jamface

Ahhhhhhh! As much as I not so secretly despise this project, I’m pumped as hell that it was just featured on SideFX’s website. It’s freaking on the front page!! I’m also pumped that they feature a before/after of the fire hydrants. Dan’s sim came to comp looking basically as you see it in the OpenGL. So, I really like how the water pillars came out. Happy to see it in the article.

Get it? I cut out the pigmented part of my skin. Fancy.

I met up with THUG for drinks last night. I had some really fantastic red wine (a lot of it). There was lots of good conversation, particularly a story involving some sexually deviant activities across the street from AXYZ. The four of us that closed up went to play pool for a while. After last call, we were overtaken by the desire to eat grilled cheese, so Jerry took us back to his really kick ass flat and made us phenomenal grilled cheese sandwiches (he puts ketchup inside). Eventually we gave up on the night and I walked the new SESI intern home because I am a master of T.O. navigation.

Today I met up with Alex for lunch at the George St Diner. (Very cute. I had a grilled veggie sandwich and friiiies.) Then he showed me around the Starz Animation studio. I had to sign a Non-Disclosure form and everything! I was shocked to see such a big studio (250 people I think). The animators in the basement work in the pitch black- it’s hilariously sad. It was neat to see such a large team working on a single project. I got to hang out in the Foliage Department where Alex gave me a lesson in L Systems. SO neat. I can’t wait to give them a try. I wish I could have hung out longer, but work was crazy today.

I met up with the Toronto Houdini User Group for drinks last night. Not before I sat inside eating a plate of fries alone for half and hour before I realized they were on the patio. I am awkward.

Alex and I talked about the Bay of Fundi (and that cliff we climbed down). And about the kick ass Houdini wallpaper he makes. Then we talked about L systems.

A few of us got to talking about London and the different studios there, until we moved it to another pub where we played pool and drank cider until 3am. It was pretty ridiculous.

while going through my files, i found some test renders i forgot existed. i’m actually a little sorry they do. for your entertainment, i present them with their original file names:

brown_ice_omg.tga
less-shitty.tga
scary.tga
whaawhaa.tga

It was a pretty good talk. It almost makes me want to read Adv. RenderMan. The IPR render mode they demoed is a lot like the one in Modo, though i’m not sure how the technology compares. It’s pretty handy for lighting though.

Afterwards i chatted with a guy from Starz and the Axys guy again. They invited me to grab a drink with them and a bunch of guys from Mr. X. It was a lot of fun. You should hear the things they say about Maya users- hilarious.

Click image for my mantra notes.