Captains log....Stardate: Who Gives a Shit

I'm feeling a bit under the weather at the moment so excuse my somewhat piss take title for this article....plus couldn't think of another one I liked better lol. I've got a couple of bits and pieces of news / clarification I want to pass on to do with Mudboxhub and the hundreds of hours of vids I've put out for Mudbox.

If my tone seems abrupt in this post it's down to me feeling like 7 kinds of shit right now, plus for some stuff there is no easy way to say it.

1st Up Mudbox Hub:

From some point next week Mudboxhub will be changing hands outside of my control. I'm handing it over to someone else to run and maintain as I simply don't have the time any more to spend on it. Autodesk were given 1st refusal on it and wanted only the videos (which I want to keep control of....but more of why I do later), as I was about to close it, a friend asked to take it over who has a fair old bit of experience in running 3D forums...in fact he runs one of the oldest 3D forums on the internet. Whereas up till now Autodesk have always had the ability to contact me should a user for example post something from a beta in public that wasn't supposed to be posted and ask for it to be removed, that's going to be a bit harder as the person taking it over isn't on their speed dial I think lol. Although my 1st priority was keeping the hub open if at all possible for people as long as it was under terms I agreed with. It will remain a separate forum and won't be swallowed up into any other. MudboxHub.com will be taken over by Cris Robson (no relation) from 3D-Palace.com and a team of mods. There are big plans for it... I should also point out I have not 'sold it' no money has changed hands as MudboxHub isn't 'Wayne Robson' but the user base and as such I wouldn't have felt right selling it. Even though it's worth a bit of dosh for its domain alone and I am flat broke right now lol.

About those videos.....

Just a bit of clarification really as it seems some people think I was either joking or just talking things up when I said the last batch of videos were my final freebies for Mudbox (and probably other applications as well)...I meant it. Just tonight I was asked by a good mate in 3D "Oh but your planning on doing them again thought at some point though aren't you right?". The short answer is no. It's time for others to do what I've done for Mudbox and time for me to move to one side and make a bit of room for them. Hopefully these people don't take the next year and a half just talking about it. It would be nice if some of the many people I trained started putting out things of their own as well. This does not mean I'm switching to another app, simply that I'm sick to death of being limited to the models I do as 90% of the time they'll end up either on a DVD, in an article or a bloody time-lapse or recreated live at an event or on sight teaching gig. So it'll be nice to open the floodgates a bit and tackle some far longer model times and some far more complex pieces in time. The more you teach, the less time you have for your own models and ideas. As I hit 40 yrs old in may I thought the time was right.

Plus I am also sick to death of certain people constantly backbiting... Unlike someof then I'm not a 20 something with too much testosterone. I'm a grown man with a family and funnily enough my family are far more important to me than the opinions of the user base of any application. So I'm refusing to let time with my family be eaten away by that... all be it partly my own fault for being a pig headed old bastard.

Apart from this there are a number of things outside of 3D both good and bad taking ip a lot of my time. So those have also had to be taken into consideration. But the overwhelming feeling that when you become known for a application its almost like a marriage. You get tied to it for better or for worse unless your very careful (or very lucky). So even looking at a rival application can provoke the wrath of the user base as I know from personal experience. Now as a freelance artist I don't have the luxury these days of discounting any app from my pipeline. Although I've had to for some time because the moment you get used to a new way or working it is unfair to teach people the 'old way' you used. But I still use Mudbox, certainly there will be times when I'll do entire sculpts in the future in Zbrush or another sculpting app simply to show potential clients that I can use both apps equally as well. That's not an artistic decision, it's a financial one in that being able to demonstrate equal skills in either application makes me more marketable. But yes given the choice I'd still use Mudbox every time as since about 2008 its been the application that's right for me. (I also used it when it 1st came out for a few years as well).

So to outline there's no ulterior motive to this, no one has fell out with anyone else or anything like that. I simply need to simplify my life and take it in the direction I (for once) want it to go. That's direction just isn't conducive to being tied to MudboxHub or doing a shed load of free videos.

As long as FXPHD want me to do courses I'll do them as my sole output for video tutorials outside of live events. If and when the time comes when they decide they don't need any more chances are that'll be it.

The Kill Switch:

Some of you know about this already when I've mentioned it in the past, but as I know some of you go nuts if you don't know something, and if I dont it'll only mean more bloody emails I'll outline what it is. I have always kept a very tight reign on my videos for a variety of reason.

Firstly as I don't want them ending up on some sites that are basically just places to stick a shit load of adverts. Bottom line: if I put a video out for free and am not making a penny out of it, I don't see why I should let others make anything out of them either.

I've always had on both MudboxHub and on DashDotSlash.net what I called a 'kill switch' that allowed me to remove any or all videos should I feel that they either were no longer relevant or simply portrayed my quality of work in a light that was in fact costing me work. It's as simple as that. nothing dramatic.

What inspired it was times when you come across a video by an artist from years back and realise that it bears no resemblance to how they work or the quality of their work now. A month is a long time for a artist...years are even longer. I never want it so videos recorded in 2004 turn up in 2030 for example lol. So if you're a person who records your own free tutorials, then I suggest you may want to implement the same thing. A video you love today may make you want to crawl into a small hole in a few years time lol.

So there you go , a very wordy blog that's hopefully sorted stuff out. The hub will be no longer under my control, the free Mudbox videos cow has dried up and hopefully you all understand my reasons to some degree.

I would also ask that for the love of all that's holey please stop sending me emails of Mudbox question that are A) covered in the help files you probably didn't even search through B) on Google in a simple search or C) coz' you can't be arsed to wait for Autodesk to reply to an email this very nano second.

This may sound mean but I don't have time to spend typing out complex and often lengthy answers to questions. Every time I do that I'm either not making money while I'm answering the email or not spending the time with the kids. I am not some sort of extended tech support for Mudbox users. Autodesk has a well stocked and well funded tech support department and they reply as speedily as they can. This does sounds nasty and the tone no doubt does as well. But I can't afford to spend my life answering emails as if I did I'd starve and so would my family. If I'm at a live event teaching by all means its then fair game to ask as many questions as you like.

So yes I am serious about making some major changes to my life as you can see. I'm probably the 1st person who is known as a tutor who is purposely sabotaging their own career lol. But it has to be done and there is no painless way to do it. But people always love stuff for nothing so I expect you all to have forgotten about it in a week or two ;)

Stolen Camera Gear List

Some of you will have remembered that when in Holland I got my camera bag stolen outside the railways station in Almere's Music district. Well I've finally managed to round up the whole list and provided serial numbers where I can. So keep your eye open for this stuff as none of it was insured. Oh and if you do catch the thieving bastards who stole it..... pass on a few swift hard kicks from me.

A Hama camera bag containing:

Canon Remote
Sigma AF 30mm 1.4 EX DC lens (serial: 2105569)
58mm ND Fader filter

Sankor Anamorphic lens + custom made red lens and body clamps

3 x LP4 canon batteries for Canon 550D
Four 8GB class 6 memory cards (various makes)

Canon EOS 550D
Serial is one of these numbers I got from its original box I still have.....(not sure one which is the serial)
4463B009[AA] / 210732228383 / 216674036646

Numerous cables
Blue Old style canon EOS camera strap (very unusual!).
White gorilla pod tripod thingy

The Death of Mudbox Hub

Made a decision this morning, a one I've been putting off for over a year. I've not been a big person who visits forums for about 2 years now. So I am giving someone the chance to take over mudboxhub.com as I simply don't have the time or inclination to run it anymore. To be blunt it makes no difference to me if it survives or not although I would be a little sad to see the forum go and vanish into internet oblivion as it not only gets a lot of hits still and ranks high in Google but was the 1st post Autodesk buyout forum dedicated to Mudbox. (It was created simply as the Mudbox community asked time and time again for a dedicated forum once again....never as a ego trip because as my wife would tell you my ego can be big enough without any help from a forum *joke*)

But before I simply killed it and switched it off I thought I would give the Mudbox community a chance to keep it going if they wish, but either way it won't be me running it. What I am not interested in is it being absorbed into another forum or site as that negates the whole idea of an independent and dedicated forum.

So if anyone does want to take over completely the Mudbox Hub forum ASAP then let me know. Now anyone who is interested should move fast as I am not dicking around on this and don't want to waste any time on it. I simply do not have the time or inclination to run that place anymore. It had a lot of firsts that I'm a bit proud of....for example it was only the 2nd 3D place online to open a subscription streaming service, the 1st plug-ins for Mudbox were made available there including MudWalker which has since spawned a plethora of clones. After the massive video tutorial dump I did a month or so back I said back then that there was a very good chance it'd be the last big dump of tutorials on Mudbox ....maybe for good or for a very considerable time. I stand by that.

I feel it's time for others to do a lot of tutorials for Mudbox for free. I've done my share and about 600 other peoples share as well over the years lol. In my time in 3D I've released 13 DVD's and hundreds upon hundreds of hours of free videos and feel to be blunt that I have done more than enough for now. I could keep on going and putting a shed load of videos out but right now there is little point or even motivation for me to.

What worries me most is that now I am seen as a lecturer who happens to be an artist and freelancer...when reality I am a freelance artist who just happens to teach now and again to try and help people starting out. I'm in the process of changing my life a bit and simplifying things. While I've always worked long hours, these days there is less inclination for the majority of those hours to be for videos and emails bailing others out for free. At the age of 40 I don't feel like I want to have yet another thing to absorb time out of my life that I could be spending either with my wife and kids or actual paid work.

As I mentined earlier I have been putting off this decision for the last year and a half. Its a decision there is no going back from, and I do warn anyone I am looking at some either taking it over within days .... or it will be reduced to a simple splash page and a few videos. It makes no difference to me either way.

The deadline is Sunday 10th July. I should also point out this is NOT the domain but running the site I am talking about. The domian is worth too much to simple give away.

FXPHD, End User Event, My Camera Stolen and other stuff

OK I can finally announce that I've been asked by FXPHD to give a term of lessons this year for them. The details can be found here: LINK : under MOD 301: Advanced Enviroment Modelling

I will say this is not just Mudbox and will use at least one other app and is not aimed at beginners. It covers the creation of the entire interior of Durham cathedral so it can be matched to a Chroma shot. Durham is unique in some ways because:

• 1. You're not allowed to take photos of video inside so reference collection was a big problem. (One with a patent Wayne solution as usual)
• 2. It has very few repeating elements in the cathedral interior...raging from subtle differences to total changes.
• 3. as its to match a chroma shot the result must be photoreal

So it's fair to say this is something a bit different for me to cover.,...there will be absolutely no orcs, monsters, creepy weird thingies... or usual stuff you'd associate with the things I may be known for doing. As it is a interior of a working religious building it wouldn't be very polite to smother it in monsters.

I'm just back from Holland where I lectured on my short 'Of Gods & Men pt1' at the end user event in Utrecht and then had some one on one training in Mudbox to give someone yesterday. The lectures were both full rooms and went well. The social side of EUE was rather good as well this year. I met many old friends and a few new ones.

I also on the day travelling there managed to get my camera bag with my 550D, sigma 30mm 1.4 lens, 14mm prime and Sankor anamorphic setup stolen at Almere train station. So if you are offered this cheap in Holland there's a damn good chance its mine. It wasn't insured.... and chances of getting it back will probably be zero so as such any work on Of Gods & Men Pt 2 will have to wait until I can afford a few one. That may be a while.

I got so sick of the sight of OGAM by the time I declared pt 1 done that I right now feel like I never want to see the dam thing ever again. It really was project insanity in many ways as the whole thing was not just a step but a massive bounding leap outside my comfort zone. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to have done something crawling with nasty monsters with a night /blue colour grade. but where is the fun in doing that? Although there is both a horror film and a thriller film I have had in my head for ages I would like to make at some point.

I grew to hate the fact that OGAM started taking on a life of its own which added no end of pressure to the situation. So much so that I made a decision that if/ when I do either pt 2 or anything else I will not say a word to anyone outside my family until it is done.

But bottom line is it was made on a budget of £25 and 95% totally on my own.

[EDIT]Ok sorry guys but I'm simply not happy enough with the results to put my name to them, so I've locked down the video and removed the link. What I didn't like is the hype that started all on its own, this is something I certainly didn;t want. But either way simply too many things went wrong in too short a time to put out the quality I could have. Those of you that saw it in the 24 hours that it was up and live hopefully realise how many barriers it broke new ground in. (3.36 billion polygons worth of skeltons without instances on a single machine is pretty revolutionary I think its safe to say) who knows....maybe one day I'll remake it and finish it in a way I'm happy with. To everyone else, sorry but its my name that stuck on this and the buck stops with me no matter what went wrong behind the scenes. Although I remain happy with the shots that were 100% CGI with no plates that no one spotted. ;) [/EDIT]

Everything that could go wrong did..... could list all the things but I doubt anyone would believe all that shit could go wrong in a single 2 month period.

For me the greatest things to come out of it were the apps, tech, plugins and scripts I wrote either to help with it...or that are nearly ready now but weren't while making it. They aren't things I have any plans on selling at any point as to be truthful until I get my life back on track I need every edge over my competitors I can get.

Making it took me to the edge of sanity and back again so I don't have great feelings about the experience.

Streaming LIVE from End User Event

I'm off to lecture at the End User Event so while I'm there I'll be doing some live streams that you can reach here:

Or by going to this link: http://bambuser.com/channel/WayneRobson

there may well be drinking and an overall party atmosphere....there may well be well known 3D personages doing odd things on camera .... rarely will it be sane, sober or restrained.

Of Gods & Men Pt1: Done!

Ok, so my last post was sort of my cracking round the edges due to insane self imposed deadline post. if you'd asked me then I'd have told you that there was no way in cold hard hell I could finish part one of my short film 'Of Gods& Men'. There was simply not enough time to render it all and edit it the way I wanted to. I had at once point yesterday 80 hours minimum of render times left on my single machine capable of rendering the crowd produced by my app 'Exodus' and only 72 hours to do it in. The sums simply didn't add up......

Then I had one of my patent Wayne 'fantastic new ideas'. I create a very simple render engine that that OpenGL based that would allow me to output the flat diffuse passes for some shots of the armies of man and the army of the dead. This saved enough time so I could render out a AO pass with a custom shader I wrote for Renderman. Its fair to say without the copy of Renderman Pixar gave me...Ivd never have finished this in time. So much so that they get a special thankyou in the credits.

So today around 1pm I finished the final edit of 'Of Gods & Men'. So now I just have to trawl through zillions of files to round stuff up for end user event for my lectures. Tomorrow I have to do a shot for something for a client / firm that I'll announce in a few days once the embargo is lifted (if you're at the End User Event you will get a sneak preview of the news), sorry to be all cloak and dagger but an embargo is an embargo.

The idea for the army of men and the army of the dead come obviously from the old Ray Harryhausen stuff he did on sinbad and the orginal clash of the titans. Those are my dads favorite films and the thoght occured to me years back why not have an army of them and not just 6 or seven. I answered that question myself in the making of this short as its a fucking logistical nightmare to render in 3D thats why lol. AO passes take miles longer due to all the bones near each other. Where as a character scene took maybe 2 mins a frame (I was doing some clever stuff if I do say so myself to get it down even to this), the skeletons took 5-10 mins a frame at lowest possible render setting.

So in the making of part 1 I've went the full gamut of emotions, its nearly drove me insane and half to death in equal measure. I've not been to bed before 3 or 4am in so long I can't remember..and stress levels started running dangerously high the last few weeks (hence my drama queen moment in the post before this one). Are there things I'd like to change...yeah sure there are, but for a budget of £25 and a time of 2 months 95% of the work done solo I think it'll stand up well.

I'm going to have a word with a few 3D mates....as it people who are real but work in 3D ..and are mates...I'm talking not about talking to imaginary 3D models here lol. anyways...I want to have a word with them and see if they ting I should keep part 1 back till part 2 is done (which could take quite some time as there are some seriously challenging shit in it) or put it out as part 1. Right now I'm ping ponging back and forth between elation and finally not having to look at another skeleton or fucking dragon for a while and an odd empty feeling coz it's done.

So yet again I snatch a win back from the brink of failure .... as I said once before I don't 'do' failure..not even a little bit. As a result of this short I've got some seriously nice apps and tech all of my own no one else has...or is going to have. That will have a longer lasting effect than the actual short on my workflows I'm betting

Of Gods and Men....or not.....

raw poly model for the army of men...I have load of these now lol

Ok so the trailer for Of Gods and men has went live (which I had to bang out in 30 mins after 750 miles of train rides to and from Leamington Spa and back, after a last minute request for a trailer for EUE). After working on this and the many things that have went wrong around my short like a cloud of badness, it's got to the stage where I can almost no longer look at it. After writing brand new aps such as exodus to basically do what massive does..only my way and thus meaning I don't have to fork out a fortune for massive..... and many other things such as an auto skinning plug in for max and Maya (that came too late for the 1st part of my short), I have came to the stage where due to the compromises I've had to make due to every render engine I own dying on me (sticking 3.3 billion polys work of animated skeleton army will do that for any render engine it seems lol) I have been reduced to diffuse only passes from 3delight.

look no motion blur lol

That alone kills me as I know what it'd look like with the right passes to play with in comp instead of having to find a way to hack it together to make it look 'passable'. That was never the aim. The original dragon rig (which is what you see in the trailer) is seriously fucked up...you cannot parent it to a spline path in any way due to the rig being broke (I didn't rig it lol), there was 2 other rigs done by some mates but alas they arrived too late to render that stuff out as it was taking 20 mins a frame without motion blur. Even Breitbilds render farm can't be handed over for free for the length of time it would have taken.

I had every single bug ever recorded pop up in every single app I've used in some cases causing the whole thing to grind to a halt for days and in one occasion a week and a half..... I've had people who swore blind they would help pull out for various reasons which meant it went from 'Wayne makes a nice short with help from a few mates in 4 months' to 'Wayne tries to save his short with zero help in 2 months with broken software.

After months of pulling till 3am and 4am each night 7 days a week I'm as near burnt out on this project as I want to get. To put it very bluntly I'm sick to fucking death ot it and am very close to saying 'fuckit' and doing something else for end user event.

close up of one of the skeleton scenes in Exodus (notice low res sheild to try and save to enormous polycount)

Why? as I know that every problem or issue with that short whether my fault or not, stops with me... I'm not the sort of bloke to go naming names and trying to spread the shit around. So here are a few images that are from the dev of 'of gods and men', some that were lost back when I lost a month's worth of work on it after a drive went bang. They may be more representative of what's went on behind it than the actual trailer or the short itself.

An image (oneof only 2 that survive) from the lost months worth of work

Times ran out, there is no way to make this better at this stage. I have a choice to either suck it up and chalk it down to a bad deal or throw my toys out of the pram and can it completely. The jury's still out as to how adult I'll be over it after months of my life spent on it. Simply put as it stands it doesn't match the vision I've had in my head for 23 years. Maybe I've just been overworking...I dont know.

Exodus alpha version 1 results.....no animtion and no use or more than one model back then...its much differnt now.