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PICTURE OF THE DAY!
The background image of my Skeleton Attack scene, which was recently added to the new gallery I placed on this site, has just been chosen for the Picure of the Day award in the E-On Software Vue Showcase. You can go here to see the image in the showcase. There's a lot of nice images in that gallery, so I am happy to be chosen among them.
The principle is simple: you send us your work and everyday we select the picture we like best among all submissions. That picture will then be displayed for 24 hours on the title page of this site, and we'll send you a message to let you know. Also, the very best pictures will be permanently featured in the Gallery.
That's what they say on their site. I think the entire showcase is one of the best testaments to what kind of power software like Vue 6 gives to users at all skill levels. I know I only dreamed of creating images like this before Vue came along. I used to digitally paint nice landscapes, but it would take far too long to ever be useful in creating the anime I want to create. When I first encountered Vue 5, I saw the future.
Doing this image in Vue 5 Infinite is what really solidified what was possible in my mind. I could see a vision of creating my show at any level of quality I wanted. It was, in fact, the backgrounds where I was having the most trouble reaching my vision in previous projects. Now that problem was swept away by one simple to use yet powerful new tool. Then Vue 6 came along with spectral skies, metaclouds, Eco-Painting, custom sculpting of hills, displacement maps and not a bit of extra difficulty added for the user. These are truly exciting times.
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IT'S ALREADY HAPPENING!
You may note that someone posted a link to Endorphin, the dynamic motion synthesis animation software from Natural Motion in the comments on my last post. Now if you've watched their demo reel, you don't need me to tell you how much power this tool would bring to any lone animator or small studio trying to do big things in animated films. That fact that it will work directly with Poser, which I can attest to since I have some of those very motions they show in my Poser runtime, only makes it better for those of us on that quest. Still that isn't the thought that came to my mind when I was watching all their demos. I thought about games!
 Imagine for a moment a game where you're no longer stuck with canned animation, but when a character gets kickd, flipped or hit by a car, it goes totally dynamic, giving different results everytime. Now you might say, well games have done that for years. I remember Bounce on the Ps2 was the first time I saw rag-doll physics in a game. I couldn't figure out how they did it. Everytime I threw a guy, even into a wall, it was a different animation. But you see, Endorphin, or the tools they offer, are far more than rag-doll physics. It is true animation sythesis. Those guys in current games can be lifelessly thrown around, but what if you as a player could be thrown, and then, in mid air, hit a button to execute a catch-fall and roll back onto your feet, from any position? That's the power I saw these tools offering next gen games. Turns out though, they are way ahead of me in that thinking.
In March 2006, NaturalMotion announced euphoria, which brings Dynamic Motion Synthesis live onto Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. euphoria is able to create truly unique game moments, which never happened before, and will never happen again - just like real life. We believe this is the biggest revolution in games since the introduction of 3D graphics.
I am picturing action adventure games where you can jump into the air, hit the grab button and catch onto a chandelier and dynamically hang, while keep control of your gun to shoot at bad guys. You let go to fall on some tables, hit a button to catch-fall, roll out onto your feet and keep running and gunning! I am picturing fighting games where when you catch someone's foot mid-kick and start to do a reversal on them, they seamless react to every move you make. In all this you never see a pop between canned animations, or the figures don't quite line up because the mocap was done on two average size guys but you're fighting a troll.
I have always seen a PS3 on my horizon. The only reason I don't have one now is because I have animation to do and there isn't anything on there yet that I must have. Let some games come out with this power though and see if you don't find me running to the nearest game store!
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NEW START GALLERY
I decided to put up a new gallery to feature some of the images I have been working on recently as I delve into my new creative process. Things have changed considerably, not just since getting into the world of the Macintosh, but also with the introduction of new tools like Vue 6 Infinite, the latest modo and Poser 7 and the huge digital content world associated with it. What I like to call "the barrier of entry" to creating amazing work really begins to fade away entirely.
An image like this was almost out of my reach before some version of Vue came along. Still, Vue 5, though it is clear from my older galleries it allowed me to create great stuff, could not begin to measure up to what is possible in Vue 6 just based on spectral skies and metaclouds. Add in Eco-Painting and the tools to custome sculpt terrains and you are looking at incredible power with great speed. Basically very little standing in the way of creativity.
Still the biggest change for me was getting into Poser. It's not that the Poser figures are necessarily better than the characters I created in previous shows. In fact, I do a lot of custom morph work in modo to get them to appear as my previous characters, but it is the support for their figures, worldwide, which makes them so valuable. The amount of morphs available for a single figure give an artist almost limitless possibilies in creating any kind of human character. On top of this, every kind of costume, even those which actually support that wide range of morphs, can be found out there in the fairly large digital content world. Most everything I do centers around human characters. What better place to be than in a tool that is specifically made to do human characters?
When a program has a price point like Poser, it becomes open to a very different audience than the big guys. It seems like the users actually become fans. Fans like to do what they can to support the object of their fandom and one of the things a lot of Poser people do is make more stuff to make Poser better. One only need to go to one of th galleries at Daz 3D, Cornucopia 3D or Runtime DNA to see what kind of power the community has put into people's hands.
Of course, it's not just the images in the gallery on which I am focused. I am thinking about the whole process as it affects the future of my creation. I have been also testing the other aspects which make for a complete production which can be seen in this video here. I've learned a lot about blindly sticking to old ways. I will post about that soon.
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WHO WANTS TO MAKE MOVIES?
You've probably heard it said many times that you should never make a movie with your own money. Another popular phrase here in Hollywood is that you never make a movie unless your distribution is already in place. When you're dealing with the kind of money that it often takes to make a Hollywood film, it makes sense to a certain degree. The reality, however, is that most of the people who spout these statements don't really want to make films. They want to sell films. They want the potentially large sums of money associated with selling films.
You see, I've always wanted to make films. I've always wanted to create images and tell stories. When I was a kid, I was constantly filling spiral notebooks with my own comics. I had no thought of selling these things or going into any kind of business. I just wanted to make them. I graduated to using my father's super 8 film camera (wow! I shot actual film!)to make stop motion films with my toys. I just wanted to make the stuff, and I was more than happy if anyone wanted to watch it.
When the Amiga computer came around, I saw clearly a future in transferring my abilities into the digital realm. Even before the existence of Wacom tablets, 3D CGI and non linear editing, I knew that if I could get my images on there, the possibility of making my anime was within reach. Once I got that process down, even learning to draw with the mouse, I just made what I wanted to make, or more importantly, what I wanted to see. It was fun and I was found doing it all the time.
There is a big difference between wanting to make movies and wanting to sell them. People who really want to make movies just make them. I finally get what Robert Rodriguez meant when he says the moment you decide you are a filmmaker, you are. The majority of people, however, only want to sell films. They would not make a movie for fun or for practice or for their learning. They would not even begin the process without a guaranteed sale, and usually a big one, at the end.
There was a day when I only wanted to make films. I made them because the making was fun and then I could show them to everyone. In that day I took no thought as to how they might make money, or how and where I would sell them. That never entered into the picture. Understanding Chaos was such a project. I enjoyed every minute of making it and then I put it out on the net for free. Many subsequent projects, however, began on the note of how or where they could sell or if they could sell. I began to become concerned about things that used to not matter. Basically, it took the fun right out of it. You see, if you were making a movie purely for fun right now, with no thought as to what happens after the making, it would probably be a very different movie than if you were making it hoping to get a deal, or hoping to sell to a big studio, wouldn't it?
Now before people get up in arms, I am not saying you should never consider your audience, how to sell your film or that a desire to sell your film is bad. On a personal level, though, too much emphasis on that really ruined it for me. It became too much about the perfect length, or what genre is currently hot, or if I am safe doing certain types of characters. It became work.
 Luckily the technology kept bringing greater and power to the user. With it came more creative freedom. I have an entirely new outlook on things now. As I continue to learn Vue 6, Poser 7, modo and the Mac, and explore the vast digital content world, I am getting back into creating like the old days, just doing it. Whatever happens, happens. Right now I am just making cool stills and I am enjoying it immensely. Eventually I may start testing out some animation, then one day add a little Garage Band with the new keyboard I got. The most important thing, though, is I am having fun. This time, I intend for it to stay that way.
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LETTING FREEDOM RING
You may remember a post I wrote called Mach Speed Noodles about the Katsuhiro Otomo created Freedom Project, which can be seen at FreedomProject.jp. I hadn't really kept great track of the project since that time, but a few months ago I was shocked to find it was released on DVD in Japan late last year. At least the first OVA episode was. Sometime in February, I went to one of my favorite import sites and ordered it. It came not long after, but being so busy with my own work, I neglected to watch it until yesterday. I can't even begin to explain the amazingness to which I was treated.
For the first time ever, for me, the use of 3D and cel shading in anime went unnoticed. This didn't look like 3D cel shading. It looked like 2D done perfectly. Even though I know it was done in 3D, there were scenes where I wasn't sure and had to search for little details which give away the 3D aspect of the characters. Searching for it, I might see something in a character's hair or on their detailed costumes which makes it obvious, but just watching it, I get more of an impression of an idealized Akira
From the first seconds of the intro I was in love. Thumping to the beat of Utada Hikaru's This is Love, the same song heard in the Cup Noodle commercial, the intro flys us through and around, in pure 3D, what look like very rough, Otomo color comic drawings, complete with screen tone dots and everything. There's also some great use of full 3D and possibly some miniature work in the intro that sets an incredible tone for the project. Unlike most shows, the quality doesn't severely drop right after the intro. I notice in the credits a full page devoted to Newtek, the makers of Lightwave 3D, DStorm, the Japanese distributors for Newtek, with whom I went to China a few years ago, and YAMATO WORKS, the makers of Kakurenbo. That says a lot right there. I can't say whether Lightwave was used for just the bikes or for the characters as well, the making of features don't go there, but the involvement of YAMATO WORKS means it likely plays very large part in the project.
The project sports in incredible sound mix and rivals any big movie during the race scenes. The score is also top notch and sounds very similar to that of Vampire Hunter D: BloodLust or Blood: The Last Vampire, which is to say it sounds like a Media Ventures score. I haven't learned who the composer is yet, but since Otomo worked with Steve Jablonsky from Media Ventures on Steam Boy, it's possible that someone inside Media Ventures is involved.
From what my rusty Japanese could pull from the extra feature interviews, it sounds like the project will be six parts, each episode 30 mintues. They seem to be releasing them every two to three months, with volume three due next week. I may wait until all six are done before I import anymore. After all, I do need to focus on creating something of my own, but from what I have seen so far, it will be very hard to stay away from.
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THE GREAT ORGANIZING
Some time ago, as I may have mentioned before, some friends showed me a video game called The Movies, where you play a studio head running a major Hollywood film studio through the ages. One of the most interesting aspects of this game was that when you unlocked all the features by playing, you basically created for yourself a complete machinima studio. It has a timeline just like a non-linear editor and you could choose from a wealth of character types, hairstyles, costumes and sets from all genres and start creating scenes. You could record voices right on the timeline and the character would match the mouth movements to the sound. It also had a library of music, in many styles, to throw in. You could do everything in one place. It was total freedom of creativity
Now machinima is what it is, and I like the concept of it. What I desire to do doesn't look like machinima, but I want that total freedom of creativity that comes from right use of the technology. You see this method of creation can be adapted to any other technology. That's what I am after in The Great Organizing.
You might remember a day, some time ago, when I was experimenting with the Motion Mixer in Lightwave 3D to create a motion library to free myself from the repitition of simple and often used motions in creating my work. I am thinking along those same lines in this organizing process, but expanding it to go far beyond just rigging and motions. You see, over the years I have developed a lot of assets. I have over a dozen hair pieces. I have coats, jackets, boots, guns, even set pieces and when you bring Poser into the equation there is a lot more content that comes with poser, and then there's all the content available on, and that I have purchased from, the Poser content sites, more coats, boots, jackets and other things. The time has come to make all of this as easily accessible as possible.
The goal is create the kind of freedom that comes with creating in machinima or The Movies. I am talking about getting an idea and simply loading up characters, hair, clothes and making something. Why? Because it's fun! I'm not talking about starting up the next great epic movie project with months of preproduction, I am talking instant creation. I believe that far more magic happens in this place. The key is to ask why is this creation happening? If it is for its own sake, for the fun, for the journey, then I can believe that magic will happen. This is the creation I want to experience, free of barriers to getting ideas across. Free of anything really. Just free.
I started the process yesterday and found it will be no small task. All of the various pieces, the hair, the shirts or ties, don't fit the latest characters, and there are many I don't have at all if I want that freedom. I was looking at TV shows and seeing what things pop up where I can say, "I have something like that." It's impossible to have everything of course, but most things, at least in the realm of costume, are derivative or combinations of a few themes which can be easily covered. Still, I want to have as comprehensive a library as possible. I already have such a library. It needs to be at my fingertips. Nothing should stand in the way of the flow of creativity.
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THE REAL ROADBLOCK
We all know that the tools are out there. I have talked about them quite a bit in the last few posts on this blog. I talked about iClone2, offering machinima style creation, in realtime, to hundreds of thousands of users for a very low price. I talked about Poser7, which I myself am really getting into and enjoying the benefits it adds to the cretive process. And then there is Vue6, which offers creative power far beyond anything I have seen recently. Now these tools have all sold many tens of thousands of copies. They are in the hands of the people. All that's left is for the flow of great creations right?
Well, a quick search on Youtube may show you something rather interesting. The creating is certainly happening. There are people who are taking these tools and making stuff. It seems there are those that are even just having a good bit of fun with what the tools offer. There is a common thread among the vast amount of creative efforts out there, though, and it has nothing to do with the tools. Many who have the desire and have the tools and the motivation to do something are running into something else. Many of those creating with these tools have no idea how to shoot, light, pace or cut an engaging animated project.
In many of the projects I am seeing out there, the camera is just all over the place. It's like the freedom given with a CG camera was too much to comprehend and so because the camera can do anything, it does. Many of the scenes are just flooded with light, often to the point of becoming flat and boring. Rarely is there seen lighting that really separates characters from the backgrounds or that is used for mood. Then, many of the pieces I am seeing just drag on and on too slowly, and many here know that I am generally a fan of slower paced, talky, shows, but these projects are too slow to me! Proper cutting, including proper coverage of a scene is another issue. The viewer must gain an idea of where everyone is placed and how the action flows based on how the piece is cut. Often the pieces I am seeing out there leave the viewer in confusion.
Now I don't want to make it sound like there isn't good stuff out there. There is. A lot of the stuff I am seeing, though, isn't lacking in ideas or story, and certainly not in good tools. It is the execution that leaves much to be desired. I never really thought about this aspect in detail before. When I made Anigen, or previous projects, I often thought from the point of view of the use of tools and the techniques to get something created based on a toolset in 2D or 3D. I never put much emphasis on the fundamentals of visual storytelling. More and more I am realizing that the tools can be learned from the manual, help in forums and many places online. These fundamentals, such as shooting with interesting camera angles, lighting for mood and emotion or pacing to keep a viewer attached, are the real roadbloack to our seeing a wealth of great indie content out there filling the many pages of the net. This needs to be the focus of the next stage of instuctional material. In fact, this may be the most important stage!
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THE MILLION DOLLAR SKETCH!
Once in a lifetime there comes an event which will touch the lives of millions around the globe. Sometimes, however, this event occurs more than a few times. This is one of them. Studio ArtFX and Content Millennium are proud to announce the arrival of The Million Dollar Sketch. Featuring some of the most incredible line work, use of color and texture seen in a drawing by artist Terrence Walker, this sketch has been appraised at an extremely high value by one of the leading art critics at Studio ArtFX.
It is truly a rare thing that artwork of this caliber is witnessed in the art world. It's even more rare that someone generally known for drawing something as quaint as anime can step out of his box and really express their artistic passion.
These words were spoken by the critic who held back tears as the drawing was first unveiled. Hoping to share that joy with the world at large, the critic suggested a plan to make the image available to the masses. To that end, for a limited time only, The Million Dollar Sketch is now available for purchase in the Content Millennium store.
Great art should really be available to everyone. While most people in the world may not be able to spend one million dollars to enjoy such a work, anyone can drop down a mere $5000.00 to appreciate art this good!
Just like the critic said, now anyone can enjoy a 240x348 pixel digital reproduction of The Million Dollar Sketch, downloaded right into their own home for the special low price of $5000.00. Supplies, however, are limited so click here to head over to the Content Millennium webstore and get your copy of The Million Dollar Sketch today!
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