Howdy! I'm Kixum, Coordinator for the Carrara Raydream forum here at Renderosity. Member Since 4/22/01 Roles I have played at Renderosity.
Carrara/Raydream Coordinator January 23, 2011, (used to be Moderator 3/17/2002 to 11/17/2006 but work required I take a break)
Carrara/Raydream Resource CD Manager (a long time ago in a dream world long gone).
Amapi Moderator here and there.BIOIn real life I'm an engineer who hasn't decided yet to quit his day job to become a computer 3D artist. My work here at Renderosity started when I began the Carrara Raydream Resource CD project. That was around October 2001. I've been a member since April 2001. My life in computer 3D artwork started a long time ago when I purchased the Corel Draw 6 package which contained Corel Dream 3D. This was a poor mans version of Raydream. As time progressed, Raydream picked up more features which I followed. Eventually Carrara entered the scene and finally, after a long dry stint, Eovia got it's hands on it and now we're swimming through the package while in the care and feeding of DAZ.Â
DAZ has been pushing the software but mostly in the direction of DAZ figures (people) etc. (what a shock). Not to say that DAZ hasn't added some other pretty cool stuff (like bullet physics etc.) but in general, Carrara's advancement has been focused on Poser type features since Daz took it.
I think it's a natural evolution for the software as it was needed to bolster it's value and viability. What will be next? I don't know but I can certainly think up a list of things that could take into the next category of proffessional high end packages. We'll see if that happens!
Renderosity has pushed me quite a bit as a Carrara user plus, the users here are very cool, helpful and insightful. Maybe someday I'll graduate to having models of people in my work but I haven't broken down to that part of 3D art just yet. Star Wars and Star Trek stuff are clearly two favorite things I like to work on. I'm also moving more into organics but very slowly. The Carrara texture engine is very powerful but also challenging to learn and master. My images are taking on more life and depth as time progresses. I've stuck my foot into the animation waters and have had reasonable success. If I ever get my first big major animation project completed, it will be very cool and a personal triumph. My love of photography also continues to grow and I enjoy it more and more as I go photograph some of the incredible places in the world.
With the death of Amapi (mostly), I've decided to delve into Rhino. As a general rule, I'm really a modeler. Carrara is actually a pretty good tool for modeling (better than people think) but there are a few limitations which require me to work with other stuff. Rhino will be a big learning curve and a departure from my comfort zone. We'll see how that goes!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you around!
-Kix
Comments (13)
Quikp51
Very nice. Few people make Pods anymore. I think I will make my second one. Cheers!
ppowellaa
Cool! Very good modling and comp. Did you use Thor for the electricity or post?
Kixum
I modelled the lightening bolt in the spline modeler, applied a glow shader to it and used 3D Aura.
Black
Marvelous work! I am not TOO sure about the Rust texture though... but still I see it a crime to rank THIS with an 8!!
hartcons
Are the distressed textures procedural or texture-mapped? Anyway, they look good. I'd like to see a version with soft shadows and some (more?) motion blur.
deuxabu
grea job! I realy liked it !
Kixum
All textures are procedural. I tried fooling around with some soft shadows but C wasn't producing the effect I really wanted. I'm chewing on a version that's "speeding". This version is just sitting, not moving.
vhigh
Nice engines. I like the pipes. I too have made a pod racer when I first got RD 5 and I made my lighting the same way. The only thing I could add is I put a color matching light bulb in the middle for engine reflection of the glow. My racer is speeding thru the desert in two versions. Background in RD and Bryce. You have inspired me to post it soon for comparison.
Galiphile
Probably one of the better pictures that you have done. You might want to add some detail to the landscape and make it look more interesting.
pixelicious
Kixum, this is the nicest pod i've seen to date. if you re having trouble with the realism of the rust texture, try playing with the highlight and shininess of the shader. i usually work with image maps, but i think you could figure out how to do it procedurally (referencing a shader) anyway, make a highlight and shine map or shader where the rust has is almost black and the reflective parts white. then play with different values, and try inverting the colors untill you achieve a slick look on the metal and a dull crusty look on the rust.
Kixum
Ah, now I see what the rust issue is. I hadn't intended for any rust to be involved in this image. The challenged paint is showing its primer beneath it. Thanks a lot for the comments pixelicious.
Sunok
You need to turn off the shadow on the lightening bolt and make it a light source. That would significantly close up some details on this image.
charlesb
very good !