brainmuffin

Thanks MMZ! I never thought I'd get BLUEPRINTS!!

Dennis, I like the models, and the set. Is that the only punch they've got though? It isn't, right? You have like 3 or 4 different punches and blocks for each character? Are there any power combos? Like combinations of punches that would give some kind of bonus depending on the character you're using? I'm guessing that you do have a bit more going on that we see in the clip....

Cool! That one covers the area of the bike I was most in the dark about: The control panel.... Thanks Mike!

I used to have a few years worth of "Reptiles" magazine issues, but I lost most of them in my last move. I can dig up the few that I have left. That's how I made them. I scanned images of scales, and sampled small sections (Approx. 2-10 scales) and ran it through the pattern maker filter. It's actually one of the best uses I've found for that filter...

I've got the front part of the bike almost finished, so I thought I'd post some pics: [attachmentid=14390] I'm trying to use the image on the cover of the DVD case as my main reference. I wish I knew how to take screencaps off of the dvd to use for other views. I have some views of the McFarlane model, but it isn't exactly accurate, and its scale is too small compared to the Kaneda figure, so I'm trying not to rely on those too much. This is going on my modeling reel, so feel free to crit the crap out of it.

Amazing, Colin. I'm going to have to lock myself in a room for a few weeks straight and try to get myself up to your level of modeling... Your snakeskin texture reminds me that I've got some seamless lizard scale textures that I made with photoshop's pattern maker filter. I'm going to see if I can did them up and post them in the materials forum...

Thanks Dave! I'm going to give this guy a body starting tonight. I'm also going to turn him into Kaneda from Akira, for a still image. I watched Akira the other night and I really want to model Kaneda's bike... I want to do a really cool render of the two (Kaneda and bike) in high res, to send to Noel for the A:M booth.

I'd had another idea about what to do with this story. That is to hang onto it, work on a complete script, (possibly storyboards) and wait until TWO is out the door and pitch it as the next Hash Movie Project. But I guess that would depend on the success of TWO, and wether or not Martin likes my story...

I've worked it out, and I will be able to make it. (Is there parking somehwere close by that won't cost an arm and a leg? Hopefully?)

Xade, I'd really like to see that armor. Here's a breif update: After a somewhat depressing e-mail from Christina 'Smudge' Hanson on the current state of the comics industry, I found myself looking at Vodcasts again. I looked at what ZachBG has been up to, and even though he hasn't been getting the greatest reviews in the world, (Zach, I'd have given you a better one, but I don't have a credit card to sign up), I see potential in the format. Video I-pods are pretty new, and I've seen that some newer cellphones are even including i-tunes. It's already setup to charge for downloads too, if it ever gets to the point where there are enough people interested. The other thing I like is the screen size. When you're planning on rendering at 320x240, you can get away with a lot as far as modeling and texturing are concerned. So, the question is, at low res, using simplified models with complex(But lower res) textures, (Think Video Games), using limited animation, how much story could be churned out in one month with a small team? And could that chunk of story be enough to (eventually) get a buck or two for? And if not, is it worth pursuing to try to become a "recognizable commodity"?

Ok, I'm serious about getting this thing done. Rodney, I'm taking your suggestion, and I'm going to concentrate on just getting the first installment done. Then I'll worry about trying to generate interest, and how the heck I'm going to distribute this thing. (I've got some ideas along those lines though). Here's the basics of the story as it stands so far: Our two main characters for this installment are travelling from Edo (Tokyo) to Satsuma. The journey is going to have 3 -4 legs, and each one could be traversed using a different form of transportion, giving us a good opportunity to show off the steampunk side of the storyline. Our two main characters are (I don't have names yet at this point, only historical figures I'm basing some of the characters on, and I don't want to use their real names, with the possible exception of the Emperor Meiji).: The second in command of the Samurai rebellion The Boy who would be Shogun The shogun has recently died under mysterious circumstances, and the Ministers? of government have used this as an opportunity to shift power back to the imperial line, making the young Meiji the ruler of Japan. The Samurai have opposed this power shift, as the ruler of Japan has been a Shogun for centuries, and in that time there has been peace and prosperity. The Officials claim that there is no suitable replacement for the Shogun, hence the shift back to imperial power. Though, in truth, the emperor is also a young boy, not much older than our hero. And where our hero has had training as a warrior, strategist, and statesman (Though he has not yet been told that he was to be the successor to the Shogun), the young emperor has led the pampered life of a noble. (Remember, he wasn't really supposed to assume power. It would have been likely that the late Shogun would have lived for another 30-40 years, had he not died mysteriously). It should be somewhat apparent that the Emperor is merely a pawn being manipulated by the government officials. The Ministers pressure the young emperor into declaring the Samurai to be traitors for opposing his assumption of power, and it is here that our first installment actually begins. The second in command has been tasked with getting our young hero to Satsuma safely, and speedily. It will not be an easy task, as they are wanted outlaws. Expect them to have to evade police constantly, and even do battle with Ninjas along the way. (That, along with filling in the backstory, and setting up some of what's to come, should fill enough pages I think. ) When they finally arrive in Satsuma, they will discover that the leader of the rebellion has not arrived, which will set up what they'll need to do in the next installment. What I'm going to need for right now, is some suggestions of other interesting steampunk style modes of transportation they can take on their journey, so feel free to chime in with some wacky ideas here.

I've started once again on a generic anime figure, as part of my Steampunk Samurai Saga. I've only got the head so far:[attachmentid=13993] I think he needs another spline ring around the eyes, and around the mouth. (Actually, the spline from the corner of the nostril should go around the mouth, I think). Also, the ear is still rough. I need to add more detail to it. Other than that, how is it looking so far?

I'm in the Binghamton area. Right on the PA border, basically. I'm going to see if I can borrow a different car, then I should be able to make it...

I'm thinking about coming. For one, I haven't ever been to a user group meeting, and for another, I haven't been to Philly in quite a while. (Just the thought of possibly having another cheesesteak is tempting enough!) But even though I'm closer than I have been in years, I'm still 3 hours away. (Which still makes me an hour closer than I was when I was in college!) But it's still a long drive, and my car is rather old. So I'm thinking about it... I didn't even know this was a meeting close to me. I thought it was the Massachussettes area A:M User Group...

The biggest problem: You don't have enought graphic information to tell the story. The entire story of the image should come across without having to read anything in the paper, except for maybe the headline of the article. A picture above the article would have been a good tool to get the point of the article across. What other things could you have put on the desk to get the story across? A good rule of thumb regarding composition: The message of the picture, all the emotional impact of it, should be readily apparent from the thumbnail sized image. All that zooming in should get you is a better look...

I get the feeling that this is going to be a memorable short. Simply done, but done well.The kind of thing that wins awards at festivals. I can't wait to see more.

Really gotta bone it like your wife suggested, and do the particles on the leading edge. You've gotten it so close to perfect, to stop now would be ludicrous.

Cool statue. I love jelly belly jelly beans. I just can't figure out who would eat jalapeno flavored jelly beans...

I've got my wife working out the storyline, but it'll be a while before I can start on it. I've got so much devoted to the TWO project, and I've got to put together some "Photoshop for 3D" tutorial cds to put on Cafepress... I would love it if you could do it when the time comes, though. I love taiko. I used taiko music for a ninja short that I made once. It was really cool. If there is that much background noise it shouldn't be to much of a problem. I might be able to redo it with cakewalk studio and a keyboard if necessary. It's the composition that I can't do... I'll have to do something with that ninja character eventually too. She's cool. She's a modern day ninja vigilante. The original short film was really bad though. More of a trailer, really...

It's a nice dragon. I'd love to hear some recordings of your taiko group, though. That would be really cool. Maybe if I ever get my samurai animation on track, you could provide the music? A samurai duel set to taiko drums would rock!

I like the highlights in his eyes. He also looks very friendly. I also liked your undead astronaut. He reminded me of "The Peoples" from Madagascar..

If he had peaked them, though, the preview render would be all angles too. But his renders are still round...

Excellent work. I've already watched it a million times. (Largeley because of the two smallish humans who gather around chanting "Again! AGAIN!" every time it ends...)

I did some tests. I zoomed the camera in quite a bit, so that I can scan the skyline. No more people walking in the foreground, no more boats. I shrunk the ufo a bit, and made it come closer to the camera . I'm having problems with the camera, though. I'm playing around with a aim at constraint, and some jitter, to try to make it look hand held. I'll see if I can get a good shot to upload tomorrow.

this is a test for an fx shot. I'm going to add in some lasers, explosions and smoke, etc. But I'm wondering how convincing this looks, before I continue. It's basically just animated photo- manipulation... http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1qub6/sitebui.../bostonufo4.mov Several things I notice: The boats don't move. I'm planning on cutting one or two out and putting them on seperate layers, and adding some rocking. Also I've thought about putting a small flag on the boat in the foreground, so that there's one more element of movement in the foreground. There's something going on with the buildings when the ufo is onscreen. It's got to do with the motion blur, when the motion blur is off, it doesn't do it, but it definitely looks fake then. I've also thought about cropping a bit, so that I can pan around a little, and add some camera jitter. What do you think?