#3d imag and animation class I hate you

[tarakanpaintedpurple]

Getting to know your moots

Tagged by @prince--esque so now its your cross to bear >:)

•What's the origin of your blogs title?

Tarakan means cockroach in my native language, as well as shares the first two letters with my irl name. Sadly, just „tarakan“ handle was taken, so i colored the thing purple.

•Favorite fandoms

Although i post and talk exclusively about Destiny 2, i used to be a very active fan in most of the fandoms of 2010‘s (yes im old back off), so Undertale, Vocaloids, small bits of FNaF, TMNT, musicals (Hamilton and The Guy who didn’t like musicals mainly), animation memes community and Marvel at its prime. After 2020 the only fandom i remember being in is Arcana. I also like Ultrakill, but know very little about it lol

•OTPs+Ship name

Aside from canon ones i dont really have any solid ships. I do think some characters (Elsie and Shaxx) would look cute together, but to call them a ship would be an overkill imo. Basically ship the characters you like with the other characters you like, mix and match babey :]

•Favourite colours

Lilac, sky blue, yellowish orange and navy green

•Favourite game

From the ones that i play/played, Undertale, Katana zero, Stray, Streets of rage 4, Disco Elysium and Destiny 2 hold a special place in my heart.

•Weirdest habit/trait

Striking random ballet starting positions, minus the arms. Be careful with dance classes, kids.

•Hobbies

Aside from drawing and gaming, i sew with cross stitch, bike, try to stay alive during pilates and do jigsaw puzzles.

•Something you're good at

Drawing line by line(???). Can’t remember what my art teacher called it in school, basically instead of trying to replicate the 3D object using shapes or tracing an image, you look at the outline of the subject and draw it line by line. Helps when you’re learning to draw something for the first time. With that being said, been told that my art looks traced by my art professors, so tread carefully lol

•Something you're bad at

Expressing myself with words. Always either over explain or dont say enough.

•Something you excel at

Badminton, wanna 1v1?

•Something you love

Winter, it associates with a lot of positive things for me, like my partner’s bd and first time meeting my friend. Also snow, love the snow.

•Something you could talk about for hours without off the cuff

Conspiracy theories >:)

•Something you hate

Lack of empathy/understanding. Like dude, we have limited time in this world, and you decide the best way to spend your days is to make others miserable?

•Something you collect

Unique bus/train/subway tickets, my most prized possession as of now is a metro ticket from Kazan that looks like a coin :]

•Something you forget

A lot of things, im incredibly forgetful. There’s a possibility that there’s a forgotten cup of cold tea standing, waiting for me, as im writing this.

•What's your love language

Physical touch and words of affirmation. You’re awesome, squeeze my hand

•Favorite movie/show

Men in black (don’t laugh), Good Omens and Gravity Falls

•Favorite food

My mom’s tiramisu, my partner’s chicken curry and dumplings. And sushi, but everybody likes sushi.

•Favorite animal

Seals, polar owls, pigeons and bunnies. Perfect mix of aerodynamic and cute

•Favorite subject in school

Art class when we got to draw stuff and computer science. I also liked literature.

•Least favourite subject

History and sewing, because the teachers were just awful

•What's your best character trait?

Рeople’ve told me that my jokes and support help them immensely, so i guess im an excellent jester ‘,:)

•If you could change any detail of your day right now, what would it be?

No aching back, otherwise im doing great.

•If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet?

My grandma in her youth, she’s an amazing lady and i wish i could meet her before the time got to her. Also, Little Ceasar’s CEO

•Recommend one of your favorite fanfics

Not a fanfic reader, sadly. Buuut i did like @makoredeyes ‘s amazing work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58466131/chapters/148934281

Also, no pressure mentions: @valdakon @perianth-nixie @makoredeyes @phoenixichi @cannyparagon

[otteroflore]

mlp opinions under cut

read a post online that was someone who didn't like g4 but liked g5 mlp and I decided to watch some clips and... woof that was bad.

theres a lot of subjectivity to the mlp style and aesthetics but for me what it boils down to is that the g5 ponies look like someone looked at g4 and made it 3D, as opposed to looking at an actual pony. I've seen people criticize g4 for being too cartoony and not looking enough like horses, but if you look at the development drawings you can tell that a lot of work was put into stylizing them in a specific way.

I kind of feel like g1 had that too, you can see how the ponies are stylized off real ponies, and then g3 has a similar problem to g5 where it feels more based off of the previous cartoons than looking at a real horse.

Anyways, that all isn't inherently a problem, it's a cartoon and highly stylized. I watched the g5 movie when it came out and it was fine, a little boring tbh but the ponies were okay, I like how they have realistic hair and their bodies look fuzzy. I really don't like how skinny they are, like the chibi body + big head was cuter in g4 when it was a 2D cartoon but looks bizarre as a 3D object to me

which segues into my other thing which is... the pony toys from the new generation are the ugliest in all of my little ponydom, and i didnt even like g4's toys much but they were like half a step above. i cannot get over how bad their bodies are.

when i was a kid i took an all-ages art class on how to draw a horse, and the 2 things i took away from it were: you start by drawing a bean shape for the body, and a circle with a rectangle as the face

like 99% of horses boil down to this shape

regardless of other anatomical (leg) errors, this is how g1 looked

this was true of the animation too, you can generally see a divot in their back

are the characters from mlp g4 cartoony? yes, but

despite shrinking both THE BEAN and the nose, its like the same shape, simplified.

every single one of the g5 toys has no bean, their body like... narrows at the waist so much which is so bizarre to me. but its like theyre allergic to giving it a curved shape so its just all flat lines. and i find the hooves so much more disturbing when detailed because none of the rest of it is anatomically accurate so WHY did they add more detail there. its the very epitome of that meme about fetishists drawing extremely detailed feet.

besides that, the head is placed?? ?at the center of the neck?? presumably to help them stand up because their back half is so skinny but it just looks hideous. the eyes are closer together and the face generally flatter so they look more "Anthro" from the front- g4 had them on model from the side instead, so if you looked at the front of the face their eyes would be far apart, but it would be more like how a horse has eyes on the sides of their head:

im not 100% on this but it also looks weirdly like the g5 hair was just put on top of the head, every g5 pony ive seen doesn't have a many, just like a ponytail at the top. the g4 ponies dont have hair all the way down their backs, but its far enough that it falls naturally like a mane.

also i for some reason cannot get this image comparizon out of my head. they dont look that similar, i think its the colors mostly, but once seen i cannot unsee.

anyways i hate these dolls so much, ive stared at them for too long. i was going to complain about how the voice acting in the show is extremelyy rough, the songs are all pop songs, the animation of the mouth is bizarre, the animation of the body is unnaturally fluid and anatomically bizarre, but ive ranted too much already. byeeee

[scarefox]

Hate to say this but every media design education program in any direction will have AI classes integrated now. It's a double sided sword.

On the one side I hate it and it's sad. But on the other side AI is here and it won't go away anymore, but we can learn about it or find a different job. Can only learn about it's flaws and possible ethical ways to use. (not all AI is bad and not all AI is generating images / animations. some are simply just like video stabilizers or a faster way to remove backgrounds from images within a software.)

Every design job wants you to be at least knowledgeable about AI development and laws now.

Sad part of design jobs is that design (mostly) isn't about art, marketing isn't about art. It's about business. Reasons why I hate to work in marketing. And now with all the AI bs I don't want to work there even less. That's why I hope to set foot into video editing and 3D atm. At least there it doesn't hurt that much when I have to use AI generations in the job. (because editing and postproduction isn't my creation I would just finetune other peoples works. but in design jobs it's all your creative brain energy going into it and infesting that with AI hurts)

[catesartworks]

Answering Asks about Isekai Maid! Pt.2

Asks are down below under the cut, and there are a bunch! Some of these are a bit old, sorry I couldn’t get to them in time. ( T w  T  )

Warning, I’m going to talk about topics like stalking, sui//cide, slavery, and domestic abuse. There’s also some swearing in the asks as well. 

Someone else does it, I have no presence on TVtropes. :P

Thank you! Yes, I really enjoyed making Phantom in the Mirror, it actually helped me a lot and without it I wouldn’t have a lot of the building blocks to make Isekai Maid.

I liked Melissa a lot, Yona and Yuri. Wish Yuri/Melissa were endgame, honestly, but I do like Nine too!

As for dislikes, I feel like Nine’s brother was a bit underdeveloped and I wanted them to really dive deep into his character and why he is the way he is. We get some of it in the side stories, but I really feel like there is something missing about him to make him whole...!

I want an anime dang it!

I think it’s a matter of framing. So much of Otome Isekai in general is about reframing certain scenarios and looking at other character’s points of view. I’m sure that if we were following these characters in a comic/novel, we would be conditioned to accept whatever they do, even if it seems cruel because in this genre many protagonists believe that the ends justify the means as long as they have the excuse of “I need to survive at any cost.”

So Otome Isekai protagonists can justify having servants/commoners dragged away and executed/punished because they “didn’t know their place.” They can excuse things like slavery because “oh well, it’s the world I live in can’t stop it!,” and freely indulge in buying people. And there will be readers who don’t look past the in universe justifications and accept it at face value.

Yes, Phoebe wanted to make sure that Clara didn’t have any allies. Interestingly enough, the original book that Phoebe and Clara were isekai’d into, “Flowers Thrive in Autumn,” was poorly received by audiences because of the tragedy elements and the ultimate fate of the original Phoebe (dying from domestic abuse) and Clara was one of the most hated characters in the book.

Helen, the reincarnator, was one of the readers who couldn’t stand her and thought that Clara didn’t deserve to have a happy ending because she felt it was at the expense of Phoebe. She was also a fan of the prince character, who was a minor character and she wanted to use him for protection. Phoebe reasoned that if Clara had any help or allies whatsoever that it would cause a butterfly effect and the story would make Phoebe die once again.

One week. I work a lot of hours, it’s difficult to keep track because it can vary a lot.

I do 15 hours to do sketching, resketching based on the 3D model where I draw over the rendered image and lineart/flats.

6 hours to render the backgrounds in Blender (I have a specific process where I keep the model and size reference and lineart separated and have to save 3 files at a time).

Roughly it takes about 9 hours to add shadows, textures, and effects (5 hours if I book it!).

2-3 hours for writing dialogue, and about an hour and a half before launching the comic online to check for spelling errors.  And that doesn’t count when I have to reupload chapters after the fact when I notice errors, which can extend my schedule by one day or so.

Sometimes it’s more, since my schedule slips up and I don’t pull all nighters anymore (too tiring!).

Yes, Phoebe is aware that Joshua’s death is an accident. But she felt that Phoebe took most of the brunt of the blame and thinks that Clara should take most of it.

I think that there are so many things in the world that are normal, like demons being such a real threat where they have to alter funeral practices to keep them from spreading, to magic schools and teleportation, that the idea of reincarnation isn’t too far fetched.

Thanks! Unfortunately, I have had the displeasure of watching that film for a film class. It wouldn’t surprise me if readers who justify slavery in stories like Death is the Only Ending for the Villainess, would look at Scarlett O’Hara and think of her as an inspiration.

We already have a lot of slavery isekai (which, honestly...why.), and while it breaks my heart that people justify and gush over slaveowners like Penelope and Scarlett O’Hara, it’s nothing new and is a sign that these kinds of stories are doing harm in how we depict human suffering in slavery.

Even back when the movie was released, people thought of Scarlett as a role model, even when she was the face of the exploitation and gleefully participated in the cruelest forms of human trafficking and suffering. As long as it convenient for the protagonist to do so, people will just about justify anything they do.

Thank you! I find most of my designs from Dover Books, such as “Victorian Fashions: A Pictorial Archive, 965 Illustrations (Dover Pictorial Archive)“ and “Victorian and Edwardian Fashions from "La Mode Illustrée" (Dover Fashion and Costumes)“ You can find them on Amazon or online

Erica did regret it, and she did try to call it off, but it was too late. Erica at one point, truly did love Clara and thought of her as the daughter she never had, but she was also very subconsciously jealous of her older half sister, Misty (Clara’s mom) and took it out on Clara.

Erica and Misty were half sisters on their mother’s side. Their mother had slept with one of her Limpetta butlers, a man named Calvin, when she was an unmarried woman, and gave birth to Misty, who she adored. But her father forced her to give up Misty to Calvin and had them hidden away.

Her mother was then made to marry a much older man who was very wealthy. She gave birth to Erica, and while she showed her love but it was always underwhelming. When her husband died from old age, her mother wasted no time in finding Clavin again and marrying him, forgoing any inheritance she may have gotten as his wife and instead giving it to Erica.

Erica felt forgotten and familyless, but tried to maintain a relationship with Misty and be friendly with her. They were close, but there was always a lingering estrangement because Erica could tell that her mother loved Misty more than her.

When Misty got married and had Clara, Erica was given the chance to name her. Erica was touched and remained close to Clara. But the resentment still remained, and came again to the surface after she lost her son. She felt that Clara belonged to her more than Misty, and was the last remnant of her son but hated that she was alive while her son was dead.

I’ve watched both! ( T 7  T   ) Sorry, but I always watch Otome Isekai when it gets an anime adaptation.

Callisto...🤢🤮 Can’t stand slaveowner characters....I’ll take your word for it, I didn’t like him honestly!

Yep! She survived the Three Week Riot, her name is Tabitha Nguyen.

Sorry this answer came so late, but as soon I saw this message (back when the episode was posted) I updated the content warning!

Pretty much. Clara said in passing to Phoebe that she had other lives, but never elaborated much. Phoebe kind of just assumed that she was also a reader who coincidentally read the same book.

Prince Dimitri’s reason (or justification by the original author) for acting the way he is is due to his mother’s death. As a child, he lived the first eight years of his life as a commoner with his mother, a noblewoman. He was the king of Kolt’s son, and his mother wanted to raise him away from the palace life.

He asked where is dad was, and why he wasn’t with them. While searching for his dad, he accidentally revealed to someone in his village information about his noble mother’s whereabouts and they told the king. This lead to the king tracking them down and forcibly making his mother come back to the palace with him.

In most scenarios like this is Otome Isekai stories, the mother is able to repair her relationship with the king as he will be a good father to his son and she doesn’t have a choice either way (so, yeah, kidnapping and gaslighting). But this story took a deadly turn, as the king threatened to execute her for hiding an heir from him (he thought he was infertile and never took a wife).

He applied so much pressure on her that she broke psychologically. She took her own life. Dimitri felt immense guilt and felt that his want for a father lead to his mother’s death.

As a result of his own guilt, the king allowed him to get away with practically anything, even killing people. But Dimitri later kills his father, and there is a coup within the aristocracy that tries to execute the prince, which is how he is almost killed by assassins and meets Clara, or Phoebe depending on the timeline.

The thing is, Phoebe did have feelings for Dimitri, but she wasn’t sure his feelings for her were real, or that he was even a real person. Even years into the marriage she felt like this. Phoebe doesn’t think that the people around her as as real as her, think as deeply as her, or have true autonomy. She thinks that she lives in a world fully of puppets.

To her, all she did was be in the same place as Clara and say the same things as her. On one hand, it could mean that Prince Dimitri is his own person who chooses to be with someone different this timeline. But on the other hand, because she did what Clara did, it also means that he could swayed not by the individual actions person who saves him, but falls in love due to someone fulfilling a role and might as well just be a piece of code going through the motions.

To Phoebe, Prince Dimtri, unlike her father, was faithful and that was good enough for her. She wanted an attack dog that could protect her from her bad ending.

Nope, she’s a different character.

[doublerainebow]

Artist Resources (Part 1?)

This is basically just going to be a bunch of resources I have found to be useful. I can’t say that I’ve used all of them, but I’m sure they’re all worth checking out.

I’m also gonna try to put a detailed description for most of the links so you have a better idea of what you’re getting. I apologize in advance if some of them are redundant lol

(I put “Part 1″ if in the case I make another one)

~Links to Tutorials, Tips, Resources, etc~

Another Resource List -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Apparently, the post isn’t mobile-friendly, so it’s suggested to view this on Tumblr browser. Has a bunch of other links. I’ve checked out a few of them (mainly the copyright stuff lol), and it seems that some of the links may be a bit outdated. Still, it doesn’t hurt to check out the links.

Arms and Legs -- Leads to another Tumblr post. A handy tutorial on elbow and knee placement.

Art & Game Dev -- This leads to my personal playlist of a bunch of YouTube videos. Has a bunch of tutorials and interesting videos that I’ve collected over the course of a few years lol.

Blamblot -- A website that contains resources and tutorials on comic lettering. This is primarily in reference to western comics, but it doesn’t help to take a looksie.

Commission Calculator -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Helps artists to stop selling themselves short.

Comparing Heights (hikaku-sitatter) -- A height comparer for centimeters.

Comparing Heights -- A height comparer for feet and inches.

Mouth Shapes and Lip-Syncing -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Useful for... drawing mouth shapes.

Reference Angle -- Useful for when you’re trying to map out a face from an odd angle.

Soft Proofing for Printing -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Helps when you’re trying to make prints of your artwork.

Textures -- A website full of different and mostly free textures. While this website is made for 3D texturing, it can also be useful for 2D drawings. Signing up gives you 15 free credits everyday, and you can use those credits to download some textures for free.

The Models Resource -- A website of models ripped from a wide array of games.

The Spriters Resource -- A website of sprites ripped from a wide array of games.

The Textures Resource -- A websites of textures ripped from a wide array of games. 

~Links to Stock Images~

Please check out whatever policies they may have for their images before using them!

(not sure if any of them are active anymore as I followed some of these accounts a long time ago when I used to be more active on Deviant Art lol)

adorkastock (formerly senshistock)

anatoref -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Has a bunch of hand photo references

charligal-stock

HumanAnatomy4Artist -- Does contain nudity

null-entity

PhelanDavion

RobynRose

~Links to Other Artists~

Akihito Yoshitomi -- Yoshitomi is a mangaka who has tutorials on manga making. He also has an insightful series in which he drafts and draws a 30-page manga in 18 days. Remember that every artist works differently and his process may be different from another’s.

Drawfee -- Drawfee is an improv drawing show of four artists: Nathan Yaffe, Jacob Andrews, Julia Lepetit, and Karina Farek. While they don’t have tutorials in a sense, their videos explain the different processes they go through as they draw. They also occasionally provide tips, tricks, and resources in their videos. They do have another channel and a Twitch channel where they host drawing classes in addition to other fun shenanigans.

EtheringtonBrothers -- Has a bunch of useful and eye-catching tutorials called “How to Think When You Draw”.

Mark Crilley -- Mark is a comic artist, specializing in manga, who has a bunch of tutorials about anatomy, perspective, comic making, and other things.

Miyuli -- Miyuli is an artist who posts tutorials on their Twitter. Their tutorials range from anatomy to clothing to other things. They even have a few books of art tips. Currently (as of the time of posting this), their 2018 version is free for download, so I highly recommend you download that. Some tips may be outdated, but they should still be helpful.

Whyt Manga (Twitter/YouTube) -- Odunze is a comic artist, specializing in manga, that has a bunch of tutorials on manga making and drawing characters of color.

~Links to Free Programs~

Blender -- A free 3D program if you’re into 3D modeling and such. I also personally haven’t used Blender (I use Maya lol), but I know it’s a respectable program.

Krita -- A free painting program if you can’t afford Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint. I personally haven’t used Krita, but I have recommended it to a few friends and they have positive reviews about it.

Paint Tool SAI -- Okay, this one isn’t free, but it’s a significantly cheaper painting program where you don’t have to pay a subscription. It’s 5,500JPY (~50 USD). I’m not sure how well it still works on modern computers (the last update was 2016), but I still use it here and there because I love the pen tool feature it has, and it still works like a charm for me.

~General Tips From Raine~

Raine admits that she’s guilty of not following her own advice, but Raine hopes that the tips that she does know will be beneficial to someone who will follow them. She’s also going to keep all her tips under the cut so as to not make this post a huge wall of text (even though it technically already is lol)

Also, if you have some resources, tutorials, tips yourself, please feel free to send them to me and maybe I’ll make a part 2 to this post!

ALWAYS LOOK FOR REFERENCE. This should really go without saying. You can’t draw from life if you refuse to observe life itself.

If you can’t find the exact thing you need, MAKE YOUR OWN REFERENCE. Time and time again, I can’t find something exactly that I need. So instead, what I do is that I take pictures of my own reference. Sometimes I even grab a friend and take pictures of them doing whatever it is I need.

Have a mirror handy when you’re drawing. Sometimes what you need is actually right there in front of you.

Having trouble drawing something? Do some studies. Take the time to understand what it is you’re drawing. I can’t remember the exact story, but I heard that the people who were working on Tarzan were having a hard time drawing his hands. So, what they did was spend a few hours looking at hands to try and understand how they work.

IT’S OKAY TO STUDY THE ART OF OTHER ARTISTS. Just as we look to the old masters as a reference, it’s definitely okay to look at modern-day artists for reference. Just don’t go copying exactly everything that they do, or worse, trace what they do. Just don’t do it... at all.

Not every line needs to be realized. The viewer of your work will automatically connect the dots.

DO NOT TRASH YOUR OLD DRAWINGS. Please, never ever do this. Your old drawings have value to them, even if they look terrible to you. Old drawings may hold ideas for things you could do for the future. They also serve as a way to see how far you’ve come as an artist.

GETTING BETTER AT DRAWING TAKES TIME AND EFFORT. You’re not gonna get better overnight. It’ll take months, or even years, to feel like you’re a competent artist, and even then, you’ll still have room for improvement.

DON’T LOOK DOWN ON YOURSELF IF YOU’RE TAKING A LONG TIME TO GET BETTER. It’ll be better for your mental health in the long run.

Alternatively, DON'T LOOK DOWN ON OTHER ARTISTS EITHER, ESPECIALLY TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL BETTER. You know the struggles it took for you to get where you are, so don’t go putting down other people when you’ve been in their shoes once.

KEEP DRAWING. If you’re not making an effort to get better, then you’re not going to be better. I get that it’s hard to find the inspiration to draw (I’m very guilty of this), but just keep trying. It doesn’t have to be big or spectacular. You don’t even have to post it if you’re the type who likes to post their art stuff.

Try to find references from real-life. It’ll help you better understand form, lighting, shadows, etc., especially if you’re going for a more realistic kind of art style. Otherwise, finding reference from things like cartoons, anime, comics, etc. are just as good.

Try new things. Try new art mediums. Try a different art style. Switch up the way you do things. Maybe you’ll hate it, maybe you’ll like it. Who knows if you don’t try.

Watch time-lapses (or speed draws/speed paints) of other artists!

Pinterest and Google are your friends if you need tutorials or references or whatever.

If you’re offering commissions, DO NOT WORK UNDER YOUR LOCAL MINIMUM WAGE. You are literally devaluing the work you actually put into a piece.

I like to think I’m an aficionado of Photoshop, so feel free to ask me questions on how to achieve something! I’ve used Photoshop for about 11 years now and know my way around the program. On another note, I do recommend setting custom keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop because the default shortcuts are terrible (in my opinion), and because having custom shortcuts increases the speed of your workflow.

Because I’ve been seeing this a lot lately in Twitter, you’re never too old to start in art. Art is just one of those things that anyone can pick up at any age because the only thing you really need to get good in art is time, diligence, and patience.

Try not to post hi-res images of your artwork to prevent art stealers from selling your artwork in high resolution.

Always, always, always add your signature and watermark on your artwork. I like to add my signatures and watermarks in places that’ll be hard to erase or crop out. I’ve also seen people add their signatures and watermarks in creative ways (ex. on a character’s shirt). You need to protect your work in an era where people will just blatantly steal it and make profit off your work.

Tag List

@reality-is-often-disappointing

[monkey-network]

Why Klaus IS Christmas Kino

Klaus isn’t flawless, let’s get this out the way. My love for this film won’t deny that it bears a couple nits that can distract the experience. Jesper and Alva’s relationship felt like an eye-rolling inevitability, notable cliches here & there, a notable song felt both fitting and out of place, and while enjoyable, I’m not as big a fan of the climax as I thought. But in spite of it all, I love this film and it is one of the best modern animated Christmas films, period? Follow me here. I could go on about its wonderful animation cuz yeah, it’s unlike any other film. But a philosophy of mine is that the best animation enhances the writing and I can say Klaus is that surprisingly well written and has become an all time Christmas fave

*deep breath in* So let’s do this...

I mention that Klaus has its cliches, but you gotta know that it’s smarter than expected. Believe me when I say if the writers didn’t care, this could’ve actually been so much worse. Jesper could’ve been more manipulative towards everyone for his goals, Klaus would’ve given up entirely after knowing the truth about Jesper, we could’ve had an argument between Jesper and his dad about upholding business, the townsfolk could’ve reverted back to their old ways, plenty writing moments where this could’ve been Emoji Movie levels of insulting to your intellect. BUT, they don’t. The film never really turns back on itself, it keeps moving where, as the notable quote goes, an act of good will sparks another as it starts with Jesper’s father.

Even if nepotism was responsible for Jesper getting the job in the first place, he clearly sees his son be more spoiled than he’s worth so is like, “Ma boi, I will send you to the ends of the earth or leave you to the streets if you don’t do something with yourself.” He never cared about his son representing the postal company, or ruining his top class image, he was only tired of Jesper taking advantage of his fortune while not having any ambition of his own. Can’t help but say Jesper’s dad is a very respectable character because the sole reason the whole plot happened in the first place was because he just wanted his son to do better. It’s that act of genuine consideration that pushes Jesper to his wake up call as he reaches Smeerensburg.

People have compared this movie to Emperor’s New Groove through Jesper’s character and I say yes, but this film takes that next step and put Jesper in the pit of pits way early. Reminds me more of Ratatouille’s beginning where Remy’s lowest point is around the same time as Jesper’s. The harsh atmosphere of the island is treated very blunt in how this is our mailman’s nightmare come true. With his situation, our guy is truly at his lowest. Gives up now, he’ll be cut off his inheritance and probably will have worse. Everyone hates him and each other, his post office itself is in shambles, symbolic of how communication is practically thin outside conflict, and the teacher turned fish seller Alva is that path Jesper could notably be if he didn’t try. Everything is literally grey for this guy, but like Ratatouille, when you’re at your lowest there’s no where else to go but up. That’s where Klaus comes in...

This is genuinely the most clever interpretation of Santa I know, hands down. A well established woodsman, a crafter both of living, for him and the birds that reside in his woods, and recreation with the toys he made himself not just for kids, but specifically the kids he and his wife wanted but couldn’t have. Klaus feels like a real person, not just another take on the mythical man. You’re with him and Jesper as he, after familiar winds provide him a letter, a small spark to do something good, soon opens up and gets reminded of what’s kept him going all these years. It is no wonder he sees his wife in Jesper, it’s thanks to him that he could refurbish his dashed dream into a new one. He didn’t just want to do it for the children of the island, but for himself. That is another thing about this film: communication. I mention before how it’s practically thin at first due to a long going feud that isn’t even aware of why it’s still going. The joy in hate is only for hatred’s sake, and they make it very clear how miserable it all feels. That is where Jesper comes in. They don’t take shortcuts with how he gets the ball rolling, both accidentally and purposefully, he boots up to get things done, pushes himself to go to Klaus to make things happen. This is all in part by the youth, what really ties the plot together...

As I mentioned before (again), life in Smeerensburg is noticeably miserable but thanks to Klaus, by extension Jesper, the kids are enticed to do what it takes to get some genuine joy in their lives through the toys they’re able to get. They’ll make them letters, and if they can’t write, they’ll go to Alva for teachings, and if they act naughty, they’ll try to do good which in turn pushes the adults to do good for the sake of their kids. It really would’ve been one thing to sure enough make the kids spoiled because of the toy giving, focusing more on the extrinsic value of Klaus’s kindness but no. The children are very grateful for these gifts enough to feel compelled to do good, and it makes them feel good as much as it soon makes the adults more convinced to stop fighting. It helps that this all takes place in older times cuz I believe this would’ve been far different, possibly worse, if this took place in modern times. That or just kinda rip off Arthur Christmas, it’s my guess. As such, it gradually becomes an amazing Christmas film because it isn’t just the presents, the Santa Claus myth, the festive style of it all that makes this holiday special to me. It’s the warmth... of togetherness.

My favorite detail about Klaus is how it transitions from cold to warm with its atmosphere. We start out with the emptiest, harshest environment, enough fog to choke your eyes, and then we get to this moment with a brighter, clearer sight of the more united town as the Christmas spirit builds in the film, even when it isn’t even that day yet in-universe, so too does the warmhearted feeling that can come from celebrating it appear more and more. This film fleshes out more of what the Grinch taught me, what A Charlie Brown Christmas taught me, what I’ve come to appreciate about Christmas as I grew up in this materialistic world. I can say everyday can have the Holiday spirit, but Christmas is the time where I feel compelled to be grateful of what I’ve made and got and give back when honestly, I don’t care about getting the most expensive stuff anymore like I used to when I was way younger. This film is so sincere in what it wants to say, and you know this is indeed the same guy that made Minions. Yeah, not kidding and I’ll let you sit with that if you’re reading this as I continue because we have to talk about that moment...

Yeah, I don’t like being the Nostalgia Critic, but I too don’t take kindly to the ‘liar reveal’ trope myself and this could’ve been a point where the film lost me a little. Though you know what? It still works. See, with that trope, what sucks is that it can tend to unravel the plot to where you know as soon as they break apart, they’ll get back together regardless of the deed done. This is why I don’t like A Bug’s Life, don’t @ me. But I’m not saying it can’t done right, like in Over the Hedge. The breakup between Jesper and the others is painful, but it is necessary to give us a couple great character moments. One is with Jesper and his dad, who came back personally to see that Jesper has indeed built something for himself. We get no dialogue between them but it’s clear that even when Jesper’s unintentionally successful thanks to Yzma and Bubba, he can tell his son wasn’t happy leaving everything behind, so he lets him stay since that was what he truly wanted this whole time. Again, give that man some credit for amazing dad. Another moment comes before the big reveal where not only do we see Jesper come to understand his own guilt surrounding his original intentions, but in the end they never hated him for coming back, especially due to him inadvertently stopping the enemy feud all together. Lastly, without that moment, we probably wouldn’t have got this smile. When Margu, purest character ever that I could make a whole segment about but I don’t wanna keep you too long, started to tear up after calling for Jesper thinking he left for good but she then sees our guy never really left and we get this teary smile:

I felt that. Almost more than anything else in this film.

Cliched as it can appear, the execution excels in those more memorable emotions for this film. It’s been a year since I watched this again and I remember so much about these characters. And my god, I haven’t even gotten to the animation which... my god.

Klaus is indeed the most beautiful upon beautiful films I’ve seen, and what makes it better is that it all enhances the story. I mention before of its transitional visual from cold to warm sights, but goddamn, the character designs, the environments, the expressiveness, the textures all amount to style perfect for this alone. I think it would’ve as well received if it had a more flat look, but they seriously went higher for a traditional appealing story that compliments the unique children’s storybook look of it all. This honestly is better than most of modern Disney films that I’ve seen, ironic since it feels like if you took Tangled the Series and made it 3D with more fluid character animation. And if I’m comparing something to the continuous mindblower that’s Tangled the Series, you’ve most certainly got on my best side.

Sergio Pablos and his team really pulled no punches in making this a great movie. A great Christmas movie, one worth seeing if not at least once but every Holiday season for tradition’s sake. Klaus gave me a good time, made me cry, and above all showed me to never stop having a good heart because doing good can indeed go far, thankless as it can be. Heck, my heart felt more rejuvenated than before in making this critique, that’s a testament to how much good this film means to me personally. What else is there to say?

It's The Best

[midnightrooftops]

Don’t Blame it on the Kids

Drabble #2

Story here

Summery: Shouta talks with All Might.  Drabble.

Characters: Shouta Aizawa (Eraserhead), Yagi Toshinori (All Might)

MANGA SPOILERS: ch. 303 (well past season 4 of the anime) post-war arc

TW: mention/referenced abuse, mention/reference character death, canon-typical violence, PTSD, amputation, hospitals, panic/anxiety

“Oh, this is a cool one,” Mic says, holding out his phone for Shouta to see. “I think this is what Rumi is getting.”

Aizawa is ignoring him as he looks over the file in front of him. 

“She’s getting an arm, not a leg.”

“Yeah, but I think this is the designer.” Mic goes back to browsing. “You think about that fake eye yet?”

“I’m not becoming a cyborg,” Aizawa says, too tired to put any malice in his voice. He rubs his eye from the mention of it and holds back a flinch at the image he sees. He’s getting used to blinking and seeing the fight, really, he is. It’s annoying as hell, though.

“But it’d be so cool,” Mic continues. “Matching glowing eyes. Tracking system to lock on your prey.”

“And yet, I still wouldn’t be able to see 3D movies,” Aizawa deadpans. He’s grateful for Mic, though. The first few days were tough, but Hizashi has gotten better about downplaying it all and Shouta is thankful for it. He can handle losing a leg and an eye. He can. But he didn’t have to weep about it.

“You don’t even go to movies,” Mic says and he’s back on his phone again.

There’s a soft knock on the door, so soft it doesn’t even register to Aizawa until he hears Mic get up.

“Hey there big guy,” he says in his friendly DJ voice. It’s still softer than normal but Aizawa owes that to it being a hospital more than Mic’s sense of comfort for his friend.

“Hello Hizashi,” All Might says and Aizawa looks up and past the curtain to see the skeleton of the man in the door frame. “Could I have a moment with Aizawa?”

“More secrets?” Mic presses but he’s only teasing the old man. All Might, for his worth, looks ashamed by it. Mic laughs, pats him on the shoulder and offers Shouta a wave. “I’m off to refresh the playlist,” he says. “Text me if you want anything from the cafeteria.”

“Thanks,” Aizawa says and watches Mic leave. 

All Might closes the door. Not all the way, but enough to imply privacy. He shuffles slowly across the room to the chair next to Aizawa’s bed and sits gingerly.

“When are you getting out?” All Might asks.

“Tomorrow,” Aizawa says, pushing the papers back into the manilla folder. 

All Might nods. “They expect Midoriya can leave by the end of the week.”

“That’s good.”

“Indeed.”

The silence settles between them. Aizawa let’s it. 

“He hates the hospital,” All Might says and Aizawa almost lets out a real laugh. Of course he does. The poor kid spent more of his first year of high school in the hospital than actual classes. But the reason why that’s the case dries up Shouta’s amusement. 

“He doesn’t say that, of course,” All Might continues. “He wouldn’t talk back to a nurse or doctor. He’s not like me. I fought them tooth and nail any time I ended up here.” A smile creeps onto his face. “No, but I can tell. He gets anxious as soon as he has energy back in his body. He’s desperate to leave, even now. After telling you, I could see how eager he was to go home.”

“Was it his decision?” Aizawa asks, knowing why All Might has come.

“Yes.” All Might looks at Aizawa and his eyes are heavy but honest. “It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you.”

“I know.”

“It’s a big responsibility.” It’s an excuse.

“Too much for a kid,” Aizawa says.

All Might nods. For his worth, he seems to sincerely agree. “In my retirement, I’m beginning to think it’s too much for anyone to bear.”

Aizawa sees the way his shoulders hunch, the way his spine, even through the suit, is still visible. He sees the skin pulling at the man’s face and hears the rattle of blood in his breath. For all the times All Might has been in his natural form around Aizawa, he never wanted to see the hero. It was a painful sight. 

He thinks, for all Shouta’s criticism, he can agree with that. Which begs the question…

“Why him?”

Why Midoriya? Granted, he knew now he knew nothing of the kid. He’s been pouring through Midoriya’s records, trying to figure him out, trying to make sense of what he was just told.

A smile crosses All Might’s face and his eyes aren’t looking at anything in the present anymore, they’re seeing the past.

“He asked me, once, if a quirkless kid could be a hero. And for all my honor and duty, I told him no.”

Quirkless? Quirkless?!

“And then, when a villain was attacking his friend and no other heroes, including myself, could step up to save him, Midoriya ran straight into the fight.”

Aizawa knows about the sludge monster incident. Mostly from Bakaugou’s file but he knew Midoriya was involved. Jumping in without permission. It was a red mark against the kid.

But not in the version All Might told.

“Put simply, that boy reminded me why I was a hero. He has that power inside him, the one we can’t teach, the one that has nothing to do with One For All.”

Aizawa knows what he’s talking about. Usually, it’s the reason why Midoriya is the problem child of the problem class. But it’s a spirit he’s seen in the best heroes.

“I know you don’t agree,” All Might says. “I thought All For One was dead. I thought he had more time. Time to grow and develop...” All Might bows his head. “It’s no excuse.”

It’s not, but it explains some things.

“You said he was quirkless?”

All Might nods. “I should think that’s his part to tell,” he says and again, Aizawa can agree with that. 

But…

Damn. Midoriya being quirkless makes sense. Aizawa remembers the beginning of the year. He remembered the entrance exam. 

Midoriya wasn’t a lazy kid. He wasn’t just overusing his quirk to get attention or try to impress people, like Shouta originally assumed. He literally had no control. 

“Who else knows?” All Might looks confused and Aizawa supposes this was one of the things he missed in the discussion earlier.

“Nedzu,” he says and Aizawa has to hold back a groan. Of course he did. At least All Might wasn’t the only one at the school to blame. “Chiyo. Mirai did. Detective Tsukauchi and young Bakugou.”

Aizawa nearly chokes on his own spit.

“Bakugou?”

“He’s been helping Midoriya train,” All Might says and… yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Aizawa can probably put a date on exactly when Bakugou learned. 

“The after-hours fight?”

All Might nods and there’s a smile in his eyes. 

Of course.

“He respects you,” All Might says. “It’s one of the reasons why he didn’t tell you. Not just because I asked him to keep my secret, but I suspect he didn’t want to influence how you saw him. From my time knowing him, he hasn’t shown the least interest in fame or admiration. He wants to be the best, but not for the title. He wouldn’t want you to judge him based on my quirk.”

“He’s going to have serious issues,” Aizawa says and All Might coughs, spitting blood. Aizawa doesn’t let go of his glare. “You gave a quirkless child the perhaps the most powerful quirk in the world and asked him to carry on your legacy. These kids are under enough pressure at school.”

All Might had the good sense to look ashamed but then he smiled.

“I know it’s unfair to ask it of Midoriya,” he says. “And, to be truthful, part of keeping the quirk a secret is so that he doesn’t have to carry on my legacy.” All Might’s eyes twinkle and Aizawa doesn’t know if it’s tears or just how he looks when he’s inspired. He’d believe either. “When I gifted young Midoriya my quirk, it was to give a quirkless child a chance to achieve his dreams. He was never supposed to face All For One. I thought I had ended that monster. On my life, I thought he was gone.”

It was the closest to hatred Aizawa had ever seen from All Might. The tone of his voice, while still constrained, seethed something Aizawa never heard from the hero. He couldn't tell if it was directed at the villain or the hero himself.

Shouta sighs, his head pounding with this new information. Not just that Midoriya was supposed to face this horrible threat but that Bakugou knew about it and that, perhaps, some of the other students. He wasn’t even focusing on Todoroki yet and all the news about his life out there. 

“It’s not my business,” he says. 

“I’m respecting Midoriya’s wishes,” All Might says. “He wants you to know. And I’m glad you do. Without you, I can’t imagine what would’ve happened to him.”

What would’ve happened to Midoriya? It was Midoriya, Bakugou and Todoroki who had saved Aizawa in the fight. For all the pro heroes there that day, those three showed up and beat the villain back. He could scold them. But when had that worked before? And, as he was currently down a leg and eye, he couldn’t fault them. 

Even when it was Midoriya who, after identifying the threat, had run and led the villain away from civilians. While he could scold Midoriya for returning to the fight, Aizawa would be dead if the boy hadn’t returned. How do you explain that to an up-and-coming hero sworn to protect others?

Even so, all three of them had gotten so close to unlucky. That’s what it was, really. He could preach all he wanted about talent and skill. But in the end, sometimes it was pure luck. Sometimes, it was just him who got picked up over another hero and that’s how he’d survive. Sometimes it’s self-sacrifice, sometimes it’s just luck. Sometimes he thinks-

“Aizawa?”

Shouto looked up, unaware how long had passed since their last exchange. He couldn’t remember the last thing they spoke about.

“I suppose I should let you rest.” All Might moves to leave.

“All Might,” Aizawa says, then corrects himself. “Toshinori. Thank you for telling me. I’ll teach him everything I know.”

He doesn’t think he sounds desperate, he hopes he doesn’t. He doesn’t know why his heart is beating so fast. He doesn’t understand why he’s suddenly so upset.

But All Might, Toshinori, gives him a small, soft and warm smile and nods. 

“I wouldn’t trust him to anyone else,” All Might, former number one hero, says. He leaves the room.

Aizawa doesn’t know why the room is spinning. He doesn’t hear when Hizachi comes back. He hears his ridiculous excuse of a joke bring him back to the present and settles back in.

[blacklakeinavalley]

Have you noticed ...

... the similarity between this structure that Rey scavenges for reusable parts in her first scene in TFA and Kylo Ren’s lightsaber?

Said similarity inspired me to write a little meta piece on Rey’s introduction in TFA. Due to my over-excitement there’s probably some garbage (I know ...) in it, but also some interesting stuff, I promise!

Scavenging for Kylo’s good parts (a TFA/TLJ meta)

The Force Awakens introduces Rey by showing her plundering an Imperial-class Star Destroyer. Watching the movie for the umpteenth time before Amazon’s release of The Last Jedi, the structure we see Rey standing on suddenly reminded me of - a lightsaber hilt. This might seem a bit farfetched at first. But have a look at the next shot:

With the maintenance flap left wide open the construction evokes not just a lightsaber, it’s reminiscent of a very particular one: Kylo Ren’s. For comparison:

[Image: “IMG_4127 - Kylo Ren’s Hilt 3D Print” by Anime Nut (licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).]

Kylo’s lightsaber hilt has that very characteristic opening that makes the inside easily accessible. Also, its grooves and ridges bear resemblance to the tubular metal cover Rey opened.

Now it would be interesting to know what Rey took out of that “lightsaber”. We first get a look at the thing immediately after she detaches it from the structure. It’s definitely the same piece she’s cleaning at Niima Outpost later:

We probably get to see one half (!) of it even for a third time, namely in the hands of Unkar Plutt, before he rewards Rey with the infamous “quarter portion” for her day’s work:

Seeing Unkar Plutt with one half of the object, I first thought of the blue legacy saber’s broken kyber crystal from the end of The Last Jedi. Moreover, the shape of the thing Rey scrubs is in fact a bit crystal-like (like a cut diamond, maybe?). And whatever you see lying on the table in the background looks pretty much like a blaster, so there’s definitely an association with arms.

We have to keep in mind though that Kylo’s/Ben Solo’s red crystal is indeed cracked (credit for that piece of information belongs to this great post about lightsabers, bonding with a crystal and how all of that relates to Kylo’s/Ben’s weapon!), but, unlike Rey’s at the moment, not broken, and still part of a functional lightsaber. The thing Rey took with her from the Star Destroyer surely needs some polishing, but she would have saved herself the entire trouble in the first place had it seemed useless or beyond hope when she found it. Obviously, she considered it worth the effort. The payment turned out to be a huge disappointment nonetheless, but that probably tells us more about Unkar Plutt (and Rey!) than the actual value of the object. All of that reminds me heavily of Rey‘s bitter disappointment in Kylo/Ben at the end of TLJ.

A connection between Kylo Ren and the starship Rey plunders is also implied by quasi canonical sources other than the movies. Not only was Kylo/Ben born during or very soon after the Battle of Jakku took place (source), where the Star Destroyer in question crashed (source). This very Star Destroyer, like all capital ships, has a name - it’s the Interrogator (same source). Yup. Additional fun fact: The AT-AT Rey used to live in on Jakku “was designated ‘Hellhound Two’, and formed part of the Hellhound attack force of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, Interrogator” (source). (In case the Hellhound Two makes you wonder: There’s in fact a whole lot of visual duality in Rey’s first scene. Have you for example noticed the second “lightsaber”-structure inside of the Star Destroyer? I have a strong feeling that some things could also be said about the Hellhound; maybe another time.)

So we basically have lonely Rey climbing around inside of the fallen Interrogator, looking into its darkest corners, always in desperate need to obtain some good/useful/valuable parts. But she actually manages, however poorly, to live on the fallen battleship, and has found at least some kind of home in an associated AT-AT. Kylo, on the other hand, feels “torn apart” and like thrown away under the façade he built, so he definitely has some things in common with that Star Destroyer.

It’s highly likely that Rey’s first scene in TFA is also meant to foreshadow the eventual interrogation scene. As we know, Rey fights back and indeed manages to wrest an important piece of information from Kylo Ren: “You ... you‘re afraid ... that you will never be as strong as Darth Vader!” This has lots of implications. Sure, to emulate a Sith Lord seems indeed pretty dark. But that Kylo is afraid to fail also shows how full of self-doubt and even self-hatred he is. He hates himself for what he thinks is his greatest weakness and therefore the biggest obstacle to surpassing Vader - the “pull to the light” he admitted feeling earlier in the film, to his grandfather’s helmet. By looking into Kylo’s mind, Rey hit right upon the conflict in him. She came across his good parts without properly noticing - then.

Maybe that’s also the reason why the scavenged part can be split in two (if that’s really what’s going on in the scene with Unkar Plutt, of course). There is light and darkness in Kylo/Ben and in Rey as well. In order to reach their full potential in the Force, they must embrace either aspect and find a balance of the two (I would love to mention chandrilasky’s metas as a source here, they are, however, no longer accessible). In the throne room scene in TLJ we saw them finding that balance and thus a new level of strength through each other. Rey and Kylo/Ben are not only stronger together because that makes them two instead of one. One and one make not two in this case, but three. Let me try to explain. The two parts of the scavenged piece are presumably pretty useless on their own. But if properly put together (again), they are not just two useless parts screwed together – no, purpose and functionality is suddenly gained. Maybe that piece also implies that Rey and Kylo/Ben specifically belong together, at the very least if they both want to draw on their full potential in the Force. You cannot stick one half of the scavenged part on a random other piece and expect that combination to be useful or even functional. On the contrary, lasting damage might be inflicted on the involved parts. So the scavenged, made-up-of-two-parts piece embodies the nature of the Force, and speculatively (we will ultimately learn about that in episode IX) symbolizes the Force-willed connection between Rey and Kylo/Ben, too.

And there is yet another layer of meaning: “The heart of the lightsaber, the crystal is”, says Yoda (source). If Rey stealing a certain something from the Interrogator is not cinematic storytelling at its finest (and most touching), then I don’t know what is.

THANKS FOR READING AND PUTTING UP WITH MY ENGLISH AND WRITING STYLE!!

[Copyright disclaimer: Since 1. the used screenshots are part of the argumentation 2. there is no commercial purpose behind their use 3. these shots are only a comparatively small portion of the copyrighted work The Force Awakens 4. the argumentation appreciates said work, I consider the use of these pictures to be fair use according to § 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976.]

[elephart-hi]

Oh my goodness thank you sm 😭😭😩❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

Okay here is how i did it

You are going to hate this one but it’s the tried and true way… practice! I had a psychotic break during the pandemic bc of how much emotional stress I was under and LITTERALLLY the only thing that could calm me was either writing or drawing so I was making content like my life depended on it bc it quite littetally felt like it (DO YALL REMEMBER THE FAN FICS I WROTE YEAH THAT WAS FUELED BY THE NEED TO NOT HAVE MY HEAD FEEL LIKE IT WAS STRANGGLING ME) I worked my ass off for this improvement bc it was the only thing that was keeping me going and that pared with the terrifying realization that if I didn’t improve, I wouldn’t find work really fired me up. None of it was easy I cried so much and felt very bad about myself and my art but instead of letting it tear me down Forced it to push my foreward

Figure drawing from a live model forces u to gain an understanding of depth in a way that can’t be managed from a photograph which I never understood till I started doing it. Photographs will compress what ur seeing into a 2D image so all ur doing while drawinf is translating one 2D image to another 2D. There isn’t as much critical thinking bc when ur drawinf from a live model you have to figure out how to translate a 3D figure into a 2D figure WHICH IS ACTUALLY SO HARD AND LIKE I SAID I WAS NOT IN A GOOD PLACE AND I CRIED IN THAT CLASS BC I WAS LIKE IM STUPID BUT THEN I GOT BETTER AND NOW IM GREATFUL BUT STILL EMBARRASSED THAT PEOPLE SAW ME CRY

Studying color and color mixing from a live model. Photographs just can’t pick up color the same way the human eye can. There are so many different undertones and colors that you can see with ur bare eye the the photograph will just make it look like meh. These last two are how I gained such an understanding of lighting !!! The prof would put multiple light sources and the lights would be different tones of color (like a Florescent bulb vs a more yellow one) and he would be like try to imagine the light sources as different colors or draw as if there was only one light source. It would force u to do a ton of thinking but it also forced you to have an understanding of the human form and of how light works so I got better. If I could take that class with him again I would. I (I honestly might)

If you cant get a live model that’s LITTERALLY so understandable I suggest this YouTuber and specifically his 10 minutes to be a better painter series (ITS FOR DIGITAL AND TRADITIONAL ARTISTS BUT HE IS A DIGITAL ARTIST HIMSELF) this guy is a genius and explains so many principles of art and color theory and I’m not done with watching all his stuff yet but man every time I do I come out needing to draw something bc I feel so inspired but also bc I feel like I KNOW so much more

Studying artistic human anatomy and also just having anatomy posters plastered on the wall by where you work bc you can just glance over and see how the body works (THE SAME PROFESSOR MAN HE WAS GENIUS) I suggest buying the book artistic anatomy by paul richer

Animations principle of solid drawing holy shit dude 🤯 this was a HUGE GAME CHANGER FOR ME AND UNDERSTAND HOW TO KEEP A FIGURE ON MODEL AND FOR IT TO HAVE THE ILLUSION OF MASS IN ONE 3D FORM IN AN IMAGINED 3D SPACE THAT YOU UAVE TO CREATE ON A SINGLE 2D PLANE sheeeeshhhhhh it was tough and I CRIED SO FUCKING HARD I FELT SO STUPID BUT IT I WORKED MY ASS OFF AND IT CLICKED

Deleting social media that I hadn’t specifically catered to the arts I realized that staring at super skinny models and seeing what the people who made me insecure in hs were doing now was literally just wasted time that I should have been spending on art and improving my craft so I deleted Instagram and Snapchat. You might be saying ELEPHART but HOW will I find inspiration from other artists. Pinterest, Twitter, tumblr, YouTube. If u have account aim them towards ur artistic goals.

Don’t get jealous get inspired when u see another talented artist don’t go sjdbdjdhhdhs I’ll never be as good as them😭😭. Change ur mindset to wow I WANT to be as good as them🤩. If u see art that u like study it with an artistic eye, note their use of color and composition. It makes learning and growing so much better and it makes u less made at ur craft.

Don’t compare your art to others art compare your art to the art u made last month, last week, yesterday, five minutes ago. everyone has their own journey their own artistic goals their own work load and amount of time they can spend on their craft. Some have more access to teacher and material than others do, some have family in the arts who can critique their work at any given moment (THOSE LUCKY BASTARDS 😭) focusing on others puts a break on your improvement. It distracted you from what YOUR DOINF AND WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING.

If you don’t like something u made then write next to it what’s wrong with it and why u don’t like it AND DONT CHEAT ACTUALLY TAKE THE TIME TO ANALYZE YOUR OWN ART (critiques from others and yourself is a huge part of growth) okay now you have a list of things to focus on implementing and improving the next time you sit down and make somthing. It’s a pain in the ass but this IS MY SECRET TO IMPROVEMENT

UTILIZE YOUTUBE!!!! follow YouTubers who explain how to mix color and explain color theory and principles of design and all that stuff!! If ur not in school then YouTube is your best friend. There are incredible artists who are dedicating their time in giving the world free art lessons. They are on YouTube ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IT LOOK!!!!

Removing relationships that hinder you rather then fuel you. My ex and I were horible for eachother and all we did was fight. After getting out of it I realized how much time and emotional and physical energy it was taking up and how that was distracting me from my dreams. I removed other relationships like this as well and nurtured the friendship that helped me move in the direction I needed to be going in. I 100000% suggest reading The Artists Way by Julia Cameron

A biggggg part was understanding the software I was using!!! (Surprisingly) like learning about the pixel button (or whatever u call it) so you can only draw on the pixels that have already been placed on that layer helps sooo much (this is a picture of an older version of the software but the button is the same! I get photoshop for free bc of the college I go to)

Ngl this whole school year my brain felt like it was expanding and blossoming bc I was like I GET IT NOW OMG I GET IT lolololol like I’m not a master by any means but I have so many more tools and now I have more direction on where I need to be going. I litterally drew my way out of a psychotic break (not to mention therapy and exercising regularly and eating and not smoking pot and all the other stuff wkdbhehdehe) it felt like art was the key in my improvement not just in the craft but mentally. It gave me a purpose and that gave me back joy. Instead of waking up and wishing I hadn’t I would bolt away and rush to get the day started bc I had so much art I needed to do and to WANTED to do. Now not get me wrong it was months and months of hard work both in the arts and in my mental health to get to that point but I got there. And art was what carried me through it all (lol not me tearin tf up while typing this bc wow y’all really have no idea how bad I was a year ago rn I didn’t think I wanted to be alive anymore and now I’m so greatful and happy and I love with life again)

TL;DR

Do what you love and let it consume every aspect of your life

Be proactive in your journey as an artist

Have a critical eye for your own art

Don’t get jealous Get inspired

My Jude’s 2 years apart

Both are no references and that was like the best I would give you 2 years ago 😭

[shirlleycoyle]

‘They Can’t Stop Us:’ People Are Having Sex With 3D Avatars of Their Exes and Celebrities

You can buy a belly button online. It can be an innie, outtie, twisted to the left or the right, and placed on a virtual body. You can also buy a variety of penises, pubic hair, breasts, and tongues, all of which can be tweaked to look however you want. Cobble these together, use a photograph to algorithmically generate a person’s face, and you might be able to make a 3D avatar of someone who is walking around in real life. Import them into another program, and you can have sex with them in virtual reality, without that person ever giving consent.

On forums like Reddit, marketplaces like Patreon, and on standalone websites, communities of anonymous users are making, selling, and getting off to the computer-generated likenesses of celebrities and other real people. The 3D models that emerge from these communities can be articulated into any position, animated, modified, interacted with in real time, and manipulated in ways that defy the constraints of physical reality.

Today, the results are mostly crude. Unlike the most sophisticated deepfake videos traded online, no one is going to mistake any of the 3D models Motherboard has seen during our reporting for actual images of a real person. But the technology to create photorealistic 3D models of real people is rapidly approaching—and it's getting easier for the average user to access those tools and programs.

Some software that's already available automates much of the process for creating the 3D likenesses of real people. Rendering a realistic human is a process which historically required the specialized technical knowledge of teams of artists in game and special effects studios. Those studios, traditionally, have to obtain the rights to use someone's likeness before rendering them, but many hobbyists seemingly make avatars of anyone, with or without their consent.

"I use it to fulfill my sexual fantasies or replicate sexual encounters with my ex-girlfriends," one user commented on a subreddit dedicated to creating 3D adult content with Virt-A-Mate (also known as VaM), software for creating adult VR games and simulations. The user was specifically talking about Foto2Vam, a program that uses a photograph of a real person's face to automatically generate a 3D model with the same face, which can then be used in VR.

"Foto2vam has enabled me to literally feel like I'm there again, i.e. getting a handjob/footjob from my ex looking at me with a smile, or having another ex ride me on the floor in reverse cowgirl in front of a mirror…the possibilities are endless," the user said.

Another user on the same thread said they also use Foto2Vam to render ex-girlfriends performing sexual acts. They wrote that some 3D models turn out better than others depending on how many quality photographs of the person they can work with.

"From now on, we need to make sure we ask girlfriends to pose a few different angles with a blank expression and flat lighting for a few photos and then import them into VaM," they said. "Oh, and I find it amusing to alter reality and give them boob implants, etc. ;)"

Another user explained that they've previously created adult content using Daz 3D—a software for creating 3D models of people that is popular with hobbyists because it's free—but that VaM has fulfilled their dream of interacting with that content in virtual reality. They explained that they recreate real people using a combination of well known, commercial, or free software like Photoshop, Daz 3D, the digital sculpting tool ZBrush, and FaceGen, software similar to Foto2Vam which also generates 3D faces using photographs. These tools aren’t secret; they’re widely used for creating video games, special effects in movies, and other non-pornographic content.

"My biggest wish for the future is to get even [more] photo-realistic girls! Better hair creation, better clothes, shaders… there are still a lot of things to make it even better!" that user said. "I want to say 'thank you' to MeshedVR [the creator of VaM] for this!"

On a Discord channel dedicated to VaM, one user explained that there's nothing people can do to stop VaM creators from making adult content using their likeness, especially public figures:

"Everyone jacks off to everyone, it's human nature, you can't stop it unless you just stay off grid and never go anywhere or show anywhere and nobody knows you even exist…It's our world and freedom, they can't stop us from jacking off, nobody can, they can merely choose extreme privacy," that user said.

None of the users posting publicly about making real people replied to our request for comment, but some deleted their posts after we contacted them.

An example of an interactive Virt-A-Mate experience using a generic model from one of the more prolific creators in the community.

Inside the world of bespoke, 3D-rendered porn

There's nothing inherently wrong with 3D-rendered porn. People have been using computer graphics to create adult content for decades. Second Life still has a large community focused on adult content, and video game assets are often modified to create porn, sometimes featuring the likeness of real actors. Sites like Pornhub are filled with 3D-rendered porn videos.

But VaM and the community around it, including the 7,600 members of its active subreddit, are different because they make it relatively trivial to create a 3D model that looks like someone who exists in the real world and share it with others.

Users can then use those 3D models to create still images and animated videos, or have sex with them using a VR headset and a connected sex toy like the Fleshlight Launch, which automatically strokes the person's penis in sync with action on screen. The communities that are currently trading in these 3D models prove that there is an audience for this type of customizable adult content, a creator class that is willing to do the work to provide it, and an online infrastructure for both creators and bigger corporations like Patreon, Reddit, and Daz which already profit from it.

There are many ways for a person get custom 3D-rendered porn. According to a community wiki, the free version of VaM gives users access to a single "scene" and model, whose body they can modify with a series of sliders, and position by manipulating different body parts in real time. Users who contribute to the VaM Patreon get more interactive and customization features in VaM, like the ability to download scenes made by other creators in the community, customize hair and clothing, and "manually undress models by pulling the clothes off with your in-game hands."

A screenshot of a video tutorial for VaM users that shows a series of sliders for customizing a model's breasts.

The VaM community wiki also instructs users how to create faces using reference photos, create their own animations, and import full models or individual body parts created by other users. For example, the wiki instructs users how to give a 3D model a realistic vagina by downloading one from Renderotica, a community and marketplace for 3D-rendered porn. In 3D modeling this item is called a "morph," which broadly refers to a method for changing the shape of 3D models. A list of compatible morphs in the wiki includes "8 orgasm expression morphs," "a large balls morph," and "the cherry on top of your blowjob collection, introducing a brand new set of lip morphs." Users can also import existing, compatible 3D models created with Daz 3D into VaM.

Nonconsensual use of people's likenesses is a controversial topic in 3D-rendered porn communities.

"There are requests from some people in the forums that go along the lines of 'Hey, if I give you a picture of my wife or girlfriend, can you make a model look like her?'" a creator named Davos told Motherboard. Davos sells extreme fetish accessories and scenes on Renderotica. It's a site where creators like Davos sell adult comics created with 3D models, or 3D body parts that can be modify Daz 3D models.

"Nobody wants to be responsible for somebody doing something hateful or vengeful on a real person," Davos said. "My personal take is, it's okay if you change the name and are willing to take the risk of possibly being told to stop by a nasty letter from a corporate lawyer."

An image using a generic model promoting one of Davos' products, "The Morgue," which includes a variety of objects that are compatible with Daz 3D models.

Another creator of 3D human models that are used in adult content and whose work is supported on Patreon was adamant that the VaM community isn't all about porn, and isn't all about recreating real people, either.

"VaM is really no different than any other adult-oriented game… and is one of the less controversial adult projects, a sandbox that allows users to create their own fantasies," he said. "VaM admins and the developer are one of the few I saw [who are] very very worried about keeping things under control and on a good reputation… Dark aspects have to be expected from porn communities but those can be kept under control."

Sharing 3D-rendered celebrities for interactive porn

The VaM community subreddit's rules instruct members not to post images, videos, or scenes "that could be considered illegal, strongly offensive, or immoral," but has no stated rule about posting 3D models or adult content of real people. In fact, the rules explicitly allow users to post 3D renderings of celebrities as long as they don't include real photos or use their real names in the post: "Abbreviations, nicknames and different names are perfectly fine," the rules state.

Not surprisingly, because of the availability of high-quality photos of them online, and simply because people love to fantasize about unattainable public figures, sharing 3D models of celebrities is one of the most common activities in the community. Motherboard has found dozens of 3D models of celebrities including Emilia Clarke, Natalie Portman, Emma Watson, and Nicki Minaj—most under nicknames, per the rules. The celebrities are recognizable on sight, and sometimes their fake name alluded to their real name, or their identity is referred to in user comments. Almost all the 3D models we saw were of women, but we spotted at least two 3D models of men: Joaquin Phoenix and Chris Pratt.

These posts usually include a link to a file sharing site where other users can download the 3D model and use it themselves, and sometimes a Patreon page, which some creators use to collect money for their work.

A still from a video advertising a VaM 3D model, or "look," of a celebrity by a Patreon creator. Motherboard isn't linking to the creator because they host nonconsensual imagery.

Studies show that women are the most common targets of nonconsensual porn, and abusive manipulated imagery like deepfakes. Experts and victims alike say that even if it's not "real," the experience of seeing one's likeness in nonconsensual porn spread across the internet is legitimate trauma, similar to sexual assault, and not very different from actual revenge porn or spreading sex tapes and nudes without consent.

One creator in the community who uses Twitter to share their work—including a 3D model of an almost-nude celebrity tied up, her face covered in viscous white fluid—said that he has been making 3D models and characters professionally for video games, television, and other commercial videos and simulations for 30 years.

"I mainly create VaM looks and scenes for myself, although I have shared screenshots of my creations, sometimes the full file, for free to the VaM community," he said. "My primary motivation in sharing my files with the community, has been to create interest in the software, [and] bring in more experienced developers who can help grow VaM into a robust VR sandbox."

He added that he has created 3D models of real people he knew, sometimes with their permission. He has also made nonsexual content, like being able to see what he and his wife would look like in a kitchen remodel they considered.

"I also created an ex-gf, just to be able to sit across the table from them one more time. Personally, I see it as nothing more than creating clay busts, or notebook sketches of fond memories and faces," he said. "I do not distribute any IRL content that I have created, with or without permission, as I prefer to remain anonymous."

But he did not have the same standard for celebrities.

"I enjoyed creating celebrity looks as an homage, and in some cases, in sexual situations," they said. "As sexuality is a universal human experience, I don't see a problem with it."

A promotional image from Daz 3D's website advertising its Genesis 3 human model. "We've improved the levels of detail on some of the most critical body parts including the face, mouth, teeth, hands, feet, chest and neck."

Mesh VR, the company that owns VaM, also collects money via Patreon. The founder of Mesh VR, who goes by MeshedVR online, told us they couldn't say for sure how many people use VaM, but almost 8,000 people support it on Patreon.

"It's not going to be absolute or perfect, but it's better than the Wild West situation we're in at the moment."

They said that they know people use the software to make characters from movies and TV shows and interact with them in VR, and feel that it's "OK" as long as the model is mimicking a popular fictional character like Batgirl, for example. But they don't condone creating real people without permission.

"I know people go beyond this and try to recreate real-life people, without consent," MeshedVR said. "For me that is a slippery slope, and is wrought with legal and ethical concerns. I don't include any look-alikes in VaM for this reason, and I have worked with moderators on various sites to help establish rules against creating look-alikes of real people. If someone were to post a recreation of an ex, I would ask it to be removed. On my Discord server, I would remove it myself, since I consider that to be an official server for VaM."

MeshedVR told us that while they are listed as a moderator on the subreddit, consulted on its rules (which allow sharing celebrities), and often browse it to see what the community has come up with, they're not an active moderator there.

"If I see something questionable (models too young looking, celebrity look-alikes, violent act recreation, etc.), I alert the mods, but most times they have already handled it if there is an issue," they said. "I view VaM as a creative tool, like Blender, or Photoshop. What people do with it is largely out of my control."

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the chief operating officer and general counsel for the actors' union SAG-AFTRA, told Motherboard that actors can take legal action against people selling 3D models of their likeness by invoking rights of publicity, which close to half the states in the United States currently have. But those laws vary by state, and for ordinary individuals who don't have a famous face, there may be little legal recourse.

"They have legal ability to challenge that, but we have to recognize that is quite burdensome," Crabtree-Ireland said. "They have to hire a lawyer, file a lawsuit, and if the performer has to spend $10,000 to file a lawsuit against each person who used their likeness, that's not the most effective way to address it."

SAG-AFTRA supported a law against deepfake videos that recently passed in California and hopes to pass a similar law in New York, but Crabtree-Ireland said that even new laws won't stop nonconsensual use of someone's likeness entirely.

"There will always be stuff that lingers around the edges and grey areas that are harder to deal with, but if we could make a dent in the rather extraordinary volume of stuff that's going on that will be welcomed and beneficial to the people who are the targets of it," he said. "It's not going to be absolute or perfect, but it's better than the Wild West situation we're in at the moment."

"Of course people are going to do that."

John Danaher, a senior lecturer in law at the National University of Ireland Galway and coeditor of the book Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications, told Motherboard that images and representations like this could be viewed as a type of revenge porn if they're created or shared without consent.

"Is this something the other person wants? Is it mutually desirable/pleasurable? I don't think anyone should be creating representations of this sort without the consent of the real person," Danaher said. "I also think anyone who might want to make such an image of themselves should think about the possibility of the representations being stolen, shared, and used for malicious purposes at a later point."

Ultimately, a pornographic image created with VaM doesn't look meaningfully different than a drawn or Photoshopped pornographic image, or other 3D-rendered porn, all of which have have been used to create nonconsensual porn for decades. The difference here, much like it was with deepfakes, is that new technologies have democratized the tools for creating this kind of adult content, making them cheaper and easier to use.

"They're visualizing memories burned into their neurons, adding audio/visual (and now possibly haptic) reality to whatever scraps of time are left in their brain."

The plug-and-play nature of VaM makes it so a user doesn't need to make their own 3D model of a celebrity in order to have sex with it in VR; they can just download a 3D model that someone else in the community has made. Even tools and platforms that are not specifically for adult content enable this—Daz 3D, the popular and free 3D modeling tool, has a store where users can upload and sell their creations. It didn't take much searching to find 3D models of real people like Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyong'o (on sale on that store for $19.95 and $18.95, respectively). These models can be bought, downloaded, and combined with other tools like VaM to create nonconsensual porn. After browsing Daz 3D, we were also targeted with ads of generic, scantily clad 3D models of women that invited us to "get her now." Daz 3D did not respond to our request for comment.

An ad for a Daz 3D model that has followed us across the web after visiting the company's online marketplace for 3D models.

Kyle Machulis, who creates open source software for controlling sex toys, discovered the VaM community because it was using his tools to connect VaM to a Fleshlight Launch, an automated masturbation device. This way, for example, when a character in VaM moved her hand up and down a virtual penis, the Launch strokes the user's real penis in sync, creating a more immersive experience.

Machulis asked users in the VaM subreddit how, exactly, they use the sex simulator. He told Motherboard that he was a little surprised by the answers.

"The fact that I was surprised people would make exes probably says more about me and my naivety than it does about the community," he said. "Of course people are going to do that. They're visualizing memories burned into their neurons, adding audio/visual (and now possibly haptic) reality to whatever scraps of time are left in their brain."

Some people in these communities told us they make 3D avatars of real people because it's cathartic, or because they just like the aesthetics, but they almost always do it to women's bodies. Danaher said that it is potentially unhealthy to hold on to the past in this way, but the people in this community that Motherboard talked to said that programs like VaM are a way to get back to a time or a feeling they can't get back to otherwise.

"Memories exist in [our] heads, memorabilia exists in our physical storage," Machulis said. "When those memories are brought into a digital environment like VaM, Second Life, etc, things get real complicated, real quick."

‘They Can’t Stop Us:’ People Are Having Sex With 3D Avatars of Their Exes and Celebrities syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[dmsonline]

Improve Engineering Value

Extract the Most from Engineering Simulations

https://youtu.be/am7TMrPSH-M     Everyone wishes that engineering consultants were free, which just can’t happen.  Short of that, DMS aims to provide the best value out of each engineering project.  As the consultant, I hate to see projects where my client tried to save a few dollars, and in the process lost the chance to double or triple the value of their project.  When you pay for engineering, would you prefer to get three answers instead of just one.  Today we discuss four engineering tasks where you can maximize your value.  Extract every last drop of knowledge from your engineering project.

1.0 3D Model

Many clients show incredulity about paying for a digital 3D model of their ship . . . until they see the first images.  With this, we can show bridge layout, cabin spaces, and exterior shots of the ship, all rendered with believable detail.  You experience the look and feel of your vessel after only committing a fraction of the final build cost.  It sits there in clear digital detail on your screen.  Spin around and fly through to see each angle and detail.  3D models generate the wow factor and energize everyone to finish the project. But a 3D model extends beyond mere aesthetic uses.  It becomes the central linchpin when designing a new ship.  As ships become more complex, 2D drawings fail to capture all the interactions.  A 3D model allows us to quickly examine multiple angles and check between interferences of different systems.  We can explore all the structural connections. (Figure 1‑1) We may even submit the 3D model to some class societies as part of the drawing package, saving 15-25% on drafting time.

Figure 1-1: Example of 3D Modeled Tug for ABS Review   To truly maximize your value, combine the 3D model with finite element analysis (FEA) or computational fluid dynamics (CFD).  The first stage of those projects requires development of a 3D model.  With a little foresight, the engineer can combine two models into one and really maximize the value.

2.0 Computational Fluid Dynamics

Many clients first imagine a laundry list of conditions to test in their CFD project.  But after discovering the cost for CFD, they quickly shrink that list down to just one or two cases.  (One case = one speed, wave direction, etc.)  True, CFD is not cheap.  But don’t assume that skimping on cases reduces the cost significantly.  Between 50-80% of the cost in a CFD project resides with constructing the CFD model.  A typical model construction consists of several tasks: Create 3D geometry Create initial mesh Setup simulation physics Debug simulation and create stable first run Perform mesh independence study Convergence checks (Identify correct mesh settings) By the time a CFD model begins the prescribed production runs, the CFD engineer already ran the model five to seven times for validation and debugging.  This development effort is necessary to ensure a reliable and accurate CFD model; otherwise you just have colorful garbage.  Reducing your scope of work can’t reduce these initial costs. Rather than reducing cost, maximize the value of your analysis.  Invest in more CFD cases to investigate further details.  Don’t have a large budget?  DMS can provide several options to reduce the cost of each run.  The costs behind a production CFD run involve more than just computer time: Labor time: run and debug simulation Cost of computing resources Labor time for post processing raw data into human readable results Labor time to comment and incorporate results into final report To maximize your value here, focus on reducing the last two elements from each CFD case.  Maybe your only need one measurement from the raw data of each CFD case.  That requires far less labor than generating five pictures, 3 graphs, and six numbers from each run. Another alternative: add five supplemental cases that are not essential to the project, and specify that the engineer does not need to comment on them in the final report.  Look for opportunities to maximize the knowledge from your CFD project and minimize labor cost.

3.0 Damage Stability Analysis

Damage stability analysis requires an engineer to examine the vessel in various damaged conditions and check that it still complies with stability regulations.  This ensures the vessel has suitable survivability, even with the hull punctured.  The downside is the labor intensity for this type of analysis.  The only way to be sure about safety in a damaged condition is to check every scenario of damaged tanks and compartments.  Don’t try to save money by reducing the number of cases or limiting the analysis to damage on only one side of the vessel.

Figure 3-1: Example of a Damage Case   The real labor originates from constructing the damage stability model.  Stability analysis requires a model of the vessel.  Most of these are proprietary models, and we can’t just import the geometry from another program like Rhino 3D.  To make matters worse, normal stability models don’t typically include the internal compartmentation (all the bits that we need to damage for a damage stability analysis).  For a complicated vessel, this may require modeling 50 - 150 individual compartments.  And then the engineer develops the different damage cases, often a manual operation. But after developing the stability model, the analysis process accelerates.  Most stability software includes automation options to rapidly iterate through all the damage cases. Most of the options for damage stability get stipulated by regulations, and you don’t have any options to reduce engineering costs.  Even worse, if the analysis gets abridged, the engineer can not report any definitive conclusions.  Cutting back does not help.  Instead, can we get anything more from this beyond regulatory compliance?  Dive deeper and expose the rationale behind the results. Ask for Maximum VCG curves from each damage case.  Expose the weak points on your vessel.  This may even uncover options to improve performance.  Perhaps your ship was limited by a single bad damage case.  Some small changes could improve everything.  Adding a few small tanks below decks may vastly expand the cargo capacity above deck.  Tackled creatively, damage stability analysis becomes an opportunity for growth.

4.0 Fatigue FEA

Finite element analysis (FEA) for fatigue holds great potential:  both to improve vessel life and to incur a high engineering cost.  Fatigue FEA really involves two analyses combined. Use FEA to determine the stress range at various critical points in the structure. Perform fatigue analysis to determine the expected life of each point. Unfortunately, the ocean makes things complicated.  Most of the stress cycles on a ship derive from either machinery vibrations or ocean waves.  The ocean waves generate a wide array of stress ranges.  To reduce engineering costs here, focus on the type of fatigue analysis.  Full spectral fatigue requires a detailed history of the vessel operating region and records of the weather.  We need to reproduce the various wave spectra for the life of the vessel and predict fatigue performance for all those cases.  Very labor intensive. A simpler option is the simplified fatigue assessment.  Rather than generate each wave from past history, this creates an assumed distribution of waves based on a few critical numbers.  Same results, a little less accuracy, with a lot less labor.  This method doesn’t work for all case situations, but it makes a great cost saver when applicable. Maybe you don’t need every point analyzed.  A typical fatigue FEA identifies dozens of potential fatigue sites.  But some are more important than others.  Work with the engineer to select only a few sites for full fatigue life predictions.  The remaining sites just get noted for inspections.  This focuses the maintenance and still improves your efficiency.  But at a lower engineering cost, and everyone wins.

5.0 Conclusion

We all want to feel good about paying for engineering analysis.  Sometimes the best answer drives us to maximize value, rather than minimize cost.  Engineering is not a commodity; some tasks have minimum costs to ensure safety and reliable results.  In those cases, you do better to go beyond basic safety and search for enhancements.  Many times, the key to satisfactory engineering projects lies in asking for more, not less.

6.0 References

American Bureau of Shipping, "ABS and Crowley Pilot Validates 3D Modeling Techniques to Meet Class Requirements," American Bureau of Shipping, 2018 23 Aug. . Available: https://ww2.eagle.org/en/news/press-room/abs-and-crowley-pilot-validates-3d-techniques-to-meet-class-requirements.html. . VesselView, "Vessel View - 3D Animation Studio - Yacht 3D Trailer," YouTube, 10 Oct. 2011. . Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os9zYb18QoU. . Wikipedia Authors, "CFD Simulation Showing Vorticity Isosurfaces Behind Propeller," Wikimedia Commons, 22 May 2011. . Available: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CFD_simulation_showing_vorticity_isosurfaces_behind_propeller.png. . Vard Marine, "Finite Element Analysis," Vard Marine, 2018. . Available: https://vardmarine.com/vessel-design-process/advanced-analysis/fea/. .         Read the full article

[a-wolf-among-men]

any art tips?

//aaaa sure

do not be afraid to use references, a lot of artists use them, it’s nothing to be afraid of

bases, pose packs, stock images, dolls, and line arts are your friend. Don’t always stick to them though (unless u want to then u do u) continue to improve them forming them to how you want them to look. Fix their anatomy and use them as simple references or training wheels. Everyone starts somewhere and if anyone’s shaming you for using them, then they can go fuck themselves.

gimp, paintnet (I think that’s what it’s called), Firealpaca, and a bunch of other programs specifically designed for art exist. Don’t always assume your only stuck to mspaint, because you can’t afford photoshop or sai. I personally hate photoshop for art, had to use it for my 3d graphics and animation class freshman year, and I love Firealpaca, it’s what I use and it opens sai and psd files. It even has correction it smoothes your liens for u kinda like your pulling a string, so if u want to use a mouse to draw you can quite easily. It just doesn’t make vectors. I’ve never used sai, paintnet or gimp, so can’t say anything about them

you don’t have to start digitally or traditionally nor are you confined to these mediums

don’t be afraid to take inspiration form other artists or be worried that your art style is similar to another person. You can;t steal poses, techniques, color palettes, and most importantly you can’t steal an art style. Artists styles are influences by other artists.

most importantly never give up. You’ll be happy with your style one day even if it takes a few years. vwv

[exilesofembermark]

Game Dev Update | 4.28.17

“You ate the last Twinkie...” - Master Dwarf Thisguy ^

We’ve waited to show more than a glimpse of the dwarven race on Embermark until our own hammers were pounding out the mass of loot we’ve promised in Dev Updates past. Now that the promised loot train is rolling, it’s time to really take a look at our stout, grumpy friends. 

Last update, we covered the beginning of our game mode experimentation, world map navigation, a Legendary sword and the ability to view your Battle History. This time, its about content and gameplay. Read on to check out our new icon system, new battle environments, new loot, an upcoming AMA, your chance to help design an item that ends up in the game and what we’re learning about battle mechanics. 

Oh, and dwarves.

DWARVES

Whether they’re holed up in the caverns and carved-out tunnels of Siege or feverishly rebuilding the once-great Anglon, dwarves in Embermark are a force to be reckoned with. Here’s an Elite version of our angry fellow from above:  

We started the dwarf-creation process exploring what we wanted the basic proportions, faces and gear types to be, as well as where they reside in Embermark and what their background is. As you can see below, Beardbo Grumperson IV there on the far right is a look we’ve stuck with through the representation of our Elite fellow above. 

There are a few geographic locations where the dwarves in Embermark tend to be found (though they travel and team up a bit more than dwarves in many other settings), and as mentioned before, the region of Siege is one of them. They’ve gone underground for the past several hundred years as Embermark was overrun and a terrible place to live, but a few ancient entrances to their underground lairs are still visible on the world map:

3D design proceeded much as all the humanoid races we’re developing have-- from the base player model, with some changes that led into a distinctly dwarven look:

And unless the dwarf in question has been beaten in battle to a humiliating degree lately, he/she usually has some manner of facial style going on:

We couldn’t resist this one:

And this one, with a better look at some of the tattoo designs we’re playing with:

I’ve mentioned the history and background of the wolves in Embermark before (despite my bold-face lie about there being no rats, bats, wolves or skeletons in this game). They’re a mean and cunning lot, with far more organization to a “pack” than typical. 

Well, this gives you a clue about how dwarves on the continent feel about them:

Depending on the proportions of our humanoid NPCs, we’re making versions of all their gear to also fit the player, for extra tasty drops.

ICONS

When you have a lot of lootses in a RPG, someone has to make the icons. And usually, artists hate doing it cuz there’s so many and it takes so long and it’s not sexy.

WRONG.

With Exiles, it is sexy (and so are you).  We’ve had the same placeholder sword/boot/pants icons in just about every screenshot you’ve seen up till now (like here and here). No more!

Because we aren’t satisfied with that (and hate sleep), we created a new icon creation pipeline that takes EACH design for a piece of loot and creates an icon for it. So for every item you get, you’ll see a Tier 3 (that’s the highest) image of that item over a rarity color (either nothing, blue, purple, gold, or green) to give your loadout that extra oomph you’ve been looking for. 

GAME MODE EXPERIMENTS

As fast as the content train is moving, the mechanics train is hurtling along just as fast. Now that we have most of the Abilities, Stats and Talents working for the Warrior and Mage classes, we’re diving into what will make the moment-to-moment gameplay the most strategic, satisfying... and visceral! To that end, we have our 4-Ability loadout that we’ve talked a lot about, but last week, we got a second mode of combat going-- The Deck. 

With The Deck, the rules of the game are still the same:

 WEGO-style turn-based with initiative determining order of ability execution 

Abilities combine with Gear & Talents to create effects on either character

First character to die (there’s no fainting in Exiles) loses

However, instead of a 4-Ability Set, you now choose 8. 4 are chosen for you randomly at the beginning of a Battle and the others are in queue. As you use Abilities, they cycle back into the deck and the next Ability in the deck becomes available (see the smaller “coming” Ability represented below-- that is WIP as is everything in these Updates, and it will get a proper UI representation if it ends up being something we support).

Initial testing has proven fun and maddening-- my main Mage “MoarMagicks”still can’t consistently beat SingmeAsong’s main Warrior “Jackal,” despite my clearly superior strategies and build-- and we have some work to do on what the mode does to overall balance. But it’s promising, and we’re excited to show it to you if it ends up passing muster. 

AMA

We’re getting ready to do another AMA! If you’ve got burning questions about Exiles, from features to rules to lore to whatever, join the crew and the community for an evening of anything goes-- even making fun of the devs-- we can take it. Submit questions/discussions now on the Reddit thread, and we’ll have some answers ready. And you can win stuff! We’ll be doing some good old-fashioned rolling (of virtual dice) for in-game prizes (loot table is forthcoming, and will be published on the AMA thread in the forums).

So head over to the Discord channel on MAY 9 at 5:30 PM Central Time and get the inside scoop on all things Exiles.

WE HAVE AN ANDROID BUILD

“WHAT?!”

Yes. MANY of our early testing sign-ups have Android devices, and I have some good news for them-- we have an early Android build! Now, before any shenanigans break out, you should know that it’s rough, new and not as far along as the iOS build. But it lives, and you Android users will be kicking arses before too long right beside your iOS brethren.

VANISIR 

Along the southwest of Embermark is a region called Vanisir, a mostly arid-- but critical-- piece of land, given its major port, resources and the presence of a manageable Breach. We’re rolling out Battle environments for each of our starting world zones, and Vanisir’s first can be seen here, with an unfortunate player sizing up the enemy that I can’t stop showing to you-- the overly intelligent and vicious WOLF. 

“Hey, didn’t I just see you atop some dwarven shoulder armor?”

THE PLAYER CREATED GEAR CONTEST (PCGC)

Players have been guiding us every step of the way toward Embermark and it’s time for them to get a piece of loot or two (or more) in the game. All of the rules surrounding battle and loot haven’t been revealed, but those of you following the development of the game probably have an idea or two rolling around in your heads about a piece of equipment that would do X, Y, or Z.

So the 1st Exiles Player Created Gear Contest (PCGC) is on! Check this thread in the forums for all the details and how to submit your idea. One lucky (and clever, and creative) winner will get their piece of loot in the game (and get a copy of it themselves) and many will win prizes based on the criteria you see in the official thread!

LOOT UPDATE

The loot train continues, and our artists are feverishly designing, modeling texturing and lootzing armor weapons and even rings now (rings are just icons, so they won’t show up on your person, but whatevs). 

Armor for the Warrior is getting the color-tell treatment, as we showed for the Mage armor earlier. You’ll see it throughout the system as you start to play, and it’s turning out to be both useful and sometimes hilarious, depending on the how close your gear build preferences are to your color preferences (did someone say transmog? *whistles as he walks away). 

Behold the Axe of Cleaving (your head from your body)!

You will see this spear put to good use by our draconian friend below.

I’m not even sure what to say here other than I wouldn’t want it connecting with any part of me...

We continue to design various silhouettes for shields, for those sword-and-board enthusiasts out there...

And here’s one more! (this one’s a stock broadsword, but I still lurve it)

MILITARY

Last couple of Updates, we’ve been showing off a race of baddies that will hound and hinder you throughout your journey to be among the Marked. Their political and military machinations threaten to overrun the entirety of Embermark.

They also look like dragons, have wings and are awesome. Now we’ve got them animating in the engine and will be playable in short order. Like the dwarf above, we created their gear with an eye towards dropping it for you to use in your own loadouts.

(Alas, I had to fool with this one quite a bit to get it under Tumblr’s 2 MB GIF limit, so if you want a higher quality look at this attack, it’s here)

REMEMBER

We’ll keep sharing details as we head into testing (remember to PM TheWizard on the Exiles forums if you want in on closed testing & beta later), and you can count on early impressions from the testers throughout our various channels.

If you haven’t already, follow along with the Exiles development on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. And if you haven’t, I’ll find you. And SMITE you.

GET IN ON THE CHATTER

If you want to hear about the game, ask questions or connect with others who are helping the development team think about features, design and narrative, hop into the Discord Channel for live chat and say hi– it’s a friendly lot with plenty of daily shenanigans (there’s even a Shenaniganizer).

THE BONUS

I leave this here without comment.

[floralmotif]

Tagged by @nerdylittleshit

God, I’m bad at this. Oh well, have some overly long answers.

1. Coke or Pepsi: Coke because my boyfriend purchases metric tons of it, and sometimes it’s the only non-water beverage in the house I’m awake enough to locate.

2. Disney or Dreamworks: I like both pretty equally for different reasons. I’ll go for either depending on what I’m looking for. I’d count How to Train your Dragon 1 & 2 as my favorites among both, but I don’t count it as elevating one studio over the other in general.

3. Coffee or Tea: Both. I usually drink coffee though. It’s just more convenient. 

4. Books or Movies: Again, both. I watch more movies than I read, but I love both. Movies are easier to put on in the background while I work.

5. Windows or Mac: Depends on what I want to use them for. Windows for video games and 3D software of basically any kind. (game engines, 3ds max, any animation plugin) and Mac for 2D design/web stuff or editing. After Effects and word processors run fine on either one, but it’s easier to locate and move files around on Mac. Scripting for games is way easier on Windows. 

6. DC or Marvel: Uh... I like them both ok pretty equally. But neither are really my thing comic book wise, unless you count Vertigo as DC (it technically is). I’m more on the indie/horror side of the comic reading verse. Pretty much all of my comics are from Image, Top Cow, Vertigo and Dark Horse. Some others thrown in. I read some Marvel, DC and IDW because my bf has them.

7. Xbox or Playstation: Playstation pretty much hands down this gen. I have nothing against XBox in theory and I have an XBox 360 but that’s only because it has exclusives I like. The XBox One just doesn’t have that many games that interest me at the moment, and the ones it does have will eventually end up on PC anyway.

8. Dragon Age or Mass Effect: Eh... hard choice. I have a slightly above neutral opinion of both of them. The Witcher 3 kind of stole most of my Western RPG feels. 

9. Night Owl or Early Rise: Both. My sleep schedule is made of absolute lose. I’d be an Early Riser if I had a choice even though my brain tends to prefer late nights.

10. Cards or Chess: Chess

11. Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate, I guess.

12. Vans or Converse: Never owned either. *Googles what Vans look like* Converse.

13. Lavellan, Trevelyan, Cadash or Adaar: I didn’t really get all that into Dragon Age, but Lavellan I guess. 

14. Fluff or Angst: Fluff usually. I like a good creepy/horror fic, but angst needs a compelling purpose for me. 

15. Beach or Forest: Forest

16. Dogs or Cats: Cats

17. Clear Skies or Rain: Rain

18. Cooking or Eating Out: I work from home, so I usually end up cooking even if my cooking amenities aren’t that great. I use the slow cooker a lot. Going out is nice though.

19. Spicy Food or Mild Food: I like both depending on the food and how it’s spiced.

20. Halloween/Samhain or Solstice/Yule/Christmas: Halloween

21. Would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot: If I didn’t have Raynaud’s Syndrome, I’d say a little too cold.

22. If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Traveling into people’s dreams sounds interesting.

23. Animation or Live Action: The medium a movie is made in doesn’t really affect my enjoyment of it as long it’s made well and with purpose. I preferred animation for awhile growing up though.

24. Paragon or Renegade: I couldn’t renegade if I tried. I tried. I can’t not pick the “nice guy” or neutral approach in most cases. I feel bad even in video games.

25. Baths or Showers: I like baths, but showers are faster. Also, I don’t currently have a bathtub.

26. Team Cap or Team Iron Man: Team Cap, because we’re supposed to side with him and Tony couldn’t defend his arguments. Overall though? It’s a more complicated issue than they made it out to be. Maybe team Cap... but neutral is probably more true.

27. Fantasy or Sci-Fi: Both. I’m not really a fan of “classical fantasy” settings most of the time. But weird ass fantasy? Hell yes! Sci-Fi is also interesting because it tends to have interesting explorations of introspective information, so yeah.. depending on what I’m looking for... both.

28. Do you have three or four favourite quotes? If so, what are they:

"The movie you see is not the movie I thought I was shooting. I thought I was making a much more whimsical, comic story, kaleidoscopic, almost like a Coen brothers movie. And what I found in the cutting room was a much more emotional, haunting animal than I had imagined.” -Sam Mendes on American Beauty

“And as I've gotten older, I've had more of a tendency to look for people who live by kindness, tolerance, compassion, a gentler way of looking at things.” -Martin Scorsese

“All that “English class stuff” is a way into empathy; for Holden, and for all of us. It’s a way to hear and be heard.” - John Green on The Catcher in the Rye

29. YouTube or Netflix: Both for different things. They aren’t interchangeable for me.

30. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson: Harry Potter. 

31. When You Feel Accomplished: When I finish pretty much anything or something that I start putting together actually starts getting somewhere.

32. Star Wars or Star Trek: Star Wars

33. Paperback Books or Hardback Books: No preference. I’ll get whatever version I can find or whatever cover I think has prettier art.

34. Handwriting or Typing: Typing

35. Velvet or Satin: Satin

36. Video Games or Movies: Video Games

37. Would you rather be the dragon or own the dragon? Be a dragon.

38. Sunrise or sunset: Sunset

39. What’s your favourite song? I hate this question. Uh.... currently? The Humbling River by Puscifer. Ask again in a few days, it’ll change.

40. Horror Movies yes or no: Horror movies tend to be really disappointing. Horror anything else are usually fine. Jump scares make me wheeze.

41. Long hair or short hair: Long hair.

42. Opera or Theatre: Theatre.

43: Assuming the multiverse theory is true and every story ever told has really happened somewhere, which one of the movie/book/tv show/game/etc worlds would you pick to travel to first?

Uh... The Sandman? I guess. Maybe some video game world.

Tagging.. uh... tagging makes me nervous:  How about @cloudspires1295 @theslaughteredpanda @chiisana-sukima @wearingmywings If anyone else wants to do it feel free. 

[specialagentfluffstein]

All the asks! In a really nice way!

All the asks, minus the attitude! Sorry this took forever, I just finally had some time to sit and do it.

1. What was the last present you gave? I gave one of the girls in my EMT class some apples off my neighbor’s tree as a thank you for creating a complete medical terminology quizlet and then sharing it. 

2. What was the last present you received? My stepdad has a 3D printer at work and he made me a little block thing with the Walt Disney castle/signature. 

3. What animal best represents your personality? Bears. 

4. What are you most afraid of? Failure.

5. Who is your favourite villain? Right this second? Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog.

6. Who is your favourite family member? (we all have one, admit it) My sister.

7. If you could name your own planet what would it be called? Fluffsville.

8. Stars or Moon? Stars.

9. Do you have/want kinds? I’m gonna assume this means kids. No. 

10. What is your greatest life goal? Happiness. And also visiting every Disney park.

11. What is something you can’t live without? Music. I almost always have something playing. Right now it’s my ‘Halloweenie’ playlist on Spotify. 

12. What is a place you associate with your childhood? A specific local library.

13. How was your first kiss/how would you like your first kiss to go? It went terribly. I got cornered like a wounded animal and as soon as he left I scrubbed my lips with the fancy sugar scrub I reserve for special occasions. My second first kiss (new boy) was much nicer, even though he missed. 

14. What is some life advice you have acquired? If the worst thing that happens today is that you messed up on the radio, it’s been a good day. And keep a spare pair of boots polished, just in case.

15. Who in history has influenced you? David Bowie and Walt Disney.

16. What is something strange that you think about often? Simulation and consciousness theories. It makes my brain hurt, but also, what if none of this is real, beyond what I can see and experience at this very moment?

17. Baths or Showers? I usually take showers for convenience’s sake, but I do love a nice soak with fun bath bombs or Epsom salts.

18. Tea of Coffee? Before 1400? Coffee. After 1400? Tea. 

19. Alcohol or soft drink? What do the hard sodas (Henry’s, Not Your Father’s, etc.) count as? Because the first thing I bought alcohol-wise from the grocery store after I turned 21 last month was a six pack of hard grape soda. I’m kinda a lightweight, I’ll be real with you. 

20. Writing or typing? Both, but I prefer handwriting stuff. 

21. What is you most favourite thing in your bedroom? Ugh that’s like picking a favorite child. I guess, right this second, it’s the Greg (from Over the Garden Wall) figure on my desk.

22. Spontaneous holiday! Where are you going and with who? Disneyland with my Boo Thang. 

23. Introverted or Extraverted? Extravert. 

24. Describe yourself in two words. Attention Whore. 

25. A song that always puts you in a good mood. “Dancing Queen”

26. What makes you feel? Really good music or food. 

27. What was your favourite concert? Chris Isaak. I’ve seen him twice.

28. Any plans for a tattoo? Yes! I just need to buck up and get it.

29. What was the first book you ever read? I have no idea. Probably a Magic Treehouse book.

30. What was the first movie you saw in cinemas? No se.

31. What do you think of when you hear ‘portrait’? An image of something. 

32. Tell me about your partner/ideal partner? I have one of those! He’s funny and has a cat and does competitive pistol and rifle matches. 

33. Tell me about your siblings, if you have any? I have a sister. She’s great.

34. What is a topic you would like to talk about more? I really wish I had more people to discuss religion with, and not just Christianity. I think religion is super interesting, and it’s tough to find people who will discuss it objectively. 

35. What are you a big advocate for? Seeking counseling. Everyone should see a counselor. We’d be much happier as a society. 

36. If you’re comfortable to answer, what is the sickest you have ever been? This past January I got the flu or something after doing a bunch of traveling, and I was so out of it I forgot that I texted the Detective I was interning for at the time that I was sick and not coming in, and that he responded with like ‘feel better’ or whatever and I even responded to that. So I spent the whole day going ‘oh nooooo I’m a no call no show.’ 

37. When were you the most scared in your life? I woke up from a really horrible dream and for about twenty minutes I couldn’t figure out if it was real or not. 

38. Ever had a paranormal experience? Yes! My grandma’s house is absolutely haunted, and when I’d be there alone watching TV in the living room I’d hear footsteps like someone coming to see what I was watching. They weren’t malevolent or anything, but it was a little unsettling. 

39. Biggest celebrity crush at the moment? Henry Cavill. 

40. What is something happening in your life right now? I’m in an EMT class and it’s not awesome at all. 

41. What is your favourite mythological creature? UNICORNS. 

42. Marvel or DC? For movies? Marvel. For comics? DC.

43. What object would be on your family’s banner? Alcohol. 

44. Favourite flower? Carnations.

45. One characteristic you like in a partner? You have to be able to laugh at things. Especially vaguely off color things. 

46. What planet/star would you travel to if it were possible? Jupiter.

47. What is your favourite meal… ever? Thanksgiving. 

48. First time…. doing anything. Describe your first time doing something? The first time I ran an overdose call as a Police Explorer, I got to see the guy get dosed with Narcan. It was rad. And then we ended up arresting the guy later. 

49. Who is your favourite superhero? Nightwing.

50. What is your favourite poem? Recite it? This is Just To Say - William Carlos Williams

I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold

51. What is an exercise you despise doing. Running. God I hate it so much. 

52. Secret talent? I can pole dance. Not well, but I can do a couple tricks.

53. Current song on replay replay replay? “Halloween” by Sonic Youth and “All That Heaven Will Allow” by the Mavericks. 

54. Recommend me anything. Seriously… anything. Go listen to the Mavericks. They are great.

55. If you weren’t in your current occupation what would you be doing? Probably going to school for a masters.

56. What is the first thing you notice about the person you fancy? Shoes and smile.

57. If you had one wish that would definitely come true, what would it be? That money would never be an issue. 

58. If you could time travel, when and where would you visit? I feel like I would just go to a bunch of concerts. 

59. What is your lucky number? 21.

60. If you adopt a pet what would it be and what would you name it? Oh man so many dogs. I want five corgis and a pitbull and the pittie’s name would be Korg. Korg and the Corgis. 

61. Do you believe in fate/everything happens for a reason? Kind of. I think personal decisions have a lot to do with it. 

62. What is your favourite thing about your personality? I am so aggressively cheerful. 

63. What is your favourite thing about your appearance? Hair.

64. What is your favourite clothing store? To actually buy stuff in? TJ Maxx. To walk around in? Nordstrom’s. 

65. What is your favourite online store? Tarte, or any makeup site. I love makeup.

66. Use one word to describe your most favourite person? Blond.

67. How do you usually have your hair? Up, unfortunately.

68. What was your favourite subject in high school? English and EMR.

69. What makes you feel empowered? Good outfits and good makeup.

70. What motivates you to do something? Spite.

71. What advice would you give someone who is going through a rough time? Things might not get better per se, but they’ll suck differently, so whatever sucks now probably won’t suck in the future. 

72. Ideal date? Dinner and a Movie. 

73. What is the best date night movie? A comedy. 

74. What is something you are currently looking forward to? Halloween!

75. Tell me a funny joke? You wanna know how I know it’s going to be a spoopy Halloween? I can feel it in my…bones! *skeletons laughing*

76. Do you like musicals? If so, what’s your favourite? I do like musicals, my sister and I really like Something Rotten right now. And I love the Lion King.

77. What is your favourite song currently? “All That Heaven Will Allow” by The Mavericks.

78. What song never fails to make you dance? “Footloose”

79. What is your favourite “classic?” Classic TV.

80. What is the best advice you have ever been given? The radio advice from the earlier question. 

81. Where did you ancestors come from? I think they were Vikings.

82. What have you learned from your parents/guardians? “Yes And” is the best answer.

83. What is a phrase you heard a lot growing up? “Knock it off”

84. Do you believe in magic? yes.

85. What reminds you of your best friend? The pictures I took down because we aren’t friends anymore. 

86. What are you passionate about? Being my authentic self. And Disney.

87. Tell me a story from middle school? I skipped middle school.

88. Who was your favourite teacher and why? Barthe. He was wacky as hell and taught in a way that I retained pretty much everything. I still use stuff I learned from him in college as examples for what I learn now.

89. Can you roll your tongue? Yes, and I can fold it.

90. What made you pursue what you are studying? (including school subjects) I thought I loved it. Now I’m not so sure.

91. Where would you like to travel to? All the Disney Parks. And I’d like to visit all 50 states.

92. What is something on your bucket-list? Visit all 50 states.

93. What is home to you? Wherever my bed is.

94. What do you do in your free time? When I have it, which is like never, I knit and watch TV or hang out with my boyfriend. 

95. If you could buy anything right now, what would it be? A house. 3 Bed 2 Bath with  two car garage, stainless steel appliances, and a yard. 

96. If you could see anyone, living or dead, right now, who would it be? My late grandfather. I could use some of his advice.

97. If you could choose, what would your last meal be? Chicken Wings.

98. How would you like to die? Um yeah that’s not going to happen. If it does I better be like 120. 

99. List five of your favourite pieces of art (paintings, books, songs etc) Everything. Everything is art and I love it all. 

100. What would you change about this world? Equality. I have just as much value as my male counterpart, even if we have different strengths. 

Thanks for asking!

[ianasennus]

[Udemy] 3ds Max + V-Ray: 3ds Max PRO in 6 hrs

3ds Max intro course: 3Ds Max and V-Ray for creating 3D architectural imagery, from beginner to advanced What Will I Learn?   This course is intended to introduce 3d Visualization to the students, starting from the ground up. I will teach all the basic skills for getting you started making awesome images and building a portfolio. Learn to bring your 3D designs to life. Learn 3ds Max basic navigation, customization, transforms, modeling, etc. Learn the basics of rendering using Vray, the industry standard for Arch Viz. Learn Vray materials, lighting and cameras. Learn the basics of using Photoshop to create texture maps, and also post-process your renderings to create beautiful finished images. Provide the foundation for starting a career in 3d visualization. Complete your first photoreal, professional rendering using 3ds Max and Vray. Follow along with multiple professional projects, both interior and exterior (source files provided) Improve your lighting, composition, and post-processing skills Start creating professional looking 3d visualization by following along with the course projects. After learning the basics with the first projects, jump into more advanced projects with the latest versions of the software New content added regularly Adjust your knowledge for the most up to date versions of the software Requirements 64 bit Windows operating system Computer and Internet Ability to download / install trial software Basic computer knowledge Knowledge of CAD, 3d software, photo editing, art / illustration – helpful but not necessary. Previous experience in a design field is helpful, but also not necessary. Description *Course Updated 10/27/2017 - now contains resources for moving on to more advanced techniques after finishing this course. *Much more content coming soon (advanced techniques for arch viz, interior renderings with V-Ray, animation, etc) *I’ll be your technical support - I answer questions every day in the discussion area, and I always respond to your private messages. In these advanced computer programs, you will inevitably run into technical problems. I am always here to answer all your questions and help you troubleshoot. You can’t find another course anywhere that gives you this much training, from a practicing professional, who is also at your beckon call to help, for such a reasonable price. *Recent Student Feedback “The Missing Link Having done numerous on-line 3D courses I am always looking for new ways of doing things to speed up production and modeling. The course although basic is very well structured with very few ambiguities. What Adam outlines in the Intro clip is what you should achieve relatively easily by the end of the course. . The only downside is that he hasn’t done more advanced Visualisation courses yet. When they do come on stream I will no doubt enroll as his skill and experience within the industry comes through in his presentation.” NOTE: I do, in fact, have some more advanced classes now. “This course is perfect for the beginners in 3ds max and V-ray. The information is clear and easy to understand. The course was a blast…” About This Course: When I first made this course, it was to fill a void that I noticed in the arch viz industry. There are not a lot of tutorials out there that help you to learn arch viz from the beginning in a professional way, using the PRO software and a PRO workflow. So, I created this course, and I never could have imagined how popular it has become! It has also evolved a lot since that first time I published. Here are some key things to know: ORIGINAL COURSE teaches 3ds Max and V-Ray from the very beginning follows a project from nothing, all the way to the end demonstrates the exact workflow that I use daily as a practicing professional (thus the PRO part) uses my UI setup, shortcuts, etc (all downloadable for your use) shows you everything you need to know to create a basic project uses 3ds Max 2011, so as long as you have any version after that, you should be able to follow (updates have been made where necessary to account for changes all the way up to most current versions) contains 6 HRS of video from start to finish ADDITIONAL CONTENT brings you up to speed with the latest versions of the software and fills in the gaps where they exist more advanced techniques (i.e. HDRI lighting, etc) more advanced and complex projects  currently two additional projects to follow along with, including an advanced interior and exterior. much higher production quality than original videos awesome new content being added regularly to make you aware of new techniques, software updates, etc. new projects coming soon About 3ds Max and V-Ray: Knowing how to use these two programs together is a valuable skill. Seriously, I taught myself how to use these programs many years ago, and now I get paid quite well for my expertise. 3d is not just my hobby, it is also how I support my family. You can learn, and start a career in 3d too. Everything you need to get started is in this course. I will take you through 3ds Max and V-Ray from the very beginning, and by the end you will be well on your way to creating your own images and filling up your portfolio with polished work. Keep in mind, you do not typically need formal training to get a job in 3D. What it takes is an awesome portfolio, so let’s get started on yours. Some Questions To Ask Yourself: Are you currently in a job you do not enjoy?Jobs in 3d are seriously fun and rewarding! Are you an architecture student who feels overwhelmed sometimes trying to learn complicated software just to present your design properly? This course can get you up and running QUICK! Plus, you’ll learn it the right way, from a pro. Are you a SketchUp user who is no longer satisfied with the modeling / rendering capabilities of SketchUp, and are ready to take your 3d skills to the next level? SketchUp is great at what it does, but it falls short when it comes to making flashy, photoreal images. Also, bring your sketchUp with you, then learn to import it into 3ds Max and render with V-Ray, the best render engine out there. Are you a practicing architect that needs a better way to portray your designs to clients? You’ve come to the right place. I am an expert at just that. Maybe you’re a gamer who wants to create your own game assets? Even you should learn 3ds Max. It is the industry standard for video games, and I personally have used it for asset creation for my unity 3d games. Course Structure (Original 6 hrs of instruction) For absolute beginners, I will show you how to get the software as a free trial and start finding your way around. I will also go over how to customize your UI for a professional workflow, because why learn the slow way to do things, right? I’ll also share with you my custom UI files. Of course, you can skip all of this if you are more seasoned. Next we will start with the basics of modeling. I will show you different techniques, and we will begin to work on our project. Again, files will be provided if you want / need them. With modeling down, we will go into V-Ray and start playing with lighting, materials, cameras, render settings, etc. Finally, we will learn how to enhance our images with Photoshop. I give some great post-processing tips in this course. By the end you will be able to create architectural renderings on your own with a completely professional setup and workflow. Then it is your turn to start practicing your skills, creating beautiful work, building a portfolio and landing a job. AFTER THE INITIAL PROJECT - once you have completed your first project and learned the basics, I will then move into more advanced techniques (also, there is fully professional interior V-Ray project coming soon that students will be able to learn along with – this is for more advanced users, or people who are ready to move on from the initial 6 hrs of instruction) How Will This Course Benefit You? If you are a beginner, this class will be a great overview of how to get up and running. It will cut out all the stuff you do not need and show you exactly the workflow necessary to work like a pro. If you are a veteran user, take this course to polish your V-Ray skills, and also to streamline your workflow. I show so many tips and tricks that I use everyday to pump out arch viz projects fast and on budget. There is no need to sacrifice quality and creativity if you can fly through the project quickly and on budget. I’ll show you how. COMING SOON: If you feel like you have mastered the basics, I have now added more advanced / obscure techniques that can really help your images to stand out, and much more will be coming soon, including a professional V-Ray interior shot that is completely photoreal. Ready To Sign Up? What are you waiting for? If you’re still not sure, check out the preview videos. Also, check out my profile to the left and see some of my portfolio. Cool, right? Wan’t to make some of your own images? Let’s get started. 6 hrs is all you need to get started, then take the skills I share and practice, practice, practice. Remember, I will provide the files and download links that you need for everything. My models are included. Come with nothing, leave with a finished project and a great knowledge base. Start Your Love Affair With 3d Today! PURCHASE THE COURSE. *If the price isn’t right, keep an eye out for Udemy promotions and coupon codes around the web, but I think a 6 hr training for $64 is a pretty good deal. Sure beats a semester at community college :) *30 day money back guarantee, no questions asked! (If you hate it, get a refund) -Adam Zollinger Professional (self-taught and ready to teach you) 3d Artist Who is the target audience? Design professionals who want to learn 3D Architecture students SketchUp users looking to advance their skill set Anyone with a vague interest in 3d Draftsman who are interested in learning rendering Architects Current 3ds Max users who want to learn how to work with Vray Gamers who want to learn to model their own game assets (especially architectural ones) in 3ds Max. source https://ttorial.com/3ds-max-v-ray-3ds-max-pro-6-hrs

source https://ttorialcom.tumblr.com/post/177206613603