Switch SCE to AUX – Apollo 12 averted disaster

Apollo 12 was struck by lightning during the launch. All power was lost, the computers all crashed and things looked bad. An engineer remembered the signal conditioning electronics (SCE) auxiliary switch. The switch was flicked. The computers rebooted and the main power cells came back on line. The mission went on to be a success.

More here: https://www.vice.com/en/article/xyw4kz/john-aaron-apollo-12-curiosity-luck-and-sce-to-aux

I’m going to 3D print it and do something with it. Not sure what yet. I’ve just always loved this story.

Blender 3.0 is coming soon. Cycles X is amazing

Farting about with voxelised mesh volume displacement in Blender 3.0 Alpha.
Cycles X is more than twice as fast for most of the scenes I have tried it on.

Geometry nodes + micro-displacement = awesome. I love Blender.

Taking vacation time before the year ends, I have done nothing today other than fiddle with Blender. If only I had an imagination.

Reworking an old idea – Optix Denoise is awesome.

Reworking and old idea. I can actually render it in a reasonable time thanks to Nvidia Optix denoiser in Blender 2.9 I should do one of these for each planet.

SpaceX Starship Model Kit

Sometimes I make things in 3D I wish I could have in the real world. Somebody buy me a 3D printer please?

Blender 2.8: A bit hard surface practice

I haven’t had much time recently to get up to speed with Blender 2.8. While waiting for a casserole to cook, I thought I’d model the first thing that came to hand.

The Sea Dragon – visualised from 1962 blueprints

Visualised from original 1962 blueprints.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Dragon_(rocket)

Ok. Last one. I feel I have made enough of these.

Yet another Mechanical Keyboard render. I think I am done with these now.

Ok. Another mechanical keyboard

People love these 40% keyboards. I don’t know how functional they really are.
Anyway, here’s a NASA themed one.

So… I have a new obsession

So… I have discovered mechanical keyboards.  I couldn’t resist rendering ones I want to have.

Pew Pew Pew – A bit of pixel art fun

Mars Arrival: [WIP] Something that’s been in my head for a while.

This has been in my head for a while. Lots to do to get it to my concept, but this an OK start. It’s supposed to be  a Mars Space Station or something like that.

Placebonox (Hypochondrinol) because we all know somebody that needs it.

A bit of quick modelling practice with Hard Ops

Simple HDR control node in Blender

Here’s a quick tutorial on an HDR control node in Blender. The point is to be able to control the background intensity and the lighting separately. It also gives you the option of having separate background and lighting.

Read More “Simple HDR control node in Blender” →

Modelling practice – acoustic guitar

Testing Blender 2.79 features.

Testing out some of the features of Blender 2.79;  Shadow catcher, Micro-displacement and Principled BSDF material.

Microdisplacement in Blender is awesome.

Microdisplacement in Blender is an amazing feature. I Definitely need to get a GPU with more memory though.

Yet more Lego, but SpaceX lego this time which is awesome.

Curtis Farnham (http://curtisfarnham.com/lego-spacex) has kindly put his Lego plans for a Falcon 9 on his website. A bit of LeoCad later and the model is in Blender. I wish I had all the Lego parts to actually make this.

Incidentally, I had to start learning Python to get this model working in Blender. Perhaps I’ll polish the code up and publish it here at a later date.

Yet more Lego from my youth. Built brick by brick following the original instructions.

The Lego Thatcher Perkins Steam Engine from the late 1970’s. Original instructions here. More fiddling about in Blender and LeoCad.