Work in Progress

During the month of April I took an unplanned and unannounced break from working on Traumador. I'm not sure if anyone noticed. The traffic of last month seems to indicate the greater web did (yet 80% of his visitors are looking for pictures, rather then his lovable hijinks).

Instead I spent that time working on my Gorgonopsid for ART Evolved. The results were spectacular(ly fluky... all things considered).

So despite the fact I've gotten myself out of my Traumador related rut, somehow today I spent my whole day off (no skool's wanted me today) starting on my next ART Evolved entry.


Here is where i leave it after a good afternoon of work on it. I'm aiming for a early Jurassic Pterosaur, but haven't really figured out which one yet. I've been using the primitive Triassic Eudimorphodon as my reference, since as far as I can tell most early Pterosaurs looked roughly the same, and it was the only one of these that I could find an okay set of referrals for.

Obviously I'm far from finished.

So why did I spend my day on this rather then more pertinent Traum work (he has a BIG string of CG Dinosaur intensive posts on the horizon). Well I got an email that offers the promise of big exposure for ART Evolved, and as of such I was on the "phone" with Peter for a while discussing this.

Well I can't really concentrate on much while I'm talking on the phone, but casual 3Ding is one of the very few forms of multi tasking I can do. As I don't need to focus on a new modelling job as much in the early stages, this guy was the first that popped into my head (though come to think of it there are some I'll need for Traum soon too...).

Anyway Pterosaur experts may begin letting me know things that need fixing. It's easier to fix them now before I start on texturing and furring... Oh my good old friend fur again... "Yippee"

Blame Glendon!

Now don't mistaken the title of this post. I hold no grudge with Glendon of the Flying Trilobite, quite the opposite actually.

I simply say blame him, as the bizarre images are for once not entirely of my own design. (They were also a great warm up for the more Dinosaur heavy direction Traumador has been taking lately... expect lots more Dinos interacting with everyday objects!)

In a recent post Glendon said complimenting me "I think organizing paleo-artists is probably closer to teaching velociraptors to drink tea properly." The compliment was rather appreciated (thank you again Glendon), and more to the point I loved the saying. Rather then just let this one speak for itself (well read for itself :P), I decided to give it appropriate pictorials to try and hammer this line into the cultural fabric!

I give you teaching a Velociraptor to drink tea properly!

For the record organizing palaeo-artists isn't quite as dangerous as this. It's more like getting an Anomalocaris to play dance dance revolution... oh man. Here we go again :P

Soundtracks: Wolverine and the other X-Men flims

I managed to track down a copy of Wolverine's soundtrack the other day, and man I'm not happy about the delay to get such things down here!

So quickly before I talk about the music on the album, my summary of Wolverine is that considering what it was (a prequel in which we already knew the ending going in) it was pretty good. Note I said good, not great, but by the same token neither bad nor awful.

I'll have to do a post of all my photos of the films various locations, as it was all filmed within 4 hours of where I live.

Well the music of Wolverine is above average, but just like the film that's about it. It is not fantastic, and certainly won't be making it into an updated version of my favourite albums list. There are two individual tracks that will probably stick around on my mp3 player for a while, but I'd only give them 4/5 stars (I actually have on my media player ranking and sorting system).

With this album by Harry Gergson-Williams, I had high hopes. As of course he is in my top five composers. Despite the fact this album didn't knock my socks off, it wasn't a total let down either.

Before I can fully discuss this album it's probably easiest to review all the X-Men movie scores to put it into context. The X-Men as a franchise has suffered from different composers. Even more so then different directors...

No films share the same musical creator, and you would think it would effect the quality of the franchises musical identity. Yet apart from X-Men 1 (which was rubbish musically) I'd say this isn't really the case:

X-Men by Michal Kamen

This was of course the first of the X-Men scores. To be honest it was a real disappointment. I bought it seeking the heroic theme present in the film in a few scenes, and only got the most minimal presentation of these on the album.

That having been said, the villainous music of Magneto's escapade around the train station in the middle of the movie has grown on me, and is the one redeeming track of this album.

Otherwise it is just a set of overly electronic pieces that lack any coherent theme or sound composition. It does an excellent job conveying the science fiction element of the X-Men universe, but fails to conjure the heroics of the team (as that heroic theme I yearned for as a old teen just isn't that good frankly in hindsight 10ish years later) or anything else really. Just that it is futurist or something electronicy...

I bought it more for a love of the movie, as I did back in those days as a naive kid.

X-Men 2 by John Ottman

Was the turning point. Why Brian Singer couldn't get Ottman, his usual composer, for the first X-Men I can't remember (a scheduling conflict if I recall), but the second film sure does benefit from him being on the job.

Of the films I'd say X2 is without doubt the strongest. musically though it is only the 3rd best, but it served a very important role of laying the theme and compositional foundation on which the rest of the franchise would be built on.

Ottman defines a very strong heroic theme for the mutants, but due to the atmosphere and pacing of the film it rarely gets played. On album it is only really present in the intro and concluding tracks. It is a strong point, but not one on which the films music gets built.

The majority of the music is that of subtlety and intrigue. A quality Singer's films (until Superman Returns anyways) are famous for. The music works perfectly, and in casual listening can really add suspense to your day.

This album though not weak in any section, suffers from uniformity. The music is such a great part of the atmospheric layer of the film it doesn't vary a lot, and thus isn't the most enjoyable to listen too removed from this context.

It does offer 4 standout tracks though. The two heroic themes I mention are an immediate must for superhero music fans. The one out right action piece, the armies storming the X Mansion, is a roller coaster of musical fun and has one of my favourite snare drum sequences ever written. Finally Jean Grey's sacrifice has a build up to utter crisis that matches the brilliance of Star Trek 2's music for Spock's similar death. It is really spine tingling stuff, and the loss and sorrow theme afterwards is rather touchy (though not my out right favourite unlike the 30 seconds of the song when the water envelops Jean).

Though I rank this third of the films it JUST falls behind Wolverine as we'll see. Only the first X-Men was a major disappointment.

X-Men 3 The Last Stand by John Powell

Now of course when I discovered my (at that time) newly favourite composer Powell was in charge of this film, my expectations were very high. John didn't disappoint either! This is one of his strongest solo efforts in my opinion.

It has everything from heroic themes, mournful and sad moments, pure awe and dread, and best of all dynamic and textured action ques. I can't say enough good things about it, especially in comparison to the other scores this franchise has to offer.

Though the build up music on the first 1/3 of the album is a bit on the boring side, as of Angel's dramatic escape cue (a piece of majestic wonder... in some ways is over the top for the scene of the film... but on album removed from this, is amazing!) the album kicks off.

The tracks are all arranged on the album organically and often run into the next which right away makes it hard to pick highlights. What I like about Powell's score compared to all the other X efforts is that his heroic theme is entwined throughout the score, and even in the dark tracks hints of it can be heard. Reminding us who this film is about, and who we should be cheering for.

However the villains have some great musical moments. Magneto gets a great solo track of awe when he lifts the golden gate bridge, and the music matches the sheer power of such a concept. The energetic army piece denoting the government going to war with the brotherhood is a lot of fun, and matches the X-Men's less ominous and more hopeful theme in tempo.

What is even cooler is despite Powell making this score his own, it is built around the spirit of Ottman's X2 themes. You could claim they are the same, but because Ottam's were so lethargic in comparison Powell's infusing them with more life and excitement have turned them into something else.

It should also be noted that if you're into BIG orchestra's that use all their instrument all the time, this is the best score I've heard for that. Powell has a lot of different players crammed in here, and they each do get breaks, but they're not long! It is the only super heroic tour of an orchestra that I know of...

Wolverine by Harry Gregson-Williams

Based on the thrill ride that was Powell's X3, I was surprised, but stoked to hear that Gregson-Williams was replacing him for "X4". Surprised as Powell did so well with 3, and also him and Gregson-Williams can be very similar (they did after all work in tandem for their first few scores... these being among my favourites of all time!). Yet I was very excited to see what Gregson-Williams would bring to the table.

In a way I have to say I'm disappointed, but only a little. This is more with how the film was a lot more low key then the others, and so naturally Gregson-Williams had to match this with the music. Which was a let down. As I know given a bigger superhero clash he'd have produced something much more memorable.

When you break this film down it consists of only a few different themes played in different modes and speed.

The only of these that really hits the mark is Wolverine's "theme" which fortunately plays throughout 1/3 of the tracks. It is a multi layered and brilliantly constructed motif, that I'd say is the most intelligent musical product of an X film.

Gregson-Williams realizing he was picking up after so many other composers, started Wolverine's defining music by echoing Ottman's and Powell's hero themes. I say both of them, as playing all three together I can detect snippets of all of them in each other (so one must give Ottman the most credit for starting this mutant and the egg cycle!). Gregson-Williams then followed this brief subtle statement of the "proper" X-Men theme with a choral piece, reminiscent of his Kingdom of Heaven or Narnia scores (his identifiable calling card I'd venture) to give the Wolverine character an alieness (his mutation) and yet a grounding soul.

Depending on the track Gregson-Williams then composes this theme sometimes to reflect bestial side of the character by making the choral sing in a very savage manner backed up by furious drums and electric guitar. Sadly these are the only highlights of the album.

The only action music worth mentioning is the battle between Wolverine and Zero which is based on this character theme music. The end confrontation with Deadpool is an interesting combination of choir and electronic, but it never builds beyond a background tension. The music doesn't convey the battle beyond the screen. Additionally there is no strong villain theme for either Stryker or Sabretooth. Which is a shame, as one of my favourite villain themes is from Kingdom of Heaven, and it was short enough that a rehash here (or anywhere else) would probably go unnoticed by most (and welcome by noticing me!).

However this score still steals second place in the X film score list for me. The cleverness and effectiveness of this Wolverine theme, and its liberal use throughout the score make it a 35-40% of the time enjoyable album. X2 is about the same, but as it is darker and less "epic" I put Wolverine ahead of it.

X3 on the other hand is depending on your mood (as it is the most diverse of the X tracks apart from 1) enjoyable for about 60% of its content. X1, well I don't even have a copy here, and if I did I'd only listen to the train station track, is probably best avoided.

If you want to buy the ONE good X-Men album I'd say X3, but failing that X2 is actually your best bet (I liked Wolverine more, but I'll admit it was a one trick pony... and I fall for those if their well done like this one).

Synapsid Palaeo-Art

The second ART Evolved gallery just went up. This one is about the mammal like reptiles the Synpasids. You can check it out here.

This is my final piece. Sunset on the Karoo. I'm extremely proud of it, which is odd. I normal loath my work on a number of levels. This one I have hardly any complaints or regrets with...

If I'm pleased with a piece, normally it is due to a technical aspect of my work. I either accomplished something I never have before or improved on an old technique (which ties into my art philosophy) in those projects. With this piece I'm pleased with the actual aesthetic of it. The piece actually seems like a piece of art to an extent.

One of my heroes, and my favourite palaeo-artist, is Charles Knight. Though I'd never claim this picture was anywhere near his quality, in an odd way the lighting gives mine a Knight like feel. Which is ALL I will claim. A Knight like atmosphere. To really see what I mean check out the larger version of the Karoo here and look at how my 3D rendering looks like it was painted?!?

Not that I aimed for or knew this was going to happen.

Still, even if it was by mistake. I'm very pleased with my accidental Knight!

Bad Hair Day!!!

I predicted slight set backs earlier this morning. Which is all I wish I got, BUT no I of course have to get some HUGE ones instead!

So it turns out importing my haired Gorgon into my Permian Karoo rescales the fur. Resulting in, well this. Funny enough in a way this emulates my favourite Gorgon restoration from the old choose your own adventure Time Machine books (sadly my copy is back in Canada... so can't show your or look at it myself).

At the same time it looks ridiculous!

Going to have take a break and think about this.

Why couldn't things just going according to the goram plan!!!

The Gallery Looms

Well time is running out before the Synapsid gallery goes up on ART Evolved!

I don't think it matters when I try to schedule things, life has a tendency to get crazy around crunch time (in addition to the normal pressure of the crunch). My side job here NZ had a particularly stressful episode this week that nearly saw me quit it. Instead though I got promoted to supervisor out of the (nearly heated) debrief on said incident. Which is good news for me, all except for my creativity.

Meaning getting my Gorgonopsid ready for May. 1st has been like ACTUAL work!

This is the final version. I'm not totally pleased with him (but what's new). The combo of the Gorgon's natural face structure (I've found the ppl at Impossible Pictures made some creative tweaks to their CG models skulls for Walking with Monsters and Primeval to overcome Gorgon's built in adorablity) and my muppet like fuzz has made this guy more cute than apex predator.

The one silver lining of the fuzz is that if I ever have to make a "woolly" anything I know how to do it!

I don't have the time or inclination to rework him anymore (again I have no other application for this model afterwards), but I need to cover up his cute factor somehow.

My solution is atmosphere and setting. By obscuring everything in moody sunset lighting, the Gorgon should hopefully lose some of his cute.

For the moment behold the bedrock of Permian Karoo. This is just that though the baseline for the scene. I spent a good solid 5 hours fixing and making this landscape. At first a small lake in an otherwise desert like world seemed easy enough. Of course the road to hard work is paved with under-estimations.

I have added other details to this scene, but have purposely been hidden (more like a romulan cloaking device built into my 3D program) for this preview image.

The final piece should hopefully invoke the feeling of a shot from a nature documentary. It should be chalk full of nightfall behaviours of the Gorgons. Mind you, I did note the hope I'm pinning this on.

The set and the un-posed Gorgon are finished. Now I need to merge the two. Which might prove tricky... If past lessons are of any value!

Hairy Annoyance

My latest adventure in 3D isn't as new and exciting as it might sound... Hair the furry frontier...

Fur is simply a slight modification on feathers, and we all remember how much I "loved" those... but yet I can now do them for the most part (just with headaches everytime... which as luck would have it carries over to fur!)

So this is approaching the final version of my Gorgonopsid (he's getting a little more fur on the chin, and the back legs).

Anyone who knows a thing or two about them, could you let me know what you think? Is this passable or just an insult to our very fore forefathers?

I'm not totally happy with it. Which is tearing at me (fun fact about Craig, though he is in 90% of his life totally flexible and easy going, when it comes to his creative endeavours is a perfectionist and is NEVER happy with anything he does!). I don't want to present work of mine if its not up to the level as it were. Especially in my current effort to get some of my work published legitimately.

However as this is "just" for ART Evolved, and not a model I have a use for beyond that, I can't see a reason to pour hours and hours into pushing it beyond this point (especially since I'm also in the middle of trying to get the BIGGEST event in Traumador's history together right now... one that features my BEST work yet! Including a bleeding wounded Dinosaur!).


So any of the artists out there, what is your take on my current situation? Let this thing loose (of course posed and in an environment in a proper scene) or do I throw myself off my more legit artistic efforts to make sure this one is also a top notch product?

Gorgons

The thing I love about being done university (finally!) is I can enjoy reading again. Being a teacher has added an extra push to get me turning those pages once more. Afterall if I don't role model enjoying books to future readers, who will?


It's not like I wasn't reading before, mind you. I regularly read posts and articles off 40+ websites and blogs (making for at least 10 a day). At the same time they are very different mediums, books and the net, and it is nice to shake it up between the two.


However fiction just hasn't held much appeal for me lately. I think this has to do with the sting I suffered with Harry Potter (I liked the first 3 Potter books, but the 4th was utter rubbish and turned me right off the series, and it seems fiction books as a whole) and the constant jumping of the shark or cancellations of my favourite fictional TV shows, and now if I watch TV (not very often these days) it is mostly comedy or documentaries. So I've been reading nothing but non-fiction. Which has the bonus of me learning quite a bit.

This week's book was rather compelling, so I thought I'd plug it... as though it was non fiction mimiced the goodness of a fictional book:


That would be Peter Ward's Gorgon. I bought this book back when it first came out in 2004, but as it was in the middle of my uni days I put off reading it. In my recent book blitz I unburied it on my bookshelf and dug right in.

Man I was depriving myself, it was outstanding, and I could hardly put it down throughout the week! It was not what I expected at all!

I'd picked up Gorgon thinking it would discuss the Permian period and the Proto-mammal Synapsids that ruled that world. This is one of the areas my palaeo know-how that is not quite as strong, and I'd thought this book might help fix that. Sadly the book doesn't really get into the technical side of the topics Dr. Ward looks into.


Instead the book presents a personal narrative of his delving into the mystery of the Permian extinction not so much as a scientist but as a person (though these is still plenty of science along the way!). Which is what was so compelling, the story behind the science.

In this book you get the first hand account of what it is like doing field work, research in the lab, the squabbles and obstacles of the internal politics of museums and universities, and the challenges scientists contend with when dealing with the "real" world, all the stuff that doesn't make the newspapers or TV documentaries!
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I loved the way Dr. Ward never presents himself as the hero, but simply a player in the story. He gives due credit to others, and often humbly downplays his own involvement (which towards the end of the book pays off in an exciting moment when he 'finally' has his 'moment').

The book is also as much about South Africa's transformation throughout the 1990's as it is about the fossils buried in its soil. Which having studied this eras politics and history in uni, was interesting to see how the massive social changes in the country had effects on its the museums and scientists.

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Though the book was based on a true story, it still followed the structure of a first person narrative, and has given me cause to think about some fiction titles in my reading pile. We follow Dr. Ward and the South African Museum's field team on a journey to track down the elusive killer of 95% of all life 250 million years ago. The best part is they (along with dozens of researchers elsewhere in the world, which Dr. Ward gives the proper head nod to when it comes up in the book) in a classic mystery novel are able to track down through the clues it left behind, the most likely cause of the extinction. Giving the book a very satisfying conclusion.

Finishing off the book in the morning on my last day off during "Autumn" break (remember our seasons are opposite down here) I had inspiration and an afternoon off to build this. The start of my ART Evolved piece for May's upcoming Synapsid gallery.

It is not finished of course, but considering my the lack of good references and lack of experience making these sorts of animals, I feel it is a promising start.

My only problem with finishing it is what texture would a Proto-mammal reptile have? Scales, skin, fur, or something else entirely?

Feathers, sorted, but I STILL hate them!

Well after yet another evening (3 in a row now) of fighting with these stupid 3D feathers, I have finally emerged on top. At least more so then when I started. This is yet more proof against the short victorious war model in any case.

Not that I didn't have some major malfunctions along the way!!!

The price of increased model quality and accuracy is the loss of 3Ding simplicity. This what I look at when dealing with the Oviraptor model in my program. I'm hoping you catch the unwieldiness of the thing.

In addition to the (spline form) model parts that make up the Dinosaur there are now skeletal rig "bones" (in blue) and surface replicated feathers (in white) jamming up the works. Probably not obvious to a none Carrara user is the multitude of aspects of these (the replicator in particular) not plainly visible here, but that I still have to keep track of while using the model.

Oh well, after some reverse engineering of my highly successful Dromaeosaurid feather setup (that I somehow fluky stumbled upon without meaning to), I was able to get this guy to finally feather agreeably.

One down (pun intended!) and many more to go... Hopefully transplanting my Velociraptor's feathers will work as well for all upcoming feather recipients as this guy!

I HATE Feathers!!!

Well the 3D Dinosaur revolution goes on...

I hit my first big brickwall of the skeletal era. "Feather"ing a fully rigged model.

The technique I am using to "Feather" my Dinos is not called feathering. It is a process in Carrara called surface replication. What I am doing is taking one or more object (in this case feathers) and telling the computer to make up to 10 000 copies along the surface of another object (the body in the Dinosaur's case).

In theory it sounds great, and should make feathering doable (as opposed to manually placing all those feathers by myself). However it doesn't behave the way one would logically expect. For some reason the math or programming at its heart causes replicated object's pitch, yaw, and roll (known in 3Ding as X,Y, and Z) to all swap with each other, and in none intuitive manners. Coupled with a none existent means of manipulating replicators makes for a lot of hit and miss adjustments by me.

Putting feathers on my old style manual adjustment models was F@#&ing hard before going rig-atomic. The 3D skeletal rigs have simply amplified the problem!

This sample of my current efforts to feather my Oviraptor give you an idea of the problems I face. Apart from the legs (which are doing exactly what I want) this guy looks like he's stuck a claw in the toaster.

Leading to a new catch phrase for my creative anger. It may not be very imaginative nor difficult to figure out, but it applies none the same. "I HATE feathers!!!"