Starting the year off with new renders of old LEGO sets. Both of these are from 1976 and are great examples of the styles from that era. Trying out some different lighting techniques, I enjoyed rendering these as much as building them.
2017 Was A Fantastic Year For Renders
Last year is over, but it was one of my more prolific years for LEGO renders. I ended up sharing 67 renders on Flickr, plus a few other renders I did only for Mecabricks. I even have a few test images squirreled away I won’t be sharing. As we close out 2017, here are the last of the images from December.
Here Are a Few Renders to Kick of December
Trying to keep with my promise, here are my latest LEGO renders. Each is an experiment. I’m trying different techniques, or testing new ideas. Some work, and some don’t. But, that’s okay. Life is about learning and trying. Why shouldn’t my hobbies be the same? Let’s dig in.
Time to Catch up on My Lego Renders
Although I haven’t posted many picture lately, I haven’t been idle. Old, new, large, and small, I’ve been trying out a few different things over last two months. Of course, this was between working, running, and other projects. So, time to catch up! Here are five images to round our your day.
Bringing New Life to an Old Lego Taxi Garage Set
Browsing through my collection of ideas on Pinterest, I ran across a great vintage taxi set. At first glance, it seemed Mecabricks would have all the pieces needed. Yet, that wasn’t the case. A few key pieces were missing, which required some ingenuity on my part.
A Quick Blender Render of a Colorful and Happy Dinosaur
With the recent release of Blender 2.79, which officially supports filmic color and denoising filter. Keeping current, Mecabricks released the latest advanced blender add-in that supports it. Besides the above changes, it supports the Principled shader also introduced in 2.79. Adding all that up, it was time to do a little testing.
Spider, I See You Hiding in the Window
I was actually working on a different model when an idea struck me. Wanting an object to look abandoned and old, I grabbed a spider web and threw a black spider in it for fun. But, the web was too large, so I left it off to the side. Getting back to it yesterday, inspiration took a different direction.
Enjoy This Cute Little Octopus That Floated By
I haven’t cranked out pictures as much lately. My intent was to work on my writing this month, but life and work intruded. Uninspired to write last night, I searched for something new to render. This cute little LEGO creature offered me a nice diversion.
Trying Not to Be Sad Today with My Love of LEGO
July 4th is bitter sweet for me. I’ve always enjoyed the holiday with its fireworks and celebration. Food, fair and patriotism mix for a usually fun day. Yet, my wife’s mother died on the 4th, making it a day of remembrance and sadness. Time to find something to take my mind off it.
Enjoy This Simple and Elegant LEGO Dragonfly
Each month I check to see what the latest LEGO mini build is. Since I don’t have a local LEGO Store, I often build and render them using virtual bricks. This month, I only needed to render it as as mathieub already built it. Yet, I decided to give it a little character.
What Happens When You Mix Together Balloons, Boise and Bricks?
One of the first things I saw when I arrived in Idaho were colorful balloons floating across the brown desert and blue skies. A defining moment that I’ve carried with me for the almost 20 years I’ve lived here. So, when I came across Visionary Bricks’ hot air ballon I had the perfect picture in mind.
Ego the Living Planet and How to Make a Great Background
Last weeks, I ran across this build by changewing1 of the living planet. Mecabricks is a great community for such finds. Plus, I needed something to tax my old computer while trying out denoising feature in Blender. Stars aligned—pun intended, and I was off to render my next image. Keep reading to see how I did it.
A Lonely Ostrich, Sometimes Simple Is Better
The lively colors in this Duplo ostrich caught my eye and inspired me to render it. My version of this lonely ostrich uses standard LEGO bricks, I was never a big fan of Duplo, nor do I have models of them. Yet, the simplicity of the model is quite effective. The render recreates that charm well.
Rub-A-Dub-Dub See My Little Boat in the Tub
I saw a great Pirate Ship render yesterday by saabfan. The water in it impressed me, and I had commented that I didn’t know how to model it in Blender. Scrubs informed that it was easy, providing me the how. Off I went to try for myself.
6600 Police Patrol, a Fun Render of Old Lego
I spent part of the memorial weekend getting Blender working on my office computer, a 2011 Mac mini. Although not as fast as my laptop, I’d set up dual monitors a few months ago and was itching to use them. The result of my effort is this render of 6600 Police Patrol.
10 Lego Renders to Enjoy Your Day By
Although it’s been a month since my last LEGO® post, I haven’t been idle. With my current workflow, it only takes about 15 minutes to kick off a render, but I often don’t have the time to blog them. Correcting that with a few spare minutes, here are my last ten Blender renders.
What do ugly april showers bring? Why, pretty lego renders!
Okay, the weather hasn’t been that bad, but we did get a few showers. In either case, I found time to render a few more images: A remake, a new build, and someone else’s. Here are three pictures to round out your week.
After Years, These Are My Latest Lego Brick Parts
I haven’t built a new LEGO part for a number of years now. POV-Ray offered a very descriptive language, but the bricks were getting too complex. With the growth of the virtual LEGO community, I haven’t needed to render new parts. Until now.
An Itty Bitty Songbird, a Delightful and Fun Build
I’ve been a long time fan of BioShock, with the first game still holding a special place in my collection. Without hesititation, I pinned Imagine Rigney’s Itty Bitty Songbird when I found it. Taking a break from writing, I got around to doing a virtual build of it.
Adventures in Lighting and Improving My Lego Waterfall
With my Advanced Blender script buy, I decided to revisit my Waterfall model. Created using various LEGO CAD software, it is a study in tools as much as rendering. As such, I thought it would be fun to compare its evolution to date, and review how it has improved over time.
I love my LEGO images—how I made them better with Mecabricks
Yep, I did it. I purchased a template to render LEGO bricks. Given the many years spent developing my own, I never thought I’d say that. To be fair, it was about time. Mecabricks creator Nicolas Jarraud (aka Scrubs) developed a great product. Below are my first two renders and the results, as expected, are fantastic.
How To Render Beautiful LEGO Pictures In 5 Easy Steps
Infographics are a popular, and fun, tool to share information. I thought I’d give it a try using Canva’s infographic template, but I needed to choose something to talk about. Sticking to my current passion, the topic I chose was rendering LEGO images using Mecabricks and Blender.
Progressive Change, How I Made My Snowspeeder Better
Although I enjoy seeing the finished product of my LEGO renders, it is the process that engergizes me. The acts of learning, refining, and failing each add to my body of knowledge. Let’s explore some of that using my 8029 Mini Snowspeeder.
Start the Year with LEGO Emoji, How I Lost and Gained Motivation
It feels like 2017 is just kicking off, yet here we are at the end of January. Time sure seems to be getting away from me lately. I blame the the heater skelter of the holidays and uncomfortable weather. Well, and taking a not so great vacation didn’t improve my mood any. I got sick and all else fell to the side. Today is my opportunity to change that. Today is for LEGO!
How To Make And Break Big Bricks Using Little Ones
At the end of November, during some time off from work, I dabbled rendering a series of LEGO models I call Big Bricks. Starting out as a “can I do this?” effort, led to me building variations on that theme. To my surprise, the journey culminated with the blogging of Crime Scene on the Brothers Brick.