Rockify

 I have a new plugin!

Rockify - https://blendermarket.com/products/rockify

What is it? 

It's a plugin for generating rock formations. It's super easy to use, and while it doesn't have a huge number of parameters to tweak at the rock formation end, it's one of those plugins that just has what it needs, works pretty well and isn't buried under complexity.


You get the following rock patterns:

• Stalagtite - cave structure from the ceiling
• Stalagmite - cave structure from the floor
  
  
  
  
  

• Limestone 
• Granite
• Volcanic
  
  
  
  
  

You build an underlying mesh, select the mesh object, and then select one of the patterns from the Rockify tab. Through the magic of Blender's geometry node engine, a complex chunk of rock appears in your meshes place. You can then modify the rock through the following parameters:

• Density - How much of the generative detail you want to pack into your rock formation.
• Scale - The scale of the rock elements.
• Seed - Adjust the random number that currently drives the overall shape. It's good if you want to see alternate variations or to remove something that looks weird.

Limestone column 

Volcanic rock formation instanced with the included Substance smart material.

There's something important to note. The plugin's production workflow uses CPU-intensive modifications that turn Blender's UI/interactivity into a massive stutter-fest. It's not ideal, but it's the cost of modifying your underlying mesh to develop your rock formation, which is very useful. 

The trick is to work on the rock, get happy with it, and then "bake it" by applying its modifier stack. The plugin was developed for generating Unreal Engine-friendly terrain assets, which is also helpful for creating Blender assets that don't gobble up all your system resources.

This workflow makes even more sense when you realise the plugin can only support one object at a time. If you create two meshes and apply Rockify to one object, it will be removed if you apply Rockify to the second object. Solution: create, bake, then create again.

I sold my late mum's house today. Also Earth-Luna Transit System (ELTS)

 

Another Orbital Elements vehicle. This is a Moon bus, except passengers spend most of the 1-hour journey walking around an airport concourse/mall-type facility built into the oblong block. The Passengers board and disembark in the passenger carriages fixed to the block's walls.

The design is focused on a swift turn-around. The engine is hot-swapped. The cargo modules running along the length of the vehicle are replaced, as are the propellant tanks.

Mostly stable it seems

After a few tests, I find that Blender doesn't crash all the time. Just once, on Friday. Some quick test and concept work...

Instability

 So Blender got increasingly unstable. Hugely frustrating! I wasn't using it regularly because I needed to progress my game project. However, last week I was getting regular crashes, then this week I couldn't even render a cube using Cycles.

I raised my first Blender bug.

I updated the drivers and my BIOS. An ex-work colleague warned me to check for some hardware error logs, which I found. He suggested that there might be a fault with my CPU. He had to get his CPU and motherboard replaced as a result of these errors. Sad times!

Well, last thing last night I installed some patches on Steam, one for Cyberpunk, which was also not working. Well it now works. I went back to Blender and...suddenly it works again!

Hurrah!

Blender is back! I'll do some work soon.

A simple test scene

A Blue Screen of Death that results

More Orbitals, More Elements

 

MTR-81 Bison - ubiquitous space van

An N-9 Aleut under escort by a QX-14 Heavy Interdictor

LCH-81 Kal'mar "Squid" Light Cargo handler

More work on Orbital Elements. Some Blender work to boot. Having toiled over a spreadsheet for a few days, I can now create Orbital Element space vehicles up to a few thousand tons. This means that the stuff I build in Blender is underpinned by a consistent specification, which is good.

The trusty old N-9 Aleut. For fifty years, this ubiquitous 600-ton heavy patrol rig has allowed occupants of stations and settlements throughout the system to sleep soundly, knowing that they had a yard dog with a mighty powerful bite. Today, most N-9s are entering retirement, or they are being mothballed. A few have fallen into the hands of troublemakers.

The results of the design sequence:
 

Orbital Elements

 OE is still my priority. That said, there's always a bit of Blender to be done on the project.

AMP

 

DECKS

Still working on the commission. I'd hoped to have had it whipped up and wrapped but I made some miscalculations when I got the base decks laid out -- a misalignment that would have taken too long to correct, so I started again.

I set the scale using the renders below. 

 

A first pass on the colours. Rough but I like the overall impression.

Commission progression

 The ship is 95% complete

Schematics and underside

Topside (near completion)

I need to build and then attach a ship's boat -- a shuttlecraft. I have a couple of quick designs to work from, but the priority will be deck plans.

Commission!!

 I have a little job. Ship design and deck plans for a table-top RPG company.

Here's a sneaky peak at the in-development ship

Deep Indigo - time-travelling exploration vessel

The ribbing on those engine "legs" is to pronounced. I'll make it more subtle.

Front-on. The bridge is missing. It will go underneath the forward ZT emitter-dome

Distance shot

Landed -- but I need to build the actual landing legs.

I should have the build completed tomorrow. I'll then get the deck plan whipped up before the end of the week.

The publication will probably be many months away, so I'm unlikely to reap any financial benefits for a while, although It's always great to combine personal passions with making a bit of money. I can dream of doing this as a career.