dimos

Hey Rob, Very impressive work here. I like it. Anyway just to clarify on the "bendy" type thingies on appendages. It was used on previous films. I know we had that kind of control on Shark Tale when I worked on that film and I am pretty sure we weren't the first to use those types of controls. They were very fun to play with. Nice work. Keep it up. -Dimos

WOW!!! I can not add anything else to the already overwhelming comments everyone here has made. You have a wonderful and inspiring piece of work in your hands and I am glad to have seen what you have thus far. PLEASE keep us all informed of all the goings on. I second the call for a website to document your progress and solicit funds for your project(s). Truly amazing. Just to let you know.....It was your Mosey shorts and body of work that convinced me to buy A:M many years ago. You have now revitalized the creativity and ambition to further my projects yet again. THANKS!!!! -Dimos P.S. If you EVER need help please do not hesitate to contact me. I would love to work with you sometime.

Mark, I'd appreciate that! Email me and we will discuss what's needed. It may be a while before I can get you anything. There is still alot of work to be done before rigging anyhow. As far as time goes it's not much of a problem for now. That could change if there is a pitch/presentation that I'd have to aim for. Also you will have to sign a deferred payment contract and so on and do forth. We could discuss all that later. -Dimos

Hey Mark, Not including sets, props and other miscellaneous models there will be anywhere from 6 to 10 characters and 6 to 12 vehicles. Right now Giuseppe is the ONLY model. Oops his scooter is modelled by the GREAT Stian but it came out to realistic. I have to design a more cartoony scooter that suits Guiseppes design so Stian can work his magic on that. Giuseppe's wife "Bella" is in design stages and so are the "THUGS". So far there are three set requirements. 1) A picturesque pasture with a beautiful tree on top of one of the hills not to far off a small rural road 2) A dusty rural road with ditch at each side of the road and 3) a scummy, near abondoned gas station/biker bar in the middle of a dusty remote rural setting (almost desert like). That's all I can think of off the top of my head! -Dimos

Hey Mike, Yeah the walk is very brisk for an older guy. This walk was only meant as test in "RIG-arobics". I wanted to get a feel for it and see how the basic rig would work for him. I haven;t decided how he's gonna move yet. I like the big feet but I am pretty sure they will have to be reduced. Not by much though because this character is a little clumsy and tripping over his feet from time to time would be kind of neat. As far as reinbursment for "help" well I have a contract that specifies what reinbursement is but in a nutshell it's a deferred payment agreement. I am funding this on my own for now and producing it through my company so I can't afford much at all at this moment. Some "MONEY" people are interested but they want to see more before they delve into a new project. If your still interested email me and we'll talk. Thanks for your input and inquiry. -Dimos

very very good! -Dimos

Thanks Rodney, mtpeak2 and DeeJay, Yes, his calves are rolling and it could be the constraint. I did this a while ago and from what I remember I tried to adjust everything I could and nothing worked. I didn't rig it myself because I don't know how to do that. I understand the theories behind rigging and so on (at least I think I do) I just don't have the time or patience for that sort of stuff. Too busy with contracts and paying the bills to learn another things right now. One of the reasons I am looking for decent riggers who want to help out. Does anyboday know someone willing to help out? I will show stuff from time to time but I can not and WILL not show much. Just teasers! I need to protect my "intellectual property" rights and that of my company's, partners and associates. -Dimos

OK here's a lil update long time coming. Rodney wants to see t so there y'all go. Anyway the file is a walk test of Giuseppe. It is not the final walk just a basic walk test to see how the rig felt. Personally I don't like the rig so it needs to be re-done from the ground up but that's just me. Lots of things are wrong with this most notably the wobbly legs. ANyway I hope you like and stuff. Dimos[attachmentid=19179] giuseppe_walk_test_cropped.mov

WHAT!? Too OLD!!!? Come on man!!! Your stuff looks really good. Yes your reel needs editing and some of the animation can be a little more polished but your work is VERY impressive. Why not try and go for that "Big Studio" gig or maybe even a games studio? I see potential in you. The worst they could say to you is "No Thanks". You got nothing to loose from where I see it! If you don't want to move because you like to stay close to family and friends then why not try a smaller/medium size outfit near where you live? Could be worth a looking into. Just my 2 cents. -Dimos P.S. Did you rig everything yourself from scratch or did you use something like TSM?

Thanks John. I'll have to look into it some more....Very nice indeed! I hope you don't mind me picking your brain (and your awesome rendering skills)? DAMN!!!! Good stuff all around!!! I wonder how long it would render at a wide aspect HD or film output? Any ideas? How'bout using AO? Sorry for all the questions but you seem to now your stuff here.... I'm interested because I am working on a short (still in development) and I would love to get the render times down if I can without losing the look. If need be we'll have to live with longer render times to get the right look. But so far what I've seen from your render it looks rather possible. Very VERY impressed. Dimos P.S. Oh by the way.....Rendering does NOT need to be always realistic so "YEAH!!!!" to the artistic rendering styles becoming more prevelant in the next gen of films and projects and so on.....

WOW!!! Beautiful renders.....what was the specs for setup, include resolution too please? Beautiful!... and please let me know render times. I know you said they were killing you but I still am interested. Dimos

Absent minded....Definitely! Professor....Not quite.....He's more a salesman....The travelling kind. I am glad to see the little nuances are getting picked up....I was shooting for that kind of thing. I must add Stian is doing a fantastic job converting my designs to the 3D world....I was a little worried at first that this character would be too "graphic" and "cartoony" for CG but Stian did an amazing job. He has been a great help, and an awesome guy to work with and he's real receptive to direction and critisms! The only unfortunate thing is we are doing this over the internet and I sure wish we could work side by side. He's a really smart guy and freaking talented, even more so that he's pretty much self taught. THANKS Stian. Anyway, thanks also to you all for the comments. I'll try to keep you all posted on the progress as much as I can. Dimos

Thanks guys! As far as the technical aspects of the model goes....Stian can better answer those questions. I'm sure he'll be on soon to answer what he can. But I am guessing it is an image map that was used with the bitmmapstyle plugin thingy..... ( I actually have somewhat of a technical understanding of this but it hurts my brain to use technical gargin.... Anyway I am glad you enjoy so far.... Thanks Dimos PERFECT!!!! You saw accidental adventures in this model and that is exactly what I was hoping for.....THANKS!!! Dimos

Hello All, I wasn't going to post anything for quite some time on our developments or productions (and so on) but I couldn't wait to show you the beginnings of our developments on our short film. Mind you this is still a work in progress and there are a few things to tweak, add or modify. This is just a simple test of how the main character is coming along. The designs are mine but since I am not able to model due to lack of time and of course it would take me a hell of a lot longer then someone who actually eats, poops and sleeps modeling, I had to use the services of others. Special thanks goes to Stian Ervik Wahlvåg for offering up his skills on modeling this character. He is an extreme pleasure to work with. Oh by the way it was rendered in orthographical (no perspective) view. Reason being it is easier to compare the images as close as possible to the rough designs. We also used v13 AO (ambient occlusion?) to achieve the render and I must say I am pleased with the results. The copy you see here is a reduced image from a much larger file. The watermarking is for our company's intellectual rights and property protection and has to be present on any public display of our works in progress. I'm sure most of you understand all that. Well let us know your thoughts. If you have questions please ask. Who knows it may even get answered . Enjoy (if you want that is) Dimos [attachmentid=14824]

In that case....GO FOR IT! Just remember a KEY point.....BELIEVABILITY is everything.....no matter how "whimsical" the piece. Dimos