Just letting everyone know that the space scene is going very well (currently rendering the “invading” planet, Rho Theta); I’ll try to post it later in the night. It’s looking like I’ll be able to (God willing…) finish my entry tomorrow night, which then I’ll have Saturday and Sunday to upload it to the FTP page. 
Grand Space Opera 3D Entry: Jason Nieuwendorp
ArtisticVisions
#61
ArtisticVisions
#62
Well, I promised a space scene by the end of the night and this is what’s currently finished. I still have a bunch of tweaks to do to it(Rho Theta and the sun is currently missing, plus some of the stars look a little too “oval”), but I think it’s turning out rather well.
Couple of issues have come up that I didn’t consider till now: namely, the first Enforcer I created and rendered for my entry. I currently feel he lacks the amount of depth and emotion that I’ve want and have created in the others; in addition, his sword doesn’t look exactly right (instead of rendering the character and the particles seperately, like I did for all of the other characters, I rendered them together for the first one). As a result, I’ll be re-rendering the character and his particles again (which I’ll start the particles tonight, since I know they’ll take the longest to render).
EDIT: Didn’t realized till I looked at it now, but part of the atmosphere of the planet got cut off (the lower left area on the planet); I think it must have happened during composting the planet and space together, so I’ll have to look at that as well.
ArtisticVisions
#63
Finished the editing to the 2 main Enforcers (the Rho Theta Enforcer had to be completely re-rendered, while the Xi Enforcer needed only minor edits).
angel
#64
The space scape is looking nice, a way to improve it would be by adding some atmospheric glow. If it is there is not prominent enough.
ArtisticVisions
#65
The space scene has turning out rather nicely, I think; the sun was a rather interesting experiment for me, since I could find no information on how to make one in Photoshop (tried Google, but just got a lot of dead links). I might add more atmosphere to planet Xi and maybe increase the size a bit, but the background is looking pretty done to me (ideas, anyone?).
(with the exception for the planets, which were created in Lightwave, the entire space background was created in Photoshop)
EDIT: For those currious about the spheres of light that are circling the invading planet (Rho Theta), they are actually what allows the planet to move in Space without being affected by the gravity of a star (which would normally “trap” the planet into it’s gravitational pull; however, with those sphere encircling the planet, it cam travel without being affect by the star).
Aethyrprime
#66
This is one heck of a battle between noncoporial beings. I like it. Good job on that background. Keep at it!
ArtisticVisions
#67
Man, the Final entry is so close to being finished I can almost taste it.
I plan on it being done tommorrow morning; I’ll also have a revised version of the story behind it (I’ve been writing it when I wasn’t working on the actual entry).
ArtisticVisions
#68
Just thought I’d post the final story behind my entry before I upload it :
The Conflict of the Waves
[font=Times New Roman][color=paleturquoise]Many centuries pass our current Age, the most brilliant minds of mankind were successful in their dream to create a flawless being: the Perfect Human. For the first time in existence, the mysteries of the Universe was laid bare on the human soul; space, time, matter
. all of things and more were mere playthings for this individual and could be distorted and changed simply by his will. Mankind named this being Kadamon, the prototype, for they believed he would lead the way to the betterment of humanity
however, they would be proven both right and wrong.
Kadamon was disgusted and repulsed by Man; in his view, mankind was a flawed, weak organism responsible for terrible acts and thoughts. It would be better, he thought, That I should wipe humanity from the plane of Existence and start over. A rebirth, a new Genesis
so that is what he did. By a single thought, Kadamon erased humanity and, like sculptor with a lump of clay, he remodeled and reshaped them into a new, more perfect entity: the Waves.
The Waves could be described as the next evolutionary step of humanity. Physically, each individual resembles a typical human (both males and females). However, Kadamon allowed the secrets of the Mind, which had previously lied dormant in the human psyche, to be unveiled the Wave; feats such as telekinesis, telepathy, creating objects out of matter, and more were gifted to each member of the Wave at birth. In an attempt to prevent one individual from becoming more powerful over another and to foster creativity, Kadamon allowed only certain members of the Wave access to each type of Gift (individuals who could create matter were called Crafters; those who could converse over great distances were called Seers; etc); these jobs became collectively known as Sects. Although each member of the Wave was born possessing every gift, it was through the lessons of the Learners (ones who teach the young Waves the gifts of the Mind) that each member finds their own calling and joins their respected Sects. Each Wave was given one planet to call its home and its only home: no Wave was allowed to move into another Waves space. For a time, it was good and there was Peace.
Then came the day that everything changed.
For some unknown reason, one Wave became corrupted; their thoughts came centered on greed, envy, vanity, selfishness, and hatred. Out of jealousy and pettiness, they invaded and committed genocide on another Wave. Soon, several other Waves began to change and turn to dark thoughts: the Waves and others like them would become known as Viruses.
Kadamon could not understand how the thoughts of these Waves could become so tainted
they were supposed to be perfect! He came to the conclusion that, perhaps, there was a part of Mankind that could not be erased from the Waves. Perhaps that flawed imperfection would always exist; never disappearing no matter how many times Man was recreated. Out of grief and sadness, Kadamon used his will to travel beyond the universe, to the Place Beyond Time and Space: to never return to mortal planes again, to exist in a state constant dream…
Before he left, Kadamon gave the Waves one last gift. This gift was to be used to insure each Waves peace and to defend itself from the threats of Viruses: it was named the Enforcer.
Like the various Sects, the Enforcer was a job which a member of the Wave could become; unlike the others, however, the gifts of the Enforcer were focused on using the mind for combat. An Enforcer was capable of projecting his/her will and thoughts against an opposing will and destroying it. To choose to be an Enforcer was to brand oneself as a exile, for the Enforcers were viewed by the general populace as little better than Viruses; this was because in order to learn to art of combat of the mind, an individual had to delve into the deep unconsciousness of the Wave mind
right where the original, imperfect human emotions and thoughts still existed.
Although the Enforcers battles of wills technically existed in the minds of the combatants and not in physical space, there was one unexpected exception. Due to the strength and sheer power of the combating minds, each Enforcers will would appear to take on physical form, appearing to observers as brightly-colored beings of energy. Through this phenomenon, the wars of the mind can be witness by other Waves, who name these battles Conflicts.
This is the story of one such Conflict: a battle between the Wave Xi and the Virus Rho Theta
[left][/color][/font][/left]
ArtisticVisions
#69
Well, it’s finally finished. 
I hate the fact that I had to decrease the file size of the jpeg to less than 150kb. I tried to keep the compression as low as I could to prevent artifacting, which resulted in decreasing the size of the image; as a result some of the finer details, such as the smaller characters and what not, got lost, but I guess that’s what the Print version is for (now lets hope that’s the version which will be judged).
Anyways, thanks to everyone who took the time to view my little WIP and help me with advice; it means a lot. I had a lot of fun with this Challenge and am looking forward to the next one.
Virtuoso
#70
Well,well…You did it Jason…Congrats…
You know that only 125 people or so can actually say that out of what some 2.500…let me tell you one large step in all this is actually finishing.And you have just taken it.:arteest:
You have done well,even with your other outside everyday work life…
I hope to see you in the future,and think you have taken a big stride forward,and next time you will take another,and as we all will always move forward…Congrats on a nice effort and excellent work ethic.hope to cross your path again.It’s been nice meeting you.Until later,all the best to you…:arteest:
Aethyrprime
#71
Congradulations on finishing it Jason. Michael is right. You are one of the few who staid the course and completed. Great job. You have a nice battle between these creatures and some nice colors and shapes going on in there. Keep at your art and the rest will come… till next time!:applause:
ArtisticVisions
#72
Thanks, guys, and good luck with your entries as well. Although I feel a little bit of “digital” burnout from finishing my image, I already have a few plans for other CG projects (one of which I plan on submitting for Expose 3).
Till we meet again in the next Challenge.
angel
#73
Hey you made it! Congrats! very nice. I see you made the atmospheric glow more prominent:thumbsup:
It does make a difference. Nice Job man!
Claireabella
#74
Hi Jason… wow, that’s a very striking image you’ve done. The colours are really vibrant and stand out well. It’s amazing how everyones imaginations and imagery have been so diverse given we’ve all been working from the same title. That’s the beauty of art and I look forward to the next challenge. Good luck! 
Claireabella
ArtisticVisions
#77
SNoWs: Yeah, I had to do some additional work on the atmosphere of the planets (compositing the LW renders into the space background kinda removed more than I wanted); I used parts of that PS planet tutorial that I showed you to add more atmosphere and to give the planets a bit more “bump” to them.
Claireabella: Thanks; initially, the color scheme was somewhat different for the characters (they were reds and yellows, respectively). However, I ran into issues when I tried to light those colors using the Surfaces I had created (the reds/oranges turned out well, but I thought the yellows were too hard on the eyes), so I decided to make the Rho Theta Viruses another color that would compliment the colors of the Xi Enforcers and the Space backround.
sumawut sookvamdee: Thank you, but… I’ve kinda noticed that you’ve been leaving the exact same comment in other threads. :rolleyes:
jamacsween: Thank you; sorry to see that you couldn’t finish. Hope to see you in the next Challenge.
essencedesign
#79
I just wanted to drop you one or two of these for your image…it has such a dynamik sense of movenment and great choice of colors…I have enjoyed following it…peacE ))
userBrian
#80
Great job Jason- We’re both Lightwavers- It was interesting reading your thread.
I’m glad we finished !