Here’s a screencap of the 6 layers of audio. Was fun to do a few different zombie types… and, of course, the eating sounds.
“BRAAAAAAINZZ”
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Ok, this is about the final chapter here. I have about 4 hours till I have to hit the final render button. Will I make the deadline for the Houdini Cook-Off?
My promises to myself include:
- Keep the title, “Food for Thought“.
- Use a brain.
- Have it be cooked and/or eaten.
- Create reusable assets.
- Make sure I’m packed and ready with my desert gear for Burning Man… TOMORROW??? We still have an RV and trailer to pack.
Progress so far…
- I started with a model I couldn’t use, because I didn’t build it, so how do you easily build a brain in Houdini?
- I tried to use MRI data to build my own brain geometry… via voxels. I got something working… BUT… I couldn’t make anything solid. It was very ghostly looking so I tried some nodes in Houdini which allowed me to create geometry, but the input data from an MRI scan is pretty dirty. I knew I need to somehow build a solid brain quickly. So, I’m stopping this R&D and I’m saving the MRI results for when I get my own personal brain scan next month (no joke). My Wacom isn’t working under windows (I know… weird), so this was helping me avoid 3DCoat for my sculpting.
- Starting over, I used a low-res smooth brain-like shaped object and painted on it. Using some procedural point operations, I created the wrinkle/sausage (gyrus?) things on the brain.
- I don’t know Houdini’s shaders well enough to make realistic looking brain bread baking, so my limited time was spent on shaders, and all I’m really looking for is more BANG for my buck. So, I’m setting aside my “baking bread brains” in coffee shops… for now! MWAHAHAHA!!!
- Serendipity occurred and I ended up filming the Vancouver Zombie Walk from last weekend. While I was there, I ran into an A&W and asked for a paper cup. I marked it up with “X”s and triangles, thinking, “Hopefully make-up covered actors won’t feel too silly… eating a paper cup.“
*note: Blanket hanging on chair in attempting to get rid of the echos while recording.
Now, here I am with some undesirables that I’m trying to overcome.
Using Windows, not Linux.
Using a small USB hard drive as my project drive.
Going to be recording my own audio (zombie acting… whaaat?)
Doing my composting in Houdini.
I changed the direction last minute (oh those crazy directors… hehe).
Not sure how I’m going to be able to finish my Houdini Cook-Off entry, but I’ll try.
First, I have to purchase some last minute items for Burning Man and then visit my storage to get a few more.
I just put up some of my photos from last year’s burn. Check em out.
- No longer upset I didn't get a Windows7 disc with my laptop. – http://t.co/z9XcADy #
- Replacing popular cleaners with vinegar, borax and banana peels? – http://t.co/NKwIdst #
- A reminder of the power of silence. – http://t.co/kk2eGiS #
- Siggraph talk on real-time 3D reconstruction using Microsoft's Kinect: [thx Ben Staples] http://t.co/urieqct #
- 13-year-old discovers the solar power of the spiral. http://t.co/mdjvRyh #
- Bionic hand makes for great ad space. http://t.co/rrDPeD0 #
On August 20th, 2011, Vancouver was plagued by an army of the undead. I managed to survive the claws of the maggot invested fiends with my recorded footage.
What’s this on my arm? Aw nothin. Just a scratch. *cough* *cough* Really, I’m fine.
Here’s some footage that I put together for fun.
A Microsoft sponsored talk that was presented at SIGGRAPH 2011 in Vancouver.
As Ben Staples says, “This whole clip is amazing, but long… If you only check out a portion watch at 3:42“. It creates geometry and textures in real-time. They also use this geometry information for dynamic collisions (which is what Ben is referring to at 3:42). Also checkout the object tracking on the teapot.
Only question remains is, “When can I get this working at home!?“
Despite the great time I have had playing Blipzkrieg, I’ve also invested some time (and $7) on another game.
Frozen Synapse was half-off on Steam this past weekend and I’ve been playing it quite a bit… in between renders. I am certainly digging it, as it feels like a combination of Rainbow Six’s planning stages, X-COM and Jagged Alliance. Games can be completed fairly quickly, unlike most turn-based strategy games, which is a big plus for casual gamers.
It’s also worth mentioning that they’ve demoed some Jagged Alliance Online footage on Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Great game and I remember running into one of the developers while snowboarding in Vancouver
Modeling a brain sounds like a pain.
Pulling points in the wrinkles is driving me insane.
So I’m trying to puff it up with some baking.
Step 1. Rebuild this from scratch. The gyrus need to be smaller and the sulcus (wrinkles) need to be more frequent.
Step 2. Use this popping accident to my advantage.
*UPDATE*
Ok, this looks more like a brain.
- Voxels at Siggraph 2011 : http://t.co/FqOH0s5 #
- San Fran police prevent protest by blocking cell phones: [via Frank Benjamin] http://t.co/aoGrhFR #
- Houdini 12 is shaping up to be a historic event. Some improvements are hundreds of times better. http://ur1.ca/4wddl #
- Cory Doctorow's #Siggraph 2011 keynote speech regarding copyright. http://boingboing.net/2011/08/11/my-siggraph-keynote.html #
- Thanks to Annex Pro for a most excellent Siggraph party. My legs be burned out. #
Real quick, I wanted to point out the many recent uses of voxels demonstrated at Siggraph. I can’t help it, but I get pretty excited every time I hear about voxels. Even the developer at Atomontage states that we need a voxel “revolution”, and I couldn’t agree more.
Apparently Blue Sky’s “Rio” used Voxels for terrain and the rendering of large crowds. I hope the talk is released soon so I can see the details, first hand.
I was made aware of a game engine called Atomontage, which uses voxels [thx Ruslan]. In the video below, you can see the potentials of (for example) truly destructible terrain, as the user unearths rocks from the sand or strips the plaster from the walls, revealing the bricks underneath.
SideFx’s release of Houdini 11.1 allows for the integration with Sony Imagework’s open source project, “Field3D“, a format for working with 3D voxel data.
I’m going and I have a ticket. Some travel details need to be worked out and I still have some equipment prep that needs to be planned and executed.
I’m still working on my SideFX Cook-Off challenge entry.
I also just purchased the new turn-based strategy, “Frozen Synapse”. Some would say this will kill my productivity… and they would be right. The point is to use my computer for something completely not work related between little successes.
Also looks like MEC has the Injinji toe-socks that I need to get before burning man. What else will fit my toed Vibram shoes?
- Control your Canon DSLR with Android app via USB. I say, "OMG". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnxvFYza6Y4 #
- RT @noonat – juiced chase in Mac 'n' Cheese animation: http://t.co/PCr4Ikc #
- BlueBolt's Visual Effects Breakdown of "Game of Thrones": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkptadiDABo #
- This is one big puppet. http://io9.com/5826251/this-is-what-an-18+foot+tall-1700+pound-marionette-walking-down-the-street-looks-like #
- LED light bulbs used for a more efficient wireless communication: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaoSp4NpkGg [#TED] #
- Addicting little RTS browser game (after level 10). http://armorgames.com/play/12123/blipzkrieg #
- Magic and mystery in Beats Antique's new music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SA_kvN3pVk [thx @NorthwestMel] #
What does it all mean? Well, this was the simplest summary I found.
“Like any borrower, as the US’ credit rating get’s worse, the cost to borrow money is more expensive, if it’s more expensive to borrow money, spending drops, when spending drops, more business lay off workers, as unemployment grows, the FED prints more money for entitlement programs, as the supply of paper money increases, the buying power of the dollar decreases and Gold and Silver go up in price.”
I just about gave up on this MRI cloud thing, when I discovered this blog post by a fellow Houdini user, where he mentions a Volume from Attrib node that will allow me to alter a volume using point attributes. I think this may be the answer I have been looking for in order to avoid using metaballs. We shall see.
On top of that, he mentions a major performance issue in Houdini 11 when dealing with instanced shaders. Specifically, it’s an issue with the displacement being calculated, even when it’s not needed. And he posted a link to a fix in the SideFX forums.
And on top of that… through his Vimeo profile, I found this slick MRI plugin for Lightwave.
I also have the opportunity of getting my own brain scanned. How creepy is that?
An unplanned move had me out of my tiny little apartment in Parkville on Aug 1st, which has left me floating around a bit before my trip out west.
I am attempting to continue work on my Houdini Cook-Off entry, though not the easiest thing to do from a laptop, though I’ll be dropping a lot of the dynamics to make things more workable.
In about 4 days I will be in Vancouver attending another Siggraph. I have not been since… 2006? This will be my 4th Siggraph and the first time it has been held in Vancouver. Luckily I have a light laptop this time around. Damn am I excited.
Below is a video that I recorded from Siggraph 2004 in Los Angeles. I finally put it online.
Tickets acquired and RSVPed for parties.
This calendar should give you an idea of all the parties I plan on attending. That’s right, I have my priorities in order. 😉
After Siggraph, I’ll be attempting to get things organized in Vancouver before heading off to Burning Man.
Seems I was smart to purchase my ticket far in advance, because they are currently sold out.
MRI slices for a cloudy mind.
- Despite moving, Siggraph and a desert camping adventure, I've officially entered the Houdini Cook-Off contest: http://ur1.ca/4tcxl #
- Cuddle problems solved, along with many others ergo-issues. http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/dc/would-you-buy-a-cuddle-mattress-152093 #
- Was able to find a ton of subtitles files for my foreign films with this website: http://subscene.com #
- http://Visual.ly : Website dedicated for the sharing of infographics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiVKfNeRbPQ #
- Light on your feet? http://www.ministryofmanipulation.com/blog/chinlone-volleyball/ #
- Buffer your tweets with a slick little Chrome extension: http://ur1.ca/4shl9 #
- Crazy 2D animation / live action mix [via Nick van Zutphen]: http://vimeo.com/16051959 #
What is all this crazy techie 3D madness that I’ve suddenly been flooding into my blog? Well, I’ve officially entered SideFX’s Houdini Cook-Off contest. Win or loose, I think it’s going to be good experience and sometimes deadlines can be helpful.
I have 7 more days till my apartment lease is up, then I’ll primarily be working on my laptop, on the road, from some unknown location between here and Vancouver. I’m hoping to get as much done as humanly possible, before I move out.
So, here is my latest update to my Houdini Cook-Off entry, “Thought for Food“.
Initial test to see how well I can integrate something without without and masking by hand. Who’s a fan of rotoscoping masks by hand? *shiver*
I’m using some sphere’s here to act as masks to cut out my hero brain object.
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