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Leif Ericson CGI Gallery


This is a gallery of CGI artwork created by Winchell Chung of the plastic model Leif Ericson.

I recently obtained a copy of the amazing freeware computer modeling program Blender. It takes some work to learn, with most people complaining about the user interface. But as Blender people state, and as I found true, you struggle with it for about a week, then suddenly it becomes joy to use. Just remember to keep one hand on the mouse and the other on the keyboard.

I was struggling with importing Atra-Hasis' Lightwave mesh file into Blender. The mesh came in just fine, but the UV mapping did not (the file that allows the images of the ship's skin to be wrapped around the mesh). My attempts to make a UV map resembled a fun-house mirror.

Then Bill Redfern and Mapper converted the Lightwave LWO file into a Wavefront OBJ file. Blender can import an OBJ file with the UV mapping intact.

I no longer had an excuse. Here follows my rendering diary, as the total Blender novice flounders in the ocean of CGI. Experienced computer artists will find plenty to chuckle about. As always, click on the thumbnails for a larger image.

"Leif" galleries are images of the galactic cruiser Leif Ericson. "Scout" galleries are of the Leif's tiny scoutship. "Martian" galleries are of the copper manta-ray Martian War Machines features in George Pal's movie WAR OF THE WORLDS. And "Station" galleries are of the K-7 Space Station featured in the Star Trek episode "The Trouble With Tribbles." All of these are loosely connected with the Leif Ericson, believe it or not.