Andree Sandkötter

portfolio relaunched

2010-11-01T13:37:00.003+01:00

I've spent the last weeks working on my portfolio and my website. I was tired of not being able to show my work on mobiles (thanks for not working together, apple and adobe. well done.), not being able to quickly upload and present fresh content, not being - well, let's just say I was tired of it and so it had to go.

The new website is still far from finished, but it is online. check it out under

www.sandkoetter.org

...piep...

2010-03-25T13:37:00.001+01:00

long time no blog, so here's a quick update:

started working, having a wonderful and busy time right now, looking forward to the near and far future.

In between I had a little time to work on my baby as well, but it's still far from finished.

Rollin'

2010-02-12T13:37:00.001+01:00

addicted to it

2010-01-25T01:45:00.004+01:00

I am really enjoying modeling and mapping recently - that's good (because this way I am experiencing a lot of new stuff that helps me along the way) and bad (because it is stealing my entire spare time and makes me hang around inside all freakin day). Anyway, looks like I will be working with a couple of great guys soon (part of whom I already know from the academy) and I am really curious about how it's going to be!

Good luck with the werkschouw, third year! Now is when hard work pays out ;)

The MS Constantin

2010-01-17T13:37:00.003+01:00

Seeing that my nephew is turning one tomorrow, I have spent the last ten days or so modeling and mapping this little garden scene. There has always been something about water in our family (my dad used to be a sailor, all of his sons were very competitive swimmers and so on and so forth), so I figured why not make him a nice toy boat for the pool. Of course I couldn't resist pushing it further a notch, so it kind of grew while it was being made.

I hope you like it! Criticism and commentary are always welcome.

Ju-87 almost done

2009-12-20T13:37:00.000+01:00

Been working on this model for seven days now. This Junkers Ju-87 B2 consists of a good 12.000 polygons, a couple of 4096 bump and diffuse maps and is "fully functional", the propeller can turn, the pitch elevator and the side rudders work, The wheels turn and the cabin doors slide open on their tracks. I left out some decals for obvious reasons (speaking of political correctness, plus this is really more about the model than about what the real plane was about). I will still have to work on the rear machine gun and its cover as well as on some nice details (like an antenna and a secondary diffuse).

But for now I am calling it a day while outside the world is turning white and christmassy :)

Have a good one, everyone!

true...

2009-12-09T12:57:00.004+01:00

Sorry guys, I just couldn't resist. Didn't make this myself (though I am a huuuge fan of the comic sans), but found it pretty hilarious anyway.

a green light presentation

2009-12-07T13:37:00.002+01:00

Click to watch in FULLSCREEN

gettin my sh*t together

2009-11-20T13:27:00.000+01:00

I've been busy with the Unwrap UVW Modifier these last couple of days. Here's a look at what I've got so far (bump and reflection map only):

I am still working on the actual texture as well as a lot of details. More coming soon!

status: active

2009-11-11T13:37:00.002+01:00

Been working on my homepage all day (www.sandkoetter.org of course), rerendered a couple of models and built this voodoo mask - needless to say this is still far from done. Tomorrow I am planning on working on some of the CGI shots I need to create for Da Impact.
Nothing left to do but wish you all a good night and sweet dreams.

sand

In the middle of a major shitstorm...

2009-10-18T21:54:00.002+02:00

...there's nothing like a good nightshift when it comes to easing one's mind. Don't want to get too specific here, but right now I have got a couple of issues I have to deal with and in times like these you have to get away from it all now and again.

Well, never mind - here's a quick idea of what I am working on. The geometry is almost done, just a couple of details I'll have to add and then it's mapping time!

But that's enough for now, I am calling it a day.

finally...

2009-10-15T13:37:00.000+02:00

...I found some time to work on the music clip again - after having paid a couple of bureaus a visit in the morning I started working on accessories and lighting, modeled a mirror and a little cupboard and experimented with different wall maps.

This is still far from the final look, but I am getting there.

Wait and see...

no early weekend

2009-10-13T13:37:00.001+02:00

After having had a fine day at the Aki I relaxed a bit and then got on to work on the music clip I am working on.

A rough scenario/storyboard is done so far and I so felt like working with Max again I just built a part of the stage from scratch today. Tried to work with the Wacom Intuos2 tablet from the department but it seems the drivers have a serious hickup, touching the tablet with the pen miraculously makes the screen scroll up and down like a frog in a blender, no matter what the preferences are set to.

On the other hand - maybe I'm just clumsy.

Lots to do!

2009-10-10T13:37:00.001+02:00

Alrighty now, I am working on a Music Video for Da Impact, a couple of flashmovies for the Artez and some little semi-private projects.

Today I have done a preview for the music clip (the first 30 seconds plus a scenario) and I prepared quite some files for the Artez-clips.

More coming up soon.

Another first day at the Aki

2009-10-05T17:13:00.001+02:00

Big fun, actually. Other than that I will try to blog on a more frequent level than over the past few weeks.

so much to do.

the beat goes on...

2009-09-25T18:34:00.002+02:00

Yesterday I have attended the Picnic 2009 in Amsterdam, and I was pretty much blown away by the people, the many cool installations and attractions, the tasty food and the incredibly overprized drinks.
Anyway, I am going to go there again (hopefully) to see what's hot (sorry paris) and what's not.

Right now I am working on my homepage again, trying to fill the paperwork section with some stuff.

portfolio website relaunched

2009-09-11T04:06:00.003+02:00

I've been working on that portfolio book for so long now, I was really happy to do something different for a change.

Like working on my portfolio website, for instance.

Well anyway, I tried to pull a couple of tricks and I think it worked out pretty well. criticism is always welcome, so go - check it out! and if you feel like it let me know what you think :)

http://www.sandkoetter.org

shadowrob...

2009-08-28T13:37:00.002+02:00

Still working on that portfolio - right now I am going through about 3 pages of layout, text and freshly rendered pictures a day.

later more...

portfolio olé

2009-08-12T01:36:00.004+02:00

I am re-rendering material for a portfolio. Yet to come: Authoring a Demo-DVD. So much stuff to do, and again - time is pressing.

Haircut. Photographs. Layout and Material. Presentation. It's like werkschouw all over again :)

a faint memory...

2009-08-05T00:20:00.001+02:00

...is all I have left of my good old VW Golf. This is pretty much what it looked like, I might still change the rims (I've had smaller ones) and add a detail or two. Enough car modeling for now, I think the next thing I am going to put up with are characters again.

you'll see.

1969 Dodge Charger Phase B

2009-07-27T13:37:00.004+02:00

k, i think i have got the rough form, now for the details. lots of little stuff has still to be modeled while the materials needs some attention as well. and the lighting. whatever, i am getting closer to what i wanted each day.

nough for now, g'night!

still researching...

2009-07-23T13:37:00.001+02:00

...max2010. successfully finished my scriptie, which means I am officially done studying (not for life, of course) and now all I need is a job. got one?

until then, here's what I am working on right now.

max'10 so rules!

2009-07-18T20:13:00.003+02:00

since i am not getting any information about what the hack is happening with my scriptie i am more or less clueless what to do now.

well, that is usually when i start modeling. here's clyde:

Bread is Dead

2009-07-14T13:37:00.000+02:00

Well, having reached the final exam doesn't mean I'll stop blogging. I made my first 3DS max 2010 animation for the FX blog, what I have figured out so far:

- there are quite some new features (mostly useful ones)

- mental ray has become a tad nicer to work with but I am getting the impression it takes a bit longer now, too

- the material libraries have grown (which is nice)

- the preview (the window you work in) supports hardwareshading now, so the lighting systems are way easier to adjust

- I kinda think the hair and fur modifier is looking way better now, but maybe that's just me

- Autodesk Mudbox suxx ass without a tablet

- I'll figure out other new stuff soon

here we go...

2009-07-02T13:37:00.001+02:00

nowhere to run

2009-06-26T13:37:00.000+02:00

...almost there, I've got my animation on DVD (several versions, several copies), my exhibition planned out (though I cannot really do that much since I accidently crippled myself - a billion trillion thanks and kisses to Steffi for helping me out like that! Wouldn't know what to do without you) and worked on the DVD-cover/business card/flyer and so on and so forth.

Wasted quite some time because of this injury, I'm really upset with myself for being so clumsy now and again.

website launched

2009-06-19T13:37:00.000+02:00

I wouldn't have thought I could make it, especially not that quickly, but I started building my homepage today at about 3 p.m. and I already have results that I consider satisfactory for the exam. It's far from perfect, but once it has loaded entirely it works like a charm.
I didn't use any templates or tutorials, though I did get a little help getting started from Nils.
Website contains stills and a showreel. I took advantage of the aggragator I designed for Johan in the 2nd year and used a couple of graphics and controls from back then - not without having edited them first, of course.

Hope you guys like it, I had quite some fun and a good amount of pain in my arm creating it.

Oh, I should probably mention: I cut my right arm quite badly yesterday when I was preparing wood in the university, spent a couple of hours in the hospital, got sutured and waited for the feeling to reenter my arm due to a good shot of anesthesia I've gotten earlier. Well, at least my tetanus immunization has been refreshed while we were at it.

Anyway, visit www.Sandkoetter.org to check out my onlineportfolio and if you feel like it, let me know what you think of it.

I'll give my arm a break now (not breaking it I hope) and hope it's gonna be better tomorrow.

Nightynight,
Sand

programs...

2009-06-15T13:38:00.002+02:00

...rule these days. Waking up with Max, AE after breakfast, then Audacity, later Max again. In between PS, Super, Encore and Flash. I'm starting to wonder what version my cerials are, when the next neighbourpatch is coming out and what layer to find my pizza in.

Funny times.

Uh, by the way played around with FFDs in a spare minute, kinda fun, too.

bad webdesign...

2009-06-15T13:37:00.002+02:00

check out the text

Freakin' cramps...

2009-06-14T13:37:00.002+02:00

...in my right hand today. I tried to improve the storyboard (Copix ole!), animated and rendered another scene and sketched down a rough concept of my exhibition.

This is not it, it's just one shot from the storyboard. Doesn't look very exciting, but these things really help along the process. The actual storyboard consists of app. 75 shots, some of them were sketched in about ten seconds, others took five or six tries (cause while sketching you get better ideas, or it just looks crappy).

The animation is (after having edited and cut) a teeny tiny bit shorter than expected and is now at about fourteen minutes. If there's really time for it, I'd like to work on end titles - on the other hand, not too many people were involved in the making of the project (pretty much 2½) and in order to make the credits worthwhile I must either play them extremely slowly or I gotta be really repetitive.

Long as that's my biggest problem right now, I figure things ain't that bad.

Almost there...

2009-06-13T13:37:00.002+02:00

I think I have almost everything together now (except for one feature which I will have to wait for until June 19th). Sound effects done, music aaaalmost done, video done, now comes some documentary work and that should be it.
While going through the renders I produced over the last months I found one or two nice shots I will probably have printed for my exhibition.

Tomorrow I'll get busy with one or two shots I ain't completely satisfied with, apart from that I am still adding frames and layers, cutting out half seconds of boredom and so on and so forth.

Enough for now. Later more...

SFX

2009-06-12T13:37:00.003+02:00

Dedicated this day to stereo. Went through countless effect libraries, searched the internet, CDs, DVDs and anything I could think of and in the end I was surprised how well sound effects of such different origins can work so well together. Needed quite some adjustments for them to have the same levels, but after clicking through lordknowshowmany menus I figured out what works for me.

far beyond driven

2009-06-12T13:37:00.000+02:00

man, it's been 15 years since it has been released and at least 10 since I last listened to that album - probably one of the best things metal has ever brought forth. Extremely aggressive, raw, dirty, yet full of wonderful musical elements.
So if you ever feel like you wanna tear down buildings barehandedly so I can only recommend this.

I wasn't even looking for it, but when looking for sound effects and tunes I just kinda got stuck listening to "Shedding my skin", "5 minutes alone" and the marvelous "I'm broken".

Anyway, when I am through with the CD I'll go back to sfx-ing my project.
btw, I'll probably only be able to record the voiceover a week before the exam. Hopefully everythings gonna work fine, until then I can only polish what I have got so far. But that's not a bad thing now, is it?

Faces...

2009-06-09T13:37:00.001+02:00

...are so much fun! Boxmodelled and animated this head yesterday night. Therefore I used a pretty complicated manner of modelling: I animated vertex-by-vertex; this means I had to adjust more or less any facial polygon, completely without the use of controllers, FFDs or whatnot.

Came up with four expressions so far, but more or less anything is possible now.

I'll work on it, but now it's back to the good ol' final exam for me! Oh, btw: You can go through different expressions by clicking the play button again.

Time...

2009-06-07T13:37:00.002+02:00

...is going down the drain while I am sitting, waiting, staring at the numbers on my screen. So much I could achieve right now, still I'll have to wait. Wait and monitor the core-temperatures. Make sure the there's no flaw in the animation.

Anyway, assembled video files today, put a computerized voiceover under it, completed two scenes by trying to avoid too much work for just a tiny effect, made a veryveryveryveryvery first beta DVD from it (just to check if the timecode and everythings is good and most of all in order to see it on a somewhat bigger screen) and was kinda pleased.

adding details...

2009-06-06T13:37:00.000+02:00

...and getting away from what I've been doing for quite some time now. Apart from that I felt like having a half-decent saturday once in a while, so I kicked back with da missus and some fine wine, watched a movie or two and worked on this spotlight (in between).

So that's not too much output today, but a little recreational phase in between can't do no harm.

CGI montage day...

2009-06-05T13:37:00.004+02:00

... so I extracted clips, looked through DVDs, created soundsamples, played around with the effects and remained calm throughout the day.

This means I am done with all the rough stuff; still to do:

- more voiceover

- finalize last chapter

- sound effects

- rest of the soundtrack

Got everything on paper I need written down, I even prepared a voiceover demo so it's going to be easier to do the actual voiceovers.

man I need some sleep.

1oo...

2009-06-04T13:37:00.003+02:00

...posts today. In order to get away a little from all that exam-frenzy I decided to spend a good hour on building this 100 house. If only I had more time for stuff like that (and for a private life and all that other stuff), I would work on the mapping and the textures and oh so much other stuff. But this gotta be good 'nough for now, there's still a life after the exam - supposibly.

What started as an experiment...

2009-06-03T13:37:00.001+02:00

...now turns out to be quite a cool approach. I've found a digital solution for my voiceovers. It might sound a little strange here and there, but I kinda like the atmosphere it delivers. If you've ever played "Portal", I am sure you know what I mean (GLaDOS, I love you!).

apart from that I have written the audio documentary in its final form and completed missing shots, so I might just say I achieved a hell of a lot today :)

Better late...

2009-06-02T13:37:00.002+02:00

...than never I managed to change the glossiness and reflection of the car paint material. I am afraid there won't be any time left to redo the first shot involving a car, but at least this one has the right look to it.

Apart from that I polished my bumpers and rims further - or rather I unpolished them, now they don't look brandnew anymore, but have a rough and used touch to them.

Wrote a couple of lines, phoned a couple of guys, everything's going according to my tight schedule.

Let's hope luck lasts.

A late birthday gift....

2009-06-01T13:37:00.000+02:00

...or rather an early x-mas gift? Today my Autodesk package was delivered. Quite some boxes in there (The Autodesk Creative Suite 2010 if you will so):

- 3ds Max 2010 (yummiyummi)
- Cleaner XL 1.5 (encoding data handling)
- Combustion 2008 (kinda like Adobe AE for 3D environments)
- Motion Builder 2009 (virtual cinematography & 3D animation inkl. ragdolls, bipeds...)
- Mudbox 2009 (digital sculpting and texture painting, kinda like ZBrush)

Since I don't wanna risk losing my data I got so far for my final exam, I'll keep these babies in their boxes nad on July 2nd (probably in the evening or eventually on July 3rd) I'll format my hard drive, install a fresh OS, the latest drivers for my system and then - finally - these fine ladies.

so looking forward to that. To all that.

Night...

2009-05-31T13:37:00.000+02:00

... is the Mother of Counsel, so they say. I finished rendering (!) the first half of my final chapter (mostly outdoor scenes) and I already prepared the final shots up to about 80%. Now I can finish the narrator's text, so I'll work on that tomorrow. Still a sh*tload of work up ahead, but I'll do my best.

nightynight
sand

Oh Brother...

2009-05-30T13:37:00.001+02:00

...where art thou? Having had a day filled with good results and quick successes, I am going to spend the rest of the day as my own little pentecost before hitting it again tomorrow. Guess I'll have all my material together by the end of next week, then comes a week of tough audiowork and after that I'll work on the documentation.

Wishing everybody an awesome weekend
sand

Let's see...

2009-05-29T13:37:00.000+02:00

...it's 4:41 am now, I just finished rendering the second scene of my final chapter and put the clips (25 frames each) together. Quite cool, guess it's all working out after all. Started writing the exact text. Sketched storyboard for final chapter. Drank two liters of grapefruit juice. Created additional internal room. fixed mapping problem with bump map. Experimented with materials. Grew tired, rendered some more, decided to blog and

GO

TO

BED!

Morgen ist auch noch ein Tag.

The Evolution...

2009-05-28T13:37:00.004+02:00

of a scene. What started as a room with 4 windows first turned out to be a House with a fence and all and later even as a hectare of desertlike landscape. I think I kinda achieved what this was all about: Setting a scene for my final chapter in order to demonstrate all of the skills shown so far.I am going to spend one more day (though my schedule is tight) on detailwork and probably on camera and lighting issues. Another thing I am busy with is reducing the rendertime due to my calendar - which is tricky, since every "rendertime enhancement" comes with a good lack of quality. According to observers (two of them so far) that is nothing that catches one's eye. Still, I see it and it bothers me. Wish I had a renderfarm :)

Keep pushing...

2009-05-27T13:37:00.000+02:00

... don't stop! First I built a room because I had a rough idea of my final scene, now that it's getting clearer (did quite an extreme storyboard, took me like 25 seconds before going to sleep yesterday but that was good enough to remind me of it today) I built an entire House including functional windows and doors and also it is already mostly mapped.

Got a pretty good idea of the shots I wanna make, I hope they turn out as great as I imagine them.

This is an early version of the house, the room is already built in it and I also added first (important) details.

Still...

2009-05-26T13:37:00.000+02:00

...working on the final scene's setup. Got the room together so far, now I am adding details (in order to make it look less sterile) and working on the materials. Light system works out quite okay so far, I am just afraid I am going to have to keep this one short due to the render times. I'll see what I can do...

Today...

2009-05-25T01:37:00.002+02:00

...I started preparing the final scene. Still very basic and I am gonna have to spent two or three days on the stage, but I think it's gonna be worth it.

yours truly

So far, so good...

2009-05-24T13:37:00.001+02:00

...I've got quite some material together and about to start with the final chapter - I've really been looking forward to that. The "files" you see in the screenshot are only movie-bits without sound and stills, so altogether it's gonna be quite some more. Plus, I didn't render in HD (since that would have prosponed my exam until like 2014).

Anyway, gotta get some rest.

Finally...

2009-05-23T13:37:00.006+02:00

...Autodesk 3D Studio Max was released in Europe. I ordered the "3DS Max Students Super Pack" today. That includes not only 3DS Max Design 2010, it also contains Mudbox 2009, Combustion, Cleaner and Motionbuilder so I think I should be properly prepared for the next years. Still, since it's "just" a students' version I need to make a few bucks within the next months in order to be able to crossgrade it to the commercial version - which on the other hand is gonna save me a couple of thousand euros, so I figure it's a good deal.

The new features seem to make modeling WAY more effective, the preview windows almost look like lowqualityrenders now, the lighting system has improved remarkably, I could go on and on and on...

Anyway, looking forward to that (though I am not going to be able to use it properly for my exam) I spent the rest of the day mainly waiting in front of the screen (rendered glas and chrome today which is kinda intensive with all the reflections and refractions and so on and so forth), checking out Ruthe, Flix, and Nichtlustig for the latest strips and had quite a laugh.

Oh, and for all those nerds'n'geeks out there, check out www.scene.org for astonishing coder demos (I'm afraid they are exclusivly for Windows-PCs). I couldn't believe what these guys make from just a couple of bits and bytes.
When you're looking through the files, check out "Farb-Rausch" and "ASD" (coder groups). Though the things you'll see are gonna be pretty cheesy now and then, these guys have achieved astonishing results here I think.

reflections and refractions...

2009-05-22T13:37:00.000+02:00

...made my day. Here's a variated still from my mapping chapter. Let's just say I've been moving between air and diamonds today ;)

Getting away...

2009-05-21T13:37:00.001+02:00

...from the things I've been doing the last couple of days. Now I am busy with animation again, trying to get the mapping-chapter done quickly so I can focus on the grande finale.

I might just use this rubik's cube for a part of it.

wishin y'all a good night

sand

Round round get around...

2009-05-20T13:37:00.000+02:00

I get around! Been detailing my baby all day, added tons of subtle changes (including the Volkswagen Logo, new ventilation slots from scratch, geometry enhancement, locks and more, I can't even tell anymore).

Here's a virtual showcase. Enjoy!

Over and over and over and over and over...

2009-05-19T13:37:00.018+02:00

...again. Done. This is fun!

Well, first of all I deleted the old doors in order to replace them with - let's say - proper ones. All the doors now have exactly 0,75 cm to the rest of the bodywork. Then I added the two big ones Johan asked for. After that I made wipers. Wiperblades. License plates (not in this picture). Stuff like that.

Uh, and I placed little VW caps on the rims. Changed the color again but as you can see in this post I kinda tend to do that.

Then I added the engine hood and back door. Not to forget the exhaust pipe I 've been wanting to do for quite some time. Bi-colored tail lights.

Again, a daylight system has been added. Edited materials (glasses, paintwork) and surroundings.

By demons...

2009-05-18T13:37:00.004+02:00

...be driven.

After having talked to Johan today I decided to go a step further with my beloved 1967 Volkswagen T1. The color is still a matter of taste (and will probably change later on), but so far I have

- built doors (more work than you'd think, yet you still can't open them. But it's sufficient for my project)

- added hinges

- added ventilation slots (still some missing, liked it better this way)

- finetuned geometry (9.925 polys so far, 372.809 with a triple mesh smooth)

- redid the entire material library (learned quite a lot about that these past days)

- rebuilt the rims and tires from scratch since the old ones kinda sucked (didn't have the original look)

- replaced lighting system by daylight simulation

One day she'll be mine!

...once you push the right buttons...

2009-05-17T13:37:00.001+02:00

...everything else will fall into place.

Well, I spent the day looking for those buttons - if anyone should find or at least see them, I'd be glad if you'd let me know.
These ones didn't work so far.

P.S.: If this picture should bear any resemblance to Pixar's "Lifted" - it was pure intention.

dof...

2009-05-16T13:37:00.002+02:00

is short for "Depth of Field". Did a couple of experiments today, right now I am watching "Jurassic Park" and - well, to be quite honest - start my weekend which officially ends tomorrow morning when I wake up.

Preparing Bells and Whistles...

2009-05-15T13:37:00.001+02:00

...and whatever comes to mind when it comes to the exam. Today I scanned and polished my storyboard (at least the scenes that I already rendered and edited), finished another scene (the results of which contained a flaw I absolutely didn't understand: The scene looked like the cameraman had a hickup. Took me about 90 minutes to find out why and it's gonna take me approximately 90 years to understand why this function was implemented in the first place -.-) and I finished the book my fellow students presented me with.

"Today was a good day." - Ice Cube in "It was a Good Day" ("The Predator", 1992)

Gathering Footage...

2009-05-14T13:37:00.001+02:00

...for one of my scenes turned out to be one of the less funny things to do, while checking the footage on the other hand was quite alright. Some of the movies I watched (most of them just partially, but one or two of them just couldn't get out of the DVD-Player):

Labyrinth
Pixar Shorts Collection
Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope
Terminator 2 - Judgment Day
The Abyss
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
The Matrix
Tron
Wall-E

Some of the movies I still need to check (so if any of you guys should have it, I'd be glad to take a look at it):

Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within
Flight of the Navigator
Jurassic Park
Toy Story

If I should think of any more that I've been missing out on so far, I'll add them to the list.

cheers
Andree

Chapter conluded...

2009-05-13T13:37:00.000+02:00

... time to move on. I changed quite some of my previous footage according to the results of my last tutors' appointment. Furthermore polished some scenes, changed the timing here and there (which I will have to change all over again once the sound is done, but this makes it more pleasant to watch) and - most importantly - I finished my box modeling scene and what you see right here is the result in a temporary mapping.

I am really eager to see this one in its final materials!

What a day...

2009-05-12T13:37:00.005+02:00

I got so much stuff done, I would never have thought so!
Apart from a huge leap forward on behalf of the storyboard (bought some Copix today - they so rule - and sketched down about 20 stills today) I came up with a solid solution for my box modeling scene (The material is not wireframe, it is actually a gradient pattern on a polygonbased UVW map), I redid one entire scene after having had a good talk with the tutors and tried to get one or two people on board.

Furthermore I reorganized my AE files (so much better workflow again, these little enhancements really help my put up with all of this), made a fullsize backup (complete footage now at about 2 gigs) phoned Ani in order to compliment her on her birthday and took a refreshening quick bike trip through E'de.

I think I'll kick back now - if I should decide otherwise, I'll post more stuff later on.

Almost done...

2009-05-09T13:37:00.000+02:00

with the modeling part. Today I worked out a neat way to present bitmap extrusions. Apart from box modeling I am through with this whole chapter which makes it so much easier for me to go on (since I am going to use a lot of the models I have already created in the next chapters).
I'll spend the rest of the afternoon getting everything I've got so far together and preparing the monday presentation. After that I'll call it a day, tomorrow I'll probably do just nothing - I'll be in Cologne until monday morning.

These are the bitmaps I extruded.

Chill out...

2009-05-08T13:37:00.001+02:00

...dude.

I did this lava lamp in order to demonstrate different types of materials:

Photographic textures: Floor, wood & cork
Mental Ray materials: Brushed aluminum, different glasses, wax, cable, white plastic

I spent a lot of focus on the glas materials and their refractions, hence the strong magnifying glass effect.

Another thing that needed a lot of attention was the wax, since it was supposed to have an own illumination without just looking like floating lightbulbs. I tried to find a good compromise between opacity and the settings of the MR lume map. Still might need a few adjustments, I wish I could bring tiny air bubbles in and get the shadow to turn purple where it hit the wax.

Might work on that if there's still time. For now, that's good enough.

Two more scenes...

2009-05-06T13:37:00.000+02:00

...in the sack! After having finished "modeling through basic geometry" I went on to "Loft Extrusions" and "Revolutions" (not in the guerilla sense, but in the sense of revolving shapes) today. Learned some nice stuff about camerawork and the use of paths. This pace is really good for my project though I gotta admit I am running short of relaxing moments and good nights sleeps.
But screw that, I am really growing pretty fond of what I've got so far and I don't think there are any major problems ahead of me - well, except for the voiceovers.

I'll deal with that when it comes to it.

"It's been a haaard day's night...

2009-05-05T13:37:00.001+02:00

...and I've been working like a dog..."

tik tak...

2009-05-04T13:37:00.001+02:00

...timeline. Today I finetuned my timeline and started rendering. The reflections take up quite some resources and the difference might be subtle, but I think it's worth it.

Spent the rest of the day paying bills, cleaning rooms, missing lady, watching classics and eating choco crossies.

My exam won't result in a stonehard sixpack, that's for sure :)

I'm on a road to nowhere...

2009-05-03T13:37:00.000+02:00

...just kidding. Actually I am getting along quite well. Learned a lot about Spline and Loft Extrusions and animating them / within them.

Anyway, more results (as usual) tomorrow!

Finally...

2009-05-02T13:37:00.001+02:00

I've gotten some dirt on my hands again today - my lady's v-belt ceased to be so I had a chance to stuck my hands in that dirty old VW Golf's engine compartment.

It only took about 10 minutes (which is still quite much), but it reminded of me earlier days, when me and my friends worked on our cars in garages and barns, trying to figure everything out ourselves, getting dirty, getting hurt, but still feeling quite confident those cars wouldn't burn us to death in the next traffic jam.

Anyway, after that I finished my second geometry scene, worked on a timeline concept (the thermometer you see) and removed flaws from my material.

so far so good so let's grab a cold one!

cheers!

back on track...

2009-05-01T13:37:00.001+02:00

...with my animation. Woke up today and my head was full of ideas. Man, I love May! After a coffee or two and a decent breakfast on this "Tag der Arbeit" I made notices and did some storyboard- related work, then modeled these tracks and now I am about to go to town while the computer has some work to do.

Uh, and my lovely Mrs. got us two tickets to Therapy? for my upcoming birthday (may 10th). This is so awesome, I used to see them back when I was 16 or 17 with a couple of friends. When they toured Germany we tried to catch at least 2 or 3 gigs they played.
While looking for a good concert to go to, I found out something else which I found quite interesting: Faith No More is back as well oO Crazy year, 2009. Just when you think that nowadays music is only created to piss one off, the greatest bands ever have a reunion and decide to go on tour in germany. real shame they don't tour together though ^^

"Polish 'em"...

2009-04-30T13:37:00.000+02:00

...was todays motto - I tried to get all the technical mistakes out of my footage and edited it to one whole. Next up: more scenes, storyboard, sound.

After having looked forward to a nice koninginnendag which has turned out to be a desaster (watch the news) I decided to play a little LotRO tonight :)

Harakiri!

Scene...

2009-04-29T13:37:00.006+02:00

done. Quite some work and even more time passed in order to complete the latest scenes.
Overall I'm about half way through with my storyboard and from that I have about 3m 09s rendered already.

One scene in between is missing, but since that is a mere compilation of footage and all that is missing for that IS the footage, that shouldn't bother me too much.

When I was done with everything I have watched about 10 episodes of Scrubs, listended through like five albums (Kings of Leon, Natalie Merchant, Die Moldau...), ate a pack of M&Ms (yellow) and drank two packs of grapefruit juice.

Good Input, good output. Hope it's like that.

Here's my experiment for tonight

Another day...

2009-04-28T13:37:00.000+02:00

of waiting for the computer to be done. At least that gave me time to upload pictures to the LONDON GALLERY and to clean the appartment a bit.

The scene I was preparing is almost done (about 200 frames missing) and I think I'll be able to assemble it tomorrow.

I am quite confident.

Reorganizing...

2009-04-27T13:37:00.000+02:00

...my workflow. Today I got rid of junk files, made a backup, reassambled all my data so far in one Video-project, prepared the next scene and tonight I'll render it so I can get on to the second modeling scene.
London, the aki festival and one or two other occasions threw me a little off track, but I am pretty sure I can still work it out.
The stuff I've got so far looks great (though, as always, far from perfect), the scenes work into each other just like I imagined and the timing is satisfactory so far as well.
Hopefully I will not be the only one who sees it like that :)

nightynight,
sand

Zombies...

2009-04-26T13:37:00.000+02:00

...in Enschede City - these pictures just came in.
As it seems last Tuesday a couple of undead roamed the streets of Enschede City, passing out propaganda fliers to pedestrians.
More pictures and video footage coming soon!

Other than that I rendered all day long and did quite some work on my storyboard.

"Schaffe schaffe...

2009-04-25T13:37:00.000+02:00

...Häusle baue", as the Germans use to say. In order to demonstrate different modeling techniques, I built some examples. One of these (the simplest one as you can guess) is this toy house. This way I can go from tiny to huge, illustrating the necessity and the possibilities of dimensions when you're working in scale.

I am still working on the storyboard as well, actually all I have to do is put my ideas to paper :)

attaboy...

Back in business...

2009-04-22T13:37:00.002+02:00

...and back from London. Man, I had a blast. Met some very nice and a very rude englishman, watched Chelsea-Arsenal right among about 250 enthusiastic Chelsea fans, checked out museums and exhibitions, discovered a tiny bit of London, danced in the Sugar Hut, ate at the Pizza Hut, had a hard time sleeping on those torture-style beds, tried to steal the crown jewels, had a nightmare about dinosaurs feasting on the A+CD department, drank some Guiness, was wondering about the electricity bill of Picadilly Circus, took a riksha ride, chilled in St. James Park, chilled in Green Park, chilled in Hyde Park, missed Speakers Corner, bought a ring, bought a bag, touched some bones, took 218 photographs, spent way too much money, stole a towel, ate the worst fish in the history of time, threw away the worst fish in the history of time, had refreshing mini-naps in the tube, ate a great steak in Soho, gazed at mindstaggering architecture and monuments, spent quite some time like a harmonica in buses and planes, had a wonderful time with my fellow students and when I was back I took part in a zombie flashmob in Enschede just in order to drive over to the aki and join the aki festival before listening to a great live jam session @ Cafe Berlijn in the evening...

Well, today I kinda fell back into reality and polished the scenes I've got so far for the appointments at the university tomorrow. Plus I decided to spend the money I've earned at the academy in order to get myself the brandnew edition of my favorite utility.

This was fun and so will the nice, cold beer be which is waiting in the fridge for me to open it.

London calling

2009-04-16T13:37:00.001+02:00

"Der Mai ist gekommen...

2009-04-15T13:37:00.007+02:00

...die Bäume fallen um."

Alright, it's still like two weeks until may but this isn't the original saying anyway, so I guess I'll get away with it.

Experimented with surfaces, distortions, bump maps, light parameters and materials in common.
No photographic textures were used, only different sorts of maps.

Need sleep. Two days to London :)

Today I played...

2009-04-14T13:37:00.000+02:00

with caustics and depth of field. As you can see in the picture, the results were... very confusing in the beginning. After having tried to figure out about fiftysomething control sliders and checkboxes I managed to get a grip on that technique. Gotta work on it a little more.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-11T13:37:00.000+02:00

I'll spend my weekend with the family, so happy easter everybody!

Improved my castle today, worked on the storyboard.

My home is my...

2009-04-10T13:37:00.000+02:00

...castle. Based upon the demo animation I prepared earlier, I built a more complex model in order to show up the possibilities of simple compiling.
It's more like a construction site right now, but the home improvement team PROMISED to return as soon as they're awake :)

Today was...

2009-04-09T13:37:00.005+02:00

..."Frühjahrsputz" - that's actually "spring-cleaning" according to my dictionary.

Anyway, me and my misses cleaned the appartment today, I installed a couple of iron bands on the wall in order to have control over my storyboard (pictures coming up as soon as the storyboard is done...) and I cleaned my computer.

Now I know the last point sounds trivial, for sure, but let me assure you this: It's a lot harder and more disgusting than it sounds. I didn't just clean the case, but the radiators, the CPU, my beloved graphics card, I took all the drives and cards out, q-tipped contacts and drive slots, opened my keyboard (boy, there was some gross stuff in there), then I rewired everything (actually lost two big fat wires I don't really need - who needs a floppydrive anyway?) and voila!

It runs like hell. All temperatures at about 12°C lower (the dust worked like a blanket I suppose), the stupid sound my CPU-fan made above 65°C vanished and the whole thing looks better, too!

Other than that, I am exhausted. And that's exactly why I am going to take the rest of the day off.

Quid sit futurum cras, fuge quaerere.
(What is going to be tommorow, do not ask.)
Horaz

EDIT: Now it's 9.15 pm - so much for taking the rest of the day off -.- instead I decided to create a multilingual Project description which you can see in the upper left corner of this blog.

I'll hit the shower, then the fridge - nightynight, Sand

I'll call it digital archaeology...

2009-04-08T13:37:00.002+02:00

...because I have no idea what else to say to what I've seen. I am getting busy with the history of CGI and - what a wonderful surprise - it has practically the same birthyear as I do, 1977! Actually more like 1976, but the breakthrough took about a year.

Anyway, I've done a LOT today, but I won't tell about it right here. I'd rather keep some stuff to me (and the tutors eventually), but anyway... here's my

PARTICIPANT PIC

nightynight,
sand

Happiness is a cup of tea...

2009-04-07T13:37:00.001+02:00

...well and obviously frowning is a cup of coffee. That's how my day started and then it went straight uphill from there on. I developed a couple of nice, film-related ideas which I can implement into my project, drank another (actually more like smiling) coffee but didn't bother taking a picture of it and started working on the actual storyboard (though I already have one or two scenes almost in their target state) and worked on one of the very first introduction scenes (more PS and AE than 3D-stuff here, but good to keep up with the software anyway...).

Well, that's been my day. Not so bad, actually quite productive. And long, and that's why I'll be off to bed now (it's almost 1:30 a.m., don't you ever believe what my post-time tells you).

g'night!

"monday monday...

2009-04-06T01:37:00.000+02:00

...it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Monday morning, Monday morning couldn't guarantee
That Monday evening you would still be here with me."

Little short trips...

2009-04-05T13:37:00.000+02:00

...to Gronau almost always end up in an agonizing hangovers. This time however there was no pain at all. Another thing there wasn't was sleep, and so I spent all day trying to get some rest - which didn't work - and I even tried working a little bit, but that was just a pure waste of time.

I'm just gonna leave you with an impression and then it's off to bed for me.

I've been...

2009-04-04T13:37:00.000+02:00

...busy dealing with a lot of things these days. But I'll try and do better and keep this blog actual on a daily basis.

Well, been modeling all day but I won't show you the whole thing, just a detail.

I wanna rock!

sand < off to Nils' and Stefan's Party :)

progress...

2009-04-01T13:37:00.003+02:00

...is something nice. Today I've tried modeling after reference material. At first it was a little awkward (the car I've built kinda looked like it's had a whole bunch of accidents in the recent past) but after a while results improved and for one day's work I am really satisfied.

Ladies and Gentlemen, feast your eyes on my brandnew 1967 Volkswagen T1 :)

It's not done (as one can see), soon as I find some time I'll add further Details and make this baby come true.

busy...

2009-03-31T13:37:00.005+02:00

playing around with motion capturing. There are a whole lot of free mocap-files on the internet. I'm sure I can do something good with that...
PARTICIPANTS PIC

Legal Disclaimer

2009-03-30T13:37:00.003+02:00

Hey everybody,

I talked to Johan and Ina today about using "Legal Disclaimers" (Haftungsausschluß) on the blogs. The reason for that is pretty simple; we work with a lot of copyrighted material (e.g. sound samples, entire songs, graphics, etc.) and although our status as a student grants us creative freedom, publishing these things on the internet is still some kind of risk.

Now a friend of mine just got sued (the second time around I think) and had to pay a sh*tload of money because he used something copyright-protected on his private homepage without contacting GEMA or whoever is responsible for giving away these rights.

The text is an internationally used standardized disclaimer concerning the responsibility of the blog's author (us) when it comes to

- the consistency of information on the blog
- copyright issues
- the content of posted links
- overall it might take away one or two risks

It is supposed to be an integral part of the homepage (thus no "disclaimer-button" and then you get there), it is supposed to be on display all the time.

I've created and flashed a couple of disclaimers for everybody to use. If you wanna create one on your own, feel free to do so - the disclaimer text can easily be found on the internet.

otherwise, here are the swf-files. Just embed them in your blog layout (main bar at the bottom, I've made them 660x75) and you should be fine. You can either embed the files I already uploaded via FTP or you can download them and - well upload them yourself again if you feel like it. therefore just rightklick the link and choose "save as..." or "speichern unter..." or whatever.

MAINBAR White on Gray

MAINBAR White on Black

MAINBAR Black on White

uh, and one extra if you'd rather place it in the sidebar.

SIDEBAR White on Gray

Other than that I enjoy LMAO watching motivational posters. A few months ago this internethype kicked in and - though a lot of the stuff is just plain stupid - I really enjoy one or another. good inspiration as well :)

have a blast,

andree

p.s.: for more motivational posters, google "motivational posters". errr...

every day is like sunday

2009-03-29T13:37:00.000+02:00

Polished off one or two mini animations to present to my tutors tomorrow as well as a couple of stills, took a nice, long walk and now I am about to finish this weekend with the last cold Beck's in the house.

life could be worse.

...

2009-03-28T13:37:00.002+01:00

I enhanced a couple of graphics today and finished an animation I started with yesterday, other than that I listened to "Electric Ladyland", watched "The Big Lebowski", cleaned the appartment a bit and relaxed as good as I could.

The Dude abides...

geometry...

2009-03-27T13:37:00.002+01:00

...is what this day was all about - I worked on further scenes (which might actually make it into the final animation), kept it simple, learned a bit and rendered a lot. Sorry 'bout that shabby graphic in the post, I just don't wanna give everything away way before deadline.

PARTICIPANTS PIC

mit herzblut dabei...

2009-03-26T13:37:00.003+01:00

Been working on pretty much everything today, from a preview render of my tv-out (don't worry if you don't get this, even I hardly do) over some lighting and camera experimenting and looking up tutorials and helpfiles on the internet to trying to figure out how to bend the rules of rendering and so on and so forth.

aaanyway, in between I had a very lovely dinner and overall a good day.

next stop: concept

comfortable

2009-03-25T13:37:00.008+01:00

I got a lot done today, like e.g. creating this comfortable armchair. Now I need a counterpart for the LCD-display and I am set for the first chapter!

composition

...later that night...

I made a little testrun - sure, the timing and camera's positions need a little fine tuning and it's a low-quality render, still I got a lot of useful results here (especially with the keyframe-curves):

...5 minutes after that...

I just realized how much this reminds me of a) The Matrix (which was kinda what I was going for) and b) the wonderful animated short film "Fifty Percent Grey" by Ruairi Robinson. I like the idea of taking well-known scenarios/environments and adjust them to my needs. Kinda like a Déjà-vu, only without brickwalls suddenly appearing and agents shooting bullets at whatever moves...

enough for now, have a good night :)

sand

creating a frame

2009-03-24T13:37:00.002+01:00

...for the first chapter of my project. I am planning to explain one or two things about the history of computer animation (starting with Tron™, ending with Up!™) all kinda framed in a Matrix™-like situation. Hard to explain, but I pretty much know what I mean and when I get it done, you will, too :)

here's a detail shot of one box:

it's a start...

2009-03-23T13:37:00.001+01:00

...and I mean that literally. I am going to use this model for my introduction. It's no original TELEFUNKEN set, but I took a lot of elements from actual TVs from the old days.

The textures will be replaced soon, I just sent everything to my photo-buddy. Here we go!

PARTICIPANTS PIC

machinehead

2009-03-22T13:37:00.001+01:00

I've spent all day home, reorganizing and doing non-aki-related stuff. needed to get my head straight.

tomorrow's a new day

Junkie XL

2009-03-21T13:37:00.006+01:00

We voluntarily took Aneta's assignment for the Junkie_XL workshop and turned it into a battleblog. I tried working with different shadertypes and combining various visual styles on these dancing spotlights.
The model is a variation of an older model which I originally intended to animate for another assignment. But since I never did I figured why not use it here...

Uh, oh, and of course here's another of my infamous

PARTICIPANTS PICs

hrngrml...

2009-03-20T13:37:00.000+01:00

...I tried really hard to have the animation online by now, but rendering is taking so much time I guess it'll have to air tomorrow.
So far I've rendered 741 of app. 960 frames.

So sorry, for the time being I'll just toss you guys another

PARTICIPANTS PIC

After having discovered new ways of rendering, I am now gathering experience with special material like this chromy one :)