3D Graphics I've been interested in computer generated 3D graphics for a long time. Real-time generated, computer game graphics, animations and photo-realistic rendering. The spinning graphics above are rendered in real-time with a Java applet I wrote while at univeristy. The image galleries shown here contain a selection of images created by me in several 3D programs since 1995. Most were created over the last few years with various versions of Lightwave 3D. Some of the older images were created using Imagine 3D. The images are organised into 'projects' where a single project may have several images rendered for it. Many of the objects in the scenes are reused or 'recycled' between projects to save time, so the same item may appear in many images. Although I mostly do still images, there is also a selection of animations in the animations gallery. I also wrote an application to view Lightwave and Imagine format 3D objects called K3D-GL which is free to download and use. NEW: I write up my thoughts and work-in-progress Lightwave 3D images in the K3D Lightwave Blog. This contains info on the plugins I'm currently using and discussion on any work-in-progress images. Feel free to comment on any images in the blog! Why Lightwave 3D? 3D programs are complicated beasts. You need to invest a lot of time to even learn the basics and it's a full-time occupation to become proficient with one. I got into using Lightwave as a hobby with version 4 in 1996 and i've stuck with it. It's currently on version 8.0 which was released May 2004. It's not the easist program in the world to use, but it's very powerful and can produce great results. There is also a vast number of 'plugins' available for it. These additional helper programs make Lighwave even more powerful than it would be simply out-the-box. I know i said there wouldn't be a tonne of useless links here, but i will mention my favorite web resource for all things Lightwave, called Flay and the site where the best Lightwave plugins are available Worley Labs. Also Simply Lightwave is a fabulous resource where you can download textures and models in exchange for uploading some yourself. Any finally the web-site of a friend of mine Steve Reeves Digital Consulting. What are the images rendered on? A custom built home PC. You need a decent machine to give 3D graphics a good go. A fast processor and a decent 3D accelerated OpenGL graphics card is also highly recommended. Current specs of my machine: Pentium 4C 2.6Ghz HT CPU - Overclocked to 3.125Ghz Coolermaster Jet 4 HSF Abit IS7-E motherboard 512MB Dual DDR500 GeIL RAM Radeon 9600XT - Overclocked 160GB HD Storage Sony DVDRW DVD-ROM Thermaltake XaserIII case The PC is running approx 20% faster by overclocking the front-side-bus (FSB) speed from 200Mhz to 240Mhz. This is why the exotic DDR500 memory is required. This is an adaquate machine for home 3D graphics, but a dual processor machine with 1GB RAM would be the ideal.