SD wrote: \"For this shoot the lens was Canon EF24-70/2.8 L USM Lens. Unfortunately there is no dist chart or record of focal lengths used." :(

Here is an initial test : VIDCLIP

Obviously its not refined yet but a good indicator that it should solve ok.

well had my 33 birth day this week so pretty bussy shedule

but got hold of some new vst for my music

a metal vst and a ambient

you can all ways follow me on youtube

http://www.youtube.com/user/leif1978dk

Hey guys,

Thought I'd just let you know what I'm doing currently.

I'm in the process of solving the 'filmback' of a camera I use.
However it's attached to a Brevis 35 and causes some changes to what the actual sensor of the camera behind all of that is. Instead of the sensor/filmback being the little CCD/CMOS chip inside the camera, it is now the ground glass within the Brevis 35. Although we know the ground glass is the same size as a 36mm sensor in a Canon 5d for example, due to the way this system works you need to zoom into it from your camcorder. Thus the 36mm will have shrunken down, to what, I don't know just yet but I'm determined to find out.
If I can get a reasonable result, I shall put a tutorial up on youtube or perhaps a site that you can enter some data into.

This matters to me as I like using this setup for getting nice shallow depth of field shots but it can be a bit of a nightmare when it comes to tracking. I've had successful results in the past without entering in any known data but I feel now I should get a bit more precise with it.

I'll be using Will Earl's method, and will credit him of course !
earlyworm.co.nz/2008/filmbacks-part-iii/

I'm also trying to get my first matchmoving show reel finished, in desperation for this week !

90% of the shots are tracked, and I'm just running them through maya to add some basic geometry, as this is just a pure matchmoving reel, no nice lighting or animation to be expected.

Which scenes you feel strongest about for the teaser?

1080p HD footage for a collabunlimited Identity advertisment. FOOTAGE IS HERE

Register @ www.collabunlimited.com to get access or click the top Right corner "signup" link.

Your mission: Track a CG logo for collabunlimited into the alley during the clips final camera position.

Use our font or go nuts and create something cool like a transformers morph with mechanical part forming the letters

The challenges:

-No Lens info

-Rolling shutter

-No survey shots

-Defocusing

There is a 12k res HDR dome we can upload if there is interest in using it for IBL.

Let us know if you have any issues

 Our new sculptor is making some headway. Here is the latest WIP (no teeth in this one yet) >

I was gonna try to use shadowbox in ZB4 to block this out and hoping to get something amazing to happen..but alas, ZB4 still requires you to have some good model skills...! So, after a few tries and still not yet getting my head around the shadows required to form anything beyond a disc or some deranged, mangled mesh...I went back to Modo and blocked out with primitives. How cool! ;p

I think I maybe figured out how to use the bend tool in Modo pretty good. Check that track out. ..did one tread cloned it and then bent it into shape aroud the guide wheels...need to make a tut for this while I still remember how bend tool does it's stuff...to be honest, not ituitive to me, a big circle, a handle and a small center circle. In my usual style, I ignore the manual and start going at the controls till it does something that looks right.

So here is where I have the legs.

Need to work out the proportions of the parts in this leg. The ref looks more compact and cooler. Still, happy for my first FULL model  attempt in years. :)

A couple photos of a few dinosaurs I sculpted years ago for an italian museum of science.

3D World magazine has put together a massive tutorial on the steps needed to build a short film from scratch to final piece (working to create a Tron Light Cycle scene).

Here's the first paragraph of the tutorial that caught my eye:

"How many times have you had a wonderful idea for a short film? But how often do those ideas become reality? Not that often, unfortunately. Work gets in the way and excuses abound - but one of the main reasons is that the journey from idea through concept to completion looks like such a daunting exercise.

In fact, it is not; it's actually a series of smaller steps. Think of it as a ladder, each rung leading you closer to your goal."

It then goes on to explain the following steps with additional video tutorials and scene files on the CD.

Modelling

Storyboards and Animatics

Animation

Rendering

Matte Painting

Compositing

There's lots of info. for those interested.

It's definitely got my wheels turning about creating a Tron Light Jet short.

Sorry for not being around a lot, the last couple of month.

But have been talking whit, fellow composers.

On  a ideer so i am launching, a new blog.

A unified site for my work, and my best composer friends.

It is still a alpha but have great plans.

http://studioworld.wordpress.com/

I've been sharing our HD clips with Victor Wolansky at FXPhd.com for his advanced tracking classes.Now you can get them even if you dont take the classes...be patient if the download is slower...it's a big package.

FILE IS HERE

You need to sign up as a member for access HERE or @ Top Right Hand Corner of the mainpage ^

TRACKING CHALLENGES:

- No lens info

- Rolling shutter

- Blur

- Pillar occluding trackers

Let me know if you have issues. sd 202MB .zip

Factory HD tracking video- 896 1080P Frames. ------

Hey guys,

Just thought I'd post this up here:

http://www.vimeo.com/21564836

Or if there is a problem with the link:
http://www.vimeo.com/robodea

After a gentle nudge from SD it's time to start posting my thoughts and progress as I change my workflow to include ZBrush in the initial concept and blocking out stage of modeling.

I finally upgraded to ZB4 and the new hard surface sculpting brushes definitely make exploring different shapes quick and easy. I'd recommend sculpting and experimenting on numerous polyspheres until you become comfortable with each brush.

Up until now I've used Maya alone for hard surface modeling. I adore it's tools and UI, but it can be very time consuming to build and rebuild shapes until you're happy with the direction a project is going.

I'm blocking out the Patrol Mecha for VFX2 and will be posting images here. I think it'll be interesting to see things progress to final model and hopefully a few people will follow along (and comment too!).

Found this over at ZBrushCentral and thought it was interesting.

It covers some of the steps involved in creating the creature for James Vs Reality. Apparently with little to no money.

The vimeo link within the thread leads to video of the rig used and some animation tests.

The author also gives a few tips on working between different apps and their work flow.

http://www.zbrushcentral.com/showthread.php?t=97862&page=1&pp=15

Cool.

EDIT: Making of video link here.

http://vimeo.com/17104159

Well enough goofing off, its time to start getting busy again.  Another summer is about done and its time for learning something new again.  The new version of ZBRUSH has been released with the GOZ enhancement that allows for a cool connection to modo.  It litterally will let you go back and forth between the two apps.  Im looking forward to testing this out. I just wish the regestration process was so freakin difficult. 

Anyway, I better get started.