One of the first 3d software I used for work was StrataStudio pro, I remember using Adobe Dimension and Mesh3D before that but really started doing detailed works on Strata. Was in 1999, was doing things with Dimension, remember doing a V-1, But the thing was very limited… Then a guy from the IT service at the office told me « hey , we have a StrataSomething box at the office, nobody use it… do you want it ? ». Tada… StrataStudio Pro 2.5.

So my next big job was to learn that stuff while recreating a Messerschmitt Bf-109G in 3d, renders to be published in a magazine. I remember doing the renders on a PowerMac G4 « graphite » at the time, but can’t remember the exact speed. Remember it was slow.

Anyway, now i’m collecting old PPC Macintosh laptops, and the other day I stumble across that same Strata box I got in 1999 at the office. And I still have that Strata Messerschmitt file ! Why not trying some renders again on one of my PowerBooks ?

I selected a powerBook G4 Titanium 1Ghz like the one above, maxed with 1GB of RAM,  running macOS 9.2.2.

That was faster than what I had at the time . Then I did the postwork on the MacBook in photoshop…

Here some raw images without postwork, just out of Strata.

Not too bad for a 17 years old software on a 14 years old laptop eh :) ? Of course it’s fairly basic, no bump maps (it was possible though, but above my knowledge at the time), all planar mapping, no uv-unwarpping, no soft shadows… etc…

Again, for non-commercial and only personal use of course.

Please be so kind to read the – TERM OF USE – of the images and files included in this site.

I’ve recently had someone interested in some prints of my works.
And as a mater of fact , I have a neighbor who is a printer. Had in the back of my head to order him a print just for test for quite some time now, but never took the time…
That was the occasion. It turned out super nice. So tried with another one, this time a large print of one Boeing SST model render :

Size is 900 x 400 mm, on a hi-quality photo satin paper. Original render is 5669 x 2500 pixels , so I had to enlarge it to 10630 x 4688 to get 300 dpi at 900 x 400 mm, but I can’t see quality loss on the print !
No noise at all like on the detail picture above, my camera is crap.
It’s a bit expensive, but super quality.

Glued the thing on a foam-board with spray glue, Then sprayed a protective mat varnish. Couldn’t find a semi-mat one… But anyway, very happy with it .

So now I have the project to make a set of 10, each numbered and signed by yours truly.
Would charge each 120 € (+ shipping). Would ship only the print in a tube , not the thing glued on foamboard, that would be too fragile.

If anyone interested, contact me at galgot(at)free.fr

The intention was to do some icons of PowerBook 1XXs, But with slightly exaggerated distinctive features to make it look more « toy » like, bigger hinges covers, bigger rotating feet…Thicker , and so on. I ended up over-modeling the thing as usual, but it looks good at closeup.

First is the JLPGA PowerBook 170 from 1992, of which approx 500 copies were manufactured to commemorate the JLPGA golf tournament in Japan . Case pieces were molded in different plastic colours. It’s one of the rarest Apple machine.

Next is a PowerBook 170 wreck that would not worth 5 € on a flee market :

Then comes a very Frenchy PowerBop 180, first ever wireless apple laptop. Classy :

And finally a German PowerBook 180c, with that strange light grey keyboard :

I packed these images as a wallpaper set, download here :
PB1XXsWallPapers.dmg

And the originally intended icon set :

All done in Blender 2.75, postwork in Photoshop.
downloads here :
Tiger-Leo Set
512×512 Set
Retina Set

Feel free to redistribute, but if so, please leave the set complete together with this Readme. Thanks.
For non-commercial and only personal use of course.

Please be kind to read the – TERM OF USE – of the images and files included in this site.

Time for an update for that poor old blog.
So i had a bit of time to finish a second NeXTSpirit icon set. This time focused on OS X system folders and few apps, most of the icons are adaptations of NeXTStep icons to a modern OS X system, that just never existed in NeXTStep.

Others are hires versions of existing NeXTStep icons, like Librarian app that can be used for the Library folder in OS X, or the Grab app camera can be used for the preview app in OS X…

Also all done in Blender 2.70, postwork in Photoshop.
The all set looks like this :

Again I’ve done two Disk images , one for 512×512 only and one for Retina icons.

Here for the Retinas ( 60 MB, Heavy !) :
NeXTSpirit-set2-RETINA.dmg

And here for the 512×512 :
NeXTSpirit-Set2-512.dmg

UPDATE : Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger (and earlier) users may have problem applying the ones above on their systems, seems there was a change in the icon format from 10.4 Tiger to 10.5 Leopard, not only in size. So I’ve made specific 128×128 ones that works on Tiger. Didn’t tried on an earlier system, but it should work. Compressed in Stuffit format to keep the mac files resource forks, apparently was still needed on Tiger, I’ve tried zipping it, but when unzipped, I got generic folders… Anyway, here are the two sets for 10.4 and earlier :

NextSpirit-Tiger.sit
NextSpirit-Set2-Tiger.sit

Feel free to redistribute, but if so, please leave the set complete together with this Readme. Thanks.
For non-commercial and only personal use of course.

Please be kind to read the – TERM OF USE – of the images included in this site.

I’ve always liked icons, make some occasionally for my personal use.
I like especially old systems ones, from Mac OS Classic of course, but others too,
Like BeOS, NeXTSTEP.
Always found NeXTSTEP to have the most elegant interface of all, with that very sober windows and buttons style, yet beautifully detailed icons. This contrast works surprisingly well.

The icons are very interesting, you can see they are from a time of rising computer graphics possibilities, the designers used these to try to make « photo-realistic » icons. With possibility to add transparency to their 48×48 icons, i think NeXT started that trend that continued into Mac OS X to culminate with « Retina » hires 1024×1024 icons.
See the official OS X Human Interface Guideline, some quotes : « Give your app icon a realistic, unique shape… » , « Create an idealized version of the subject rather than using a photo… », all these apply to the NeXTSTEP icons up to the Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks ones.

Funnily enough, now that we have reached a state of almost no limit in term of CG possibilities, the trend is to « simplify », starting with IOS 7 icons, and now the more flat look of 10.10 Yosemite slowly moving away from the skeuomorphic look.

Anyway , the real NeXT icons you can find are 48×48 sized, of course it looks awful in 10.9, so wanted to have some in hires. imagine a « Retina » NeXTSTEP system :) Hence this NeXTSpirit icon set.

All these completely inspired by the work of Keith Ohlfs, original maker of NeXT system icons, all credit to him.
Note the PReV icon was kindly adopted by the developers of the Previous emulator.

Making the NeXT… in that case the PReV cube.Note it is in fact a twisted cube, to the up/right, to get that false perspective on the logo.
The one included in this pack is another version with different fonts.

Most modeled and rendered in Blender 2.70, post in Photoshop.

I ran into a problem doing when converting my .iconset folders into .icns retina icon files. When using OSX iconutil command to make it , it always darken and contrasted my 1024×1024 PNGs. see the difference here :

A Bug ? Was i doing something wrong ?
Funnily , if doing only 512×512 .icns icons ( not including the « …@2X » PNGs in the .iconset folder), it makes icons with the correct colors…
Anyway the only walk-around i’ve found was to lighten all my 1024×1024 PNGs , to the average values of +40 brightness and -30 of contrast to get the correct result for 1024×1024 .icns. Note on some of the images with lots of dark values, i had to brighten even more up to +80, this was the case for the NeXT and PReV logos and the Black terminal…

So I’ve done two sets , one 512×512 only and one Retina. I have found anyway that some time retina icons just don’t show on older systems like Panther or Tiger.

Here for the Retinas ( 40 MB even though it’s a compressed image !) :
NeXTSpirit-RETINA.dmg

And here for the 512×512 :
NeXTSpirit-512.dmg

Feel free to redistribute, but if so, please leave the set complete together with this Readme. Thanks.
For non-commercial and only personal use of course.

This is also something from 2013, but i recently made new renders and picts of it, and it was never posted here…
My second 3d print try. Wanted to do something unusual for me , and that i liked very much. I find Feline skulls are some of the most beautiful organic objects. Extinct big cats ones in particular. While browsing for references , i found there are so many species, with so many variations in skull « design ». Beautiful.

 Have taken Smilodon Fatalis , a Sabertooth big cat.

Sure some experts would find flaws on the model… But anyway looks fair enough to my taste.These new Cycles renders are from blender 2.70, i used the very good new wireframe modifier for render #14. Note also i used a good trick from Andrew price’s BlenderGuru for using vertex color to add dirts on objects.

Was very happy about the 3d Print. Also ordered at Sculpteo.

But this time i picked « polished plastic » as material and was even more impressed by the result than with the Hans Pervitin bust.

The thing is about 8 cm long, printed in two parts, skull and jaw. I had modeled some small pins and axes on the jaw, but it ended up too small for the printer , so i had to remove carefully a bit of material with a cutter for the jaw to rotate and close correctly.

Sure you can see some very small printing lines on some part, but they are so fine, the surface is very smooth compare to my first try.

But my cat is not much impressed by these teeth…

This is an idea i had for a while…
With my Macintosh portable computer collection growing, i need something to store them in a elegant and convenient way. back when i was a kid, when parents a I travelled oversea and changed places, we used big (100 l in volume maybe) tin trunks to pack things, with our name stencilled on it. Then when settled somewhere it was used to store things, toys for my brother and I case…
I loved these trunks.
I also like a lot old dressing trunks , like this one :
http://lv-nyc.com/product/early-1900s-barnum-wardrobe-dressing-trunk-cage/
Thought it would be nice to have something of the mix of the two, as a place to store my preciousss collection…
So found a tin trunk, a 90 l,new , nice dark red. Exact same design as these we had when i was kid, only the tin is much thinner . Don’t think it could withstand a lot of travels like the ones we had… but it’s not bad for the uses i intended for it.

Put some wheels at one end, and some foots, to stand it, and so i can move it like a baggage barrow.

Installed a steel armature inside …

…to hold some shelf plates, cut from aluminium, with stiffeners riveted to it.
Stencilled my logo on the door. And added my login with stickers letter on…
And Voilà, Me like :)

Not much about Aviation, 3d or cg graphic… But here is my blog , so i can post about what ever crap i want, isn’t it ? My other big interest are Apple computers and their systems. I like to play with it, test old or new OSs on them, see what they can do, repair it when i can… etc.
I’m by no means an expert, just playing, nice toys.
I started a collection, have 17 now, 14 in working order. But i’m more interested in laptops, Powerbooks, iBooks, MacBook…

So, as any mad collector being proud of his collection, it’s a show-off my ‘Books collection.
here two boot videos of my precioussss :

Let me present them one by one.

First one above is a 100 Mhz PowerBook 5300cs from 1995, 16MB of Ram, with a 10.4″ DualScan color passive matrix 640×480 screen, running Mac OS 8.1. Gift from a friend (Merci Manu !) at the condition that i would retrieve his datas from the HD, and that was not so easy… Even though the machine booted on the first try after several years of sleep; without Ethernet port and no Appletalk cable at hand no way to plug it to a network. It wouldn’t read or even format the few floppies i had too… Finally managed it with a SCSI Zip drive, but the drivers weren’t present in OS 8.1, so had so boot from the Zip drive… Anyway, the thing is in nice shape, only the back ports door is missing, and the screen showing his age.

Next is a PowerBook 1400c/166 Mhz PowerPC 603ev Processor.

From 1996-1997, 32MB of Ram, with an active-matrix 800×600 screen. Running Mac OS 8.0. Got it from the place i work, they got rid of several old-old machines, and i was there ;)
Also booted on the first try after a long sleep. Not played much with it so far, but seems to work ok. Like the previous the PRAM battery is dead of course. Shape is so so, the grey plastic from that period don’t age very well, and there are some cracks near the hinges on the screen cover. Makes that one fragile…

Then here is « Michael Vronsky »… yes, i give it names.

It’s due part to my madness maybe, but also it’s a good way of finding them on the network (note the « naming » starts with the first Ethernet equiped model :).
A PowerBook G3 Serie aka « Wallstreet » from 1998, 233 Mhz PowerPC 750 (G3), 12.1-inch 800 x 600 Active Matrix TFT screen. got it from the same source as the previous. Boots ok, but unfortunately there are three vertical lines showing on the screen :/ Would have to change the screen , but still usable. Also the case is in bad shape, can see the thing moved a lot with not much caring (hey, who cares… that’s the company stuff…) , bumps and scratches here and there… But still hold together. For the moment running Mac OS X Server 1,2v3, aka Rhapsody 5.6, stock install, very interesting system (more on that with the next one).

Fourth is « Walter.E.Kurtz » :

Also a PowerBook G3 Serie from 1998-1999, but a « PDQ » (Pretty Damn Quick), 266 Mhz , 14.1″ Active Matrix TFT 1024 x 768 screen. Gift from a friend (thanks again Olive !). It’s in very good condition, even the battery still charges. It dual boots in Mac OS 8.6 and Rhapsody 5.6. And there also another OS 8.6 system bootable inside the Rhapsody partition through the « BlueBox », that’s a bit like when you could start « classic » (OS9) in OS X 10.4 Tiger, only there it swaps desktop by OS environment. Very cool. Rhapsody 5.6 is the last version of the Apple system based on OPENSTEP with a Mac classic gui look. It as a BSD 4.4 based layer, so you can compile some unix apps. I’ve compiled SSH on it, works perfectly, and i find classy to control my MacMini iTunes server through SSH and iTunes-command  with that Machine (…show-off I said…).

Then there is « Keyser Söze », this PowerBook G3 (Bronze Keyboard) aka « Lombard » from 1999. 400 Mhz, 14.1″ 1024 x 768 Screen.

Bought that one on the Bay , act on impulse, cause it was the first laptop i had, only back then it was a 333Mhz model. Wasn’t a very good deal though… running ok, but a bit too expensive for what it is, the case condition is so so, and i’ve found that the screen is in fact a later model « Pismo » screen ( almost the sames, the way to tell a « Lombard » screen is the white “Macintosh Powerbook G3” words under the display, the Pismo screen has only « Powerbook »), So it makes it kind of an hybrid… Anyway it runs Mac OS 9.2.2 pretty smoothly .

Next is « George Smiley »  , a PowerBook (FireWire) aka « Pismo » from 2000, a 400 Mhz model with 256 MB of Ram.

First Apple laptop to have fireWire ports, the Pismo was really the best laptop at the time, sturdy, and stayed a good and usable machine for a long time (and can still be).Got that one from the same give away at the place i work. It’s in perfect shape, not a scratch on the plastic, just only one of the rubber feet is missing, and the screen as a pinkish tint for a few seconds at boot up then change to normal colors (display inverter start to show age maybe…). For the moment it’s a test machine. I’ve installed a 32GB KingSpec 2.5-inch PATA/IDE SSD Solid State Disk , partitioned in two, one booting Mac OS 9.0.4, and one Mac OS X 10.0 « Kodiak » Developer Preview 4. Installing OS 9 on the SSD involved starting from a 10.4 Tiger DVD, then formatting the SSD with « OS classic » drivers , then booting from the OS 9 CD and installing. It runs… fast. But it’s not without some glitches, sometime it freezes for 5 to 10 seconds when you double click on the HD icon… dunno why. Also , no TRIM support on OS 9 of course . Installing OS X 10.0 « Kodiak » DP4 was really just for testing, pretty useless system. Can see it’s just a Rhapsody with an Aqua interface and Apple starting to close the system to users, buggy also, couldn’t find a way to change the desktop image…

The Seventh is « Tyler Durden », also PowerBook « Pismo », same 400Mhz model, with 512 MB of Ram.

Bought on the Bay, with the intention of getting pieces for the Lombard, for very cheap cause it would’t start, seller saying it was a power unit problem… then back at home found out it was in perfect shape, but indeed would not boot. Was reluctant about dismantling that nice Pismo just for the pieces, so googled about « Pismo not booting »… Well Pismo models just don’t boot with a dead PRAM battery, just unplug it and « DOONNNGggg »…boot… Have another working one for the price of a dead one. Yes I know… it’s bad.
Now it dual boots Mac OS X 10.4.11 Tiger, and Debian Wheezy. Works fine. bought a Belkin PCMCIA Wifi card , but have not found a way to connect to my network so far, maybe it’s because of the WPA encryption settings… work in progress.

Eighth , « Harry Tuttle » , is a iBook G3 14.1 LCD 900 Mhz 32 Vram from 2003, gift from my brother (Merci!).

Really a nice machine. Would boot but with a black screen, has the famous ATI video chip problem, good explanations on This Video. So i dismantled it and cooked the video chip with a red hot coin, and also added a shim between the video chip and the case ( a coin folded in some aluminium foil). It works … for some time. Generally it last 4-5 days, then the screen freezes. So reboot, and press on the left side of the case during boot, then runs ok for another 4-5 days… I suppose at one time or another the trick will not work at all. It’s a pity, cause other than that the machine is very nice. It dual boots Mac OS X 10.4.11 Tiger, and Debian Wheezy with LXDE.

Then is « Ezekiel25-17″, a MacBook Pro 17″ Unibody from 2009, 2.8 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, with 4 GB of Ram.

Superb design. It Dual boots Mac OS X 10.9.1 Maverick and Ubuntu 12.04 (though i usually use Cinnamon WM with that). It’s my « next main » machine, i use it for watching films, rendering stuff in Blender when my main machine is occupied at something else, archiving… etc. Love it. Never had a problem with it.

And the last, « Jack Torrance », a MacBook Pro 17″ Unibody from Late 2011, 2.4 Ghz Intel Core i7, with 8 Go of Ram.

My main working computer. Running Mac OS X 10.8.5 Mountain Lion, Yes I still have to get use to maverick… Not much to say on that one. Just the perfect working machine for me at moment, can do 9000×3000 pixels blender renders in Cycles without problem…

Too bad it’s the last 17″ apple laptop model. I got use to the big screen, very comfortable. Now the biggest apple laptop screen are the retinas 15″.

For the moment, i don’t feel the need to get a newer model, this last 17″ really fills my needs for working stuffs. Maybe when the time to change will come, the retina screen prices would have drop enough for Apple to make a 17″ retina MacBook ?… dream.

So this is my collection. Note I’ve had some other models at one time or another in past. some being sold, some died, or being stolen. I had a PowerBook G3 Lombard 333Mhz (My first, mentioned earlier) , a PowerBook G4 Titanium 867Mhz, a Aluminium 17″ PowerBook G4, and a Aluminium 17″ MacBook Pro.

A year… No update for a year.

Well well… I had to re-learn how to correctly post something on that WordPress :p

All that was due to a range of things, laziness, less and less interest in starting or continuing super complex (for me) projects (read the Spook:/) , less interest in spending time reading and looking for documentation on warplanes, not more much fun in that… The problem is each time i start a project, i say to myself « this time i want to keep it simple » , then it starts all over again and i add details… And i have hard time managing that now.
Work also (i mean the one that pays the bills) takes time. And also , new interests (my Macintosh computers collection, MacOS and Linux…maybe more on that later) makes me busy.

Not that i have done no personal CG stuff in 2013 :) but really few things. No big projects, and mostly things done using old models and renders.
And i still like this blog. Vanitas vanitatum sed omnia vanitas. So decided to prepare a few posts showing these small things. Just trying to fill a bit of that 2013 blog emptiness :D here the first one.

So ! First 3d printing test. wanted to try for some time. Started with a simple thing, just a Hans pervitin Bust .

Had to prepare the mesh for 3d Printing, that is : fill all the « opened » meshes like the inside of the cap,…

base of the neck and oher things, cutting the harms, making a hollow stand to save a bit on printing material.  And weld all the pieces together as one Obj file.

Ordered it at Sculpteo.com, fast and pretty good service.

Sculpteo allow for intersecting parts, so you can combine together closed meshes. It has a lot of choices of materials too.

Done the thing only 10cm high, in cheapest white plastic  material, and it’s still 46 €… Bah…

All in all, i was impressed by the details, even the cap visor, witch i was afraid would be too thin turned out well.

Only problem is that the printing layers are very visible , I should have taken « polished white plastic » as material. Anyway, was happy for a first try.

I’m sad today…
Nice video here.