Wayne Robson RIP

Apprently I am dead and have been since the 4th April this year, although I have to admit that I'm looking pretty good for a dead guy. I shall of course be sure to eat brains and hang around deserted shopping centers shouting 'BRAINS!!!'. I am pleased that death has not impeaded my ability to type. Although my wife has pointed out that I am looking a bit odd after 2-3 months of only sleeping 2 or 3 hours a night. When they say long hours kill ya they aren't fucking joking, I've been so busy on my short I didn't realise I was dead lol. It also explains a sudden fear of shotguns. :)

OK so you got me...I'm not realy dead. However did you guess?

But my namesake the Actor Wayne Robson is.... so as he shared my name, or visa vera depending how you look at it and how big your ego is (guilty lol) I thought he deserved a special blog post. He was the sort of obbing actor who never won a pile of awards, he was just a guy doing what he loved and did well. He's in all sorts of things and a BIG pile of the old disney movies. Like me he didn't always see eye to eye with the system as it stood / stands. It was a odd feeling reading about someone wiht t same name as you being dead I wont deny. However at least now we won't get mixed up on google anymore lol.

This does inspire me to go all 'Jet Li ' in the film'The One' on your asses. (Where he kills all other version in other universes of himself. ) Hey I always did like highlander....now where's my sword... :) (After all there can be only one). :)

But cutting aside my sick sense of humor for just a moment, quite simply to the man who shared a name with me:
Wayne Robson, Rest in Peace.

Hours and Hours of Free Videos

As some of you know my lifes been ...well....'complex' and rather depressing of late. In fact it has sort of went what my brother would rather politely call 'totally fucking tits up'.

Anyway.....as I desperately need drive space for my short, am flat broke and cannot afford a new one and every god damned DVD writer in this house (all 8!) have went the way of the dodo, I thought I'd do the sculpting world a bit of a uncharacteristic favor. This is probably my last gift to digital sculptors as a hole and mudbox users as a specific group. I doubt I'll be able to do something like this again for a variety of reasons.

Tonight I am releasing hours upon hours of free videos in probably the bigggest free video release (length wise) ever (as time is short right now I haven't even counted how many or how long in total)...simply because I need Hard Drive space. There is a bit of everything, stuff from way back in 2008 that never saw the light of day publicly for free to stuff from the end of last year.

Please remember many of these videos do not reflect my current skills and put out simply as its either a case of delete them or put them out for free.

Plus as I have now officialy killed of the mudboxhub on demand stream service (zero chance it will restart in the foreseeable future) anything not packed up into dvd's goes into this free video release. Athough MudboxHub's forum is still open.

This is not just stuff for mudbox, this applies to all digital sculptors, yes even zbrush users can get usage out of these videos. So if you like them, remember the best stuff is on the dvd's you pay for. So don't pirate those DVD's or it's a it like giving me a very big fat slap in the face.

Enjoy and pass the word around as I dont have the time to do it myself this time around as life is 'complex' right now. I will includde them in a simple list form (there are hour upon hours of stuff in the list that I'll let you all discover for yourself).

Here's the list get ready , coz its a bit long......

To make sure everyone that needs these videos gets then I expect every man and woman to do their duty and ensure word gets arounnd. That is my only price, that one simple favour.

Also remember the many existing free videos are still knocking about various places as well for those new to sculpting that may not have seen them.

Reducto videos meant for release but never seen when copy protection was simply to expensive for me to release it.

http://vimeo.com/14163255

http://vimeo.com/14163306

http://vimeo.com/14163738

http://vimeo.com/14368195

displacement theory (or what you didn't know you needed to ask)

http://vimeo.com/9838180

The old original wave 2 (the version I never released a full 2 years before the final Wave 2 featuring ‘the dentist’ surfaced)

http://vimeo.com/8955025 pt 1

http://vimeo.com/9838180 pt 2

http://vimeo.com/8959276 pt 3

Wayne' solid gold Tip

http://vimeo.com/12761755

Hard surface Retop and UV's

http://vimeo.com/13420853 pt 1

http://vimeo.com/13433893 pt 2

Texture Color Space for Compositing

http://vimeo.com/14357932

Vector Displacement tips

http://vimeo.com/13998280

Wayne's Tips #1

http://vimeo.com/13854216

ReTopology Theory

http://vimeo.com/13852429

Brush practice routine

http://vimeo.com/15528354

Siggraph 2010 outtake video: idiots guide to trepanning

http://vimeo.com/13679775

Personal reference videos from the Victoria and Albert museum London V & A

http://vimeo.com/13159921 13

http://vimeo.com/13159171 12

http://vimeo.com/13157933 11

http://vimeo.com/13156277 10

http://vimeo.com/13155732 9

http://vimeo.com/13155079 8

http://vimeo.com/13152702 7

http://vimeo.com/13150490 6

http://vimeo.com/13149907 5

http://vimeo.com/13149429 4

http://vimeo.com/13148759 1

Enjoy

Wayne...

Of Gods & Men Teaser

OK this is the 2nd time I'm putting this up as for some odd reason the entry I made yesterday deleted itself which makes me wonder if I was right putting this blog on such a platform as blogger. Luckily I always type it out in word 1st due to my horendous typos.

So now that the title of my short film is out in the wild "Of Gods & Men" in regards to the End User Event Masterclasses and the breakdown I'm doing on my short I feel I can let a little bit more out of the bag. So I'll let you see 2 still in this blog that are both hopefully vague enough to give you a feel of things without giving away the storyline.

The above is a unfinished shot from the short, now I have purposely kept this as vague as I possibly can as there's a lot about the story very few people know, and some stuff no one knows. I've had this story in my head along with a load of others since I was 17 and I figured it was finally time to start doing what I got into 3D for in the 1st place. This is why I've cancelled all work until after 2nd July and am living on fresh air. This short has been niggling away in my head for 23 years now and along with another few has always coloured the type of models I find myself doing. So the best way to move on from it was to make it, not that that has been easy... in fact at some points it's been nearly impossible.

As you can tell from the still above I'm aiming high in this one and putting everything I know into practice and a fair bit of stuff I didn't. The fact that I have a budget (now all spent) of £25 for the whole short and you can hopefully tell where I'm aiming quality wise for it is the one thing I'm most proud of. So next time you have 20 or 30 quid in your pocket you may think instead of buying a kebab or a new game that you could make a film lol.

There have been a couple of people that have helped out with stuff on the short Some I can tell you what they have been doing , others will have to wait till after release. Rob Angol has been on board since day one and been there as a sounding board for some of the stuff I don't do a lot pipeline wise and as sort of consultant for the render engines I'm using outside of the one I normally use. Apart from Mental ray, as the render farm I've been lent supports them I'm also using Vray and 3delight which is a Renderman compliant render engine. Robs done a bit of everything including some of the many rigs and helping out with the initial concept art. Another person on board for a particular 'thing' is Sascha Herichs that although I would have loved to have done myself I couldn't split myself into two to do so. What I will say is it's an environment piece and that it plays a big part in the short.

There are a couple of other guys who have offered to help out with the many characters I have to have rigged for this (as I'm probably the slowest rigger and skin guy in the world lol). Once this is done I'll be sure to put a detailed list of who has done what so everyone gets the credit they are due. Of course these guys are all doing bits here and there around their jobs and hoe lives, whereas I'm doing this all day every day and have been pulling 3am and 4am work sessions for a few weeks now.

To get this short done for less than 30 quid has meant some major league thinking around corners and making a few things to help along the way. What this is not is a CGI fest.... the story is king on this as is the shot framing, but that's not to say there aren't hopefully some nice CGI shots to look at.

I've tried hard as I can not to hype this short or mention it any more than I absolutely need to as one thing I've learned in life is that hype is great but it can fast turn around and bite you on the arse. So let's not all get carried away just yet as its entirely possible something goes wrong badly at some point.

Yes I do know there is already a film with this name but trust me your not going to mix this one up with it lol. I did play arund wiht the idea of a title change but as I came up with this title 23 years ago in a night club it seemed such a shame to change it. I would say dont read to much into the title, it means something, though not in the way you may think. ;)

The End User Event: 30 June - 1 July, Utrecht, Netherlands

Ok guys and gals and those not sure, its time for me to give some serious pimp-age to the End User Event. This year its from the 30 June - 1 July, Utrecht, Netherlands, which is very easy to get to from Amsterdam by train. (If I can manage it the last 2 years without getting lost then anyone can!)

There's one helluva line up this year and this is the event to go to in Europe if your either want to learn some very cool new stuff from some seriously talented dudes, or just network and do some meet and greet with some big names in 3D (be it companies or individuals.)

I cannot recommend this event highly enough, we all do this event for free (no pay only travelling expenses, and that should tell you something about it, it's the only free one I do each year with very good reason.) This year while not giving away too at this stage yes I will be doing some sessions, although I'll cover exactly what at a later stage. But it will be some very in depth stuff from my upcoming short film.

To give you a feeling of the event I'll stick a few pictures of mine below (sorry most of them involve drinking lol) along with the official press release.

PRESS RELEASE

3DStudio.nl presents the End User Event : EUE 2011

Amsterdam (April 22, 2011) - 3DStudio.nl presents again the international End User Event in The Florin at Utrecht on June 30 and July 1. The End User Event is for everyone in the field of film, TV, Games and DesignVIZ. Two days with a total of 50 workshops and master classes by Autodesk Masters like i.e. Yoni Cohen, Ted Boardman , Michael McCarthy, Wayne Robson and Borislav ‘Bobo’ Petrov to name a few.

Main purpose of the End User Event is sharing knowledge and networking in an informal setting. The 20 expert speakers will educate, explain productions and give loads of tips and tricks. The lunch breaks and networking dinner gives the opportunity to meet the experts and fellow end users. The Florin, used to be an old bank building which was transformed into a pub and separate conference rooms with an informal atmosphere, ideal for the whole EUE experience.
Utrecht is located 25 minutes by train from Amsterdam

The Autodesk Development department will also attend the End User Event. Shane Griffith (product manager 3ds Max) and Neil Hazzard (one of the lead programmers) will be presenting as well.

The price is a €100,- per day.

Quick Back Plate Shoot

Where is this? Its a little hidden place my dad knew about that is perfect for one scene.

I went out today for a sort of impromptu film shoot for some back plates for my short. It was very much a last minute thing as the light was a perfect match for some back plates already in the edit. (I'm never one to pass up and oppotunity.) So I rang my dad (as I don't drive) and off we went for probably the fastest shoot in history lol. I had just over an hour to get to the location (about a 15 min drive deep into the moors) gets about 9 shots (I was planning on only 2 or 3 being of use in the final edit, but I like to have 'options' in case I change my mind), get back home so my dad could make his appointment at the docs for a check up. Not bad considering we managed to cover 5 different locations that were not close to each other.

We managed it but it wouldn't have been a Wayne shoot if one thing didn't go wrong, and it did. During a nice dolly shot that I wanted in case I needed to add a bit of padding to time to the background track my dolly literally fell to bits. It's not reparable, so no more dolly shots for Wayney. This did however give me the perfect chance to give my design for a steady cam rig a roll out in a production type shot. Turns out it works A1 fine and saved my life today.

The shot above is from a short scene in the short (as the edit currently stands), and luckily won't need as much 'modification' or stuff added to it as other shots. So far 3 shots from today have been added to my edit to fill places I was missing (and badly needed) a back plate. I've also got a few more to take that luckily are in a far easier to get to location if the weather holds up.

Some of the gear for the shoot today

One of my rules is to always have a backup plan in case shit goes wrong or data is lost at the last minute for a shot. So as a result I now have some panoramas...a 25k wide one, a 15k wide one and a 11k wide one as a side effect of this of 3 seperate locations. Chances are they won't get used in this particular short, but go into my library for use in a later one, should my sanity hold out once this one is finished.

The time is fast coming for the most hectic 2 months of my life, in may and June I will have more stuff to get done than ever before and to make this short look the way I want and need it to, it's going to be a full on ball breaker.