Time for More Ocean Fun in Blender and Mecabricks
I generated water in a previous model, but I wasn’t overly happy with it. It was a bit too smooth—more like bath water. So, I tried again with a different LEGO model. And, this time I’m pleased with the results.
2882 Speedboat by Steven Reid, on Flickr
Building a better ocean…
Posted Feb 18 by Steven
3 min read
How to Add Stickers to Complete My Renders
Taking some time to unwind before my workout, I traced out the last few stickers needed to finish this set. Although I had the images from previous POV-Renders, they weren’t of a high enough quality. I’m not done with this set yet. But, it is close to what is sitting in my storage cases
…
Posted Feb 04 by Steven
8 min read
Don’t Just Fix a Mistake, Try Something New
While uploading my last render, I noticed that something was wrong with my Windmill. It didn’t take long to figure out what. When I’d rotated the top part, I must have grabbed the wrong rotation point. Easy fix, but I needed to do more then render it again. Time to play in Blender.
550 Windmill (fi…
Posted Jan 14 by Steven
2 min read
Enjoy the New Year with a Pair of Renders
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.
455 LearjetGreat little airplane from the late 70’s, the cover …
Posted Jan 06 by Steven
2 min read
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…
Posted Jan 02 by Steven
6 min read
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.
A little Disney goes a l…
Posted Dec 06, 2017 by Steven
6 min read
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.
Somet…
Posted Dec 03, 2017 by Steven
4 min read
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.
368 Taxi Garage by Steven Reid, on…
Posted Oct 15, 2017 by Steven
2 min read
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…
Posted Sep 29, 2017 by Steven
2 min read
Overcome Your Attachment to the Weighted Companion Cube
Portal was one of those games that game out of no where. Released as an add-on to the Orange Box, the Half-Life 2 box edition for consoles, the puzzler shined. Combining wry humor with entertaining game play, Portal gained a place in pop culture.
In one of the more memorable levels, you are given a…
Posted Sep 03, 2017 by Steven
4 min read
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…
Posted Aug 04, 2017 by Steven
3 min read
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.
40245 Octopus by Steven Reid, on Flickr…
Posted Jul 14, 2017 by Steven
3 min read
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.
More sadness to…
Posted Jul 04, 2017 by Steven
4 min read
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.
40244 Dragonfly by Steven Re…
Posted Jun 23, 2017 by Steven
2 min read
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…
Posted Jun 18, 2017 by Steven
4 min read
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…
Posted Jun 11, 2017 by Steven
5 min read
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.
O…
Posted Jun 04, 2017 by Steven
2 min read
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.
To my surprise, it was easy. Sort of…
Posted Jun 01, 2017 by Steven
4 min read
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.
6600 Police Patrol by Ste…
Posted May 31, 2017 by Steven
3 min read
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.
#1 – A droidMy first…
Posted May 07, 2017 by Steven
6 min read
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.
Let’s start with the remake…
Posted Apr 09, 2017 by Steven
2 min read
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.
Old is new—minifigs…
Posted Apr 05, 2017 by Steven
2 min read
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.
Adventures in lighting—9…
Posted Mar 24, 2017 by Steven
3 min read
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…
Posted Mar 19, 2017 by Steven
3 min read