Inspiration : Art books from three favorite productions

Figurines are a great inspiration (as I've said back on this blog entry), but something that is even more inspiring for me is the many art books I have here. Looking at concept art, model sheets and reading those stories that remind me why I love CG - its what keeps me driven and passionate. In the last couple of months, I've gotten 3 - Pacific Rim : Mans, Machines and Monsters , Elysium : the art of the film and just recently Transformers : the...

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TECH : Dk'tronics keyboard labels - part 2

Back in my previous blog post, I explained the process and gave a link to a set of labels you can download and print for replacing worn labels on a dk'tronics keyboard for the ZX Spectrum... I have tweaked this document with appropriate colours for the symbols and extended mode keywords.  I also made a version with grey backgrounds that may be of use to those who can't get transparent label sheets (or if you have a different extension keyboard...

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TECH : Re-labeling a worn out Dk'Tronics...

As far as I am aware, DK'tronics released two versions of their products.  The first one had stick-on labels for the keys.  The second, of which I have, printed the labels directly onto the keys.  While the print is pretty resilient, sometimes those greasy fingers can just wear off the hardiest of inks. So - with those keys being almost perfectly cleaned off, how was I going to "restore" this old device.  The answer was to...

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Tech : Fixing the Dk'Tronics keyboard for my ZX Spectrum

Yesterday I decided to take a ZX Spectrum I've recently repaired and place it into a larger keyboard that I'd had since the 80's...  The reason for using a different keyboard? I'd replaced some components on the PCB with modern counterparts that were actually a lot larger and this made things a little cramped when screwed back into the Spectrums original case.  It made sense to use my classic Dk'Tronics box that was designed as a replacement...

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"Great scott! Its time to travel back to 2014"

There has to be a point where a project finishes - in the case of the ongoing 8-bit project I've worked on for a while now (not constantly, mind you - just a little here and there when I had a moment to spare), I've decided to toy with the camera, lighting and do a final rendered still. (You can view all my posts on this project here) Just adding a little dutch bank to the camera, a few texture tweaks...   I ended up with this image. ...

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