80 degrees and gorgeous.
So Corinn and I committed to a special date the other night, vowing to wake up and experience the Cherry Blossoms at the height of their bloom. So, at 5AM this morning before work, we both ventured down to the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC, and we experienced a wonderful view. Best way to start the day. Purely stolen time.
Wed to your best friend,
Freed from persecution, suit;
Pro-Peepquality.
Naturally, when I get peeps, I feel more creative… Spring makes that happen easily.
My wife and I – we’re like two peeps in an ipod… :oD
Another variation. :o)
…Instead, I created this:
Coloring object wireframes has never been made easier.
Funny how things work out when you’re coding and wondering if there’s a script our there that already does what you want to do. In this case, I stumbled across a very simple, but very elegant MEL/PYTHON Script – Developed by Chris Zurbrigg – that helps with the rigging process. All it does is change the colors of your objects within Maya. And by simple, I mean a well designed tool that makes my workflow that much faster than clicking through many windows and options to change the default colors of controllers. Get the tool here: http://zurbrigg.com/maya-scripts/11-display-color-override.
Again, would have developed my own, but sometimes, there’s someone else out there who nailed it and now it’s a tool favorited on my shelf!
Poor Guy passed out while I coded…
About a year ago, I launched a tool to help out with the Blend Shape pipeline process I went through with my characters for Bean Caught and thought I’d share it with the web. Today, I dusted this off, for yet another film I’m working on, and not only decided to update it, but to also post a tutorial on how to use it. You can download the latest version here: McBe BS Tools v1.10! Continue reading
Certainly not refined animation, but the goldfish is happy!
In my adventures of creating my thesis, I need one of my “scenes” to include a goldfish. And as you can see by the above, the fish is stylized and not real looking – especially those dang fat fins… But this is necessary when prepping for 3D printing! That aside, I struggled over a week on how to animate this fish to make it feel reel or believable. I also wanted to refine controls while having the fish basically swim freely and automated. After much scratching and flipping tables, I figured out a solution that ended in a good night’s rest! I’ll share an overview and a couple scripts below so it may hopefully help out people later. This can be applied to anything that involves ripple-like animation such as snakes, birds, sting-rays, etc! Continue reading
Rooms in one of the Internet cafes come with a hanger, headphones, a computer and a television. (Shiho Fukada/Panos Pictures)
Photos can tell a lot about a person, environment, situation, etc. Several of them strung together can tell a powerful story. I just read through a heartbreaking story about “Living in an Internet Cafe” (visit the link for more photos) where people cannot afford to live in proper housing and find a resource that’s accessible so they can continue to survive and keep their job. Mind you, what they are paying is 1,920 yen or $21 a day. I feel compelled to help, but do not know what to do exactly. I thought by sharing the story at the very least could make people aware.
Meanwhile, help by making these special photojournalists by encouraging them – thank them for their work. Finding and gaining access to these stories can be very difficult and harrowing task. Mrs. Shiho Fukada, the Photojournalist of this story, has this to say as a result of this story:
One thing has become clear to me over time, especially in the current financial crisis. No matter the job, most of us no longer have job security. Our labor is replaceable.
I worry about America’s economy and the Global Economy. I worry about finding a job after I complete my thesis. I just hope things will be better in the future/longterm… Maybe I can help find a solution…? Not sure how, but maybe I’ll continue looking, thinking, problem solving, sharing…
To eat the apple or the grapes… hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…
After moving to Maryland, my wife introduced me to the “West Wing”, a TV series about DC Politics and Drama made between 2000 and 2006. It’s probably the best tv series that I’ve ever seen before and look forward to each episode with baited breath. It might also help that being in the DC area creates that special atmospheric feeling too. I noticed the president quoting much of the bible and it got me interested in re-reading the Bible again. Last time I did this, I was a child and it was required by the school system and church… The plan is to re-read it with an educated, adult mind and see where it takes me. Continue reading
