The picanogfx news feed!

Why do I wait until the last minute? -picano

Sun, 19 May 2013 01:01:01 GMT

Transparency sucks! At least in Cycles, it always takes so long to render. That said, it really is my fault for not deciding on what to do until yesterday. Oh well, I did what I could and then covered up render artifacts with layer effects.

I really should start this weeks render Monday...

Version 3 -picano

Sun, 12 May 2013 01:01:01 GMT

Not too special of a render, but I did at least upgrade Belle with all the updates makes from Asuna to Silica. (More defined face, legs, shoulders, and actual feet with toes)

I've got a few more people I want to model... but I really need to reuse more of my character models and start working on more backgrounds. So, I'll probably use Belle (and Silica since she's only been in 1 render) more over the coming weeks.

Friends! -picano

Thu, 2 May 2013 01:01:01 GMT

Early render this week --- a "gift" for a friend of mine. With friends like me, who needs enemies?

Mmm.... -picano

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 01:01:01 GMT

This render was suggested by papersak! Though, I doubt even she had a clue how it was going to turn out.

Despite this being another of my last-minute works, I spend nearly all of Saturday setting up the marshmallows (more particle physics!) and all of the night rendering it. (2 renders, spread out over 8 hours, each with color, depth, and normal portions) Fortunately I didn't have to make any major changes to the boos from the previous weeks' renders --- with the exception of the half-choco and marshmallow-stuffed boos.

Boo! -picano

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 01:01:01 GMT

More fun with particles and rigid bodies! Oh also long render times (3k+ frames) and massive GIMP-side edits (17 layers).

Glass transparency can be very intensive... and combined with a bundle of Boos, left some very hard to remove noise (some of which can still be seen in the shadows); not to mention, the Boos use a unique type of transparency, such that their 'stomachs' are not visible except through an open mouth.

Also, while the rigid bodies made filling the container easier... I don't quite understand how none of the Boos were able to roll out the front. It worked if I used 1 Boo, but any more than that and they'd hover above the hole --- weird. That said, I did cheat and manually rotate a few --- which may or may not be obvious as one of them is trying to phase through the glass.