Didn't Win Hasbro: No More Contests For Me, Well, Maybe One.

Well, the award ceremony for Littlest Pet Shop was yesterday and honestly I really thought I had a chance when I saw the other work. I wasn't impressed by anything there really and thought each workl had as much chance as each other work in winning, that is, except for the ones which actually did. Apparently the judges decided to give the prizes to work which could never actually go into production. The first prize and the €1500 I could have spent on computer stuff, shoes and other fun goodies, went to a door with horrible pink poodles glued to it. I give up with the school's idea of what flies.

The only other thing I might consider entering is a 24 hour modelling (no, not like fashion modelling, which like 'field hockey' I think should always be prefixed even if we are in Europe) contest in XSI. Yes, I only picked up the software a few weeks ago, and yes, the prize is a Softimage trainer's jacket which I can guarantee I will never wear, and yes, it's 24 hours straight in front of a computer in a big room full of other geeks in front of a computer doing the same thing (though my work is probably something other than a gargoyle or demon or minataur). But doesn't it sound romantic? Like a ballroom dancing marathon? I'm actually going to look into it.

I have a fancy dinner business thing tonight with Fabri and I'm convinced I'll be overdressed, but I have no other venue to wear my new silk, chinese, high collar gown which is white with navy blue flowers on it. So I guess I'll be wearing it tonight. I might leave my hair down tho. I don't want to be too much of a cliche'.

What a long few weeks!

I haven't had a chance to update in ages. I've been throwing myself into the documentary of Ciccio's graduation that I have to submit on Friday. Alos been slaving away (but creatively) on reference photos, collages and sculptures, yes, sculptures for an illustration I'm startign in XSI. Above you can see the collage of what I'm hoping to accomplish with the image.

Friday was so nice cause I met Nathalie and we did a Pilates class. It's not easy I'll tell you. But then we had the full sauna/spa experience at my new gym and it was such a treat. to top it all off we discovered a wonderful 'Piccolo Ristorante' just by the gym that does a fantastic set menu for 8euros... that's first, second, salad, coffee and wine/water for 8 euros... Crazy!

Yes. I joined a gym. It's more like a health club really. I've been on a roll so far and there 3 times a week. between different classes, the spa, the cardio machines, the weight machines and the pool I'm not bored yet. The crazy thing is that going 3 times a week coupled with the medicine I'm taking and you can already see muscles taking shape in my arms. I feel stronger too. I'm not talking incredible hulk or anything, but we all know how fit I was to begin with right?

Cheech came to Milan for the weekend and stayed here. We all had a big night on Friday and Nat and Roni came out too. I was exhausted on Saturday and terribly hung over but managed to make it out for brunch anyways (I do love the American Bakery). I slept the whoel afternoon and then spent far too much money that I don't have AT ALL at dinner at daBertie. I'll never go there again I'm sure.

Sunday we were at Mario and Lucrezia's for lunch and then headed out to the Hobby Show which ended up being very boring and not the right place to take your boyfriend and one of his friends on a Sunday afternoon. I'm certain I would have enjoyed it alot more if I was there with my mom and she was buying me crafting paper and we were thinking up ideas for fabulous crafts. In the end I only bought an anatomy book.

I'm working alot on Gretel and ZBrush these days too. Been studying how her muscles and bones go together, but I'm reluctant to show you a screen shot cause at the moment she looks kinda gross... all bald and naked. I guess that's how all of us start out though right?

This is how the joke starts...

So there four dead-skeletal raccoony things are playing poker, right?

Duel

This is a rendered scene of 30 seconds of a film I have to reproduce in a team for next Tuesday. It's Spielburg's first success, so I guess it's good luck.

Sky Fishing Online!!

Please follow this link to see my 2nd ever animated short 'Sky Fishing'.

www.orchid-eye.com There is a link right there on the home page.

Released Today and Coming Soon for Your Viewing Pleasure

Previously known only by it's working title 'Gone Fishing', my 2nd ever animated short was finished today, 2 days ahead of schedule! Here are some shots from the 1 minute animated film.

Within the week I'll be publishing the short on my website for your viewing pleasure. Look out for it! There's a surprise ending!!!

Thanks to:
Eric an Jaqui in 2004 for a conversation on a drive down to Copake New York which planted the seed for the concept of this film

Fabri for loving a crazy, aspiring CG professional, and for believing in me.

It Might be the Stereroids Talking...*

... but I feel great!

I was up till 3am last night organising thing for render and I got some rendering done but then I realised I wasn't in the right Pixel-Aspect-Ratio and I had to do it all again this morning... But I didn't care! I was up without the alarm at 7-something and back at my desk. Work work work work work work work.

Ohhhh!! I love this! Deadline approaching at high speeds...2 windows of Max running... the fear that my computer will crash... it's all so exhilerating. I feel alive. (yes, I know I'm a loser... why do you think I keep a blog for myself?)

And I know it will be great... I really do. Here are some things that you can keep in mind to look for when I've published online the final scene:

the moon

fly trapped in a spider's web

a martini
an airship

mac makeup products

lamb's navy rum (cause it's cheap)

*I have started taking stereroids and a daily cocktail of other fun pills. It's for 'early arthritis' that didn't quite negate, but posponed perhaps the previous diagnosis of Lupus. Anyhow, they seem to be working.

Feeling Kinda' Groovy, Working on a Movie

Gone Fishing...

So I've finished my animatic, gone through each shot and made changes notes and I've come up with 17 pages of detailed changes to make. That's roughly 10 minor changes (at an average of 30min each), plus 2 major (1-2 hours each) per page.

The math looks like this:

17pages ((10 x 30min)+ (2 x 120min)) = X more minutes needed...
I would figure it out, but I don't have time.

Then you have to take into account that there is also rendering time to be calculated in... and who knows how long that will take... I don't that's for sure. The exam is due on Tuesday. It's Thursday today. I can forget about doing anything on the weekend... but Chud will thank me for it (Lula not so much having had her wallet stolen).

In other news, I've updated my website somewhat... check it out on the link to your right: www.orchid-eye.com

The Amzing Chud Gibo

I have till the 1st to finish animating, rendering and editing Scene 4 of 'Gone Fishing (working title)'. Here are some unfinished camera views of good old Chud.

Hansel & Gretel Part 2

'Who’s there?’ asks the old woman in a kind voice. ‘I’m afraid my eyes aren’t what they used to be’

Gretel looks at Hanzel who signals her again to run away, but she sees that the woman isn’t bad and so replies: ‘It’s me, little Gretel, I’ve come to see if you have some bread. My brother and I have been walking for days and we’re hungry. We broke your window to get inside.’

The old woman is saddened and concerned about the window, but not angry. She says that glass can be replaced and begins to set the small wood table for three. The children drank milk and ate pancakes and laughed with the woman. She then set them up two little beds and helped them off to sleep.

To Be Continued...

Working on Chud Again

Here's Chud Skinned badly... He still isn't fishing.

I Didn't Win Pepsi.... Suivant/Next

Well, now that I got doing competitions out of my system it's time to get down and do some real work for school this year. Maya class is finished and Max, though I haven't understood much of anything is coming to an end too. Yesterday I spent 4 hours modelling a chair in nurbs, then subdiv and then general box modelling before I moved onto the table which only took a half hour... As you can see from the unrendered screenshots.

Interjection: I have left a mug of milk in the freezer. I must remember to drink it upon publishing this blog.

There's always a billion things to do... I should start making Excel spreadsheets though I guess that'll be a waste of time. Instead I should just get on with all of it. I'm going to try to at least organise myself to start working on Cheech's Laurea video and finish Gretel's story this weekend. I'm so happy to finally be free of deadlines for a little while

Really, the milk will be gross by now.

Littlest Pet Shop Success

Whoever said that my hobby for collecting paper-dolls was a waste of time was wrong! Wa-haa! I've passed onto the second round of the Littlest Pet Shop competition. Special thanks to Alessia Lingesso.

Taryn Caila Herman

My new baby niece was born today!!

Here she is with her happy dad Eric. They live in Australia with her mom Jaqui.

She's super cute and I'm so happy!

Hansel & Gretel

In the modified version of the fable, The children's father does not care about the children's fate and does not debate his wife's suggestion to get rid of the kids. Hansel and Gretel spend the night in the forest as in the first tale but we can see that this experience is changing Hansel dramatically.

He has a violent dream and wakes to Gretel crying by the burning out fire. This is when he explains to her that has left pebbles along the path to signal the way to go home.

The next morning, when the children arrive back at their cottage, their parents are cruel and unsympathetic to them. Hansel and his father have a terrible argument and both refuse to talk. The adults lock the children in the house and so, Hansel does not have the opportunity to collect pebbles for the next trip which he knows will be the next day.

The next morning when the children are led away from home, Hansel crumbles his portion of bread on the path, but the birds eat it and the children are lost.

Hansel and Gretel come upon the house in the woods but it is not made of candy. It is a normal house and as the children get closer to it they see that there is no one home.

Hansel breaks a window and lifts Gretel up to go inside to look for food, but while she is inside the old lady who lives there comes home. The old woman cannot see or hear well and is carrying a bunch of berries as she has been out gathering all day. She is kind looking and happy. Gretel is frightened and looks out the window at Hansel who signals her to run away, but as she does she knocks over a tin can used as a vase for daisies.

To Be Continued...

By the way, the image is the working version of the Gretel Character for this fable. As you can see, she has no hair or hands. That just won't do.

PEPSI Light Done and Dusted

I handed in the PEPSI Light competition today. This is what I submitted along with flat versions of the lables. I hope I win! I'll let you all know when the voting starts.

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS?!?

PEPSI Light -Active Every Season

Here's your friendly PEPSI Light competition preview... full images here tomorrow after submission deadline. Maybe if I win we can all meet up in NYC for a pretzel. I'll keep you posted.

The Pepsi Challenge, and Other Friday Morning Challenges

So here's the deal: it's January 13th. Pepsi is due in a week's time. I have the initial proofs, but I can't post them for fear that someone will steal my idea. Check back on the 21st. I have the ENTIRE second version to start & finish (the one, if one wins I think will win) and there's a list as long as my arm of edits I need to make to the first submission.

Littlest Pet Shop and the line of makeup for pre-teens is out the window. Instead I'm focusing on the paper-doll version of the product which Alessia helped me to draw and I worked on in Illustrator. It's due the 24th. I guess I have about 50% left of that to do as well.

Maya: maya maya maya... still makes me cry every day (in case you don't have a frame of reference, I'm talking about a software here, not a person http://www.learningmaya.com/). I've changed my idea again so that now it's skeletal Tassi Americani (Raccoons) playing poker. I'm basing it on the work of Jessica Joslin (see links).

Max: Chud has his eyes rigged. As Kosta says, that would mean he has a soul. (Max is also not a person in this context... but a software package.)

So, that's my to do list, minus any of the things I think I'm actually capable of completing on time. I might even be able to throw in a meal this weekend.

How Not to Build a Digital Human

Well, borrowing a book doesn't make you anything like a 3D modeller.

I went to Puglia with Fabri for Christmas and my laptop (circa 2000) didn't want to run Maya so I didn't do un caxxo the whole holiday. I ate (ALOT) I slept (at least 2 times a day) and I ate more. It was nice, but there's nothing to report.

New Year's was good this year cause it was super chill. We went to Alfio's house to have the boys cook dinner (spanish chicken, thyme risotto, some massive salad with everything in it), to drink loads of white wine and champagne, to annoy Cheech about staying in Milan, to watch Taranto turn into a likeness of Beirut with all the fireworks and to lose my shoes, and jewelery (which Fabri found and returned to me).

In terms of the digital Human? Forget it... I'm always far too ambitious and I ahven't done a single thing with anything else I said I would do.

Now, what was it I said I would do?

HAPPY 2006 EVERYONE!!!

Pepsi Light Competition Countdown 31 Days to Go!!

There's more truth. I should be working on Pepsi so I can get a free trip to New York. On that note... everyone will have to go to the Pepsi site and vote for my work from the begining of Feb to the end of March so I CAN win... and, while were on the topic does anyone have any ideas for the name of my project... please leave suggestions in the comments on a name for the following concepts:

1) Sporty girls doing sports in all the different seasons, surfing, biking, tai chi and snowboarding... they're really fit and active. They're full of energy and they all drink Pepsi Light

2) The 4 seasons