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Friday February 15, 2008
Hola! It's the Friday before President's Day weekend and the topic for tonight is free software. I have a couple of new additions to my ever-expanding collection of graphics programs that deserve a bit of attention. The first half of tonight's double-feature is MakeHuman; A free (GPL) program for creating detailed 3D models of human figures. MakeHuman produces very high quality objects with an almost eerie level of realism. The controls are easy to use and you can adjust the parameters to make almost any male or female body type. The one deficit I could find with the program is that it doesn't include any means of adding hair or clothing to your carefully constructed human model. So MakeHuman is great for making a model of a nude, bald person. If you really need hair and clothing you might do well to buy the more widely-used Poser package. The other freebie software pick of the week is Bryce 5.5, a program I've been promoting here for some weeks now. Version 5.5 is just one step behind the current cutting edge (6.0) and while not quite as powerful, it's still a full-featured commercial release with all the bells and whistles intact. Bryce excels at creating landscapes, but has enough features and capabilities to do animations as well as realistic images. Huge kudos and thanks go out to DAZ Productions for releasing the last version of Bryce, when they could've simply dropped it and kept selling the latest. I can only hope that this practice becomes a trend in the industry.
The picture of the week was created using Project Dogwaffle
Click on the image for a full-sized view
The loops of the week are a group of blues drum parts
The web site of the week is a history of computer graphics and animation.
The PC game of the week is Dark Star One, a space trading game in the spirit of Elite.
Send your comments and feedback and I’ll read it all and respond to some of it. Bye for now!
Friday February 8, 2008
Warm winter greetings! I'm back for yet another Friday evening of shared artistic thoughts and views. Tonight I'll talk about the use of recycling in music and graphics. The term appropriation applies to the practice of using borrowed elements in the visual arts. In music a new composition can be made entirely from short sound samples or loops. Some controversy has emerged over the legal use of material under copyright, especially in the current electronic age. The alternative is to use royalty-free images or sound-bytes to complete your next collage. You can find more than a few sites offering free or inexpensive content, so consider making your next masterwork from some recycled raw materials.
The picture of the week is a sci-fi image created using Project Dogwaffle (textures), Anim8or (models), and Bryce (terrain and rendering).
Click on the image for a full-sized view
The loops of the week are some simulated acoustic guitar strums. These samples haven't been Acid adjusted.
The DVD/film of the week was The Big One, from director Michael Moore; a documentary dealing with corporate downsizing in the late 1990's.
The web site of the week is artist Debi McSwain's Daily Painting blog. I have trouble coming up with some words, a picture and music loops every WEEK, but Debi manages a daily post of some truly lovely paintings. Check it out!
The PC game of the week was still Sword of the Stars. I've started a small-scale search for another 4x game to slay my few remaining hours of free-time, but in the mean time SOTS is the best.
Send your comments and feedback and I’ll read it all and respond to some of it. Bye for now!
Friday February 1, 2008
Hi All! Welcome back to my words for the tail-end of yet another week. I was browsing eBay this week when I spotted what looked like a remarkable deal. A full-featured 3D modeling and animation package for less than $10. The specifications listed were very impressive, as were the screen shots. So what was the catch? The software in question is Blender, a program that can be downloaded for free from the developer's site. That's right amgios, some clever parasites are selling pieces of FREE software to the unsuspecting neophyte bargain hunters. Not just Blender but some of the very best free and open source stuff is being sold online, including Audacity, NVU and Open Office. I can see repackaging free stuff on a CD or DVD and charging folks a bit for the media, but these guys are simply providing a download address. My suggestion is to ALWAYS do your homework before buying such a low-priced package. Chances are, the cool music or graphics application you're considering is available elsewhere for the downloading.
The picture of the week was created using Project Dogwaffle.
Clic
k on the image for a full-sized view
The loops of the week are some drum loops.
The PC game of the week was Sword of the Stars.
Send your comments and feedback and I’ll read it all and respond to some of it.
Bye for now!
Friday January 25, 2008
Chilly winter greetings! It's a cold and rainy January eve here at the gray cat's place. The topic for tonight is music and I'm going to share some web sites that offer free music stuff. I've mentioned KVR Audio before as a good place to hunt for free and commercial plug-ins. You can search for instruments, effects or host programs in a huge variety of categories, ranging from free and lightweight to costly and capable. It's an easy way to expand your favorite music program without breaking the bank. If you're a musician in need of some manuscript paper or guitar tab sheets you need look no further than blanksheetmusic.net. Finally, if you crave the sound of a good march, then check out the music section of the John Phillip Sousa site. Here you'll find complete MIDI files of all 136 of Sousa's marches, as well as short MPEG, and RealAudio clips. Among my favorites is “The Liberty Bell”, which became famous (or infamous) as the theme from Monty Python.
Last week's meme-tag resulted in feedback from 40% of those I tagged, so I guess it was a little less than half successful. I'll bug my old pal Mark later about getting on the ball and passing the meme on.
The picture of the week was created using Bryce.
Click on the image for a full-sized view
The loops of the week are a set of sweet synthesizer parts.
The book of the week is “The Selected Poetry of John Donne”
The PC game of the week is Forged Alliance yet again.
Send your comments and feedback and I’ll read it all and respond to some of it.
Bye for now!
Friday January 18, 2008
Hello again! It's Friday once more and I'm here doing the TGIF dance. I was blog-tagged (or meme-tagged) way back in December by my blog-buddy OneLuvGurl so this week I'm passing the favor on to my friends and two new individuals whose sites caught my attention. The rules are you have to answer each question by using the first letter of your name. You can’t use your own name either. Let’s get busy!
1. Famous Singer: Marvin Gaye
2. Four Letter Word: Moon
3. Street: Mountain Ave.
4. Color: Mauve
5. Gifts/Present: Manga (Japanese Comics)
6. Vehicle: Mustang (1965)
7. Things in Souvenir Shop: Maps
8. Boy Name: Michael
9. Girl Name: Maya
10. Movie title: M (Fritz Lang 1931)11. Drink: Mocha Frappuccino
12. Occupation: Mover
13. Celebrity: Miley Cyrus
14. Magazine: Mountain Bike Action
15. U.S. City: Monterey, CA
16. Pro Sports: Motocross
17. Fruit: Mango
18. Reason for Being Late to work: Monkeys ate my necktie.
19. Something you throw away: Melon rinds
20. Something you shout: Mwah-hahahahahahahaa!
I'm tagging Mark, Ben, CK Lester, Slackermama, and Anithete. Good luck and god-speed folks. The fate of the meme is in your hands and I hope you washed them.
The picture of the week was created using Bryce.
Click on the image for a full-sized view
The loops of the week are a set of chopped helicopter samples.
The PC game of the week is still Forged Alliance.
Send your comments and feedback and I’ll read it all and respond to some of it.
Bye for now!
Friday January 11, 2008
Good evening and welcome back! The topic for tonight is graphics and I'm delving into the realms of symmetry. The simplest use of symmetry is to mirror an image horizontally or vertically. By doing multiple reflections you can create a kaleidoscope effect. The mirror option is also useful in 3D designs. When making a human figure, you can create a left arm or leg and then mirror it to create the right side. That's the quick and easy version, but there are tons of other possibilities. Try to explore a few in your own favorite graphics application.
The picture of the week was created using Project Dogwaffle
Click on the image for a full-sized view 
The loops of the week are a set of percussion sequences.The web site of the week is a cool list of 101 free games. This is the 2007 list and the new 2008 list will be up soon.The PC game of the week is still Forged Alliance. Money can't buy you love, but it will get you a slice of pure RTS goodness.
Send your comments and feedback and I’ll read it all and respond to some of it.
Bye for now!
Friday January 4, 2008Happy New Year and happy Friday to all! It's rainy tonight and looking to be wet weekend. I don't have a fixed topic in mind so I'll just update all the current progress. In music I've been working on some short loops that are mathematically symmetrical in nature. The resulting sounds are a bit strange but pleasing and decidedly different. The main graphic project of the week was animating the title sequence for a short film. I got blog-tagged by my old friend OneLuvGurl, but haven't had the chance to tag anyone else yet. I'll have more on everything next time out.
The picture of the week was created using Anim8or.
Click on the image for a full-sized view
The loops of the week are some symmetrical drum loops.
The book/graphic novel of the moment is The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill.
The PC game of the week is Forged Alliance, the stand-alone sequel to Supreme Commander. Send your comments and feedback and I’ll read it all and respond to some of it.
Bye for now!
