Swedish Space Odyssey... Kinda...

Back in June 2012, I was asked if I would be interested in working on some VFX for a possible short film a friend-of-a-friend was pitching.  It sounded like fun - with a little space action as well thrown in, I was more then interested. As part of the pitch, to get funding (which was relatively low) it was important to show that producing Space effects were going to be achievable.  In this case, part of the story revolved around astronauts...

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And even more free scripts... Ho! Ho! Ho!

If you've already seen the previous post, you'll have likely downloaded and looked at the collection of scripts I uploaded.  Here is a second zipped archive of more of them, along with the source for a handful of C plugins I also developed some years back (199x era) Note that I'm releasing these as a free learning resource.  I'd like to think that anybody who downloads them will share updates or modifications back to the community. ...

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Free LW scripts - Just in time for Christmas!

While cleaning up one of my hard drives, I found a collection of some of my LScripts I developed over many years.  By all means, these are not everything I've developed and I will upload more as I find them, but I figured that there is bound to be pieces of code or ideas that others can use or learn from... Note that I'm releasing these as a free learning resource.  I'd like to think that anybody who downloads them will share updates...

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The 8-bit project almost completed - A CG vision of my desktop at the age of 12.

Go outside and play in the sunshine?!  What?  When there are games to be played?!! It all started back in the 1980's...  Like a lot of kids my age, I used to hide in a dark bedroom during the day and sit and code games in BASIC or Machine Code.  The home computing revolution had started, and kids everywhere would learn to program computers as its was just the way that it was back then.  No operating system - all machines ...

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More desktop inspiration...

As some of my friends (and wife) know, I love Transformers:Prime, the fully CG kids show that sadly just ended a month or so ago...  I'd never really gotten into this toy franchise at all until the movies came out, and now this fantastic show... A bunch of new kids I also love having toys on the desktop (by that, I mean the top of my real desk, not the one in Windows), and while hunting around for the usual Christmas bargains for family,...

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When is a cow NOT a cow?

When its a flying machine for a Swedish childrens show called Ljudhjältarna...  Late end of 2012, I was approached by film maker, director and editor/compositor Arvid Eriksson (whom I'd met through a colleague when creating a conceptual 3D space capsule image for an indie film pitch) to produce a 3D steam-punk styled airship for a Swedish childrens show.  The plan - to create a 3D model that he could then import into Adobe Aftereffects...

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Still stuck in the 80's - which is a good thing...

"Stick with it".  Its way to easy (specially for myself, and I'm sure many of you others out there) to jump into another project and tell myself "I'll get back to that one later".  Completing a project means making sure that you keep yourself immersed in it and follow it through to completion. This retro 80's project is just that - and what's helping keep me on track is actually having the machines here next to me, which in turn inspires...

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I'm in the clear!

I thought I'd better test out my cassette case model, as well as make sure I built a folded inlay for future models as not all games had the simpler flat cover... I threw the front case surface onto the backing for the case to see how it would hold up visually, and I have to say it actually looks better then I'd expected it to.  Often this is where modeling flaws start to show themselves and I was all prepared to switch it back to black...

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Just in case...

...a cassette case...  That's the only case we're talking about here. Since my previous post for "Galactic Abductor", I've now modeled up the case for it as well.  The insert came from an online archive housed at the awesome World of Spectrum site.   The cassette label itself I drew up in Photoshop based on images I found on google.  The hardest part of that cassette label was finding that funky font for the AR - but in...

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Its a screecher!

Well, its a cassette - that screeches!  Its always interesting to hear young kids claim that they don't believe that computer programs could be stored on an audio cassette...  But in 1983, that's how we did it...  The screeching sound of bits and bytes as they loaded across to the 16 or 48k of memory of the ZX Spectrum...  I guess the concept of how you can store digital data on an audio device sounds a little wierd - but then...

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Re-live the 80's with Illustrator.

I developed a design brief for my students that requires then to recreate their own work in the style of the 80's arcade pop-culture.  Its a great era and one that seems to be fairly popular even today with its pixel-art, rainbow electric graphic design asthetic and just the fact I grew up in that era also helps... :D While its easy enough to create pixel-art in a bitmap editor such as Photoshop, Windows Paint or the Gimp - For some real flexibility artistically, Illustration software like - well - Illustrator is a better choice. ...

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"Its a wrap" - a light wrap that is...

Often when in a hurry, I'll render out composit shots from my 3D software once the main lighting and surfacing are working rather then spend time rendering passes and compositing them. Today I was thinking - one thing that often helps integration with a photographic plate is applying some light wrapping.  Its a process that is common in compositing - but what about throwing that idea into a 3D application's rendering output...

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ZX Spectrum lives on - part 2 of the work in progress

After just posting up my work earlier today here, I'm now back with an update for the evening.  This time around I've added some detailing under the model (only about 15 minutes to drill and bevel/extend a pile of insets) - and I've also finished the keyboard texture maps. Yep...  I'd say the modeling is now safely done and out of the way - but we're not done just yet.....

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The 80's called, and they want their technology back - 3D ZX Spectrum (work in progress)

With a couple of days off work, and with nothing better to do yesterday morning, I decided to snap a pile of photo's of my old ZX Spectrum (the one from my earlier posting)...

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Hmmmm... Would I jump ship from CG to Compositing?

Good question - and one I asked myself last week after spending a good amount of time working my way through Nuke (NukeX to be exact) and python scripting. It seems that Nuke has snagged me - I'm loving it, and just getting a buzz from working my way around techniques and tools.  Its all been very easy to pick up, and I have to say that the ease of upskilling in this tool is an exhilarating roller coaster ride that I'll keep travelling along. So - with this buzz happening as I progress along with Nuke, would or should I jump ship from CG...

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Dropping a Nuke on a pesky Python

Well, more like a little basic 101 on using Python in The Foundry's Nuke compositing package.  I wrote this example script as an initial introduction to learning simple python scripting in Nuke.  As well as the chance to dabble in Nuke, it gave me the opportunity to develop a useful tool for my own work.....

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Maya and Python - scripted gaming

One challenge I set myself while teaching Python 101 was to show just how easy it would be to create an interactive game, or other user-driven application, that runs in Maya.  The first question was just how do you run python in real time in Maya?  You can't use a loop in Python - this tends to tie up Maya, and its relatively easy to lock up the software this way.  Trust me, I did that - several times.  Its not fun to keep bringing up the task manager to kill Maya......

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Is it a keyboard, is it a plane? No... Its...

...my new acquisition.  I picked up this old ZX Spectrum from our national online auction site, trademe for NZ$10 4 days back, and received it today.  Its got its faults (the keyboard membrane needs replacing) and I'm yet to dig out an old Sinclair power supply to test it run...

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Hisssssssss! Slithering around rocks in Python...

Its been a week of teaching basic 101 programming in Python, and I must say that I'm getting a real taste for Python as a language for scripting.  Having experience in many different languages over the last 30 years, Python takes me back to my early BASIC days of the 80's, where as kids, we'd learn to program by writing our own games, something that was common back when off-the-shelf software wasn't as prevalent as it is today.  In fact, this home computing phenomenon was what built the foundations of the gaming industry in the United...

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The 8-bit childhood returns in glorious CG...

As much as I tried, I hoped to post regularly to this blog...  However after a few weeks, I'm back with another post. A couple of weeks ago, I'd decided to purchase some cartridges for my old Atari 600XL I've had lying in storage for 15+ years from eBay.  The reason I'd not used the machine at all (yes, 15+ years of storage and about 30 minutes of usage mucking about, eh, 15 years ago) is purely because I didn't have any software for i...

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ZBrush - Looking a head to see where things are going.

Or surely just "a head that's now looking". :-) I decided to just do a little additional fudging about with the head example I'd done in the first class.  In this case, I thought I'd throw in a couple of stand-in eyeballs and add a few additional wrinkles here and ther...

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Sculpt me silly... or "how to make a really old model look less old"

While my brains running in ZBrush mode, I figured why not apply the same techniques I covered in class today to a character model.  The challenge tomorrow for my students will be to use the basic work flow and tools to take the low-poly model I built and give it some "oomph".  Afterall, the work flow is no different - subdivide, build form and mass, smooth and refine... Ad infinitum...

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Getting in to the basics with ZBrush

The first class is done!  In this class, I just wanted to get the students familiar with the Interface, sculpting basics and a workflow process for sculpting.  In a way, the work flow is no different then anything we do in 3D - start with the basics, then detail up from there...

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Generic Aliens with generic taste in clothing style...

I'm about to embark on teaching a new ZBrush class tomorrow.  As a part of my power-upskilling over the last week, this is my first attempt at sculpting something using this fantastic application...

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First person gaming and the story telling arc...

At the start of every new class each year, we begin with a short module on story telling. That means making sure students understand the simple concepts of 3 part narrative, what genre and theme are and of course the different ways in which stories are delivered (including classic old 1950's style radio plays, comics, written, etc). One issue I've always run into is that the materials I've been working with never really take in the current trends...

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Attention to detail...

The number one thing that I've found while teaching over the years is that student projects (well, 99% of them) suffer from this - lack of attention to detail.  And that is exactly what makes them look like student work. Attention to detail is important - we see it everywhere - in cooking, music, cars, software, movies, cellphones, etc.  If it wasn't there, we'd have music that was flat and simple.  We'd have food that was bland,...

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Inspiration on the desktop... If you have space...

Ok, so I'm no spring chicken these days, but I'm just as much a kid at heart as I've always been.  Over the years, I have amassed a good collection of inspiring toys of characters from my favorite shows and comics.  Unfortunately though, many are still in boxes, or in storage purely because I just don't have space to set them all up... Recently I did buy this guy - Wheel Jack - from the show Transformers:Prime.  I have to say,...

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Tools or Skills? Time for a quick vent...

This has always been a pet peeve for me... The one thing I've noticed a lot here in New Zealand is that animation college graduates that I meet at events have formed the perception that knowing how to operate an advanced software application is the skill that makes them a professional artist.  This isn't just a one-off, it appears to be a trend that is common. imho, mastering software is more something that makes for an employable artist.  Professionalism is built through experience and practise.  Having both is definitely even...

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About time I blogged...

I used to be very active on forums and post up work frequently, but having been full-time teaching for almost a decade (steady work, steady income - the way the bank loves you to be when you are paying for a house) really takes it out of you over the years.  When I was working in an animation studio, it was always fresh and exciting - no matter what job came through, there were always challenges that would pop up and keep the old brain cells ticking over. But hey - Most industry jobs tend to be contracts, and not long terms ones at that. ...

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