BLACK FRIDAY 2015

1935 Late Sun

Its discount PG SKIES time of year again.

Head over to www.pg-skies.net and use the following codes:

BLACK20 - Baseline 20% off
BLACK30 - 30% off orders over 100 euros
BLACK40 - 40% off orders over 250 euros
BLACK50 - 50% off orders over 500 euros

'1735 Clear' HDR Sky Update

Just wanted to share 4 renderings using the updated version of '1735 Clear Sky', which features a more accurate sun intensity. More details about this change to follow.

If you have previously bought this sky from www.pg-skies.net you should already have received an email with new download instructions.

360 Panorama

Another 360 this time using the work I did for Tom Phifer & Partners as a base.

Double click for full screen, or if on a smartphone/tablet, click here

The HDRi sky I am using here is an updated version of 1735 Clear Sky which I have edited to adjust the strength of the sun. This means you no longer need to employ the lowered gamma workflow that I have been using up till now.

I'll update 1735 in the store soon, anyone who bought it from www.pg-skies.net should get an update notification email and can re-download for free.


PG SoA Lighting Masterclass

This is the full gallery of a quite amazing amount of work accomplished in one week by 12 students. You can find out more or get in touch with the artists from the links provided, or feel free to leave comments below.

If you are interested in attending one of my lighting masterclasses, there is a strong possibility i'll do another one next year with SoA. Keep an eye on the State of Art Academy homepage for announcements.

Alessandro Consonni - http://www.behance.net/ac3dartist

Alessandro concentrated on interiors, and went for a very stylish minimal look. Rendered in Corona and with Corona environment fog which worked out really well. Click the thumbs for lightbox mode.

Alessandro Massi Mauri -  http://www.lissoniassociati.com/

Alessandro Massi Mauri started with some basic changes to the architecture (black timber) and made a desert landscape which worked surprisingly well. An alternative, Rick Joy inspired version of the house completes a great set of renders.

Darwin Ceballos - https://www.behance.net/Darwin_Ceballos

Darwin went for a Nordic winter theme and found some very pleasing lighting set-ups in which the architecture looks right at home.

George Nijland - http://georgenijland.nl/

A very strong set of images from George, who chose to concentrate on landscaping and exterior views. I especially like the subtle and carefully managed colours of the green grasses and the blues in the sky. Not an easy thing to do well.

Giuliano Sabadin - http://www.giulianosabadin.blogspot.com/

Lots of images with potential, but the wintery scene is my favourite, plus he seemed to knock it together in no time at all!

Jeroen Henning - http://www.ciiid.nl/

Jeroen tried a bit of everything and as a result seemed to get a lot out of the week. Corona AND Vray. Solid interiors and ambitious, expansive exteriors. I really hope to see the valley shot rendered higher res and with lots of detail added.

Matthias Arndt - http://www.lichtecht.de/

Some nice moves in changing the architecture set the tone for Matthias' images. Clean compositions and balanced lighting. I especially liked the buildings new relationship to the landscape.

Oguz Kalafat - https://www.behance.net/oguzkalafat

Oguz used the classic Julius Shulman LA image as inspiration and amended the architecture to suit his purpose. A strong set of well balanced moonlit images.

Paolo Faleschini - http://www.paolofaleschini.com/

Paulo took my suggestion of making B&W images, and did it really really well. Strong compositions, great use of light. As Gianpiero said to me later, they sum up the product of a lighting masterclass perfectly.

Robert Dukes - http://www.robertdukes.com/

Robert took the existing landscape and developed it even further, and modified the architecture quite a bit too. A great selection of compositions, and lots of good experimentation with different HDR skies as well.

Sandra Ferminan - http://www.ferminnan.com/

Sandra matched the atmosphere perfectly of the inspiration images she had chosen. Strong compositions and really beautiful colours, especially in the tree shot.

Walter Pegolo - http://www.oecusdesign.it/

Another mix of Corona & Vray with a strong emphasis on interiors. Walter also tried his hand at an exterior which resulted in a nice soft dusk image.

PETER GUTHRIE LIGHTING MASTERCLASS

Starting the week with a preview of some of the images produced in what I hope was a useful and fun week for my 12 students at the State of Art Academy. I'll upload all of the images in another blog post, but to give you an idea of the range of images that started life as Henry's Carey House here is one from each student, in no particular order.

Really fantastic work I hope you'll agree!

Top to bottom:

Alessandro Massi Mauri, Alessandro Consonni, Jeroen Henning, Matthias Arndt, Oguz Kalafat, Paolo Faleschini, Robert Dukes, George Nijland, Sandra Ferminan, Walter Pegolo, Giuliano Sabadin, Darwin Ceballos

Octane Render Competition Winners

Many thanks to everyone who entered the competition hosted on the OTOY forums, and congratulations to the winners listed below. I'll be contacting you all via email with details of how to claim your prizes. Thanks also to Tom Glimps for organising it!