Campfires [Loop] (2002)

In 1999 I used Bryce3D to attempt a render of the Earth where the night lights of humanity are visible in the shadows. It was quite popular. I titled it "Campfires" in a cheeky attempt at social commentary but the tiny lights really did look to me like a billion different campfires spread out across the night when seen from space.

I attempted the theme again in Lightwave3D in 2002 and this time I was able to use high-resolution satellite image maps. I also knew quite a bit more about Lightwave and was able to create this looping animation.

Unfortunately most machines of the time weren't powerful enough to do animated wallpapers so I didn't render as many of these animations as I could have.