This weekend I attended the first NYC Blender conference at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn. The two day conference brought together some of the best Blender artists on the East Coast. For those that don’t know, Blender is free open source 3D animation program that can be used for everything from modeling and animating, to creating interactive 3D applications. Blender is available on all the major operating systems and is similar in scope and depth to other high-end 3D software such as Softimage|XSI, Cinema 4D, 3d Studio Max and Maya. Continue reading “NYC Blender Conference”
Used Macs: eBay to da’ rescue
Since we got back from overseas the kids have been bugging me to get them new computers for their rooms. They still were using an old eMachines PC that I had given them back when they shared a room together. That unit had seen better days and the kids had recently taken to co-opting my desktop for their gaming and homework. I felt that I had to assert myself and put a stop to that practice since it was starting to seriously cut into my World of Warcraft time.
The kids had fallen in love with my MacBook Pro laptop, Winona, over the summer and kept hinting at me to get them Apples. Because they now had separate rooms, they of course wanted separate machines. Since the new iMacs and Macbooks start at about 1100 dollars, I decided that I was going to have to search around and buy them used or refurbished if the kids were gonna get their wish. Continue reading “Used Macs: eBay to da’ rescue”
Halo 3 mania! WTF?
I was out riding my bike yesterday and rode past a Game Stop store on the night that Halo 3 was set to launch. I was out at about 9pm and was amazed at the number of people that were lined up at this little out of the way store. The line as down the block at 9pm. It was a good 3 hours before the game was set to go on sale and people were damn near around the block. There probably wasn’t a single person on the line under 25. Continue reading “Halo 3 mania! WTF?”
The best part about my job!
One of the benefits of teaching at a large urban community college is that I get a chance to help a diverse group of young men and women chart the course of their professional lives. I am blessed to be able to watch them mature and grow as digital professionals. I bring this all up because today was graduation day and a number of my best students graduated today.
Microsoft XNA gaming presentation
Gus Webber of Microsoft came to LaGuardia today to talk about the Microsoft XNA gaming platform. For those that are unaware, XNA is a rapid gaming platform that Microsoft has developed for the PC and Xbox 360 platforms. It encompasses a set of tools and a consistent framework Continue reading “Microsoft XNA gaming presentation”
Star Wars Fan Film: Scripting of Dark Vengeance
The script is shaping up pretty well. The dialog will be pretty sparse because I want this to be a heavily action and visual effects driven production. I want just enough dialog to keep the characters believable and push the story along. Also since many of the people I am probably will be looking at to play the Sith villain won’t be professional actors, it will be best to keep the spoken emotional ranges limited to the basics. The easy thing about the script is that for the most
I will start shooting as soon as I finish the script and nail down the final casting of actors and crew. The script is my main source of concern since all the special effect in the world won’t help a story if the plot really sucks. I have been using an excellent piece of open source software called Celtx to finish the script and coordinate the production. Celtx combines the best features of commercial software packages like Final Draft and Movie Magic Screenwriter into a single interface. The best part about the software is that aside from being incredibly powerful and easy to use, it is totally free. And I mean legally free, not file sharing/bit torrent free.
Always buy the Applecare: Round 3
OH YEAH!! They replaced my laptop battery without a fuss. I took my battery to the Apple reseller in downtown Oslo and they swapped it out for no charge. I was worried that being overseas would complicate things with the Applecare. Not so. Man, I love it when things come together.
Always buy the Applecare: Round 2
You might remember my earlier post about the importance of getting the extended Applecare, so let me just say again that I won’t buy a Apple portable without it. Ever. I bring this up because after working on my mother-in-law’s computer all day to recover info from her crashed hard drive, I pick up Winona and notice that she is feeling a little odd. I wanted to relax and kick back so i decided to jump on my laptop to watch a episode of the Daily Show that I downloaded from Bit… err, I mean iTunes. I flip Winona over and see that her battery case is bulging out from her usually slim figure. It looked Continue reading “Always buy the Applecare: Round 2”
I am not Tech Support!!!
The saying “when it rains it pours” is unfortunately true. I had been having a really bad week as far as technology goes. My in-law’s computer experienced a hard drive failure, my brother-in-law’s computer needed some upgrades, and Continue reading “I am not Tech Support!!!”
Always buy the Applecare!!
Okay….with the family away for a week at horseback riding camp I finally was gonna get a few days to myself to work on my laptop computer undisturbed. I had all my training manuals and tutorials laid out so that I could begin Continue reading “Always buy the Applecare!!”