Naples Florida Webmaster - Personal Diary

As some of you may know by now, this is the time of year when I start to travel a bit more and have some fun. This year will (hopefully) be no exception.

Siggraph & the DMVC 2007

I would consider Siggraph 2007 to be the flood of motion capture companies and the evolution of Immersive Media. Don't get me wrong...there was plenty more to see. But for me (and the way our business is going), these were the things that stood out most for me. Motion capture must of been great business last year because I must have seen 7 or more booths dedicated to some hot/flexible women strutting their stuff - all while getting recorded. No, this isn't some porno, these women are getting their movements recorded into data on the computer. From there, they take those motions and put them into any 3D character they want. For example, how did Pixar make those lifelike animations in The Polar Express or the Incredibles? That's right - motion capture. Oh, and don't forget their ultra-talented groups of artists too.

Immersive media seemed to be the next glaring technology on my list. But, I must admit I'm a little biased toward it since I've been "immersed" (no pun intended) in it over the last year. This technology allows a user to see any footage (whether it's real or 3D) surrounding their peripheral vision. So, instead of seeing a movie that you only see in front of your face, you get to see the movie from all angles - making you feel like you're inside of the movie. It's pretty cool stuff & we're hoping that it's the next technological jump in architectural visualization. What was cool this year, though, was addition of movable object. So, instead of just seeing a movie from all angles, imagine being able to move those objects. If you ever saw "Minority Report", you know what I mean. For those who don't, imagine being inside of a bedroom made of 3D objects (all photo-realitic of course). Now imagine being able to pick a chair, change it's color, or move it around. Well, you can now do that...sort of. Still in it's infancy, but it has quite a bit of potential.

The DMVC (Design Modeling & Visualization Conference) this year was better than ever. The DMVC could be summed up as the "Siggraph" of Architectural Visualization. Hosted by VisMasters & CG Architect, this two-day conference showcases the best in architectural visualizations (3D renderings, animations, immersive 3D, computer art, etc.) - in technology, conceptual, and awards. This year was special to me though - I got to speak in front of over 200 people...let me restate - my professional peers last week. It was quiet exciting and (I'm hoping) informative to most. The speech was about converting AutoCAD linework into 3ds Max. We made a tutorial on this (look at week #22) and have some downloadable files if you're interested in learning more. Also, my business partner, Brian Smith, got to speak about Professional V-Ray Production made Simple. And yes, he really knows what he's talking about when it comes to VRay (the mostly-used professional rendering software for architectural visualizations). There's a lot more that happened, but check out the pictures for that. If you have any questions, be sure to comment back.



San Diego Zoo

Four hours through hills and perfectly temperatured weather, we saw 3/4 of the park. It's quiet an experience & I highly recommend seeing it. Notable animals here were the Hippos, rarest deers on earth, the Cavendish Dik Dik (what a name!), and the pandas. I'd say more, but these pictures should do all the talking for me.



The Greatest Video Game Moment of My Life

First of all, big (sorry, HUGE) thanks go out out to my buddy at Raven Systems - Matt Polack. He's the brains behind this really cool laser light show system that was used for the Electronic Theater at Siggraph. That combined with killer 3D made for an excellent show. And, of course the greatest video game moment of my life. Picture this...playing the old-school game of asteroids. Boring right? Yea, if you were doing it at your home alone. No, I played this in front of thousands of people (all tech-heads too - very cool). The screen - way bigger than a conventional big-screen movie theater. And, it was all projected via lasers on this screen. Yea, that's right...playing asteroids in front of thousands of "oohs" and "aaahs" and "watch out!!!". HUGE screen, killer sound (blips and beeps in 'surround sound' ;) and talking with my buddy Matt over the loudspeaker for everyone to hear. Yes ladies and gents - this was way cooler than Playstation 3, Wii & XBox 360 combined! Now if they could only have this at a Dave & Busters, I'd be the 1st in line to play it again. If you need something more visual, check out these pictures. It's not me playing, but it will give you an idea of what I did.