD that will hopefully be released this summer, as well as other non-art related projects, but I hope to have some time to dedicate to making new art once I'm done. Take care!

SoulburnScripts Updated Mar 7th 2009

2009-03-07T16:40:00.000-08:00

Max script update:

Added a new script:

thinFaceSelector: Find and selects faces that are really tall and thin. Good for finding thin faces in a complex mesh, faces that may be best to subdivide to make all your faces more square.

A bunch of bug fixes:

soulburnScriptsLister: Fixed a bug that would cause the script to crash if you hadn't selected a script for soulburnScriptsLister to run.
vertexAndEdgeConnector: Now lets you override the Pinch and Slide values as well.
blendedBoxMapMaker: Some UI wasn't turning on and off properly, now it does.
cornerEdgeToVertexMap: Fixed a bug that would cause the script to crash when working on non Editable Poly objects.
modifierUtilities: Added a new mode, "Select Objects with Material Modifier By ID"
texmapPreview: Added a way to always render the locked viewport in Max 2009.
objectDropper: You can now use multiple ground objects. Completely redid the UI.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

SoulburnScripts Updated Feb 8th 2009

2009-02-08T17:25:00.001-08:00

Max script update:

Added a new script:

edgeDivider: Splits an Edge you select in an Editable Poly into equal parts.

A bunch of bug fixes:

soulburnScriptsLister: Fixed a bug that would cause the script to crash if you hadn't selected a script for soulburnScriptsLister to run.
alignViewportToFace: Fixed a bug that would cause a crash when the selected object had modifiers.
circleArrayMaker: Now the new objects are placed on the same layer as the original object.
blendedBoxMapMaker: Fixed a bug that would crash the script when given a blank map name.
bitmapCollector: Fixed a bug that would cause the script to crash if you choose an improper directory.
imagePlaneMaker: Fixed a bug that would crash the script when given a blank map name.

Added the following scripts to SoulburnScriptsExtras:

Turbosmooth, Shell, PolySelect, EditPoly, SimCloth, SplineMesher, ScatterUtility, Grass-o-matic, Druid

Now all of the plugins above can be run by an icon in a toolbar.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated Jan 31st 2009

2009-01-31T11:06:00.000-08:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

* Added a bunch of new info to my Anisotropic Highlights lesson, including a better max Standard example, info on mentalray, and a warning about smoothing groups.

Art Show and Wondercon in February

2009-01-28T08:13:00.000-08:00

I will be displaying some of my artwork at the "Science Fiction & Fantasy Art Show At Periscope Cellars" at 1410 62nd Street Suite B (@ Hollis) Emeryville, CA 94608 from Feb 2nd till Feb 27th. I will also attend the reception on Feb 6th from 6pm till 9pm if you want to drop by to say hi. A number of other artists will also have work in the show, including Brenoch Adams, Robert Hunt, J.B. Lowe, Deth P Sun and more. Go here for more information.

I will also be selling my prints and posters again at this year's Wondercon in San Francisco from February 27th till March 1st. Go here for more info.

NeilBlevins.com Is Updated Dec 20th 2008

2008-12-20T10:43:00.000-08:00

Added a bunch of new speed paintings to the gallery (many of which made their debut on this blog). Most of these are not sci-fi / fantasy related, but based on landscape photographs from around the world. I found the exercise to be a lot of fun, and I know the practice will help me when I start back into my robots, creatures and alien landscapes in January. So enjoy the change of pace, and for all your hardcore sci-fi folk, don't worry, I have some great new ideas for 2009 that I think you'll enjoy!

The Details: Added two Sketches called "Twin Peaks 2" and "Grabbot Sketch", added two Color Roughs called "Eruption" and "Red Devil", and added 5 speed painting studies called "Cliffs Of Moher", "Big Sur Sunset", "Lake Mead Sunset", "Lausanne", and "Distant Hills".

Visit http://www.neilblevins.com to see the new work.

Thanks to everyone for your support!

SoulburnScripts Updated Dec 19th 2008

2008-12-19T18:22:00.001-08:00

Max script update:

Updated several older scripts, here's the major updates:

splinePainter: Added ability to close the spline after creation.
sLib: Added sLibPowerNurbsFilter.
powerSolidManager: Also works on Power Nurbs now.
parameterManager: Added a progress bar to startup, hopefully it'll build it's list a little faster, or at least you'll know it hasn't crashed. Fixed a couple of crash bugs.
modifierUtilities: Changed the default modifiers. You can get the old set back by making your own custom set of default modifiers.
wireBundler: Modified the parameters of SplineMesher to create more consistent results.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

New Speed Painting: Cliffs Of Moher

2008-11-23T16:57:00.000-08:00

Quick speed painting, I can't imagine any painting that could properly capture the scale of these enormous cliffs. They were cool to see, cool to photograph, and now cool to paint. Check em out if you're ever in Ireland, they're not to be missed.

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated Nov 21st 2008

2008-11-21T07:40:00.000-08:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

* Added a new lesson which gives step by step instructions on how to do Pelt Mapping.
* Added a note about a limitation in my Worn Edges Using A Distorted Vertex Map lesson.
* Added some more details to Converting A Mudbox 2.0 Model To 3DSMax.
* Added another new technique to Removing Brightness Variation To Make Tileable Textures.

SoulburnScripts Updated Nov 20th 2008

2008-11-20T20:39:00.000-08:00

Max script update:

Updated several older scripts, here's the major updates:

attachSelectedObjects You can now successfully cancel out of a large attach operation.
imagePlaneMaker Now has a button to quickly hide or unhide the templates.
wireBundler Will now match material applied to existing splines. Added a new Appearance Type, SplineMesher.
subdivisionAutomator Fixed a bug that caused selection mode not to work.
sLib Added sLibSplineMesherTest

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

New Speed Painting: Big Sur Sunset

2008-11-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

It's the end of a furious week of speed painting, so I guess it makes sense to do a sunset to close out. This was based on a photo I took while on vacation in Big Sur with my wife, every night we sat on the coast and watched the sun go down. In our busy lives, it's difficult to find the time to watch a nice sunset. Just like how it's difficult to find time for speed painting. But both are worth the effort.

New Speed Painting: Lake Mead Sunset

2008-11-14T10:20:00.001-08:00

This is a study from a photo I took back in 2001 during a Lake Mead houseboat trip with blur studio. I always enjoy a really spectacular sunset, this was shortly after the sun dipped below the horizon and all that's left is those crazy saturated oranges, pinks and yellows. Painted in an hour or two, I wanted to get all the detail and richness of the colors in that sky.

New Speed Painting: Lausanne

2008-11-13T10:28:00.000-08:00

This is a study from a photo my cousin took in Switzerland. Painted in about 2 hours in photoshop. I altered the lighting a bit from the original photo to get a little more drama in there.

New Speed Painting: Distant Hills

2008-11-12T10:41:00.001-08:00

This is a study from a photo I found on the net. Unfortunately, I can no longer find the original photo, and so I don't have the name of the photographer to credit. Painted in about an hour in photoshop.

New Speed Painting: Red Devil

2008-11-11T10:43:00.001-08:00

A new image in the style of my Mountain King image, maybe it's just the red color, but this guy feels more sinister to me.

New Speed Painting: Eruption

2008-11-10T10:50:00.001-08:00

Decided to do a bunch of speed paintings this month, this is the first of a new batch. Got a little crazy with the colors, so I guess this is more an "impression" of a volcano eruption than a real volcano, although you'd be surprised at some of the crazy colors you get when a real volcano explodes.

NeilBlevins.com Is Updated Nov 8th 2008

2008-11-08T17:55:00.000-08:00

First off, a big thanks to everyone who came to APE and visited my booth. I really appreciated all your feedback. And a big thanks to those who supported me by purchasing one of my prints or posters, I hope you really enjoy them.

Speaking of posters, I now have posters available in the Store section of my website, check them out.

Also, added two new mudbox models in the gallery, "High Priest" and "Kyte".

Visit http://www.neilblevins.com to see the new work.

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated Oct 7th 2008

2008-10-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

Added a new lesson called Tiled Floor Material, and another one called Converting A Mudbox 2.0 Model To 3DSMax.

SoulburnScripts Updated Sept 18th 2008

2008-09-18T07:47:00.000-07:00

Max script update:

NOTICE: I had to make some major changes to sLib to remove several recursion bugs that could cause max to crash. I've successfully removed the bugs, but it's possible I may have introduced new ones, despite a lot of testing to make sure all of the functions still work correctly. If you see any weirdness where scripts you know worked aren't working as expected anymore, please get in touch with me immediately. Thanks.

Updated several older scripts, here's the major updates:

objectPainter: Added a place mode, instead of painting a series of objects on the surface, it will place a single object at the spot you initial touch.
bitmapCollector: Added Extra Copy Path value. If you want to copy the maps to more than one directory, add the extra paths in here, with a , between each path.
alignViewportToFace: I now give the option of facing the face or seeing it from the side.
objectReplacer: Now retains Display Properties.
soulburnScriptsLister: Fixed naming error in internal variables. Users should not see any change.
sLib: Removed recursive functions, replaced them with loops.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

Come Visit the 2008 Alternative Press Expo!

2008-09-16T22:15:00.000-07:00

I will be selling posters and limited edition fineart prints of my work at this year's Alternative Press Expo (APE) in San Francisco on Nov 1st and 2nd. So drop in and say hi, and check out all the other fantastic artist who will be showing off their stuff. For more information, go here.

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated Sept 1st 2008

2008-09-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

Added a new lesson called Towels, Carpet Or Grass Material Using Displacement.

SoulburnScripts Updated Aug 20th 2008

2008-08-20T07:54:00.000-07:00

Max script update:

Updated several older scripts, here's the major updates:

nameManager: Added a new mode for renaming maps, not just bitmap maps.
texmapPreview: Added some simple mentalray support.
bitmapCollector: Now gets maps associated with UnwrapUVW modifiers.
selectionHighlighter: Now when you turn off the script, it will turn the Preview Selection mode of your objects to what they were before you entered Selection Highlighting mode.
parameterManager: Now handles the CastShadow property of lights.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Thanks to everyone for your support.

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated Aug 16th 2008

2008-08-16T09:37:00.000-07:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

Added a new lesson called Ambient Occlusion Rust.

Siggraph Talk and Digital Art Master Vol 3

2008-08-15T17:14:00.000-07:00

First off, a huge thanks to everyone who came to my Shading & Texturing class at Siggraph. I really appreciate the support, and hopefully the information I presented will be useful to you. I certainly learned a few new tricks.

Also, I have a chapter in the new book Digital Art Masters Volume 3 discussing how I went about creating my "Mouths To Feed III" image. To purchase the book (and get a preview) go here.

NeilBlevins.com Is Updated Aug 15th 2008

2008-08-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

Added several new images to the gallery on my website, 2 models called "Prey" and "Loaderbot 1", a speed painting called "Cattle III" (originally shown on this blog) and a new 3d image called "The Ark".

Visit http://www.neilblevins.com to see the new work.

Interview with Render.ru

2008-08-15T15:33:00.001-07:00

If you read russian, check out another new interview with me at the Render.ru website.

3DCreative Interview in Issue 35

2008-08-15T15:32:00.001-07:00

3DCreative did a 7 page interview with me, which also includes a number of images, go here to purchase Issue 35 of their magazine in pdf format.

My work is in Ballistic's "Elemental 3" Book

2008-08-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

I am honored to have been both a judge for, and to have gotten some of my images into the book Elemental 3 by Ballistic Publishing.

Interview with It's Art Magazine about Wall-e

2008-08-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

It's Art Magazine has interviewed me about the work I did on Pixar's film Wall-E. Read all about it here.

SoulburnScripts Updated July 18th 2008

2008-07-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

Max script update:

Created one new script:

polyCountSelector: Selects objects based on their facecount.

Updated several older scripts, here's the major updates:

bitmapCollector: Now searches your mappaths and local maxdir for missing bitmaps.
modifierUtilities: Added a new mode for selecting objects with uVWMapping Modifiers with a specific map channel.
subdivisionAutomator: Added a new button to select all the scene objects with a skip tag. Good for quickly seeing which objects in your scene will be skipped by the script.
transformSelector: Added ability to find non-reset transforms. Good for finding any objects that have no had their transforms reset.
blendedBoxMapMaker: Fixed a bug that would crash the script when reading in defs.
objectPainter: In case you have a slow computer, you can now have your painted objects appear in box mode. Cleaned up interface some, it was getting too long.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

SoulburnScripts Updated June 21st 2008

2008-06-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

All bugfixes and a few small new features this month, haven't had much time to script.

Max script update:

Updated several scripts, here's the major updates:

wireBundler: Fixed Crash Bug.
modifierUtilities: Added ability to turn on or off or toggle modifiers.
objectPainter: You can now align your object based on stroke direction.
mirrorObjectAlongAxis: Added a "No Clone" method that just flips the objects.
subdivisionAutomator: Now when performing the function on the scene, only affects visible objects. This speeds things up a lot for complex scenes. Also performs some selection magic to speed up removing the modifier at the end of a render.
objectDetacher: Retains the same layer info when detaching.
vertPlacer: You can now choose where it places the vertex by clicking the mouse in the viewport.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Finished New Digital Painting: Cattle III

2008-06-15T08:41:00.001-07:00

Another new cattle image. Why I am obsessed with alien looking cows? I don't know, I just am.

Finished New Model: Prey

2008-06-14T09:44:00.000-07:00

This is one of those models that came to me during traffic. WTF you say? Well, I'm sitting in my car, stuck on the 580 going towards Emeryville, and I'm behind this big truck for a mile going at 5 mph, and the truck's rear bumper has all of these brake lights. Suddenly, it dawns on me that the warning lights look like a strip of eyes, staring back at me. The creative juices start to flow, and this is what I end up with. The eyes also remind me a bit of the Sentinels in the matrix films, but then again, people driving to ESC to work on those films were probably stuck in the exact same traffic I was, since their facility was only 5 exits south of where I was headed :) My inspiration also came from printer cables, and a beast that shows up in the middle of the film Naussica. There's something about the long and flat creature that I find unusually appealing, probably because it's not something you see in nature all the time.

The wires use my wireBundler script, Darktree for some of the texture, other parts of the texture were hand painted in photoshop. Rendered using Brazil 2.0.

Here's a smooth shaded view of the model.

Click here to see a turntable (approx 20 meg).

NeilBlevins.com Is Updated June 7th 2008

2008-06-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

I am honored to have some of my work appear in both Expose 6 from Ballistic Publishing, as well as in It's Art Magazine Gallery Selection Year In Review Issue 1 2008.

I've spent the past year and a half working on Pixar's latest film Wall-e, modeling and texturing environments, which is out in the US on June 27th 2008. Check it out.

Added a few new images to the gallery, including a rock test...

A new speed painting called "Armada".

I also added a test of a fire hydrant, which is one of the examples I'll be showing off during my Siggraph 2008 Autodesk MasterClasses on Shading and Texturing. For tickets, go here.

Visit http://www.neilblevins.com to get more info on the work.

Thanks to everyone for your support!

SoulburnScripts Updated May 16th 2008

2008-05-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

Some new scripts and new features.

Max script update:

The scripts have now been tested in Max 2009, and everything seems fine. So I'm adding official compatability with Max 2009. Let me know if you run into any weirdness.

Added 2 new scripts:

VertexMapDisplayer: Toggles or turns on or off the vertex map viewport display for all scene or selected objects.
instanceTrimmer: Takes a selection and reduces the selection to include only a single instance from each set of instances.

Updated several scripts, here's the major updates:

attachSelectedObjects: Fixed bug that can cause a crash when not using auto-detect mode.
objectReplacer: Now retains child info as well.
nameManager: Added several new modes, a mode to name objects based off material names, and a strip function and a uniquify name function. Also reordered a number of functions, so please be careful when starting the script that the function you've previously chosen hasn't changed to a new one before executing it. You can also just go to your scripts\SoulburnScripts\presets directory and delete any file named nameManager.ini, then you should be safe.
blendedBoxMapMaker: Added a way to specify the size of the modifiers.
objectDetacher: Gives an error message when trying to work on an object it can't affect.

http://www.neilblevins.com/soulburnscripts/soulburnscripts.htm

Soulburn 3D Education Page Updated May 6th 2008

2008-05-06T20:59:00.000-07:00

The Soulburn CG Education Page has been updated:

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/cg_education.htm

Here's what's new...

- Added a new lesson called Worn Edges Using A Distorted Vertex Map.

Thanks to everyone for your support.