Ol’ Number 3
Sep 11th 2009StevenComputer Art
I love old steam trains. To me they have a power and energy about them that’s lost in modern trains. I think it has to do with the steam billowing out of them and the sound of that big steam engine chugging away.
As I became more advanced in computer art, I decided that I wanted to create an image featuring a steam engine. I knew in my mind what I wanted the picture to look like, I wasn’t sure if I had enough skill to pull it off though.
I began by creating a landscape in Bryce. I wanted the train to be going through a canyon so I made some big mountain sides and created my canyon. Then I needed a trestle. I searched online for a model of one but couldn’t find anything, so I made my own trestle in Bryce. I hadn’t done anything like that before and a lot of trial and error went into building the model. I’m very happy with how it can out. Next came the train. I found a couple different free train models online but wasn’t totally happy with them. I ended up loading the models into a modeling program and combined them together to get what I wanted. That too was something I’d never done before.
Once I got all the elements positioned where I wanted them I rendered the basic scene. The rest of the work happened in Photoshop. I added the headlights to the train along with the number 3. I also did some color work on the image and added some grain to it. Then I added the steam, that’s when the train and the image came to life.
Of all my computer art, this image is my favorite. Not only is it the most technically advanced, but it also comes very close to the vision I saw in my mind before I began work on it. To me that is the greatest thing about it.
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