Saturday, November 20, 2010
Day 76 - Nothingness
Nothing much we did today. we decided to just rest and finish any paperwork that we need to do to submit before we go back.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Day 75 - Shopping paradise!
So what to do on our first official day of being free from work and just being on vacation? We went shopping out of town with a friend. I think today i spent close to 200USD on clothes and majority of it is actually on a complete buissness suit. The suit includes, pants, jacket, shirt and tie, all kenneth cole brand. I manage to find something very american. Those drinking hats commonly seen in american movies. See, and i wondered about getting a shirt, this drinking hat is cheaper than a shirt and is more worth it!
There wasn't much else i was looking at, so after that we went back.
There wasn't much else i was looking at, so after that we went back.
Day 74 - Last day at SESI & Presentation!
Today, marks the last day of our stint at SESI unofficially. It also the day we presented to the staff and company our work. Several of the interns and staff graded our work and so did our supervisor.
Alot of the staff were quite impressed by my prezi presentation and luckily i used it instead of a normal presentation. I find a normal presentation really boring.
So it all went out fine. Then the office treated us a farewell lunch of mexican food, and we bid our farewells. Also, I managed to sneak a 50 frame render of my ending as an add on so i might have some fun with it if i have time.
So for the rest of the week till next Wednesday, i guess were free to do anything of our choosing!
oh so incase you want to see my work, it's here;
and if you want to see my prezi presentation, it can be seen here;
Alot of the staff were quite impressed by my prezi presentation and luckily i used it instead of a normal presentation. I find a normal presentation really boring.
So it all went out fine. Then the office treated us a farewell lunch of mexican food, and we bid our farewells. Also, I managed to sneak a 50 frame render of my ending as an add on so i might have some fun with it if i have time.
So for the rest of the week till next Wednesday, i guess were free to do anything of our choosing!
oh so incase you want to see my work, it's here;
and if you want to see my prezi presentation, it can be seen here;
Day 73 - Deadline creeping up!
Well today, in the morning, finally it has finished rendering all the layers and i tried to do all the motion blur in compositing in nuke. i at first tried to do it, and asked ben to help, but ben recommended me to just do it in render instead of doing it in nuke(comp). So i went back and re-rendered all my layers with motion blur. Interesting thing is i had a problem with the particles which ziggy helped me to address. The problem with the particle is that the particles had no accurate velocity to generate the motion blur. All the other objects in my scene had motion blur in the geometry level, so yeah.
In the end i managed to rerender and comp it together by about 8pm. I had to prepare the presentation for tommorow and i didn't have powerpoint. Instead i used something called prezi to prepare my presentation. I havn't used it for a presentation, i've always considered using it but this was the first time i used it. I managed to finish all of that just about moments ago at about 11pm. And i get the rest of the time to sleep and play games.
In the end i managed to rerender and comp it together by about 8pm. I had to prepare the presentation for tommorow and i didn't have powerpoint. Instead i used something called prezi to prepare my presentation. I havn't used it for a presentation, i've always considered using it but this was the first time i used it. I managed to finish all of that just about moments ago at about 11pm. And i get the rest of the time to sleep and play games.
Day 72 - Back to work & Deadline!
After having so much fun at las vegas, going home always seems like a sad thing. Anyways, today we kinda have to put the pedal to the metal as deadline was brought forward, so that means i have to start doing comp as soon as possible. So today i decided to start putting my work together in nuke.... that is until i realised i did it wrongly.
I misunderstood what matte shading was and applied it to all the layers that i wanted to split up. That was a mistake. So i had to rerender all of it. The matte layer means to matte out or remove the object and make anything not render when it is behind it.
So yeah, i spent the rest of today re rendering.... sad isn't it?
I misunderstood what matte shading was and applied it to all the layers that i wanted to split up. That was a mistake. So i had to rerender all of it. The matte layer means to matte out or remove the object and make anything not render when it is behind it.
So yeah, i spent the rest of today re rendering.... sad isn't it?
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Day 71 - Las Vegas & Back to Santa Monica
The bus picks us up at 3, so we slept and checked out by 12pm. We then headed down to the manaley hotel where the shark aquarium is at. There, we saw lots of kinds of sharks, fish and sting rays, there were piranas and even a crocodile.
After that we by passed the luxor via the tram and headed to the bellagio to catch the water show. sadly we didn't arrive in time, and time was against us. We have to be back at the harrah's hotel for the bus to pick us up at 3 and it was 2.50, we quickly went back to the hilton and picked up our bags. We called the agency and luckily, the bus had broken down and would be an hour late. Phew.
We then took a cab from the hilton to the harrah's hotel and casino and waited there for the bus.
The bus arrived at half past 4. The bus was slightly larger but was missing all the comforts of the lux bus we arrived in. There was no free wifi :<. Oh well, the bus attendant was nice. She was swedish and was quite funny. "we have coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer.coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer.coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer.coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer.coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer." yes she actually repeated many times, and then she goes on to explain "i say many times cause people always ask me for coffee or tea, or dr pepper, or apple juice or whatever. we have coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer.we have coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer." funnily enough there was an indian couple in front of us and they asked her for ginger beer. She replied "what is this ginger beer, i never have hear before. we have coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer. coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer". luls.
Anyways we finally reached anehiem back at 8pm and arrived back home at around 10pm.
After that we by passed the luxor via the tram and headed to the bellagio to catch the water show. sadly we didn't arrive in time, and time was against us. We have to be back at the harrah's hotel for the bus to pick us up at 3 and it was 2.50, we quickly went back to the hilton and picked up our bags. We called the agency and luckily, the bus had broken down and would be an hour late. Phew.
We then took a cab from the hilton to the harrah's hotel and casino and waited there for the bus.
The bus arrived at half past 4. The bus was slightly larger but was missing all the comforts of the lux bus we arrived in. There was no free wifi :<. Oh well, the bus attendant was nice. She was swedish and was quite funny. "we have coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer.coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer.coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer.coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer.coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer." yes she actually repeated many times, and then she goes on to explain "i say many times cause people always ask me for coffee or tea, or dr pepper, or apple juice or whatever. we have coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer.we have coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer." funnily enough there was an indian couple in front of us and they asked her for ginger beer. She replied "what is this ginger beer, i never have hear before. we have coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer. coke diet coke sprite orange juice and beer". luls.
Anyways we finally reached anehiem back at 8pm and arrived back home at around 10pm.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Day 70 - Grand Canyons & Las Vegas 2
The days starts with us waking up at 5am and almost missing the bus that was to pick us up at the hotel. Luckily we reached it in time. There we headed to the imperial palace, the travel agency's HQ where we got on a bigger bus to the grand canyons. The tour takes a total of 16hours. 14 hours of travel 2 hours of actual grand canyon time. We had a choice to walk along the canyon to the pick up point, but instead we decided we would just go to the many look out points near the bus so we won't get lost and get left behind.
We then got back on the bus and it headed to the pickup point. We had an hour to look around, so we did just that. Got myself some souvenirs. The grand canyons is a very majestic sight. It is almost indescribable. Then we heard a talk by the park ranger about the california condor and then headed on the bus back to vegas. If you fall in the grand canyon, a rescue will cost you. It won't be free. Note that the grand canyons hae no railing to prevent you from falling over the verticle side, so you have to be careful yourself.
we arrived back in vegas at about 10pm. and we catch in the sights of vegas at night. Sadly we missed the water show at the bellagio, but the paris hotel is quite fantastic. The hotels here are like worth billions of dollars. There are so many casinos. Even patrol stations have the one armed slot machine. It's quite insane.
We then headed back to the hotel at about 1.20 am.
We then got back on the bus and it headed to the pickup point. We had an hour to look around, so we did just that. Got myself some souvenirs. The grand canyons is a very majestic sight. It is almost indescribable. Then we heard a talk by the park ranger about the california condor and then headed on the bus back to vegas. If you fall in the grand canyon, a rescue will cost you. It won't be free. Note that the grand canyons hae no railing to prevent you from falling over the verticle side, so you have to be careful yourself.
we arrived back in vegas at about 10pm. and we catch in the sights of vegas at night. Sadly we missed the water show at the bellagio, but the paris hotel is quite fantastic. The hotels here are like worth billions of dollars. There are so many casinos. Even patrol stations have the one armed slot machine. It's quite insane.
We then headed back to the hotel at about 1.20 am.
Day 69 - Viva Las Vegas
We left the apartment at about 7am and caught the bus at the holiday in santa monica just in time as it arrived. The ride to anehiem, the lux bus terminal, where we changed to a proper travel bus. The was in-drive internet and entertainment. some drinks and snacks were provided on the bus which is cool.
We arrived midway and finally crossed california statelines into nevade at about 11am, and entered las vegas at around 1pm. yes it was a fairly long bus ride. Las Vegas is actually our pit stop to the grand canyons tommorow.
At this point we took a cab from the harrah's hotel to the hilton las vegas and checked in. There we then took a cab to the "The Gun store". That's where we split up, edmund and daniel took a cab and went go karting while i stayed on at "The Gun Store" to shoot. It was awesome, i shot a SAW, a sniper rifle and an AK47. It was awesome.
After that i took a cab back to the MGM grand. In vegas every hotel has a casino on the strip. That's where we were. As my phone had run out of credits i tried to call them via payphone. But they failed to pick up. And i noticed the MGM grand had the CSI interactive show so I went to it. It was interesting but the problem is solving the crime is made too easy by the many hints.
There are 3 cases, and i solved the first case.
I then headed back to the hotel and they were there. We went out on the strip for dinner and the CSI show again and I did case 1 this time.
By then it was already 10pm, so we went back to the hotel and turned in for the night.
We arrived midway and finally crossed california statelines into nevade at about 11am, and entered las vegas at around 1pm. yes it was a fairly long bus ride. Las Vegas is actually our pit stop to the grand canyons tommorow.
At this point we took a cab from the harrah's hotel to the hilton las vegas and checked in. There we then took a cab to the "The Gun store". That's where we split up, edmund and daniel took a cab and went go karting while i stayed on at "The Gun Store" to shoot. It was awesome, i shot a SAW, a sniper rifle and an AK47. It was awesome.
After that i took a cab back to the MGM grand. In vegas every hotel has a casino on the strip. That's where we were. As my phone had run out of credits i tried to call them via payphone. But they failed to pick up. And i noticed the MGM grand had the CSI interactive show so I went to it. It was interesting but the problem is solving the crime is made too easy by the many hints.
There are 3 cases, and i solved the first case.
I then headed back to the hotel and they were there. We went out on the strip for dinner and the CSI show again and I did case 1 this time.
By then it was already 10pm, so we went back to the hotel and turned in for the night.
Day 68 - Render Part 2 and Pre Las Vegas
Today, i started the other 2 renders which i am using for comop, side note, i didn't manage to finish the second one at the end of the day. So yeah.
Halfway today, ziggy called for me and showed me the fixed version, he showed me how to do it. I didn't consider using colour as a variable. I guess that's where experience comes in.
anyways, needed to sleep early, tommorow is a big day a long 6 hour journey to las vegas.
Halfway today, ziggy called for me and showed me the fixed version, he showed me how to do it. I didn't consider using colour as a variable. I guess that's where experience comes in.
anyways, needed to sleep early, tommorow is a big day a long 6 hour journey to las vegas.
Day 67 - Render x2
the rendering was still going on when i arrived at the office today. however some of the renders were already complete, so i started rendering the planes in layers. for comping. I split it up into 4 parts and today i only manged to do 2, i'll have to do the other 2 tommorow.
Day 66 - Last Consultation
On arrival i quickly grabbed all the files i rendered out and put them into a main location before franklin arrived. it was still rendering, as i was rendering in layers. So i guess i gota show him the last version with the wierdness.
He finally arrived at about 12pm which he usually does. He wants me to change the folds and the structure of the building and the timing and the path. But i already started rendering in layers and i didn't want to do it all over again. I listed everything he wanted me to do, and i slowly cancelled out things that i think would cause me to go over the deadline. So yeah. Most of the changes that i left behind are textures. So i made the respective changes and fixed it. I then considered changing the particle system and remove the second character. I approached ziggy asking him if he knows how to fix it. He then explains to me how he redid the particle system. He explained and then asked me to figure out how to do it.
after spending another 2 hours on it, I decided i would give up on it and work on other more important things. I just did some of the less physical stuff and begun rendering again.
He finally arrived at about 12pm which he usually does. He wants me to change the folds and the structure of the building and the timing and the path. But i already started rendering in layers and i didn't want to do it all over again. I listed everything he wanted me to do, and i slowly cancelled out things that i think would cause me to go over the deadline. So yeah. Most of the changes that i left behind are textures. So i made the respective changes and fixed it. I then considered changing the particle system and remove the second character. I approached ziggy asking him if he knows how to fix it. He then explains to me how he redid the particle system. He explained and then asked me to figure out how to do it.
after spending another 2 hours on it, I decided i would give up on it and work on other more important things. I just did some of the less physical stuff and begun rendering again.
Day 65 - Texture! Texture! Texture!
I noted some weirdness in the textures of the building model, I fixed it by readjusting the UV. I rerendered parts of the work but not the full thing to save time. I spreaded the render over 6 computers by manually cutting the out mantra ray into 6 parts and splitting the renders over 6 computers.
After noting that the render on monday took 1 1/2 day. which was really long, so i used 2 of the intern's computers to render the parts which were incomplete to show tommorow to franklin. Also we received an email from aliza that the deadline has been moved forward by a week. So that means we have to get it done by next wednessday. This Kinda knocked my timeline by abit, so I guess i gota push forward abit and rush abit.
After noting that the render on monday took 1 1/2 day. which was really long, so i used 2 of the intern's computers to render the parts which were incomplete to show tommorow to franklin. Also we received an email from aliza that the deadline has been moved forward by a week. So that means we have to get it done by next wednessday. This Kinda knocked my timeline by abit, so I guess i gota push forward abit and rush abit.
Day 64 - Rendering!
Today, I tweaked the lighting and fixed several plane issues and checked the render i did over the weekend. Seemed much of it looked quite okay. One of which was that the plane was slightly above the building too much and it intercepted with the stack of paper. I prepared it to render in layers. I set up the render node to be the same one that nathan helped to setup, and let it render and we went back to the apartment.
The group wanted to go to the ROSS nearby. So we went and i noted that i may not have enough place in my luggage, so me by, edmund pulled cash together and bought a huge bag for us to share. After that we headed back to the apartment. Nothing much really to say as am rendering.
The group wanted to go to the ROSS nearby. So we went and i noted that i may not have enough place in my luggage, so me by, edmund pulled cash together and bought a huge bag for us to share. After that we headed back to the apartment. Nothing much really to say as am rendering.
Day 63 - Break
Today, We didn't do anything. We took a break after so much adventure for the past couple of days. So this post is very short.
Day 62 - Automotive Museum & Tar Pits
Today I and edmund went to the automotive museum and tar pits. Daniel and BY wanted to rest for the day since yesterday we went to jetski. The museum was interesting. The cars are actually working and worth billions and millions. The cars in the museum are the personal collection of peterson. The cars are either gifts or acquired. There were cars from the past like the ford model T to the current age, the Maclaren Mercedes SLR.
After that we headed outside to the museum LACMA aka, Los Angelos Creative Museum of Arts. The tarpits, were interesting as it was the size of 4 olympic swimming pools and it does smell. After that we walked over to ROSS and I got myself a new luggage. Then we headed back to the apartment.
After that we headed outside to the museum LACMA aka, Los Angelos Creative Museum of Arts. The tarpits, were interesting as it was the size of 4 olympic swimming pools and it does smell. After that we walked over to ROSS and I got myself a new luggage. Then we headed back to the apartment.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Day 61 - Jetskiing and Kayaking!
Today we took the day off to do some watersports at the marina del rey. I guess third time is the charm. This time edmund didn't go. So it's me, bing yuan and danial ng. We rented the wet suits at main street and headed down to the marina del rey where we rented the jet ski for an hour and then kayaked for an hour. Jet skiing cost me about 150ish as it includes the skii itself, fuel and whatever other charges.
Jet skiing is awesome. It's different from bicycle as you don't wear a helmet but you are going at speeds that are like 30-40mph with the wind in your face. it's just awesome. And the waves in the sea give it the bumps. We rode from the marina del rey to the santa monica pier and back. We still had more time, we went the other way to the marina del mar. It's such an awesome experience. It is also the first time i'm jet skiing so it was so fun.
We went back to the marina and rented kayaks and rowed inside the marina. The marina itself has a couple wild life which are residents of the marina. They include otters and seals. Will post photos of them. By the time we got back was about 4 so we didn't go to the office. oh well.
Jet skiing is awesome. It's different from bicycle as you don't wear a helmet but you are going at speeds that are like 30-40mph with the wind in your face. it's just awesome. And the waves in the sea give it the bumps. We rode from the marina del rey to the santa monica pier and back. We still had more time, we went the other way to the marina del mar. It's such an awesome experience. It is also the first time i'm jet skiing so it was so fun.
We went back to the marina and rented kayaks and rowed inside the marina. The marina itself has a couple wild life which are residents of the marina. They include otters and seals. Will post photos of them. By the time we got back was about 4 so we didn't go to the office. oh well.
Day 60 - Disney Studios!
Today side effects took us to disney studios. to be more precise, the "Roy E. Disney Animation Studio" at burbank. Funnily enough, burbank is also where our files are stored.... it's the nickname of the server.
Anyways, The place is really big and they have been breaking down walls, literally, making people interact more at the office. They also have an internship programme, that is quite competitive. They showed us clips and snippets of their new movie tangled. It is basically a retelling of the rupunzel's story. It was quite a challenge for them to do the hair as the hair is practically an extension of her, almost like another limb. there are scenes where she literrally open doors with it. It was quite interesting.
Sadly today is mckendree's and ben's last day at side effects as they head off to an externship at motion theory. So the office will be quieter for over two weeks or more. Aliza bought ice-cream, brownies and cookies for us to have a little going away party for them. Also, it's susan's last day at the office, so the guys had a little party for her as well. Personally, i do not know who susan is....haha.
Well, ziggy got back to me after we returned from disney. He showed me briefly how he did the particle system before leaving. He didn't have much time to explain it to me as he left early, and also, he won't be in tommorow as he is moving house out of marina del rey. So i guess i'm left alone to solve issues.
Basically ziggy reworked my particle system and gave me more control to tweak it to perfection. the particle system achieved all the things that i wanted from the begining, which is like woah. He did something that took me weeks, in just 2 days. Which is amazing to me. i guess that's what experience does.
I reintergrated his particle system into my current work, and shifted the cameras to bring the full effect in. I started a render to see how it looks like with the new particle system. Will check it out tommorow or something.
Anyways, The place is really big and they have been breaking down walls, literally, making people interact more at the office. They also have an internship programme, that is quite competitive. They showed us clips and snippets of their new movie tangled. It is basically a retelling of the rupunzel's story. It was quite a challenge for them to do the hair as the hair is practically an extension of her, almost like another limb. there are scenes where she literrally open doors with it. It was quite interesting.
Sadly today is mckendree's and ben's last day at side effects as they head off to an externship at motion theory. So the office will be quieter for over two weeks or more. Aliza bought ice-cream, brownies and cookies for us to have a little going away party for them. Also, it's susan's last day at the office, so the guys had a little party for her as well. Personally, i do not know who susan is....haha.
Well, ziggy got back to me after we returned from disney. He showed me briefly how he did the particle system before leaving. He didn't have much time to explain it to me as he left early, and also, he won't be in tommorow as he is moving house out of marina del rey. So i guess i'm left alone to solve issues.
Basically ziggy reworked my particle system and gave me more control to tweak it to perfection. the particle system achieved all the things that i wanted from the begining, which is like woah. He did something that took me weeks, in just 2 days. Which is amazing to me. i guess that's what experience does.
I reintergrated his particle system into my current work, and shifted the cameras to bring the full effect in. I started a render to see how it looks like with the new particle system. Will check it out tommorow or something.
Day 59 - Review with Franklin
Today, my head kept on banging. But i went on anyway. I showed franklin a rendered copy of my work which i prepared overnight. It was in .pic format as he had previously requested. He liked the new model for the building and it looked better, but he noticed a jump cut that wasn't good. Ziggy looked at my shot and decided that the particle system i built using the follow SOP wasn't good enough. according to ziggy the follow sop, he says wasn't good as it's uncontrollable. I built the particle system with the help of jonnathan as he says the follow sop is the most ideal. But it turned out not to be. As the follow sop forces the particles to behave wierdly and there is no control.
The rebuilt particle system ziggy says would work using an attractor and run along a curve. He showed me how to do it. But it wasn't finished yet. I left immediately after as i had a head pounding. I was reworking the building and fixing building location as the starting had some issues and retweaking the building pathway. I guess i have to do that tommorow.
The rebuilt particle system ziggy says would work using an attractor and run along a curve. He showed me how to do it. But it wasn't finished yet. I left immediately after as i had a head pounding. I was reworking the building and fixing building location as the starting had some issues and retweaking the building pathway. I guess i have to do that tommorow.
Day 58 - Render!
Today, i asked emily for help with copy stamping of my building. One thing while playing with the variable, i noticed that when i upped the value of the number of paper in the building, to about 100 there was little to no performance change. the only difference is the time in render. The original value was 10, but now i set it to 100-1000 it became alot more detailed, and it didn't affect much. Though, on render, it took about 1 min previously to render, now it takes 5. The time increase is noticable, but yeah.... it looks better. I guess i'll show franklin a rendered view tommorow.
I also tweaked the camera abit and solved some minor issues.
I also tweaked the camera abit and solved some minor issues.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Day 57 - Work again!
Days like these are very depressing, it's the day after you comeback from such excitement and fun, and then you immedietely gota start work. But oh well.
Ah if i forgot to mention, on friday before we left for magic mountain, i had started a render so i could look at it on monday. It looked quite alright. The cheats and hacks i did actually arn't so bad, and i'm starting to feel proud of my own work. Haha. Previously i was kinda nervous, if this is kinda noteworthy work, but it's turning out nicer than i imagined.
Today, we found out that nathan would be around to help us for a couple of days, so i could ask him some stuff on how he did his paper project. Aliza sprung a surprise check on us, and a surprise class on us. She wanted Nathan to teach us how to do layering from houdini and then bringing it to nuke. Jon suggested using one of our work as a template for the class. So nathan went around. Edmund's, bing yuan's and daniel's were all liquid, wei thai's is complex l-systems, so he choose mine. Which kinda made things easier on me, so i have something to reference to directly :D. haha.
I explained to him some of the stuff i did, and he went to prepare something, in the mean time, i did some fixes, on the official one in the drive, then after he chose mine, i switched to the one on my drive, and then when he finished with the class, i had a third one, so now i have 3 files with 3 different content changes, and i need to pull them together. I guess i'll do that tommorow. Everybody wants to go back and i am feeling tired....
Oh i forgot to mention, over the last couple of weeks i've been bugging aliza to bug garage games to give us a copy of torque 3d engine. Last week, torque finally responded and gave side effects a licence. As side effects is missing the softwares needed for a game development pipeline, i asked if i could install the copy of torque onto my laptop, today after explaining to aliza why i want to install it on my laptop, she agreed and i got a copy of the engine here. weehee... haha. But she would rather me concentrate on my project for the time being, which i am. But i have something to toy around with while i'm at the apartment and maybe when i'm back in singapore....
Ah if i forgot to mention, on friday before we left for magic mountain, i had started a render so i could look at it on monday. It looked quite alright. The cheats and hacks i did actually arn't so bad, and i'm starting to feel proud of my own work. Haha. Previously i was kinda nervous, if this is kinda noteworthy work, but it's turning out nicer than i imagined.
Today, we found out that nathan would be around to help us for a couple of days, so i could ask him some stuff on how he did his paper project. Aliza sprung a surprise check on us, and a surprise class on us. She wanted Nathan to teach us how to do layering from houdini and then bringing it to nuke. Jon suggested using one of our work as a template for the class. So nathan went around. Edmund's, bing yuan's and daniel's were all liquid, wei thai's is complex l-systems, so he choose mine. Which kinda made things easier on me, so i have something to reference to directly :D. haha.
I explained to him some of the stuff i did, and he went to prepare something, in the mean time, i did some fixes, on the official one in the drive, then after he chose mine, i switched to the one on my drive, and then when he finished with the class, i had a third one, so now i have 3 files with 3 different content changes, and i need to pull them together. I guess i'll do that tommorow. Everybody wants to go back and i am feeling tired....
Oh i forgot to mention, over the last couple of weeks i've been bugging aliza to bug garage games to give us a copy of torque 3d engine. Last week, torque finally responded and gave side effects a licence. As side effects is missing the softwares needed for a game development pipeline, i asked if i could install the copy of torque onto my laptop, today after explaining to aliza why i want to install it on my laptop, she agreed and i got a copy of the engine here. weehee... haha. But she would rather me concentrate on my project for the time being, which i am. But i have something to toy around with while i'm at the apartment and maybe when i'm back in singapore....
Day 56 - Magic Mountain Day 2
as magic mountain we realised yesterday, was a rollercoaster park, there kinda is no point to bring a camera. as we always have to leave it in a locker, and locker costs 1USD, and we have to always change locker at every ride, we probably spent close to 10 dollars yesterday on nothing but the lockers. so we decided to leave the stuff at the hotel when we check out, and head to the park.
Since we cleared all the coasters yesterday, thanks to the flashpass, i must admit it is not as crowded as yesterday today, it being a sunday and all, but anyways, we started off with wet rides this time, at the roaring rapids. then the jetstream then the log jammer. I have to say, the most we i got was from the log jammer and the roaring rapids.
after all of that we decided to cool off with rollercoasters again, we decided to start with tatsu, but it brokedown, so we didn't bother to wait, we took the goliath and scream, then we took the batman again, then terminator salvation, then the riddlers revenge, and then lastly for the day the tatsu again.
we then left the park at 7, as daniels friend had arrived, and we went back to the hotel, picked up our stuff and headed for dinner with them, then heading back to santa monica. and that ends our day.
Since we cleared all the coasters yesterday, thanks to the flashpass, i must admit it is not as crowded as yesterday today, it being a sunday and all, but anyways, we started off with wet rides this time, at the roaring rapids. then the jetstream then the log jammer. I have to say, the most we i got was from the log jammer and the roaring rapids.
after all of that we decided to cool off with rollercoasters again, we decided to start with tatsu, but it brokedown, so we didn't bother to wait, we took the goliath and scream, then we took the batman again, then terminator salvation, then the riddlers revenge, and then lastly for the day the tatsu again.
we then left the park at 7, as daniels friend had arrived, and we went back to the hotel, picked up our stuff and headed for dinner with them, then heading back to santa monica. and that ends our day.
Day 55 - Magic Mountain Day 1
We reached the hotel by car yesterday. Not bad, it was quite far, about 40 mins drive from santa monica. We checked in to a motel, called rodeway inn. To be honest it is quite crappy, but since were here only for two days and we just needed a place to bunk, it's okay.
Magic mountain is quite a place. almost 90% of the rides here in this theme park is nothing but rollercoasters. Almost every roller coaster has a loop-the- loop and not just one, usually more than just one, unlike disneyland's california screaming.
We got the platinum flash pass at 99$USD a day thinking it came with admission...it didn't. Admission was 40$USD. The woman behind the guest relations counter was quite apologetic, but not like we had a choice. So we got the tickets and went it. We collected the fast-pass, which is like a large tamagochi. The platinum fast pass which we took allowed us to cut the queue like at disneyland and have no wait time. So we can just go straight to the front of the line. The gold fast pass will cut 50% wait time, but there is still wait time. The normal does not cut wait time, but allows you to book a spot and come back when it is your turn, just as if you have been standing in line. The platinum fast pass which we had also allowed us to re-ride the coaster a second time without getting off. This does not include rides that have very high ridership and rides with only one train.
To be honest before the briefing, which we have to go through before getting the fastpass, i didn't know the fastpass is a pager type device, not a card or something like at disneyland. The queue for the coasters here is quite crazy. It's about 1 1/2 hour to 3 hours for a single ride at peak hours. To kinda show you what the rides are like, i've attached links to how the rollercoaster is like from youtube.
We took the X2 first, it is the highlight of the park, in hindsight, we shouldn't have, but anyways, we did by paying 15$ per person at the counter to make a booking. We took the next available slot and immedietely ran to the X2. And by god, the X2 was the most frightening rollercoaster i have ever taken. It's a rollercoaster that swings you in 5 directions and has several loops, it is also going at over 100mph and have you going inverse as it climbed the track. It has flamethrowers, music, lights, etc. It was amazing! lol. I guess in hind sight we shouldn't have taken the most thrilling ride of the park as the first ride.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVVGHK7Yi7I
Next we took the viper http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1izstI-vCyg video speaks for itself.
then the revolution, the first looping rollercoaster in the world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrC5WUQczp4
then the tatsu, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_eKfNi2T24
then the goldrush, which was quite mild, but it is history... the first rollercoaster built at six flags. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01RHAxIBgyw&feature=related
then the riddler's revenge, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrsvkjhSwEQ, which i must add, is a standing coaster.
then terminator salvation, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrgV2DtwtIw
then we took scream, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-XRAFqjgsc.
goliath, which has a 255 foot drop into a 120 foot tunnel at 85MPH, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTtxFRLIfsA
then colossus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1C0jv2xe9A.
you know, i've never taken so many coaster consecutively in my life before.
then we took the batman, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blbHTWZmQeo
before calling a cab and heading back to the hotel.
Magic mountain is quite a place. almost 90% of the rides here in this theme park is nothing but rollercoasters. Almost every roller coaster has a loop-the- loop and not just one, usually more than just one, unlike disneyland's california screaming.
We got the platinum flash pass at 99$USD a day thinking it came with admission...it didn't. Admission was 40$USD. The woman behind the guest relations counter was quite apologetic, but not like we had a choice. So we got the tickets and went it. We collected the fast-pass, which is like a large tamagochi. The platinum fast pass which we took allowed us to cut the queue like at disneyland and have no wait time. So we can just go straight to the front of the line. The gold fast pass will cut 50% wait time, but there is still wait time. The normal does not cut wait time, but allows you to book a spot and come back when it is your turn, just as if you have been standing in line. The platinum fast pass which we had also allowed us to re-ride the coaster a second time without getting off. This does not include rides that have very high ridership and rides with only one train.
To be honest before the briefing, which we have to go through before getting the fastpass, i didn't know the fastpass is a pager type device, not a card or something like at disneyland. The queue for the coasters here is quite crazy. It's about 1 1/2 hour to 3 hours for a single ride at peak hours. To kinda show you what the rides are like, i've attached links to how the rollercoaster is like from youtube.
We took the X2 first, it is the highlight of the park, in hindsight, we shouldn't have, but anyways, we did by paying 15$ per person at the counter to make a booking. We took the next available slot and immedietely ran to the X2. And by god, the X2 was the most frightening rollercoaster i have ever taken. It's a rollercoaster that swings you in 5 directions and has several loops, it is also going at over 100mph and have you going inverse as it climbed the track. It has flamethrowers, music, lights, etc. It was amazing! lol. I guess in hind sight we shouldn't have taken the most thrilling ride of the park as the first ride.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVVGHK7Yi7I
Next we took the viper http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1izstI-vCyg video speaks for itself.
then the revolution, the first looping rollercoaster in the world. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrC5WUQczp4
then the tatsu, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_eKfNi2T24
then the goldrush, which was quite mild, but it is history... the first rollercoaster built at six flags. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01RHAxIBgyw&feature=related
then the riddler's revenge, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrsvkjhSwEQ, which i must add, is a standing coaster.
then terminator salvation, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrgV2DtwtIw
then we took scream, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-XRAFqjgsc.
goliath, which has a 255 foot drop into a 120 foot tunnel at 85MPH, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTtxFRLIfsA
then colossus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1C0jv2xe9A.
you know, i've never taken so many coaster consecutively in my life before.
then we took the batman, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blbHTWZmQeo
before calling a cab and heading back to the hotel.
Day 54 - Work & Onwards to Magic Mountain!
Today, we went ot the office, and the first thing i did was check the render. it looked.... rubbish. lol. There was too much space in between each grid and they were set to render at 2 million grids, and when i rendered it, it took 40 hours to render. So, i guess it would be better to do without. So i chucked that idea aside. And looked at another way to solve my problems. I decided to cheat it by stretching the building to be longer, so it looks like were high up, and it kinda covers up the floor, so there is no need for the floor.
I tried to copy stamp the buildings to give different heights, but that didn't work right, as the buildings were instanced and instances reads from a point object. So i did the next best thing, i put a mountain sop onto the point cloud and tada, varied heights! I know, it's a very half baked technique, but it did solve my problem. Jonathan told me to figure out a way to use copy stamping with instancing, but after talking to Nathan, copy stamping and instancing just don't work together.
The rest of the guys have left the office and i'm left working ot-ing. I was also finding a way to randomize the rotation of the buildings, which i managed to do, will need to figure out for my instancing. I couldn't find a way, so i'll try again on monday.
I discussed with nathan his paper project which he did, abit but i dunno, i think i'll chat with him proper on monday or something. Anyways, That's pretty much all i had time to do today.
Were going to six flags, magic mountain today! Daniel's friend is coming to pick us up later and bring us to the hotel. Can't wait!
I tried to copy stamp the buildings to give different heights, but that didn't work right, as the buildings were instanced and instances reads from a point object. So i did the next best thing, i put a mountain sop onto the point cloud and tada, varied heights! I know, it's a very half baked technique, but it did solve my problem. Jonathan told me to figure out a way to use copy stamping with instancing, but after talking to Nathan, copy stamping and instancing just don't work together.
The rest of the guys have left the office and i'm left working ot-ing. I was also finding a way to randomize the rotation of the buildings, which i managed to do, will need to figure out for my instancing. I couldn't find a way, so i'll try again on monday.
I discussed with nathan his paper project which he did, abit but i dunno, i think i'll chat with him proper on monday or something. Anyways, That's pretty much all i had time to do today.
Were going to six flags, magic mountain today! Daniel's friend is coming to pick us up later and bring us to the hotel. Can't wait!
Day 53 - Rest!
We decided to take the day off to catch up on some shuteye, catch up on doing reports and other stuffs. Nothing much happened today, and i didn't want to touch work.
Day 52 - Review!
Today, franklin came down as usual and saw the progress, and i shared with him everything i did thus far, he thought some more height in the distance would look better, and that more details in the buildings would be good, since the camera comes really close up to the building, I should look into more higher detailed shaders or textures. Some of the cameras he suggest fixing them as they do not feel continuous.
I started by messing around with the floor somemore after he left. He had suggested why not use the high quality model floor repeatedly, if i wanted a good look that i like at the expense of render time. So i messed around with that idea. I also test rendered a scene with my floor system but on a mountain sop. I'll leave it over night to render and i'll check it back tommorow.
Well that ends today.
I started by messing around with the floor somemore after he left. He had suggested why not use the high quality model floor repeatedly, if i wanted a good look that i like at the expense of render time. So i messed around with that idea. I also test rendered a scene with my floor system but on a mountain sop. I'll leave it over night to render and i'll check it back tommorow.
Well that ends today.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Day 51 - Dailies & Creative Explosion!
Today, I tried to fix the texture on the floor but ended up with something more crap than i thought it would be. So i ditched that. Instead tried to improve render time, as i wait for franklin's opinions and direction tommorow on some of the aesthetic problems i face. Some of which is the repetitiveness of the scene, and also how the floor looks so wierd. I'll probably have to do something about that. I reduced render time, by half by just caching my huge copy network and particle system. So instead of requiring houdini to recalculate each time, it's just reading from file. I use the ROP Export tool instead of the file tool. Apparently according to ben it gives more control. And also i can just do a one button render instead of needing to resimulate it manually by pressing play.
I then split my render down into 4 parts each turning some elements on and off to reduce render time and spreading the load over several computers. Its quite a challenge i think. But it worked, kinda. We'll find out tommorow.
Anyways, what i then did was have my dailies with jonnathan. Jonnathan think's my work is generally done, It just needs polish and he asked me to improve on it aesthetically. I mentioned that i probably need to retime alot of it to give the starting more time for the viewer to absorb in. He advises me that i should make my city more lively and more like a city instead of making it so robotically static. He mentioned paper clouds, paper mountains, even a paper river, with maybe paper boats?
I'll probably discuss this with franklin tommorow, since the last time we discussed he wasn't happy with me adding new things and etc.
I then split my render down into 4 parts each turning some elements on and off to reduce render time and spreading the load over several computers. Its quite a challenge i think. But it worked, kinda. We'll find out tommorow.
Anyways, what i then did was have my dailies with jonnathan. Jonnathan think's my work is generally done, It just needs polish and he asked me to improve on it aesthetically. I mentioned that i probably need to retime alot of it to give the starting more time for the viewer to absorb in. He advises me that i should make my city more lively and more like a city instead of making it so robotically static. He mentioned paper clouds, paper mountains, even a paper river, with maybe paper boats?
I'll probably discuss this with franklin tommorow, since the last time we discussed he wasn't happy with me adding new things and etc.
Day 50 - Work again!
Aww, leaving disneyland was quite sad. I wanted to stay longer, but oh well. Back to the office as usual, and I continued working on what i left off. Getting the textures working and the modelled buildings in. The first thing i tried was porting in the prototype stacks of paper i made, but as I built the city non procedurally with the edit nodes, it totally screwed up the models. So i had to create a walk around. What i did was, get the points that my buildings are set, then cache them out.
I then used the points to reference and copy the buildings to. I then resized the buildings to match the size the boxes it previously was and realigned the buildings to the boxes. This gave the right locations which the points are at.
This walk around is abit long winded and to be frank unneeded if the whole project was approached procedurally from the start, but oh well. Lesson learnt.
I then used this method to turn the scene to become semi procedural. I tweaked the flight path. I rendered an image and realised something, that my scene is quite plain.... But there isn't much time to look into that now, i'll do that tommorow. gota go, it's late and the guys wants to catch Jackass 3D.....
I then used the points to reference and copy the buildings to. I then resized the buildings to match the size the boxes it previously was and realigned the buildings to the boxes. This gave the right locations which the points are at.
This walk around is abit long winded and to be frank unneeded if the whole project was approached procedurally from the start, but oh well. Lesson learnt.
I then used this method to turn the scene to become semi procedural. I tweaked the flight path. I rendered an image and realised something, that my scene is quite plain.... But there isn't much time to look into that now, i'll do that tommorow. gota go, it's late and the guys wants to catch Jackass 3D.....
Day 49 - Trip back to Santa Monica
We were supposed to head back at 8pm, but i rescheduled in the morning for the bus to pick us up at 1 as the hotel wants the room back by 1pm. So we didn't have time to go to disney downtown. So we grabed breakfast/lunch and waited for the bus. We arrived back at santa monica at around 4ish, where we stayed at the apartment for the rest of the day.
Day 48 - Disneyland Adventure Park!
after waking up at 10, we left the hotel and headed to california adventure where we started off with fast pass to california screaming, then headed to twilight zone tower of terror, then rode california screaming, then took another fast pass for it again before heading to GRR grizzly river rafting Co. where we got really wet and saw a couple of nice fat people and one not so fat person. Then taking california screaming after we were wet. After getting mildly dry, we went to soaring over california. where we caught the pixar parade at the sunshine plaza before we went back to the twilight tower of terror. We went back to the hotel and put our stuff down, then headed to disneyland, where we caught elecTRONica then shopping we caught another disney parade then had dinner before the fireworks. Then we took the bobsleigh again with bing yuan, then ng left back to the hotel. We each got a photo taken at fantasy land, then bought the pictures, and headed to the pieace the resistance, the monorail. Then we headed back to the hotel.
Wow that was a really long paragraph and sentence. Well yes, that's the brief gist of it all. I'm quite tired, so i'm going to turn in. Nights.
Wow that was a really long paragraph and sentence. Well yes, that's the brief gist of it all. I'm quite tired, so i'm going to turn in. Nights.
Day 47 - Disneyland! Disneyland! Anahiem!
Today, we left early at about 6am and headed to Lux Bus's pickup point at Holiday Inn, Santa Monica. We then waited there, and the Bus finally arrived at around 7.30am. The ride took roughly an hour and a half, as the bus picks up other people from other hotels and brings them to the Lux Bus Terminal at anahiem. We paid at the office, then left for the hotel at the Castle Inn, which was right opposite disneyland and disneyland adventure park.
We upgraded to a larger family suite and there is where we stayed for 2 nights. The first day when we arrived, we immedietely went to disneyland. Was really zombieing the first day as we woke up really early. For the first day, we went to disneyland first. It is there that we took the jungle cruise first then, we got wet at Splash Mountain we went to the Indiana Jones coaster ride, then Mark Twain Riverboat, Haunted House. After that, by was really tired. We took the fast pass for the buzz lightyear ride, which was a shooter ride, not before stopping at autopia then heading back to the hotel. I picked up the room keys, put my stuff and we left by at the hotel to sleep/recover.
We then noticed people coming in with haloween costumes, we then got tickets for the halloween event, and continued walking around. We continued with the buzz lightyear Astro Blasters. then we went to finding nemo, submarine voyage, we caught the haloween fireworks spectacular then continuing to matahorn bobsleds, then the big thunder ranch, then space mountain, pirates of the carribean ride. And that was where i gave up. I was too tired and headed back to the hotel while both edmund and daniel continued to the bobslead ride again.
Gosh i just realised that was alot of rides in a day. Anyways, here's to california adventure park tommorow!
We upgraded to a larger family suite and there is where we stayed for 2 nights. The first day when we arrived, we immedietely went to disneyland. Was really zombieing the first day as we woke up really early. For the first day, we went to disneyland first. It is there that we took the jungle cruise first then, we got wet at Splash Mountain we went to the Indiana Jones coaster ride, then Mark Twain Riverboat, Haunted House. After that, by was really tired. We took the fast pass for the buzz lightyear ride, which was a shooter ride, not before stopping at autopia then heading back to the hotel. I picked up the room keys, put my stuff and we left by at the hotel to sleep/recover.
We then noticed people coming in with haloween costumes, we then got tickets for the halloween event, and continued walking around. We continued with the buzz lightyear Astro Blasters. then we went to finding nemo, submarine voyage, we caught the haloween fireworks spectacular then continuing to matahorn bobsleds, then the big thunder ranch, then space mountain, pirates of the carribean ride. And that was where i gave up. I was too tired and headed back to the hotel while both edmund and daniel continued to the bobslead ride again.
Gosh i just realised that was alot of rides in a day. Anyways, here's to california adventure park tommorow!
Day 46 - Work!
Today, after what franklin told me, which wasn't much, i worked on fixing the cameras. I also looked into the floor, i rendered a top down shot of the paper floor and turned it into a texture and plastered it on several grids. The grids are then aligned under the instanced buildings to simulate a floor. However, this cheat, i learned does not give the effect i am looking for. So i have to find another way to solve the problem.
I asked john to help me, as another one of franklin's requirements was to ensure the plane stayed on the stack, fold then take off. This was achived by holding down the value the animation plays through an expression, then playing it when it reaches a certain point. It took awhile to implement. After that I set a computer to render from frame 100> so that i could see how the ending now looks like and we left.
So, now i can see how the render goes. By now it's already close to 7. So i'm leaving. Both edmund and bing yuan have left. So i guess it's time to go...and pack for disneyland tommorow! Yay!
I asked john to help me, as another one of franklin's requirements was to ensure the plane stayed on the stack, fold then take off. This was achived by holding down the value the animation plays through an expression, then playing it when it reaches a certain point. It took awhile to implement. After that I set a computer to render from frame 100> so that i could see how the ending now looks like and we left.
So, now i can see how the render goes. By now it's already close to 7. So i'm leaving. Both edmund and bing yuan have left. So i guess it's time to go...and pack for disneyland tommorow! Yay!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Day 45 - Review & Farmers Market
Today, we decided to wake up early and headed to the farmers market which is near the office and picked up some apples, apple juice and berries and then went back to the office for the review with franklin.
Guess what, i forgot to set the camera when i rendered, so it rendered to the wrong camera. So i had to re-render it within 2 hours. Surprisingly spread out over several computers it rendered really quick. When he arrived at 12.30pm i showed him my render, and he wanted the camera changed abit again. He also wanted the buildings to be modelled.
Well it originally is, what happened was it was modelled at a non commercial edition of houdini, and it couldn't be opened or imported in to a commercial version of houdini, so i had to send it back to toronto to get it converted. Franklin asked if i could not redo it, but frankly i couldn't remember how i did it... so yeah.
After all of that we then went down to the pier and had the hot spicy seafood soup.
Guess what, i forgot to set the camera when i rendered, so it rendered to the wrong camera. So i had to re-render it within 2 hours. Surprisingly spread out over several computers it rendered really quick. When he arrived at 12.30pm i showed him my render, and he wanted the camera changed abit again. He also wanted the buildings to be modelled.
Well it originally is, what happened was it was modelled at a non commercial edition of houdini, and it couldn't be opened or imported in to a commercial version of houdini, so i had to send it back to toronto to get it converted. Franklin asked if i could not redo it, but frankly i couldn't remember how i did it... so yeah.
After all of that we then went down to the pier and had the hot spicy seafood soup.
Day 44 - Render! Render!
Today, i decided i gota meet the requirements set by franklin, so i went through the checklist and decided to screw ben's advice to make a texture and put it on a mountain sop, instead i just reinstance at another point. That way, i don't need to do extra work. I'll just reuse what i have done already.
I then worked on the camera abit as he advised and we then left for lunch with jonnathan at the sushi store nearby that is 50% off after 3pm.
When we got back, I took 5 computers and rendered my scene for tommorow's presentation to franklin. and that ends the day.
I then worked on the camera abit as he advised and we then left for lunch with jonnathan at the sushi store nearby that is 50% off after 3pm.
When we got back, I took 5 computers and rendered my scene for tommorow's presentation to franklin. and that ends the day.
Day 43 - Ross again & Fish!
Today, we decided to take a rest, but i wanted to go down to ross to get a new bag. The bag i brought was my old primary school bag, which i found out this morning, could not fit my laptop, since i'm bringing it to the office. I bought a targus at less than 20$. Which is fairly good price. We went to a fish bbq nearby then walked back home. IT was about a couple miles away so yeah.
Day 42 - Mdm Toussads
Today we went to Madam Toussad's Wax museum. It is a museum that is grander than the other 2 wax museums we went previously. and today's date is 10/10/10. so they made the price 10$ for that day only, normally it's 15$. We took the same tour bus back down there and went to it, it was bigger and way more interesting than the other wax museum. I bought some souvineers. We then took the cab back at about 9pm. And that's how we ended the day.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Day 41 - Gun range...Bigger Guns..and a pea shooter
Today we went down to the gun range again. I love the smell of gunpowder in the morning. lol. This time we went to shoot way bigger guns and a pea shooter. lol. We started the day of with a .19mm beretta which shoots a .35 calibre round. The same thing we shot the last time we came. It's all good, we wanted to warm up. Then a small cool looking gun caught my eye...
it's the ruger mkIII, it shoots a rifle .22 calibre round. It's a peashooter, with very low recoil, and there is little to no sound when shot. It's almost as if it's a silenced gun. Note that it is also the same gun that snake used in metal gear solid. a box of 25 is quite cheap too, at 5$ for 100 rounds
anyways moving on, we upgraded to something bigger, the benelli (mk2?)12 gauge shotgun. which packs a whallop in recoil.
then we upgraded to a rifle, the AR-22,
which shoots the same round the ruger shot, a small arms .22 calibre rifle round, only difference is, that the rifle can shoot about 120 of them with one cartridge. However this specific rifle keeps on giving us jams, as it's probably not oiled or maintained. Hightech rifles should usually be cleaned and maintained often. Except of course for the AK-47, which sadly the range didn't have. The range only holds American made guns.
after all is done and the rest of the group left, i came back in and shot another 25 rounds of shotgun, and practically tore a hole through the targets. I could hear the instructor next to me tell his student, "that is why no one wants to get shot by a shotgun". if you think about it, if you get shot by a rifle, there is a chance you might or might not live. but with a shotgun, you're quite certain to be a goner.
anyways, we then took the cab back home after the day is said and done, and then we ended the day with a movie called shaun of the dead, an R movie which i didn't know about!.....anyways we watched it, it was a really good british 2004 movie, then went to bed.
it's the ruger mkIII, it shoots a rifle .22 calibre round. It's a peashooter, with very low recoil, and there is little to no sound when shot. It's almost as if it's a silenced gun. Note that it is also the same gun that snake used in metal gear solid. a box of 25 is quite cheap too, at 5$ for 100 rounds
anyways moving on, we upgraded to something bigger, the benelli (mk2?)12 gauge shotgun. which packs a whallop in recoil.
then we upgraded to a rifle, the AR-22,
which shoots the same round the ruger shot, a small arms .22 calibre rifle round, only difference is, that the rifle can shoot about 120 of them with one cartridge. However this specific rifle keeps on giving us jams, as it's probably not oiled or maintained. Hightech rifles should usually be cleaned and maintained often. Except of course for the AK-47, which sadly the range didn't have. The range only holds American made guns.
after all is done and the rest of the group left, i came back in and shot another 25 rounds of shotgun, and practically tore a hole through the targets. I could hear the instructor next to me tell his student, "that is why no one wants to get shot by a shotgun". if you think about it, if you get shot by a rifle, there is a chance you might or might not live. but with a shotgun, you're quite certain to be a goner.
anyways, we then took the cab back home after the day is said and done, and then we ended the day with a movie called shaun of the dead, an R movie which i didn't know about!.....anyways we watched it, it was a really good british 2004 movie, then went to bed.
Day 40 - More Work?!
Today, i did the floor and decided instead of copy stamping, which would show up in view port and lag the computer entirely, i would use the instancing. Instancing is like copy stamping but instead of making copying the points x number of times, the instance would reference it and copy it multiple times.
I tried to render a frame, but a frame render costs about 5mins of time for one fucking frame. So i asked ben, if there is a way to optimise this. He then asked why am i doing this, i should just make a texture and put it on top of a mountain grid. that gets the same effect and is cheaper. Then i asked myself, why didn't i do that......lol. I figure that one out on the weekend.
On the side note, the buildings are still quite squarish. I need to try and import in the models.... hopefully in time. Oh and thank goodness that sesi is a canadian company, long weekend to look forward to! on monday, it's canada's national day, thus we get a day off. So long weekend yay!
anyways, it's 3.30ish, everyone's tired, were leaving early.....ciao.
I tried to render a frame, but a frame render costs about 5mins of time for one fucking frame. So i asked ben, if there is a way to optimise this. He then asked why am i doing this, i should just make a texture and put it on top of a mountain grid. that gets the same effect and is cheaper. Then i asked myself, why didn't i do that......lol. I figure that one out on the weekend.
On the side note, the buildings are still quite squarish. I need to try and import in the models.... hopefully in time. Oh and thank goodness that sesi is a canadian company, long weekend to look forward to! on monday, it's canada's national day, thus we get a day off. So long weekend yay!
anyways, it's 3.30ish, everyone's tired, were leaving early.....ciao.
Friday, October 8, 2010
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