I mentioned our class in this thread on ZBrushCentral. It could get interesting if this turns into a serious discussion.
http://www.pixolator.com/zbc/showthread.php?p=370914&posted=1#post370914
Friday, June 22, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Capstone Breakthroughs
So I thought I was going to need a programmer, but I may not need one as much as I thought. I thought I was going to need a plug-in written for me to create some of the 3d features I've been envisioning, but I just found an already existing plug-in that seems to have all the features I need. I will still need somebody more knowledgeable to help me figure out some scripting, but I may already have a couple willing and able people for that.
So all I need now is a co-writer and a sound effects/music guy, and I will be good to go. I'm about to e-mail one of my parent's old friends from college who has already done some digital comic work.
I opened up Neobook for the first time today. I know I should have done this a long time ago, but ZBrush is so addictive! Neobook is an amazing program. I can literally drag and drop multimedia files onto a page and choose scripting commands from a pre-fabricated list. When finished, I hit compile, and it embeds the files into the project, compresses, and exports the whole package as a stand-alone .exe file that anybody can enjoy with a simple double-click. It's almost too good to be true. All I need to do is make art, drag-and-drop it onto a page, and do a bit of scripting work to accomplish all these lofty ideas that I've been so excited about.
I literally made the following file in about 30 seconds. http://rapidshare.com/files/37003486/Test.exe.html
So all I need now is a co-writer and a sound effects/music guy, and I will be good to go. I'm about to e-mail one of my parent's old friends from college who has already done some digital comic work.
I opened up Neobook for the first time today. I know I should have done this a long time ago, but ZBrush is so addictive! Neobook is an amazing program. I can literally drag and drop multimedia files onto a page and choose scripting commands from a pre-fabricated list. When finished, I hit compile, and it embeds the files into the project, compresses, and exports the whole package as a stand-alone .exe file that anybody can enjoy with a simple double-click. It's almost too good to be true. All I need to do is make art, drag-and-drop it onto a page, and do a bit of scripting work to accomplish all these lofty ideas that I've been so excited about.
I literally made the following file in about 30 seconds. http://rapidshare.com/files/37003486/Test.exe.html
Sugar Gliders Update
We made major strides tonight! They're really beginning to warm up to us. When they first woke up, they still crabbed at us and retreated from our hands. Now that I'm about to go to bed, they no longer crab at me or flee my hands. They curiously sniff and then nibble at my fingers. They even allow me to pet them a little bit. Towards the end, I had them coming to me almost by command. If I stood nearby in a convenient place and made some encouraging noises, and maybe held my hand out, I could get them to jump onto me.
They are so very playful and interesting, and incredible climbers. Today, they were climbing on a 7' tall lamp of ours made of smooth plastic. They could only reach about halfway around it and couldn't get any grip with their claws, but still managed to scurry up the thing without too much effort. The way they climb drapes or wires is incredibly human-like. They pull themselves along hand over hand with their front paws just like a soldier climbing a rope. When they're on the ground (which isn't often) they hop and skitter from place to place very much like chipmunks.
Their noises are really fascinating. I mentioned crabbing already. That's the "leave me alone" noise they make when they're upset. It's a really loud noise that sounds very much like one of those old pencil sharpeners where you turned the handle and it broke your pencil every time. Everybody jumps the first time they hear it. They bark like puppies when they're happy. They make a coarse chirping noise when they argue or play rough with eachother. I also heard a noise like air being released from a valve, but I have no idea what that one meant.
And they're so smart too. They want to explore and figure out everything around them. We have a bunch of baby toys in their cage, and they play with them the same ways an infant does. Tonight I watched them chase eachother around in an almost hide and seek fashion. For a little while, I played a game with them where I repeatedly surprised them by poking them from behind, and they seemed to love it.
Overall, I'm in love. I've never had such a fascinating pet, and I've had quite a few pets. They're only 8 weeks old. I wonder how they're going to develop over the next 10-15 years of their lives.
They are so very playful and interesting, and incredible climbers. Today, they were climbing on a 7' tall lamp of ours made of smooth plastic. They could only reach about halfway around it and couldn't get any grip with their claws, but still managed to scurry up the thing without too much effort. The way they climb drapes or wires is incredibly human-like. They pull themselves along hand over hand with their front paws just like a soldier climbing a rope. When they're on the ground (which isn't often) they hop and skitter from place to place very much like chipmunks.
Their noises are really fascinating. I mentioned crabbing already. That's the "leave me alone" noise they make when they're upset. It's a really loud noise that sounds very much like one of those old pencil sharpeners where you turned the handle and it broke your pencil every time. Everybody jumps the first time they hear it. They bark like puppies when they're happy. They make a coarse chirping noise when they argue or play rough with eachother. I also heard a noise like air being released from a valve, but I have no idea what that one meant.
And they're so smart too. They want to explore and figure out everything around them. We have a bunch of baby toys in their cage, and they play with them the same ways an infant does. Tonight I watched them chase eachother around in an almost hide and seek fashion. For a little while, I played a game with them where I repeatedly surprised them by poking them from behind, and they seemed to love it.
Overall, I'm in love. I've never had such a fascinating pet, and I've had quite a few pets. They're only 8 weeks old. I wonder how they're going to develop over the next 10-15 years of their lives.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Sugar Gliders!!!!!!!
So a few weeks ago, my wife and I decided that a new pet would be good for us. Neither of us has as much time to spend with Hiro as we need to, and he doesn't get to see other kids much. We thought that a pet could be great for him in these circumstances.
We wanted something that can offer alot of playfulness, energy, and affection, but my wife and I both hate traditional pets. I love cats, but she's allergic. We both love reptiles, but they're not companions and they carry salmonella. Our snake has already made Hiro sick a couple times. Birds, dogs, fish, and rodents were all eliminated with little discussion. My wife did some research and discovered Sugar Gliders.
Sugar Gliders are little chipmunk sized marsupials native to Australia. They have flaps of skin along their sides like flying squirrels so they can glide (up to 300 yards, I hear). Their climbing ability is amazing, and beats out any other animal I've witnessed. They're nocturnal.
They're also born to be pets. In the wild, they only live 2 - 3 years. As pets, they often live 10 - 15 years. They love social interaction and bond well with humans. Glider owners are known to walk around in public with them simply perched on a shoulder or sleeping in a pocket because the owner is like home to them and they won't run away. They're extremely curious and playful. Their waking periods are 10 - 12 hours long, so there's tons of time to interact with them even if you sleep at night. They often learn their names and can be trained to respond to commands. They're even relatively clean. I've been pooped on several times, but it hasn't really bothered me. They poop little pea-sized dry pellets that don't really make much mess at all.
The only negatives I've seen so far with Sugar Glider pets? They're fragile, they're mischievous, and their diet requires alot of special attention. That's it. Otherwise they are perfect pets.
So my wife went looking for Sugar Glider offers online. They're a pretty rare find at a pet store. We managed to find a girl near Chicago who just had 2 baby sisters and was offering them for standard price. Perfect. As of now, they're about 8 weeks old and have only been weened for a week. Yesterday, we all piled into the car and went to pick them up, early in the morning. We spent the day exhausted as all hell preparing everything for when they woke up (carrying them around in a pouch hanging around our necks as we did so). Around 11:30 pm when they finally woke up, that exhausted just melted away.
They were frightened as all hell with the sudden change and seperation from their previous family, but we still had them eating out of our hands within 10 minutes. Within 30 minutes, they were both freely darting and climbing all over our computer room and having a blast exploring. They still need coaxing before they'll come to us, and they're still afraid of Hiro... but I am still amazed at how smoothly it went. I can't wait until they wake up again tonight, not long after I get back from class :)
I expect that they'll be bonded well enough by next week that I could take them to class. In the meantime, I'll have pictures and maybe a youtube video coming soon.
Oh ya. Their names are Ninja and Cherry.
We wanted something that can offer alot of playfulness, energy, and affection, but my wife and I both hate traditional pets. I love cats, but she's allergic. We both love reptiles, but they're not companions and they carry salmonella. Our snake has already made Hiro sick a couple times. Birds, dogs, fish, and rodents were all eliminated with little discussion. My wife did some research and discovered Sugar Gliders.
Sugar Gliders are little chipmunk sized marsupials native to Australia. They have flaps of skin along their sides like flying squirrels so they can glide (up to 300 yards, I hear). Their climbing ability is amazing, and beats out any other animal I've witnessed. They're nocturnal.
They're also born to be pets. In the wild, they only live 2 - 3 years. As pets, they often live 10 - 15 years. They love social interaction and bond well with humans. Glider owners are known to walk around in public with them simply perched on a shoulder or sleeping in a pocket because the owner is like home to them and they won't run away. They're extremely curious and playful. Their waking periods are 10 - 12 hours long, so there's tons of time to interact with them even if you sleep at night. They often learn their names and can be trained to respond to commands. They're even relatively clean. I've been pooped on several times, but it hasn't really bothered me. They poop little pea-sized dry pellets that don't really make much mess at all.
The only negatives I've seen so far with Sugar Glider pets? They're fragile, they're mischievous, and their diet requires alot of special attention. That's it. Otherwise they are perfect pets.
So my wife went looking for Sugar Glider offers online. They're a pretty rare find at a pet store. We managed to find a girl near Chicago who just had 2 baby sisters and was offering them for standard price. Perfect. As of now, they're about 8 weeks old and have only been weened for a week. Yesterday, we all piled into the car and went to pick them up, early in the morning. We spent the day exhausted as all hell preparing everything for when they woke up (carrying them around in a pouch hanging around our necks as we did so). Around 11:30 pm when they finally woke up, that exhausted just melted away.
They were frightened as all hell with the sudden change and seperation from their previous family, but we still had them eating out of our hands within 10 minutes. Within 30 minutes, they were both freely darting and climbing all over our computer room and having a blast exploring. They still need coaxing before they'll come to us, and they're still afraid of Hiro... but I am still amazed at how smoothly it went. I can't wait until they wake up again tonight, not long after I get back from class :)
I expect that they'll be bonded well enough by next week that I could take them to class. In the meantime, I'll have pictures and maybe a youtube video coming soon.
Oh ya. Their names are Ninja and Cherry.
Monday, June 4, 2007
What If...
I wasn't so sure about this exercise when I first started, but I ended up really liking it. I found that my What If's were kinda lame in the beginning and came to me really slowly, but as I continued they kept getting more creative, epic, and easier to conjure.
1. What If... ZBrush had a timeline?
2. What If... I had never discovered the internet?
3. What If... I had been a popular kid in school?
4. What If... You could record your dreams to watch again later?
5. What If... People listened to children?
6. What If... I had never discovered Pink Floyd?
7. What If... Syd Barrett had stayed with the band?
8. What If... Indoctrinating children was illegal?
9. What If... Walmart never happened?
10. What If... The earth was a hollow sphere, and we lived inside of it?
11. What If... I never had to sleep?
12. What If... The human sex drive disappeared?
13. What If... We all looked the same?
14. What If... Einstein never passed on the secret to the atom bomb?
15. What If... The ideals of Feudal Japan caught on in the modern world?
(I think America would have to commit one massive seppuku)
16. What If... Smoking cured cancer, but caused amnesia?
17. What If... We could work 24/7 and stay perfectly healthy?
How many people would live their lives in a cubicle?
18. What If... Superman was real? Would we work him to death?
19. What If... Empathy was a physical sixth sense, and we always felt the pain of those around us?
20. What If... Politicians faced real consequences for lies or recklessness?
21. What If... A zombie outbreak actually happened?
22. What If... We could all switch gender, just for a while?
23. What If... Making art was as easy as downloading thoughts?
Would art school be nothing but Seeing Sideways classes?
24. What If... All the possibilities of nanotechnology were realized, soon?
25. What If... I could ask god one question, but he could only answer with a number?
26. What If... God announced to the world that their is no meaning to life?
Would there be anarchy?
27. What If... I could do anything I wanted, just one time, and nobody could ever know what it was?
Would it be something bad?
28. What If... The human race had an infinite attention span?
29. What If... I could communicate or travel through a picture?
30. What If... We harvested, processed, and manufactured the entire earth?
Could we live on a planet made of junk?
Would it hold together or just disperse and disappear?
31. What If... I invented a new primary color?
32. What If... I could turn blood into gold?
33. What If... Insects waged war on humanity?
34. What If... Daylight was tinted red?
35. What If... I could smell music?
36. What If... By law, everybody had to say something nice at least twice a day?
37. What If... Violence disappeared from modern film?
38. What If... Guns didn't exist?
39. What If... The earth reversed its rotation & orbit today?
40. What If... Disputes were settled with games rather than violence?
41. What If... My third eye suddenly opened?
42. What If... Cannibalism turned mainstream?
43. What If... I was a prophet who found messages in the noses of perfect strangers?
44. What If... The entire world population slept through an entire day?
45. What If... Negative thoughts were an energy source?
46. What If... My child grew up to be a Buddha?
47. What If... The top 10 richest people in the world distributed their wealth to the poorest 10%?
48. What If... Caffiene ceased to exist?
49. What If... Every written record in the world vanished?
50. What If... I thought of something revolutionary for my 50th What If?
1. What If... ZBrush had a timeline?
2. What If... I had never discovered the internet?
3. What If... I had been a popular kid in school?
4. What If... You could record your dreams to watch again later?
5. What If... People listened to children?
6. What If... I had never discovered Pink Floyd?
7. What If... Syd Barrett had stayed with the band?
8. What If... Indoctrinating children was illegal?
9. What If... Walmart never happened?
10. What If... The earth was a hollow sphere, and we lived inside of it?
11. What If... I never had to sleep?
12. What If... The human sex drive disappeared?
13. What If... We all looked the same?
14. What If... Einstein never passed on the secret to the atom bomb?
15. What If... The ideals of Feudal Japan caught on in the modern world?
(I think America would have to commit one massive seppuku)
16. What If... Smoking cured cancer, but caused amnesia?
17. What If... We could work 24/7 and stay perfectly healthy?
How many people would live their lives in a cubicle?
18. What If... Superman was real? Would we work him to death?
19. What If... Empathy was a physical sixth sense, and we always felt the pain of those around us?
20. What If... Politicians faced real consequences for lies or recklessness?
21. What If... A zombie outbreak actually happened?
22. What If... We could all switch gender, just for a while?
23. What If... Making art was as easy as downloading thoughts?
Would art school be nothing but Seeing Sideways classes?
24. What If... All the possibilities of nanotechnology were realized, soon?
25. What If... I could ask god one question, but he could only answer with a number?
26. What If... God announced to the world that their is no meaning to life?
Would there be anarchy?
27. What If... I could do anything I wanted, just one time, and nobody could ever know what it was?
Would it be something bad?
28. What If... The human race had an infinite attention span?
29. What If... I could communicate or travel through a picture?
30. What If... We harvested, processed, and manufactured the entire earth?
Could we live on a planet made of junk?
Would it hold together or just disperse and disappear?
31. What If... I invented a new primary color?
32. What If... I could turn blood into gold?
33. What If... Insects waged war on humanity?
34. What If... Daylight was tinted red?
35. What If... I could smell music?
36. What If... By law, everybody had to say something nice at least twice a day?
37. What If... Violence disappeared from modern film?
38. What If... Guns didn't exist?
39. What If... The earth reversed its rotation & orbit today?
40. What If... Disputes were settled with games rather than violence?
41. What If... My third eye suddenly opened?
42. What If... Cannibalism turned mainstream?
43. What If... I was a prophet who found messages in the noses of perfect strangers?
44. What If... The entire world population slept through an entire day?
45. What If... Negative thoughts were an energy source?
46. What If... My child grew up to be a Buddha?
47. What If... The top 10 richest people in the world distributed their wealth to the poorest 10%?
48. What If... Caffiene ceased to exist?
49. What If... Every written record in the world vanished?
50. What If... I thought of something revolutionary for my 50th What If?
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