IZation Labs

Though it took a long time working on it here and there between work and my other projects, I have recently finished a more professional, more finalized special effects test. I learn a great deal every time I tackle another piece, and I think it shows in the final product as compared to my last test. All rendering, design, and compositing of 3D elements was done in Blender, the camera tracking was done using Syntheyes, and the video editing using Final Cut Express.

(If you want to, I would suggest taking the time to watch the video in HD rather than the default, it looks much better that way.)

Something that helped a great deal for this project was the addition of a newly built networked attached storage server, also known as a NAS. The system I built is running a free operating system called FreeNAS, and allows me to store and access all of the project files together in a central place on my home network. Eventually I may try configuring port forwarding and a service like DynDNS so that I can access my files from school and other places as well over the internet.

One of the nicest things about the new server, however, is its amount of storage and backup capabilities. HD footage can be a bit of a storage hog, with an hour of footage taking up as much as forty-some gigs of space. Inside this standard off-the-shelf parts NAS machine are two two-terabyte SATA hard drives that are basically identical twins, straight down to the data. They are connected together via a form of software raid, meaning that if one of the two hard drives die, I still have my data safe and sound on the other one until I can replace the failed drive. I had to lose a terabyte of data before I understood how useful raid could be.

In other news, I just recently finished a new and much lengthier project with the help of a close friend. I’ll be posting a video and information about it soon, so check back often!

-Lace

With the shelling out of some decent dinero and about six hours of effort, I have here for the entertainment of all up and coming VFX enthusiasts a camera tracking test. If you are looking for bright lights, action, and large explosions… well you may be disappointed, this is just a test, there’s nothing too fancy about it, visually. The key focus was the tracking of a CG item to handheld video footage, and it turned out well for a first attempt.

The tracking was done using Syntheyes, the same software used for tracking in films such as Iron Man 2, Alice in Wonderland, and Avatar. If it isn’t already, Syntheyes is becoming an industry standard. However, if you can’t afford the license, the Voodoo camera tracker works rather well, and is free for the most part.

The compositing and CG effects were done using the node editing engine in Blender 3D, a free and open source program that continues to improve daily.

For a look at what the best of the best can do with Blender, check out this Sintel trailer, the newest short film from the Blender Foundation coming out in a few months

Critiques are welcome. More to come.

-Lace

Ladies and gents, Shapeways just knocked my socks off.

A new material has been added to the selections at Shapeways. It’s name: Sandstone. It is the newly appointed cheapest material to print in, beating out Strong, White, and Flexible by a third of the price. It only costs one dollar to print a cubic centimeter of this stuff.

The truly amazing thing, as alluded to in the title, is that the material can be printed in full color. That’s right. Full color. Some of you might be thinking ‘So?’ or ‘Hmph. About time’. Others who know a bit more about the mechanics of 3D printing are amazed and overjoyed at this next step in the right direction. The logistics and technical difficulties in pulling off full color printing amaze me, and the new ways things can be printed rocks my world.

FULL COLOR. My mind is blown, Shapeways. Well played.

Go here to learn more about this newest material and it’s capabilities.

–Lace

I’ve been doing more and more modeling in the ‘just for fun’ category, and many more of these have made it to Shapeways and are now printable. Six of the most recent items are shown below with their most base level prices, determined by the material used for production. Plastic = cheaper, metal = more expensive (yet cooler).  No matter what material you purchase, I still receive the same markup (typically a dollar or so, with my models). Click the name or the image to view the model at the IZL shop at Shapeways, and as always, you can click the link just above to get more info about the IZL Shapeways Shop and how it works.

Alchemic Necklace

This work was made using a reference image from one of my favorite animated series’, Full Metal Alchemist. It’s the necklace that one of the key characters use to ‘fuel’ the kind of stylistic alchemy that she prefers. Bonus points if you can tell me the name of the character.

This model is of sufficient size to be worn on a chain around the neck. ($5.00 USD)

Click here to see the rest of the new models

Here is a short video I made a few weeks ago that grew out of a tutorial I was following to make ‘plants’ grow. I also made use of Blender’s built in Python camera changing script for the first time. There are some problems with the frame switching between shots that I need to figure out, but I felt this render was good enough to post.

It took four or five days to render this out, as I used some badly implemented concepts to make the ground look better which took up far more processing power than If I had just modeled the ground to begin with. Final product is close to what I was aiming for anyway.

–Lace

Here he is, my first official full size character model; BahtHead. Well, watch the gif below, anyway, and you’ll see his current state in the last frame. I’ve been making renders along the way (didn’t start on the head until it was nearly done) so you can see the different additions and occasional subtractions I’ve made to his structure over time.

I know he’s not finished, there are plenty of places that I’ll still tweak. Next up, I have to snap on some rubber gloves and start watching some hardcore rigging tutorials. This should be interesting.

The head is, to my knowledge, printable, but I haven’t done a test order yet. The body won’t be printable for a while still.

Comments and suggestions are more than welcome! I need the input! You there! I’m imagining that look on your face. You have something to say, to suggest, don’t you? Spit it out!

–Lace

In spite of holidays looming and exams taking up much of my time, I’ve been working on some models instead of visiting with family like I should be. Not only that, but I’ve also been modeling with 3D printing in mind, so many of them are now at Shapeways! For more info on 3D prints, click on the new IZL Model Shop link up above.

Most of these models were done in a single sitting, though one or two are still works in progress. All were done in 2.49b. There is a model or two that I’ve done in the new 2.5, but… suffice it to say, they aren’t quite ready for daylight yet.

On a personal note, my favorite is the robot head.

–Lace