BioRUST Forums - Blogs - This week in technical endeavors by Culann http://forums.biorust.com/blogs/culann/ en Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:33:18 GMT vBulletin 60 http://forums.biorust.com/images/misc/rss.jpg BioRUST Forums - Blogs - This week in technical endeavors by Culann http://forums.biorust.com/blogs/culann/ I have an actual blog now http://forums.biorust.com/blogs/culann/242-i-have-actual-blog-now.html Thu, 30 Apr 2009 02:35:54 GMT http://technobabelfish.blogspot.com/

It's mostly archived FB notes, but I'm also about halfway through chronicling my quest for a RenFest costume.

Figured I'd put it here, since I haven't been too active here. Finals - they suck :S. ]]> Culann http://forums.biorust.com/blogs/culann/242-i-have-actual-blog-now.html Cake show http://forums.biorust.com/blogs/culann/226-cake-show.html Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:37:17 GMT Here is the link to my pics from the cake show. This is just what I felt like posting tonight; there's about 10X more that I have but did not post. Here you go!
http://www.irishfiddler.us/Cake_Show.html ]]> Culann http://forums.biorust.com/blogs/culann/226-cake-show.html Finally, I blog again http://forums.biorust.com/blogs/culann/223-finally-i-blog-again.html Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:12:45 GMT Wow, I just realized I meant to do this for several weeks. Why the delay? The owners of the sushi restaurant I started working at in November have now retired, as of February. Then the restaurant closed for two weeks, while the new owners put their spin on the building. It formerly looked like... Wow, I just realized I meant to do this for several weeks. Why the delay?
The owners of the sushi restaurant I started working at in November have now retired, as of February. Then the restaurant closed for two weeks, while the new owners put their spin on the building.
It formerly looked like the Taco Bueno it started as, with some Kirin Ichiban banners and Chinese lanterns situated perfectly for 5-foot tall people. I'm 6'0", standing head and shoulders over everyone else who used to work there. So I'd come out of the back, duck to avoid the banners at 5' 9", then lean around the Chinese lantern at head level. Now it looks like you're walking into an avocado: the walls are green, the ceiling is black, and the floor is brown. The lanterns and banners are gone, replaced by more contemporary light fixtures that don't require me to consciously avoid.

But the big change is in my hours. I started (under the old regime, lol) working Tuesday/Thursday - slow days, but they got me money without affecting my schedule. Now the new boss, Miya, wants me to work Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (lunch and dinner). This is bad, since all of my music stuff (which pay way more, and are more desirable in every way) is on Saturday. And then she gets confused which days I need off...
This really screws with a previous commitment to participate in a cake competition. I had planned for 3 entries (a cookie thingy, a sculpted cake, and a random thingy), but it's not going well. I have abandoned all but the cookies, and I only have one finished cookie for that. I will post pictures once I get this one finished: they're 3D dragons, made of layered cookies so that they can stand on their own four feet. They're (read: "it's") pretty awesome.
In other news, my Maya class assignments conveniently line up with my long-term goals of starting a webcomic. I need to make heads for the midterm, and I need to put bodies on them for finals. Since I'm actually learning quite a lot about geometry, I decided to redo my wyvern for the assignments. Conveniently, the .obj exporter means that I can avoid making him a third time! I'm really happy with the new model, although I'll need to redo the teeth tomorrow. I'll get a screenie of him and the budgie gryphon I'm also doing tomorrow.

And now, there's some ice cream in the café that calls my name... ]]> Culann http://forums.biorust.com/blogs/culann/223-finally-i-blog-again.html This is your brain on blender http://forums.biorust.com/blogs/culann/202-your-brain-blender.html Sun, 04 Jan 2009 00:09:43 GMT Seeing if this still works for me...

OK, finally got Blender working the way I want it to, and I even got a book on Blender animation for my birthday! yay! And, since it's still winter break, I have been doing as much modeling as I can. Finally got a new spaceship model modeled, but not mapped yet. Here it is.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version Name: ship1.jpg Views: 71 Size: 122.1 KB ID: 37   Click image for larger version Name: ship2.jpg Views: 56 Size: 103.1 KB ID: 38  
]]> Culann http://forums.biorust.com/blogs/culann/202-your-brain-blender.html Week 1 http://forums.biorust.com/blogs/culann/186-week-1.html Sun, 14 Dec 2008 03:46:03 GMT Okay, my stupid, I just posted this entire thing in my blog description. :stupid:

Anyway, now that my Maya class finished up on Thursday, I can say goodbye to that for a while - and goodbye to my Maya access. Not that I'm sad - it's a pain in the rear sometimes, just due to the stability problems and my noobness. My final project, a still render of a room, got turned in without a hitch, except that I'm not too pleased with the ambient light.

On other fronts, I have now figured out Illustrator and InDesign in my "Intro to Computer Graphics" class (aka "everything you already knew about a Mac and less, but is required to take the Maya class you like"). I now have a really cool Christmas card under my belt. I know it's cool 'cuz it's got ninjas. Yeah. It sounded so much better in my head, lol.

I have also tried out Blender 2.48, which I think has been giving me grief. The camera keeps disappearing, so I can't render. I just got 2.47 back and hopefully that can help.
BTW: On the blender site, it says that merging an instance back into the original model will remove the central crease. I have tried that, but that doesn't help. I have even hit "remove duplicates," but that just gives me a dark line instead of a crease. And I can't render to see if it shows in the final product! Oh well, I 'll post in the forum tomorrow. Stupid Blender! Doesn't it know it's holding up my evil machinations for a webcomic?!

Slán, and Nollaig shona daoibh,
Culann ]]> Culann http://forums.biorust.com/blogs/culann/186-week-1.html New tutorial http://forums.biorust.com/blogs/culann/123-new-tutorial.html Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:05:03 GMT Finally got my Cake Photography tutorial up on Caked Alaska. It's for the total beginner, but it's been helpful for the people on cakecentral.com, which gets some really horrible pictures. Anyway, just thought I'd mention it. Here's the link: photo tut
BTW: it's how I did the doll cake, which is in my picture gallery here and on CA. ]]> Culann http://forums.biorust.com/blogs/culann/123-new-tutorial.html