Abstract Images

(Created 05/17/2002)
 

1. Create a New scene. To get the best result use either the atmosphere Deep Space or Black Back,  which are in your Others collection. In my abstract Ribbons I used Deep Space. Delete the ground plane, add a Point light, and drag it to the middle of the camera.

2. With the light still selected click at the Animation tab in the Properties panel, unfold the Link to list, and select Main camera. That ensures that the light follows the camera when you move it.

3. Now add some interesting meshes or shapes to your scene (I used two of Mitch's Roehrenwurms), mix them and stick the camera somewhere in the middle. You can search for interesting spots later.
    

4. I like to use partly transparent textures for my abstracts. That makes them look less massive and brings out interesting patterns. You can use anything you like, but I used another abstract as a Mapped picture in the Material Editor.  To avoid pixel in a close up view I selected Bilinear Over-sampling.

5. Now let's cut off some parts of the mapped picture. Select the Transparency tab to create the transparent pattern. Select Variable transparency and set the Global transparency to 100%. Press CTRL and left click on the Transparency production preview to edit it. You can select whatever you want to create a transparency pattern. I decided to use a Mapped value layer and loaded a fractal with many black parts in it to get a lot of transparency. Press OK.

6. Back in the Material Editor you can see what your texture looks like. You can change any of the values to see how they influence your material. On the right side you see at the same time the preview of your scene. When you're pleased press OK to return to the working space.

7. Now you can start to explore your scene to find interesting places. Move the camera and rotate it in any direction. Move and/or rotate the meshes and shapes, change the Scale of the material - there are no limits to your fantasy. When you like what you see just render and save your abstract. Just by changing parameters, or mapping modes, or moving the camera you can produce lots of interesting abstracts using one scene. Even the slightest move can change your image dramatically.

Here is my rendered abstract "Ribbons"

Sometimes you're lucky and find something completely unexpected and mysterious. Look at the scene below and you'll understand why I called that abstract " Mysterious Owl". I used 6 randomly rotated pyramids to create it. Ain't that amazing?