Archive for September, 2009

Blending 3 Dimensional Graphics

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

The Blender LogoFor the past decade (or longer) I have buried my head in the <HTML> <CSS> <MySQL> <PHP> sand while climbing the curves on software like Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark.

Before I buried my head and started to climb these curves, I enjoyed several years as a corporate video producer with Advantage and FVG. This was way back in the late ’80′s and early 90′s. Before that, I studied broadcasting at Ball State University.

While producing training, sales, marketing videos, I acquired an Amiga computer with a gadget called the “Video Toaster“. In its day, it was a cool computer based video editing system. It allowed small scale producers, like me, to rival the production quality of the larger studios.

Included in the Toaster was a software package called ‘Lightwave’. It was a modeling, rendering and animation package that seemed overwhelming and complex. In the corporate video world that I revolved in, Lightwave had absolutely no use. So, I ignored it.

How I wish I would have done something with it back then.

A new project is in the pipeline at Advantage … animated three dimensional computer graphics. The Engineering department uses a software package called ‘Inventor’ to create 3D drawings of parts and products. For the new fluid cooler product introduction, a 3D animation is being produced.

But not by the Media Department (me). Why? Because I have absolutely no training or experience in 3D graphics.

At first glance, it would seem an easy assignment to produce a 3D animation of the internal workings of the fluid cooler, with air and water movements, pans, tilts, zooms. The guys in the Engineering department already have a 3D drawing, so what could be easier than a few photoshop tricks to make things move.

But, just as I discovered long ago, 3D computer graphics is a skill of it’s own.

To quickly grasp what the current 3D landscape is like so I could intelligently converse about 3D graphics with the (lucky) guy who is being paid to create this animation, I spent a few hours doing some google research and I’m amazed at the explosive growth of the 3D world. There are dozens of schools that specialize in 3D graphics and animation, workshops, seminars, class, tutorials, DVD’s and books. And (not that I’m looking) the job market in the gaming, architectural, marketing, cinema and film industries seem to be open for people that have taken the time to learn this skill and can perform. The pay isn’t all that bad either.

I’m embrased that I haven’t developed this skill so I can at least help out on this project so it doesn’t have to be outsourced. So, I’m embarking on a survey to become fluent in creating 3D graphics. My first step was to downloaded the open source and (free) Blender 3D program as a starting platform to cut my teeth.

By the way, I discovered that Lightwave is the third most popular 3D software packages on the market today. I still have the Amiga computer.

Posted in Journal | No Comments »

Halfway There

Monday, September 21st, 2009

I have always been fascinated with maps, and with lines on the map, and with were lines converge and intersect. I know it may be silly to be obsessed with the 45th parallel, but I am, as it is a significant line on a map, halfway between the Equator and the North Pole. Here’s a picture of Nikki on the 45th.

Posted in Pictures | No Comments »

On the 45th.

Friday, September 18th, 2009

Made it to the 45th parallel. Here’s a picture of the GPS. showing the latitude and longitude.

We spent the Labor Day holiday in Traverse City, camping at the Holiday Park campground and driving along the Grand Traverse Bay to Elk Rapids and then to the 45th parallel. It was cool to stand on the 45th parallel, exactly halfway between the Equator and the North Pole. I have a greater appreciation for how big the world really is, as it took us 8 hours to drive from our home in Indianapolis to Transverse City. And that was only less than 6° of latitude. Imagine how long the drive would have taken if I started on 0° latitude!

Posted in Journal, Pictures | No Comments »

Yes, It Is A Treasure Hunt

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

When I try to explain the ‘sport’ of geocaching to one who has never been introduced to the concept, more often than not, it is immediately associated with ‘treasure hunting’. This article does a good job of explaining the geocaching concept. It repeatedly uses the phrase ‘treasure hunting’.

As an active geocacher, I once found the label ‘treasure hunt’ to be a bit offensive and demeaning when applied the hobby that I enjoy and hold personally dear. Sometimes it is hard to determine if the association to treasure hunting is meant as a put down and ridicule, reducing geocaching to nothing more than a juvenile pursuit of little significance and worth and implying that anyone who engages in such an activity is somehow deficient in one way or another.

I suppose, on the surface, geocaching can appear to be silly and a bit trite. Why would anyone want to find a tupperware container full of little toys and assorted ‘swag’? What’s the purpose, they ask?

Just the same, I question why anyone would want to swing a club and hit a little white ball into a tin cup.

Personally, I find that geocaching is a pursuit combining several disciplines. For example, you need a solid understanding of latitude, longitude, GPS, compass directions, map reading, bearings and computer usage. You also need the non tangibles like patience and persistence (when you are unable to find a cache), kindness (when you meet other geocachers in the field), tact (when you meet non-geocachers in the field). You also need to be flexible (to wiggle your way through thorns, thistles and over/under fallen trees) and you need to be in some kind of shape to just move your body to the coordinates that are more than a few yards from the car.

Just finding ‘hidden’ treasure, like an ammo box deep in the mosquito infested forest of Brown Country State Park, is not the totality of this sport. For me, it’s acquiring the necessary technical know-how and maintaining the necessary physical strength and stamina to be able to get myself there to discover that ammo can. Signing the log book and claiming a smiley on the web site (www.geocaching.com) is only gravy.

I used to drive to a parking lot overlooking a local golf course to eat lunch and watch people play though. As these people walked by with clubs in tow, I silently mocked them, saying to myself “how can an intelligent person chase a little white ball, how absurd, how silly and stupid”.

It wasn’t until I honestly considered what these people are actually doing that I changed my perspective. I’m sure that they take seriously their sport, as I do with geocaching, buying equipment and accessories, practicing and honing their skills. To them, golf is not just about ‘chasing a little white ball’, it’s about pursuing an activity that gives them an outlet for whatever psychological and physiological needs they have.

Like a geocacher, they are searching for something too… a treasure of sorts, whether it be a low handicap, the perfect swing, the hole in one, a good time with friends or just a quiet and relaxing activity.

After I made this connection, I changed my perspective about the ‘treasure hunt’ label. Now, it is no longer the ridicule to me it once was. Instead chasing a little white ball, I’ve chosen to chase tupperware containers and ammo cans in the woods. The treasure is the same regardless of the pursuit … personal well being. And we all are on the hunt for it.

Recently, I solved a cache puzzle and found the geocache inside the Southport Branch of the Indianapolis-Marion County Library. This puzzle required that you look for clues hidden in posters, paintings and signs posted around the library. Instead of a lat and long coordinate, you deciphered the call number of a book. The cache was a carefully crafted container that looked like a book, complete with the call number on the spine. Inside was the usual swag and log. This geocache looked just like all the other books on the stacks. No other patron would have know what this book really was unless they knew exactly where to look (or just stumbled across it).

If I wasn’t on a ‘treasure hunt’ what was I really doing for the 30 minutes it took to find this cache? If the treasure is the personal satisfaction I garnered in solving the puzzle and finding the cache, the few minutes where issues and trials of life faded into the background, then my hunt was successful and I found the treasure I was seeking.

Posted in GeoCaching | 2 Comments »