A First Look at V!

MORENA BACCARIN AS A LIZARD! That’s got to be good – as well as the little reference to Independence Day ripping off the original V – I love it!!

So much for top secret…

Just doing a search on the web, to see if anything had come out about the job I working on…

…talk about me being out of touch.

http://feeds.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/08_august/21/animation.shtml

This came out on the 8th of August! Well, roast my chestnuts! It means I can talk about it, which is great, but I can’t show anything or really explain much at all. Not to worry, at least I can talk about what’s going on a little bit within the bounds of an NDA, of course.

Anyway, here’s the deal. I am working at Hullabaloo studios as a VFX guy and compositor on CBBC’s commission of “Muddle Earth” based loosely upon the story created by Paul Stewart and Chris Liddell. And it’s a blast. The team of animators, both remote and in the studios office, are producing some amazing animation, the backgrounds are stunning and very painted in their feel and I am having a wonderful time putting the two together. I have no intention of giving anything away, but the dialogue is tight, the vocal talents are well up there – there were some re-recordings today, in fact – and the gags are really well performed. In all honesty, I know this sounds like a love-in, but in the words of Confucius:

“If you love what you do, you’ll never work another day in your life. ”

As and when I can tell you stuff, I’ll put it up. For now I’ll just say that After Effects CS4, a 64 bit PC with more processing power than I’ve ever seen in one box and an Wacom Intuos 4 are my weapons at the mo. Oh, and Maya 2010. Not gotten round to even looking at TOXIC, sorry, Maya Composite, and if this goes the way it seems, It’ll be a while until I do.

Speak to you soon

Fire and Ice

Well, the first two days at my new place of work – albeit for about a year – has already thrown up some interesting things.

Firstly, the first episode of this show that must remain nameless is probably going to be the hardest. I have met the animators – serious cred to these guys, they are animating in Flash and they’ve got to get up to 8 seconds a day! – and they are all really great people. And I have broken down the VFX that I have to create. There are around 183 shots in the first episode, and around 50 of these are going to be quite effects heavy; the most biggest stumbling blocks being the fact that everything begins frozen – except for the characters – and then after one thing or another there is a resolution that includes fireballs.

So, no pressure there then (gulps).

And, due to the imminent release of Maya 2010 – come on Autodesk – I have been denied a computer. Great joy. It will now be on order since, as of today at Siggraph, people now know the approximate required spec for this Matchmoving, Toxic wasteland of Autodesk’s bundled creation. So, I will be After Effecting and Dynamic making in no time. I hope so, the schedules not getting any longer.

Erk.

Seven years and six months ago…

…I started working for 422 Manchester. It was quite a time of change for me; my wife was pregnant, our house back in London was sold one minute then not sold the next. We had already bought the house in Derbyshire and our finances were all over the place. Everything was in a state of flux.

422 was a wonderful rock that helped to stabilise us. And the last seven and a half years have been amazing. But time waits for no man, and I’m not getting any younger – despite the painting of me in my loft looking older by the day – and for one reason or another today is my last day at 422 Manchester.

It has been great. The years have flown by in what feels like a couple of weeks. I will always have fond memories of this place – I am sitting at my desk here as I write this – but I decided to change my path. A little for now, but perhaps a lot more in the not too distant future.

I am going to be working on a bit of a hush hush children’s project for the BBC over the next year. I’m not entirely sure what I can say, but I will be keeping this blog a little more regular.

I’ll still be writing for 3DWorld. They’re not getting rid of me that easily.

Anyway, I’ve got a few things to finish up, so I had better be getting on.

Speak to you soon

G

street tests on Vimeo

An amzing test using particulate in After Effects. I would watch out for this guy.Testing out Particular 2, ON THE STREET!
Sound design by skeletonsuit.com
Shot with a little Canon SD960.
Tracked with PFHoe Pro pfhoe.com

Quicktime at trapcode.com/gallery/p2_street_tests.mov

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Kuroshio Sea – 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world – shot on 5dmk2 on Vimeo

Wow.  Just one word, “Wow” is all I have to describe the beauty of this piece of footage.

Jon Rawlinson, Canadian Producer, Cameraman and Editor, has filmed the second largest aquarium in the world and put a track to it called “Please Don’t Go” by Barcelona.  Its a single shot locked off camera that coupled with the music has the power to bring tears to the eyes.   I personally felt overwhelmed and a little insignificant in the world watching this.

He makes an important point about saving the oceans and its life on his vimeo page.  Check it out.   The man has a wonderful eye for visual beauty.

I recommend hitting the fullscreen button and playing it.

Supernatural’s Lucifer

Here in the UK, the last episode of season 4 of “Supernatural” aired about a week ago, with the opening of Hell and, I am assuming, the direct opposite of God Rays coming out of it heralding the rise of Lucifer.

Well, the identity of Lucifer has been confirmed as Mark Pellegrino.

Jacob in Lost.

An abusive husband in “Dexter”.

Now Lucifer.

So, not really typecast as a seriously deranged individual, then…

TORCHWOOD PLAYS

Prior to the airing of Children of Earth, The BBC has commissioned and produced three audio dramas based on the characters in Torchwood, the first of which, “Asylum” airs on BBC Radio 4 tomorrow at 2.15pm.  Bit of a bugger of a time, this, when you are working and you can’t get to a radio.  However, the joys of the BBC internet sites means that without too much bother there is a link to these said plays which makes them available for download for a week after each is broadcast.

Glad I found it too.  It’s :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/torchwood/download/

and I reckon it’s servers are going to be busy tomorrow.

Children of Earth, Day One

BBC One 21:00  6 Jul 2009

• Torchwood: Asylum

  2.15-3.00pm, Wednesday 1 July 2009

  When PC Andy arrests a teenager for shoplifting, he thinks it is going to be a routine case. Then he sees the weapon she is carrying and decides to call in the Torchwood team.
  By Anita Sullivan.

  Download available here on 1 July 2009.

• 
  

  Torchwood: Golden Age

  2.15-3.00pm, Thursday 2 July 2009

  The Torchwood team are led to Delhi on the trail of a dangerous energy field.
  By James Goss.

  Download available here on 2 July 2009.

• 
  

  Torchwood: The Dead Line

  2.15-3.00pm, Friday 3 July 2009

  When a Cardiff hospital is inundated with patients who have fallen into coma – like trances, Torchwood move in to investigate.
  By Phil Ford.

  Download available here on 3 July 2009.

Related Links

On Radio 4

• Episode 1 – Torchwood: Asylum
• Episode 2 – Torchwood: Golden Age
• Episode 3 – Torchwood: The Dead Line

On bbc.co.uk

• Torchwood

Elsewhere on the web

• Torchwood Forum

Been a while…

Sorry for the time I’ve not been posting.

Work has been quite a rollercoaster, the highs and lows of advertising taking its toll initially and now springing back to heights unseen for a while.

Anyway, I have put the 3DWorld tutorials for magazine 111 – 117 up on my website.  These are:

111 – How can I make an occlusion textureUV map in Maya?

112 – Is there a simple flocking procedure in Maya?

113 – How do I create is a material with the look of tarnished silver?

114 – Is there a way to stop Paint Effects flickering during camera moves?

115 – How do I create a tooth brushing action in Maya?

116 – How do I simulate a magnet, like balls rolling to a common point?

117 – How do I grow Maya’s Hair system?

I hope they are of some interest.  If there is anything that you would like to see on the website, or even have a question asked, please ask me.

Thanks for reading

Slagsmålsklubben – Sponsored by destiny on Vimeo

Take a look at this: A wonderful take on the story of Little Red Riding Hood.

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