Attractive Attractor
28th January 2010
These images were produced by constructing a Clifford Attractor and iterating a point sereral million times over it. The resultant positions of this point are rendered as small, semi transparent particles. Where the points overlap they add up to increase the brightness in the final render.
A snippet of the code used to produce the result above:
1 : A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I = (1.4, 1.1, -1.2, 1.6, 0.9, -1.3, -0.9, 0.9, 1.1) 2 : x = y = z = 0 3 : points = [] 4 : pointcount = 3000000 5 : for i in range(pointcount): 6 : x2 = sin(A * y) + D * cos(G * x) 7 : y2 = sin(B * z) + E * cos(H * y) 8 : z2 = sin(C * x) + F * cos(I * z) 9 : x = x2; y = y2; z = z2 10 : points.append((x, y, z))
This particular render was done using Aqsis. I have recently found it very difficult to achieve a similar effect with Pixie so it is certainly great to have the choice. Pixar®'s PRMan® renderer does the job just fine also, but it does cost a fair amount more.
The core RenderMan® command is very simple:
1 : Points "P" [ 2 : 1.600000 0.900000 -1.300000 3 : : : : 4 : 0.975489 -0.138367 0.255526 5 : ] "constantwidth" 0.01
Surround this by a few translates and rotates to make it look good (and spin on a nice axis), and you're done.
You can pick up the Aqsis renderer at aqsis.org→. The code was written in Python with no additional libraries. The idea originated after seeing this→ and deciding to try it for myself.
Site Design Updated
18th January 2010
Well, I hope you like the new site design. I thought the dark theme more suiting to the display of images. Now I just need to show you some images...
New Year, New Ambitions
16th January 2010
Working in VFX has been fantastic so far, but I still have a deep hunger to learn and experiment with my own projects. This year I plan to feed that hunger.
My time spent at Bournemouth really showed what could be achieved when I found something I love doing and has opened up even more avenues to explore in the VFX world.
With my housemates also in the CG field there are lots of projects flying around so I've taken the opportunity to play with RenderMan (via the open source Pixie renderer) to show off some of their work, and to make some pretty pictures to post up here.
The wireframes are a little off with the RiCurves intersecting the geometry but it's a good start I feel. No doubt there will be further tests to follow as I experiment further with what Pixie can do...
A New Era
5th September 2009
A bit dramatic but it is certainly a big change. The masters course at Bournemouth has now come to its end with our final piece having been handed in – phew! To say the least it is taking some getting used to, but London awaits.
In between looking for accommodation I thought I'd update a little of my site, ready for the year ahead.
Masters Showreel (Preview)
25th July 2009
I have been putting together a reel to show off some of the more interactive things I've been working on over the past year. There are still a few things to add but you can enjoy the preview here:
I've uploaded a few images from my sketchbook and some screen grabs of the tools I've been working on this year. Hope you like... there is more to come.
Updates: Portfolio and CV
1st July 2009
As we near the end of the course here in Bournemouth I decided, despite being busy with the Masters project, to update my site. More updates will follow soon but for now you can follow the progress of this project over at:
I've uploaded a few images from my sketchbook and some screen grabs of the tools I've been working on this year. Hope you like... there is more to come.
IE, Safari, Firefox, Linux, Mac, Windows
17th April 2009
It would appear the days of equal standards are still to come where browsers are concerned. I knew I should have used a template but I like to remain up-to-date and web development is not something I have done for a while.
Developing on Ubuntu, testing with Firefox in Linux, and Firefox and Safari on the Mac, I thought I was fairly safe. A few tweaks to get IE sorted and we're away... alas, no.
It seems even Firefox is different for Windows users, but after a few fiddly compromises, the site is working and looking almost the same across all major browser / operating system combinations. Happy times.
If there are any obvious errors, please do drop me an email.
Going Live
16th April 2009
So the site is up and running. A few aesthetics changes here and there, and a portfolio page on its way. The site is now w3c compliant, XHTML 1.0 Strict, just so you know.
Site Updates
12th April 2009
I've finally got round to putting up a site about me and to present some of the work I've been doing over the past year at the NCCA. Have a look around and let me know what you think.
Quickshots
