My self-imposed exile from the world of 3D computer generated graphics is finally coming to an end. Years ago I became upset when I entered a contest for renderings done in DAZ Studio. While the winning entries where good, I felt that several that ranked above mine were crap. I rarely got a mention. I worked for days on that render, poses people to see how the hands and feet should be. I was hurt.
A few years later, along came Paolo Ciccone and his Reality plugin for DAZ Studio. It let a user connect to the rendering engine called LuxRender. Unlike ray tracing, the engine dealt with light and materials more similar to what humans experience in the world. Light would now bounce off of services. Cameras worked like real world cameras. Light could be changed on the fly. ISO could be updated. Film effects. YES!
Being a photographer by nature and training, I was hooked. I bought it straight away and started to render. I made all kinds of stuff. Then…well, I burned out. Tried to reorganize my content. Started over. Switched computers…on and on. I went into exile.
The time has finally come to start again. DAZ has created a content manager to help with downloading all the content. Reality has moved to version 2. LuxRender has matured. Studio now runs in 64bit mode on a Mac. The materials plugin works on a 64bit Mac. Awesome.
My son wants to learn how to render. My daughter wants to make Anime characters. It is time to again start on the journey. It is time to return to doing something I love. It is time to stop playing World of Warcraft so much. It is time to make our own Reality and share it with others. It is time.
Paolo, I am ready. The technology is here. The children want to learn. There are now more computers on the network. A Journey back to Reality will now start.
Related articles
