WIRELESS FUN

I picked up a wireless router the other day at Fry's and just got it setup. Setup was amazingly quick and painless. I would have done it yesterday, but I was in the middle of some bit torrenting. Also it was so hot I felt like laying around and doing nothing.

Anyway, I ran a simple wizard this morning and everything was configured easily. I already tested going online with my PSP. So you know what that means, right? I can finally get down to working on those PSP pages! Of course, you will need your PSP 2.0 browsers to view them for now. Perhaps when I get actual content on there, I will make a normal download section at least.

That's only one of the things to do this weekend. I still have Vue 5 Infinite to install and play with. Maybe I'll open that box now.

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A NEW VIEW

My copy of Vue 5 Infinite should be here today. You can imagine what power will be added to my creation arsenal with this tool. What will I be able to make now? I look forward to building better backgrounds!

I first posted about this tool early in the year. At the time I didn't think I would be buying it so soon. Now this recent deal from Newtek that includes Vue 5 bundled with the upgrade to Lightwave 9.0 has sold me on it. For almost half the cost of Vue 5 alone, I get both! We'll see what I can do with it soon. I am not necessarily seeing this for my PSP show or TV series plans, but a movie...

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Time for Some Changes

Man, I really need to update my links section. Adobe needs to come out of there as I no longer use any products by them. Sony needs to move up a few notches as I now have Vegas 6 + DVD architect along with the other Sonic Foundry products from them I still use. On top of that, it still lists Cakewalk Music Creator and the Edirol Library for sound when I have moved on to Sonar, Kontakt 2 and the Giovani edition choir library. It's time for some changes to reflect that.

ROBOT SENSITIVITY

According to this BBC news article, scientists in Japan have developed a form of artificial skin that would allow robots to have a sense of touch. Why is it always Japan?

Takao Someya, lead author on the latest research, previously developed a form of artificial skin capable of sensing pressure. But the ability to sense temperature as well allows the scientists to more closely imitate the functions of human skin.

That's what it says, and get this: This skin is apparently created using "organic" materials. Is technology getting way ahead of itself or what? They go on to say that they could further create skins far more capable than that of a human. Now combine all the latest robot developments I have written of together.

You do know that I am going to have to do a robot movie one day soon, right? But one with... ya know, like... ninjas and stuff.

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IMMELMAN TURN!

The character depicted in the image is Dio Eracles, a character from the recent GONZO created series Last Exile. GONZO pioneered the use of Lightwave 3D in major anime productions with their Blue Submarine No. 6 short OVA series. Now with a full 26 episode TV series they're at it again. Some of the best integration of 2D and 3D and greatest use of Hypervoxels I have seen.

If you watch Blue Submarine No. 6 you will see it is a learning process. GONZO knew that there was a future in the use of CGI combined with cel work to create higher quality shows. The advantage was this: Anime generally has limited budgets and resources. This results in a fixed amount of cels being allowed for a single episode. Sometimes this number can be as low as 6000. By contrast, for example, a typical Disney type film has 150,000, or more, drawings for a 75-80 minute film. Through the use of CGI to handle mechanics, some background work and special FX, your 6000 cels are no longer spread throughout the entire episode, but can be concentrated on specific character scenes. As seen in Blue Submarine No. 6, this gives the appearance of a near feature quality show at much higher frame rates than anime is generally known for.

Makoto Shinkai employed this technique to great effect. Because his characters are all hand drawn in Voices of a Distant Star, the overall level of the show is raised by full CGI mecha battle sequences. Genius wouldn't you say?

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WHEN I SAY D, YOU SAY O!

D!

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SHOW IMPROVE

Apparently the Motion Mixer has undergone considerable changes since we last met. Gone are the problems interacting with Lightwave IK and "match goal orientation". It just works.

Also of note in this version is the channel mapping features. I was able to mix a sword move of the upper body of my character onto a previously done run motion. There is a lot to play with here.

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TWO HANDED

Handling a sword two handed in IK is not an easy task. Luckily, IK Booster combines well with standard Lightwave IK giving the user a few options as to how to tackle this.

I remember an IK setup for Understanding Chaos which kept the soldiers left hand attached to the other handle on the rifle. Same basic idea here, but for handling a sword, a lot more is required. A gun just doesn't move as much and so an equivalent lock is not necessary. Here, it has to be solid.

I used an evil feature, which may bite me later. Lightwave allows the user to set an object to be a target for IK, and the object attached to this goal will "match goal orientation" creating a perfect lock. Problem is, this feature doesn't necessarily pass that info on to other parts of the program, namely Motion Mixer. We'll see what happens when I get into more complex stuff.

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GET AN APC!

I came home from work yesterday to find my air conditioner on the fritz. Being the accomplished electrician that I am not, I decided to mess with it. As I did, I somehow managed to shut all the power off in the building. Thanks to an APC I bought recently, my computer continued to run fine.

If I was in the middle of rendering, downloading or any hard drive activity, you can imagine that there could be serious damage to my computer. Permanent damage. In this case, no such thing occurred. Whatever downloads I had going, continued. My APC made a lot of noise. I flipped a few breakers and all was well.

The moral of the story? Leave electrical work to professionals!

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And The Next President of the United States Is...

Christopher Walken? The King of New York?

See for yourself

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MIX DOWN

Motion mixing in Lightwave is a lot like mixing sound files to create something new from pieces you already have. Actually, the technique, called non-linear animation, is even more like editing video in your favorite editor. It is not a new concept. I first encountered this in Kaydara's Filmbox motion capture software when I was working at Westwood Studios.

My first experiences with Motion Mixer, probably version 1.0 years ago, were not at all good. In fact I hated it and gave it up for dead back then. This latest version has allowed me to overcome those problems, even if by way of IK Booster's ability to load and save motions. In the above example, from a few simple pieces, I was able to create a ten second motion of the character walking, changing direction and continuing to walk. It's just like editing game motions back at Westwood!

What's more interesting is that the whole becomes far greater than the sum of its parts. My basic walk is a mere loop. It's about 24 or so frames and repeats, but in Motion Mixer it becomes a fully moving animation. Now strung together with other motions, suddenly it comes alive. With other small pieces, like changing direction right, or changing direction 180 degrees, I can create entirely new motions quickly, without anywhere near the work involved in animating it from scratch. This motion library concept is something I had thought about since I started cel shading, but forgot along the way. Now it's possible. Now doing a series is not out of the question.

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Accomplishment

I think this must be what accomplishment feels like.

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To Map or not to Map?

There are two types of animation. Those that focus on simpler character design in favor of greater motion, and those that focus on more detailed art at the expense of motion. Usually features support the former, while TV series favor the latter.

The best way to achieve that look seen in many TV series, where the characters are sometimes every detailed is through the use of UV maps. The highlights in the hair, the little detail marks on the face, even the information in the eyes can be painted into maps. Ideally, these maps would be short image sequences to give them imperfection.

Now some might say, But they don't animate based on the light. How often do you see that happen in an actual show? Using actual reflection maps for this type of thing is a dead giveaway for CGI. I know some prefer this sort of thing. I want no difference between what I do and the traditional works that inspired me.

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PSP LINKING

I have found the secret! Through the power of Javascript I can now do great and new things!

Anyway, as you have seen, I recently upgraded to the 2.0 firmware on my Sony PSP. This gives the PSP an internet browser which is actually very capable. I noticed something interesting when browsing though. On some of the Sony pages, I was getting exclusive PSP pages that I could not get to via a normal desktop browser. How were they doing this?

Well, I asked the webmaster at Bauhaus Software, makers of Mirage, and he began to track down this special ability. Eventually, with some information found on PSP411.com, the secret was discovered. Check it out. Click on my PSP link.

Now if you used a desktop browser, you simply got the Playstation homepage. But if you click it using a PSP browser, you get a special page which I have made for the PSP. So what does this mean?

As the opening of my PSP exclusive show draws near, expect exclusive PSP content leading into it, including possibly a PSP cast, video materials and special previews. That remains to be seen.

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PSP Posting

OK, so there's no reason for this, but I just had to do it, just to say I did it. I am posting this from my PSP. It can actually connect to blogger and post. Unfortunately, I don't really have anything to say.

WALKING ALONG

As setups go, the walk is always a good thing to get in the can. If you think of it in video game terms, the walk is like the basic foundation of the character's moves, outside of their "idle" stance. From this animation blends all others, excepting another usually separate library, which is action.

It's never a bad idea to do more than one walk. I like the concept of a subdued normal walk and a walk with "purpose". These two animations would cover most uses, especially when reusing animation for crowd scenes. Then with blending you can add even more. An arm looking at a watch, holding a briefcase, eating a hot dog, anything can be blended onto the basic walk. This is the beginning of a motion library.

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KNOWING YOUR DESIGN

After a recommendation by Chaba Gryphon, I decided to check out Soukyuu no Fafner, a recent Japanese mecha animation. I don't want to talk about how great of a series it is. What I want to talk about is something else I saw, and that is design. You see, when you know you are putting together a series, there are certain design elements which you must have going in.

Many may not have seen Fafner, so I will use a very similar series as an example, Neon Genesis Evangelion. IN that show, how many times did we see the character Misato get up in the morning, down an entire beer and slam it on the breakfast table? I never thought of this reuse as cheap, but an expression of that character. How many times did we see reuse of the scenes of the characters in the main control room? How about the commander with his hands folded under his chin watching the action? And let's not forget the famous, high quality launch sequences.

Fafner contains many examples of "built in" reusability. You have a bridge crew in specific positions, which lends itself to much reuse. You have a main computer that does actions which can be repeated. You have high quality mech launch sequences. These type of elements are a must when going into such a series and expecting to maintain a level of quality. Remember that even with all that reuse, Evangelion still ran out of money and was unfinished.

When designing a series, think about containment. If your main characters and/or bad guys have headquarters, that opens the door to many possibilities of reuse. Often used vehicles also makes for reusable sequences. Know these elements in advance and plan around their use.

Speaking of Fafner, in my PSP browsing today, I found out that there are a considerable amount of games out in Japan which are unheard over here. Fafner is one of them as can be seen by this link to Play Asia. Also, the very high quality Production I.G. produced Yarudora games seem to have four titles out for the PSP. There's even a version of one of my all time favorite games of old (in game years) Tenchu. There seems to be a lot happening on the PSP overseas.

I also found out that Sony has PSP specific sites out there which are designed to exactly fit the PSP screen. Since I want to do a PSP show and PSP site, I need to figure out how this is done. Unfortunately, these very same pages cannot be viewed on my PC. They detect what you are browsing with and redirect you to the page they want to show you. Otherwise, I would just "view source" on the page and figure out their secrets!

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BIG UPDATE

So I finally updated my PSP firmware to version 2.0 which was rumored to contain the long awaited internet browser. Funny thing is, this month the interface colors are exactly as in the above image. I am happy to say, though, that the rumors were more than true.

A new button appeared on the interface, and it read "internet browser". Of course I clicked it and began to quickly figure out this little tool. Naturally, the first thing I did was come to this very page. I am actually still looking at it this very moment. When I finish typing this, I should be able to hit refresh and see the new post come up on my PSP. How cool is that.

What this really means though, is that I can be anywhere that has WIFI available and check my email, or even post to this page. I can log into my time management web page and check items on my "to do" list. I suspect there aren't too many limits to what I can do. That remains to be seen as I keep playing. Right now, though, I want to get back to browsing. This is just fun!

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SET!

Some aspects of preliminary setup can actually be quite boring. The beauty of it is that hopefully, this work doesn't have to be done again. If Lightwave 3D holds true to form, then even new characters built from these building blocks, will not have to undergo such a detailed setup process again. All the work should transfer right over. This is the power of digital.

It's amazing, how many old ideas I had are only now coming into play. I wrote about reusable assets long ago, but never really worked to that end. I was constantly doing things differently. I was not even putting the puzzle pieces I saw in other media together as I often do. I worked in games for years. There's so much to learn from the game world and I never though to apply it until now.

If spending the time to do some setup, and do it right, means really being able to crank out good quality episodes of a show down the line, then I am all fro spending the time, however long that time turns out to be. I should have done this a long time ago.

The Right Sound

The right sound library can be essential to getting the realism needed for film and multimedia scoring. Before I got into sampling for myself, I thought that this sound was unattainable or out of my league. I am glad to find this is not the case. Not only are the prices of great sound libraries reasonable, I am finding even the best of them to be very easy to get up and running.

http://www.studioartfx.com/music/anotherdemo.mp3

Sound libraries from Bela D Media, such as the Voice of the Young collection used in the above piece can be a great start into the world of samples to gain realistic sounds needed for film and game composing. Check out the demo room there and listen to the sound quality available from some of their low cost products.

I've only had Kontakt a short time and I just got the Giovani edition yesterday, so I think there is much to be said about the ease of use of these fabulous tools.

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More Setup

Setup continues to be important in this new line of animation thinking. The show on the PSP is to be a series, right? But how far can good planning and good setup go? Can it make a television series possible. I think so.

Gianmichele sent me the link to this Japanese site which boasts some of the best cel shaded models I have seen yet. This got me thinking about how far good setup can go.

In an article in HDRI magazine, William "Proton" Vaughn talks about how many things can be touched up in post on a cel shaded show. This is true, especially with tools like Mirage, but there comes a point when the benefits of working in this fashion become defeated by too much post fixing and not enough proper setup from the start. The hope should be as little as possible tweaking needed in post, if at all. This will make series work possible.

So I continue to setup. Having completed a complex set of morph targets for the hands, I now move to the face, then the clothes and take the character as far as can be in 3D so that as many renders as possible can pass untouched when production begins. Yet, these same renders must mix properly with totally hand drawn characters and elements. We'll see how it goes as things develop.

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REAL REVOLUTION

I remember when me and my brother would look at fantasy art back in the day, from artists like Boris Vallejo or Frank Frazetta, and just wish there could be movies like this. The occasional "Conan" type movie just wasn't enough. Sure, there would be late night "barbarian" movies on cable, but we knew they didn't have the money to put a monster in it, so it was all a false hope.

Today, and for the past few years we keep hearing about the digital revolution or some other new media revolution and how cameras of great quality are so cheap that the garage user will change the face of movie making. The reality, however, is that while these cameras are in many hands, the movies coming out of them haven't changed anything. Some make decent product, but it is usually small and personal things, sometimes artsy, sometimes even deep and meaningful, but usually only entertaining to a select few. Let's face it, there's no monster in them either.

The real revolution will be this: When the guy in his living room can make the movies that could not be made before. When that guy brings fantasy art to life with a green screen, DV camera and computer, not because he can go out to some great forest to shoot, but because he can use Vue 5 Infinite to do his sets and backgrounds, and low cost software like Soft Image Foundations ($495) or Lightwave 3D ($795)to breathe life into creatures. These movies will be wildly entertaining to a mass audience, not just a select few locals in the know. Then will the face of Hollywood be changed. Hollywood won't do it. They would rather do Dukes of Hazzard or whatever other twenty year old TV show they can rehash since all originality is lost in a sea of franchises and sequels. So the real revolution begins when the guy in his living room makes a movie that doesn't look like, well, his living room.

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Bigger Fake?

It seems that more information about the above suspect picture can be found on this blog. According to the information here, the alleged Nintendo Revolution screenshot came about thus:

"Apparently, these pics were released on a Japanese blog that has ties to the development community. It was later picked up by a Jeux France and they tend to be rather reliable when they post news/pictures. For the time being, take these with a grain of salt."

Naturally I had to post a little comment. Either way, it's an interesting development. I guess it will get me following the Nintendo Revolution a bit more anyway. Still it doesn't change the fact that I have plenty to do on my show. The hand morph target library spoken of in this post has been completed.

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FAKE?

This image apparently appeared in a gamesradar.com thread as a screenshot from the upcoming Nintendo Revolution game system. I think it's fake though.

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