Archive for January, 2011
Warm, Welcoming And Well-Built
Jan 27th
Here is an illustration of an eldar care facility where I creativly used a shallow depth of field (measure of how much of a photo is in focus), to bring a warm and welcoming feel to the illustration.
The basic idea of depth of field is fairly simple—the shallower the depth of field, the more of the illustration is likely to be out of focus. A depth of field of two inches, for example, means that anything within two inches of your point of focus will be in focus. The above illustration has the flowers basket in focus, bringing your attention to it and not the building surrounding it.
How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer
Jan 27th
Use your 3D skills to build a freelance business with this authoritative guide on freelancing written by the authors of the super popular FreelanceSwitch blog.
How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer
Do you make mistakes?
Jan 23rd
A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new
Albert Einstein
5 Tips from the Masters for Better Architecture Rendering
Jan 21st
1. Consider the Context
Architecture renderings offer a distinct set of challenges for illustrators. There are elements of composition which are more evident when it comes to rendering architecture. The following are five tips to render better illustrations of structures.
Some types of structures need to be illustratoed in their correct context. This is true for older structures as well as farmhouses. For modern buildings, the context is rarely necessary. illustrating people can also help the viewer identify the function of the building.
The weather and timing can provide an interesting combination of light and shadows. Light passing through columns and windows can affect the ambiance of the interiors and alter the way the structure looks. The same structure can also appear differently depending on the time of the day. Illustrate the same structure during different times of the day to see the effects of natural and artificial forms of light on the structure.
3. Focus on Lines and Shapes
A lot of architecture relies on the principle of symmetry. Curvilinear lines such as a long pathway can create movement in an image. Archways and windows can also become natural frames for an image.
4. Change the View
With skyscrapers and longer buildings, use various perspectives for a different look. Go at the base of a tall building and render straight up. This will make the image appear distorted but creates an interesting dimension to the illustration.
5. Capture the Details
Structures are made from a variety of materials. Using a macro lens technique will help capture the various textures that make the structure look distinct.
HDR video
Jan 20th
Are you ready for a wave of HDR to crash over the consumer electronics industry, leaving nothing but oversaturated photos and full-to-the-brim Flickr groups in its wake? We’ve got a sneaky suspicion that Apple’s inclusion of HDR in the iPhone is one of those telling warning signs that you ignore at your own risk, and now we’ve got HDR video to cower from behind our fast-aging current gen devices. As you might expect, HDR video looks just like HDR stills (an underexposed and an overexposed image combined into one), except in motion.
The effect has been accomplished by Soviet Montage Productions, who used two Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLRs and a beam splitter, which allows each camera to look at the exact same subject, to accomplish the effect. They’re short on details on the post-processing end, but we’re sure there will be “an app for that” before too long. Sample is after the break.
10 Reasons to Use an Exercise Ball as Your Chair
Jan 20th
I recently came across this article, which talks about using an exercise ball as your home or office chair. I have used an exercise ball as a chair before, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Here are some of the benefits of using an exercise ball as your chair. Whether you spend your desk time at the office, or studying at home for that next exam, office ball chairs can help you in many ways. 1. Forces proper spine alignment. Because an exercise ball is not stable, your body needs to try to balance itself on it. The perfect spinal posture is coincidently the easiest to balance with. Thus, your body will automatically try to align itself into the proper posture. This helps improve your spinal health, and decrease back pains. 2. Causes you to frequently change positions. An exercise ball causes to you to change your position often to balance. For example, if you turn 45 degrees to face the phone, your body will assume a new position. This helps reduce damage caused by prolonged sitting in the same position. 3. Fitness is at your fingertips. Another great thing about using this alternative to a chair, is that you can do stretches or mini-workouts whenever you want, without getting up. If you’ve ever stuck waiting for a minute or two, you can make productive use of that time with a quick workout or stretch. Because it’s much more convenient, you will probably do it more, thus resulting in better health. 4. Improve your balance. This one is very understandable. Sitting on an unstable surface all day will improve your sense of balance, as well as the reactions of your muscles. The result? An overall better balance, that can be observed out of the office. 5. Get that 6-pack you’ve been wanting. Your body primarily uses your core (abdominal) muscles to help compensate for changes in balance. Thus, your essentially getting a low-key abdominal workout. This may not sound like a lot, but consider the amount of time you spend on your computer at the office, or at home. Those hours can build up, and result in a strengthening of ab muscles. 6. Improves your circulation. Using an exercise ball will keep the blood flowing to all parts of your body, throughout the day. A desk chair on the other hand, reduces circulation to some parts of the body after prolonged use. BLABLA 7. You’ll feel more energetic. It has been proven that staying in one position, will make you more tired, while moving around and being active with give you more energy. With an exercise ball as a chair, you will feel much more energized after you finish your work. 8. Burn up to 350 calories per day. More movement during the day = more calories burnt. Burning 350 calories per day = losing one pound of fat every 10 days. You may not burn quite 350, but nonetheless, it will help you stay fit. 9. Really cheap. Specialized exercise balls designed for sitting usage can range from $15 to $80. Much cheaper than buying an ergonomic chair, which can range anywhere from $100 to $400 and up. 10. C’mon, its fun! Who doesn’t like the idea of bouncing around on an exercise ball all day. Exercise balls are an exciting alternative to chairs, and may just give that spark of fun to your day. Update: I just bought an exercise ball for myself. So far, I am really enjoying it! My only complaint is that in the morning when I am half-awake, it is hard to balance. I found this cheap exercise ball Have you personally had experience with using an exercise ball as a chair? Drop us a comment on how it worked out for you. 
Art and Design Trends!
Jan 19th
Trends! The largest community for Trends, Trend Spotting, Cool Hunting, and Innovation. Fashion Trends, Style, Gadgets, Tech, Pop Culture, Art, and Design
http://www.trendhunter.com/cool-hunting/category/Modern-Art-and-Design-Trends
What happened with the Internet in 2010?
Jan 18th
How many websites were added? How many emails were sent? How many Internet users were there? This post will answer all of those questions and many, many more. If it’s stats you want, you’ve come to the right place. We used a wide variety of sources from around the Web to put this post together. You can find the full list of source references at the bottom of the post if you’re interested. We here at Pingdom also did some additional calculations to get you even more numbers to chew on. Prepare for a good kind of information overload. Data sources and notes: Spam percentage from MessageLabs (PDF). Email user numbers and counts from Radicati Group (the number of sent emails was their prediction for 2010, so it’s very much an estimate). Website numbers from Netcraft. Domain name stats from Verisign andWebhosting.info. Internet user numbers and distribution from Internet World Stats. Facebook statsfrom Facebook and Business Insider. Twitter stats from Twitter (and here), TwitterCounter andTechCrunch. Web browser stats from StatCounter. YouTube video numbers from Google. Facebook video numbers from GigaOM. US online video stats from Comscore and the Pew Research Center. Flickr image numbers from Flickr. Facebook image numbers from this blog. 
Email
Websites
Web servers
Domain names
Internet users
Social media
Web browsers
Videos
Images
Composition
Jan 17th
The dictionary says: “Composition is the art of combining parts or elements to form a whole“.
Every render must have a focal point where the artist places the most interesting shapes and elements to create the center of interest.
Start with visual thinking – putting your thoughts about what you feel down on paper. Decide on either a horizonral or vertical format. Make some rough sketches of what you want your render to look like, This is visual thinking: You are developing your composition, creating a center of interest by balancing the elements, moving or eliminating objects, deciding your values, and trying various combinations of foreground, middle ground and background.
Your sketches can be only a suggesitive as you wish. Their main purpose is to arrive at a good working composition. Besides, they are fun to do!
Color Trick
Jan 17th
Stare at a color for a minute or two. Close your eyes. The afterimage you see with your eyes closed will be its complementary color.
Autodesk to hold webcasts on future of 3ds Max
Jan 16th
Autodesk has announced three free webcasts on Project Excalibur, the under-the-hood redesign of 3ds Max designed to roll out across three updates to the software.
The 3ds Max 2012 release is due to address “UI, dynamics and viewport changes”.
All three webcasts take place on Tuesday 8 February between 9am and 9.30pm EST.
Join us for a special webcast where we’ll update you on Project Excalibur (XBR). XBR is a restructuring of 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design that is intended to occur over three phases. It addresses fundamental improvements in workflow, UI, and performance. This update will provide more detail about UI, dynamics and viewport changes. You’ll be able to post questions for the development team.
There will be three opportunities to attend identical sessions held at different times on February 8th, 2011 . These webinar sessions will be recorded and those that register will be provided with a link to view the recordings.
Date: Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Time: 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM EST REGISTER
Time: 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM EST REGISTER
Time: 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM EST REGISTER
If you are timezone challenged, use this: http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc
Tilt-Shift Photography
Jan 15th
Tilt-shift photography refers to the use of camera movements on small- and medium-format cameras; it usually requires the use of special lenses.
“Tilt-shift” actually encompasses two different types of movements: rotation of the lens relative to the image plane, called tilt, and movement of the lens parallel to the image plane, called shift. Tilt is used to control the orientation of the plane of focus (PoF), and hence the part of an image that appears sharp; it makes use of the Scheimpflug principle. Shift is used to change the line of sight while avoiding the convergence of parallel lines, as when photographing tall buildings.
Another, less cost-intensive technique called “tilt-shift miniature faking” is a process in which a photograph of a life-sized location or object is manipulated so that it looks like a photograph of a miniature-scale model.
Tilt-Shift Photography Photoshop Tutorial
This tutorial was produced using Photoshop CS2 on a PC.
Receding Hairline
With very little effort, you can take existing photographs of everyday scenes and make them look like miniature models.
Free Auto Tilt-Shift Photoshop Action
Plug-and-play solution for preparing your photos.
Consider Sun Angles and Time of Day
Jan 14th
The time of day can be important depending on the orientation of the building. (Advice based on Northern Hemisphere conditions) If the main entrance is facing East – a morning rendering will have the most sunlight. If the building is facing South – then you will have the most latitude when you choose your time of day. If the building is facing West – then an evening rendering will give you the best daylight. And if the building is facing North – then you’re screwed!
A building with the primary entrance on the North side, i.e. – always backlit by the sun is the most difficult exterior shot to take. Consider rendering on an overcast day, in the morning or in the evening.
Rendering in the morning or evening is the best way to ensure the shot will be within the stop range of the camera. A rendering of the South face is probably the easiest because everything is washed with sunlight so anytime of day usually works.
The other thing to consider is where shadows of neighboring buildings fall during the day. If the building is in an urban setting, there might be a small window of opportunity when the sun shines directly on the building depending on how narrow the streets are.
