Bugged Out

Posted on 2012/02/17 by Slyporkie

I am still hard at work with the changes to the site, but this post is about something even worse!

My camera is currently out of action, I dropped it a few days ago, it did not enjoy it, and punished me for it by no longer working. I have sent it in for assessment and have received feedback today. Now the correlated information is off to the insurance company for the payout. These sorts of processes always seem to take sooo long and nobody seems be too bothered to speed up the process when you iterate that you rely on these things.

Enough of my woes and on to some exciting things, like another photo!

The below shot was taken in the garden of my old place and has some split toning performed on it in GIMP. I think this effect suits this image, as I imagine this creature on an epic safari across a mysterious land:

Bug_HDR_20091031_001

Posted in HDR, News, Photography | Leave a comment

Port of Thought

Posted on 2012/02/14 by Slyporkie

I have been having a look at quite a few portfolio sites belonging to some well-known and some less known photographers and artists in an attempt to learn about expanding this studios exposure.

Some sites have an enormous library of art on show; some even submit images on a daily basis, whereas some others have a carefully selected group of images that only show the strengths or dynamism of the artist. Amongst these sites, images either range the entire career of the artist or display only the latest productions.

I would like to have this website be a portal into the thought process and ambition of the studio but, more and more, also a way for the visitor to take something away for themselves, if they so desire.

On this decision, I am going to be re-structuring the site slightly to make the above mentioned possible.

This will also include a streamlining of the portfolio available here as a whole, which I feel may not at present reflect the absolute pinnacle of what has been produced by the studio.

The image below is from the same sunrise shoot taken in the previous post:

Tygerberg_HDR_20120207_002

Posted in HDR, News, Photography | 2 Comments

Constructing the Sunrise

Posted on 2012/02/08 by Slyporkie

Due to the interesting view I have these days, I am soon going be embarking on a time-lapse filming project.

I am just waiting for stock of the mains power convertor for my camera to give me the ability to remote shoot to a laptop for extended periods of time without having to concern myself with battery issues.

The photo below was taken from the balcony at sunrise, over-looking the construction currently underway at the Shopping Mall across the road.

Tygerberg_HDR_20120207_001

Posted in HDR, Photography | Leave a comment

Buzzing Around

Posted on 2012/02/01 by Slyporkie

It seems that two weeks has passed since the last blog post. It is really amazing how quickly time can slip by when you are busy, yet slug along when you are not.

I have been quite busy with things here, projects underway that are not ready to revealed, slowing the blogging process down. Even though these things should not affect the blog, they obviously have had an impact. Well, this will no longer be the case: I will be posting updates on this blog on a more regular basis.

The reason for this is that I have started filtering through all of my photos and am creating a more structured database that can be more easily navigated in the future. A strange thing happens when you start viewing things with older eyes, sometimes you pick up something you missed the first time.

The below photo was taken in 2009, on a morning of chasing insects around the garden with a Canon 450D and a 55-855mm Kit Lens.

Bee_HDR_20091122_001

Posted in HDR, Photography | Leave a comment

Best Combination Ever?

Posted on 2012/01/16 by Slyporkie

The question mark in the heading is more than likely not required, as I can confirm that it is indeed, the best combination!

A nice medium strength brew from Somalia and a few cubes of butter enrobed fudge squares. The coffee needs to be slowly sipped neat, after having a slow tongue-wrangling affair with a piece of golden sugary goodness.

Also, makes a good excuse to experiment with a product still:

Coffee_Fudge_HDR_20110114_001

Posted in HDR, Photography | Leave a comment

Rocked Lightning

Posted on 2012/01/09 by Slyporkie

Below is a quick lighting and composition exercise.

I am going to be starting actively doing these short exercises on a daily basis, warming up for the on-going projects. I think doing this regularly also helps you not getting frustrated and “rage” quitting the longer/bigger projects that you are currently working through.

Sometimes these short and quick exercises can even stimulate the brain and you may have an epiphany and solve some issues elsewhere.

Rocked_Lightning_1920x1080_003

Posted in 3D, Blender | Leave a comment

Face to Face

Posted on 2011/12/29 by Slyporkie

There is something to be said about the unique subtle differences in each person’s face. Even though we all share the same underlying bone and muscle structure, the same number of components go into making up the face, I find it fascinating how diverse the final result can be.

This however, is something that I find often lacking in 3D, there seems to be a generic formula that is taught/learned when it pertains to creating a realistic 3D character model. This results in a cookie-cut version of a human being that can break the immersion of the audience. I am not sure where this “standard” has come from, possibly from the early days of traditional animation where the bulk of characters also have a set of parameters that are required to be met before a character is considered “realistic” and believable.

The character I am currently busy with, below, is also of the cookie-cut variety, but I have decided to break the “rules” this time and will taking this character much closer to the concept, instead of adapting the concept to fit the realistic norms. The model is still very low-poly and because of the anatomically correct muscle topology already laid down, I will be able to make drastic changes to the style of the character, while maintaining a level of believability to the viewer.

Headshot_001

 

Posted in 3D | Leave a comment

Furnious WIP

Posted on 2011/12/23 by Slyporkie

I have been working many hours on getting the look to fur, for a new project, just right.

Below is the latest result of these tests, one that is closest to the look I am going for. I should be complete with the model and be ready to apply this system in the next few days.

Furnious_1920x1080_006

Posted in 3D | Leave a comment

Blender 2.61 Released!

Posted on 2011/12/15 by Slyporkie

Today is a great day for all in the industry (or not…yet)!

The Blender Institute released version 2.61 last night, which is the latest stable release and one of the most feature rich versions to date.

This release comes with the Cycles GPU accelerated Ray-tracing render engine, Dynamic Paint, Ocean Simulator, Motion Tracker, a new Add-on System, and and…

Needless to say, this release is making every Blenderhead very excited and is an intergral part of the new Blender Open Movie, now entering into production.

Blender 2.61

Posted in 3D, Internet News, News | Leave a comment

Being Social

Posted on 2011/12/07 by Slyporkie

As you can see below, I have caved and started a page for Manic Palm Studios on the all-mighty Facebook.

This page was mainly created to garner more traffic to this website and hopefully generate a little more business in the process. All updates from the blog will be posted to Facebook simultaneously, but everyone will have to visit the site to see the images in the gallery to fully appreciate them.

So, spread the word, we have just gotten a little more sociable ;)

facebook_page

Posted in News | Leave a comment