Bobby Parker 3/3/15 Bobby Parker 3/3/15

Introducing Stingray

Our goal with Stingray is to build a truly modern and flexible 3D game engine. By combining a completely data-driven rendering pipeline with powerful, easy-to-use game creation tools, Stingray is going to change the way 3D games are made.

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http://www.autodesk.com/campaigns/stingray/stingray-contact-me

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Bobby Parker 2/24/15 Bobby Parker 2/24/15

Five GPUs and over 20 TFLOPS

Boxx’s new workstation packs five GPUs and over 20 TFLOPS of compute horsepower

The liquid-cooled chassis is designed to support Intel’s Xeon E5 v3 processors with up to 18 cores and 36 threads per chip, but front-and-center billing goes to the GPUs. The Apexx 5 can pack up to five high-end graphics cards, four for workstation rendering and a single dedicated viewport GPU.

For those of you keeping track at home, that works out to over 20 TFLOPS of single-precision floating point and nearly ten TFLOPs of double-precision horsepower. That’s more firepower than the number one supercomputer in the world from the year 2000 and would’ve still captured a place on the TOP500 within the last decade, particularly once you toss in another 2.6TFLOPS from the Xeon CPUs (assuming two E5-2699v3.)

All four cards run in full PCIe 3.0 x16 slots with a fifth PCIe 3.0 x8 slot for the dedicated viewport card. Users also have the option of equipping other co-processors, including a Synch card for frame locking, PCI-Express SSDs, or a 10Gbit ethernet card. Boxx also includes liquid cooling as standard on all its CPUs (GPUs remain air-cooled, but the chassis are designed to keep all five graphics cards at acceptable temperatures, even in such aggressive configurations).

The chassis can support up to eight mechanical hard drives or 16 2.5-inch SSDs. Obviously the market for 4-5 GPUs in a single system is going to be relatively rare — even at the high-end, there aren’t many engineers or designers who need that much GPU horsepower in a single system. Boxx’s product marketing manager, Chris Morley, acknowledges that the product is aimed at a very specific type of customer, but notes that the Apexx 5 is offering a level of performance you literally can’t buy elsewhere, since even the highest-end systems from Dell and HP tend to top out below this point.

The company has been deliberately courting disgruntled Mac users since the Mac Pro debuted last year, and its “Mac Pro No” video is funny enough to be worth a watch. It’s also telling — where Apple built a dual-GPU workstation that emphasized the GPU at the expense of CPU performance and focused the system almost entirely on external connectivity, the Boxx Apexx 5 kicks GPU options up to 11 without skimping on dual CPU horsepower or the internal connectivity that most people expect in a modern high-end workstation.

http://mobile.extremetech.com/latest/222730-boxxs-new-workstation-packs-five-gpus-and-over-20-tflops-of-compute-horsepower

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Bobby Parker 2/21/15 Bobby Parker 2/21/15

Custom Kitchen Rendering

Interiors are always fun; challenging, yet fun. I received a request for my services, from a kitchen designer out of Chicago, who needed to do something to keep his client engaged. The kitchen designer had the vision, but his clients could not feel it with the 2D CAD plans that he was providing.

It's always exciting for me to get my client's reaction when they see their vision in full color. Maybe, that's part of what fuels my passion for what I do.

“Holy cow that’s amazing!!”

— Cabinet Designer

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Bobby Parker 2/18/15 Bobby Parker 2/18/15

Arts and Craft Architectural Rendering

The architect design the cutest arts and craft house, but the problem was, the rendering they provided didn't suit the needs of the real estate firm hired to sell it. So, they called upon my services. I am always excited to help and I get excited to work on structures I find visually appealing, like this art and craft house.

Here, the process was a little different than my usual client. This time, the real estate company contacted me directly. This was their first time hiring a service like mine, and I sensed a little fear, but I held their hand and all went well.

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Bobby Parker 2/12/15 Bobby Parker 2/12/15

Office Building Night Rendering

I absolutely love a client who asks for bold!

Here, is a one story and a two story office building being proposed in a very busy construction market. The designer typically provides illustrations to the developer and since the market is competitive, they wanted to up the ante. Hopefully, with the help of my architectural renderings, their office buildings will be noticed, at least that is the plan.

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Bobby Parker 2/6/15 Bobby Parker 2/6/15

Say goodbye to Net-30 payments

Say goodbye to Net-30/60/90 payments.

Fundbox offers business owners a simple way to fix their cash flow by advancing payments for their outstanding invoices.

How It Works?

Fundbox is the easiest and most transparent financial solution for all your business’ cash flow gaps.

We’re helping thousands of business owners and freelancers overcome cash flow gaps by advancing payments for their outstanding invoices. Here’s how it works:

CREATE A FREE ACCOUNT IN UNDER A MINUTE

It’s entirely free and takes about twenty seconds to complete. Enter your email, choose a password, select your bookkeeping app and you’re done. Continue using your bookkeeping app just as before and your outstanding invoices are automatically available for you to clear in your secured Fundbox account.

CLEAR YOUR OUTSTANDING INVOICES

Instead of waiting 30, 60 or 90 days to get paid, click any of your outstanding invoices to get the amount transferred to your bank account instantly and securely.

YOUR MONEY WHEN YOU NEED IT

We make sure you don’t have to wait for your clients to pay to run your business like you want to. Pay salaries, buy equipment, travel for business, and more. Peace of mind guaranteed.

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Bobby Parker 2/5/15 Bobby Parker 2/5/15

Incredible Architecture 3D Artworks

Daily, I check my online reputation and yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised. Paulo Gabriel, over on the abduzeedo.com blog, listed some of my work as being incredible. Please, hop on over and check it out!

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Bobby Parker 1/26/15 Bobby Parker 1/26/15

McKinley Town Home Rendering

I am seeing a trend. Over the past several months I have had many comments about the need for high quality architectural renderings. It seems, high quality renderings are what is setting companies (developer, architect, real estate) apart. Now, there are a lot of things that set a company apart, but nothing more visual than a high quality architectural rendering. People, for the most part, don't get the low quality renderings; it makes you look like an amateur. People are very visual and technical talking, or a stack of 2d drawings, just cause confusion. Slide a low quality rendering across the table, no matter how much time you have invested, is an excitement killer; you can almost feel the air being pulled out of the room.

Above, is one of those case studies. The Architect had a rendering, which was done in SketchUp, but it lacked realism. Now, SketchUp is a very capable software and I have seen some nice renderings come from it. But it is so much more than the software you chose. Technically, it was accurate, but it was missing composition to hold the image together. If you don't get it right, the brain will know something is wrong, and the image will become a fraud or fake and be rejected.

Color plays an important role in perspective renderings!

Once you understand the color part of your rendering, you’ll be able to create stunning architectural rendering with ease.

When you're rendering recedes three essential things become apparent.

Background = Neutral (and bluish) and Foreground = Saturated
Background = Less contrasted and Foreground is = Contrasted
Background = Cooler and Foreground = Warmer
This is how the eye naturally sees.

“Oh my gosh! It looks like a real photo! This looks great!!”

— Real Estate Company

McKinley Town Home finally got to my desk, not by the architect or developer, but by the sales people, who have the job to sell! This sales department knew the importance of an awesome photo-realistic architectural rendering.

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Bobby Parker 1/23/15 Bobby Parker 1/23/15

Chicago Restaurant Architectural Rendering

What an awesome project to work on. I was asked to illustrate this restaurant, which is just a little outside of Chicago, Illinois. The design went through several iterations, but at the end, it turned out beautifully. Stay tuned, an interior architectural rendering is coming!

“It is not easy to win them over from other architects in this town! Your work is valuable!”

— Architect

It was hard to see the scale of the building, so I put a person. I also put the person, who is wearing dark clothes, in front of the light brick wall. I am hoping it brings the viewer to the entrance. There was too much foreground, so I added the cars, which have a motion blur, so they don't overpower the scene. Anyway, enjoy!

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Bobby Parker 1/14/15 Bobby Parker 1/14/15

What You Should Know About Taxes When You're a Freelancer

Becoming a freelancer doesn't just change the way you work; it also changes the way you manage your money. One area that requires special attention when you're self-employed is your tax filing.

This post originally appeared at MyBankTracker.

To be successful as a freelancer, you have to treat it like a business in terms of marketing yourself and how you treat clients. The same idea applies to your taxes, since you're solely responsible for making sure the IRS receives the right information. When I first started freelancing, taxes was something I only paid vague attention to since I wasn't earning that much to begin with. Over time, I learned more about how freelance taxes work and what follows are 10 rules every newbie needs to keep in mind.

You Can't Always Rely on 1099 Info

When you're working for a company as a paid employee, they're responsible for tallying up your earnings for the year. These are reported, along with the amount of taxes you've paid, on your W-2. As a freelancer, you're considered an independent contractor, which means you'll be issued a 1099 at the end of the year.

If you're relying solely on 1099s to tell you how much money you made, you're taking a big risk. It's always possible that a client could omit a payment or make a mistake in their calculations. If you file your taxes based on incorrect information, you could be in for a nasty surprise if the IRS determines that you actually owe more money. Keeping your own records is a smart move to avoid errors.

I use a basic spreadsheet to track my income throughout the year. Specifically, I make note of what the project was, which client it was for, the amount, the date it was invoiced and paid and my net earnings after any PayPal or bank fees are deducted. It's a fairly simple system, but it's proven effective. I once had a client send a 1099 that was short by several thousand dollars and thanks to my spreadsheet, I was able to pick up on the error right away.

The IRS will Know if You Don't Report Income

Underreporting or omitting income on your tax return is a major no-no and it's a mistake to think that the IRS won't catch on. For one thing, when a client mails you a 1099, they also send a copy to Uncle Sam so if you leave one out at tax time, your records aren't going to match up with what the IRS already has on file.

Even if you've got a client who's less than diligent in their record keeping, that doesn't mean you should take a gamble on not reporting your income. One year, I had two different clients who never issued a 1099, even after I contacted them about it. It added up to a nice chunk of cash and while it was tempting to just forget about reporting it, I made sure it showed up on my return.

Separate Accounts are the Way to Go

If you've been freelancing for a while and you haven't set up separate bank accounts for your business and personal spending, that should be at the top of your to-do list. For one thing, it simplifies your record keeping. You can easily see all of your income for the year and any expenses you incurred for the business without having to weed out what you spent on groceries or dinners out.

The other reason to split things up is to protect yourself in the event of an audit. If something on your taxes raises an eyebrow with the IRS, having separate bank statements for your business makes it easier to backup the information on your return.

You May Have to Pay Estimated Taxes

When you're getting a regular paycheck, your employer is responsible for making sure that the appropriate amount of tax is withheld. As a freelancer, you may have to make estimated payments four times throughout the year, beginning in January. These payments are designed to cover your projected tax liability so you don't end up with a big bill when April 15th rolls around.

Generally, you're not required to make estimated payments if you didn't owe any taxes during the previous year, you expect your total tax due for the current year to be less than $1,000 or your prior year's federal withholding is equal to 90 percent of what you think you'll owe. Be aware that if you don't make estimated payments through the year and you end up owing taxes when you file, you could get hit with a penalty for underpayment.

Your Tax Liability is Calculated Differently

Freelancers are responsible for paying income tax but you're also on the hook for self-employment tax. This is an additional tax that's designed to cover the Social Security and Medicare amounts that would normally be withheld by a traditional employer. For the 2015 tax year, the self-employment tax rate is 15.3 percent for up to $118,500 in income. The most you'll have to pay in self-employment taxes for the year is $14,694. That's on top of whatever you'll owe at your regular income tax rate.

There are Clear Rules for Deductions

The IRS has very clear rules on what you can and can't include as a deduction on your taxes. Calling the corner of the living room where your laptop is located a home office probably isn't going to cut it.

Generally, in order for something to be considered a deductible business expense it must be both reasonable and necessary. This can apply to things like a new laptop, business cards or travel expenses as long as they're incurred as a direct result of your freelance work. If you're in doubt about whether some qualifies, your best bet is to get advice from a tax expert or just leave it out altogether.

Records are a Must

Any time you plan to deduct something on your taxes, you'll need a receipt or other documentation to back it up and that's especially true when you're running a freelancing business. Collecting all your receipts in a shoebox is a way to keep your physical receipts in one place, but using a program like Quickbooks cuts down on the clutter.

The software has a lot of features that are appealing to freelancers, including the ability to sync it with your bank account, track your expenses, create customized invoices and pay your bills. The most basic version costs $13.99 a month but if you don't have the extra cash to spend, you can still keep tabs on what you're spending with a free app like Expensify.

Your Audit Risk May Increase

The words "tax audit" are enough to send a shiver down anyone's spine and while they typically only affect a small percentage of the population, freelancers may be more susceptible. Statistically, filing a Schedule C on your taxes makes you two to four times more likely to get hit with an audit. The odds of being targeted increase by how much money you make so that's something to keep in mind as you expand your freelance business.

You Have Retirement Options

Being self-employed has lots of perks but unfortunately, a retirement plan isn't one of them. Fortunately, there are several options out there that can help you build your nest egg while earning you some tax benefits.

For example, as a member of the Freelancer's Union, I'm eligible to participate in a solo 401(k), which offers higher annual contribution limits than a traditional or Roth IRA, along with the ability to deduct the money that goes in from my income. There's technically no employer match but I can chip in cash as an employer and an employee to the tune of $53,000 in 2015. Not only can I save for the future but I also score a tax break in the mean time by claiming the deduction.

Sometimes it's Worth Hiring a Pro

Filing your taxes can be complicated enough when you're dealing with W-2s and the standard deductions. When you throw in business expenses, estimated payments and self-employment tax, it can be even more challenging. If your freelance business has really taken off or you haven't been keeping the best records so far, paying a tax expert to handle things for you may be a wise investment.

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