Blender

So I've started playing around with Blender again, only to find that they've changed the interface (which actually, looks a lot better but now that learning curve starts all over again!)  Blender is a program I've flirted with on and off ever since becoming interested in 3d but have always abandoned it because the interface is such a nightmare to master.  There are several factors that have brought me back this time, however:

1. Functionality.  They've built in all sorts of cool stuff over the last couple of years including sculpting tools and a new auto-rigging script.
2. My current, complicated pipeline: model in Wings 3d, texture in Blacksmith 3d, rig in Poser 6, create morphs/facial expressions in Blender.  There is so much importing and exporting and fiddling around involved and it would be nice to do everything in one program.
3. Cost of upgrading.  At $150 a pop it ain't all that cheap to upgrade Poser every time an improved version is created, while you can always get the latest version of Blender for nothing.

On top of all this, Poser has definite limitations, not to mention bugs.  I've just recently attempted to master rigging with it again, only to find myself running into issues, and not for the first time.

Work in progress - Penguin

I'm having serious problems with Blogger at the moment.  It appears to be having difficulty letting me post a picture and insert text from my laptop.  My recent upgrade to the newer version of Internet Explorer may or may not have something to do with it.  Anyway, I'm currently on my computer at work and am able to add some text to this post.

This little fella and his accessories were modelled in Wings, textured in Blacksmith 3d and imported into Poser.  The rocket pack is a work in progress which I shall have to come back to.  I've recently decided to have another go at mastering Blender, which may keep me occupied for the time being.

Zillatron

I did this picture years ago. He was meant to be part of a series of cute robot characters but he wasn't quite cute enough. I imagine his backstory being something like: A film director (James Cameron?) wants to make a movie about a giant robotic dinosaur destroying civilisation, but rather than using CGI, decides to spend billions of dollars building a 100 foot tall fully functioning robot prop. The robot prop then goes berserk and eats everyone.

Blue Guardian

This character has evolved gradually from a copy of Acroyear from the Micronauts to his current form. A while ago I became briefly fixated with modelling robots, partly because the process of modelling organic characters had become so frustrating. The nice thing with robots is that you just have to make a bunch of basic parts and then stick them together. Easy.