LEGO Renders

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LEGO's May mini build was a Blue Jay. I thought he'd look better in a tree which I modeled in LDD. I rendered the scene with POV-Ray 3.7RC7. 40065 Blue Jay by SafePit, on Flickr

I'm a little behind in sharing some of my recent LEGO renders. I have an updated version of 6364 that includes the flowers out front and tilted windows. I also fixed a few misplaced pieces. I also have tried to get all my Windows software moved over to my MAC.

LEGO released this set in 1975 in Europe, and in 1976 as 485 Fire Truck in the US. Having grown up with these old sets, I have a special place in my heart for these short-lived LEGO mini-figs. Although I enjoy the great designs of today, I miss how simple these models are.

Happy Thanksgiving! This is the November Mini Build from LEGO rendered with POV-Ray. I love the Mini Builds as they are quick to render and fun to build. Turkey by SafePit, on Flickr

Blast from the past. This set is one of mine from 1980. I believe one of the last I received while still in Norway. This was rendered with POV-Ray 3.7R6. 6364 Paramedic Unit by SafePit, on Flickr

Goofing around again with some simple LEGO fireworks. Still waiting on the larger render to finish. Fireworks was the LEGO Club Monthly Mini Model Build for November 2009. Flame part courtesy of LDRAW and LeoCAD. A simple, yet effective model. Rendered with POV-Ray 3.7RC6.

Happy Easter! This is a great little set. The ducks are well designed and I love the little ugly duckling. I wonder if he'll become a swan? This is rendered with POV-Ray 3.7RC5. 40030 Duck and Ducklings by SafePit, on Flickr

I posted this a couple of days back on Flickr, but hadn't made it around to posting here. Happy belated Valentine's day to all! 40029 Valentines Day Box by SafePit, on Flickr

It is a strange time for me. For years, I have run my web site locally as a way to test out new designs and programs. I have used that site as the home for my catalog of LEGO parts and colors.

Short and sweet. Monthly mini-build for Jan 2012 rendered with POV-ray. Interesting that these in-store promotions are now numbered. 40036 Cobra by SafePit, on Flickr

Another great build from the architecture series rendered with POV-Ray. I was trying to add some back light, but I'm not sure I'm happy with the results. It took 3 days to render and it still has anti-alias artifacts. Overall, it looks pretty good though.

LEGO Store’s Lighthouse is the Monthly Mini Model Build for July ’11. I thought this would be a nice quick and dirty build, but I ran into a minor problem. I didn’t have the wheel element in the build modeled. I tried to shortcut by using LDD/LDRAW, but sadly I couldn’t find it there either.

I actually started 21009 Farnsworth House before my last model, but made the mistake of rendering it on my older desktop. It took over a week to render due to the glass and higher anti-alias requirements. I should try this on my daughter's iMAC to see if how fast it renders with a newer computer.

Ran across this model from a YouTube stop motion video and thought it’d be a fun build. You can see more pictures of the real model on BrickSet. I think my render came out well, even if I had to do a little color correction first.

It's a rainy Saturday afternoon which provides a perfect opportunity to render LEGO's monthly mini build with POV-Ray. Bird by SafePit, on Flickr

I was reading this article from Brickset about a scanned Bricks and Pieces No. 2 from Spring '75. It was an interesting read and a fun look into LEGO's past. I especially liked the "What is it?" article, a puzzle of instructions laid out in layers.

A more interesting scene using the Polar Bear from January 2011 Monthly Mini Build. Polar Bears by SafePit, on Flickr

Polar Bear is the January Mini Build. This is celebrated monthly at LEGO(R) Stores. First new render for 2011. Rendered with POV-Ray 3.7 R2. Polar Bear by SafePit, on Flickr

Thought this unreleased LEGO mini snow speeder would be fun to render. Not sure why this wan't released. It was probably due to the cockpit. Oddly, LEGO released the instructions, apparently in 2008. 8029 Mini Snow Speeder by SafePit, on Flickr

Ran across this 1983 Class Space set while pursuing Peeron. It is a pretty simple model so it was nice quick project to build and render. Unfortunately, I didn't have part 4360 (Black Minifig Accessory Camera with Side Sight) already.

Ran across these great seasonal models perusing Brickset. They are simple yet effective, really showing how LEGO models can shine with such few bricks. The Jack'o'lantern is just perfect and I love the use of the cheese slopes as teeth. I liked the yellow eyes of the bat.

Beware of what lurks beneath the sea! I was having fun again with LDD and POV-Ray and thought this would make an interesting render after my first attempt. I also uploaded a slightly different version to LEGO's gallery with different eyes stalks.

Okay, I went a bit overboard creating an updated version of my Waterfall with more accurate bricks and logo. I even randomly rotated the bricks to break up the monotony of the the logos. The first version with the LEGO logo was a bit too uniform. Waterfall v2 (Updated) by SafePit, on Flickr

This is the second version of my simple waterfall experiment. I limited myself to a 4x4 plate and the bricks and colors available in LDD. I added a bit more foliage and color variation to the cliff. Waterfall by SafePit, on Flickr This time, I used LDD to create the model.

Okay, I admit that lighting isn't my strong suit. I'm good with geometry and scripting. But I struggle making the images look as good as they should. These photos are my attempts to try to get better colors and realistic lighting from POV-Ray.