# Mainframe **URL:** \ **Category:** Finished Projects\ **Tags:** architecture, modeling, hard-surface, render, lighting\ **Created:** [August 2, 2022, 5:24pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/mainframe/1394647 "2022-08-02T17:24:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![duncang6](https://blenderartists.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@duncang6](https://blenderartists.org/u/duncang6)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 5:24pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/mainframe/1394647/1 "2022-08-02T17:24:19Z")
Hey everyone! I’ve been working on a short project creating some retro computer environments: ![Mainframe_1_Final](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/8/b/8/8b82b0f223f582dc94c880d9df8eb4323cc90f81.jpeg) ![Mainframe_1_Insta3](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/9/1/d/91d389a1e6baae26d98b7e3e0b8a47d90f777d2c.jpeg) ![Mainframe_1_Insta1](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/2/5/7/257fdcc4219a4854716b0a9d1600f93e24d1041d.jpeg) ![Mainframe_1_Insta2](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/8/9/7/8971daa85675549c3834ebc7827349cabae4f938.jpeg) ![Mainframe_3_Final](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/8/2/8/828688e6baccbf52258bc19a858884db4d5c0677.jpeg) ![Mainframe_3_Insta4](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/5/e/c/5ec4b0046f39da21bf72ee2e808502b24ba02abf.jpeg) ![Mainframe_3_Insta2](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/b/a/a/baa535408898dd33c64e406893b162212628ac87.jpeg) ![Mainframe_3_Insta1](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/4/1/5/4153d270402af64423700b3754310a6391fcc4ed.jpeg) ![Mainframe_2_Final](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/4/c/f/4cfb2894c8f3091d5dcde03cf2b49724533b7452.jpeg) ![Mainframe_II_Insta1](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/5/9/4/59445205ab31b78041fb538bc20617468e00bbdb.jpeg) ![Mainframe_II_Insta2](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/6/8/6/686c74f07cdab440ecb88b4405ff5a6c67d2c97d.jpeg) ![Mainframe_II_Insta4](https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/6/b/2/6b2498f08177a9ce768c41a297409e0d36afc30b.jpeg) Let me know what you think 😀 ---
**Author:** ![sundialsvc4](https://blenderartists.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@sundialsvc4](https://blenderartists.org/u/sundialsvc4)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 8:32pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/mainframe/1394647/2 "2022-08-02T20:32:38Z")
I once worked in just such a “machine room.” (And wore my “machine-room jacket” every day because of the air conditioning.) The thing that I miss the most is the blinking lights. The front panel of every computer used to have rows of them, along with plenty of very-tasty switches and knobs. In fact, one of my friends rescued an old IBM System/360 front panel and rigged it up with some kind of circuits which caused the lights to blink convincingly. He rigged it up somehow to his Apple ][ computer, which was “the state of the art” at that time. It was a lot of fun to watch. ---
**Author:** ![duncang6](https://blenderartists.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@duncang6](https://blenderartists.org/u/duncang6)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2022, 10:03pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/mainframe/1394647/3 "2022-08-02T22:03:04Z")
Oh man that sounds so cool! It was a lot of fun looking at reference for the machines and trying to copy the intricate layouts of the panels as best I could - even managed to find a load of [digitised manuals](http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/) (though there’s no chance of me understanding anything within them 😅). ---
**Author:** ![TripTilt](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/triptilt/32/1176896_2.png) [@TripTilt](https://blenderartists.org/u/TripTilt)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 11:00am UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/mainframe/1394647/4 "2022-08-04T11:00:24Z")
really well done renders! Just wondering, do you color the renders only with lights or do you have a set of materials for every color variant or a bit of both? ---
**Author:** ![duncang6](https://blenderartists.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@duncang6](https://blenderartists.org/u/duncang6)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2022, 5:28pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/mainframe/1394647/5 "2022-08-04T17:28:38Z")
Thanks! The blue/green/yellow are different materials and the lighting is essentially white - then there’s a bit of gradient mapping in photoshop to add a bit of a hue to each image. ---
**Author:** ![bartv](https://blenderartists.org/user_avatar/blenderartists.org/bartv/32/1477233_2.png) [@bartv](https://blenderartists.org/u/bartv)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2022, 3:04pm UTC](https://blenderartists.org/t/mainframe/1394647/6 "2022-08-05T15:04:27Z")
I featured you on BlenderNation, have a great weekend! > **[Best of Blender Artists: 2022-31](https://www.blendernation.com/2022/08/05/best-of-blender-artists-2022-31/)** > > Every week, hundreds of artists share their work on the Blender Artists forum. I’m putting some of the best work in the spotlight in a weekly post here on BlenderNation.