Wow.. I never thought about putting a blanket over the one that doesn't work. Weeeeeell doggie, that's a good idea! Now I can stop reaching for the wrong TV. Heck, now I can make a fancy coffee table for ma. I'd make it into an ironin board, but I'd need one more TV so she'd have a place for her spitcup.
"But it is his (CmdrTaco's) job. He runs the blasted site and he posted the article. "
Where can I read CmdrTaco's Job Description? Why's it such a big friggin deal? "Oh no! A story was posted twice within the last 90 days! We mighta missed a story about how somebody is using Linux!"
"Anyone know the proper way to dispose of a monitor."
Ya'll should do what we do in Kansas. Whenever a TV stops working, we place the new one on top of the old one.
If you have too many of them there telly visions, you can place them in your front yard. Move them around the yard enough, and you'll never have to mow it!
Re:A whole new reason for bloodshot eyes
on
Type With Your Eyes
·
· Score: 2
"Woah, why are your eyes so red?"
Damn pr0n.
Great, another reason why glasses will forever be a sign of low status with geeks.
I think it's fairly safe to assume that you have at least a passing interest in how movies are made, so I'd like to point you to a site that I like:
http://www.moviefxmag.com/
This is the website for a DVD-based magazine. I found one of their 'mags' on the shelf of a bookstore once and picked it up for $10. What you get is an hour long video that goes into how some effects are achieved. The one I bought had a special on 'Cats & Dogs' that showed how the CG and puppetwork on the movie was achieved. It was really cool.
I can personally recommend this place. As a matter of fact, Im subscribing tonight. Pity I can't find them in the bookstore anymore, though.
I think we are pretty much on a common ground. I'd like to apologize: Your post here is very insightful and I found it to be a very interesting read. I developed an assumption about you that I realize now was in error. When I responded to you, I was not as nice as I should have been. I'm sorry man, I had the wrong idea about ya.
Cheers
P.S. How do you know the ppl at ILM? I'm curious because I aspire to work in Visual FX, but would like to network with people. Unfortunately, I don't know anybody in the business that can guide me in the right direction. Is there any help or suggestions you can offer there?
"I read somewhere in an interview with Tarsem Singh, the director of The Cell [imdb.com], that he would have done the movie completely without dialog if he could have gotten away with it. I dunno, maybe it would have worked."
If it were an indie movie, it would definitely have worked. The problem with 'big ticket' movies is that their appeal is so broad they have to adhere to a set of standards. That's why all movies are in color, for example. (It's not because color is automatically better.)
The internet has provided indie moviemakers with the broadcast channels they need to get their work known. Once they figure out how to make money from it, the MPAA will have a serious problem on their hands. If I can spend less money for a movie that's more suited to my tastes, then it's going to win over something that's at the box-office.
Anybody remember that 405 movie a coupla guys made not too long ago? It was a HUGE hit with Lightwave animators. If they had done a 'making of' video of it (and maybe they have, I haven't checked up on it) I'm sure they would have sold at least 1,000 copies. That's peanuts to a movie studio, that's a lot of money for the guys who spent 2-3 months working on it.
"He's a mulatto at best! Isn't it ironic that he's the one pushing the "skin color means nothing" propoganda in his music. Guess he doesn't buy that bullshit either."
If memory serves, he suffers from a fairly common skin disorder called 'vitiligo'. Basically, it's a light splotchiness in the skin that gets bigger and bigger... He probably lightened his skin so you couldn't see the splotches.
Nose jobs and plastic surgery are all about vanity, but making fun of a guy for his skin disorder is not cool. Celebrity or not, he is a human being and can suffer from the same ailments that you or I could. He chose a unique way of dealing with his problem, but people still trivialize it. I'll tell you something: Whether he has the illness or not (there's debate about that), he certainly didn't have the technique done in order to contradict himself.
Because I'm an animator. I can tell the difference between a rushed animation and a completed animation. Watch the Dex alien in the diner and then watch C3PO's adventures in the battle droid factory. There's a huge difference in refinement. Heck, I don't think you even need to be an animator to spot that.
"They had about 18 months of production of VFX which is longer than the average."
They also had an absurd amount of FX to do for nearly every shot in the whole movie. They had more to do than Toy Story. If memory serves, Toy Story had somewhere between 2.5 to 3 years to complete. And they didn't even have to match it up to real people and places!
"An artists are not overloaded and forced to say, too bad tat's it."
Yes. They are. A badly completed effect is more valuable than no effect at all.
"But in general it's up to supervisors to make sure VFX shots are to a level where they aer OK."
That's really no different from what I said. The choice is the same. Whether it's the animator or the manager that makes the call doesn't affect my point one bit. If I thought anybody was going to be zealously literal about what I said, I would have said 'animation team' instead of 'animator'. The truth is that the manager/supervisor is not going to have any idea if the schedule's going to be blown unless the animator says "Sorry, I just don't have the time to finish this without eating into the time I need to do the next shot."
"There is a cliche in VFX where people say that VFX are never finished you just stop working on them."
That's not a cliche, it's a myth. The point of an effect is to describe an event. "phaser shot must make slug like creature burn up and vaporize." Once all the requirements are fulfilled "phaser shoots, slug like creature burns, vaporized", the effect it's finished. You can add more elements if you want, but you don't make the point any clearer. As a matter of fact, overworking an effect can ruin the elements that fulfilled the requirement. Anybody remember Return of the Jedi Special Edition? There was a huge party at the end of it on Coruscant. Lotsa people were cheering. After leaving the theaters, one of my friends said "Did you see the statue of the Emperor knocked down?" There was so much crap on the screen that I missed that detail. Whoever did the effect of the falling statue had their work ruined because somebody didn't finish when they should have.
"The best SFX aren't the big ones, they are the little ones that touch things up and you never even suspect."
There's the money saving ones as well. A good deal of the sets in Episode II were actually minatures filmed with blue-screened actors and robotic cameras. If this technology could bubble down to television, imagine how cheap it'd be to build new sets!
"I am sorry, but computer graphics do not make realistic images... Most of the graphics in AOTC were not realistic."
Wrong. Computers can do very convincing (realistic is not the right word until we get a video camera over to Coruscant) imagery that is imperceptible from real footage. If the effect is missing an element that is preventing it from being realistic, that is not the computer's fault, it is the artist that failed to produce the right elements.
The problem with AOTC's effects is that they were rushed. The movie was so overloaded with effects that several of the artists basically were forced to say "Well, this is the best I can do for now, time move on."
Computer + Good/Experienced Artist + The Right Tools - Appropriate amount of Time = Unconvincing.
I sent them an email to let them know that I paid for the browser but am willing to use the ad-supported one if more comics show up. I figured at least letting them know that their banners get more views by me (i didn't pretend the whole world feels the same way heh.) would be helpful. I'd recommend it to other people too if they feel the same way I do.
"They provided interesting content up there to grab my attention....If websites had figured that out ages ago, I betcha anything that we'd not only have a market for 'banner based content', but there'd also be a more successful ad model."
Not to mention that there would be a brand new avenue for up and coming cartoonists to break into. It's really hard to get a comic into the papers. (Read 'The History of the Far Side' for an interesting insight into that by Gary Larson...) The web the model is very different. New artists could get their strips up. Heck, not all cartoonists want to do a series, they want to work in spurts. No problem, there's no 'space issue' there like there is on paper.
Man.. I love it. Set up properly, it could be a profitable model for both advertisers and artists!
"- The writers can't keep track of 10 movies and 24 seasons of episodes! Why can't they dedicate their lives to memorizing the Star Trek timeline like I have?"
Heh I found that one amusing. I know people like that. Here's what bugs me: Enterprise has a wonderful opportunity to explore some of the events that were alluded to in the other series. Not only that, but we get it from the perspective of people fresh into deep space. This is really exciting, but these stupid 'purists' think that the show is better if they adhere to it literally. Do that, and you lose your opportunity. Some flexibility should be allowed.
It's a TV show! It's ENTERTAINMENT! Enjoy it, don't sit there and act like you could make it better because you remember details that were only intended to pad out the drama.
If you want rationalization for the 'inconsistencies', consider this: The 1701-E Enterprise influenced with Cochrane's life. The biggest hint of that was the naming of the NX-01 to Enterprise. Imagine it that way, quit griping, and enjoy the show!
Nobody wants to witness a Milhouse Vs. Screech debate.
"If you have a job that requires you to be on call, you probably also can't travel more than an hour or so away from where you work. If you don't like the side effects of having a job like this, maybe you should choose a different job."
Give your doctor a call and tell him that. I'm sure he'll appreciate that.
Slashdot Mirror
Wow.. I never thought about putting a blanket over the one that doesn't work. Weeeeeell doggie, that's a good idea! Now I can stop reaching for the wrong TV. Heck, now I can make a fancy coffee table for ma. I'd make it into an ironin board, but I'd need one more TV so she'd have a place for her spitcup.
How would somebody who never caught that story get inspired to put 'monitor disposal' in the search form?
Geez, you guys act like you might have missed a story about how somebody installed Linux on a doorknob.
"But it is his (CmdrTaco's) job. He runs the blasted site and he posted the article. "
Where can I read CmdrTaco's Job Description? Why's it such a big friggin deal? "Oh no! A story was posted twice within the last 90 days! We mighta missed a story about how somebody is using Linux!"
"This has been covered and photographed long ago... by many other news organizations... what's different now?"
The problem isn't the difference, it's the lack of difference. The problem's still around.
"if you agree to check the site you run to see if a story has already been posted about this exact topic in the past 45 or so days. "
I hate when people act like every single person on Slashdot has every single story ever posted on it cued up in their mind ready to be remembered.
"Anyone know the proper way to dispose of a monitor."
Ya'll should do what we do in Kansas. Whenever a TV stops working, we place the new one on top of the old one.
If you have too many of them there telly visions, you can place them in your front yard. Move them around the yard enough, and you'll never have to mow it!
Great, another reason why glasses will forever be a sign of low status with geeks.
I appreciate that, thank you.
"See you on the other side, Ray!"
Okay.. why is that idiocy? Sounds more like a cosmetic choice to me.
Ah!! you rock dude! Thank you!!!
I think it's fairly safe to assume that you have at least a passing interest in how movies are made, so I'd like to point you to a site that I like:
http://www.moviefxmag.com/
This is the website for a DVD-based magazine. I found one of their 'mags' on the shelf of a bookstore once and picked it up for $10. What you get is an hour long video that goes into how some effects are achieved. The one I bought had a special on 'Cats & Dogs' that showed how the CG and puppetwork on the movie was achieved. It was really cool.
I can personally recommend this place. As a matter of fact, Im subscribing tonight. Pity I can't find them in the bookstore anymore, though.
I think we are pretty much on a common ground. I'd like to apologize: Your post here is very insightful and I found it to be a very interesting read. I developed an assumption about you that I realize now was in error. When I responded to you, I was not as nice as I should have been. I'm sorry man, I had the wrong idea about ya.
Cheers
P.S. How do you know the ppl at ILM? I'm curious because I aspire to work in Visual FX, but would like to network with people. Unfortunately, I don't know anybody in the business that can guide me in the right direction. Is there any help or suggestions you can offer there?
"I read somewhere in an interview with Tarsem Singh, the director of The Cell [imdb.com], that he would have done the movie completely without dialog if he could have gotten away with it. I dunno, maybe it would have worked."
If it were an indie movie, it would definitely have worked. The problem with 'big ticket' movies is that their appeal is so broad they have to adhere to a set of standards. That's why all movies are in color, for example. (It's not because color is automatically better.)
The internet has provided indie moviemakers with the broadcast channels they need to get their work known. Once they figure out how to make money from it, the MPAA will have a serious problem on their hands. If I can spend less money for a movie that's more suited to my tastes, then it's going to win over something that's at the box-office.
Anybody remember that 405 movie a coupla guys made not too long ago? It was a HUGE hit with Lightwave animators. If they had done a 'making of' video of it (and maybe they have, I haven't checked up on it) I'm sure they would have sold at least 1,000 copies. That's peanuts to a movie studio, that's a lot of money for the guys who spent 2-3 months working on it.
"He's a mulatto at best! Isn't it ironic that he's the one pushing the "skin color means nothing" propoganda in his music. Guess he doesn't buy that bullshit either."
If memory serves, he suffers from a fairly common skin disorder called 'vitiligo'. Basically, it's a light splotchiness in the skin that gets bigger and bigger... He probably lightened his skin so you couldn't see the splotches.
Nose jobs and plastic surgery are all about vanity, but making fun of a guy for his skin disorder is not cool. Celebrity or not, he is a human being and can suffer from the same ailments that you or I could. He chose a unique way of dealing with his problem, but people still trivialize it. I'll tell you something: Whether he has the illness or not (there's debate about that), he certainly didn't have the technique done in order to contradict himself.
"Well how do you know they were rushed."
Because I'm an animator. I can tell the difference between a rushed animation and a completed animation. Watch the Dex alien in the diner and then watch C3PO's adventures in the battle droid factory. There's a huge difference in refinement. Heck, I don't think you even need to be an animator to spot that.
"They had about 18 months of production of VFX which is longer than the average."
They also had an absurd amount of FX to do for nearly every shot in the whole movie. They had more to do than Toy Story. If memory serves, Toy Story had somewhere between 2.5 to 3 years to complete. And they didn't even have to match it up to real people and places!
"An artists are not overloaded and forced to say, too bad tat's it."
Yes. They are. A badly completed effect is more valuable than no effect at all.
"But in general it's up to supervisors to make sure VFX shots are to a level where they aer OK."
That's really no different from what I said. The choice is the same. Whether it's the animator or the manager that makes the call doesn't affect my point one bit. If I thought anybody was going to be zealously literal about what I said, I would have said 'animation team' instead of 'animator'. The truth is that the manager/supervisor is not going to have any idea if the schedule's going to be blown unless the animator says "Sorry, I just don't have the time to finish this without eating into the time I need to do the next shot."
"There is a cliche in VFX where people say that VFX are never finished you just stop working on them."
That's not a cliche, it's a myth. The point of an effect is to describe an event. "phaser shot must make slug like creature burn up and vaporize." Once all the requirements are fulfilled "phaser shoots, slug like creature burns, vaporized", the effect it's finished. You can add more elements if you want, but you don't make the point any clearer. As a matter of fact, overworking an effect can ruin the elements that fulfilled the requirement. Anybody remember Return of the Jedi Special Edition? There was a huge party at the end of it on Coruscant. Lotsa people were cheering. After leaving the theaters, one of my friends said "Did you see the statue of the Emperor knocked down?" There was so much crap on the screen that I missed that detail. Whoever did the effect of the falling statue had their work ruined because somebody didn't finish when they should have.
"If effect artists want to make things realistic, they are going to have to start simulating mass and enertia on the objects they model."
If you saw how Pearl Harbor was made, you would not have made that comment. The guy that replied to your post was absolutely correct.
"The best SFX aren't the big ones, they are the little ones that touch things up and you never even suspect."
There's the money saving ones as well. A good deal of the sets in Episode II were actually minatures filmed with blue-screened actors and robotic cameras. If this technology could bubble down to television, imagine how cheap it'd be to build new sets!
"I am sorry, but computer graphics do not make realistic images... Most of the graphics in AOTC were not realistic."
Wrong. Computers can do very convincing (realistic is not the right word until we get a video camera over to Coruscant) imagery that is imperceptible from real footage. If the effect is missing an element that is preventing it from being realistic, that is not the computer's fault, it is the artist that failed to produce the right elements.
The problem with AOTC's effects is that they were rushed. The movie was so overloaded with effects that several of the artists basically were forced to say "Well, this is the best I can do for now, time move on."
Computer + Good/Experienced Artist + The Right Tools - Appropriate amount of Time = Unconvincing.
... I could finally sell my uncle's body on EBay...
"It seems Listen4ever has performed a disappearing act. If it stays offline, the RIAA will withdraw its suit later today."
I always thought a good Slashdotting would smack the RIAA in the eye, never thought it'd happen this way though.
I sent them an email to let them know that I paid for the browser but am willing to use the ad-supported one if more comics show up. I figured at least letting them know that their banners get more views by me (i didn't pretend the whole world feels the same way heh.) would be helpful. I'd recommend it to other people too if they feel the same way I do.
"They provided interesting content up there to grab my attention....If websites had figured that out ages ago, I betcha anything that we'd not only have a market for 'banner based content', but there'd also be a more successful ad model."
Not to mention that there would be a brand new avenue for up and coming cartoonists to break into. It's really hard to get a comic into the papers. (Read 'The History of the Far Side' for an interesting insight into that by Gary Larson...) The web the model is very different. New artists could get their strips up. Heck, not all cartoonists want to do a series, they want to work in spurts. No problem, there's no 'space issue' there like there is on paper.
Man.. I love it. Set up properly, it could be a profitable model for both advertisers and artists!
"There are actually several images of ships named "Enterprise" pre-Star Trek in the opening scene to Star Trek:Enterprise."
Yeah, we've seen them in the ready room on the Enterprise-D. Yet, there's no NX-01 but there is the shuttle and the Aircraft carrier.
Hmmmm...
"- The writers can't keep track of 10 movies and 24 seasons of episodes! Why can't they dedicate their lives to memorizing the Star Trek timeline like I have?"
Heh I found that one amusing. I know people like that. Here's what bugs me: Enterprise has a wonderful opportunity to explore some of the events that were alluded to in the other series. Not only that, but we get it from the perspective of people fresh into deep space. This is really exciting, but these stupid 'purists' think that the show is better if they adhere to it literally. Do that, and you lose your opportunity. Some flexibility should be allowed.
It's a TV show! It's ENTERTAINMENT! Enjoy it, don't sit there and act like you could make it better because you remember details that were only intended to pad out the drama.
If you want rationalization for the 'inconsistencies', consider this: The 1701-E Enterprise influenced with Cochrane's life. The biggest hint of that was the naming of the NX-01 to Enterprise. Imagine it that way, quit griping, and enjoy the show!
Nobody wants to witness a Milhouse Vs. Screech debate.
Just wanted to say I thought that was really funny. :)
"If you have a job that requires you to be on call, you probably also can't travel more than an hour or so away from where you work. If you don't like the side effects of having a job like this, maybe you should choose a different job."
Give your doctor a call and tell him that. I'm sure he'll appreciate that.