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03/15/10:
- I've added the dual and triple-screen versions of "Cloverscape" to the gallery this morning.
Single-monitor users who found the original too blurry way want to look at adapting one of the multiscreen images. The multiscreens are framed a bit differently in this case and the in-focus area takes up significantly more of the vertical frame.
Enjoy!
03/13/10:
- How do you follow up a hit like "Highland Spring"? I thought it would be fun to go from the epic to something a lot more intimate.
"Cloverscape" was definintely created with St. Patrick's Day in mind (it was conceived as an update to a holiday wallpaper I did back in 2001), but I think it works as a ode to spring as well.
I hope you enjoy it. I'll try to have the multiscreens up ASAP!
03/11/10:
- The Apple iPad doesn't come out for another few weeks but I have already had a fair number of people asking for images designed to fit the device. I've just posted 230 images (Members only) sized to fit the 768 x 1024 tablet. Zip file available here.
If anyone out there has an iPad I would love to see a picture of it sporting one of my backgrounds. You can post it on my Facebook wall, send it to me through Twitter, or just send me a link. Thanks!
03/08/10:
- I've added the dual and triple-screen versions of "Highland Spring" this afternoon. People really seem to like this one and I'm thrilled!
You might be interested to know that "Highland Spring" pushed my workstation to its memory limit. It required 13GB of RAM to render (I have 16GB installed) and contained over 25 billion polys. When the dual six-core Xeons become available I may have to make the jump (and go up to 32 GB of RAM).
Speaking of new workstaions, here's one last reminder for Members: My renewal sale expires tonight at midnight. I'm offering 20% off the renewal of your choice so you can upgrade to a Lifetime Membership for only $60 or add a year for under $10. The renewal form is here (use coupon code "thankyou"). Thanks!!
03/05/10:
- As I mentioned before, while "The Forest Citadel" rendered away on my other box, I was able to work on some other projects on my main machine. I've posted a number of them so far but I saved my favorite for last. I call it "Highland Spring" and it is now available for Members on my New Images page.
As the name implies I may revisit this scene during different seasons. I also have spring versions of some of my other scenes in the works so stay tuned. Spring is definintely in the air.
Don't forget I am offering 20% off all renewals until midnight March 8 (use coupon code "thankyou") and my 2 and 3 year Memberships are now available to first time Members. Have a great weekend everyone!
03/04/10:
- Today (while my renders spun) I reworked my renewal form. The form finally accepts coupon codes so I can now offer discounts on renewals as well as new memberships.
The standard education/military discounts apply. Also from now until midnight March 8 I am offering all members %20 off the renewal of their choice (tim...e is added to your current Membership term). Use coupon code "thankyou".
Thank you guys for supporting my work!!
03/03/10:
- I've changed up my sign up page a bit today. For starters, first-time Members can now choose the 2 or 3 year options that I've been offering only as renewals. Set it, forget it, and save a few bucks.
Second, former Members can enter coupon code "iamback" to get a $10 discount on 1 year Memberships and up (I've removed the separate form for returning Members).
Lastly, my coupon codes now work with PayPal as well.
Please don't hesitate to drop me a line or comment below if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks!!
03/01/10:
- I added "The Forest Citadel" to the gallery this morning (the original "Forest Citadel" is here). It's been in the works since early February but took a lot longer to render than I expected (due to all of the volumetrics no doubt).
The render was taking so long, in fact, that I moved it to my alternate box and worked on other projects ("Blossom" and "Take Two" for example) while it was running. Stay tuned because I have another landscape in the works that should be up soon.
It should be a good week to be a DB Member (expired Members can renew here with a discount).
Enjoy!
02/22/10:
- I've added the dual and triple screen versions of "Blossom". I hope you like the expanded view!
02/21/10:
- I received an email this morning from a Member telling me that my download menu (the dropdown list) made it impossible for him to download my images. His ISP (Vodafone) was intercepting the requested graphics and recompressing them before displaying. Very similar to what AOL used to do with their "browser" back in the day.
I've received a number of comments about the new dropdown list actually. Most people are of the opinion that it was simpler when every resolution had a link (allowing for right-click downloading). For my part, I like how the dropdown list doesn't take up a lot of space on the page but I can see that it is a lot easier to right-click and download the sizes you want rather than loading them all in the browser window.
After reading the email this morning I realized that a compromise had to be made. I've brought back the text links on the image preview pages (like this one), and I'll keep the dropdown list for the thumbnail gallery pages (like this page). I hope this works better for everyone.
Still working on a multiscreen "Blossom" and my newly adjusted scenery render is chugging away on my alternate box. Stay tuned.
02/19/10:
- I've been working on a scenery wallpaper for the past week or so and I had hoped to have it ready before now. It's been rendering and rendering and showing very little progress. It's getting into "Enshrouded" territory now and that's unacceptable to me. I will have to go back to the drawing board and rework some things to make it render faster.
When it became apperent to me that the scenery would be an epic render I decided to move it over to my alternate box and work on something new. I fired up an old friend, Xfrog, for the first time in many years and started playing. The result, "Blossom", was rendered in Lightwave using Fprime and G2. You could call it a direct decendant of my "Cobalt Daisy".
On a technical note, Worley needs to release a 64-bit G2. This scene barely fit under 3 GB of RAM. "Blossom" took 12 hours to render at 2560 x 1600 using Fprime, which means it would have taken 12 days using Lightwave's built-in renderer. Fprime can really speed up renders, but even it has limits and it seems I was born to push them. I may try a different version using LWs Nodal textures.
I wouldn't call it a perfect render by any means, but I thought it looked interesting enough to share with my Members while I do further tweaks. I should have my new scenery wallpaper ready before too long as well. No ETAs, just letting you know that it is in the works. Have a great weekend!
02/13/10:
- I've added dual and triple-screen downloads for Members running 1680 x 1050 monitors today. There are over 140 dualscreens and 45 triple-screens available. I've also added files to fit three 1920 x 1200 monitors. Zip files are available so you can download them all quickly.
I've been doing all of this Photoshop work while my new render chugs away in the background. No ETA on the new render, but just wanted you to know that it's in the pipeline.
Lastly, people seem to have been having fun refreshing my front page to see the random images. Awesome! To make it easier I've added a link to the side that will send you randomly into my gallery. Click it again when you are ready to load a new random pic. Enjoy!
02/12/10:
- I've added five new multi-monitor resolutions to my collection. I've only managed to update the most recent 20 of my wallpapers with the new resolutions so far, since I'm doing all of the Photoshop work by hand, but I plan on adding more and all new multi-monitor images will have the new options.
The new resolutions are: 3840 x 1080 (dual 1920 x 1080), 5120 x 1440 (dual 2560 x 1440), 5120 x 1600 (dual 2560 x 1600), 5760 x 1080 (triple 1920 x 1080) and 7680 x 1440 (triple 2560 x 1440). Members can download them individually from the dual/triple-screen pages or download them all in Zip archives from my downloads page.
Enjoy!
02/11/10:
- AFTERNOON UPDATE:I should never say "final render". Added one more revision of "Take Two" this afternoon to bring it in line with the multiscreen versions I posted this morning. The new version brings back some of the bow highlights that were toned down in the second render. If you prefer (or want to check out) the previous versions you will find them in the Pickle Jar.
- MORNING UPDATE:A couple of items to mention this morning. First, I've added the dual and triple-screen versions of "Take Two" to the gallery. I did make a few changes from the single screen version so have a look even if you only have one monitor.
- Second, I was checking out Google Analytics last night and noticed that 1280 x 800 was the single most used resolution amongst DB visitors. It only made sense to add it to my Member download options.
There are over 250 files so if you want to get them all I recommend a visit to my zip files page. I'm going to work on adding 1600 x 900, 1024 x 768 (the second most popular screen res), and more multi-screen options in the near future. If you have a resolution request you can leave it in the thread below. Thanks!!
02/10/10:
- I've posted an updated version of "Take Two" this morning. A lot of the feedback on the original focused on the heart tips but I felt it was also important to update the shafts as well. I gave them their own glow which should keep the hearts from sticking out too much.
This will be the final update for this one, as the holiday is fast approaching and I have another scenery wallpaper in the works that is calling my name. I'm going to put together a multi-screen render of "Take Two" today and then move on.
I also wanted to mention that I've added education and military discounts to my Membership options. They aren't limited to US citizens so feel free to use them if you are a student, teacher, or serviceman. The coupon codes are here and the prices are hard coded into my PayPal form.
02/08/10:
- I've never tried a Valentine's Day wallpaper before so I thought it would be fun to try one this year. It turned out to be quite a challenge. I wanted something that said "Happy Valentine's Day from Digital Blasphemy!".
Whether or not I succeeded I will leave up to you. The render is called "Take Two" and it is now up on the new images page for Members to download.
I hope you enjoy it and have a fun Valentine's Day. Stop back in a few days as I am also working on a new scenery wallpaper which I hope to have up soon!
