Artist Feature: Joe Vinton – “Orbital”

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Jim Willey

After the last feature I told myself I was going to take a break from these and get around to some other work I’ve been meaning to do around here. Virtually as soon as I posted the feature with Steve Winter I stumbled upon the work of Joe Vinton, or as he is better known in 3D art circles such as Renderosity and DAZ 3D, Orbital. Like with the first feature posted here (Santosky), seeing Orbital’s amazing Bryce renderings triggered some deep sci-fi/exploration/creative grey matter. I knew instantly that I wanted to feature Orbital’s work.

Joe Vinton’s works have been exhibited in UK galleries and taken him to foreign lands. He primarily works with Bryce, or at least did so until recent years where his work has increasingly incorporated Photoshop. Even in many of Joe’s latest works published on his various online galleries Bryce still features heavily. In his latest posting, shown above (“Astonishing View”), the focal elements and space craft are all 3D rendered while the nebula and stars are Photoshop. As with many of the artists featured on the pages of DigiSprawl, Joe Vinton shows that the often underestimated Bryce, can still hold its own.

Jim: So, Joe, getting any sort of detailed info on you out of the intawebz is not the easiest business. I have found some interesting tidbits though – I know you hail from the UK, you’ve been using Bryce since 2002, that your art has landed you at least one gallery showing (others?), took you to the National Space Symposium in the US in 2007, and won you artist of the year at Renderosity in 2008. In 2009 you picked up a Wacom tablet, but before this you had very little experience with drawing or painting, digital or otherwise. More recently your artwork was selected for the 30^th Space Symposium commemorative poster (slated for May 2014).

This about the size of things? Or are there any major developments I’ve missed? Continue reading →

Artist Feature: Steve Winter – Mecha Beasties of The Future

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Jim Willey

Steve Winter’s work grabbed my attention some months ago amid many posts to a Bryce themed Facebook group. The particular image was of an imposing insectile machine standing amidst a gloomy rundown cathedral. It was the mecha monstrosity that caught my eye more than the overall image presentation. I was particularly drawn and stunned because Steve does his modelling entirely in Bryce (mostly 4), a program that few would associate with heavy modelling tasks. Steve’s designs are complex, frequently composed of millions of Bryce primitives and Boolean operations.

Steve’s works gets even better, not only is he a master of Bryce of model mancery, but he is a skilled visual artist (digital and traditional), so while many of his renders are WIP demonstrations he also has a stunning collection of superbly finished images. Most of his digital works can be found at his Renderosity gallery where he goes by the name The Lord Of Dragons, a title endowed by a Japanese business man who bought several works from a youthful Steve Winter back in his homeland (UK). His 3D works have a serious sci-fi bent, with his renders of the last few years dominated by his InZect creations. His publicly available works do also include some other spectacular renders.

Jim: I admit to being awed when I first saw your mecha-insectoid creations (still am). The idea of creating such complex models in a program that was never designed to be a full featured modeller is mind boggling. Is it a gruelling project putting together one of your InZects, or is Bryce a lot more adept as a modeller than an outsider might expect?

Continue reading →

Poser 10 On Sale – 66% Off

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Jim Willey

Ok so here’s another short post. A nice little message just ticked up on my Facebook feed, Poser 10 is currently $100.20 (66.6% off) until the 31st of October (2013). This is coming just weeks after the wrap up of Smith Micro’s last promotion where they were moving Poser 9 for about $30. If you were lucky enough to buy then you can now upgrade to 10 for just $60.12, netting Poser 10 for a total of $90 (normally $299). For those that missed out on that promotion, or already had 9 then this is the perfect time to step up or in to P10.

If you’re a DAZ Studio user how’s been wondering about life on the other side then now is a great time to jump the fence for a good look. If you’re totally new to 3D, then now is a great time to pick up some software that will serve you well for years to come.

Here’s a little (pft yeah little!) example of how Rooster Teeth Productions (Red Vs Blue, RWBY) do with Poser.

Stonemason To Retire Old Content

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Jim Willey

Old Stonemason products retired here?

In a recent post on the DAZ 3D forums the hugely popular content creator, Stonemason (Stefan Morrell), indicated he was having several older items culled from his catalog (at D3D). The items are: The Whispering Wall, The Whispering Wall (amplified), The Display Room, and SkyBike. Stefan claims these items don’t reflect the quality of his current work and are due to be retired “in about a month”. Given the post was made on the 15th of October there is plenty of time for anyone wanting to pick up these ‘mason relics. Stefan stressed that he was not telling people to buy them now before they disappear, but that he was just offering a warning to customers.

The products have been priced down to DAZ 3D’s lowest price for PA items ($5.95). Stefan also indicated that there would be a second round of culling which would include the original “Urban Sprawl” environment. An unspecified number of older Stonemason Platinum Club items are also to have his name removed from them.