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When Iñigo Quílez isn't hard at work at Pixar, he's active in the demoscene, creating 4KB programs that render incredible procedurally generated scenes. He also writes tutorials on both video and audio synthesis, but arguably the coolest section of his site features live-coding videos of him improvising both audio and video rendering code that will make any experienced programmer feel wholly inadequate.
posted by spiderskull on Jan 8, 2012 - 32 comments

40 Year Old 3D Computer Graphics, created by Edwin Catmull and Fred Parke (with some help from Bob Ingebretsen) in... wait for it... 1972!
posted by cthuljew on Sep 2, 2011 - 53 comments

Dr. Petter has released Sculptris 1.0 for Windows at no charge. [more inside]
posted by boo_radley on Jun 2, 2010 - 26 comments

Fascinating 3D renderings of different processes inside of a human body. Yes, the style is quite similar to The Inner Life of The Cell, but this one is different. Dissolving of the pills was definitely entertaining. It would be great if a doctor could comment on the other processes that are displayed.
posted by Surfin' Bird on Jul 9, 2008 - 14 comments

Here are some beautifully rendered views of polytopes, and a few more. The rendering program, Jenn 3D, is free and downloadable, (OS X, Linux, Win) and includes some really dazzling fly-about and camera effects as well as tons of high-dimensional models to explore. There's also a mind-boggling possibility of playing Go on boards in projective space. Via the Math Paint blog, which leads to other interesting places...
posted by Wolfdog on Jun 2, 2007 - 13 comments

Delicious Arson at the Hog Rendering Plant? New York Pork, a Toronto based slaughterhouse, burned to the ground on November 6th. While the cause of the fire is still under debate, the photographs of the cleanup of more than 700 seared pig carcasses make for a disturbing Flickr slideshow.
posted by jonson on Nov 12, 2006 - 37 comments

How Sub-Pixel Rendering Works: a method of anti-aliasing, sub-pixel rendering (or ClearType as Microsoft calls it) exploits the fact that pixels on LCD screens are actually made up of three sub-pixels: red, blue, and green. By constructing fonts using the sub-pixels, the results are arguably smoother lines and easier-to-read type. Sadly (or happily) CRTs benefit little, if at all, from the technology.
posted by falconred on Feb 28, 2006 - 33 comments

Digital Artform is a fascinating resource for those interested in 3D graphics, digital painting, and the like. How about turning 2D stills into 3D animations, the truth about motion blur and colour mixing, or outlines in action? Also, a recipe for making your own Viewmaster reels, and the politics of colour saturation.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Jan 27, 2006 - 13 comments

"Since I was a little boy I have always dreamed that one day man would journey to the moon and beyond. I now try to create images that show the possibilities of space flight with the technologies that are currently available today or what could be in the near future. In doing so, I try to depict what a manned space mission might actually look like to one of the 9 planets in our solar system." [Not Flash, but fun for Friday anyway.]
posted by OmieWise on Aug 19, 2005 - 14 comments

It's good to know that we have friends willing to do the dirty work for us.
posted by stenseng on Apr 23, 2005 - 10 comments

Platonic Ideal? Or banality? Some chums and I were having the classic argument over 3d package superiority when we discovered, overjoyed, that they all had one thing in common, the Utah Teapot. I didn't realize this oddball shape had a history, or that is was real . . . but if the virtual (actual scan!) isn't your gig, whip out yer foldin' fingers.
posted by undule on Jan 12, 2005 - 12 comments

The Buddhabrot Set is a re-visualization of the Mandelbrot Set, created with a rendering technique invented by Melinda Green, who further extended it to create the Buddhagram. [Via MonkeyFilter.]
posted by homunculus on Feb 4, 2004 - 15 comments

There's a new 3D picture every day, and if you look at the archive all at once, it's like reading a slightly unnerving children's book.
posted by Hildago on May 11, 2003 - 21 comments

For the last year or so, I've been messing around with a little app called Blender. Blender is a piece of 3d rendering and animation software that does quite a bit of what high priced renderers like 3D Studio Max and Ray Dream do [samples]. The difference is that Blender is free.[more...]
posted by eyeballkid on Nov 29, 2001 - 15 comments

The Brazil Rendering System, a render-farm arsenal of 3D Studio Max talent, has some unbelievably realistic pictures in its gallery. Some of these images took days just to render few 10 megabyte files. Stunning.
posted by bloggboy on Sep 2, 2001 - 14 comments

If you've ever wanted your first-person shooter to feel a little less real, NPRQuake may be just what you need. The blueprint and brushstroke versions are nice, but for my money you can't beat sketchy Quake. Unfortunately, the NPR in the name stands for Non-Photorealistic Rendering, not that other NPR, so don't expect Robert Siegel or Linda Wertheimer skins any time soon. (via haddock.org)
posted by jjg on May 17, 2001 - 4 comments