Hey, everyone -- Well, like the subject said, this started as a 15 minute challenge, but I decided to do it in Carrara instead of Ray Dream Studio, so it took me quite a while longer to do. It's really the first serious modeling, texturing and rendering I've done in C, and I have to say I'm really impressed with how my RDS skills (such as they are) translated directly into C. It was a bit frustrating trying to find things like soft shadows, collision detect and other things I'm really used to using in RDS, but once I found them, they seemed to work really well.... That said, here's the challenge: model and render something on your desk. Use as much time as you need, but the quicker the better. This actually took me about an hour and fifteen minutes, but I did have that learning curve thing going. The purpose behind the 15 minute challenges is to get us to think quickly, come up with creative solutions to challenges you face. Everything here was built in the spline modeler. I've always been comfortable with the free-form modeler in RDS, so this was a natural choice. I just barely dabbled with the shader trees to texture everything, but I'm really impressed with what it does.... So, hopefully on Tuesday when I get back into work and online, there'll be a ton of desk items with war stories on how they were built. Enjoy!

The paper clips look great! Really nice job for one of your first forays into Carrara.

One of the coolest things I have on my desk is one of my other hobbies examples! This is a pretty daggoned scaled model of the famous Estes Alpha Model Rocket. -Kix

I used to fire those off in my Boy Scout days. :) The troop would buy them, we'd assemble them and hope no stabalizers fell off on "landing." Lammoth

Nice stuff, guys :) Here's my entry : my optical mouse . Done with subdivision surfacing, it's not perfect for this kind of purposes but it can do the trick most of the time . Rendered with GI and caustics, of course . litst -----> http://www.chez.com/litst

I've used this brand of mouse before. It's an excellent brand. They also sell cheese! -Kix

Well, mice love cheese, don't they ? ;)

Well this isn't a "real" item but neither is the program it's supposed to go with (Poser5 anti-theft dongle). The bevels & logo were added in Photoshop.

Wow, guys. I love how you transform the mundane in to objects of beauty. BTW, I finally got my software working again. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE that subdivision smoothing stuff. And the bones, of course. Hope to have some additions to the gallery soon, and maybe I can start taking part in these challenges again.

Great stuff, everyone! I really do love seeing what people come up with.... I haven't played with the GI and caustics much in C yet, but I will, soon.... It's really beautiful what the new renderer does. And Curious Labs is using a dongle now? Who knew? I thought those went out with AfterEffects 5.0.... Hope everyone's having fun with this.... If anybody has another 15 minute challenge idea, let's go; I always think they're fun and a great learning experience.... - Dex