Retired professional full-time portrait artist and engineer (degrees in mathematics, engineering and photography... go figure).
If you read bios, and sometimes revisit them, you'll know in 2018 I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. Then, in 2020, a new neurologist (because I moved across country) diagnosed me as having Parkinson's. Then, after some serious issues with jerking movements, she sent me to a movement specialist, and NOW this new neurologist who specializes in movement disorders has said I don't have MG, MS, ALS, Parkinson's, or any other host of neuromuscular diseases. She classified the movements as non-essential tremors, and said, "My hardware is over loading my software." That's the 2022 diagnosis.
2023 Update - It turns out that I have a half-dozen discs in my spine that are collapsing. Thus, Degenerative Disc Disease, or DDD for short. I never knew that DDD could cause tremors (well, the pain causes them) and stuff like that. Now I go to physical therapy 4 days a week to hopefully avoid spinal surgery.
I've got high hopes and remain positive.
I started doing 3D renders in DAZ and Poser started when I first became sick at the start of 2018. It is a distraction from my symptoms, and I'm not under any pressure or deadlines to get things done. Even this is difficult on some days, but I can always stop temporarily to get some rest. In July, 2020, my wife and I moved across country to be closer to children and grandchildren.
If I'm not cooking or preparing for a meal, I'm rendering. Art and food are my passions.
I used to enjoy travel, bicycling, cooking (which I can still do in short bursts), photography (again, in short bursts), hiking and painting (which I now do digitally). I'm determined to do something with my time even if my strength is greatly limited.
Just prior to getting sick I drove ALL of Route 66. I've been using some of the photos from that trip and adding 3D characters to them. You can see them in my Route 66 gallery here on Renderosity. You can actually follow the story at Route66Photographers.com. It's a fictional story about my travels with a rambunctious young lady named Charly.
My wife is my biggest supporter. She helps me come up with ideas to render and paint.
Brent's Rules to Live By...
1) Everyone can teach you something regardless of age or education.
2) When you're down, a child's smile will always lift you up.
3) Keep God's commandments, as best you can, but when you can't, repent quickly.
4) Read your scriptures daily, but pray all the time.
5) Love everyone, but don't expect anything from them in return.
Artist of the Month - December, 2021
https://www.renderosity.com/article/24824/interview-with-december-2021-artist-of-the-month-dbwalton
Comments (2)
jancas
Nice work
FurNose
Very well done series! The water looks very great!
For the Tail: Maybe in DAZ/IRAY try to play around with Refraction weight, Refraction index and possibly Translucency weight and Translucency color rather than with Transparency. Transparency makes the affected surface somewhat more or less visible for the render engine, but it can't simulate translucency, in a way we would expect from such material. Transparency makes the objects behind the surface (treated with a transparency value) visible as if that surface was a super flat glass plate. All is a bit toned behind that surface, but super sharp and no distortions, no blur effect, nothing like that. This can be better simulated with Refraction Index and Translucency. Unfortunately I don't understand everything exactly and so it is a bit of a hit and miss process for me, so I can't tell you a good setting right out of the top of my head, but with IRAY-Preview mode in your view port, I'm pretty sure you will find some settings soon, that will look more convincing, than just transparency.
Just my opinion :-)
dbwalton
I tried that, but the "water" prop wasn't suitable for that. I may revisit it to figure out why.