The Blog of Action!

Compositing Assignment

2008-12-19T15:09:00.004-07:00

For my Renderman class we had to build something in 3d and then compose it into a real picture. I wanted to make it as simple as possible, but instead I ended up with something that I am quite proud of, even if I am color-blind. ;)

Robot Wall Jump

2008-12-19T14:58:00.005-07:00

Hi everyone,

Continuing my bi-annual tradition, here is another post on my blog.

Yay for bad compression! Let me just tell you how many ugly conversions this had to go through:

Playblasted from maya to iff -> Converted from iff to jpeg with XnView -> Converted jpeg sequence to Quicktime mov with ffmpeg -> Converted from Quicktime mov to .flv format on blogger.

Ugh, that's 5 conversions. Maybe instead of doing it all from the Linux command-line I should just use Adobe After Effects.

A Post! A Post! We've Really Got a Post Hey!

2008-06-28T18:02:00.003-07:00

Hey! I posted! It's not that I'm not doing anything, it's that I'm not doing anything worthy of putting up on a artistic blog. Most of what I do is technical these days, and between my job, trying to render out Kites, and my steady girlfriend, there isn't time for much artsy fartsy stuff right now. Besides, who reads this thing anyway?

And you thought I'd forgotten all about it....

2008-03-16T12:16:00.003-07:00

Ok, maybe I had.

I've been getting a lot of complaints about me not updating my blog. To all those people: CAN IT!

Just kidding. I'm actually very flattered that there are people that actually look at my blog, let alone want more. SO! Here's a little animation to get us started:

You know what time it is...

2007-12-24T21:06:00.001-07:00

The End of the Bug

2007-12-12T12:59:00.000-07:00

After a long and perilous six-week struggle with the all-powerful gods of Maya, I have been bestowed with two images worthy to be regarded as "the fruit of my labors". Peer mortals, and behold, the epic result of an unearthly conflict, formed in belly of the foundations of the earth, and the majesty of the stars:

- James

UV Mapping Fun

2007-12-10T22:35:00.000-07:00

Well, all of us in our Sophmore class is working our butts off to get our bugs done, and boy, it's turning out to be harder than anyone expected. But imagine my surprise when I split my neck UV map and it turned out to be as adorable as this:

Aww, cute ain't it? A daddy swan and a mommy swan, all inexplicibly generated from my bug's UV map, no touching up with Photoshop or anything. I can't help but wonder what kind of message Maya is trying to send to me...

- James

3d Assignment #1

2007-11-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

Here is the final image for my teapot. I made it without any previous 3d experience whatsoever, so, I think it went pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Monthly Blog Post

2007-11-26T09:15:00.000-07:00

Hey! I'm updating my blog. Congratulations if you've been reading.

Just a word: For anyone that saw Beowolf, I hope that you were as disappointed as me. If anything, Beowulf is a huge step backward for animation. Sure, the story wasn't too bad and the character design was sorta ok, but there was plently there that made my feathers ruffle the wrong way.

The biggest thing that got me was the lack of maturity in its execution. Even with all the nudity and obscene violence (guess you can get away with a lot more if its CG), this film hardly felt grown-up. Instead, it felt more like, hey! lookie! we got CG backgrounds and stupid swooping camera angles and 3D glasses effects galore! OOOOOh!

I hate 3D films (the kind that use the glasses), and that's partially why I'm rooting so hard for it to flop. For all the stupid spears poked in my eye and crazy jumping shots, I felt more like I was in an amusement ride than a film, and that's especially bad considering the seriousness that Beowolf tried to betray.

As such, I feel like the film betrayed itself, its viewers, and the animation industry in general. Don't agree with me? That's fine, we all have our own opinions. If you agree or want to read more rants about it, try this excellent blog post:

http://mayersononanimation.blogspot.com/2007/11/bo-wulf.html

- James

Latest Storyboarding Assignment

2007-11-21T16:40:00.000-07:00

Here's the ending part of the latest storyboard assignment I've done. It was supposed to be a Disney Channel story pitch, but I eventually got tired of it and threw in a good DBZ moment just to spice things up a bit. What's funny is that my joke became one of the most entertaining aspects of our pitch. I guess passion is better than convention when telling a story.

- James

More storyboarding...

2007-11-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

Here's the progression of my storyboard assignments, going from the earliest to the latest. I, for one, note a real, distinct improvement from assignment to assignment, and I find that highly encouraging. The next blog post will have my very latest assignment.

- James

Misc. Artwork

2007-11-20T17:59:00.000-07:00

Here's some designs I made for our storyboarding class. It's an old tale with a donkey, a dog, and a monkey. It started as a native american tale, and eventually I started drawing chibi characters, don't know why. I still haven't decided if I wanted God to be the little japanese guy or not... :P

Portraits

2007-10-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

Just a few portraits. Can you guess who they are?

Answers:
1. Harry Reid, I hate politics.
2. Kelli Loosli (duh)
3. If you don't know how to read, it's Tony Rider.

A few words about Tony Rider. Go check out his website, he is the author of The Artists Complete Guide To Figure Drawing, and he came to guest speak at BYU last Wednesday. Although his methods to drawing are slow and unimaginative, I really did appreciate getting insight into his thought process, how he comes to see art. That's kind of what I believe, each work of art is a window into the idealist mind of its artist. It's the closest you'll ever come to being able to swap eyes with someone else, and it's something that absolutely deserves the attention of it's viewers.

The Outside World

2007-10-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

So, after being in my room for about two days straight just working on my animation and homeworks and stuff, I finally got my courage together to take a shower and go outside. This is what I saw:

Yeah, I had forgotten how nice it is to go outside. Something about the fresh air and slow, strolling pace seems to encourage the best out of me, and I always return home feeling refreshed and renewed. Fall has always been a magical season for me, where the earth seems to take a somber tone as it prepares for winter.

Good link

2007-07-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.snap2objects.com/2007/07/20/45-best-freeware-design-programs/

This is a great page with 45 freeware art programs for the computer nearest to you. I've tried a few of these, primarily Gimp, and I must say its a heck of a lot better than starving yourself to get the $300 Photoshop. Go check em out!

Because I'm Awesome

2007-07-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

In Utah?!?

2007-06-20T23:41:00.001-07:00

At least that's what In-and-Out burger seems to think. [link]

Basically, in American Fork there's a place named "Chowder's", which is a near copycat of In-and-Out. I ate at In-and-Out during my last trip to California, and I found it pretty disappointing: definitely not as good as Burger Supreme in Provo. But I'm still interested at trying out this rip-off place...

So anyone wanna go check it out? And uhh... by the way... could you pay for me? kthx.

Sketches from Spring' 07!!!

2007-06-19T19:41:00.002-07:00

(Click to enlarge.)

There, I finally put something up. I hope all one of you are happy.

Update

2007-06-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

My blog has a new look to it. A little more cluttered, but more snazzy. I'll stick with it for a bit and see if I change my mind later.

Oh and now that I'm actually going to have this page linked with other BYU student's blogs, I actually have good reason to put some artwork on here! Hurray! No more procrastination! Speaking of which, if anyone knows where I can find a good community scanner, let me know...

Oh, and just so that this post isn't too boring:

GOTCHYA!

2007-06-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I won the rock, paper, scissors tournament at the multi-stake overnighter a few weeks back. For all you aspiring rookies out there, behold the strategies for success.
I'm a little depressed today. Maybe it's the rain? Makes good drawings for my drawing class though.

James

A killer concert

2007-05-31T23:50:00.000-07:00

Yeah so while I've still go some Rockstar keeping me awake...

I just got done seeing The Killers at the Saltair. It was surprisingly good. The crowd was a little lame, mostly preppy dudes cuddling with their blond girlfriends, but the presentation was top-notch. Cool lighting, lots of confetti, and the crazy singing of Brandon Flowers kept me entertained, which is especially good since I don't even know the band that well.

There are many bands that I liked until I see them in concert (H20, The Used). There are many other bands that I never cared for until I saw them live (Flogging Molly, Bombshell Rocks, most local bands). At least for me, The Killers sit with the latter.

-Rev. ACtion

New blog

2007-05-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

I dunno, I just felt like I needed a blog, so I made one. Don't think that anyone will actually read this thing though...

Have you ever had a hunger that you just couldn't satisfy? To the point where you just lay around unable to do anything at all about it? Yeah, that's me, and I've been hungry for months now...

On less-vague note, I'm going to see The Killers tomorrow with sister and my good friend Jessie, on Friday I'm going to a Japanese tradition concert, and on Saturday I'm going to eat cookies. YUM.

I also need a car. Am I the only one that can't ever seem to make purchases involving large amounts of money? It's a terrible, terrible thing.

Maybe I'll have more interesting things to say later...

The Rev Jackson