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June 14,2023
I have begun the process of removing all Google Analytics code from the site. On July 1, Google is dropping the Universal Analytics setup. As Analytics, and Google ad revenue, are no longer relevant to an old site like mine, it makes no sense to go through all the trouble of changing everything over to the new system. And it makes no ecomonic sense for me to pay for any kind of content audit to make it comply with European regulatory rules in order to continue to participate in Analytics. It makes more sense for me to simply strip out all the Google code and leave the site without advertising.

February 17, 2012
Wow, it's been a long time since I last updated anything on this site. What's new? I added a fancy modular synthesizer object to the objects page. I'm going to try to do more updates, add more objects, etc. in the coming months. No promises - I do things on this site as work load, personal health, and general interest level allows. I might even get around to cleaning up the page code and use jQuery instead of the rat's nest of javascript I'm currently using. Well, a guy can dream anyway.

September 15, 2007
Well, looking through the server logs I found the culprit for the leeching. It was a bbs page in China called bbs.godeyes.cn. The whole thing is in Chinese, so I can't even join the site and ask "Frank" for the $1000 he robbed me of. So, if you are reading this, and you are a member of bbs.godeyes.cn and you want to leave Frank a message that I'll be waiting for his payment, you'll have my thanks.

I have changed the links for a lot of the larger images, and have implemented an "anti-leech" method for the map files. The upside of this is that the links now work as legitimate download links, instead of just a link to an image.

September 14, 2007
Two news items today. First - someone somewhere linked to one of my larger free map files and this site tore through 1.5TB of file activity in a 24 hour period. I got a nice fat bill for bandwidth (at 85Gb per hour, it sure adds up fast). So, I am now in the process of putting anti-leech scripts on all of the larger images here. No good deed goes unpunished I guess.

2nd, I have a second website devoted to free tools for converting video. It is called videogeek. Check it out if you are interested. I just finished up writing the worlds most complex Windows DOS script for converting DVDs into a variety of video formats like .avi, ipod, gp2x, appletv, and so on.

Man I am sore about that bandwidth bill...

June 16, 2006
In another life I helped with the creation of a Marathon add-on game called Tempus Irae. Marathon was a mostly Mac-only gaming phenomenon, and until recently, you couldn't enjoy Tempus Irae without having a Mac or access to a Mac to install or convert the game files. A recent project of mine was to finish up a re-mastering of the Tempus Irae graphics from cruddly little 8-bit paletted textures to full 24bit textures in a higher resolution. I used Cinema 4D to do the conversion - which took some time as I worked on the project on and off over the last few years. The hi-res textures were started on a Mac running OS 9 and (I believe) Cinema 4D version 6. They were finished up on a PC using Cinema 4D 9.5. A few things have changed in the intervening years, but I was happy and amazed that the earliest files I created for the project still open and work in the latest version. Anyway, go check out Tempus Irae - it works on Mac, PC, and Linux now, so you have no excuse not to enjoy some old school 2.5D first person shooter fun. I also used Cinema 4D to create a little gallery of renderings of the level geometry for an unusal look at a game asset that's often taken for granted by players - the environment they are playing in.

May 27, 2006

I have added two new tutorials - a simple one on how to create the rings for planets like Saturn and Uranus, and the other on the elusive properites of rendering skin.

April 30, 2006
I have updated the Mars map page with some extra detailed new maps, including a new "normal" map that really captures the topology and detail.

April 25, 2006
I have added a city lights map to the Earth page. This is extremely similar to the city lights map that NASA has on their Blue Marble site, with the difference being that this is adapted from their highest resolution dataset, is available from the paid pages in higher resolution than that available from NASA, and is based on my own Earth map, so that it will be a 100% fit with my other maps.

April 2, 2006
I have added a second part to the Global Illumination tutorial. Still waiting on Google to catch up and start showing this new site in search results.

March 31, 2006
I have added a Global Illumination tutorial to the Tutorials page.

March 30, 2006
I have added 4 new maps of Jupiter, based on the newly released Cassini maps from Nasa.

March 28, 2006
Thanks to the help of the lovely Annalisa, a writer in our office, I have removed some of the unfortunate spelling, word choices, and grammatical errors from the website. If there are any remaining mistakes, they are mine alone. Thank you Annalisa, I owe you lunch! I have added some copyright usage information to the planets page which I hope answers questions that I frequently receive in emails.

March 26, 2006
I've split the links off to their own page. If you have a Cinema 4D related site, be sure to drop me a line for a reciprocal link, or join the web ring at www.biomekk.com

March 24, 2006
I have added a tutorial on "Better Bevels in Cinema 4D" on the Tutorials page.

March 21, 2006
Got the site hooked up to Google search again (finally). Tip from the pros: If you are moving a site from one domain to another, the correct way to forward your pages is with .htaccess files, not with meta-tag redirection. Lesson learned.

March 18, 2006
Added a couple of more objects to the objects page, and tweaked the site design here and there. Getting more used to using CSS as time goes by.

March 17, 2006
I have all of the pieces of the site in place, and the site is now installed and live at its new home at Mediatemple.net. If you need shared or dedicated hosting check these guys out. So far their service and services have been exactly what I have been looking for at a very reasonable price. I've also "monetized" the site with Google Adsense ads to help defray the hosting costs. I'm now involved in the process of cleaning up some object files to post on the site.

March 13, 2006
Took me a little longer than expected to get around to this new site design. :) The internet has changed a lot since I started this site on a Mac using PageSpinner. I have a different job, I use a PC, and now all of the site design is done in Dreamweaver. Always something new to learn.

A little note about the rollovers on the site: The fading rollovers (which I got from Javascript FX)require that you have javascript active, and that you are using a current browser. I have tested the site with Firefox on Mac, PC, and Linux, and the fading rollovers work on all three platforms. I have also tested the site with Internet Explorer on Mac and PC, and the fading rollovers work on the PC. All other browsers, including Opera, Konqueror, and Safari will only display normal on/off rollover behavior.

April 12, 2004
Slowly bringing things up to speed on this new server. I've added Google AdSense ads to the pages in order to try to derive a little revenue from the traffic this site pulls. Every little click helps. It may be a while until this becomes the main one — right now it's in the testing phases — but I will soon be adding a forwarding link from the old site to this one and you won't have a choice. A complete site makeover is in the works before that happens though.

December 17, 2003
I've posted a tutorial on modeling a light bulb with the Cinema 4D articles.

July 17, 2003
I have added some 2K venus images to the Venus page but, sadly, I will have to charge for their download.

March 27, 2003
Due to the massive bandwidth that this site is currently experiencing (over 35Gb a month right now) I have had to implement a payment system for the high resolution maps. 1K versions are free, but the larger sized images will require a modest payment before you can reach the pages where you can obtain them. I regret having to do this, but it's either this or take the site down entirely.

January 6, 2003
There are a couple of Cinema 4D articles I've posted, and more on the way.

December 16, 2002
I am starting up a new collection of articles and tutorials, most on video game editing. Although the focus is on video games, there will be items of interest to those who are otherwise interested in 3D rendering. You can find the first of the articles, on "normal maps" here. The site is due for an overhaul design-wise, in order to bring the tutorial pages into the over-all site design. Look for it in the new year.

Aug. 15, 2002
A hi-res cloud map has been added to the Earth page. Nasa's Blue Marble site added to the links section. On a personal note, I've made the switch from Mac to PC, counter to Apple's insanely lame marketing blitz. I am not abandoning Mac content, however. I strive to make everything I do as cross-platform as possible. Look for some new tutorials on interesting software such as Terragen and World Machine, and how to work those into your Cinema4D or Lightwave workflows in the coming weeks, and probably yet another site design overhaul.

Aug.1, 2002
I've added PayPal donations buttons to the site. In order to help defray the costs of bringing you these quality image files, it would be cool if those who find these images useful can contribute whatever they think they are worth. Thanks in advance.

Dec. 8, 2001
Updated the Tempus Fugit page to include clickable zones that will show you various rendered parts that make up the final image.

Nov. 3, 2001
Added an item to the rendering gallery — our office calendar picture for 2002.

March 3, 2001
I have added model files and bump maps for Phobos and Deimos to the Mars page.

February 3, 2001
I added a new image to the rendering gallery.

January 31, 2001
It was brought to my attention that the Earth maps had a terrible seam problem, mostly evident in the ocean area. I have corrected the earth color maps to eliminate this. I also tweaked the larger lake areas in Africa and Europe to be more defined and be included in the specularity map, so I have uploaded all new earth specularity maps as well.

January 29, 2001
Made a few minor tweaks to the site design— didn't like the way the banners were sitting on my artwork. Added some interesting links.

January 27, 2001
A complete site make-over. I was informed by Spaceports that all banner ads must be "above the fold" and since I was going to have to edit all the pages here anyway, I figured I would re-vamp the whole thing. The good news is that while I was doing this, I obtained new Mars and Moon images, updated the Uranus page to include rings, and I finished work on my new Earth map. I simplified the Earth page especially, removing old/redundant maps. I think you will find the new site design a big improvement in usability as well as looks.

December 26, 2000
Added a couple of test project pictures to the gallery page.

October 17, 2000
I have been asked by the folks at Living Earth to remove any image derived from their data.

Oct 1, 2000
I added new images to the gallery section.

July 31, 2000
I have added a high-resolution color and ocean map to the Earth page, and rearranged the page slightly to make it a little easier to find what you are looking for. Please read the caution on the page regarding the extremely large sizes of these new map files. They really are for those graced with large, powerful computers.


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