So yeah, remember my post last month about the crazy insane multimedia center? Well, I put it into motion and all was looking good, but as of today it has been derailed.
Essentially the system would involved a HDMI hub that all peripherals get routed through and then sent to both the projector and the TV. Any two of the four devices (X-Box, Blu-Ray, PC, etc.) could be sent to either screen simultaneously without having to unplug stuff and switch the connections. Well for reasons beyond me, I failed to realize that my TV doesn’t actually support HDMI.
So there’s that minor major overlooked detail, and then today I go to hook up my projector and about 10 minutes in…the bulb dies. It’s been giving warnings for a month but I was hoping it would hold out.
As far as the HDMI compatibility goes, I could either A) buy an HDMI to component converter for about $100 and risk serious quality degradation, or B) bite the bullet and buy a decent full HD plasma TV for about $600 more. And a new high quality projector bulb is another $300.
Needless to say, I’m about a grand away from where I had hoped to be today for free. Time to wait for the next paycheck, I guess… And maybe I should invest in a couch first…
Good news, though, is that I finally upgraded from XP to Windows 7. And I got 30 mbps internet hooked up.
I recently stumbled upon a shop called ”American Barn Company” who specialize in demolishing barns and restoring old wood, furniture, and other antiques they find inside. What caught my eye in their storefront was this very rustic looking domed top steamer trunk. I’ve always been intrigued by the authentic “treasure chest” style of old trunks, and this is a perfect example. I went inside and chatted with the owner about the chest, and apparently it has some history behind it.
When the iPad was first announced, I saw zero use for it. I thought it was just an oversized and overpriced iTouch that would be a waste of money. Then it was launched and I got the opportunity to play with it a bit. Although it felt nice and looked sexy, it still seemed fairly useless beyond just being a coffee-table iTouch. I didn’t really think much more about it until just the other day. With a nerd-tech lifestyle and plans to expand my entertainment center, I’ll most likely be in the market for a universal remote. What could be more interesting and flexible to control your media with than an iPad?
I finally just finished putting together a new reel. It’s been about a year in the making, including all commercial work I’ve had the opportunity to help out with. It’s all 720p so be sure to click the HD button to watch it in high definition on vimeo. Check out toddfx.com to see the full length videos featured here. And be expecting a lot of updates and additions from here on out.
I was once addicted to a game. It’s a game that soaked up so many years of my adolesance and kept me from participating in after school activities. I do not regret this, as I think it gave me much more enjoyment and value than any silly sport or club could of. So sure there may of been valuable physical and social benefits in those school activities, but when it comes down to it, what is more fun than learning your life skills through an MMORPG!? Seriously, everything you need to know in life you could learn from Everquest! Click below to read on if you have 10 minutes to waste away.
Not many guys get to say they’re teaching their girlfriend how to 3D model and render, but fortunately I can (it’s how we met, actually)! Along that journey, I discovered a pretty nice plugin for Google Sketchup. IDX Renditioner unlocks loads of possibilities that the average Sketchup patron never dreamed of. No longer will your architectural spaces or mechanical parts look like something out of an instruction manual.
With virtually zero rendering or lighting experience, a newbie user can install the plugin, change a few environmental settings like the north facing direction & time of day, and start generating images like this. Albeit it’s no VRay, but not bad at all for being completely free. That image is literally about 5 minutes of prep work (not including modeling; room downloaded from 3D Warehouse) and 5 minutes of rendering time.
IDX can designate textural attributes to standard Sketchup materials, including reflection type (glass, metal, polished, varnished, etc.), bump mapping, and glow. Indirect illumination and basic image based lighting give the image a more realistic feel than you’d otherwise get out of Sketchup.
Here is what I did with the original render with a bit of tinkering in Photoshop:
My mobile computing experience just jumped to a new level I remember about five years ago when I got my first Sony Ericsson and was so excited that I could finally blog my photos on the go. Today, I edited and compressed HD video, generated thumbnails, formatted it into an HTML display, uploaded it all to my FTP, and created a blog entry to announce it. All from my iPhone.
This was only possible by using LogMeIn, a (semi)free service that allows you to seamlessly control your desktop PC in real time from you iPhone. Pinch, zoom, pan, click, and drag just as you would with any iPhone app, but you’re manipulating your desktop PC in pixel perfect clarity.
After using LogMeIn to trim down, compress, and upload the videos (3 of them) to my FTP, I downloaded them on my iPhone and took screenshots. PerfectPhoto let me crop and resize to create thumbnails, and iFile allowed me to open HTML and swap out a few links. I emailed them back to my desktop (mobile FTP being the weak link here) to upload, and used the Tumblr app to blog my thumbnails and links.
Albeit it took me about 30 minutes, when it may have only taken about 15 if I were sitting directly at my desktop, but not bad for being completely mobile. It’s just so great because the possibilities are endless. When I got finished with this mission, I celebrated with a little Sim Tower (yes, still over the iPhone via LogMeIn). It’s just that seamless.
Today I realized how appreciative i’ve grown of recycling fabrication materials and found objects. Somebody down the street threw out a massive wooden cabinet with wood veneer that could of came straight out of the IKEA showroom. I keep walking by it, and have to resist a very compelling urge to snag the paneling. Funny thing is, the only reason I don’t actually grab it is because I already have an overflowing stockpile of similar wood.
I think it started after I swapped rooms with a roommate and had the challenge of playing tetris to fit all my stuff in this new room. I deconstructed an entertainment center that was too large for the room, and have since been re-purposing the wood to create some pretty practical items. Selves, a wall mounted computer desk, a couple small drawers, and am only half way through the lot. Oh and the stool used to be an end table, and the sliding keyboard tray came from an old computer desk.
Also, here and here are a couple construction shots of the bed stilts (made from Home Depot wood, though). The stilts are drilled straight into wall studs, and the bed frame is bolted to the stilts. That thing isn’t going anywhere.
One of the most important parts of design, particularly 3D modeling in my case, is how you think about a project. The way you develop and hold the information in your head will change your work flow.
What really got me into 3D modeling and animation was that it gave me to power to bring ideas to life. My overactive imagination would be responsible for conjuring up an idea and molding it into shape, while the computer software just does the job of bringing it into reality. Most of the planning and problem solving takes place in my head before I begin, leaving the act of creating it to a simple conversion from brain to computer screen.
I’ve attempted to describe this concept before, but was unable to find a suitable metaphor before stumbling upon the article below. Although it was written with a computer programmer in mind, the concept is exactly the same for a 3D artist or any graphic designer.
“A good programmer working intensively on his own code can hold it in his mind the way a mathematician holds a problem he’s working on. Mathematicians don’t answer questions by working them out on paper the way schoolchildren are taught to. They do more in their heads: they try to understand a problem space well enough that they can walk around it the way you can walk around the memory of the house you grew up in. At its best programming is the same. You hold the whole program in your head, and you can manipulate it at will.
That’s particularly valuable at the start of a project, because initially the most important thing is to be able to change what you’re doing. Not just to solve the problem in a different way, but to change the problem you’re solving.
Your code is your understanding of the problem you’re exploring. So it’s only when you have your code in your head that you really understand the problem.”
