Bloopatone.com

The science is back, baby!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 16:46:00 +0000

Forgive the quasi political post, which I usually avoid, however I have to note my excitement that the new administration is making science a priority - in particular climate change science (probably too late now, but its a nice gesture). It's kind of cool that I made animations for one of Obama's appointments - Eric Lander - back in the day at HHMI. Watch his lecture here.

Which reminds me, HHMI just had the most recent Holiday Lectures series which I have not had a chance to watch yet. This year it was Neuroscience with Nobel Prizer Eric Kandel M.D and Thomas Jessel Ph.D. I'm gonna try and watch them this weekend...

In other news, I'm redesigning this site in Word Press, hope to launch it early next year, and I'm only two chapters away from completing Mastering Maya 2009...that mean I've already written 15 chapters (each about 55 pages long!!!!!!!!!

Go out and hug a scientist today.....

Christmas Wishes

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:26:00 +0000

I had to post this email from my brother. This is the instructions he gave us for buying gifts for his son and daughter:

Hi folks, I thought I would just send a quick e-mail regarding "appropriate" gifts from Santa for the kids. This is loosely based on what they have told me they want and what I think is acceptable.

First some ground rules to help you choose. Of course anything with lead paint is out, or other toxic ingredients, simply spend a few hours on the web researching all of your choice toys components or save yourself the time and simply rule out anything made in China all together.

Also, children by nature are fragile so pointy things or things that shatter or explode are a bad Idea. Children are also tough on stuff so you want to avoid the overly delicate things, maybe you should bring a hammer with you when shopping and do some field tests on any toys you might be considering. Be prepared, you may get some looks from the staff.

Also, Dada's back is old so he can't spend too much time bending over, picking things up off the floor so nothing with a lot of parts to clean up. No "some assembly required". No 20,000 piece jigsaw puzzles of famous works of abstract art. Also things like marbles, and roller skates , that Dada can slip on and hurt himself. Nothing camouflaged in the night that might also present a tripping hazard. Nothing the kids can choke on, nothing sticky or stainy. nothing that needs batteries or winding up or frequent maintenance. nothing too flashy (ADHD you know).

Art supplies are great unless they can be used for acts of vandalism throughout the house. Nothing that would require me to have to make major repairs to the drywall or present potential threats to the structural integrity of our house. Nothing that can incinerate, eviscerate, amputate or suffocate. War toys are great if that's the kind of thing you want to promote you fascist. Nothing that makes a food product that I will have to try to swallow and pretend tastes good to please my little "future chef". Nothing that shrinks in the oven or grows in a glass of water. Forget outdoor summer gear (are you nuts?). Kites are out unless you want to come over in mid-January and stand in the blustery freezing cold and wait for my cranky child to launch it.

Nothing that breathes or breeds (that includes fish or otherwise) nothing that will force me into a premature discussion relating to death, sex or credit swaps. nothing corporate. nothing religious. nothing political or too gender specific. nothing boring. nothing that may present major financial liabilities, bonds are good, hedge funds not so much. Last thing I need for Christmas is yet another mad scramble to make a margin call. Nothing squishy, grainy or gritty.

No nightmare fodder please.

Nothing I will find in my car seat later that would require an explanation to a state trooper on the side of the road. nothing that produces the utterance "uh-oh" from another room while I am trying to catch up on my emails. The following base ingredients are out: Iron, Chrome, Zinc alloys, Uranium, Plutonium, Di-Hydro-Oxide, plastics containing polychromanatenitrosillyobsualtebutylferminanine. (I read bad things about that in Parent's journal) nothing that I may have to one day bury in the back yard (see the previous paragraph)

Nothing that will cause conflict between siblings. Nothing that will over pacify the little scamps. Nothing nostalgic for an era that they have never lived in, in other words no Tom Nix Pocket knives. actually any pocket knife is probably not a good idea. forget gag gifts, they are not funny. no adult sporting goods. no eatery franchise gift certificates. stimulating the imagination is fine, stimulating the appetite not so much (America has a child obesity problem remember?)

Nothing depressing. nothing wingy, whiny, chirpy, blubbery, smelly, stinky, tacky, giddy, stumpy, sloppy, curvy, wishy or washy, flippy, mustardy, winky or floppy, waxy, wany, zippy or zany. no fresh salmon. and save the canned goods for next year when the economy really tanks.

I hope this helps

Malaria Animation

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:30:00 +0000

Part 2 of Drew Berry's Life Cycle of Malaria animation has been posted on Molecularmovies.com. Check it out if you have not seen it:

Drew continues to set the standard for scientific visualization in animation by combining higher level content with excellent production values. I really enjoy the way he depicts the cells in the animation as well as the motion of blood and movement of parasites.

part 1 can be found HERE

me me me me me...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:32:00 +0000

As Agent Smith(s) would ay. Alright I (just) realize(d) all I do is talk about myself on this blog. I apologize. I will try and make some more substance-based posts soon that are more interesting to read. Just need to find the time.

Big in Japan

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:59:00 +0000

"I got the powder but not the gun
I got the dog but not the bun
I got the clouds but not the sky
I got the stripes but not the tie

But hey, I'm big in Japan!"

iPhoning it in

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 05:35:00 +0000

Finally got me an iPhone!
Apparently I have fat thumbs.

Actual artwork

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:20:00 +0000

Here;s a sneak peak at the covert art I'm working on for Mastering Maya 2009. Some ZBrush and a teensy bit of Phsop/Painter but its 90% Maya 2009. Click on the image to see the whole thing.

I may do a revision with a much bigger tentacle, looks kind of anemic. Inspiration came form Frank Frazetta and Luke Skywalker.

Lynda.com Essential ZBrush 3 training online now!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:52:00 +0000

yaay! The Essential ZBrush 3.1 course I created for Lynda.com is now available on line! Check it out. Example movies are available for free.

Check it out yo:

http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?ID=642

Mastering Maya 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:11:00 +0000

My next book is available for preorder on Amazon.com. Check it out: Mastering Maya 2009.

This book covers almost all aspects of Maya 2009 and is aimed at helping you achieve professional quality results. There are 3 chpaters on nDynamics (nCloth and nPaticles, well, really 2 1/2, the third chapter includes hair and fur). mental ray will be emphasized over other rendering techniques plus there's lots of stuff on new features, 2 modeling chapters, and Eric Allen will be a guest author for the chapter on character rigging. He's covering new features including the new muscle tools.

All in all, 17 chapters will be written, 16 of which are mine. I have done 11 already, I'm editing chapters now while writing the last 5. Lots of scene files and other good stuff. Anthony Honn and Chris Sanchez have pithed in with models and concept art. Gael McGill of molecularmovies.org is tech editing. I think it will be a good book, just trying to get in as much as I can!

I'll post the cover art once its approved.

Obama

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:46:00 +0000

"Lord, there goes Martin Luther King
Notice how the door closes when the chimes of freedom ring
I hear what you're saying, I hear what he's saying
Is what was true now no longer so

-J. Strummer

It's a great time folks!!!

Next post, back to Maya and ZBrush, I promise!!!!

Vote vote vote vote vote vote vote

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:15:00 +0000

Ink on my fingers....

Must have gotten a toenail caught in my throat!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 07:28:00 +0000

My pumpkin for this year is.....Marshie!!!

for more information watch this informative video

Autodesk Acquires XSI

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:41:00 +0000

The best parts of this new arrangement:

- Less competition among 3D developers means less incentive to create new features that work yaaaaay!
- Now the Autodesk User Group meetings at SIGGRAPH will be even more rushed and become even more of a corporate pep rally yaaaay!

I hope eventually Autodesk acquires ILM, Disney, Microsoft, Apple, and Genentech. Maybe eventually they will feed entertainment directly into the back of our skulls.

I guess I need to start learning Blender...

Joe the Coonhound

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 02:08:00 +0000

Meet Joe the Coonhound...

He's the newest edition to our house. Named after Joe (the) Strummer (NOT Joe the Plumber! he's an idiot). Joe is a rescued Blue Tick Coonhound, he's a great guy but a little skinny. We're fattening him up as much as possible. He loves people and dogs. Daisy is still trying to decide how she feels about him....

Maya 2009 WTF? Case Number 3

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:31:00 +0000

Maya 2009 WTF? Case Number 3: MIA Materials + HDRI = Yuck

Problem: You're out with your friends one night, having a good time, maybe a few drinks, inhibitions are relaxed. Suddenly one of your friends suggest you try using those cool MIA Materials (mental images architectural) in a scene that uses an HDRI dome for lighting. You have Final Gathering on, what's the worst that could happen? You render the scene and to your embarrassment, the whole thing looks underexposed and just plain horrible. Did your friends steer you wrong? Were you misled? No, you just forgot about Tone Mapping.

Solution: You need to apply a lens shader to the rendering camera to correct the exposure. Open the camera's attribute editor and under mental ray, attach an mia_exposure_simple node to the lenses slot. The mia_exposure_photographic nodes works even better but has many more settings to worry about. If you're looking for a fast solution, use the mia_exposure simple node. This is often true when using any kind of physical lights or HDRI or MIA Materials or any combination.

The image below shows the problem. Top image before using the mia_exposure_simple lens shader, bottom image after applying the mia_exposure_simple lens shader. The lens shader is applied with the default settings, image quality can be improved by adjusting the settings. For info on how the setting work, check out the mental ray architectural guide that comes with the Maya docs. The model uses all mia materials and the lighting is an HDRI probe image from Paul Debevec's site. Color's are a little off due to JPEG compression but you get the idea.

So what's Tone Mapping? Simple stupid answer: As you've no doubt heard a million times computer monitors can't display a physically accurate range of values. The MIA Materials are physically accurate and usually work best with HDRI or physical lights. The problem is their range goes beyond what can be displayed on a monitor so they often look like the xposure is way off (dark colors are REALLY dark, whites may be blown out). The exposure lens shaders help fix this problem by remapping the values to a display that looks good on your monitor. For more info, consult the mental ray architectural guide that comes with the documentation (the what? open the help files dude! RTFM!). You can also bug one of those snobby render nerds that's hanging out in a Cornell box, be prepared for condescension ("you mean you don't have an advanced degree in physics? maybe you should stick to Sketchup...").

When you create the Physical Sky and Sun node network in the Render Settings one of these shaders is applied to all the rendering cameras. This is why its important to remember to update the cameras in the scene when you add a camera to a scene that uses Physical Sky and Sun (use the Update Cameras button in the Render Settings after adding a new camera).

Case Closed!

Remember! Don't Drink and Render!

Maya 2009 WTF? Case Number 2

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:21:00 +0000

Maya WTF? Case Number 2: nCloth simulation grinds to a halt after you make an nCache

Problem: You have a scene with one or more nCloth objects all simulatin' like crazy. So you figure you'll create an nCache for all this awesome nClothy goodnes. You create the nCache and play back the simulation and things ...get .....gradually .........slower ....... grinding ..........to .......a ..........................halt.

Solution: Most likely you still have the nCloth objects enabled so Maya is trying to calculate the nCloth and use the nCache at the same time. Disable the Enable feature in all the nCloth objects or on the Nucleus solver (or both) and see if this fixes the problem. Results may vary but this s the first thing you should check if you're having this problem.

Case Closed!

Maya 2009 WTF? Case Number 1

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:04:00 +0000

OK, I'm starting a new feature on my site designed to help Maya users (and eventually ZBrush users) with those annoying head scratching problems that are poorly documented (or they are well documented but you're just too lazy to open the help files ;) ). You , know, the ones you end up wasting an entire evening on. You've tried everything, it should work, it used to work, but now it doesn't work. Since I'm working on a fairly comprehensive Maya 2009 project right now I'm bumping in to these a lot. I'll try and share what I've learned in the hopes that it makes everyone's life a little easier. Of course, when in doubt, RTFM!

Maya 2009 WTF? Case number 1: Participating Media No Render, WTF?

Problem: You've set up participating media to render using mental ray. Everything is correct you know this because you've done it a thousand times (what are you addicted to fog or something?). You've got your cube or planes enclosing the scene and the light. The transmat material is applied to the enclosing geometry, the mib_parti_volume is connected to the transmat material and your light has a physical light shader applied. But when you render you get bupkus. The scene looks good but no participating media. The same set up works just fine in Maya 2008, so what's up?

Solution: In Maya 2009 you have to activate the Auto Volumes option in the Features tab of the mental ray render settings. I'm sure there's more to it than that but this is the short answer. This option is off by default.

Case Closed!

I need theme music....

small update

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 05:07:00 +0000

Here are a few odds and ends I've been working on...

The greenman model:

A generic female head started in Maya:

And a space suit I've been working on in Maya 2009:

Original design for the space suit was created by Chris Sanchez (AKA The Freshmaker)

I can't hold my tongue any longer...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:25:00 +0000

I must speak. This issue is too important and it has been ignored for too long.

Look coffee workers, barristas, slaves to the steam handle and blender, making a decent ice blended mocha with soy is not that hard. You gotta have ice, you gotta have some soy, you gotta have a REASONABLE amount of chocolate powder, you gotta have a blender, and yes, you have to have coffee. Better yet espresso. It doesn't seem that hard but only a few people in West Hollywood seem to grasp the subtitles of this particular drink.

First off all, this is not a chocolate milkshake. Too much chocolate powder overshadows the coffee flavor making it sickly sweet and nauseating. This is what I'm stuck with on this very eve. I can't take a sip of this drink without going into sugar shock.

Next, do not try and tell me that coffee is an optional ingredient. Its not. It's a mocha. not a chocolate milkshake. I've gotten into shouting matches with the nimrods at Coffee Bean who confuse to ice blended mocha with some kind of desert thing. Cut it out. Mocha means coffee plus chocolate. I need the caffeine folks, I neeed the caffeine.

Thirdly, its about consistency. Leave the blender on too long and it comes out runny. I'd rather have chunks of ice than runny slop. The thickness keeps me from inhaling the drink too fast. When that happens the caffeine hits the brain all at once and I'm speaking in tongues. Not that any one would notice on Sunset.

Now about the soy. Dairy and I do not get along. I'm sorry that I have to fit in with the LA stereotype but I can't take the cow juice. One sip and I'm in the can for the rest of the day. And some of you have figure out that if I order soy I don't need the whipped cream. Whipped cream is a dessert topping, the ice blended mocha is a drug. You wouldn't put whipped cream on an 8 ball would you? Yeah I know, the chocolate powder has dairy in it, somehow I tolerate it. Maybe that's why I react badly to too much chocolate powder.

Look folks, if you want to get a decent, or even possibly good blended mocha here are the places to go in West Hollywood:

Buzz Coffee on Fairfax
JP's Coffee on Santa Monica in the doomed shopping center with the Trader Joe's
Abbott's Habit on Sunset but it depends who's working. The glop I'm suffering through now was acquired at Abbot's Habit today. But usually they are pretty good.
Stir Crazy on Melrose - been there twice, both times they got it perfect. Great place.

Here are the places to avoid:

Starbucks - won't do an Ice Blended Mocha with Soy. They're jerks anyways.
Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf - very iffy, sometimes they are fine, sometimes they can't figure out the drink at all in-spite of the fact that they package and sell the ingredients right there on the counter. The Coffee Bean in the Ralph's on Sunset is where I frequently have to debate the workers on the ingredients of the ice blended mocha.
Aroma on Sunset - Only order one once but it was awful - no coffee again!!
Abbott's Habit in Venice - lay off the magic mushrooms guys, the 60s are over, lets focus on the coffee and ignore the muffin speaking with the voice of Jerry Garcia.

A;right, that;'s all for now. Let's get this right people.

Bless this mess

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 06:27:00 +0000

ah yes, after a long few weeks of working at home I've got a real mess going. Check out the new toys in these two images of my home office - a 12" cintiq, Freedom of Teach Models, lots of computers and books. Looks like my office used a high-school biology teacher for an interior decorator.

Right side of the room...

Left side of the room...

The Freedom of Teach models are fantastic, a must have for all figure artists...

Here are a couple images of me signing copies of my ZBrush book at SIGGRAPH. Yeah, i expect Oprah to call any minute....Thanks to my friend and fellow ZBrush artist Ara Kermanikian for taking the pictures.

lots of stuff going on

Happy Joe Strummer Day

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:04:00 +0000

Its Joe Strummer's birthday, happy birthday Uncle Joe, we miss you!

Its also the second anniversary of the arrival of my Boxx machine - still rendering away.

Go listen to The Clash when you get a chance...

Blogging from SIGGRAPH

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:34:00 +0000

I'ts been a fun siggraph so far. I went to the Grindhouse Maya master class - very cool stuff I can't wait to try out. Autodesk is dominating, Pixologic has a great booth and a solid crowd. Side FX is MIA and no Gnomon booth. I actually enjoyed the second half of the Autodesk user group.

I rendered a turn table animation of my maclom character. the left side is ZBrush, right side is Maya + mental ray. single render pass, no compositing! PFX whiskers and hair. Click n the image to open the movie - 4 MB download. The colors are washed out by the compression.

More later...

SIGGRAPH 08 LA

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 20:25:00 +0000

I will be at SIGGRAPH on and off in LA next week. Look for me at the Wiley booth on Wednesday morning at around 10:30. I'll also be at all the science nerd related Birds of a Feather meetings - one is hosted by Drew Berry!! I will also make my usual appearance i the crowd at the Autodesk user meeting and party. I understand there may be beer.

nearly there

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:46:00 +0000

Here's an update to my 80 year old punk rock guy. Almost done, just need to paint some spec maps, add eyelashes, and maybe a little accessories.

Click on the image to enlarge:

Old Punk Rock Guy

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:29:00 +0000

I'm working on the textures for this guy. the title of this composition will be "Punk's Not Dead I Know! (but it's really freakin' old)".

Still have to create specularity maps as well as improve the lighting and add hair, stubble, paint Eye, gum, teeth textures. Add a body and maybe a hand. Lots of other stuff too. The mohawk needs work - I may change the color so it blends in less with the background, oh there's a lot of crap I have yet to do....