Live Blogging: Melding of Greats

Righto, I've been working on the T-Rex's head since the last post.


Peter found my photoshop comparison technique rather interesting in person. He'll probably be popping on here or his blog with his take on this shortly.


All I have to say is multiple layers and transparencies are your best friend when comparing works.

This is where I started.

This is where I'm currently at.

So I need to get the details like lip scales and teeth back onto the head.

I'm also toren as to whether go with the new age concept of Theropod lips covering up the teeth.

Live Blog: Time to get Serious

So it was a little touch and go at the beginning of the hour. We were up against the "Pants of Doom" after all.


Fortunately we Canadians had a secret weapon in our arsenal. Mukmuk the official mascot sidekick...

With him cheering on our team, how could we fail?

Okay so I get a little manic and silly when facing Curling stress, but my Mukmuk action figure needed a breakout.

Anyways he did the trick, and we won the Curling 6-3! I'll give Norway credit on a great game. They certainly had me stressed out in End 7!

Now the only big stressful sports event left on the agenda is the men's Ice Hockey game. I'm seriously worried about Canada's chances... but here's hoping.

So while I was wasting a good chunk of the afternoon on Curling, Peter was working hard.

(Okay, and in my defense I did a bit of work on upgrading the texture)

He cranked out an awesome Tyrannosaur in an hour in a half. So power on him.

So here is the design sketch I'm going to TRY and match in 3D. Peter will have the "fun" task of supervising and motivating me on this effort.

Wish us luck!

A Joint Project

After an intense month of Olympics (and work for Peter), me and Bond have finally managed to sit down to do one of dozens of potential joint projects.

Today's we've decided to have Bond supervise one of my 3D projects. He often wants me to include many tweaks and details into my models, that while in theory would be awesome, my 3Ding skills and techniques are incapable of. Through this project I'm hoping to educate him on what I can and can not do.


Our subject, the most iconic. Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Say good bye to this version, the Mark 3 edition, of the Rex. We're hoping to get him up to at least a Mark 5. We might even push the boundaries of my work to Mark 6... but one thing at a time.
So prepare for a special edition live blogging event!

We are currently an hour in. Peter is busy working off references and creating his definitive T-Rex from which I shall attempt to work off.

We'll keep you posted how this goes throughout the afternoon.

I in the meantime am unbelievably in suspense over the Gold Medal Men's Curling match. It is Canada vs. "The Pants of Doom" Norway (I'll try to find you a picture of these pants... a true example of psychological warfare!).

So far Canada is winning 5-3 midway through the 9th end (out of 10), but I just can't trust anyone wearing pants like those. This game isn't over yet folks.

Need Canada to win if I'm to calm down...

What a Night!!!

Of the many adventures I've had in the last two months, none of them quite compare to tonight's!

Through no direct planning, we timed our Olympic event PERFECTLY for the end of our Olympic tolerance... Everyone in town is a little Olympiced out as it were here in Vancouver. However that is another story for another time (I need to goto bed).

Which Olympic event did we goto you might ask?

Why the greatest of them all... Water Bucketing!

You haven't heard of the classic winter game Water Bucketing?

That's a sad thing. As it means you haven't actually been to the even I witnessed today! They cut the Water Bucketing out of the TV broadcasts... for some reason :P

We saw the last of the Short Track Speed Skating...

It was not only incredibly fun to watch, but stressful throughout, and in the end proved to be mighty EPIC!

Canada won two Gold medals, and a Bronze right in front of our eyes! The only single night and venue we have achieved this multi-gold feat at... and I was there for it! So indescribably cool!

Topping it off is this photo I somehow managed to snap. This is about 1/100 of a second after Canada crossed the finish line for its second Gold of the night, in the men's relay... That red dude on the left with his arms in the air is our last skater literally having just won the race. This is probably the single coolest photo I've ever taken.

I'm planning a couple Olympic posts (first and foremost explaining why I love the Olympics so much... as those who know me are quite confused by my sudden sports obsession. Normally I steer clear of them) and these will include a more detailed post about tonight. So watch for those soon.

For now I NEED to go to bed. Just had to share some of the overwhelmingness while it was fresh!

Dino Winter Games Preview

I know we haven't used it in a little while, but Peter and I are trying to get back to posting over on the main Prehistoric Insanity blog.

As part of this effort, we offer a special sneak peek of one of the Dinosaur teams about to participate in Traumador's big Olympic event!

So be sure to pop over there and check it out, and watch for our renewed effort to bring back the Prehistoric Insanity updates!

Live Blogging Conclusion

Here is the post battle report of yesterdays Olympic edition Live Blogging.

Admittedly both Peter and myself were disappointed in how our live blogging materialized. We had ideas for more detailed views into our artistic processes, but we just haven't had the time. In addition to Peter working full time, the rare instance of being in THE Olympic city during the games has eaten all our spare time.

Speaking of disappointment, I lost my Therizinosaur's body last night. When I say lost, I mean literally lost it. Well my puter did. If I muck around with rigging there is a risk (due to an annoying glitch) that my computer loses model component information and replaces these with a cube. So reloading my Therizinosaur I was greeted with this...

It was a sharp reminder I NEED to backup models before rigging them! At least it was just one part! Last time I hit this problem it replaced EVERY single piece! Though I'd backed up that time.

So this is what my lost model looked like.

After "borrowing" Lillian's body, and tweaking it for about 20 minutes this what I replace my old model with. Overall I have to say I like this body better. It has a lot of subtle detail I've built into it over the years (the Lillian model is almost 3 years old!), that I didn't have to touch.

Still it is rather annoying I put the work into a new body, and to lose it right when it is finished... Oh well it could have been much much worse!

Onto the next big project. The Dinosaur Winter Olympics!

Live Blogging 10

We're now working with David Attenbrough's Life in Cold Blood on in the background.

Despite not the most productive day (in the sense of concentration), I'd say my Therizinosaur has turned out rather well.

A thought has just occurred to me here, looking at it now. That it has a very similar colour scheme to my Brachiosaurs. Oh well. It looked good on them, and it looks good here. That and most modern large herbivores are similarly coloured. Why not Dinosaurs too?

I initially played with posing, but this lead to a disaster... Which has not been resolved, and can not be satisfactorily.

I was in such a rush to show Bond how skeletons work in person I forgot to take the precaution of the ubber backup (which is to save a totally different version of the model), and the puter lost my Dino's body model. The rest of it is fine (arms, fingers, head) thankfully, but I've got no recourse but to rebuild or smash kit another of my models.

I'm opting to the smash kit, and Lillian's body has begun being distorted to replace my lost torso (I'm not spending another hour on a fresh rebuild... in good news the Lillian distortion has in 10 minutes produced a very workable replacement. I'll just need to spend a good 15-20ish more minutes on it, but that's better then starting COMPLETELY over).

So these pics you see here are the last glimpse of this version we'll ever get/see... (also making this post pointless... as at the end of the hour I have unprogress to report BEEP)

Peter update: After a bit of experimenting, Bond has come up with a rather cool photoshop method of colouring his drawing. I think the process has only begun, and there is a lot he can pull off with more layers. However the baseline colour results he is achieving already are quite impressive, and among the best in his already great body of work!

Live Blogging 9

The Olympics are finally over for today.

Have to say today was our second worst so far (yesterday being the worst). If not for the speed skating silver medal, it'd have been as bad as yesterday.

In addition to losing the Ice Hockey, we lost the women's Curling to China ruining our perfect winning streak. Oh well.

This has allowed me to really push away on my shading. The head is now done. Onto the arms and fingers next.

Peter update: Having gotten the pic into his puter, Bond is currently playing around with layering his drawing and whether it will be best to keep it black and white or to goto colour. Head over and help him out.

Live Blogging 7

Oh man... I'm on the edge of my seat!

Canada and China are tied at 5 in the 11 end (Curling version of sudden death overtime!), and two stones to go!

Been working on the body colour pattern this whole time. I'm kind of liking the orange with green spots. We'll see how it goes.

Peter update: Bond has made major progress. Finishing all his inking. He is scanning the drawing onto his computer AS I type this. I think the plan is to try to colour it entirely in photoshop. Hopefully I can help him with a few ideas there.

Obviously keep you posted.

Live Blogging 6

Live Blogging for ART Evolved continues.

Women's curling on TV. I can't have a break. Especially as China is winning... AHHHHHH!!!

Come on Canada pull some of it together tonight please!

Though we are winning Ice Dance... not that I count that as a sport myself.

Mr. (Mrs.?) Therizinosaur has reached the shading stage. Here is the prelimenary shader spread.

I've got a couple test undershades to choose from from. Anyone have any opinions?

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Set 4

Peter update: Bond has been crusing with no Hockey to distract him (that and I think he is working off our defeat). All of his Therizinosaur has been penned (which was a lot of penning). All he needs on is a back leg for the Therizinosaur.

We had a funny experinment to determine where this leg would go. I had to reenact slashing a Tyrannosaur with my hands to see where my legs went. In good news Peter wasn't too far off where he needs to be. So we'll see how it pans out.

Live Blogging 5

This is not good! This is SO not good!!!

Canada lost :(

In good news the stress, and unwatchable nature of parts of the game caused me to work away on my Therizinosaur a lot!

He is roughly together. Arms, fingers, and all. I cheated and just copied the toes and converted them to fingers.

Peter update: He didn't get a whole lot done. Okay, really, he got next to nothing done.

However we now plow on full force with no distractions here on in.

Live Blogging 4

More Live Blogging for ART Evolved.

The break between the 1st and 2nd periods led to small amounts of progress.

However the Americans scoring, the Canadians getting a penalty, and the end of the 2nd consumed all in the last few minutes we're a little shell shocked.

Stressful!!!

Got the toes done, and the arms have begun.

Peter update: Poor guy. He might need to take a nap after Hockey (not that I will let him).

To his credit despite the tense ice battling play out before us, Bond got some work done this hour. His Tyrannosaurid is fully inked, and the Therizinosaur is next. Hopefully this hour.

Communication between the two of us is getting difficult. Not only are we constantly yelling at the screen, but our voice's are going hoarse from the effort.

GO CANADA!

Live Blogging 3

More Live Blogging for ART Evolved (just realized that I forgot to plug why I'm doing this... oops)

Hour 3 sees Canada winning Curling YEAH! A silver medal in women's speedskating YEAH YEAH YEAH!!! and letting America get a 2-1 lead in Hockey BOO!

This Hockey game is more then a bit stressful. The Canadians gave up the first goal in 40 seconds!?! They've picked up the pace a bit, but the left over Speedskating adreline is not helping me and Bond stay calm watching.

Here is the proof shot me and Peter Bond are indeed working side by side.

Oh yeah and there was this Dinosaur thing I'm working on.

Got an ankle and started on the toes to attach to it.

We've hit the end of the 1st period, so work should hit a stride... for 20 minutes.

Peter update: Can't draw... hockey. He's got most of his Dinosaurs inked.

Another slight pen issue.

Live Blogging 2

Okay.

The first proper hour has seen me tinker with leg. I'm not quite happy with it still. I'm finding there are not many good references for Therizinosaur legs...

`

Oh crap! Live blogging moment to report. Peter looking over my shoulder tells me "hey good start on the leg. Where's the ankle?"

`

FACE PALM! That explains it.

`

In my defense Curling has gotten intense. Canada had a nice breakout in End 7 only to have Switzerland catch up in End 8. We're sitting in the middle of the 9th with Canada just ahead 5-4. EEEEEPPPPP

`

Peter update: He has broke out the paper and pen beside me, and I can't find words to describe how cool it is to create art beside my long time friend and collaborator!

There was a slight drama with his fine tip pen earlier this hour. He could find plenty of blue pen, but not so much the key black.

`

I joked he shouldn't buy the blue. He said I should just stick to watch Curling...

`

Olympic viewing is hard, as there is medal women's speed skating competing with Curling. Right when Curling gives out we then have the big event of the week. USA vs. Canada Ice Hockey... so art may be secondary in some ways, as we're both proper Canucks :P

Live Blogging 1

Okay its officially on. Peter got home a little while ago, and so we can settle into art creation.

So here's where I'm at. Yeah not a ton of progress since an hour and half ago. Had to escort Lady R on a quick grocery outing, and the Curling is on.

We've discovered this Olympics, compared to anyone else we know, I am a rabid Curling fan. SO much so I get extremely stressed and distracted. Especially during stones 4-8 (or for you none curlers the last shots of a round).

`

Currently here at the end of the 5th End, Canada is at 3 and Switzerland 1. However it is not clinched for Canada yet...

`

Peter update: He is currently settling in after work. We've currently both by committee decided he should work on a piece he started last week. If he finishes that today, then he can start on a new second piece he has in mind.

`

He also is getting distracted a lot... to tell me to chill out about the Curling!

`

I predict thing will only get more intense for the Hockey game ;)

Live Blogging Begins Now!

Well it was a lot later then we'd wanted to do it, but me and Peter have finally got some time today to live blog.

Who knew that the Olympics would be so time consuming :P It also hasn't helped that Peter is currently teaching full time AND doing lots tutoring on the side.

So once Peter gets back from his tutoring of the day (he does it every single day of the week, what a trooper!) we'll be entering the first ever ART Evolved tandem live blog!

So every hour we'll be posting updates on our (and possibly the other guy's) work. These will begin in just over an hour.

Here is where my Therizinosaur currently stands. This is about 3 hours work so far.

As something of a point of interest from a few people (including) myself, I've been documenting the construction of this critter carefully. Every individual model tweak has been included, whether it was a good tweak or a mis-step. Here is where it is at moment. You'll have to wait till the project is finished before another animation (they are too time consuming for updates during live blogging).

Catch you during the live blog.

Watching a lot of events...

Typically I don't watch a lot of TV. During the Olympics that rule goes out the window.

A combination of having to line up for hours to get in anywhere (which gets old after a day or two) and Lady R having really hurt herself with a fall in the shower (it turned out a lot better than it could have! We have bought Peter a nice shower mat as a result ;p ) has led to the best way to take in the events is through the boobtube. So here I sit otherwise "wasting" time.

Or is it.

Yes I can't type overly efficiently (I do this post during a quick break between Curling and Skeleton) while there is audio in the background. However I can 3D pretty well. So this is the result.

What are people's thoughts on Mr. Spinosaur?

The reason for pushing through my none ART Evolved Dinosaurs. Well for one, me and Bond are still planning a big joint live blog for the Therizinosaur. Second there is another event I'm hoping to build to for the Olympic finale...

You may have caught that Brian "Laelaps" Switek has done a poll on hypothetical Olympic events an Albertosaur should do here in Vancouver... If this isn't convergent (meme) evolution at work, then I don't know what is!

I'm building up to Traum and Lillian competing (against other Dinosaurs) in the majority of the events he has listed in his poll. As we're both on the same page (independantly) I thought it would be good to try and team up with Dinosaur Tracking on this, as they beat me to my punch (yet I prove I was doing it first, as I had Lillian in Van a good 24 hrs before their post, and have some great Traum playing sports shots in the Camera already from this week :P).

So head over to Dinosaur Tracking and let them know on this post in the comments you'd love to see them put their weight behind the 2010 Dinosaur Olympics on The Tyrannosaur Chronicles!

Anyways have to go. Skeleton just started :P

GO CANADA!!!