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cgRoundup Oscar 2010 Predictions

Eugene — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:16:24 +0000

Andrew and I were supposed to do a brief show on Oscar 2010 predictions, but when you get two CG guys together they’re bound to go beyond the Oscars. And beyond we went, with enough content to make two podcasts for the “Oscar Prediction Plus So Much More” show.

cgRoundup Training Podcast Part I and II

Eugene — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:25:04 +0000

Annnnnnnnd we’re back! cdRoundup is producing again. Though we recorded this a while back, we’re going to start recording some more shows and possibly some that will cause some major flame wars. Also, I think a major issue with my headset is also now resolved, so I hope it will be easier for Andrew to edit the future shows.

cgRoundup Siggraph Podcast Part II

Eugene — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:50:43 +0000

Part 2 is up! We continue our discussion about the players of Siggraph 2009.

cgRoundup Siggraph Podcast Part I

Eugene — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:29:50 +0000

Oh yes, it’s up on the site. I even have the distinction of being the one that said the quote at the top.

…they bought everything under the sun, so now they have to get rid of their toxic assets…

Hopefully I sound coherent in my musings since after over an hour an a half of talking with the fellas (which will be both part 1 and 2 of the Siggraph shows) I found my mind being taxed to allow intelligent thoughts.

CG Roundup Podcast

Eugene — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 02:46:37 +0000

Big news! I have been invited to be part of the CG podcast cgRoundup. I have been listening to the show since its inception so after I was invited to be part of the team I jumped at the chance. My debut is currently up as Episode 5 which was originally going to be just an audio test with Andrew but we talked for a crazy long time, so a show could easily be devised from such material. This episode covers mostly Houdini so if you’re a Houdini user there are some nice points of discussion you might be interested in. I’m certainly looking forward to more shows!

Python 3.0: Chaos Ensues

Eugene — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:42:20 +0000

I can’t imagine what effect this update will have on the host of applications using Python as a scripting language. I’m sure the fact that it is “intentionally backwards incompatible” makes a lot of people nervous since if any application (Houdini, Maya, Blender, XSI, TopMod, etc.) move to the new python, lots of peoples scripts may be rendered useless. So there are only a few options that I see:

An application can use Python 2.6 for a long time to come, not doing themselves any favors by staying with an ever older (and eventually unsupported) version.
An application can support both until 2.6 fades away.
Each application or a third party can branch off to make a supported Python 2.6-compatible version and everyone will start using that instead.
People will realize that they rather stay with 2.6 and 3.0 will die off.
An application can jump onto the Python 3.0 bandwagon, kill lots of scripts, but everyone will be better in the long run since we’ll have a better Python to use (plus, scripts can be fixed).

I’m for number 5.

XSI Foundation, Fare Thee Well

Eugene — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:39:39 +0000

It has come to my attention that XSI Foundation is no longer available. To most people who know the company this isn’t news, but for those who haven’t stayed up to date on XSI this is certainly interesting to note. To me, this news is both understandable and frightening. Understandable because, having used Foundation, it was severely limited and I couldn’t imagine users getting the most out of the software. Frightening because it just goes to show how precarious acquiring affordable industry leading production level software is for training and/or noncommercial work. Even more frightening because it could happen to any application. One would think that it won’t, perhaps being unchanging and everlasting, but with XSI Foundation disappearing after a 3 year run my beliefs have been shaken. It is surprising though that XSI Essentials has everything I would want in a package for only 3 grand.

BTW, I still have XSI Foundation 4.2

I would love to understand the business of selling 3D software. I would really like to see the costs involved in producing the software and maintaining the business and what profit is expected from sales. Obviously if these “affordably awesome” packages (e.g. XSI Foundation (R.I.P), Maya PLE, and Houdini Apprentice) don’t make money, don’t increase sales of the full-version packages, or actually hurt the sales of the full-version packages, then they will no longer be offered. I can understand that. So for me, I would like to greatly help in finding a way to help these companies make these affordably awesome packages work for the company to increase sales of the full applications.

Of course, with all this talk I start sounding like a leech. You know the ones. They want everything free and when it’s not they complain (and even when it is they complain even more). They want greatness for cheap, and when they can’t get it they whine. I think I can separate myself from this cadre since I really do think that the higher end software is really worth the 2 to 8 grand they sell it for. And I use the “affordably awesome” software with the intent that I will one day buy the full version and no longer dwell in the shadows with leeches.

Still, the thought of no longer having free/cheap training tools available for the production level packages is a thought I would rather not have at all. Especially if it’s one I have invested a great deal of time in. Trust me, switching apps (by necessity or choice) isn’t always a joy – it’s a quick journey from prince to pauper when it comes to knowledge of the tools. But one must prepare. If you are investing your effort into an application using the affordably awesome packages, one must be mentally prepared to be ready to either make the leap of purchasing the full version or be ready to stand alone on a sinking ship.

Feeds, Hamsters, And Colors

Eugene — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:11:05 +0000

I wanted to mention four things to anyone who would be interested, and as no one around me fits that description I’ll post it here. Hopefully I won’t make a habit of posting drivel, but I think I’ll allow myself to do so this time:

If you visit this site you’ll notice that I added a feed list to the right which is from my Google Reader “shared items.” I’m addicted to 3D related news so I’m subscribed to a whole bunch of feeds. Google Reader makes it oh-so-convenient in that it’s web based and I can do things like shared items, so I thought I would share what I find interesting. I hope it doesn’t make my site too “myspacey” which I would loathe.
I watched Disney’s “Bolt” trailer a couple of days ago and normally I’m not impressed with trailers, but the hamster (named Rhino) was so well animated it is certainly worth noting. The hamster certainly stands out to me as a brilliant character from both a technical and artistic view and is hysterical to watch. What was in the trailer I hope was a window into the overall performance of the character, and if it is, the animators of Rhino should be congratulated.
I recently upgraded my machine which included a new monitor. For the past few weeks I lived with the colors which always seemed to be oversaturated until I put it to myself to see what I could do with the color profiles. Lo and behold, thanks to this page, I got the colors where they needed to be and now everything looks great.

Animation Doodles

Eugene — Wed, 21 May 2008 01:47:16 +0000

I was reading Animation Mentor’s Tips and Tricks (done by Shawn Kelly in the monthly newsletter) and I’ve found it fascinating to see into the mind of an actual animator. I’ve actually never focused much on the art of animation, being interested primarily in the technical aspects of it, so these tips and tricks are interesting because it shows the amount of work that goes into actually doing character animation. After reading certain tips I thought I would do some rough thumbnails of an animation which lead to some general doodling (the results of which I’ve posted below). I’m not finished with all of Shawn’s tips but they certainly spark my interest in trying my hand at character animation. Luckily, Houdini has a toon character asset that is rigged quite nicely, so I might mess with that for starters.

Pixar Reyes/Raytrace Slides

Eugene — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:14:19 +0000

Nice slide presentation (ppt) on the use of raytracing in “Cars.” I remember Colin and I discussing this at Siggraph 2006 on the subway and a Pixar programmer over-hearing us and joining the conversation .