Day 1 : Starting Something New : PHOTO

HDRI of a church nearby where I'm living.

      So I've made a decision. I've decided to my own 365 day project. While I suppose these typically start at the beginning of a new year mine gets to start here. My goal is for every single day of this year to post some piece of artwork that I've made. It could be photographs, music, 3D models, digital work, short films, anything as long as I put something new up every day. I'm hoping for this project to keep me motivated and productive along with just being able to have fun and learn a lot. If I miss any days, please feel free to yell at me until I make up for the lost day. Here's to creating.

Free Game Friday | HEXAGON

     From Terry Cavanagh we have HEXAGON. Here is a game that is able to channel the mind bending joyous frustration brought to us by his fantastic game VVVVVV in a completely new fashion. The actual gameplay is simple. Use the left and right arrow keys to move your little triangle around and dodge the incoming shapes. The art style is in simple shapes in colors that come at you in a dizzying pulsing array. But while the concept is simple, execution remains far from it. Be ready to die. A lot.

     This game will have you screaming with frustration at your many losses. But zero loading times, instant resets, and a kicking soundtrack all pull together to keep the losses from becoming too much. It feels challenging but never unfair or impossible. Each time you start over you get that feeling that you can make it just a little further. Let me tell you, finally reaching the one minute mark filled me with an absolute stand up and cheer sense of accomplishment. It's addictive, easy to pick up anytime and play at a moments notice for any amount of time, making it great for those small moments in between whatever productive things you're trying to accomplish.

     All in all a simple and great little game for you to play. Hexagon also did well enough to earn a full game release in "Super Hexagon" which you can purchase for a few dollars on either Android, IOS, or Steam.

PLAY GAME HERE: HEXAGON

Snow is Meant for Fighting

B3 SnowStorm from Brandon Ballschmidt on Vimeo.
Wanted to test out my new GoPro so a few friends and I got together and had some shenanigans.

Camera: GoPro Hero3 Black
Software: Premier, After Effects
Song: Inspire by: Throttle

Blender Physics Test from Brandon Ballschmidt on Vimeo.
A test of having multiple physics systems interact. This simulation shows a rigid body simulation interacting with both a particle and a smoke simulation.

3D Gunshot

   
  So I've been working around with smoke simulations more and in preparation for a project I'm working which will need a slow motion muzzle flash composited onto a moving live action shot.

   Whats nice about using the smoke engine in blender is that it allows me to be able sculpt the flames through invisible meshes interacting with the fire. In this particular example there is actually an "bullet" mesh that is shot out from the barrel. While this bullet interacts with smoke it remains unrendered in the final scene.

     The other benefit of using a full simulation is that this muzzle flash is in full 3D allowing me to move around it at any angle and even inside it if desired.

False Colors and Nukes.

Me and a friend of mine were watching a documentary on a series of nuclear test done called "Operation Crossroads" I went to Wikipedia to do some additional reading and the article had an incredible black and white photo of the Baker test which was a nuclear device detonated underwater. I've read and seen a number of articles on adding color to black and white images so I decided to give it a try. This is the result of about an hour and a half of work of painting in the color into the image. I really enjoyed this project and will probably do some more false color pictures in the future. 

Independent Study for College

     So this semester I will be doing an independent study for college credit in simulation based visual effects. The main goal and emphasis of this will be on creating near photo realistic fluid simulation that are composited on live action footage. Most of this will be done using the open source tool Blender. 

These are the tentative goals for the course this semester:

     FLUID SIMULATIONS

• Research  the mesh based Lattice Boltzmann Method used in the Blender fluid tools.
• Research the use of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics. 
• Find any other potential methods to be used (Rigid Body surfaces/Smoke Simulation)
• Research/develop techniques for combining multiple simulation methods for better results.
• Composite a large scale flood scene into an interior of a building.

    OTHER SIMULATION GOALS

• Study rigid body setups and how to create convincing destruction using voronoi fracture tools.
• Smoke/Fire simulations interacting with lighting in live action shots.
• A full integrated visual effects sequence using a number of various simulation effects.

     While it's unlikely I will get through all of these the goal is to get through as much as I can but the main focus of this study will be on fluid sims. I'll have at least weekly updates this semester on my progress.