Just wanted to post a quick cross-link for excellent Steampunk Costumes. Looks like the Gentleman’s Emporium finished their site and they have some great selections at quite reasonable prices. Consider checking them out!

Edit: P.S. I noticed that the site’s traffic is a little strange after I hiked up the priority of the site’s translated versions. Let me know if there’s any feedback from Brazil, India, or Germany!

There’re some great photos of the Iceland volcanic ash cloud being posted over at National Geographic.  Check it out.

Incredible- and great inspiration, too.

Hey all,

I’m hammering away at an awesome Monday Movie for you this week!  It’ll be in two parts, so you know it’s got a king-size load of tips for you!  <<EDIT>> I’m already getting e-mails about this; I’m afraid the second part will have to happen next week.  I only have time to do one this week; I’m getting slammed by work, and I’m falling behind schedule with the 3dCodex.

Troop Carrier High/Low Resolution

While you wait tonight, it looks like a lot of 3d art has been leaked by some Duke Nukem employees that were recently laid off.  While it’s sad when someone loses their job, it means you get to look at some amazing high resolution and low resolution shots of game props.  These are some great references for coming to grips with converting high-poly props into low-poly forms.  Getting a good look at these images is time well spent!

Click here to get a good look!

I recently went to the museum near my house with a camera and found that they’ve got a whole truckload of old machinery from the steampunk era (1870-1920).  They’re mostly adding machines, but there’s some punch-card machines and slide-rules in there too. For those who are new to the steampunk idea, here’s a snippet from Wikipedia:

Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used-usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England-but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date. Other examples of steampunk contain alternate history-style presentations of “the path not taken” of such technology as dirigibles or analog computers; these frequently are presented in an idealized light, or with a presumption of functionality.

These images are generally over 1000px wide.
Thumbnails
Circular Slide Rule c1895
Pocket Table c1900
Brass Slide Rule c1700
Pocket Lord's Calculator
Pocket Calculator Slide Rule
Masive Brass Lord's Calculator
Desktop Adding Machine c1890
Primitive Computing Machine
Computer Interface 1880
Punchcard Computer c1900
Punchcard Tabulator c1880
Punchcard Tabulator Reader
Punchcard Puncher
Punchcard Tabulator c1880
Desktop Computer 1890
Calculator Keys
Desktop Programmable Computer 1930
Desktop Computer c1880

A friend at work turned me over to this website recently, and I was pretty blown away. It’s got a deep collection of concept art that is sure to give you that little boost of inspiration whenever you need it. Of course, don’t copy any one concept precisely or you risk copyright issues. But it’s always nice to find that “perfect robot arm example” to work off of. Don’t forget to check out their forums section, which has over a million posts. From my exploration, I gather that this is a vibrant 2d drawing and digital painting community.

Have a look when you get a chance!
Click Here to Check It Out…