Little daily render based off of a Nine Between tutorial, “Houdini Tutorial - Nodes Part 1: Attribute Nodes”. Rendered in RedShift. Might try to run a animation of it later. I can not recommend delving in Attributes and VEX sooner than later. This set up is shockingly simple.
Red Shift Layered Materials in Houdini
Just wanted to work on a quick daily messing around with layered materials in RedShift Houdini.
Did a bit of scatter of smaller spheres as well which I need to look into how to UV. Not too sure on how to use Particles in Redshift yet.
More Houdini and Vellum
Wanted to dive a bit into simulating with vellum so here is a pretty simple set up with a heart “balloon” type thing tumbling down some stairs.
Ran into issues with the normals flipping a lot in redshift but not the viewport. Still not really sure how I solved that issue, it just kinda went away as I was futzing around with nodes. Here is a screen shot of the Heart Geo node showing how the dynamics were wired.
Nothing fancy going on with Redshift at all but I am finding it a bit more interesting to use than Octane in Houdini at least. Not using it as much in C4d. But that is where I do “work work” and not just play with Ideas and Concepts. Now that I look at this screen shot, I should really have a Null in there…..
Houdini and Vellum.
Taking a break from learning more about Houdini’s attribute nodes to do a short study with the new Vellum solver. I did not simplify the geo in this model or tweak it. Just dropped all of it into one geo node and Houdini delt with it rather well besides a few pointed points. The animation never comes to a rest but like I said, I just plugged it in and let it rip. Using RedShift for my render engine and learning that now as well.
Moving forward with the new year, I plan on posting my danklife instagram imagery here with a bit more back story for two reasons. One, I can add the backstory and direct link to any tutorials or resources used in the making of. Two, instagrams compression officially sucks major shit. Good lord, it’s terribad. I guess part three would be to replace the dumpster fire the danklife facebook page as well.
Mystical by Neil Burnell
Really awesome series of photos here:
“Nestled on the eastern slopes of the West Dart river stands a wood of dwarf oak trees. Once you walk into the tangled web of trees you are transported into a mystical world of moss carpeted boulders, lichens of all descript, finger like oak branches, all engulfed in a wonderful smell of earth and age. For millennia this small, mystical, stunted woodland has been held in awe and for many fear. Tales of Druids, ghosts, the Devil and a host of other supernatural creatures abound, some dating back to the long lost ages before man could write. Many writers have described the wood as being “the most haunted place on Dartmoor”, others warn that every rocky crevice is filled with writhing adders who spawn their young amidst the moss and leaf strewn tree roots. Locals will never venture near once the sun begins it slow descent over the nearby granite outcrops for it is when the dark mantle of night draws tight that the heinous denizens of the wood stalk the moor in search of their human victims. So be afraid, very afraid, as the wagging finger of fate warns you to stay clear and risk not your mortal soul in the ‘Wood of the Wisemen’ “
Houdini and Redshift
Been wanting to shift more into Houdini and Redshift lately and this weekend I had a little time to test out some particle tracers. Houdini just gives so much more control then Modo or Cinema 4d when it comes to FX, the little details really make the difference. It is rather difficult to parse though. Not a easy switch at all.
Insect Apocolypse Series?
This might be shaping up into a actual series. Working on a Bee piece next.
The gig is up, skateboarding exposed.
Tell all documentary on modern skateboarding. ;)
97% Decline
New Piece I did this weekend about the decline of the monarch butterfly.
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…..
Yeah, this sums it up.
Webcomics Name sums up the Freelance world pretty well.
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.”
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.”
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! ;)
Digital Nervousness
“What was probably going through my mind is this sense of what I call “digital nervousness” — that every little aspect of life these days involves navigating some digital system that forces you to act both perfectly and arbitrarily to suit its needs.”
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.
Been a hot minute, lol!
Been super slammed with work since coming back from vacation, glad we snuck one in this year. Some fun things going on though. Currently, my imagery is being used for the headers on both the Retouching subreddit and the Cinema 4d one. Nerdy but fun.
Also, my band New Not Normals is playing Friday the 6th at The Firkin here in PDX. Head on out!
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.