Here's a 15 minute challenge -- I used the spline modeler, caustics (for the reflections from the metal surfaces), and a single spot light. It took from start to post, 16 minutes.... Fun learning thing.... Please pardon the pun....

Here is my Torus Tacks. It took 18 minutes to construct. Does anyone know why the Torus squares off? --Ashley3d

Here is a version my 15 year old son did in 12 minutes using Spline. He'll soon be out modeling me. --Ashley3D

Okay, I think these are actually push-pins. 9 minutes to model, 10 minutes to "pose" and shade, 12 minutes to screw around with GI rendering, 3.5 hrs to render ;-) , 2 min post - just cropped and dropped the contrast a bit. Markd

oops- meant dropped BRIGHTNESS a bit, not contrast. It was a bit washed out.

Markd, did it really take 3.5 hrs to render your push pins? If so, what your processor speed. --Ashley3D

My entry, about 15 min to model and set up, 6 min to render with caustics on P4 1.5/512ram. Fun!

Dunno the exact time- thats what the estimate showed- I went to bed. ;-) Duron 800, 512MB. I used the default settings on Indirect Lighting and Caustics, except to change lighting quality to Good. Skylight and the default distant light. Markd

I re-ran it- although the estimate says 3.5 hrs, actual render time was 1 hr, 10 min. Markd

Well, one thing led to another & this turned into a 2hr experiment that started out as a simple "break" from my 20 hours of homework this weekend. Couldn't get the Depth of Field render to work effectivly so went a different route. I mapped the "map" texture to a color mixer (same t-map for both colors) and blended it with Erics' Sherical Gradient. The outer texture map "map" had a Gaussian Filtering applied to it, the inner map texture "map" I left at default to keep it sharper.

Thanks willf, you basically stuck your tack through my house.

Cool stuff! Ashley - I don't know why the torus would square off like that. I just tried it and it seems to be really smooth and circular for me.... And your son's approach looks a lot like what I did. Good for him! mdesmarais -- Push pins are fine! I like how etherial your pins look, too. Maybe not realistic (because they're too clear maybe?), but really cool looking. ppowellaa -- nice render. I'd love to see some color pins with caustics interacting with a solid tabletop. I love those caustics! willf -- what a clever approach to a DOF problem. That's the kind of thing I love seeing come from these; clever work arounds. (Sorry we kept you from your homework, though....) And sorry about your house, tkane.... :o) - Dex

Hope tkane has good home owners insurance... Neat job, everyone!

I'm done with mine, Just fussing around with the final render and I'm on vacation. The rendering engine is REAL slow when you're away from your computer! -Kix

I called my insurance agent. I remembered I told him to add the giant tack coverage clause when I purchased the policy. He thought I was nuts for getting it but who's laughing now!

Yeah, the test renders were slow slow that I just let it rip. I like this one better- soft shadows, a little less light.

You didn't miss my house by much. Who is your agent? I may have to give him a call, unless they stopped that coverage!

Here's mine. very WEIRD on the lighting but still cool. I don't have time to really get it the way I want it. Lots more to do for a trip I'm getting ready to go on. This took 34 minutes to render, 16 minutes to model. -Kix

Hi- I did several versions of this one and had some fun adding the pen which was lying near by.- dldavis