Why not post them? December will creep up on us before we know it. Besides, that's a pretty nice model. What application was it created in?

Here's how I did it in RDS 5.5 1. Fork was drawn in CorelDraw 3 (yes, I still use it) and imported as a cross-section into the free form modeler. Sweep path is straight and very short. 2. Here in the perspective window you can see that the fork is flat, and the mesh is a mess! 3. The bend & twist deformer is used to bend the tines forward. 4. The bent fork is grouped, and a second bend deformer is applied to that group, curving the entire fork back. 5. Finished fork in disposable white plastic. By the way, is the Carrara interface really as clean as the previous entries make it look? In comparison the RDS interface looks like a train wreck! Jim Z. a.k.a. Julian Boolean

Great! I didn't think I'd make the July deadline. Now back to modeling the Grand Canyon. Let's see... this pebble goes here...

If there's room for two more cents, here's mine... I like having themes for the contests. It's great to see how a concept can be approached from several angles. The western theme is quite a technical challenge, especially if you go with the American "wild west" of horses, cacti, sagebrush, cattle, and all those other organic shapes. Now let's see some creative solutions... Extending the deadline should be helpful in several ways. It would allow us more time to exchange ideas and ask one another for advice (very educational). It will also allow participants to submit a more complete product that really shows off the capabilities of Carrara and RDS. This should attract more customers for Eovia - an important first step in our plan to take over the world! Mwahahahaha! Oh, and one more thing... there's nothing wrong with 64 megs of ram if you catch my drift ;) Jim Z. a.k.a. Julian Boolean

WOW! Now there's a guy who knows what he's doing!

Count me in for... Crossblade's "The Exorcist" Technically and artistically solid!

The "Challenge Rules" link wasn't very enlightening. Do we vote here or somewere else?

Right on Rockjockjared! Not only is this a group of very friendly and talented people, it's an example of the real potential of the internet. Until I was told about Renderosity I had to figure out every answer for myself or do without. I don't know any other RDS/Carrara users in my area who I can turn to for advice. Now I know that I can ask for assistance and (hopefully) get help from users all over the globe! Aside from sharing techniques and expertise, the interaction of people from different cultures is mighty cool too. I think the recent thread started by Nikoandmarcelas was fascinating, and I'm sure that everyone who read it - or at least the parts that they could understand - learned something about antennas. And chuckleheads. And cheese. As I read it I could FEEL myself getting smarter! Okay, maybe not much smarter but it was still a fun thread to read. I hope this forum remains active for a long time. Jim Z. a.k.a. Juian Boolean

Very nice! How much of the detail on the main body is modeled, and how much is texturemapped? It's a lot of work either way. I had a surreal moment last week when I was channel surfing. I saw R2D2 and C-3PO on Sesame Street (an educational program for very young children). It must have been some kind of trade between Jim Henson and George Lucas, as Henson did extensive work for Lucas in "The Empire Strike Back" and "Return of the Jedi". It was just odd to see them conversing with Big Bird.

Thanks everyone for your kind words. While most of my work is done for my own amusement, it's still nice to get positive feedback. I do graphics for commercial printing, but there's far less room for imagination than you'd think. Sometimes my creativity gets so bottled up I just HAVE to produce something of my own to keep my head from exploding. And Edgar, I know what you mean about the infinitely recycled Poser models - but every time I look in the galleries (Carrara, Bryce, 3DS, Rhino, etc.) I'm absolutely floored by the incredible original work being posted. Check 'em out! Thanks again, James Zipperer a.k.a. Julian Boolean

I guess I took the long way 'round to get here. I've worked in the graphic arts end of the printing industry for years and have always used the Corel suite of programs. Versions 5-8 of the Corel suite included a program called CorelDream which was actually a stripped down version of Ray Dream 3D (which was pretty stripped down to begin with). I was fascinated by it, but Corel's documentation and instructions for this little gem were terrible. Watching "Babylon 5", I realized that I HAD to make my own 3d spaceship models so I purchased Ray Dream 3D and later RDS & Metacreations Painter 3D. Now I rant... I upgraded from RDS 5.0 to 5.5 because Metacreations said that they would allow users to apply the $99 upgrade price toward RDS 6.0 (which they knew would never come - urge to kill rising...) Now I stop ranting... I had been considering a move to Caligari Truespace, but now that Carrara has been almost fixed I'll probably stick with what I know and get the Carrara/Amapi suite instead. I never did figure out how to use Painter 3D (has anyone?), but RDS has become my number one hobby. I've always been a big fan of sci-fi, fantasy, and cartoons, so those are my favorite themes. A good friend of mine who happens to be a Bryce/Poser user turned me on to Renderosity. It's interesting to see how so many people can use the same tools and get such vastly different results - it's inspiring and educational, and that's why I visit almost every day. I do not have a favorite cheese, but that's another story. - Jim Zipperer a.k.a. Julian Boolean

Behold - a new hero has arisen to defend our fair city! And yet curiosity gnaws at our very souls. Who is this knight in construction paper armor and from where did he come? Relax good citizens... sit down, cross your legs, and put a cold cloth on your foreheads - for your questions are about to be answered. Name: Dr. Origami Origins: Once a humble grade school art teacher, he suffered a minor radioactive paper cut on Friday the 13th while reading the Accursed Manuscript at Miskatonic University. He was then struck by lightning several times while attempting to climb out of a vat of experimental gene-altering serum which he fell into after tripping over a black cat. He then spilled hot coffee on an irritable voodoo shaman, was bitten by a magic snake, stumbled through some dimensional portals, stepped on a crack, and ate some bad clams. "Dear diary, Friday sucked". Weaknesses: Must avoid heat, moisture, pointy objects, direct sunlight, strong winds and physical contact. Powers: Nearly immune to all forms of verbal abuse and any obscene gestures that don't involve spitting. Can slip under closed doors. Sidekick: Sadly, Dr. Origami's sidekick "Pita Boy" was beaten to death while attending a birthday party earlier this year. Battle Cry: "Now you're gettin' in my crease!" *************************** All models are original and were created and rendered in Ray Dream Studio. Image and text were composited in CorelDraw and Corel Photo Paint. 2001 James Zipperer a.k.a. Julian Boolean

Congrats AzChip! You did a great job capturing an authentic 50's feel. I especially like the "faint" pose on the heroine. I bet she twisted her ankle - that's how most of those slow robots catch their prey. I look forward to the next challenge -- let me at it!

Wow - that looks great, especially the feet and legs. All of the parts are well proportioned to one another. I'd like to see the hands from a different angle, too. I've done cartoon-style characters in the metaballs modeler in RDS 5.5, but was never able to get the hands quite right. All of your observations about IK and linked objects are true. Unless they've made changes since RDS, you'll find even more trouble if you try to scale the completed figure (the poor guy will look like he stepped on a land mine). You'll be better off building your scene around the figure rather than re-scaling your figure. If anyone has a way around the hotpoint/scaling/linking/unlinking mess please post it. Great work Nebula! JB

I don't know about Carrara, but in RDS 5.5 it's located in... Render/Current Scene Settings/Renderer/Adaptive The sihlouette quality slider is only available when using the Adaptive (not the 5.5 Adaptive) renderer. Julian_Boolean