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Podcasting!

Eugene — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:48:33 +0000

I oft post about the podcasts I’ve been doing with Andrew and Jonathan on cgRoundUp, but we’ve done some really good ones lately and I thought it was time to put up a “featured” post. It’s nice to be able to talk about the subject you are really into with guys who are just as into it. It’s interesting how lonely CG can be when you’re a lone freelancer or hobbyist. Yeah, you can post on forums all you want, but to really enjoy a discussion talking live with people can’t be beat, especially when they are people worth talking to. I like how the podcasts are keeping me tied to CG even though I’m not really in the thick of things right now.

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.

A Great Conjunction

Eugene — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 22:34:28 +0000

It’s funny what computer graphics does for me. I have noticed that it is a mental outlet so I can utilize both the artistic and technical aspects in some way. It certainly is a great deal of work however, and since I’m not in “the business” I’ve found my pursuits in the subject amorphous and without any true goals. Additionally, in taking up other things that are both artistic and technical full-time I find my mental need of the CG subject somewhat diminished.

What has of late come to the fore was a need for frivolous activities – games and the like – that are amusing but have no real application beyond enjoyment. To that end, I’ve got back in to playing Dungeons & Dragons, and have found it to be a great experience and much more fun that it was when I played so many years ago. Maybe it’s the new rules or how I have approached playing the game this time, but the game has become a strange focus of mine for some reason.

I see the need to state these things because looking at my site I see the last post was 3 months ago, and even those were just mentioning podcasts I was a part of. Be well aware though that my love of computer graphics is no less than before.

If you’re interested, the dragon illustration is by an exceptional artist by the name of Kekai Kotaki. I gather it was commissioned by Wizards Of The Coast since it graces the cover of Dungeon Magazine #168 and is astounding in the simplicity of the brush strokes and the fantastic contrast which really makes the dragon truly terrifying.

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.

VOP COP Raster Depths

Eugene — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:03:53 +0000

This was an odd video to do since it seems to be a simple topic but when talking about it out loud it starts sounding complicated. I’m basically covering several sub-topics which support the overall topic. Despite the confusing ramblings in the video, what you should take away from it is that in VOP COPs, the “Raster Depth” setting can cause results to vary depending on the data generated inside.

The hip file I’m using is actually based on a workshop that used to be online (but doesn’t appear to be anymore). I used it because it had the exact components to demonstrate everything.

Also, I’m sure my friend Jason will say that he is in no way regal when it comes to compositing, but seeing what he’s been up to lately certainly indicates that he knows what he’s doing .

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!

Sprites On Points Digital Assest

Eugene — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:12:39 +0000

Sprites are pretty cool, but in a clean install of Houdini you can only use them on particles using the Sprite POP. It turns out, you can add some attribute trickery to make sprites work on plain ol’ points. The cooler thing is that this Sprite SOP concept works in Houdini Escape (which doesn’t have particles). I wrote a full blown help for it too, with an icon and all – which basically copies the Sprite POP language and replaces “particles” with “points”. Yes, this has been done before. But let’s face it – that one’s old.

You can find it on my Houdini page or you can get the asset directly from here.

For those interested, here are the attributes you need to get sprites on points:

spriterot: class: point, type: float, size: 1
spritescale: class: point, type: float, size: 2
spriteuv: class: point, type: float, size: 4 (spriteuv[0] = U-offset; spriteuv[1] = V-offset; spriteuv[2] = U-scale; spriteuv[3] = V-scale)
spriteshop: class: point, type: string

Varying Materials Using A Single Shader

Eugene — Mon, 25 May 2009 03:44:22 +0000

Nothing ground breaking here, but for someone who is into neat little tricks to control shaders, I thought this was worth showing. What the video covers is a way to vary the materials on a single object using a single shader (differing from the usual method of using multiple shaders for different pieces of an object). I’ll leave it at that and let the video do the talking. I’m starting to record at my screen’s native resolution (1680 x 1050) which ups the video size but I like seeing big videos. I’m also posting these on Vimeo which I think is nice to have since you’re not always on a machine that you can download videos on.

Note: Video re-done on 5/25/2009. I thought it could be cleaner and more focused on production nuances so I re-recorded it.