Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! It's been a busy last couple weeks. And I have to work Christmas eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day...which is really too bad.
Anyway, here's a quick christmas tree model I slapped together and rendered in Maya...I'm trying to realize it's Christmas tomorrow!

Digital High Definition Camcorders

This is something I would love to have. As a amateur filmmaker, it would be very nice to have a camera that shoots a decent picture. It's very convenient now to have a digital camcorder and a good film editing software package. Together they can help you create am awesome film on a low budget. This Sony camcorder costs around $5000US...it would really beat the Samsung camcorder I'm currently using.

Christmas Commercials Before Halloween?!?!

There was some really early Christmas advertising this year. I heard commercials on the radio before Halloween had even gone by...that's pretty early for the Christmas Commercialism to start, don't you think...? Since Halloween is now past, I'm sure that all the stores will have their Christmas decorations up by the time I'm done writing this blog...

Looking For Apartments To Rent

I went looking for an apartment today. Since I recently accepted a job offer at Sitel, I need a place to stay for a while. I start training Sunday afternoon, so there really isn't to much time left to find a good spot. I'd really prefer a bachelor apartment, actually just something where I'm on my own. I dodn't really like the idea of sharing a place...although I know it's cheaper...There's some high-rise apartments that aren't too expensive, and I'm still looking at a few houses with apartments (maybe basement, like my old place) I hope I find something soon!

A Few New PC Games

I bought a couple computer games recently. One was GTR 2, a FIA GT racing sim. Another game that I have got in more recent times is Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter...that's a long name, which is why it is usually referred to as GRAW. I plan on buying The Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones game sometime soon. Other games on my buy-sometime-soon list include The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion; Company of Heroes; Splinter Cell: Double Agent; and FEAR. These are all PC games, although many are available on consoles as well. GAME ON!

Coffee + Coca-Cola = Enough Caffeine

Here's an equation - Coffee + Coca-Cola = Enough Caffeine. Brilliant. If I'm feeling tired out, but I want to keep going without falling asleep all the time, I need my coca-cola at night, and my coffee in the morning...hahaha. It would be better to sleep a bit more, but it's more fun to sit in front of a computer screen with a can of coke in your hand. OK, I'm joking, and I'm really not addicted to caffeine at all...although I just had a brainwave - we can build a Tim Horton's on our street corner!

A Couple 24 Inch Widescreen Monitors

Here's two cool 24 inch widescreen LCD monitors. They both have a resolution of 1920 x 1200. That's great for games that support it, but you need to have a decent videocard to push pixels at this resolution - especially with anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering on. Some games that I have and would like to play in widescreen are (of course) Half-life 2 and its following episodes; Age of Empires 3; and Far Cry. Valve makes the Half-life series work perfectly in widescreen and Age of Empires can work, but I've heard it stretches the HUD at the bottom of the screen. Anyway, these widescreen monitors are great for a lot more things than just games - widescreen movies look nice, and you have a lot more screen area for working on things like Maya. You can have two windows side-by-side, for example. And LCD monitors are awesome because they don't put off as much heat or take up as much space as the old CRT monitors (yep, I know all about that, my 19 inch CRT is almost as deep as my desk - they really isn't much room left in front of it).

Oh, by the way, the silver monitor here is the Samsung Syncmaster 244T($1759.99) and the black monitor is the Dell Ultrasharp 2407FPW (on sale right now for $799.99). These prices are in Canadian dollars and the Dell is definitely a better price...:)

Star Wars

I found this article a while back on the Star Wars website. The article compares the differences between the original Star Wars movie(1977) and the latest dvd release version(2004). I knew there was some changes, but the picture for picture comparisons were interesting - there was many small updates I never noticed before. Here is a comparison shot from the article. I believe this change was made in the Star Wars Special Edition from 1997.

The Sony PSP Still Looks Nice

It would be cool to get a Sony PSP sometime. They retail for around $229 for the base package. It would negate the need to purchase a mp3 player (in a way). I think the only negative aspect in PSP vs a mp3 player is the lack of decent storage (and the size) of the PSP. The PSP uses the memory stick pro duo format. You can buy 2GB sticks for about $99. Just compare that to a 30GB MP3 player that costs $359 vs (Base PSP - $229 + 2GB memory stick x 2 - $199 = $429 for 4GB of space). Still, the PSP does do a lot more than music - you can play games, of course, watch movies, listen to music, use it to hold files, etc. Right - the PSP is for games! No questions asked now! :D

The Canon EOS Rebel XT 8.0MP SLR

This is the camera I've been eyeing for some time. It's an awesome digital camera and it's actually on sale right now at Futureshop. The sale includes a 2GB CompactFlash card as well as a camera bag. It's an SLR camera, so unfortunately the price is pretty high - the sale price for this package is $984.99...But hey, it's an investment after all; with a camera like this you can be(or at least pretend to be) a professional photographer...;)

X-Men 3: The Last Stand is out on DVD

The latest in the X-men movie series is out on DVD. I plan on waiting until they release all three movies together in a trilogy pack, so I won't be picking up the movie just yet. I actually haven't seen it anyway, so I might just rent it first.

Yamaha Keyboards are Cool, but Expensive

I'm thinking of getting a (musical) keyboard sometime. I'd use it to create custom soundtracks for my movie projects and also just to play around with other music as well. This is a nice Yamaha model, the MO8. It's not the most expensive, but it's still around $1500 US. Yikes...I'm gonna need a couple #1 hit CDs to pay it off when I get it...:D

I'm Working On My Portfolio

More sketching, drawing, painting....Another character sketch this is...

Intel Core 2 Quadro

Ok, Intel is supposed to be bringing out a quad-core cpu before the end of this year. SWEET! It's called Core 2 Quadro, I believe. That would be nice for Maya...:D...it natively supports 4 threads. Oh Yeah!

Here's the room with the plasma tv in it. Everything is modeled in Maya. There's a lot of small items I have to still put into the scene. Also, I still have to tweak the lighting.

More CG on the Way

The previous plasma tv model is only a single part from a room scene I'm creating. I've got a tv stand, a leather couch, and other things modeled as well. I'll probably put up a few more pics soon...

The Only Plasma TV I Can Afford

Here's a Plasma tv I modeled in Maya: The first version is rendered with the Maya Vector renderer, which is like a cartoon shader, as you can see. The second version is rendered with the Mental Ray renderer.

Character Drawings

Practice for drawing cartoon characters...

Catapults!

I was working on a animated catapult a few weeks ago. The two catapults fire rocks at the tower, smashing a couple holes into it.

A Virtual Summer Barbeque

Well, here's a cg barbeque, anyway...Done in Maya, as always. And actually, it's now time to cook up a few hotdogs on a real BBQ...

A couple HL2 screenshots

This is the Combine, the savage alien race you fight against in the game.

Here's an in-game shot of Alyx...the facial animation is really good...

Half-life 2: Game of the year (2004) and always!

I have decided to put up some more stuff on Half-life 2. It's THE Game, man!...and even though it has been out for more than a year, nothing has come close to touching it.

Here are three box art variations for the original game release. There was a collector's edition box that featured all three styles together (which I purchased... haha).


This is the Gordon Freeman version - he's the iconic character you play as in the game.



This is the Alyx Vance cover - she is one of the main characters who works together with you throughout the game.


This is the G-man style - this guy is a mysterious figure who apparently hires you for reasons withheld.

Half-life 2 Episode 1

In November 2004, the most amazing game I have ever played, Half-life 2, was released worldwide. It was the sequel to 1998's best-selling game, Half-life. Two weeks ago, the first expansion for Half-life 2 came out. Called Episode 1, it is the first of three "episodes". It continues the HL2 story, picking up right where it abruptly ended. Episode 1 brings more team-based gameplay to the table, as you fight alongside the character, Alyx for most of the journey. You end up growing attached to the characters in the game, as the voice acting is super...not to mention the excellent facial and character animation. Anyway, Episode 1 was really awesome. The only problem is the game ends far too soon. Can't wait till Episode 2 is released this November!

Man, I would love to get one of these!...or maybe two!


Nvidia has released an updated videocard again - the 7950GX2. This is a dual gpu card that is comprised of two cores. It's basically two 7900 GTX cards bolted together, although with slightly slower clock speeds. However, it can be conbined in an SLI setup...that would be Quad SLI. Nvidia is not supporting SLI for this card yet in the DIY geek sector; only computer companies like Dell, for instance. However, support will eventually follow...they won't ignore the enthusiasts who build their own systems!:D

The Weather is Grrrreat!

By the way, it's really nice outside right now. The sun is shining, and the temperature is above 80 F. Apparently, summer is finally on it's way...after a miserably cold and rainy Victoria Day weekend.

Quit Smoking!

Haha, this guy loves his cigars... until something mysterious appears on his forehead. Righto! As this drawing shows, I'm still working on my character sketches. This particular pose was inspired by a character sketch I saw from Disney's upcoming CG movie, Meet the Robinsons.

On The Subject of Spaceships

This is with a special-effects glow.


Here's an early render of the ship's rocket pack...

I Still Want To Make A Science Fiction Film

Yep, here's another version of my space scene. This is done in Maya (of course!). I keep redoing this basic scene (where a spaceship flies into view, and then into the distance). Eventually, I hope all these fragments will be put together into a movie of sorts. This is the most recent clip - it has a few newly designed spacestations and the new spaceship.

Virtual Lego Man

I built a quick model of my younger brother's lego robot. In the animation the bot unfolds and rises from a stationary position, then runs across the floor (kicking a few lego bricks in the process). I animated the first brick being kicked and used Maya's built-in dynamics to have the other bricks react with the first.

Reduced Render Times!!!!

OK...I was able to get a new Maya license on my new computer. I ran a test render from an identical frame on both my computers(new and old). The frame that took 143secs to render on my old system was done in 47secs on my new system. WOW! One-third of the time...I like this!

First Look

Well, there are the first photos...it's a pain to upload stuff right now, simply because the internet is so slow...I mean slow...really slow. Almost at a stop.

Oh well, the computer is fast anyway! Yeehah! I overclocked the processor, the AMD X2 4800+, up from it's stock speed of 2.4Ghz to 2.6Ghz. I actually got it up to 2.7Ghz, but I backed it down to give it a little temperature headroom. The nVidia 7800GTX videocard is also overclocked - 500Mhz core/1260Mhz memory versus the original 450Mhz core/1200 Mhz memory speeds.

A close up of the interior. You can see the LED activity indicators on the RAM...:) The CPU cooling fan and heatsink (Arctic Cooling 64 Pro) take up a lot of space. Actually, it barely fit over the first RAM stick - I had to cut out the bottom piece of the fan guard. The rear case fan is illuminated by blue LED lights

*Update: Sorry this looks a little too dark...I was trying to pick up the LEDs. Anyway, I'll get a better pic later on.*

Here's a photo of my new computer. This is the Thermaltake Tsunami case, with dual 120mm fans and a single 90mm fan on the side panel.

My Computer Is Complete!

YEAH!!!...This is an excting moment! My computer system is up and running! Everything is running really smooth, especially games! :D! I'll be putting up some pictures and more detailed info soon.

Painting With Oil

I continue to paint as the job search goes on. Whoa - one week unemployed; not good. The real problem is where I live: there's a trade-off between no (good) jobs and a place to stay for free - or a half decent job with rental fees. Rural communities have their advantages, but local job opportunities are definitely not one of them...Oh well...keeping up the search. Something's bound to happen sooner or later. And the art gallery is beginning to fill. It might just open soon...

Here is a half-finished oil painting I'm working on.

A Small Maya Update

I decided to have some fun and created a CG model of my new CPU fan(I just bought it for the new computer I'm building). I plan on animating it - the fan blades will spin while the camera view moves around...:D

Here's one of several rendered views.

It Was A Good Ski Season

The snow has mostly melted away now and skiing is now more. But it was nice while it lasted. Since I worked at a ski resort and got a free season's pass, I managed to get in a little more skiing than the previous couple years. I had some fun weekends hittin' the slopes with a ski instuctor I knew. The main thing was to stay slightly behind so that any wipeouts would be(hopefully) unnoticed...:)

I'll try to get a few pics of the hill up before the summer...lol

Do Ads Pay?

I'm really wondering if there are any affiliated ads out on the net that actually pay you anything. I've done surveys and things such as adsense, but nothing really pays that much. I think the ads need to look more attractive...haha

And on a different track...I'm looking up some UV lights for my computer case. I want a few things to glow inside the window...hahaha

Back to the Paint

I'm back at it...painting, that is. I'm going to try to get a wide variaty of paintings done in a (hopefully) short time. Prints of these paintings will then be sold (at bargain prices, I might add). The originals will be sold off at higher prices, of course. And then, in comes the big bucks...or wait a minute...if I'm the one actually doing the paintings, then they won't be valuable till I'm long dead, darn it! OK - the art world has got to change!

Buying Used Cars

I was looking at autotrader.ca the other day, and I found a deal on a Pontiac Sunfire. The Sunfire isn't my first choice in cars because I feel it has a "mass-produced" image (there's too many of them!). However, it is one of the cheapest cars you can buy...lol...so... The car I found was a 1999 Pontiac Sunfire GT, black, with pw,pl,pm. There's alloy rims, a spoiler, and a cd player. It has 150,000 km on it...not bad. And the sale price is $3900 (that's in Canadian dollars).

FINALLY BUILDING MY PC!!! OH YEAH!

Here's something that's really cool - I'm finally ordering parts for the new computer I'm building! YEAH!!! I got the Nvidia 7800GTX videocard off ebay...let's hope it works. I say that because although I have received the card, I have not been able to test it out. That's because the motherboard in my current system doesn't support the newer PCI-Express connector the 7800GTX has - it only has an AGP slot. So...here's the list of stuff that's going into my new pc.

CASE: Thermaltake Tsunami (All Aluminum, Windowed)
POWER SUPPLY: Antec NeoHE 550 (550W)
MOTHERBOARD: Asus SLI-Premium
PROCESSOR: AMD X2 4800+ (DUAl Core - 2.4 GHZ, 1MB Cache per core)
RAM: Corsair 3500LL-Pro (2GB low latency - 2,3,2,6 @218Mhz, LEDs)
VIDEOCARD: nVidia GeForce 7800GTX (256 MB)
HARD DRIVE: Western Digital SE16 (250 GB, 16MB Cache)
CPU COOLING FAN: Artic Cooling 64 Pro
OS: Windows XP Pro (w/service pack 2)

I plan on overclocking the CPU to at least 2.6GHZ...:)! Can't wait!

It's Been A While...Again

I really need to update this blog more often...
OK...I've been busy with work at Calabogie Peaks ski hill the last couple months. The job is drawing to an end now, though. So...it's time to find a new one. Exciting, eh.

Time To Get An Update On Here

Just thought I'd get an update on here....Yeah, I know, about time, huh. I've been busy with work, my portfolio, and Maya. Here's a pic from a space scene I'm working on. The models are done, although I may add a few small planets in the background. The only thing left to do before a final render is to finalize the lighting. I have some weird flickering on the planet surface when it is animated. ??? Gotta check the light links...;)