The Making Of FirstLight (Documentary)

This is a "Behind The Scenes" Doco of a short film I am still working on. How ironic. It turns out the the shoot was so interesting that we were able to make a small doco out of it. I am still working on all of the 70 visual effects shots that are needed to complete the film.

Talk about biting off more than one can chew. Oh well, we've all come a long way since then. I will post a cut of the film when it is closer to final cut. Enjoy.

Let's Make Robots!

Lets Make Robots is a site I've been visiting a lot lately. As a kid I tried to make a robot of my own but never got around to finishing it (surprise surprise :) . This site is a great intro to basic robotics and programming micro processors.

I hope to buy a starter kit one day and make one of my own. This interests me because it's a great chance for me to take what I've learned about rigging and programming in 3D into the real world!

Here's a clip of one of my favorite Robots on this site.

The Adventures of Egg Cup Boy

Egg Cup Boy was a the result of a collaboration between Craig Bunker, Andrew McLean and myself, Daniel Thompson. The year was 1999 and this short was part of our studies at M.A.P.S. (Media Arts Productions Skills) at Hamilton College in South Australia.

We had no Idea what we were doing or how we would do it. All we had was a few Cardboard boxes and some Modelling Clay and Free Reign of Andrew's Parent's basement.

The film took around 3 months to shoot, and many late nights of cutting together royalty free sound samples for the score and sound design.

Anatomy Studys 001

I have been trying to better understand human anatomy. This has helped me immensely with my rigging techniques in 3D. Understanding where to place joints in a 3D character is half the battle to recreating realistic movement.

I have been trying to study on the train on my way to work each day. Here's a link to the tutorials I've been using. Amazing value for money and first class teachings by Riven Pheonix. the-structure-of-man

New Arrival

On the Wednesday the 12th of March Jannah and I were blessed with the arrival of our new Son, Lucas Ashley Thompson. Weighing in at a whopping 11 pounds 1. He certainly wasn't hard to miss in his crib :)

The birth was cruzy for Lucas but slightly more traumatic for mum as she lay fully conscious in the operating theater gripping my hand tightly while they sliced her open. Not fun in anyone's book. But alas we got through it and are still being faced with a new challenge every single day.

Lucas is now just over a moth old and is doing quite well. I have been back at work for a week now and am still working out my routine. Mum is doing well apart from going a little bit stir crazy being confined to the house. Soon she will be able to drive. When she does It will be like Forest Gump removing his leg braces for the first time :) Run Forest Run! but don't forget to take Lucas with you :)

First Light Opening Shot Test Render

This shot was composed and rendered in Vue 6 Infinite. It is the first time I have used this software. I was surprised with the results. Though I think I will render the sky separately in Vue and the foreground in Maya using Mental Ray. Faster and more options if I do it this way. The shot will track right to reveal the exterior of an abandoned warehouse.... or is it?

STREET FIGHTER

I found this Udon Crew gallery on deviantart.com
I love this style. The colours and lighting are so rich and lots of dynamic poses!

Aftrs Application Show Reel

This was the Show Reel I submitted in 2003 to The Australian Film Television and Radio School. Luck for me I was one of 4 selected to study Visiual Effects at AFTRS.

Thinktank Braving The Day

After playing in this band (Thinktank) for 4.5 years, I got married and began to pursue another passion of mine. Film and Video Production. During this transition I helped shoot and edit their Music Video Clip. The clip had a decent run on RAGE (A late night MTV show in Australia). The band released a killer album "Rules For Revolution" around the same time, toured lots and eventually disbanded like all good things tend to do. But the music and the video remains....

Check out Thinktank's myspace here. And go here for their other Music Video for the song "Suitor".

Bang Bang Making Of Documentary

This is a little Doco I made to record the process of a mock up commercial we made for the sports drink Powerade. This was part of our course work at film school. We wanted a gothic western theme. An I wanted to experiment with mixing miniatures and a full scale set piece using a motion control rig.

This was the first time Kuper Tools was used in production which made the opeing camera move possible.

I will try to get my hands on the finished commercial and post it soon.

RB7 Colour Swatch

Initial Colour swatch for RB7.

Exit Door

A photoshop mock up of one of the end shots.

Kuper Tools Tutorial 03 "Animating and Exporting a Move"

You can download the tool for free from here.
http://highend3d.com/maya/downloads/mel_scripts/modeling/misc/KuperTools-Motion-Control-Beta-4823.html

Kuper Tools Tutorial 02 "Intro To The Rig"

You can download the tool for free from here.
http://highend3d.com/maya/downloads/mel_scripts/modeling/misc/KuperTools-Motion-Control-Beta-4823.html

Kuper Tools Tutorial 01 "Installation"

While I was at film School, part of my research project was to come up with a solution for previsualising a Motion Control Camera move in Maya.

The result was a virtual Motion Control (MoCon) Rig that could export move data straight to the "real" MoCon Rig to be used on location.

You can download the tool for free from here.
http://highend3d.com/maya/downloads/mel_scripts/modeling/misc/KuperTools-Motion-Control-Beta-4823.html

Kuper Tools has already been used successfully in several commercials for clients such as Honda, ANZ, as well as several short film productions through the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS).

Pay Per View Concept Art

Craig Bunker and Julian Austin's original concepts for the short. Colours by yours truly.

First Light Renders

A work in Progress render of Solem with his most of his textures. Some parts are just a flat colour for testing but will be replaced with gritty textures soon.


A test render of RB7. Just to show off some of the details.

Crooked Mick

From the Short Film Crooked Mick Of The Speewah. http://www.crookedmick.com/

The tent was modelled using Maya's cloth. I would use deformers to modell this if I had to do this again. The Design for the Ferris Wheel was supplied. I will see if I can dig up the concepts and post them soon.

My First Post

Greetings one and all. I'm very excited about this blog. Firstly because it will be a great way for me to consolidate all of my Digital Works from the past 7 or 8 years.

And secondly it serves as a great visual reminder of all the things I have on the go.
I'm hoping it will remind me to finish what I start before moving onto the next idea.