Revisiting Running Blender in Apple Silicon Using a MacBook Pro M1
While watching a review for the new M1 iMac, they ran the typical Blender test as a benchmark. That wasn’t overly surprising, but the reviewer did say something that peaked my interest. Apparently, the latest version of Blender now supported Apple Silicon…
Posted Jun 20 by Steven
3 min read
My Adventure with Apple’s M1 and Blender
Although my late 2013 MacBook Pro still works well, it was showing it’s age. Sadly, I found it freezing from time to time and generally not running like it used to. Given that my Window’s laptops lasted only a few years, I’ve been very happy with longevity my mac…
Posted Jan 01 by Steven
4 min read
Happy Holidays! Here Is a Fun Render to Close out the Year.
Tis the season to render Santa. Well that wasn’t really my plan, but it worked out that way. I was browsing around Bricklinks, mostly trying to update some of the recent sets. Searching for a small reindeer figure, I ran across LEGO set 1628 Santa with Reindeer and Sleigh…
Posted Dec 24, 2020 by Steven
7 min read
Now Is a Good Time to Build My Mini ZX81
A retro blast from the past! The four chip Sinclair ZX81 was the first computer I owned and I thought it would be fun to build a LEGO version of it. The 2K of memory (in my US version) was pretty limited…
Posted Aug 09, 2020 by Steven
4 min read
Adding a New Topic Category: LEGO Building
I haven’t added a new topic in awhile, but I ran into a bit of a problem lately. As an AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO), I recently got back into building with real LEGO bricks. In doing so, I decided to start taking pictures of some of the sets of been building…
Posted Aug 08, 2020 by Steven
3 min read
Introducing Tree Winter, My Second LEGO MOC
After finishing Tree Fall, I had an idea to turn it into a winter scene. I thought it would be easy to swap out a few parts with white ones, but my wife disagreed. She recommended some changes and, after some trial and error, I created Tree Winter!
Something different.
Although like my previous MO…
Posted Aug 08, 2020 by Steven
3 min read
Introducing My First LEGO MOC Called Tree Fall
Awhile back, I had an idea on a run for a little LEGO vignette. My vision included a small tree on a hill. Most often, my mind refocuses on my workout the vision fades. This time, the idea stuck and became reality as Tree Fall.
From idea to render.
Using a simple 4x4 pattern, I started to build my…
Posted Jul 13, 2020 by Steven
5 min read
More May Fun With Blender And Lego Bricks
I’ve been having a lot of fun in May, rendering images and trying out some new techniques when I can. I’ve also been trying to learn Blender, work on decorations for old models, and try out new sites…
Posted May 25, 2020 by Steven
4 min read
Planes, LEGO and Motion, What Could Be More Fun?
As May kicked off, I got to work finishing the decorations for set 6444 Outback Airstrip. Because I had a few different decorations to finish, I got distracted. That distraction was with a much older LEGO Airplane. Both renders gave me a chance to revisit motion blur in Blender.
320 Airplane
The f…
Posted May 17, 2020 by Steven
4 min read
Cheers To April and a Month of Great LEGOs
Shifting from POV-Ray back to Blender, I'm playing around with Mecabricks again. Taking a break from blogging about images, I decided to shift my focus. During the last week of April, I decided to clean up models and make new decorations…
Posted May 02, 2020 by Steven
9 min read
A Flash to the Past, Here Is the Latest Render of My 588 Police Station
Following my Blender renders for 588, I started work on rendering the POV-Ray versions. Not quite the original versions, these renders use radiosity with an updated environment. Besides being a larger render, I turned on some of the features I usually don’t…
Posted Apr 23, 2020 by Steven
8 min read
Here Is the Refresh of My Favorite LEGO Fire Station
Last week, I shared my POV-Ray version of LEGO 590. Now, it seemed like a good time to build a Blender version. Starting in Mecabricks, I was fortunate to find that awesomo had recently built the model…
Posted Apr 20, 2020 by Steven
8 min read
Here Are the Results of My LDraw and Blender Experiments
Not quite done trying things out, I spent time the futzing around with Blender the other night. Looking around for LEGO materials, I ran across a Blender importer for LDraw files. I didn’t know such a thing existed…
Posted Apr 16, 2020 by Steven
4 min read
Learning New Tricks With LeoCAD and Blender
On Monday, I decided to hack around with Blender a bit. I’d been playing with POV-Ray and looking for a way to convert my LEGO scenes to Blender. I was unable to export SDL to a mesh. Loading up LeoCad, I discovered that I could export my models and import them into Blender…
Posted Apr 16, 2020 by Steven
6 min read
Here Is a Police Set to Delight Your Inner Nine Year Old
Ah, can’t you smell sweet nostalgia of this LEGO set from 1979? One of my larger town sets as a child, 588 Police Headquarters was also one of the first ones I built in POV-Ray. Looking for something else, I ended decided to check if 588 was in Mecabricks. To my surprise, it wasn’t…
Posted Apr 10, 2020 by Steven
5 min read
Featured Lego of the Day: 590 Engine Company No. 9
When I saw that the featured set of the day on Brickset was Engine Company No. 9, I was excited. LEGO set 590 is one of two large city sets I owned as a child, the other being the 588 Police Headquarters. Even better, I had built the set in POV-Ray some years back…
Posted Apr 08, 2020 by Steven
7 min read
Now It Is the Time to Give My LEGO Renders Some Love
I can’t believe how many LEGO sets I built and rendered using POV-Ray. Over the years, starting in 1996, I’ve built 125 different models—yes I counted them. To note, that doesn’t include the variations or alternate scenes within each set. Around the same time, I started to share my models online…
Posted Apr 05, 2020 by Steven
6 min read
Struck by Random Inspiration, Here Are the LEGO Renders From Last Month
Sometimes inspiration arrives from odd places. For years, I have subscribed to BrinkSet’s newsfeed which serves up a random set of the day. A recent airplane set got me interested in playing with Mecabricks again. Plus Scrubs had released an update for his Advanced Blender Script…
Posted Apr 03, 2020 by Steven
6 min read
A New Pair of Images to Test out Mecabricks
Over the weekend, Mecabricks released an overhaul of its parts system. As noted in his announcement, it culminates over six months of research and development. Not wanting to lose the opportunity, I took the time to model and render a couple of images using the new system…
Posted Jan 22, 2020 by Steven
2 min read
A New Year Dragon for the New Decade
I’d taken a bit of hiatus from my LEGO rendering in the later half of last year. Life sometimes kick you in the teeth and some pleasures fall to the way side. Rendering was one of them. To my benefit, other interests flourished. But my heart was still yearning…
Posted Jan 14, 2020 by Steven
4 min read
Spring Is the Time for Fun with LEGO Bricks
Spring is in full swing and I’ve taken time away from running to complete a few LEGO renders. The topics range from movie blockbusters, old BASIC sets, to random sets from Pinterest. I even did some experimenting with Mecabricks rendering to see how it compared with mine…
Posted Jun 02, 2019 by Steven
4 min read
Have a Super Happy Blocky Easter!
With the arrival of Spring and warmer weather, I found myself inspired by the cheerful colors. Looking through my pins for ideas, a rainbow sparked my creativity. Thoughts of an Easter hunt with eggs and grass completed the theme. The blocky nature of the LEGO bricks invoke adolescence and whimsy
…
Posted Apr 19, 2019 by Steven
4 min read
Here Are the Two Faces of Moai on Rapa Nui
After posting my artistic image of Custombricks’ Moai, I decided to share the models on Mecabricks. I probably should have checked first, as I found others had already shared. Oops. Nevertheless it was also an opportunity to download and render the models for a more realistic image.
Moai on Rapa Nu…
Posted Mar 29, 2019 by Steven
1 min read
Moai on Easter Island
Although I posted this on Flickr awhile back, I’m getting around to sharing on my blog. I was looking for something quick to render and had this Moai of Rapa Nui from custombrick in my Pinterest. Not thinking twice, I was off to Mecabricks to build the scene.
Moai on Easter Island by Steven Reid, o…
Posted Mar 27, 2019 by Steven
2 min read
February Fun with a Sleeping Lego Caterpillar and More
As February closes, I thought it fitting to recap my renders this month. Four in total, although not quite one a week. Added to last month’s render, I’ve almost shared as many as last year. Hopefully this means a lot more LEGO fun is in store for the rest of year…
Posted Feb 25, 2019 by Steven
4 min read