Slashdot Mirror

Because most people aren't pretentious audiophiles, and are quite happy to listen to 128kbps MP3s through the crappy speakers that came with their Gateway box.

Cool! I've always wanted to be a pretentious audiophile! This is a great day! I just wish I had the gear to go along with such an ostentatious title. [sigh]

The treble washout at 128kbps is often times just too much. Have you ever tried to make an audio CD from 128k MP3s? It will generally turn out to be hideous. That's not always the case. I made one from the Brad Sucks: I Don't Know What I'm Doing album and it rocks! Guess I'm not as picky as you would imply--though others would be, for sure. Still you don't have to have a golden ear to be disturbed with lower bitrate MP3s, even on crappy Gateway speakers...

Listening to low quality MP3s can be kind of comparable to the Uncanny Valley effect some people experience when they see photorealistic CG images of humans. They can look really cool but still creep you out at the same time...

You really see this for the first time in the first movement of the Eroica, Symphony #3, but it is also evident in the Fifth, and is pretty obvious in the 9th. But being music, the ideas are more difficult to put into directly into words.

it is like abstract art that at first is non-comprehensible, until you spot the context that the piece was created from. An example from visual art can be seen here where a cool science fiction scene is created from a snapshot of some kitchen shelves.

Point being, there is another whole level going on there.

we aren't quite at the point where we can pull out every single stop on making computer generated movies.
Some frames from the Jellyfish Scene from Finding Nemo took twelve hours per frame to render.

A study of raytracing which simulates how light behaves on a normal scale really gives one a good idea of how many intricacies there are in our world.

But I see you're limited to the Mac.

So on that end, you COULD get the lowest end Maya which won't totally break the bank. Also look into Lightwave. And while I started out on the precurser to Lightwave on the Amiga (called Videoscape...Alan Hastings first 3D app before going to Newtek), it is still two seperate apps with Modeler and Lightwave, which is kind of cumbersome in some instances.

The reason I was going to suggest XSI is because it's not that expensive for the base configuration and it's still a very powerfull 3D app that tends to get overlooked. But having said that, I'm a total convert to Maya.

You might want to also look at Zbrush, as that's a very interesting app too. One of the closest things to working with clay to build a model I've ever used. It's amazing what you can do with a very short amount of time.

But having said all that, I've drifted back over to 2D and create everything now in just Photoshop and Painter...with Alias Sketchbook now and then. I guess it's the traditional artist in me, I don't know. And quite frankly, even after all these years being into 3D, I'm still not that good at it. Where as I can get anything I want with Photoshop. Guess it's personal preference.

You might also want to head over to cgnetworks.com and get inspired and learn on their forums. It's a great place with people willing to help out.

I call it "Daemon without horns". Hope that's innocent enough. Oh, the gun he's carrying is not a weapon. It's an antivirus.

They're not the only ones doing SIGGRAPH coverage.

CG Networks has their coverage (day 1, day 2).

CG Networks is also noteworthy because it's part of Ballistic Media, the company that brings you fine digital art like EXPOSÉ, paired up with discreet to do a combined art book called Elemental, and is bringing out d'artiste , a tutorial book on digital painting.

The books are all available at the SIGGRAPH expo - if you can't get there, you'll have to get them ordered ordered on the website and wait a few weeks for shipping :)

And to get it clear, yes, I work for them - but it's a bloody fantastic job. Especially the part where I'm reading Slashdot because my boss is in LA ;-)

They're not the only ones doing SIGGRAPH coverage.

CG Networks has their coverage (day 1, day 2).

CG Networks is also noteworthy because it's part of Ballistic Media, the company that brings you fine digital art like EXPOSÉ, paired up with discreet to do a combined art book called Elemental, and is bringing out d'artiste , a tutorial book on digital painting.

The books are all available at the SIGGRAPH expo - if you can't get there, you'll have to get them ordered ordered on the website and wait a few weeks for shipping :)

And to get it clear, yes, I work for them - but it's a bloody fantastic job. Especially the part where I'm reading Slashdot because my boss is in LA ;-)

See Steven Giesler's works for some amazing stuff. Even these images are already a few years old and Steven is no doubt working on new stuff already. Check out the rest of his site as well.

The state of the CG scene can in general be observed at community sites like CGNetworks. Here's some of the better picks from the user galleries:
- An untextered model, check out the feet.
- A TV presenter.
- An Asian girl, a bit too perfect but still very nice.
- Sandra.
- Pinhead, I really like this one.

See Steven Giesler's works for some amazing stuff. Even these images are already a few years old and Steven is no doubt working on new stuff already. Check out the rest of his site as well.

The state of the CG scene can in general be observed at community sites like CGNetworks. Here's some of the better picks from the user galleries:
- An untextered model, check out the feet.
- A TV presenter.
- An Asian girl, a bit too perfect but still very nice.
- Sandra.
- Pinhead, I really like this one.

See Steven Giesler's works for some amazing stuff. Even these images are already a few years old and Steven is no doubt working on new stuff already. Check out the rest of his site as well.

The state of the CG scene can in general be observed at community sites like CGNetworks. Here's some of the better picks from the user galleries:
- An untextered model, check out the feet.
- A TV presenter.
- An Asian girl, a bit too perfect but still very nice.
- Sandra.
- Pinhead, I really like this one.

See Steven Giesler's works for some amazing stuff. Even these images are already a few years old and Steven is no doubt working on new stuff already. Check out the rest of his site as well.

The state of the CG scene can in general be observed at community sites like CGNetworks. Here's some of the better picks from the user galleries:
- An untextered model, check out the feet.
- A TV presenter.
- An Asian girl, a bit too perfect but still very nice.
- Sandra.
- Pinhead, I really like this one.

See Steven Giesler's works for some amazing stuff. Even these images are already a few years old and Steven is no doubt working on new stuff already. Check out the rest of his site as well.

The state of the CG scene can in general be observed at community sites like CGNetworks. Here's some of the better picks from the user galleries:
- An untextered model, check out the feet.
- A TV presenter.
- An Asian girl, a bit too perfect but still very nice.
- Sandra.
- Pinhead, I really like this one.

See Steven Giesler's works for some amazing stuff. Even these images are already a few years old and Steven is no doubt working on new stuff already. Check out the rest of his site as well.

The state of the CG scene can in general be observed at community sites like CGNetworks. Here's some of the better picks from the user galleries:
- An untextered model, check out the feet.
- A TV presenter.
- An Asian girl, a bit too perfect but still very nice.
- Sandra.
- Pinhead, I really like this one.

I agree with grandparent but only because they are completely redrawing and in some cases renaming the original characters which is fucking retarded.

And trust me, if you think this (from the concept art) looks better than this (original artwork) then it is you who needs a reality check.

Or by reading the caption from the top of the link:

CGNetworks readers have sent in concept artwork for the upcoming Evangelion feature film. The concept art is being produced by Weta Workshop - the folks behind the Lord of the Rings movies and upcoming King Kong. You'll notice that some of the images have the names of the Japanime characters changed - e.g. Rei Ayanami = Ray, Asuka Langley = Kate Rose and Misato Katsuragi = Susan Whitnall.

THIS is the original place that gave me the link to the forum of Quake 3 world showing the concept art & renders. If they are fake, blame them. Their link did say Quake 4 Renders.
It was in the bottom section for Related Links.
-p0z3r