I decided to get back to work with my online, collaborative, shaders database for the free and excellent renderer Yafaray.
Why ? Because I’m still using Yafaray only, because it’s great and efficient and also because I didn’t found any other initiative like mine. So I guess it’s the best one so far 
Of course such a database will always sucks unless it’s full of great shaders, so I uploaded some from my latest project, the mighty Hennessey Venom GT cab’ concept. I also fixed some bugs and I’m now looking for new features.
The link didn’t changed : http://yafaray.thomasbaron.net. Spread the word, browse the site and feel free to report any critic or feature request you may have as a comment below. Thanks !
Le Mans 24 hours are behind us, so it’s official : summer is here !!! And here, everyone who says summer, thinks “what kind of contest SMCars has thought about ?”.
Here’s the 2010 official contest for this summer : SMCars goes topless !!!
The idea is really simple : model and render a roof-less car. Any roofless car can apply : convertible (no matter soft or hard top), targa, spider, roadster, etc. You can even make your own from an existing model, or design an all-original concept.
Head right now to the SMCars Goes Topless thread to discover the full set of rules and starting thinking about your entry now !
When I woke up last Sunday morning, I noticed the BlenderNation entry about a LuxRender shaders database.
I don’t use LuxRender but Yafaray. This renderer is the successor of the well-known Yafray, and it’s a full rewrite to achieve great speed and nice functionnalities.
I thought : “It’s a shame a famous renderer like Yafaray doesn’t have a shaders database on its own”. So I started to create one from scratch this morning.
As of now it’s already the 2nd version online : check it out now : http://yafaray.thomasbaron.net
This is a really fresh project, so don’t expect to see it full of great shaders at this stage. Current goal is to enhance the site to achieve something suitable for daily use. Features are, as of writting :
- Free accounts opened right now
- Download a standardized scene to achieve consistent previews
- Upload your shader easily
- Browse the existing categories
- Create your own categories
- Use the built-in search engine
Real World Racer (short RWR), the new official SMC contest, has already started. I’m in with a “slight” modification of my everyday car.
For an upcoming tutorial, I created a wire cage of my C5 Tourer (that is, the wagon) using this blueprint :
Read more…
The SMC community is helding another great official contest : Real World Racer. As they states :
Ever dreamed of driving a race-car? I know I have… How about designing your own? If that’s a big 10-4 for you too, than SMC has got an engine-oil-soaked treat for you…
this particular SMCars.net Contest is asking you to do the following; Pick a car, or design your own, and tailor it towards a certain motorsport. That is it. We want this Contest kept simple to allow your imaginations to run wild and naked throughout SMC. We don’t want them too wild and naked though, so the only limits are technology to the present day, so no light-speed hovering space jet-ski racers, mkay? Other than that, go for gold!!
Some examples of what we’re looking for? A Lamborghini Countach modified to compete is the Paris-Dakar Rally, a Fiat 500 stripped and suped to race in the SuperGT leagues, a Honda Civic made to break the land-speed record… Getting the idea??
The goal is clear, and the contenders brought some crazy projects :
- Volkswagen Passat Wagon with Pike’s Peak style
- Holden Commodore intended for Dakar
- Mitsubishi Lancer for street racing
- Zagato Perana as a FIA GT
- Toyota Hilux as a drift machine
And for the first time for SMC, there is not only medails to win, but your choice a single die-cast model from Die-Cast Model Cars to the value of $100 !
To learn more about it : http://www.smcars.net/forums/contest-forum/30321-real-world-racer.html. To see all the entries : http://www.smcars.net/forums/real-world-racer/. To engage : www.smcars.net.
PS : Of course I’m in…
Some months ago, I posted some blueprints from my Ariel Atom II model. Now, it’s time for full 3D model : I just released the complete and latest model for it, under a Creative Commons license (BY-SA)
This model once won the “Light is Right” contest at www.SMCars.net, but only with one vote ahead !
Read more…
I’m glad and happy to introduce the new version of my site.
The previous one has been powered by WordPress for the full first year. It’s time to say good bye to it, welcome to my own personal blog engine. It’s developed with CakePHP and MySQL, using Eclipse and PDT.
In a very Web2.0 fashion, I consider the site as beta. I would be very happy to heard of any bug you can encounter here. Please also don’t hesitate to report me any idea / suggestion you can get.
I hope the next year will show as much as progress for my skills as the previous one.
Thanks for reading !
Since I restart some attempts to get a realistic car paint shader, I searched over the net. And I’ve found rather interesting articles.
Both are from Matt Ebb, you can show his site at http://mke3.net/.
Read more…
This site will be down from August 02, 2006 to August 20, 2006, due to server powerdown.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
