« Previous Entries
» Next Entries

Sketchup

Angry Art, Roanisms, Sketchup
Cards for cobras
12.23.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Yesterday I spent an hour or so making a card for Roan. I got the above one from him the night before (not really sure why, but I’ll take it!), and promised to return the gesture when I had time. I didn’t feel much like working or cleaning in the morning, so I modeled him and I as robot army dudes kicking some ass. I think he was expecting me to draw him a card, but I wanted to make something nice and that’s not possible with my art skills. Good thing I can Sketchup.

Here’s an image of the models I made of him and I. The actual card has a few images of us and an action scene on the front. I emailed a copy of it to Holly and she was kind enough to print it before she came home. Unfortunately I messed up the layout and a bit of the right side got cut off. Aside from that, it looks pretty pro. Roan loved it, so that’s really all that matters.

I tried to do a sweet rendering of us in action, but I realized after fiddling around for another hour, that it was a bad idea to tie my machine up with a massive rendering. I still have to get the newest layout for the book up to James’ standards before I relax and enjoy xmas with my peeps.
Roanisms, Sketchup
Cobra catapults circa 1993
11.16.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Roan’s class has been studying medieval times for the last week or so and he’s got a project due next week where he needs to create some sort of artifact that represents that era, which the school can house in their “museum”. He drew a few artifacts on the back of his assignment sheet that he would like to make. There was a shield, a mace, a castle and a catapult (there were more, but I forget). I asked which one he wanted to build and he chose the mace.

I wanted to build a catapult (something I did as a project in grade 8 and loved), so while he was at school and Holly was out getting her hair done, I designed the one above in Sketchup. I figured I could make it using all wood joints. After spending a few hours yesterday afternoon and getting pretty much nowhere (as a result of a lack of tools and workspace), I’ve decided to just bang some butt joints (hehe) together with nails. So this afternoon when Roan gets home we’re going to start cutting and nailing, and with any luck by this evening we’ll be ready overthrow parliament (or at least piss off some cats!).
Gaming, Sketchup
Perks for all you jerks
11.04.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Aside from a few minor things, I’m really happy with how these models and renderings turned out. The only real major disappointment was the way the top half of the speed machine blends with the background and loses it’s definition. I’m not sure if it would have improved had I left it rendering longer, or if I needed to change the properties of the colour I used for the whites of the machine. I had to stop it in order to carry on with work as planned today, but to be honest I’d much rather have just left it and spent the whole day hanging with the new kitty.

Last night I started modeling a Quick Revive machine, but was forced to stop when I realized I don’t have the required font, nor do I fully understand how the machine is intended to operate based on pictures alone. The other two were pretty easy to figure out. I’m not even sure where the money goes in, and the bottle comes out. I’ll leave that model on hold for now, until I have the time / motivation to figure it out. Today is all about laundry and work.
Gaming, Sketchup
Maybe with speed I have time for blog before bed
11.02.10 | Permalink | Comment?

Today I did some work after Roan left, then took a break and submitted my hours. I was supposed to play a round of Zombies with my TonyMike, but he bailed so he could go see some band (I use to go see bands… when I was 8!). I decided to play with Sketchup and see if I was inspired to build anything. I decided to model some props from our favourite game – Call of Duty: World at War.

These are Perks-a-Cola machines. For those who don’t know, they dispense awesome refreshments that make you stronger and faster. There are two others, but really these are the ones that matter. I spent maybe an hour on the first model, and about half that on the second (Juggernog was first). Right now I’ve got the Jugg’ rendering on my other machine, and I think I’ll leave it going over night.

This is the point in the blog where I mention how badly I wish I had a rapid prototyper and feel sorry for myself.

My friend (code name: ROACH) sent me some intel at around fourteen hundred hours today, regarding zombie presence in the Pentagon. Yesterday there was a trailer (and spoilers) released showing some Black Ops Zombies running at a brutal frame rate (I’m sure it was the video, not the game), and today there was a much longer, much better clip. I’m getting excited for new zombies. I am definitely looking forward to having Black Ops to occupy me while Holly and the boys are away. Plus, I’m going to have time to finish the single player game (which apparently is still required to unlock the zombie mode) without Missy Impatient Aggravation nagging at me cause she wants to play.
Music, Sketchup, Video
Cobra carols
10.17.10 | Permalink | Comment?
Some albums I’ve been listening to a lot lately.
And I’m about to get this album because I’m loving this song.
Angry Art, Book stuff, Gaming, Life, Sketchup
Cobras, computers, contradictions
10.15.10 | Permalink | 1 Comment

Once again it’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog. This time the main reason is my growing hatred of all things computer, mixed with my recent acquisition of Dead Rising 2 (contradiction?). Since my last post I have been paid in full and this morning I sent off a freshly revised edition of the entire first book (two versions actually – one has photo spreads that will go in the middle, but in an effort to save money in printing costs of student copies for editing the other has no photos). I actually sent a copy off last night, but literally 5 minutes later James called to tell me he found a mistake he missed until now. I told him to disregard the email I had just sent, and that I’d revise and resend it in the morning.

I really hope this is the last time I have to make major changes to any part of that project. I still have to wait on James to sort out the ISBN number (is that like saying ATM machine?) and UPC code (again, redundant??) for the back cover. I did a fake back cover for now. It has a listing of all the books that are intended to be in the “Master’s Guide Collection”, and then I hid this little logo at the bottom.

I should probably register that name. Maybe I’ll end up doing lots of this type of work if I can’t find a job building, and then it will come in handy. I should also just make a website where I can post all my stuff. If someone stumbles upon it and wants to offer me work, then I’m game.

If all goes well with the next two projects, I should be looking for a new job soon. Maybe by this time next year, I’ll be teaching at the ISBA. I still have to finish the lessons I had begun before my whole laptop data dump debacle. There was almost 200 pages of step-by-step images for building a basic post and beam structure within Sketchup. Maybe this weekend I will spend some time writing that stuff since I can do it on the copies Holly printed for me and avoid the computer for a little longer.

I’d like to have the title of instructor, but I also want to make lots of money and build Holly and I a sweet house. Maybe I’d be better off spending my time resume writing. I’m just so bad at it.
Book stuff, Life, Sketchup, Timber framing
Cobra cooperation ceases without cash compensation
10.03.10 | Permalink | Comment?

As mentioned previously here is my finished version of my cross-sectional view of wood at a cellular level.

If you’re saying to yourself “Shit, I thought when he said ‘realistic looking’ it was going to be awesome, this sucks.”, you’re right. However, I made the decision to stop putting effort into this at all on about the 8th day of waiting for money owed to me for this project, and didn’t just fail at it.

In fact, I have basically the entire book finished with the exception of the revised table of contents (which I plan to have done over the next few days, I’m just waiting on a printed version to come home with Holly tomorrow), and a single glossary entry. At this point though, I’m not sharing until I get paid.

I submitted hours on the 17th of September and was assured a cheque would be in the mail that afternoon. I’ve spent the last two weeks stressing and staking out the mailman. I am beginning to hate both James and the mailman. I can’t understand how it’s taken this long to get paid. Clearly they didn’t mail it when they said they would, and probably only sent it when I called flipping out the other day. Now it’s two weeks later and I deserve another cheque.

I will not be sending a finished version until I get paid in full. Not that I don’t trust him, but I’m tired of doing tons of work, getting bitched at because it’s taking too long, doing things over and over because he can’t make up his mind, and then not getting paid for work I did and probably undercut him hours on anyway.

I still haven’t gotten Holly’s wood for her shelves (although I have gotten hold of the person I needed to) because I can’t afford it now. Once my cheque gets here, it’s going to be gone right away. Tomorrow I’ll stake out the mailman again. After it’s clear whether or not my cheque is coming, I’ll head to the bank. If I have the cheque I’ll have to cash it, and convince them to not hold it. If I don’t, I’ll have to ask them to give me (for a third time) all the info Naomi needs to directly deposit into my account and try that again (fuck). Then I’ll call her, request they cancel the cheque in the mail, and make one large deposit into my account covering all my hours over the last four and a half weeks.

I try to budget and I get nowhere. I work hard and currently make the highest hourly wage I ever have, but I’m constantly fucked. Why should I work so hard for someone who makes my life so difficult?

Shawn had a great idea the other day for how I can get back at him. Instead of quickly sending him an email with a link to a .pdf of the finished book, I’m burning him a CD and mailing it a week or two after I tell him I sent it.

I believe I’ll enjoy every phone call or email I get asking why it isn’t there yet.
Angry Art, Sketchup
J dub Marsh models
10.03.10 | Permalink | 1 Comment

I’m a little behind on the blog these days, so I’ll take advantage of this shitty Sunday morning to catch up.

Last Saturday was Jon’s birthday. He invited us up for a barbecue with some friends, at his and Laura’s house. We had a terrible drive there, hitting every possible construction / collision hiccup we could. Almost four hours after we left the falls, we finally arrived in Toronto. When we arrived there was Jon, Laura, and two of Jon’s friends I had never met before. Then a third friend I’d never met showed up, and a short time later a fourth. Everyone was really nice, and we sat around talking about fun stuff and eating delicious dips that Jon made.

Later in the evening the party got moved indoors as it was getting quite cold on the back patio. We watched Machete and all but one of us enjoyed it. Then Jon and I walked his fourth friend over to the bus stop (I’ll refrain from filling everyone in on just how much I ended up hating this girl by the end of the night, or why… let’s just chock it up to being drunk, but definitely not on boxed wine) partially against her will.

My birthday present was kind of lame (several packs of blunt wraps), and only hours before we left did I realize that Jon has told me in the past how much he likes my robot doodles, so I decided to make a JonWayne-a-chron (get it?). I didn’t have enough time to finish the model before we got there, so I just showed it to him and gave him an I.O.U.

So here’s the grand unveilling of Jon’s birthday present (phase zero) to the world. Hopefully he likes it. It was finished days ago, but I decided to spend a few days rendering some stuff in indigo.

There are more pictures of Jon’s robot here and here
Book stuff, Log building, Sketchup, Timber framing
Copying cross-sections makes cobras cross
09.20.10 | Permalink | 1 Comment

This is what I’m currently working on. It’s the first of several images James neglected to mention appear in the second appendix of the book. I just got them last Friday and started this that afternoon. I’ve put quite a few hours into it already, and I’m probably only about half done (if I’m lucky). It’s pretty difficult to wrap my head around how to make this look realistic, and not like it’s modeled in 3d on a computer.

The finished version won’t have all the dark colours (those are just because I was playing), and will hopefully look perfect when it’s scaled down to fit the text. It’s supposed to look like the image below, and give people an idea of what wood looks like on a cellular level.

I should be done it later tonight, but right now I’m being lazy and watching Enterprise. I was supposed to be getting wood, but it looks like I’ll have to do that another night. I’ve tried calling the person I’m supposed to meet about 30 times today, and now I’m giving up.

Once I finish all these images, there is just a few corrections to make to one drawing, then some minor layout adjustments, followed by some photo spreads and finally a revised cover. Ir’s getting closer and closer, but when I break it all down like that it sounds like a lot to do.
Angry Art, Sketchup
Marvel at my martians you jive muthas
09.13.10 | Permalink | Comment?

I almost forgot that I made this rather large (in file size, not pixels) animated png of my army of tripods. It may not run on your machine, depending on what you’re using and how good your internet connection is, but trust me it’s marvelous. I’m done messing with these guys now. I’m still trying to get a copy of the live War of the Worlds DVD, and after I watch that I’m hoping my WOW obsession subsides so I can go back to enjoying other music and thinking about other monsters (not just tripods with heat rays).