All the Is It? The Science of Slack

2011 Resolutions!

2012-01-03T14:25:00.000-08:00

Forgot about this.. anyways! These are probably maybe definitely all doable, though I might be dead broke if I do manage to fit them all in...

- Get a bunch more clients
- Figure out XSI, especially ICE.
- Learn Spanish. All of it. Once I'm done with the work books I'll find some sort of meetup group.
- Brush up on French, probably a good idea to do meetup for this too..
- Visit people abroad - Germany, France, Colombia!
- Keep drawing/painting. Emphasis on capturing smaller details like hands,feet and face.
- Maintain Tumblr
- Cook more
- Draw more random stuff
- Take more photos
- Drink less caffeine, alcohol
- Exercise more
- Get a flat??

Resolving resolutions

2011-12-27T02:38:00.000-08:00

Since 2011 is coming to an end, let us see how I did..
Work...Produce two short films. Whatev's

Learn new stuff! Python perhaps, or refamiliarise myself with 3dsMax, Houdini or something? Oh and Zbrush..and Vray. Well, I haven't learned any of the mentioned stuff, but I am pretty handy with Nuke now... That's sort of a success :)
Get a new job/career. Yup. Freelancing now. So far, so good. Tick.
Keep daily Firefox browsing average to under an hour! Draw in downtime and not slack lolz. Lol wut
Make some cash monies outside of main job (photography I hope) Still not sure how to do this!

Personal..
More holidays/travel! Last year I managed 3, this year I need to have at least 4, or die trying (doesn't necessarily have to be abroad) New York...not much else..sigh

Go to more music gigs, cultural events. Not so many gigs this year, but a fair few cultural thingies
Acquire a new skill of some sort..(driving? new sport, tailoring! diy?) Nadda
New hobby (could be linked to 2) Nadda
Maintain Inverse Panda blog with frequent updates Well, I've started up a tumblr now..so that sort of counts
Finish two substantially sized paintings. I've finished many insubstantially sized ones...A winrar am I.
Decide. Can't actually remember what I'm supposed to decide on. But I think I'll stay in the UK for the time being.

Nuke stuff - basic shortcuts/hotkeys

2011-08-13T09:19:00.001-07:00

shift-x to swap a/b 1/2 inputs.
ctrl-shift-x to detach from network
ctrl-shift drag onto, to replace node

killing nparticles with fields

2011-08-10T09:03:00.001-07:00

Anything that works on old Maya particles should work just fine on nParticles.

I can't access Maya here right now but it should work just making a new event and deselecting emit and split and selecting kill original particle.

A more fun way is to create a volume axis field and check to see whether the particles are being affected by it.

If you set your particles lifespan to lifespanPP, you will need to set the lifespan in the creation expression, you can then set the particles lifespanPP to -1 when it enters the field. When you are in the expression editor you will see under attributes ones called inputForce
these correspond to the various fields affecting your particles. I believe they are numbered from 0 based on the order of which they were added to the particles.

So your expressions would look like.

Creation

lifespanPP = 3 + rand( 1 , 2 );

Before Dynamics

if (inputForce[0] > 0)
{
lifespanPP = -1;
}

2011-06-20T17:31:00.001-07:00

Testing Vimeo Links..

After Effects footage stabilisation,smoothing

2011-03-12T08:47:00.000-08:00

Pinched from AE-CoPilot..

Stabilise footage as usual, make layer 3d. Make a null, copy across anchor animation from stabilised footage. (check position matches footage) Make camera. Parent Camera to null.
select Null anchor, alt-click the animation clock thing.
Type smooth(0.2,5)
every 0.2 seconds sample 5 times. The longer the duration, the smoother, but more black borders ..mix and match etc.

houdini things..

2011-02-22T05:11:00.001-08:00

Houdini - for reassigning group selections, select group node hit ` and reselect stuff...

January is half done...

2011-01-16T15:24:00.000-08:00

So far I've not made much progress on my "resolutions". I'm still resolved to get 'em done though.
I've also been bringing my own lunch into work most days and more or less spending all the savings on coffee :)

Life drawing seems to be sorted - had a decent session last week. Just need to document some of the sketches somewhere. I did have an idea to do some sort of super short animation for CNY but I keep getting distracted by work, general slack & games. Perhaps I should finalise a storyboard before deciding anything else.

Decided to try out Lovefilm for a few months. It's all free for now :) Working through many highbrow Criterion collection dvds. (oh and Milk was rather good!) Not entirely sure how this is going to be beneficial to unslacking - but I suppose it's better than browsing the web aimlessly in the evenings. It's also nice that it keeps a record of everything you've watched.

Tried to learn a bit of Python this week...it seems to save some time with certain programming procedures (loops especially), so I just have to keep familiarising myself with it, find some sort of Python for dummies exercise book.

Onward to a new week! I'm cautiously optimistic about it...and if I'm ready for what it might bring!

First!11one (of the year)

2011-01-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

Before making a whole bunch of new resolutions/targets/goals/plans let's take a look at what happened with last year's!

Jump onto the indie development bandwagon. Be it a cruddy game or a half assed app it's something I feel is worth doing. At the very least I'll gain some programming experience. I've signed up for a free XNA creator club account and sat through 2 hours of tutorials to get the ball-a-rolling on this 'un. Short story -TAKES TOO MUCH TIME. IS BORING. I find it quite hard to be enthused by other people's ideas when they aren't particularly good. This applies to other projects - including animated shorts which I did invest a bit of time in. Bah!
Start drawing again, as well as developing series/shorts ideas. Keep an actual organised and documented sketchbook...hey..it could be on this blog?! Found a new life drawing venue, and I'm not too rusty, though the real challenge is to keep going even in crappy weather & after a boring day of work.
That leads me to the subject of this blog.... I'll aim to actually keep it updated with stuff that isn't just code stolen from other sites (though there'll be plenty of that). No real progress here, though I do leave better explanations for what the code is.
Leave the country at least twice. Done! Went thrice! Berlin, Trento & San Francisco!
??? Lots of this :)
Profit Ho hum...

So on to this year's naive list..I'm going to split them into two categories. Personal & Work.
Work...

Produce two short films.
Learn new stuff! Python perhaps, or refamiliarise myself with 3dsMax, Houdini or something? Oh and Zbrush..and Vray.
Get a new job/career.
Keep daily Firefox browsing average to under an hour! Draw in downtime and not slack lolz.
Make some cash monies outside of main job (photography I hope)

Personal...

More holidays/travel! Last year I managed 3, this year I need to have at least 4, or die trying (doesn't necessarily have to be abroad)
Go to more music gigs, cultural events.
Acquire a new skill of some sort..(driving? new sport, tailoring! diy?)
New hobby (could be linked to 2)
Maintain Inverse Panda blog with frequent updates
Finish two substantially sized paintings.
Decide.

Onward!

removing initial state of particles!

2010-12-10T05:55:00.001-08:00

yet another particle related thing I should know already...

anyway, set lifespan of particles to 0, run simulation for a frame or three so that maya is forced to update the buggers and terminate them - then set intitial state once more. Now re run simulation and it should be set to default! Whee!

more stolen particle stuff

2010-11-04T09:52:00.001-07:00

Create a polygonal sphere and turn it to softBody ( use the option "Make Soft" - in case you want to fallow the exact steps ot this tutorial ). Create a particle emitter, offset it on Z axis, set it to "Directional", set "Direction Z" to -1, set "Speed" to 3, "Speed Random" to 0.5 and "Spread" to 0.1. Apply radialField to the softBody particles ( i will call it radialField_softBody ) and another one to the particles emitted by the particle emitter ( let's call it radialField_particles ). For both radialFields set the "Max Distance" value to 0.75 and turn on "Apply Per Vertex". Now here is the important part: Select radialField_softBody and the particleShape emitted by the particle emitter. Then use the command "Use Selected As Source of Field" inside the "Fields" drop-down menu. Do the same with radialField_particles and the softBody particles. By default Maya parents the forceFields under the objects used used as source for them and links their translate attributes. Dissconnect their attributes and move them outside the "action" area.

	At this point you are ready to go - click on the left image to see the result in motion. Keep in mind that all the attributes of the forceFields are accessible on PP level ( read the Maya Help for more information ). The "Volume Shape" attributes of the forceFields should be set to "None". In addition you can try and this: turn the sphere to a non-dynamic object and use it as source of the radialField_blendShape, i.e. - delete the softBody particles, and reapply the radialField to sphere's shape. This is a some kind of bridge between this and the next tutorial below.

More Particle Transformy Stuff I should really know..

2010-10-26T03:11:00.000-07:00

In the unlikelihood that anyone but myself reads this "blog", all credit to Sathish Kumar from chennai, working in Nipuna Services. Tutorial found on Creative Crash, via CGTalk forums.Whew.

Step 1:

Create any Geometical object and Assign any Texture and then Convert it to File Texture.
Create a surface emitter from that object and turn on Need Parent UV.
Add rgbPP attribute to particleShape1.
Assign the Baked File Texture to the emitter1 color .
Turn on inherit color in emitter1.
Set the conserve attribute to zero in the particle.
Set the emitter rate attribute to 5000.

Step 2:

Create any Geometical object and Assign a different Texture and then Convert it to File Texture.
Create a surface emitter from that object and turn on Need Parent UV.
Add rgbPP attribute to particleShape2.
Assign the Baked File Texture to the emitter2 color .
Turn on inherit color in emitter2.
Set the conserve attribute to zero in the particle.
Set the emitter rate attribute to 5000.

Step 3:

Play the TimeSlider and after the objects getting filled with the particle's Stop the TimeSlider.
Step 4:

Set as Initial state for both the particles.Delete the emitters from the object so the particles be independent. Now open the particleShape1 attribute editor and add the runtime expression in the position attribute as follows

particleShape1.position=hermite(particleShape1.position,particleShape2.position,
<<0,0,0>>,<<0,0,0>>,smoothstep(rand(0,2),rand(3,3.5),time));

and add the runtime expression in the rgbPP attribute as follows
particleShape1.rgbPP=hermite(particleShape1.rgbPP,particleShape2.rgbPP,
<<0,0,0>>,<<0,0,0>>,smoothstep(1,rand(1.5,3),time));

Play the scene and Enjoy the Particle Morph.

Particle magick

2010-10-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

Particles flowing along a curve (obvious stuff I should know)

make particle & emitter
make curve
set curve as goal
select particle, in attr. editor, add the goalU and goaloffset attrs.
goalU+=0.1 or whatever
goaloffset is so the particles are around the curve, not just ON it.
Use something like sphrand (<<2,2,2>>) for that.
Profit.

stretchy limbs redux

2010-10-11T07:52:00.000-07:00

seems as if it's important to have a master global scale in the baseCtrl.
everything should be parented under the baseCtrl..
1/masterGlobalScale should be applied to the bendy chain joints.
use of distance nodes to spread the chain joints is definitely the way to go in conjunction with translateX
the root of the chain joint's immediate child should sit right on top of itself, for the bending to work
use rotation of bendy joints to create bending
IKctrl should be a shape of sorts, parented under baseCtrl. It should hold a locator for distance purposes and also the IK itself.

Stretchy Bendy Rig

2010-09-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

For main part -
3 chains - IK, FK & Result
Use Blend Color nodes to feed rotation values of IK/FK into Result Joints
Similarly use Blend Color nodes to switch between stretching of joints (feed into scaleX usually)
Generally for IK stretching, parent the IKhandle to some sort of control object. Point constrain the distance node locators to the control object and not the IKhandle. (remember dgdirty as well)

FKstretch for bendy is -

FKstretchFactor x length
Divide by number of bendy joints.
Subtract original translationX to gain offset
Add offset to whatever original translation X was (this part could be streamlined)

IKstretch for bendy is the same.

Point constrain top and bottom joints of bendy chain to appropriate result joints. Orient constrain appropriately too, so that middle joints will follow correctly when not bending.
For bendiness, drive translation Z or Y with a custom attribute, dividing by various factors to gain curve effect.
Would be worth experimenting with rotation instead of translation.

To do - make rigs scalable

modified locator -to- particle script... useful!

2010-07-12T03:57:00.001-07:00

Note to self - figure out why counter caps at 100?

// Nulls2Particles Script by Garry Runke

string $selection[] = `ls -sl`;                            // `ls -sl` = list selected, creates an array with all selected objectnames in it

float $counter = `particle -q -count $selection[0]`;    // Get the number of particles

for ($x=0; $x<$counter; $x++)                           // Schleife läuft sooft wie Partikelanzahl
{

    string $part = $selection[0]+".pt["+$x+"]";             // This line builds the string representing the current particle (important for the next line)
    spaceLocator;        // Creates a locator at position 0 0 0
for($i=0; $i<200; $i++)
{    currentTime $i;
    float $partPos[2] = `getParticleAttr -at worldPosition $part`;    // Get the coordinates for each particle
    move -a $partPos[0] $partPos[1] $partPos[2];            // Moves the locators over the particles
    setKeyframe;
}
};

Note to self. Recently resolved resolutions.

2010-05-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the year I resolved I would post on the blog more often, I'd get to work on an indie game, I'd draw more & that I would travel a bit more.
So, after nearly 6 months how am I doing?

Posting on the blog started off well, but as always laziness took over.. It still functions well as somewhere to store handy Maya tips though.
Whilst I did start collaborating on two indie games, yes two, I've decided to cease work on both...just to maintain my sanity levels. I stare at 3d software all day long at work & it's incredibly difficult for me to load it up once I'm at home.
Have I been drawing more? Short answer, no. And travelling? Thus far I've been to Berlin & in a couple of weeks I'll be off to Italy for a friend's wedding. That travel target was rather easy to achieve :) There're even a couple of other destinations planned for this year.

In short, screw you Past Dave. I don't need your stinking resolutions.

More Maya hijinks

2010-03-24T07:20:00.001-07:00

maya cycles eg,
parent constrain A to B, parent constrain B to A
breaks Maya.

Instead Constrain A to B, but turn off B's constrain to A
When you want A to control, turn off A's to B and turn on B's to A.

Use condition nodes and pair blends. Pair blends are generated when you set a key in such a cycle. Lock the pairblend nodes.
Its ok to delete keyframes AFTER you lock them.

Within condition node you need to use RGB to set states and values for certain nodes. In the case of A and B, you want to set the parent Constraint node to either 0 for normal, or 2 for blocked.
you also need to set the weight to 0 or 1. The final value is the pairblend weight.

The downside/requirement of such a setup is you must keyframe every shape involved. eg you want to use A to move left to right, and B to go up and down, on keying you MUST key both shapes otherwise they override each other.

Surface Rigging a la Bungie (Fake Update #2324234)

2010-03-22T08:27:00.000-07:00

Get object
Create Nurbs Surface that encloses plane of movement
Position bones with sufficient locus(?)
Geometry constrain, Normal constrain to surface
Point constrain bone to a locator for ease of use
Skin & Paint weights...

Michelin Man has been bulking up...

2010-03-09T03:52:00.000-08:00

Not sure if I like this or not. Michelin Man has gone on the P90X regieme & become a proud American who fights large cockroaches. Perhaps its the horrible Sonic the Hedgehog style theme song.
IF YOU BELIEEEVE!

An anime show you've probably not seen before.

2010-03-05T03:11:00.000-08:00

This is kinda awesome. Someone from Gurren Lagann is probably involved.

Animation Innovation Tokyo rustled this gem up sometime last year in the hope of raising funds to produce a fully fledged series. Probably won't see the light of day....
If you're not convinced on clicking play from my lack of description... it has a ROLLERBLADING DINOSAUR

I'm not slacking, I'm waiting for something to render #423423

2010-03-03T07:04:00.000-08:00

Some guys are addicted to gambling, some to alcohol. The list of vices that plague our weak wills is probably endless. For me, its coffee. I can just about change my daily routine in any way - early starts, late lie-ins, sitting at a desk all day, walking about non stop - but I always always need a good cup of coffee. Just one! Here is the story of my relationship with the bitter stuff. Heed my words!

I like to blame my student days for my hideous coffee addiction. Notice that its not just a caffeine thing - Tea, coke (of the cola variety) and horrible energy drinks don't have the same effect on me. In my final year of studies I would arise at around 3-4pm and work straight through to 8am, before collapsing into bed and repeating the cycle. The labs were quieter then & being nocturnal suited me fine (it was handy for staying out all night).

The fuel that would keep me going for the better part of a year was this stuff:

Rather than having a standard 1 teaspoon mug, I would have 5 teaspoons of granuled goodness all at once. It would set my brain into overload for a good hour or two and quite frankly put me into the zone. There was never a "down", as with most drugs...after the 14 hours of so work in the labs, I'd just go home and sleep happily. No side effects! Rock! I could just do this for months then stop once I'd finished my projects.

Lol. How wrong was I. It's been over five years since I graduated and I am still physically dependant on coffee. Over the years I've tried to go "cold turkey" and have never lasted more than two weeks.

By day seven, I usually can't stay awake for more than eight hours - not particularly handy when you work. After that I actually feel faint and I don't bother trying to find out what happens next! Perhaps I'll get the shivers and eventually get through the tunnel and into the light of non-dependancy. Or I'll just spontaneously combust.

Working means I have some form of disposable income, so I get to drink nicer coffee. No more instant crap! A lot of people complain that Starbucks makes their coffee too strong....too abrasive. They've not tasted the stuff I brew! The best places in town to have coffee are without doubt Flat White and Milkbar. They aren't full of wifi sponges and the staff are usually Kiwis with amusing accents.

So do I like the actual taste of coffee? Or do I just drink it to keep my motor running? It's definitely the former, with the latter being a huge bonus. Ethically, caffeine is always going to be rotten. If you like tea, you're most likely to be supporting South Asian slave labour. If you like coffee it will be African or South American. Either way, some brown person suffers to make a living. I won't even mention Coca Cola! Besides, I always buy fairtrade to sooth my tortured conscience in the hope of shaving a few years off my hell sentence.

Coffee Tips -

Don't drink instant coffee. The exception is Malaysian Old Town 3-in-1 packet mix.
Buy a good cafetiere (sometimes called a French Press) - espresso machines you see in Argos are bollocks & won't provide the pressure or heat to get that coffee-shop flavour. You'll be wanting to spend in the region of £1000 if you really want a machine, instead of £10 on a press.
When using a cafetiere, put in more ground coffee than recommended. 1 dessert spoon per cup is for losers. I'd recommend an inch per mug.
Store your ground coffee in the fridge, in a sealed container.
Going cold turkey doesn't work. Just accept your coffee filled fate. So it goes.

MRI Scan Haiku

2010-02-25T04:36:00.000-08:00

Click Click Click Click Click
Click Clickety Click Click
Click Click Click Click RAAAAAAA

Three door hatchback crowd.

2010-02-18T04:06:00.001-08:00

Two Door Cinema Club are awesome. Don't let their quirky indiesque name fool you - they're a GOOD band from Ireland, making up for the sins that are Boyzone, Bewitched and Westlife. Oh and Bono.
Whilst they sometimes sound a little poppy, I think their songs actually make you listen to the lyrics and don't fall into that chasm of mediocre; currently populated by the Kings of Leon and their ilk.

Oh and I started doing some 3d modelling work for the infamous NeoGAF game project, but I'm struggling a little with the polycount requirements... I've been given 800 as a ballpark figure, but I'm currently at about 2000 :)

Game Dev

2010-02-05T08:05:00.000-08:00

In my journeys as a wannabe bandwagon indie games developer, I recently stumbled upon this free bit of 2d game engine software -

http://www.scirra.com/construct/

Supposedly there's no code involved, which suits me! Its been quite uninspiring coding in C# with XNA.. I've worked through a couple of tutorials and whilst the logic behind most of the code makes sense, it all does seem rather longwinded :(

Edit - and here's a free music sequencing program, that looks quite good!

http://www.drpetter.se/project_musagi.html

Edit 2 - and a sketching program!

http://al.chemy.org

Of course the downside is that this stuff is not particularly geared toward retail! I suppose the main thing is that I'm able to get whatever my ideas are up and running quickly...

Also F' Yeah! Friday!

2010-02-02T06:09:00.000-08:00

I have some spare instant mash mix...apparently this tastes good.. Gonna try it with some chicken at some point.

"Potato Crusted Baked Fish"

Mix together 1 pkg Idahoan Instant Potato with 1/4 cup Grated Parm/Romano Cheese, 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder, Salt & Pepper to taste. Cover fish with Mayo and Coat with Potato mixture. Spray pan with Pam, and heat Fish in 400degree oven 30-40 minutes depending on thickness of fish. Work best with Tilapia, Cod, Sole, Snapper or any Filet. Also works with Chicken Breast!

WTF January rickety-rewind plz!

2010-01-30T06:29:00.000-08:00

Well I certainly wasn't ready for 2010 and the fact that one lunar cycle has passed by (lets call it a "lunacy";do you see what I have done here?) without me even realising it certifies my unreadiness. The super-effective trinity of procrastination, moping around and ever-present sleepiness has severely dampened any productivity I might have hoped for this lunacy.

So, how will I rectify these problems? Well the moping around is definitely temporary. Changes have occured in my personal life. Ties have been severed, tough decisions made and I'm all for moving onward & upwards.
The real challenge lies within the procrastination and sleeps. The internet is a horrible force of man-made nature (let's call it MaMa Nature - OMG I'm on some sort of cylindrical object here, maybe I'll call it a "roll"). It provides us with inspiration, knowledge and is a bounty of joy. On the flip side it also robs us of time and concentration. Time which we could be spending doing what we're supposed to be doing, or more importantly want to be doing.

I'm certainly not a workslave. In fact I despise the idea of "work". It is another farce of MaMa Nature, that is only present to keep the gears of our tax hungry clockwork government slick and greasy. We look forward to payday every lunacy and you'd be wise to know that they're rubbing their hands with just as much anticipation.

I've lost my train of thought. The internet has distracted me once more.. I'll finish this post one day! (This is due to part laziness, but then again it does prove my point about the internet being bad for you)

I'm patient

2010-01-18T03:20:00.000-08:00

No wait - that should read impatient.

I'm going to chronicle my old man leg woes here..

Early November: I notice my knee feels like shit when I walk sometimes.
Mid November: the problem isn't one of those things that will just go away - but the doctors say to give it a few weeks rest.
Mid December: its still there! So I have an X-Ray done (no super powers gained)
Jan 6th: X-Ray results come back with sod all, I get referred to a specialist/MRI thing.
Jan 18th: After many phone calls, reference numbers and daft NHS passwords I've got an appointment for something - in MID FEBRUARY.

For now, ibuprofen will have to suffice... joy joy happy joy.

When being good isn't a good thing...

2010-01-13T08:22:00.000-08:00

This post isn't about behaving in school, girls (heh), or your moral alignment. Nope, its about work.
For nearly 5 years I've been at the same company, doing CG. Out of those 5 years I think I have spent at least 2 years working with a certain product that will remain anonymous. Watch this! Its funny! And totally unrelated.

As is common with many products, a mascot is involved - one that is burned into my brains and fills my soul with dread. I actually had a nightmare about it once. Anyway - we inherited this project from another (i assume from mass suicide) now deceased-cg company. We were sent files for the mascot that were incomplete and were forced to build something ourselves. At the time I was busy on another commercial, so we outsourced the work. The result was quite shoddy, but the clients approved it - much to my horror. In fact they liked it so much, they kept asking us to make more and more stuff with it - and of course no one will point out to them how shitty it is...

Being me, I wanted to take a tiny bit of pride in my work and produce something that at least looked decent. At the beginning stages of any commercial related to this product I've always asked if I could rebuild the mascot from scratch, so it would look right - perhaps even good.
Such a luxury has never been granted to me and for two solid years I've had to put up with a sub standard mascot that frequently breaks and generally doesn't work.

But what's this? It's a bit quiet now, so in this downtime I've taken it upon myself to do a little R&D. In just two days I found an excellent solution for the rendering problems we'd been experiencing. The results do take a bit more time to achieve, but at least it won't break. With a bit o' tweaking, painting & re-rigging I could have a new and improved mascot ready to go!
All good RIGHT?

The powers that be, are now saying that if we do show our clients these new developments, we run the risk of getting into their bad books. I understand that when a client approves something, you generally run with it till they ask for changes - but when you're able to deliver a product that is 400% better than what they have already, why the FUCK would they be unhappy with it?
The vibe I'm getting for doing this work is pretty negative..

Is it my fault that they would never give me the go ahead to rebuild their crappy character for their past commercials? Is it my fault that nobody would put their foot down and say it looks shit? Essentially the message I'm getting from those in charge is not to do good work - Keep churning out mediocre crap and keep using shitty assets.

So the lesson today boys and girls, is not to waste your time - stay average.

Snow place like home

2010-01-05T02:48:00.000-08:00

Unlike the majority of England, I am still not back to work/school. I've actually still got ten days of leave leftover from last year to use up! I think I might take off every Wednesday again.. That's over 2 months of hilarious broken weeks! Well, that's if my work schedule will allow it (it won't).

Two days ago I finished up the first XNA 2d game tutorial. I've now completed a cruddy cannon-points-at-spaceships-and-destroys-them game. It should be noted that I've not touched proper programming for about 5 years, bar a few bits of MEL scripting...which doesn't really count.
Object oriented programming is sort of making sense to me now. Classes are essentially magic structs that can contain everything. I wish our lecturers just said that back at uni.... Or maybe they did and I was just too busy doodling.

Stealth fake-update : this site is useful
http://xnadevelopment.com

So how else have I been wasti- spending my time off?
I have been exploring the underground ruins, the sprawling wastelands and insignificant potholes of Washington DC. Yes...... I've been playing Fallout 3 (yes, I'm late to the party). Despite my best attempts not to loot everything and anyone that crosses my path (in the game), my borderline OCD compels me to collect everything of value. Broken assault rifle? I can fix it up & sell it.. Motorcycle engine? I can fix it up & sell it.. Hockey mask? I can - yeah there's a clear pattern here.
Within the game you're able to carry a defined weight before you become over-encumbered and are reduced to walking at a snail's pace. I often find myself in this state, so what do I do? Drop some excess junk and carry on? NO WAY! I resort to taking strength enhancing drugs OH YEAAAH!

I think if the worst comes to the worst and there was some sort of nuclear holocaust I would have a great career as a scavenger-repairman. Fallout 3 should serially be used as post apocalypse training.

Also, it's snowing! Just got back from the doctor, my knee x-ray came back all clear so they're sending me off to get an MRI scan. Maybe this time I'll gain super powers, or at the very least they'll get to the irking pain in my leg.

Twenty ten (ten). God damn (damn)

2010-01-01T17:01:00.000-08:00

A new year is upon us and as false resolutions & hopes run riot amongst us, I sit here awake at 1.04am on the 2nd January wondering how I could be better-er..

To shame future Dave into recognising how lazy/unproductive/unmotivated he is, I shall list a few things I intend on doing this year, which currently seem like good ideas.

Jump onto the indie development bandwagon. Be it a cruddy game or a half assed app it's something I feel is worth doing. At the very least I'll gain some programming experience. I've signed up for a free XNA creator club account and sat through 2 hours of tutorials to get the ball-a-rolling on this 'un.
Start drawing again, as well as developing series/shorts ideas. Keep an actual organised and documented sketchbook...hey..it could be on this blog?!
That leads me to the subject of this blog.... I'll aim to actually keep it updated with stuff that isn't just code stolen from other sites (though there'll be plenty of that).
Leave the country at least twice.
???
Profit

That is it.
Paper out.

picasa image test

2009-12-18T09:54:00.000-08:00

namespace editor, stoleded from internetzz

2009-11-02T05:12:00.000-08:00

/* This file downloaded from Highend3d.com
''
'' Highend3d.com File Information:
''
'' Script Name: ks_nameSpaceManager
'' Author:
'' Last Updated: May 30, 2008
'' Update/Change this file at:
'' http://Highend3d.com/maya/downloads/mel_scripts/utility_external/renaming/4923.html
''
'' Please do not alter any information above this line
'' it is generated dynamically by Highend3d.com and will
'' be changed automatically on any updates.
*/
//
// ks_NameSpaceManager by Katrin Schmid 2007,
//
//Features:
// View, rename or remove up to 7 levels of namespaces.
// Remove empty namespaces only and select objects in namespavce options.
// Rename and keep in hierarchy or move namespace to root namespace.
// Rename and remove is only possible with unreferenced objects.
// You can apply "Make unique names" after removing namespaces to ensure unique object names

// Install: Put ks_nameSpaceManager.mel in you script directory.
// Start the GUI by typing "ks_nameSpaceManager" in the script editor.
//
// Usage:
// List namespaces, then you can start renaming.
// Apply "Make unique names" after removing namespaces to ensure unique object names
//

string $allrGlobalsNodes[] = `ls -l -type renderGlobals`; //defaultRenderGlobals
catch(`setAttr -type "string" ($allrGlobalsNodes[0] + ".currentRenderer") "mentalRay"`);
global int $gl_debug;

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////main
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
global proc ks_nameSpaceManager()
{
global string $gl_frNameSpc;

if (`window -query -exists ks__nSpaceManager`)
deleteUI ks__nSpaceManager;

// Strings declarations
string $title = " ks_NameSpaceManager";
string $sh = "showHelp -absolute \"http://www.lo-motion.de/scripts\"";

//UI-Window
window -wh 400 620 -menuBar true
-title $title
-s 1
ks__nSpaceManager;

// Help menue
menu -label "Help" -helpMenu true;
menuItem -label "About" -c $sh;

// Layout
string $form = `formLayout`;
string $child1 = `columnLayout -adjustableColumn true`;
frameLayout -label "" -li 7 -borderStyle "out" -marginHeight 0 -marginWidth 8 -labelAlign "top";
rowLayout -numberOfColumns 1 -columnAlign1 "left" ; // -columnWidth2 230 300
// column 1
columnLayout -rowSpacing 3 -columnWidth 230 col2; //-columnAttach "both" 5

text -align left -w 200 -fn boldLabelFont -label " Check namespaces:";
// text -align left -w 200 -fn boldLabelFont -label "Check name spaces:" ch_ge_namespaces;
radioButtonGrp -l "" -numberOfRadioButtons 3 -columnWidth2 10 230 -p "col2"
-ct2 "left" "left" -select 1 -vr
-labelArray3 "List name spaces" "Remove empty" "Remove all (unreferenced objects)"
rbg_collNmspces;
// text -label "Rename selected namespace to:";
button -bgc .5 .7 .7 -align "left" -w 155 -l " Check/remove" -c "pa_checkScene()";
// button -align "left" -enable 0 -w 150 -l "add namespace" -c "" bu_addNmspc;

text -align left -w 200 -fn boldLabelFont -label "All namespaces:";
$gl_frNameSpc = `optionMenuGrp -adj 0 -cw 1 4 -enable false -w 170 -cat 1 "left" 0 -cc "" me_nameSpc`;
menuItem -p ($gl_frNameSpc + "|OptionMenu") -l " ";
button -align "left" -enable 0 -w 155 -l " Select objects in namespace" -c "pa_selectObjInNamespaces()" bu_selNmspc;
text -label "";
text -align left -w 200 -fn boldLabelFont -l "Rename selected namespace to:" ;
radioButtonGrp -l "" -numberOfRadioButtons 2 -columnWidth2 1 180 //-p "col3"
-ct2 "left" "left" -select 1 -vr
-labelArray2 "keep namespace hierarchy" "move to root" rbg_hierNmspces;
textField -w 155 tx_renameNmspce;

button -align "left" -enable 0 -w 155 -l "Rename selected namespace" -c "pa_renameNamespace()" bu_renNmspc;
setParent ..;
setParent ..;
setParent ..;
////
frameLayout -label "" -li 7 -borderStyle "out" -marginHeight 7 -marginWidth 10 -labelAlign "bottom";
rowLayout -numberOfColumns 2 -columnWidth2 230 300 -columnAlign1 "left" ;
// column 1
columnLayout -rowSpacing 6 -columnWidth 230 col4; //-columnAttach "both" 5
button -bgc .5 .7 .7 -align "left" -enable 1 -w 155 -l " Rename to unique names" -c "makeUniqueName" bu_uniNm;
setParent ..;
columnLayout -rowSpacing 6 -columnWidth 230 col5; //-columnAttach "both" 5
setParent ..;
setParent ..;
setParent ..;
///
showWindow ks__nSpaceManager;
}

////////////////////////////////////////////////
global proc pa_handleRadio(string $btgrName, int $onOff)
{
//string $btgrName, int $onOff
radioButtonGrp -e -enable1 $onOff -enable2 $onOff $btgrName;
}

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////////////////////break connection of given dest attribute
global proc pa_breakConnection(string $destName)
{
global int $gl_debug;
if ($gl_debug)
{
print ("pa_breakConnection(string $destName)");
}

if (`connectionInfo -isDestination $destName`)
{
string $destination = `connectionInfo -getExactDestination $destName`;
string $srcConn[] = `listConnections -s 1 -d 0 -type character $destination`;
if (size($srcConn))
{
string $warnMsg = ("Removed \'"+ $destination +"\' from character \'" + $srcConn[0]+"\'.");
warning($warnMsg);
character -e -rm $srcConn[0] $destination;
}
string $sArr[1] = `ls -l -ro $destination`;

if (size($sArr))
{
string $src = `connectionInfo -sourceFromDestination $destination`;
disconnectAttr $src $destination;
}
else
{
delete -icn $destination;
}
}
}

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
global proc pa_checkScene()
{
global int $gl_debug;
if ($gl_debug)
{
print ("pa_checkScene()"+"\n");
}

int $nVal=`radioButtonGrp -q -sl rbg_collNmspces`;
if($nVal==1)
{
pa_listNamespaces(1);
}
else if($nVal==2)
{
pa_listNamespaces(0);
}
else if($nVal==3)
{
pa_removeUnrefNamespaces();
}
}

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
global proc pa_selectObjInNamespaces()
{
global int $gl_debug;
if ($gl_debug)
{
print("pa_selectObjInNamespaces()" +"\n");
}

select -d;
string $nameSpc =`optionMenuGrp -q -v me_nameSpc`;
if (`size($nameSpc)`!=0 && `namespace -exists (":" + $nameSpc)`)
{
namespace -set (":" + $nameSpc);
string $objsNamesp[] =`namespaceInfo -dagPath -ls`;
for ($t = 0; $t < size($objsNamesp); $t++)
{
if (`objExists $objsNamesp[$t]`)
{
select -add $objsNamesp[$t];
}
}
namespace -set ":";
}
}

/*
for ($i = 0; $i < size($nameSpaces); $i++)
{
if ($nameSpaces[$i]!= "UI" && $nameSpaces[$i]!= "shared")
{
// delete empty
namespace -set (":" + $nameSpaces[$i]);
string $objs[]= `namespaceInfo -ls`;
if (`size($objs)`==0 && `namespace -exists (":" + $nameSpaces[$i])`)
{
print ("Removed empty namespace: " + $nameSpaces[$i] +"\n");
namespace -set ":";
catch(`namespace -removeNamespace (":" + $nameSpaces[$i])`);
}
else
{
//level 2
$allNameSpc[`size($allNameSpc)`]= $nameSpaces[$i];
string $level2NameSpaces[]= pa_getNamespaces($nameSpaces[$i]);
}
}
}
*/

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
global proc string[] pa_getNamespaces(string $nameSpace)
{
global int $gl_debug;
if ($gl_debug)
{
print ("$nameSpace: "+ $nameSpace +"\n");
}

namespace -set (":" + $nameSpace);
string $nSpaces[]=`namespaceInfo -lon`;

for ($t = 0; $t < size($nSpaces); $t++)
{
string $objs[]= `namespaceInfo -dagPath -ls`;
if (`size($objs)`== 0 && `namespace -exists $nameSpace`)
{
print ("Removed empty namespace: " + $nameSpace +"\n");
namespace -removeNamespace (":" + $nameSpace);
string $remove[]={$nameSpace};
stringArrayRemove($remove, $nSpaces);
}
}

return $nSpaces;
}

//namespaceInfo -currentNamespace;
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
global proc string [] pa_listNamespaces(int $showInMenu)
{
global int $gl_debug;
if ($gl_debug)
{
print("pa_listNamespaces()" +"\n");
}

global string $gl_frNameSpc;
string $allNameSpc[];
string $level2NameSpaces[];
string $level3NameSpaces[];
string $level4NameSpaces[];
string $level5NameSpaces[];
string $level6NameSpaces[];
string $level7NameSpaces[];
int $count=0;

if ($showInMenu == 1)
{
button -e -enable true bu_selNmspc;
button -e -enable true bu_renNmspc;
}
else
{
button -e -enable 0 bu_selNmspc;
button -e -enable 0 bu_renNmspc;
}

//deleteMenueItems
string $menItems[] = `optionMenuGrp -q -itemListLong me_nameSpc`;
for ($t = 0; $t < size($menItems); $t++)
{
deleteUI $menItems[$t];
}

namespace -set ":";
string $nameSpaces[] = `namespaceInfo -lon`;
optionMenuGrp -e -enable true me_nameSpc;

for ($i = 0; $i < size($nameSpaces); $i++)
{
if ($nameSpaces[$i]!= "UI" && $nameSpaces[$i]!= "shared")
{
// delete empty
namespace -set (":" + $nameSpaces[$i]);
string $objs[]= `namespaceInfo -dagPath -ls`;
if (`size($objs)`==0 && $showInMenu == 0 )
{
$count++;
print ("Removed empty namespace: " + $nameSpaces[$i] +"\n");
namespace -set ":";
catch(`namespace -removeNamespace (":" + $nameSpaces[$i])`);
}
else
{
//level 2
$allNameSpc[`size($allNameSpc)`]= $nameSpaces[$i];
$level2NameSpaces= pa_getNamespaces($nameSpaces[$i]);
if ($showInMenu==1)
{
menuItem -p ($gl_frNameSpc + "|OptionMenu") -l $nameSpaces[$i];
}

for ($p = 0; $p < size($level2NameSpaces); $p++)
{
$allNameSpc[`size($allNameSpc)`]= $level2NameSpaces[$p];
if ($showInMenu==1)
{
menuItem -p ($gl_frNameSpc + "|OptionMenu") -l $level2NameSpaces[$p];
}
}
}
}
}
// level 3
for ($f = 0; $f < size($level2NameSpaces); $f++)
{
// print ("$level2NameSpaces[$f]: " +$level2NameSpaces[$f]+"\n");
$level3NameSpaces= pa_getNamespaces(":" + $level2NameSpaces[$f]);
//print ("$level3NameSpaces:+++++" +"\n");
// print ($level3NameSpaces);

for ($g = 0; $g < size($level3NameSpaces); $g++)
{
$allNameSpc[`size($allNameSpc)`]= $level3NameSpaces[$g];
if ($showInMenu==1)
{
menuItem -p ($gl_frNameSpc + "|OptionMenu") -l $level3NameSpaces[$g];
}
}
}

// level 4
for ($h = 0; $h < size($level3NameSpaces); $h++)
{
// print ("$level3NameSpaces[$f]:+++++ " +$level3NameSpaces[$h]+"\n");
$level4NameSpaces= pa_getNamespaces(":"+$level3NameSpaces[$h]);

// print ("$level4NameSpaces" +"\n");
print ($level4NameSpaces);

for ($u = 0; $u < size($level4NameSpaces); $u++)
{
$allNameSpc[`size($allNameSpc)`]= $level4NameSpaces[$u];
if ($showInMenu==1)
{
menuItem -p ($gl_frNameSpc + "|OptionMenu") -l $level4NameSpaces[$u];
}
}
}

// level 5
for ($q = 0; $q < size($level4NameSpaces); $q++)
{
$level5NameSpaces= pa_getNamespaces(":" +$level4NameSpaces[$q]);
for ($v = 0; $v < size($level5NameSpaces); $v++)
{
$allNameSpc[`size($allNameSpc)`]= $level5NameSpaces[$v];
if ($showInMenu==1)
{
menuItem -p ($gl_frNameSpc + "|OptionMenu") -l $level5NameSpaces[$v];
}
}
}

// level 6
for ($b = 0; $b < size($level5NameSpaces); $b++)
{
$level6NameSpaces= pa_getNamespaces(":" +$level5NameSpaces[$b]);
for ($w = 0; $w < size($level6NameSpaces); $w++)
{
$allNameSpc[`size($allNameSpc)`]= $level6NameSpaces[$w];
if ($showInMenu==1)
{
menuItem -p ($gl_frNameSpc + "|OptionMenu") -l $level6NameSpaces[$w];
}
}
}

// level 7
for ($a = 0; $a < size($level6NameSpaces); $a++)
{
$level7NameSpaces= pa_getNamespaces(":" +$level6NameSpaces[$a]);
for ($x = 0; $x < size($level7NameSpaces); $x++)
{
$allNameSpc[`size($allNameSpc)`]= $level7NameSpaces[$x];
if ($showInMenu==1)
{
menuItem -p ($gl_frNameSpc + "|OptionMenu") -l $level7NameSpaces[$x];
}
}
}
radioButtonGrp -e -label2 ("Remove empty: " + $count +" removed.") rbg_collNmspces;
return $allNameSpc;
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// move namespace back to root ":"
global proc pa_removeUnrefNamespaces()
{
global int $gl_debug;
if ($gl_debug)
{
print ("pa_removeUnrefNamespaces()" +"\n");
}

int $remCount, $notRem=0;
namespace -set ":";
string $allNmspces[] = pa_listNamespaces(0);
string $refNmspces[];
string $refNames[]= `ls -l -type reference`;

for ($i = 0; $i < size($refNames); $i++)
{
if (`gmatch $refNames[$i] "*sharedReferenceNode*"` == 0 && `gmatch $refNames[$i] "*UNKNOWN_REF_NODE*"`==0)
{
string $selRefFileUnR = `getAttr ($refNames[$i] + ".fileNames[0]")`;
// string $selRefFileUnR = `referenceQuery -unresolvedName -filename $refNames[$i]`;
//print ("$refNmspces[size($refNmspces)]: " + $refNmspces[`size($refNmspces)`] +"\n");
if (`size($selRefFileUnR)` > 0)
{
$refNmspces[`size($refNmspces)`]= `file -q -ns $selRefFileUnR`;
}
}
}

string $unrefNamespaces[] = stringArrayRemove($refNmspces, $allNmspces);

for ($p = `size($unrefNamespaces)`;$p >= 0; $p--)
{
namespace -set ":";
if (`size($unrefNamespaces[$p])`> 0 && `namespace -exists (":"+ $unrefNamespaces[$p])` && $unrefNamespaces[$p]!= ":")
{
catch(`namespace -force -mv (":"+ $unrefNamespaces[$p]) ":"`);
namespace -set (":"+ $unrefNamespaces[$p]);
string $objsNamesp[] =`namespaceInfo -dagPath -ls`;
namespace -set ":";

if (`size($objsNamesp)`==0)
{
catch(`namespace -rm $unrefNamespaces[$p]`);
print ("REMOVED:$unrefNamespaces[$p]: "+ $p+ (" :"+ $unrefNamespaces[$p]) +"\n");
$remCount++;
}
}
else
{
$notRem++;
print ("NOTFOUND: "+ $p+ (" :"+ $unrefNamespaces[$p]) +"\n");
}
}
radioButtonGrp -e -label3 ("Remove all: " + $remCount +" removed, "+ ($notRem-1)+ " not removed.") rbg_collNmspces;
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
global proc pa_checkReferences()
{
global int $gl_debug;
if ($gl_debug)
{
print("pa_checkReferences()" +"\n");
}

// getAttr TestspRN.fileNames[0]

string $selRefFileUnR;
string $selRefFile;

//textScrollList -e -enable true -ra ts_refFound;
//textScrollList -e -enable true -ra ts_refNotFound;

RNdeleteUnused;
string $refNames[]= `ls -l -type reference`;

for ($i = 0; $i < size($refNames); $i++)
{

if (`gmatch $refNames[$i] "*sharedReferenceNode*"` == 0 && `gmatch $refNames[$i] "*UNKNOWN_REF_NODE*"`==0)
{
//$selRefFileUnR = `referenceQuery -unresolvedName -filename $refNames[$i]`;
$selRefFileUnR = `getAttr ($refNames[$i] + ".fileNames[0]")`;
if (`size($selRefFileUnR)` > 0)
{
$selRefFile = `referenceQuery -filename $refNames[$i]`;
}
}
else if (`gmatch $refNames[$i] "*UNKNOWN_REF_NODE*"`)
{
$selRefFile ="";
$selRefFileUnR =$refNames[$i];
}
string $bufferPP[];

if (`size($selRefFileUnR)` > 0 && $selRefFile != $selRefFileUnR && `gmatch $refNames[$i] "*sharedReferenceNode*"` == 0)
{
string $dir= `workspace -q -rd`;
// Result: D:/maya/workflow/
int $numTokensPP = `tokenize $selRefFileUnR "//" $bufferPP`;
print ("Found ref: " +($dir + $bufferPP[$numTokensPP-1])+"\n");
//Found ref: D:/maya/workflow/B_data_3D/Testsp.mb

if ((`filetest -f ($dir + $bufferPP[$numTokensPP-1])`) == 1)
{
print ("Found ref: " +($refNames[$i]+":" + $selRefFile)+"\n");
// textScrollList -e -append ($bufferPP[$numTokensPP-1]) ts_refFound;
}
else
{
print ("Missing/ empty ref: " +($selRefFileUnR)+"\n");
}

}
else if (`gmatch $refNames[$i] "*sharedReferenceNode*"` == 0 )
{
if ((`filetest -f ($selRefFile)`) == 1)
{
// textScrollList -e -append ($refNames[$i]+":" + $selRefFile) ts_refFound;
print ("Found ref: " +($refNames[$i]+":" + $selRefFile)+"\n");
}
else
{
// textScrollList -e -append ($refNames[$i] + "c") ts_refNotFound;
print ("Missing ref: " +($selRefFile)+"\n");
}
}
}
}

/////////////////////////////////
global proc pa_renameNamespace()
{
global int $gl_debug;
if ($gl_debug)
{
print(" pa_renameNamespace()" +"\n");
}

int $nVal=`radioButtonGrp -q -sl rbg_hierNmspces`;
string $oldNameSpc =`optionMenuGrp -q -v me_nameSpc`;
string $newName =`textField -q -tx tx_renameNmspce`;
string $clName;
if (isValidString($newName, "([a-zA-Z]+)([a-zA-Z0-9_])*")==0)
{
$clName = substituteAllString($newName, " ", "_");
}
else
{
$clName = $newName;
}

// print ("$oldNameSpc: "+$oldNameSpc+"\n");
// print ("$clName: "+ $clName+"\n");
string $bufferPP[];
int $numTokensPP = `tokenize $oldNameSpc ":" $bufferPP`;
int $nSize= `size($bufferPP[$numTokensPP-1])`;
int $oSize= `size($oldNameSpc)`;
string $oldNamePath = `substring $oldNameSpc 1 ($oSize-$nSize)`;

namespace -set ":";
if (`namespace -exists (":" + $clName)`)
{
$clName= $clName +"1";
}

/////////
if(`size($bufferPP)`> 1 && $nVal==1 && `namespace -exists (":"+ $oldNamePath)`)
{
namespace -add $clName -p (":"+ $oldNamePath);
// print ("t:" +(":"+ $oldNamePath + $clName)+"\n");
if (`namespace -exists (":"+ $oldNamePath + $clName)`)
{
namespace -f -mv $oldNameSpc (":"+ $oldNamePath + $clName);
namespace -rm $oldNameSpc;
}
}
else //if ($nVal==2)
{
namespace -add ($clName) -p ":" ;
if (`namespace -exists (":"+ $oldNameSpc)` && `namespace -exists (":"+ $clName)`)
{
print ("hier: " +(":"+$clName)+"\n");
namespace -f -mv (":"+ $oldNameSpc) (":"+ $clName);
namespace -rm $oldNameSpc;
}
}

pa_listNamespaces(1);
}

////////////////////////////
global proc makeUniqueName()
{
// longNmaeof
global int $gl_debug;
if ($gl_debug)
{
print ("makeUniqueNames: " +"\n");
}

namespace -set ":";

string $allobjs[] = `ls -l -tr -mat -tex`;//-tr
for ($i= 0; $i < size($allobjs); $i++)
{
// print ($i + "$allobjs[$i]: " + $allobjs[$i] +"\n");
int $found=0;
if(`objExists $allobjs[$i]` && $allobjs[$i]!="|front" && $allobjs[$i]!="|persp" && $allobjs[$i]!="|top" && $allobjs[$i]!="|side")
{
string $buffer[];
tokenize $allobjs[$i] "|" $buffer;
string $shortNameI = $buffer[`size($buffer)`-1];
for ($t= 0; $t < size($allobjs); $t++)
{
string $buffer1[];
tokenize $allobjs[$t] "|" $buffer1;
string $shortNameT = $buffer1[`size($buffer1)`-1];

if (`objExists $allobjs[$t]` && $i!=$t && $shortNameI == $shortNameT && `referenceQuery -isNodeReferenced $allobjs[$t]`== 0)
{
int $check[]=`lockNode -q -lock $allobjs[$t]`;
if ($check[0] ==1)
{
lockNode -lock 0 $allobjs[$t];
}
string $newName1 = "";
int $n = 0;
select -r $allobjs[$t];
if ($n = catchQuiet($newName1 = `rename($shortNameT + "#")`))
{
print ("Cannot rename.T +"+$shortNameT+"\n");
}
else
{
print ("Renamed.T "+$shortNameT+"\n");
}
if ($n==0)
{
string $longNewNameI[] =`ls -l -sl`;
$allobjs[$t]= $longNewNameI[0];
}
$found=1;
}
}
}
}
}

reinitialise setup machine menu script

2009-11-02T04:34:00.000-08:00

if (`objExists TSM2FKIKSwitch`)
delete TSM2FKIKSwitch;
if (`menu -exists TSM2ControlsMenu`) deleteUI -menu TSM2ControlsMenu;

string $path = `pluginInfo -q -path "TSM2"`;
$path = (dirname($path) + "/TSM2/FKIK.mel");
int $file = `fopen $path "r"`;
string $fkikScript = "";
string $nextLine = `fgetline $file`;
while(size($nextLine) > 0) {
$fkikScript += $nextLine;
$nextLine = `fgetline $file`;
}
fclose $file;
$path = `pluginInfo -q -path "TSM2"`;
$path = (dirname($path) + "/TSM2/TSM2_mirrorPose.mel");
int $file = `fopen $path "r"`;
string $mirrorScript = "";
string $nextLine = `fgetline $file`;
while(size($nextLine) > 0) {
$mirrorScript += $nextLine;
$nextLine = `fgetline $file`;
}
fclose $file;
$mirrorScript += "\n\nTSM2_mirrorPose;";
string $afterScript = "if (`menu -exists TSM2ControlsMenu`) deleteUI -menu TSM2ControlsMenu";
string $beforeScript;
$beforeScript = "doEnableNodeItems false all; doEnableNodeItems true all;\n";
$beforeScript += "menu -to true -label \"TSM Controls\" -parent $gMainWindow TSM2ControlsMenu;";
$beforeScript += ("menuItem -label \"FKIK Switch\" -command \"" + (encodeString($fkikScript)) + "\";");
$beforeScript += ("menuItem -label \"Refresh Rig\" -command \"doEnableNodeItems false all; doEnableNodeItems true all;\";");
$beforeScript += ("menuItem -label \"Mirror Pose\" -command \"" + (encodeString($mirrorScript)) + "\";");
scriptNode -st 2 -bs $beforeScript -as $afterScript -n TSM2FKIKSwitch;
scriptNode -executeBefore TSM2FKIKSwitch;

Odopod!

2009-10-02T05:13:00.001-07:00

Fake Update #89743744

2009-09-24T07:41:00.001-07:00

Make sphere, apply modelling/texture
Delete History
Apply Lattice, deform
Constrain to aim object
Group Sphere,Lattice & Lattice Base
Parent group to bone/head/other thing
???
Profit

Fake Update #89743743

2009-08-20T07:19:00.000-07:00

Convert eyeball to polygon.
Geo constrain pupil to eyeball.
Aim constrain pupil to eyeball. //Alternatively normal constrain it...
Point constrain pupil to controller.
???
Profit.

unashamed use of blog storage

2009-07-22T07:56:00.001-07:00

This is useful...

// build fur files

HfBuildFurFiles(string $fPath, int $equalOption)

// Build equalizer maps

HfBuildEqualMap()

// build fur shadows and images

HfBuildFurImages(string $fPath, string $sdwPath, string $imgPath, int $buildShadow, int $buildImage)

// Cancel Advanced Fur Rendering

HfCancelAFR()

Where:

//$fPath = furFiles/SceneName

//$sdwPath = furImages/SceneName

//$imgPath = furShadowMap/SceneName

//$equalOption = 0(No Equalizer) OR 1(Default Equalizer)

//$buildShadow = 1 (ShadowMaps will be geneareted) / 0 (No Shadow Maps)

//$buildImage = 1 (Imagefiles will be geneareted) / 0 (No Image files)

Interesting update #001

2009-07-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

Well I've been working on my E4 sting idea for a few weeks now & its coming along nicely.
Here's an image of the lead character. A baboon!
I'm in the process of rigging it up & I think animation will be started by the end of the week. The background set is in progress too, though there's a lot of lighting & fancy stuff I haven't fully decided on yet. Rendering times are definitely a bottleneck in this project, thanks to my annoying habit of wanting stuff to look awesome.

More to come soon(ish).

t'is the season to be WORKING WTF?!

2009-06-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

Its E4 sting competition season again. I've always been too busy to do anything for it. Or just plain lazy. Usually I find out about these contests 2 weeks before the deadline and its too late for anything half decent to be made, but this year I was alerted by Sam, a whole 2 months in advance!

In general Im not a fan of most animated TV stings (MTV, I'm looking at you)... it'd be nice to see something done with a bit of production value for once! Even if I don't win, at least I'll have a nice finished piece for my reel.

Here are some thumbnail concept sketches/CG mockups :

Creating a pile of boxes is harder than you'd think.. I hate doing stuff like this by hand! This 10 second short will be produced in 1080P because I'm extra :) With any luck I'll keep this updated...

The single most important gif on the internet

2009-05-22T14:34:00.000-07:00

Chicken & Sweetcorn Soup!

2009-05-20T15:38:00.000-07:00

mmmmm. This took 90mins to make! I didn't have any creamed corn...so I decided to make my own! Delicious!

Creamed Corn recipe -
1 can sweet corn
2 teaspoons sugar
1 clove of garlic
250ml water
knob of butter
tub of cream fraiche- 150ml roughly

Melt butter in pan
Throw in sweet corn (just the corn - no juice!), add sugar and the finely chopped garlic
Sweat it for 10 mins on low heat
Add water, cook for 20 more minutes, medium low heat
Take out 2/3, whack it in a blender and add cream, till its silky smooth
Mix the unblended 1/3 of corn into the cream
Serve up hot or cold......OR proceed to making this chicken soup!!

Chicken & Sweetcorn soup recipe!

Can's worth of creamed corn
2 chicken legs (thigh & drumstick)
Thumb size chunk of ginger
2 spring onion sprigs
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons soya sauce
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 litre water
1 chicken stock cube

brown up the chicken legs with ginger, garlic cloves & roughly chopped spring onions for 5 minutes
throw in the water, stock cube & 1 table spoon of soya sauce
simmer for 30 minutes
remove chicken legs, scrape off meat, then throw the skin & bones back into the liquid
simmer for 30minutes
sieve liquid
add creamed corn & meat
put a little water in a mug with the cornflour and stir well, before throwing that in too
mix & simmer
beat an egg with the sesame oil & a drop of soya sauce
mix that into the soup
garnish with spring onion
?????
profit

Very tasty!

The Space-time physics of Boredom part 1.

2009-05-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

Time flies when you're having fun. It crawls when you're bored.
This would suggest that time is merely what we perceive it to be and that our perceptions can be altered by a number of things.

So why can't we make time last longer when we're having fun or merely enjoying ourselves?
Well... when you're bored, your brain generally isn't being stimulated & your mind notices this. It also notices the passage of time...and...how...painfully....slow...it...is..

However, as soon as genuinely interesting things happen, your brain shifts into gear and you become immersed in this new thing. Your mind won't notice this new stimulation. It just blindly accepts it & blam! time rolls along without you realising it's stupid slowness. In fact, it speeds up.

So time is dependant on our variable perceptions and we can actually control the rate of flow of time! It always goes forwards, make no mistake about that. In theory, if we were to become infinitely bored....we would also be able to slow down time to an infinitely slow pace. In effect, stopping time. We could also speed up time by having more fun!

Stay tuned for more bullshit science!

Useful code for a rainy day.

2009-05-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

I stole most of this from the Autodesk Area blog and adapted it. It lets you attach follicles in Maya depending on the level of blue in the given textureNode... To do - attach feathers/scales to objects, fancy controls.. density etc.

proc attachObjectToSurface(string $surface, float $u, float $v )
{
string $follicle = `createNode follicle`;
string $tforms[] = `listTransforms $follicle`;
string $follicleDag = $tforms[0];

connectAttr ($surface + ".worldMatrix[0]") ($follicle + ".inputWorldMatrix");
string $nType = `nodeType $surface`;
if( "nurbsSurface" == $nType ){
connectAttr ($surface + ".local") ($follicle + ".inputSurface");
} else {
connectAttr ($surface + ".outMesh") ($follicle + ".inputMesh");
}
connectAttr ($follicle + ".outTranslate") ($follicleDag + ".translate");
connectAttr ($follicle + ".outRotate") ($follicleDag + ".rotate");
setAttr -lock true ($follicleDag + ".translate");
setAttr -lock true ($follicleDag + ".rotate");
setAttr ($follicle + ".parameterU") $u;
setAttr ($follicle + ".parameterV") $v;

//parent -addObject -shape $obj $follicleDag;
//parent $obj $follicleDag;
}

proc scanSurface()
{
string $selection[]=`ls -sl`;
//string $obj=$selection[0];
string $surface=$selection[0];
float $i;
float $j;
for($i=0; $i<=100; $i++){ for($j=0; $j<=100; $j++){ float $Ucoord=$i/100; print $Ucoord; float $Vcoord=$j/100; print $Vcoord; float $values[]=`colorAtPoint -o RGB -u $Ucoord -v $Vcoord file1`; if($values[2]>=0.75)
{
attachObjectToSurface($surface, $Ucoord, $Vcoord);
}
}}

}

Dude, where's my rolling pin?

2009-05-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

Somehow I managed to lose a rather hefty rolling pin on my way home from grocery shopping today. It only cost 99pence, so I'm not shedding any (real) tears over it - but still, I was looking forward to rolling out some clay today!!
I believe the pin dropped through a whole in the poorly constructed Wilkinsons' plastic bag, probably somewhere in the park.....thus not making any noise. So...someone's dog has a new chew toy. Fallen Rolling pin, we salute you.

Mmmmm tasty. French Country Style Chicken Breast Fillet.
Here's the recipe!

4 chicken breasts
half a lemon
chopped parsley leaves
4 tablespoons Garlic & Herb Cream Cheese
Parma Ham
Olive Oil
Cherry Tomatoes
New Potatoes

Cut a pocket in the chicken, stuff the parsley and cheese in. Wrap Parma ham round the chicken.
Chuck it all into a dish, liberally drizzle olive oil and squeeze the lemon juice everywhere. Add the squashed lemon half to the dish.
Throw into the oven for about 40mins, Gas Mark 5. Then chuck in the tomatoes & cook for 5 more mins. YESSSSSSSS.

Oh, and boil up the potatoes for 15 mins.
This concludes today's exciting instalment of my blog...where not much slacking actually takes place.

We have a winner...

2009-05-14T02:14:00.000-07:00

...for best film of this year*.
It doesn't matter that this is only mid-May. The last second of this trailer is better than any other film I've seen since January. Will Transformers 2 beat this? Only a transforming flying shark WITH LASER EYES can make that possible.

*note that I've not actually watched the entire film yet.

Also, it only occured to me yesterday, but I've been in my current job for 4 years and 4 days. I remember in my first year of working, an older animator telling me once that after 3 years, if you've not left the profession you're in it for life. I probably laughed at him. Maybe because his face was funny. Or because I was drunk.

My Star Trek review.

2009-05-10T06:44:00.000-07:00

I saw the new Star Trek movie last night. It was mostly good, with a few side helpings of pew pew. Lets not dwell on the good parts though, as that would be boring.

Firstly...no, lets not say firstly...I think its the only real problem I have with the film.. - Kirk finds himself on a frozen world and encounters a questionable monster. Logically speaking (heh), creatures dwelling in such cold climates have adapted to their surroundings. Penguins, polar bears, arctic foxes..they all have features which allow them to live long and prosper (yes I'm on a roll). So Kirk is being chased by a snow-baboon thing. It is white and furry, as you'd expect it to be. Then all of a sudden, a GIANT RED ANT from the Lost Planet videogame jumps out of the cold water and bites it up.
Right - How many animals that live in cold climates are coloured red? How many insectoids do you see thriving in cold climates, let alone surviving underwater laying in wait for snow-baboons? Sorry Mr Abrams, but for future director cuts of this movie, please colour this creature appropriately.

Oh, and I made awesome peanut butter cookies. I give Star Trek 7 arbitrary cookie points. It would have been 11 but the giant red ant bothered me so much.

Happy Hallo Wieners!

2008-10-30T11:00:00.000-07:00

It's done!
Roll on Christmas short!!1

Hallo wieners..

2008-09-29T06:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I unsurprisingly changed my idea for the halloween thing. Now its Hallo-Wieners. Yes, a cunning ploy to trick people into saying "Wieners". So awesome.

Only problem now is figuring out why the 3rd wiener doesn't get eaten. Or if there's some other unexpected ending I could implement. That could be the key. yeeeessss.

Cool artists! and knowledge!

2008-09-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

Knowledge! From - http://funnycute.blogspot.com/
Few rules of inking..

1. No parallel lines!
2. The larger the shape, the thicker the line
3. The smaller the shape, the thinner the line
4. The closer a shape is to you, the thicker the line (example: a foreshortened hand coming towards you)
5.Follow the drawing you are inking- don't change interesting shapes
6. Follow the lines through
7. Avoid tangents
8. Use thick to thick lines (lines taper at the ends)
9. Don't round out corners and angles in the art (this is easy to overlook)
10. If you are inking traditionally, flip between the ink drawing and the original art to make sure you aren't toning down your drawing.

-Use nice thicks and thins.
-Thick lines are for larger shapes and shapes that are closer to you.
-Thin lines are for smaller shapes and details.
-Details within the drawing, like smile lines or clothes wrinkles, should help to describe the larger shapes that they are a part of.
-Try not to ink inside or outside of the lines, but stay on top of the original drawing.
-Make sure lines follow through. For instance- if I took away the instrument that the girl on the right is holding, the lines on her body and arms should look like they would connect.
-Floating lines, like smile or cheek lines, should go from thin to thick to thin, with the middle being thicker. It looks meatier that way!
-Lines that end should taper to a nice pretty point.
-Pay attention to subtleties in the drawing, and try not to dumb them down when inking over them. That brings me to another thing...

cute Gantz drawings
http://arschblog.blogspot.com/

http://grillhouse.blogspot.com/

wow!