CG art updates

Been deep diving into Houdini for the past couple of weeks testing out render engines and various other things. Trying to learn a bit of VEX and understand the attribute node and all that stuff. But yesterday I had a brain meltdown and just wanted to make something in C4D and Octane without breaking my brain. So I messed around a bit with the new Volume and Voulme mesher. Check out how the surface kinda glitches out and “breathes’ a bit. No idea what is causing that, lol! I also wanted to post this here because instagrams quality is really going to hell it seems. I can’t even see the scratches on it.

The Simple Joy of “No Phones Allowed”

The effect was immediately noticeable upon entering the concert bowl. Aside from the time-travel-like strangeness of seeing a crowd devoid of blue screens, there was a palpable sense of engagement, as though—and it sounds so strange to say it—everyone came just so they could be there.

People were visibly enjoying the opening band, at least in part because that band no longer compete with the entire internet for the crowd’s attention. Even the crowd’s milling around and chatting between acts was so much more lively. People were either talking to their neighbors, or taking in the room. And everyone taking in the room was taking in the same room. It felt great. 

…Distracted concert crowds are a problem worth addressing, but it’s a small one, relatively speaking. I don’t think we’ve even begun to comprehend the full cost of our devices on our lives, particularly on our social structures, the development of our children, and our overall mental health. When the long-term studies start coming out, we’re going to be appalled.

I imagine that in another decade or two we’ll look at 2010s-era device use something like we do now with cigarette smoking. I was born in 1980, and I remember smoking sections on planes, which is unthinkable today. I wonder if today’s kids will one day vaguely remember the brief, bizarre time when people didn’t think twice about lighting up a screen in the middle of a darkened concert hall.

I can get behind this. I occasionally go through a phase where I leave my phone at home and there are a few things you notice. First thing I notice is that the cell phone has a cigarette like pull on me. When I used to smoke, the first thing I would do when I had a free second is reach for a smoke. Waiting for the band to clear the stage, smoke. Waiting for other to show up to rehearsal, smoke. Waiting for the bus, smoke. Same damn thing with a cell phone.

The second thing you notice is everyone glued to their damn phones EVERYWHERE. It’s like “They Live”. It’s really odd to see it and not be of it. This is a nice paragraph as well.

Every time someone in a group of people deploys a screen, the whole group is affected. Each disengaged person in a crowd is like a little black hole, a dead zone for social energy, radiating a noticeable field of apathy towards the rest of the room and what’s happening there.

We all know this feeling from being at a restaurant table when one person has “discreetly” ducked out into their screen. Even while everyone else is happily chatting face-to-face, everyone feels the hole.

The full strength of this black-hole effect on today’s social events can be hard to appreciate, because it has crept into our lives so gradually. But it sure was obvious in a venue at which everyone’s ripcord has been checked at the door. So much more attention stayed in the room, and it was palpable.

Think I may give the no cell phone outside the house thing again…..

Houdini or bust

After much thought and weighing of options I have decided to do a deep dive into Houdini and Redshift and see what I can start doing in there. I am getting frustrated with doing sims and then figuring out how to export them from Houdini, into C4d and then render with Octane. Going to try to just get it all working in one dang place.

The possibilities are super exciting and with the speed of Redshift I can see myself having a easier time with look dev. Doing some basic tuts to start and rehash the basics then moving on to more advanced stuff hoping to absorb some of it. Hopefully I’ll start posting Houdini made abstract skulls shortly, lol!

Starting with these two series to rehash the basics and get some particle work going on. Then I want to revisit Applied Houdini again. I got through the first two working on my smoke sims but got in over my head. So a recap on Houdini and then a deep dive into smoke and particles. That should cover the next few months!

'Welcome to #Hustletown': How hustle culture took over advertising - Digiday

To be clear, hustle isn’t just hard work — it’s showing that you’re working hard. It’s Instagram posts about how much you have to travel for work, it’s LinkedIn and Medium memos about how if you’re not working yourself to the bone you’re not doing enough. It also smacks a little bit of “work at all costs.” And if you’re not struggling, you’re probably not working hard enough.

“There’s this whole thing about how being an entrepreneur, or even just a person working, has to be like falling on your face while eating glass,” said Eliason. “That’s bullshit. This is a job, and you can quit any time.”

This is such bullshit bro culture crap. It’s needs to die with the “Gig Economy today.”

There is backlash coming to this. Eliason is one of them — he’s instituted new rules at his agency that include flat fees, not time billed. People are now focused on balance, mindfulness, and not dying because you have too much to do. 

“Younger employees rightly question their return on doing things 100 times. Is the work getting better as a result of this?” said Clark.”The approach to creative ideation is necessary and good and yields better work, but there is a point where it gets to diminishing returns.”

Source: https://digiday.com/marketing/welcome-hust...

Mount Hood's Deadliest Disaster | Outside Online

“About an hour before midnight on Mother’s Day in 1986, a group of teenagers assembled at an Episcopal high school in Portland, Oregon, to embark on an expedition. Their goal was to summit Mount Hood, completing an adventure program that was required for all sophomores. What followed was a story of tragedy and loss that is commemorated annually at the institution it changed forever.”

Source: https://www.outsideonline.com/2357451/moun...

The Burn

Just getting off of a pretty crazy push through a lot of projects. Just a reminder to everyone out there to remember to take time for themselves as well. Balance people! ;)

New Commisioned Poster Art

Just finished up a commissioned Poster for the Portland band We Are Parasols that I am super happy with. A bit of a breakthrough piece for me for a few reasons. This is the first fully creative piece I have made since recently switching to a new Windows machine from Puget Systems for my full time environment. The Mac be dead people, move on sooner than later. I also contribute the new PC workstation with helping light and build out this set since it is so damn fast. Full on game changer for me. So many more possibilities with a system that does not choke and crash in dense scenes. Another reason is it just looks super damn cool, wheee! Really happy with the feel of it.  I kinda had a breakthrough with Octane Render and understanding the node network and it's slightly quirky take on displacement as well.

Back from vacation

Just got back from a much-needed vacation in Hawaii and we caught a bit of the storms in Maui and were trapped behind a landslide causing us to miss flights and do the travel rebooking shuffle but we left the day before they really hit hard. We were in Hanalei on Friday and on Sunday it was flooded and the roads were washed out. Pretty crazy. Here's to hoping all the folks there are OK.  That footage is so crazy.

Realism Studies

Been focusing more on my realism with CG lately and wanted to post a few different pieces using Physical Renderer in C4d and Corona Renderer. If you follow me on Instagram you may have been seeing these trickle in.  Lots of little differences between the two render engines. The light plays a bit more subtle with Corona but Physical can hold it's own once you tweak the GI a bit. Corona gets the "Flare" of sunlight with shadows way better. Corona is really plug and play, no tweaks from the defaults at all but the materials are a bit different and it crashes Team Renderer every time. So it is not production ready as of yet.  Interactive render is very responsive, but save often. Physical gets some really nice details and the Multi-Pass is less glitchy.

Right now in my head I think for stills I would use Corona and for anything needing animation I would use Physical but I got this feeling I can get more out of Physical yet. Anyways, check em out. 

Clear LCDs as animated stained glass

This is pretty amazing. "‘Illuminated Glass’ is an interactive art experience that reimagines the traditional art of stained glass. The heart of the installation features a 4 panel box made with transparent screens and mirrors. A generative art system plays across the screens, appearing at first like modern stained glass. Light shines through the art, letting colored light into the experience."

Great tofu and a good story

Read this story on Ota Tofu this morning. Really interesting story on a local shop. It's the oldest Tofu shop in America.

"Anzen was Ota Tofu’s longest-standing customer until they closed in 2014 (after 109 years in business). Today, a distributor in eastern Washington is the shop’s longest-standing account—around since Ko’s parents’ day—thanks to Andy’s Market in College Place, catering to the students at Seventh Day Adventist-affiliated Walla Walla University. Most of their business comes from wholesale accounts held by local restaurants and stores, but they still graciously sell their tofu to people like me, regular folks who wander in off the street with a few bucks in their pocket. If you bring a bucket, the pressed-out soybean meal called okara is free (it’s great mixed with ground pork and fried into patties or meatballs, to eat with ramen). Ota Tofu Company does this as a service to the community. Anyone who has tasted tofu made only hours ago knows what a service this is."