Wow! It seems like regardless of how well intentioned I am, I always go too long without an update. So here it is: one rather large update. My internship at SESI this summer was amazing. I learned a lot, and got to meet some pretty great people. Without the help of Jeff Wagner in particular, I don’t think I would have left there with even half of my current Houdini knowledge. I left a week later than I was scheduled to leave, so I had a chance to help out with the Lsystems tutorial as well as get the two new T.O. interns ready to continue the project that we had been working on for SIGGRAPH. On the topic of the internship, I’ve got some added movies in the gallery. I’ve got a test of the particle fireball I developed (I believe that SESI is in the progress of making a tutorial for this effect), as well as an Electrocution effect that I created. Also, I’ve got a link to the SIGGRAPH demo (I worked on effects and designed the muscle-bound villain) on the SESI website. Lots of excitement!
In other news, I was awarded the Nova Scotia Talent Trust scholarship this year. It’s always nice to receive some help toward that $40k debt I’ve racked up. This leads me to mentioning that I?m finally in my graduate year at Sheridan. About time! We’ve got a couple of great new teachers this year, Dennis Turner for example. I almost feel bad for just mentioning him though, as we have a ton of great teachers at Sheridan at the moment including Barry Parker, Gerry Zeldin, Mark Mayerson, Doug Smith (who unfortunately is impossible to find a webpage with quick reference for, due to the internet thinking that a colleague of his also named Doug Smith are in fact the same omnipotent identity) and Bruno Degazio. The school is surprisingly organized this year too. It’s a shame it took them 3 years to get our curriculum worked out, but at least the years to come will have a… less… um, how shall I put it… impaired education. I mean, the third years this year are even allowed to do 3d films for their group films. An opportunity that we were fiercely denied.
I’ve begun work on my thesis project: A 1 minute film about the Aral Sea. I’m pretty excited about it, but it’s going to be a lot of work. My leica reel has been posted in the gallery, so feel free to check it out, and give me some feedback on it if you want. I’ve also placed three new figure drawings in the gallery. As I said, large update!
Note to those who love music. Check out Dream Theater’s live DVD, Score. Best concert DVD I’ve ever bought!