A blended life

As BlenderNation reported yesterday, a new milestone in Blender history has been reached, with the release of Blender 2.5, with plenty of changes here and there, following a rewrite of its interface system and improvements to present features. Now, if I understand correctly, this Alpha 0 release is the first in a series that will lead up to a stable Blender 2.6 sometime next year, so 2.5 may not be ready for production use until then.

It’s amazing, really. Looking at the screenshots and everything that’s changed, there is little in Blender that resembles what I saw in version 1.8, all the way back in 2000. To be fair, there was a graphics card compatibility issue that lasted until version 2.22, I think, so my first reaction to Blender’s interface was something along the lines of “What the hell is this?!”. The buttons would appear and disappear whenever the mouse cursor was moved over or away from them, and there was some distortion here and there, with random background colors thrown in for good measure. Most I managed to do was add a Donut (or Torus) object, after which I quickly got rid of that weird application and went on to try a series of freeware ones in my attempt to become a master of animation. What high hopes I had!

But that was nearly ten years ago and I feel old a long time ago, a whole year before I found Blender’s then-homepage, Blender.nl, or became a part of its small community (all thanks to the defunct InsideCG, which happened to have a Blender forum). At that point, Blender was already at version 2.12, a community of diverse individuals and a Community Journal, or CJ –usually written or co-written by BlenderNation’s Bart Veldhuizen, who hosted the Blender Knowledge Base at that time–, that I would always look forward to, just to see a selection of only the best works created with that little freeware program that was mostly overlooked by the world of animation.

I recall joining a feature-length movie project at the beginning of the following year (2002). It was going to be called Countdown to Extinction (CTE, for short), and was helmed by now-photographer James Hayden, aided by young animator Jacob Kafka and a whole bunch of blenderheads from around the world, who have now moved on to bigger, better things. I joined in as a texture artist. To be honest, I couldn’t make textures to save my life, but I wanted to be part of something and I was hoping to learn along the way.

Unfortunately, the project came at what was then considered a bad time in Blender’s history. The developer company, Not a Number, tried as best it could to stay afloat, even making commercial releases of Blender –to which some objected–, but ultimately declared itself bankrupt. So, most of the movie crew jumped ship and only a few of us still had an interest. As not even the first scene was completed, the project and its homepage were put to rest, as Blender’s future seemed uncertain and there was an air of negativity around the community sites.

Then, things took a turn for the better when the surviving Blender community managed to raise a hundred thousand euros, to give to the Not a Number investment companies –which shared the rights to Blender– and allow for the release of Blender’s source under an open source license, thanks to an agreement conceived by NaN founder Ton Roosendaal, who now leads the Blender Foundation (and Blender’s development). There’s a list of all those who donated, somewhere on Blender’s homepage. Sadly, I’m not in it, as I had little money and could only encourage others to donate (not to mention that I was a kid and my parents wouldn’t have let me).

Anyway, the rest is history in the making. Things did turn out for the better, with all the development, the constant increase in Blender users and it becoming more popular as an application suitable for commercial use.

Coming back to the present, I think I’ll wait a while to try this new version. I don’t use Blender as much as I’d like, and the release log says that a few things are missing, many bugs need to be fixed and stability is probably not quite there yet.

In the meantime, I guess I’ll play a bit with Inkscape. The new version. 0.47, was also released on the same day, after more than a year of me waiting development, with some long release notes that I couldn’t bother to read in their entirety and a few pretty screenshots to complement them. I hope this program’s development can pick up the pace, so I won’t ever be forced to use Illustrator or FreeHand other programs, if I decide to do commercial vector work. Inkscape’s interface quickly won me over when I first used it for college more than three years ago, and I’ve already seen it used at some printing places I’ve been to. I want to see that more often.

So, those are the news. Now … if you’ll excuse me, reader(s), Inkscape awaits.

Total Recode

Before my previous post, there was something keeping me busy. Something important, but not particularly exciting, at least until the end result. My homepage has been transformed from this:

To this:

I decided to turn it into a portfolio, based on a final project I did for college (which I took advantage of, because all the concept/planning/design work was practically done!). It was initially there to present my Blender work, but I’ve extended it to include graphic design, photography and animation. I’m finally using my real name in it, too, instead of the old Friday13 nickname I’ve been using for –gasp– almost nine years!

I was never satisfied with the previous design of the site because it was, as someone else said recently, too simple. Very true. While my site is primarily meant to show my work, it doesn’t mean the design has to be something only a mother could love.

I’m a big fan of the color scheme, which I’ve been using since 2004 or so, so I kept it. Now, the layout … ah, the layout. That’s a real mess the difficult part of it. For my college project, I created each and every screen using Inkscape, exported them to images (35 in all!) and put them all in an Impress slideshow (with some clever linking between them), which was finally exported to PDF so it could be viewed everywhere (because there’s little hope for OpenOffice.org to be installed at college).

So, I grabbed a few of those Inkscape files and used them as reference for creating the layout. My first try was a mess because, up until a few days back, I didn’t fully understand the CSS box model, which doesn’t quite work as I expected it to (after much fiddling with Inkscape, desktop publishing programs and things like that). The site looked very different in Firefox and Internet Explorer 7, so I deleted the stylesheet and decided to start from scratch at a later time.

After reading more of the box model, just later in the day, I finally managed to create proper page divisions (yay!) and it finally looked right in both browsers. For some reason, using XHTML is what solved most of the problems (changing the DOCTYPE screwed things up again), so I decided to go with that instead of the HTML 4.01 (strict!) I’d been using since the last design.

As I had the layout done with Inkscape, all I had to do was carefully export parts of it that I would use as buttons: create a rectangle, place it above the button area (I always use guides for designing, so I didn’t need to zoom in or anything), either move it to the bottom of the object stack or make it invisible, and export. All the buttons were done in no time.

I’m a big fan of image compression, especially PNG. If the files can be made any smaller, I won’t hesitate to try a combo of OptiPNG, PNGOUT (through PNGGauntlet) and AdvanceCOMP. Yes, I’m a freak.

The navigation was done by combining both the active/inactive state of each button into one image and having them displaced with CSS. Oh, yes, did I mention the whole thing is controlled by one CSS stylesheet? My past sites have been lame attempts and getting a full CSS design, but this one got it right. Other than the content (the text and images in the main area), anything and everything is defined in one file that I can change at will if I want to screw up alter the design. That’s probably why the stylesheet ended up at almost 6.5kb, whereas the old site’s stylesheet didn’t even make it to 1kb (sad, I know).

The gallery is what I most wanted to update, as I needed to get over the old way of having the images lined up vertically with a description next to each. The old gallery was getting too long, giving the scrollwheel a run for its money. The new gallery consists of just thumbnails, much larger than before, and clicking on them results in a nicely overlaid image with its description right below, thanks to Lokesh Dhakar’s Lightbox JS (yes, the old version). While I normaly think that JavaScript is evil because of all the bad/annoying stuff that can be done with it, I found it necessary in this case. Note that most images have a link to a larger version at the end of the description.

All in all, the design (HTML files, buttons, backgrounds and CSS, without the actual works presented) is weighing in at a nice 88kb, and should load quickly for everyone. What I’m not completely sure is how it looks like on browsers other than Firefox 3 and Internet Explorer 7 (I don’t have version 8), even though I managed to get the site to look pretty much the same on both. So, any input on Opera, Safari, Konqueror and IE8 will be appreciated.

That’s it for the site redesign post. Didn’t know I could write so much crap about that subject!

If you’ve checked the site already you’ll notice that the animation section of it is empty. I put it there, despite having nothing worthy of showing … yet. Hopefully, it’ll motivate me to finish something soon.

Because I’ve removed some of the lesser 3D works from the new gallery, the old site remains available if you wish to see them. I’ve also updated the link button on the sidebar here, so it’s more prominent. Can you find it?

Anyway, I should be sleeping. Check out the page!

When memes attack

It has finally happened. I thought it wouldn’t, but it did: I’ve been tagged for a blog meme. Not once, but twice!

First, I was contacted by dosox regarding his then-latest post, in which he’s posted six random things about himself. Apparently, he doesn’t like photographers, so a couple of my blogger friends’ hopes for befriending him are effectively dashed. Sorry, folks. Perhaps if you put the camera away for a second …

Anyway, as if that wasn’t enough (I was shocked, shocked!), the lovely (on the outside, it now seems!) sensico thought it would be fun to tag me, as well. I told you, reader(s), I can’t catch a break! I’m pretty sure it’s all part of a major conspiracy to destroy me, or the beginning of one. This would’ve made a nice ripped-off-the-headlines episode of The X-Files, had this been on headlines, and had that show not been cancelled … nearly seven years ago. Yikes. Seven years? Already? Sorry, Madonna, but time does not go by so slowly.

Anyway, I’m supposed to say six random things about myself, say who tagged me (done), and tag six other people. I don’t think I know six other people who might be willing to go along with this, but here go my random things.

1. Procrastination is the secret of my success … or lack thereof. But here seems to be the twist: the more I want to do something, the further away from doing it I seem to be. That’s why college work actually gets done,  and things like a Blender animation that’s longer than ten seconds have yet to happen.
2. I don’t think Seinfeld (the person or the show) is funny. I find it rather boring. Believe it or not,  I like Friends much better, to the point where I will sometimes say the lines before the characters do. My siblings look at me funny when I do that.
3. Tomatoes? Can’t stand them. Not by themselves, at least. I will tolerate a tomato slice in my hamburger or club sandwich, and I love ketchup, salsa and things like that, but I just can’t have tomatoes. They’re evil.
4. I’m an atheist. I’ve told my mother about it a couple of times (and the second time she reacted even worse than the first), and she thinks that I have to “work on that”. Well, it’s been working pretty well so far!
5. Mold creeps me out, especially bread mold. This one time, I was making a small stack of really perfect-looking sandwiches. When I was done, I noticed that one side of one of the sandwiches had a tiny bit of green mold on it. I threw them all away and had to make something else. What a waste, you will say, but, even if I had gathered the bravery to cut away the mold and down them all, they probably wouldn’t have lasted long in my stomach.
6. I’m very interested in urban exploration and abandoned places. I’ve bookmarked many sites and blogs about the subject. Unfortunately, there aren’t many urban-exploration-worthy places around here (they’re all so very dull, in appearance and history), and I’m not really the daring type to be sneaking in just to snap a few photos and post them here. Perhaps if I move elsewhere …

Okay, that’s pretty much all I can say without saying too much. Next time someone tags me, I’ll link them to this post, that’s for sure! I think I may have eliminated half of my brain cell count in this post (and I have my two taggers to blame for it).

Anyway, I’m supposed to tag six people. Have they been tagged before? Will they say “oh, no, I can’t”? I can’t be sure, but here they are:

• roentarre (that’s what you get for being a regular commenter!)
• Arcticulates (that’s what you get for giving me such a nice review!)
• Sandie Lee (that’s what you get for making me comment!)
• Shy (that’s what you get for … blogging!)
• PetLvr (that’s what you get for loving pets!)
• polybore (that’s what polybore gets for using 3rd person!)

Those are it. Will any of them follow this meme? You’ll have to check their blogs!

So, that was me, following a blog meme. How do you like the image at the top? Inkscape, of course.

The last Tuesday

This was it. Today was it. The last Tuesday class of the year.

I spent the entire most of the long weekend working on this storyboard I was supposed to do for illustration class. As I mentioned before, it was a nice chance to use my beloved Blender. The resulting storyboard is a nice mix of 3D and 2D. The 2D part was done, as it always is, in Inkscape, which I also used to composite the 3D elements in with the rest. I have to say that this mix is the result of some character recycling. The main 2D character was done early last year, and is practically unchanged. I even used the same reference for the expressions. The 3D character was one that I did a few months ago. I simply got rid of its original head (I beheaded the poor character!) and replaced it with a faceless, logo-shaped head. The logo is that of the company all the illustration work is based on.

After much effort, I managed to get it all done and printed before class began (or, well, before the teacher arrived). Turns out I was the only one today to actually deliver the actual finished work (the storyboard and the postage stamps), along with all past works during this term, all in a nice presentation folder. Hurrah. Also, I managed to create a certain amount of interest in Blender. The guy at the printing place was so interested, I got him to download it and check the manual. A fellow customer asked if he could get a copy of the installer to his USB stick. Some of the people in class also asked what I had used to create the 3D character. The teacher didn’t say anything about the 3D, but only said excellent. I delivered everything, and I delivered it on time. If only I got paid for this!

All throughout the day, I had another certain thing on my mind. As with the last four-month term, I’m nominated for this itty-bitty thing, a certificate they give to the most prominent student for the previous term. That is, for my performance during the May-August period. Now, I don’t like to brag much about stuff like this (grades … meh), but I practically aced all six subjects during that time, earning a GPA of 4. I’m pretty sure that’s the first and only time something like that will happen during my college tenure, and I’ve got the time for it, so I decided to attend the certificate ceremony thingy. Just a while ago I realized, and thanks to a friend who I annoyed a bit about it via text messaging, that it was not today, but tomorrow.

I was so busy with the storyboard, I lost track of the date. So, I was working in a hurry, thinking I could get it all done early and arrive on time for the ceremony. Even if I’m not the one who gets the certificate, I’d still like to see what it’s like to just be there. And, with my grades as high as they’re gonna get, there was a darn good chance of actually getting a fancy certificate and having my picture taken with the big people who run the place. But, again, it’s tomorrow. Didn’t make it on time, anyway. At least it got me to finish my work, and now there’s nothing getting in the way of my going there, unlike last time. Each time I get the invitation call, I’m like “Yeah … I’ll see if I can go. Thanks”. Can’t make any promises!

This week is pretty much devoid of deadlines. No class on Thursday, nothing on Friday, nothing on Saturday. Just that international encounter of something-or-other that. Last Saturday, I learned that just paying for admittance gives you all the hours you earn from going there (we’re supposed to do 60 hours of things like these). But, for all that money, and like I said before, I sure as heck won’t miss it. I hope I’m feeling good enough to eat the food there, if it’s any good.

Tomorrow is that oh-so-enjoyable one-hour marketing class. I haven’t heard much of the final team assignment. Haven’t done much either (I really, really should, right about now). I only need six points to pass with a minimum grade so, even if it turns out terrible, I’ll pass and be done with it.

Anyway, this post is long enough to keep me happy that I wrote something and to keep you busy reading or copy/pasting whatever you do here. Just wanted to show the storyboard! Bye.