It’s been a while but I’ve finally bought a new phone to replace my Sony Ericsson P990i (ancient, I know) and that is a BlackBerry Storm 2 by RIM (Research In Motion). It’s a touch screen phone with the ability to connect to anything especially now that I’ve changed to an O2 Bolt-On service which brings out what the BlackBerry is best known for. Connectivity~
Most people will probably ask me this two questions; Why BlackBerry? Why not an iPhone? Well the answer is for one, I’m not an Apple fan and iPhone is too common (like the Nokia 33XX series in the old days). Another answer would be functionality which probably even the iPhone has it but I guess the BlackBerry wins me in term of overall look. And so far, I’ve loving it especially with the fact that I can get online and get every single update from everything (Facebook, Twitter, MSN, even e-mail) into one spot. Some people who has been using touch screen phone might feel the Storm being a bit weird since instead of just “touching” the screen, you actually need to “press” it just like a button to do something. They call it tactile feedback and the people at RIM just wants it to be a physical one, not just a sound effect.
Though I’ve only been using it for a few weeks now, here’s what I think it’s good at:
Updates from everything on the go.
Free messaging between BlackBerry devices.
Detailed contact book which can integrate with Facebook.
*press* *click*
Multiple e-mails can be set up (now I only put in Hotmail but I can add my Google and Yahoo mail as well if I want too)
2010 has arrived for a few days now… Just another year really. It will still be the same as any other year while I’m still here. More works (uni and personal) to do and other activities (gaming, scuba, etc) to do before going back in August~ =)
Though there are a few things that’s definitely to be expected for this year:
My final year animation project
My group animation project
First ever serious hard-surface/inorganic modelling + mechanical rigging
And here’s something I did before the clock strikes 12 welcoming 2010… Ciao~
This is one of the most anticipated movie of 2009! It’s from the creator of the Alien series, the Terminator series and the Titanic! A weird combination when you saw the word Titanic in it… I never realised about it as well until I heard about Avatar. The creator is James Cameron and this movie was his vision since 1998 but the movie wasn’t possible until 2004 where technology finally caught up. That pretty much shows how amazing this movie should be~
So what’s Avatar about? Well basically there’s a paraplegic marine named Jake Sully who got sent to Pandora, an alien jungle planet to take over his brother’s work as a driver. This is not your drive a car driver. This is lie down and have your conciousness transfered to a home-grown alien body called Avatar. Why are they doing such a thing? Well the human there need to mine a mineral called Unobtainium (lol @ the name) which is rich under the Na’vi (the alien) home tree. So the job of the Avatar is to negotiate with them for a diplomatic solution… As for our marine here, he end up being lost in the jungle at day 1 being outside of the compound and from there, fate has chosen him for something bigger~
Now that we’ve been introduced with the movie, how was it? Well how you watch it will probably affect your opinions on it. Me, I’ve watch it in IMAX so basically that’s the best experience you can get out of this movie! Overall, the movie looks amazing from start to finish. Though, story-wise, it’s very cliche~ Something you might have seen in other movies… But that doesn’t mean it sucks. It’s just that it’s not something “new”~ Though I like the idea of the creatures and trees in the movie.
What’s even more amazing about Avatar is the technology to create it. James mentioned that this is the most expensive movie he ever made and that’s because the world of Pandora are all CG. From the creatures to the plants, everything is 3D! Though most are digital, the movement (faces and emotions) of the Na’vi are 80% from the actual actors! Definitely watch this movie whenever you can… in 3D cinema or IMAX if possible. It’ll be worthed!
It’s been a month plus since I’ve last posted… but now I’m back now that my work have been completed! =D So of course to start, here’s my latest animation work which is for the Facial Animation module which I mention in previous post.
Being a student oversea, you will eventually meet some people from your own country~ And when there’s a lot of them, establishing a society is usually the next best thing.
Here’s the logo design by me and another fellow member of the society. Basically we put in design aspect from British emblems and give it a magenta ribbon on the left to signify University of Bradford and the lime ribbon on the right to signify Bradford College. Then of course the shield with Brunei’s yellow, black and white flag pattern and the wheat to represents Brunei. The two horns on the shield represents Bradford. As for motto, we just brain-storm on that with the whole society and this one wins!
In a few more days, 5th November to be exact, the Brunei Bradford Students’ Society will reach it’s 1 year anniversary! So what’s so special about it? Well the society is obviously quite young but we’ve done quite a few things like compete in society competition and recently, we held a raya celebration in the university and invited friends and colleagues to promote Brunei!
Soon I’ll be stepping down from my position. Hope the new executive members will keep the society running and organize more activities and events that will be good for those studying here.
“9″ is an example of how a great idea and a few connection can land you a job in the industry and have your idea made into an animated feature film!
Originally, “9″ is an eleven-minute short done by Shane Acker. Shane met an independent producer, Jim Lemley who then contacted one of Tim Burton’s agent to see if Burton is interested. The idea is so great that Burton immediately loved it and gave them all the budget they need to turn it into a film!
So what made it a great movie? Other than it started off from an 11-minute short and it is directed by Tim Burton, it is the storyline and the expression from the dolls. The story is basically about a rag doll turned to life by a scientist and named “9″. The reason behind it is to save the world from a sentient being gone wild. Along the journey, 9 discovers more of it’s kind who were created before him and uncovers more secrets of what happened to the world.
The story itself is quite original and to have it animated is another story. Though I am still learning, animating a character isn’t an easy task. It’s possible to create a character from a simple sphere but it requires skill. Here, the characters are just rag dolls with eyes that can only change it’s iris size. The rest are all depends on the mouth, brow and body language to show their expression.
A great movie base on idea and unique design. The quality doesn’t go all the way to Pixar quality but regardless, it is an amazing one.
During the summer, other than planning for my final year project and all, I’ve been watching a comedy series called The Big Bang Theory. It’s basically a story about beauty and the geeks. The beauty being the bubbly blonde Penny and the geeks being the three “Dr”, Leonard, Sheldon and Rajesh plus one “Master” (degree) Howard.
Originally people thought the show would fail but it’s actually getting more and more popular now. It’s already at season 3 now and I still love it! Probably cos (being an animator) the geek in me gets it~
Speaking of the series, this year I have a module called Facial Modelling & Animation where my assignment is to model a character bust and animate it base on a dialogue from a movie or a tv series. Which is why I modelled Leonard below using a fan art I found from deviantArt.
It’s still a work in progress… I’m thinking of making Sheldon as well to complete the whole dialogue. Will see how things go in the future~ =)
Here’s another not-project blog. Since I’m having my career going towards 3D animations, films (especially 3D animation) is something I should always watch and give my opinion on it. For those who may not know, “IMO” means “In My Opinion” so expect more IMO review from me. Don’t worry, I won’t be spoiling the movie at all. =)
So what’s my opinion on it? I’d say it’s a great movie! The story about Carl (the old guy) with the house is quite a sad story and Pixar did quite well in telling the story. Another interesting part of the movie is Doug. Yes he talks but Pixar really made the effort on how dog will talk if they do. Animation-wise, well… this is Pixar we’re talking about here! Can’t complain much there~
Other than the movie, the movie also include the usual shorts. For this movie, they made a short titled “Partly Cloudy”. I love it! The expressions on the cloud and the heron is so funny~ Now if only I can make something like that? ^^;
Or as it is normally known as, Scuba! =P That is the sport I’m taking this year. In fact it is more like a class because I have to attend theory lectures other than the usual in-pool training~
Last year I took snowboarding to prepare myself for my Romania (a friend invited me for christmas) trip in the mountain (fun trip with lots of snow). During my first year, I took archery because in my country, it’s kinda illegal~ =.=;
Anyway, this is one of those not-education/project related blog… More like “I’m a student, living far from my home, so what should I do?” kind of thing. So a little more about the scuba I’m taking, it is associated with the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) which is the biggest and oldest diving association in the world!
What good do I get from it? Well other than being able to go diving, once I’ve passed the test, I’ll receive a certificate which qualifies me as an Ocean Diver which allows me to dive 20 meters deep anywhere in the world~ =) Best thing is, I don’t have to pay much thanks to the university (UoB FTW!).
Hopefully I’ll get my qualification by March and be able to go to open water rather than the university’s 2m deep swimming pool~ ^^;
This year, there’s one module called Design for Industry. This module is a group project where we, the students, will be given a real (or acting anyway) client situation just like how it will be in the real world once we graduated and go to work. So for this module, we are required to be in a group and to make up a group everyone are required to do the Belbin Test. The test basically shows our strength and weakness which will then be the factor to create the efficient team! Here’s my result…
I am a “Plant” and “Completer Finisher”.
Plant is basically people who are creative, imaginative, unorthodox and solves difficult problems BUT they ignores incidentals and are usually too pre-occupied with own thoughts to communicate effectively.
As for Completer Finisher, they are painstaking, conscientious and anxious. They will search out errors and omissions and delivers on time BUT they are inclined to worry unduly and is reluctant to let others into own job.
![Leonard [WIP]](http://doteff.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/leonard_wip_02.jpg?w=300&h=225 "Leonard [WIP]")
