Warm, Welcoming And Well-Built

Here is an illustration of an eldar care facility where I creativly used a shallow depth of field (measure of how much of a photo is in focus), to bring a warm and welcoming feel to the illustration.

The basic idea of depth of field is fairly simple—the shallower the depth of field, the more of the illustration is likely to be out of focus. A depth of field of two inches, for example, means that anything within two inches of your point of focus will be in focus. The above illustration has the flowers basket in focus, bringing your attention to it and not the building surrounding it.

How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer

How to Be a Rockstar Freelancer

Use your 3D skills to build a freelance business with this authoritative guide on freelancing written by the authors of the super popular FreelanceSwitch blog.

• Find Out More

Is it art?

If design isn't profitable, then it's art ~ Henrik Fiskar

Do you make mistakes?

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new

Albert Einstein

5 Tips from the Masters for Better Architecture Rendering

Architecture renderings offer a distinct set of challenges for illustrators. There are elements of composition which are more evident when it comes to rendering architecture. The following are five tips to render better illustrations of structures.

1. Consider the Context

Some types of structures need to be illustratoed in their correct context. This is true for older structures as well as farmhouses. For modern buildings, the context is rarely necessary. illustrating people can also help the viewer identify the function of the building.

2. Play with the Light and Shadows

The weather and timing can provide an interesting combination of light and shadows. Light passing through columns and windows can affect the ambiance of the interiors and alter the way the structure looks. The same structure can also appear differently depending on the time of the day. Illustrate the same structure during different times of the day to see the effects of natural and artificial forms of light on the structure.

3. Focus on Lines and Shapes

A lot of architecture relies on the principle of symmetry. Curvilinear lines such as a long pathway can create movement in an image. Archways and windows can also become natural frames for an image. 

4. Change the View

With skyscrapers and longer buildings, use various perspectives for a different look. Go at the base of a tall building and render straight up. This will make the image appear distorted but creates an interesting dimension to the illustration.

5. Capture the Details

Structures are made from a variety of materials. Using a macro lens technique will help capture the various textures that make the structure look distinct.

HDR video

Are you ready for a wave of HDR to crash over the consumer electronics industry, leaving nothing but oversaturated photos and full-to-the-brim Flickr groups in its wake? We've got a sneaky suspicion that Apple's inclusion of HDR in the iPhone is one of those telling warning signs that you ignore at your own risk, and now we've got HDR video to cower from behind our fast-aging current gen devices. As you might expect, HDR video looks just like HDR stills (an underexposed and an overexposed image combined into one), except in motion.

The effect has been accomplished by Soviet Montage Productions, who used two Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLRs and a beam splitter, which allows each camera to look at the exact same subject, to accomplish the effect. They're short on details on the post-processing end, but we're sure there will be "an app for that" before too long. Sample is after the break.

 

10 Reasons to Use an Exercise Ball as Your Chair

I recently came across this article, which talks about using an exercise ball as your home or office chair. I have used an exercise ball as a chair before, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Here are some of the benefits of using an exercise ball as your chair. Whether you spend your desk time at the office, or studying at home for that next exam, office ball chairs can help you in many ways. 

 

1. Forces proper spine alignment. Because an exercise ball is not stable, your body needs to try to balance itself on it. The perfect spinal posture is coincidently the easiest to balance with. Thus, your body will automatically try to align itself into the proper posture. This helps improve your spinal health, and decrease back pains.

 

2. Causes you to frequently change positions. An exercise ball causes to you to change your position often to balance. For example, if you turn 45 degrees to face the phone, your body will assume a new position. This helps reduce damage caused by prolonged sitting in the same position.

 

3. Fitness is at your fingertips. Another great thing about using this alternative to a chair, is that you can do stretches or mini-workouts whenever you want, without getting up. If you’ve ever stuck waiting for a minute or two, you can make productive use of that time with a quick workout or stretch. Because it’s much more convenient, you will probably do it more, thus resulting in better health.

 

4. Improve your balance. This one is very understandable. Sitting on an unstable surface all day will improve your sense of balance, as well as the reactions of your muscles. The result? An overall better balance, that can be observed out of the office.

 

5. Get that 6-pack you’ve been wanting. Your body primarily uses your core (abdominal) muscles to help compensate for changes in balance. Thus, your essentially getting a low-key abdominal workout. This may not sound like a lot, but consider the amount of time you spend on your computer at the office, or at home. Those hours can build up, and result in a strengthening of ab muscles.

 

 

6. Improves your circulation. Using an exercise ball will keep the blood flowing to all parts of your body, throughout the day. A desk chair on the other hand, reduces circulation to some parts of the body after prolonged use.

BLABLA

 

 

7. You’ll feel more energetic. It has been proven that staying in one position, will make you more tired, while moving around and being active with give you more energy. With an exercise ball as a chair, you will feel much more energized after you finish your work.

8. Burn up to 350 calories per day. More movement during the day = more calories burnt. Burning 350 calories per day = losing one pound of fat every 10 days. You may not burn quite 350, but nonetheless, it will help you stay fit.

 

9. Really cheap. Specialized exercise balls designed for sitting usage can range from $15 to $80. Much cheaper than buying an ergonomic chair, which can range anywhere from $100 to $400 and up.

 

10. C’mon, its fun! Who doesn’t like the idea of bouncing around on an exercise ball all day. Exercise balls are an exciting alternative to chairs, and may just give that spark of fun to your day.

Update: I just bought an exercise ball for myself. So far, I am really enjoying it! My only complaint is that in the morning when I am half-awake, it is hard to balance. I found this cheap exercise ball

  at Target for only $15! Great for trying it out,  if you don’t want to invest $40-$50 in a ball which you may never actually use. Also, before you buy, make sure you know what size is right for you. I am about 5 feet, 6 inches, and the 65cm ball fits me well. Your legs should be almost parallel with the ground. If you are above 5ft10 I would go with a 75cm ball.

 

Have you personally had experience with using an exercise ball as a chair? Drop us a comment on how it worked out for you.

Girl Falls In Mall Fountain While Texting

Art and Design Trends!

Trends! The largest community for Trends, Trend Spotting, Cool Hunting, and Innovation. Fashion Trends, Style, Gadgets, Tech, Pop Culture, Art, and Design

 

http://www.trendhunter.com/cool-hunting/category/Modern-Art-and-Design-Trends

Trend Hunter

http://www.trendhunter.com/

What happened with the Internet in 2010?

How many websites were added? How many emails were sent? How many Internet users were there? This post will answer all of those questions and many, many more. If it’s stats you want, you’ve come to the right place.

We used a wide variety of sources from around the Web to put this post together. You can find the full list of source references at the bottom of the post if you’re interested. We here at Pingdom also did some additional calculations to get you even more numbers to chew on.

Prepare for a good kind of information overload. 

Email

• 107 trillion – The number of emails sent on the Internet in 2010.
• 294 billion – Average number of email messages per day.
• 1.88 billion – The number of email users worldwide.
• 480 million – New email users since the year before.
• 89.1% – The share of emails that were spam.
• 262 billion – The number of spam emails per day (assuming 89% are spam).
• 2.9 billion – The number of email accounts worldwide.
• 25% – Share of email accounts that are corporate.

Websites

• 255 million – The number of websites as of December 2010.
• 21.4 million – Added websites in 2010.

Web servers

• 39.1% – Growth in the number of Apache websites in 2010.
• 15.3% – Growth in the number of IIS websites in 2010.
• 4.1% – Growth in the number of nginx websites in 2010.
• 5.8% – Growth in the number of Google GWS websites in 2010.
• 55.7% – Growth in the number of Lighttpd websites in 2010.

Domain names

• 88.8 million – .COM domain names at the end of 2010.
• 13.2 million – .NET domain names at the end of 2010.
• 8.6 million – .ORG domain names at the end of 2010.
• 79.2 million – The number of country code top-level domains (e.g. .CN, .UK, .DE, etc.).
• 202 million – The number of domain names across all top-level domains (October 2010).
• 7% – The increase in domain names since the year before.

Internet users

• 1.97 billion – Internet users worldwide (June 2010).
• 14% – Increase in Internet users since the previous year.
• 825.1 million – Internet users in Asia.
• 475.1 million – Internet users in Europe.
• 266.2 million – Internet users in North America.
• 204.7 million – Internet users in Latin America / Caribbean.
• 110.9 million – Internet users in Africa.
• 63.2 million – Internet users in the Middle East.
• 21.3 million – Internet users in Oceania / Australia.

Social media

• 152 million – The number of blogs on the Internet (as tracked by BlogPulse).
• 25 billion – Number of sent tweets on Twitter in 2010
• 100 million – New accounts added on Twitter in 2010
• 175 million – People on Twitter as of September 2010
• 7.7 million – People following @ladygaga (Lady Gaga, Twitter’s most followed user).
• 600 million – People on Facebook at the end of 2010.
• 250 million – New people on Facebook in 2010.
• 30 billion – Pieces of content (links, notes, photos, etc.) shared on Facebook per month.
• 70% – Share of Facebook’s user base located outside the United States.
• 20 million – The number of Facebook apps installed each day.

Web browsers

Videos

• 2 billion – The number of videos watched per day on YouTube.
• 35 – Hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute.
• 186 – The number of online videos the average Internet user watches in a month (USA).
• 84% – Share of Internet users that view videos online (USA).
• 14% – Share of Internet users that have uploaded videos online (USA).
• 2+ billion – The number of videos watched per month on Facebook.
• 20 million – Videos uploaded to Facebook per month.

Images

• 5 billion – Photos hosted by Flickr (September 2010).
• 3000+ – Photos uploaded per minute to Flickr.
• 130 million – At the above rate, the number of photos uploaded per month to Flickr.
• 3+ billion – Photos uploaded per month to Facebook.
• 36 billion – At the current rate, the number of photos uploaded to Facebook per year.

Data sources and notes: Spam percentage from MessageLabs (PDF). Email user numbers and counts from Radicati Group (the number of sent emails was their prediction for 2010, so it’s very much an estimate). Website numbers from Netcraft. Domain name stats from Verisign andWebhosting.info. Internet user numbers and distribution from Internet World Stats. Facebook statsfrom Facebook and Business Insider. Twitter stats from Twitter (and here), TwitterCounter andTechCrunch. Web browser stats from StatCounter. YouTube video numbers from Google. Facebook video numbers from GigaOM. US online video stats from Comscore and the Pew Research Center. Flickr image numbers from Flickr. Facebook image numbers from this blog.

Composition

The dictionary says: "Composition is the art of combining parts or elements to form a whole".

Every render must have a focal point where the artist places the most interesting shapes and elements to create the center of interest. 

Start with visual thinking - putting your thoughts about what you feel down on paper. Decide on either a horizonral or vertical format.  Make some rough sketches of what you want your render to look like,  This is visual thinking: You are developing your composition, creating a center of interest by balancing the elements, moving or eliminating objects, deciding your values, and trying various combinations of foreground, middle ground and background.  

Your sketches can be only a suggesitive as you wish. Their main purpose is to arrive at a good working composition. Besides, they are fun to do!

Color Trick

Stare at a color for a minute or two. Close your eyes. The afterimage you see with your eyes closed will be its complementary color.

Autodesk to hold webcasts on future of 3ds Max

Autodesk has announced three free webcasts on Project Excalibur, the under-the-hood redesign of 3ds Max designed to roll out across three updates to the software.

The 3ds Max 2012 release is due to address “UI, dynamics and viewport changes”.

All three webcasts take place on Tuesday 8 February between 9am and 9.30pm EST.

Join us for a special webcast where we’ll update you on Project Excalibur (XBR). XBR is a restructuring of 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design that is intended to occur over three phases. It addresses fundamental improvements in workflow, UI, and performance. This update will provide more detail about UI, dynamics and viewport changes. You’ll be able to post questions for the development team.

There will be three opportunities to attend identical sessions held at different times on February 8th, 2011 . These webinar sessions will be recorded and those that register will be provided with a link to view the recordings.

Date: Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Time: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM EST     REGISTER

Time: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM EST       REGISTER

Time: 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM EST       REGISTER

 If you are timezone challenged, use this: http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc

Tilt-Shift Photography

Tilt-shift photography refers to the use of camera movements on small- and medium-format cameras; it usually requires the use of special lenses.

“Tilt-shift” actually encompasses two different types of movements: rotation of the lens relative to the image plane, called tilt, and movement of the lens parallel to the image plane, called shift. Tilt is used to control the orientation of the plane of focus (PoF), and hence the part of an image that appears sharp; it makes use of the Scheimpflug principle. Shift is used to change the line of sight while avoiding the convergence of parallel lines, as when photographing tall buildings.

Another, less cost-intensive technique called “tilt-shift miniature faking” is a process in which a photograph of a life-sized location or object is manipulated so that it looks like a photograph of a miniature-scale model.

Tilt-Shift Photography Photoshop Tutorial 
This tutorial was produced using Photoshop CS2 on a PC.

Receding Hairline
With very little effort, you can take existing photographs of everyday scenes and make them look like miniature models.

Free Auto Tilt-Shift Photoshop Action 
Plug-and-play solution for preparing your photos.

Consider Sun Angles and Time of Day

The time of day can be important depending on the orientation of the building. (Advice based on Northern Hemisphere conditions) If the main entrance is facing East – a morning rendering will have the most sunlight. If the building is facing South – then you will have the most latitude when you choose your time of day. If the building is facing West – then an evening rendering will give you the best daylight. And if the building is facing North – then you're screwed! 

A building with the primary entrance on the North side, i.e. – always backlit by the sun is the most difficult exterior shot to take. Consider rendering on an overcast day, in the morning or in the evening. 

Rendering in the morning or evening is the best way to ensure the shot will be within the stop range of the camera. A rendering of the South face is probably the easiest because everything is washed with sunlight so anytime of day usually works.

The other thing to consider is where shadows of neighboring buildings fall during the day. If the building is in an urban setting, there might be a small window of opportunity when the sun shines directly on the building depending on how narrow the streets are.

Linked IN

Can I autopublish to a Linked In Group?