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.ÂÂ
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
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Comments (17)
giulband
Very very fine image !
Kixum
Thanks!
Staticon Online Now!
Excellent work. I remember this episode vividly and this rendering of the scene is spot-on. Well done.
Kixum
I'm thinking of doing a series of my favorite Starship moments from Trek. We will see what time and opportunity brings!
LadyAlys
Adding the blue in the background works well. It gives the space more dimension. I don't know if it would work with this setting because you might lose some of the impact of the Doomsday Machine, but if you add a little blur to the machine, it may help show that it's further in the distance. For those of us that know of it, we can recognize the size difference as showing depth of field, but for others the distant blur may help give that concept. Overall, a very nice image.
Kixum
Adding DOF is an interesting idea. I had not considered it as landscape scenes typically don't use a DOF. I will investigate it a little bit though!
ZIKEO
Awesome Stuff Man, I've recently been reliveing the old Trek and Who stuff.
Kixum
I'm obviously over the top on Trek and surely drive people crazy! I'm just a fan who loves Enterprise renders. Not much more I can say.
Henchmonkey
Nice render and very evocative of the old series!
Kixum
Glad it brings the old series back! That's a very much appreciated comment.
stnaper
Outstanding my friend. Stan
Kixum
Thanks!
zhaanman
That's so funny I just watched a fan made episode by Phase II on this very subject of dealing with a timeline were there where multiple doomsday devices! This looks Fan-Tastic, love the highlighting from its international light on the Enterprise Very nice Very nice!!
Kixum
Thanks zhaanman. I've appreciated your support a lot over the many years!
SirCamillo
Very Nice Render. Nice Modeling. I Model more in Hexagon than Carrara. there are a some tools I like and use often in Hex, As a Star Trek fan (Watched the Original broadcast when I was in High School) I always enjoy any Trek images. Look forward to more.
Kixum
I guarentee there will be more! I haven't picked up Hex like I want to but I'm thinking of making the F104 for the "Tomorrow is Yesterday" episode with Hex. We will see what happens.
Xerxes0002
great image! I love the damage on the ship too. Don't miss out by not seeing the full view version :)
Kixum
Thanks Xerxes0002! My original render was 2000 pixels but it's just too big to post for the file limitations. The damage is hard to see from this POV but it's there!
Artformz2
Great Trek scene, you make it look so real
Kixum
Artformz2, you are the realism master! To have such a comment from you means a lot!
PsychoNaut
When I was a kid this was always one of my favorite episodes. Kirk was a complete badass in this
Kixum
Completely agree! This is sort of a weird episode where Kirk is not commanding the Enterprise in a space battle oriented episode! I thought it added a lot to the story! The Doomsday machine is in my top 5 episodes!
GrandmaT
This is FANTASTIC!! I love the lighting effect you achieved. As an old Star Trek fan, I have to say you captured this one perfectly.
Kixum
Thanks a lot! This is my third iteration on this image but I finally dialed in this result and was happy with it!
Drakkendark
Rut-roe.
Kixum
Rut-roe is right! Thanks for stopping by!
e-brink
Superb sci-fi image. Very well done.
Kixum
Thanks!
PhilW
Very impressive, wonderfully done!
Kixum
Thanks PhilW! Coming from a Carrara user who has a lot experience, it means a lot.
intro
Rather a tribute to Carrara's standalone power.Great as always! I wonder how long the wormhole (?) frustrated you before you nailed it! Most of the three days, I'll bet!
Kixum
Getting Carrara to do the lighting tricks like this took a little time. What was harder was the sunlighting contrasted with the lighting from the Doomsday machine itself and the final GI surround lighting. Glad you like it and thanks for the comment!
Mjakg
Hello Kixum, I'm sort of a fanatic about this episode and of the Planet Killer itself. One thing that always gets missed from the original studio model into other depictions is the exact shaping of the maw of the PK. It's not perfectly round, it's triangular bordering on being quadratic. Even the re-mastered episode render didn't get it right. It even has a knot of rock near the lower edge of the maw. Like I wrote here,.... I'm a fanatic. But a correct one. See the original, un-re-mastered show. However I love seeing any fans depiction of the Planet Killer from our fave Classic Trek episode.
Kixum
Mjakg, Thanks for the comment. I grew up on this show and have seen the original more than the re-mastered by a good factor of 100. As a general rule, I do like to be accurate in my models and the discrepancy you point out is a good one. This is in my top 5 episodes but strangely enough, there's not too much out there on it for reference. Always glad to hear from a fan! -Kix