Maya tutorial on screencast.com

Hello blog, haven't posted since the Holidays. Here's a very basic polygon modeling video I made using "Jing". Let's see if this embed works.

Its raining a LOT in LA. Reminds me of Bladerunner.

Animation Guild Holiday Open House

Things are really looking tough for a lot people. Got to keep the pressure on Obama and stop the Republicans bent on giving everything away to multi-national corporations with NO allegiance to the United States.

Thanks again to the Guild, and all our member users for keeping the Lab in business.

Many Democrats are also bent on giving everything away to multi-national corporations with NO allegiance to the United States.

My bad.

Bear Airship Comic

Since it's the day after Thanksgiving, (or "stanksgiving" as someone on Facebook said)

And since everyone is bloated, right?

My thoughts turned back to my bear's airship. Yeah, blimps aren't practical since they can't travel far, can't travel fast and strong winds can destroy them.

BUT...

They do have a longer "loitering" time than an airplane does, and they stay airborne after an EM pulse. Plus Herman would have some kind of techno-magic to get the ship to do impossible things...

Did a little research, the issue seems to be the wind resistance created by such a large, broad volume moving against the atmosphere. I came up with the "vortex Drive" that would create a partial vacuum in front of the ship, and therefore drag it forward.

Sort of like the warp drive on the Enterprise...

This is an old sketch of the airship Utopia in its hangar after Herman (and Professor Behrman) have finished it. They live in a more magic world, but there has to be some believability in its mechanics.

http://www.google.com/search?q=the%20manned%20cloud&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iw&start=0

http://www.hyperblimp.com/future-hyperblimp/

http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2008/q3/080708c1_pr.html

The Creative Talent Network Animation Expo

...has left the building. It was fun, met some cool people, and even a few old friends...

But,

How do we help animation people get back to work?

Animation on the Moon...

Personally, I don't believe they'll find enough water on the moon to sustain a human colony. Plus the effort and the cost...You get the idea. Some scientists say the human race may go extinct if we don't move on to other worlds; that's in case there is some catastrophe on Earth. But MAYBE if we stopped trying to destroy each other...we could build resilient living areas and preserve what's left of our natural resources that will help us survive...Not just survive, but live more meaningfully.

Been awhile since I posted...Setting up for the CTN Expo took more out of me than I thought. Next time I'll get more help to lug our stuff.

http://www.ctnanimationexpo.com/

And I missed the Moon. My favorite stellar object. Magic and energy seem to disappear when she's gone. Maybe set up a studio there?

http://www.calculatorcat.com/moon_phases/moon_phases.phtml

The Iron Giant lives! 10 year anniversary reunion.

Got to see Brad Bird and the other top artists that brought this great film to life.
This blurred picture is my only decent snapshot of some of the crew that was there that night. Trying to avoid being a total fan-boy, I let the younger fans and animation students get autographs and pictures taken with Brad Bird. Almost near the end, I was able to shake his hand, but Brad was distracted, and Warner Security was trying to herd us towards the exits. They also turned out the lights, so Brad couldn't see who I was. I tried using the flashlight in my cell phone, but that was pathetic.

I'm still disappointed, but not surprised, when big corporations have to cajoled into producing gems like the Iron Giant. Some have complained that the animation isn't on a Disney level, or that the scenes are too talky. I say look at "Home on the Range" or "Treasure Planet", and ask which of their worlds draws us in.

Still, it was a privilege to be there, and I got to speak a bit with some of the other artists, especially the one who developed the cel-shaders for the Iron Giant in Maya. He gave the CG a more hand drawn look, and he was working with one of the early beta-versions of Maya. Gotta tip my hat to him!

Over the Mountain comic in the TMZ, (I think.)

would like to thank these shops for carrying my Over the Mountain mini comics.

http://hidehocomics.com/

http://www.meltcomics.com/

http://www.artoffiction.com/HOS_index.html

Hope you can check it out.

Thank you to all the shop owners for giving shelf space to Herman Bear.