So you’ve created your 3D model… now what? Many 3D design programs have their own renderer built in, but some don’t. You may need an external program to create images. In other cases, the software may include its own renderer, but it may not have all of the features that a stand-alone renderer provides.

If you’ve never tried a stand-alone renderer before and want to try one, here is a list of well-known stand-alone 3D rendering programs that are available from their creators free-of-charge:

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Can’t convince your significant other you need to be playing more Halo 3? How about a Halo tournament to end breast cancer!

The Cave Girls are hosting their 2nd Annual “Fight Like a Girl” Halo tournament. Proceeds from the tournament benefit the Susan G. Komen For a Cure breast cancer foundation. Tournament founder Kari Toyama explains how it all started in this interview at United for Pink.

They asked me, “Kari, would you like to participate in a bake sale?” I said, “Um, no.” So they asked, “Is there anything you are involved in that could potentially raise money?” I thought, “Hey, I love to play ‘Halo.'”

Get the full tournament details from the Cave Girls. Even if you don’t play, you can still donate!

Source code is a computer file that contains a set of instructions that tells the computer what to do.

Source code is written in one of many “computer languages”. A computer language is an artificial language that allows people to write instructions in a way that they can understand, yet still easily convert the instructions to “machine code” that the computer can understand. A special kind of program that converts source code to machine code is called a “compiler”. Some languages convert source code to an intermediate form and execute it a little bit at a time, instead of converting the entire source code file in advance. A special kind of program that does this instead is called an “interpreter”.

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New to 3D? Make sure you know which axis is “up” with this primer on 3D coordinate systems. Read the rest of this entry »

Click for larger view, or download the high-res image.Did this the other day, just practicing some sketching myself! This image was painted in Corel PhotoPaint with a Wacom tablet. Unlike most of my work, it does not have any 3D elements–I’m trying to improve my skills at drawing people, especially trouble-points like mouths and noses, so this is a purely a 2D work. For some real fun, watch the time-lapse video of the creation of this image. I really love UNDO. 🙂