Glow effects in Blender

The first effect I played around with was achieved through Blender's node editor. The specific tutorial I used can be found here http://www.blendercookie.com/2010/03/09/rendering-a-light-saber/

The second was achieved though the emit settings in the materials menu.

If you ask me, the first effect looks better on its own but doesn't work when you actually add it to an existing model. This is because the node method just creates a fancy effect, it doesn't actually interact with the rest of the model by creating shadows and highlights and such, thus diminishing its effectiveness somewhat.

Working with the emit settings, on the other hand, does interact with the rest of the model. It turns the selected material into an additional light source, creating the shadows and highlights you'd expect. It does give the final render a much softer appearance though.

I have tried combining the two effects but I haven't been able to make that work so far. I'll have to play around with it some more.

The 3D Models of Starcraft 2

While clicking through the various galleries on DeviantArt I stumbled across one belonging to a designer from Blizzard who worked on Starcraft 2.

http://phillgonzo.deviantart.com/gallery/11039907?offset=0

This was a rather pleasant surprise considering that Starcraft is my favouritest game ever but this was made even better by the short descriptions of the varying design processes accompanying each 3D model.

While the descriptions aren't incredibly detailed, being only a few lines long, it's an interesting read and gives some insight into the design process behind the models of a big budget game.

The beginning...

This blog will be dedicated to various forms of media and the occasional trappings of madness...with emphasis most likely on the madness.