Just got word that I got credited as a Rigger for Vicious Cycle’s latest game, Eat Lead. I skinned some of the enemy characters for the game, using 3ds Max. Massive Black also did some of the other NPC models and textures.

Big shout out to Vicous Cycle for this project; it has a nice charm to it. I recommend everyone to check it out

Game Informer Cover

Just got word that Game Informer is releasing this cover. 2K Marin hired us at Massive Black this past Janurary to create a setup a high-res verision of their in-game model of the Big and Little Sister. They supplied us with the original rig and assets. After collabaorating with our Shanghai branch to ensure the high res model was built similar to the game-res 2K sent us, I had transfer the high res model onto the game-res rig and skin it. One very neat thing about 3ds Max is it’s ability to make a wrap deformer and “bake” it into a skin for faster manipulation. After the bake, I simply edit any weights and polish the deformations.

Afterwards, I handed it off to our Animator, Chris Hatala, to pose and render the image who passed it to Jason Chan, to paint over the render in Photoshop.

I just found out about Scribd after google searching a maya error at work the other day. Basically, it’s like YouTube for PDF and text files. What this does is allow embedding a pdf file on a web page. I tried this out with my resume page and got a nice result; way better than before.

It’s pretty handy (and free!), check it out at www.scribd.com

We did a pretty funny spoof commercial to advertise our company. I’m featured in one of the last shots and the very last shot is a creature I rigged a while back in Maya. I highly recommend checking out the HD version, if you can.

Check it out!

Whew! It’s been a minute since my last post.

Massive Black: Volume 1 is an art book from my company and not only contains some of the most inspiring concept art out there, it even features a few of my rigs in action in the Intellectual Property section.  The book’s been well-received thus far and receiveing mention around the web.

I’m proud to be a part of this talented company and here’s hoping that we can make Volume 2 even better!

Massive Black: Volume 1 is published by Ballistic.

CGSociety Feature – The Art of Massive Black

Kotaku Article – The Art That Launched a Thousand Games, Now a Book

Gamer’s Daily News – Massive Black Launches Art Book Volume 1

I received a pair of these shoes as a Christmas gift. I’ve put about 250 miles on this shoe, and must say this shoe’s been very good to me and my feet. The 2140 fits my wide foot well and offers decent cushion without feeling bulky; smooth heel-toe transition though the midsole softness makes toe-off less than optimal. They’re also durable, even after  the mileage, they still feel fresh; this is all the more impressive considering I haven’t had a second pair of shoes to rotate with.

All-in-all, if you’re a mild to moderate pronator looking for a daily trainer, give the 2140s a shot.

I didn’t actually go to E3; I instead enjoyed it through gametrailers.com and word-of-mouth around the office. Arguably the best E3 since the reform, there was plenty of competition between the three consoles. After the jump, a quick summary of what I liked and disliked:

Dead Space: A survival horror game with some neat combat mechanics, this game caught my eye since it was first announced and the influx of vids and gameplay walkthrough have left me drooling. With Resident Evil becoming action-oriented, it’s good to have another game ready to offer a scary fix

Mirror’s Edge: It’s great to see a giant like EA taking some risks with new IPs! While I did like the teaser trailer earlier this year, some of the new footage hasn’t been that impressive. While the free running continues to look interesting, the combat seems kinda weak so far. I almost want to see this title without any real combat or very minimal combat (a la Portal), to add to the zen like feeling of flowing through some beautiful skylines.

Resident Evil 5: Continues to look badass. Hopefully they make some changes to the controls from the previous incarnation. Some interviews stated that they’re experimenting with other approaches for the controls (though for E3 the classic setup remained).

Too Human: the demo made it’s way to Live last week so I gave it a whirl. An hour into the game, the silly story (with a Norse theme), and the awkard, unsatisfying combat turned me off. The graphics were nice though.

I’m happy to see Netlfix coming to Xbox, and I can’t wait to have “Play it Now” on my TV instead of a tiny monitor. The new Tomb Raider looks solid, though the darker theme brings back bad memories of previous titles. Prince of Persia was another trailer that disappointed me: I’m not a fan of the new direction and the “tag-team” elements look silly. Left 4 Dead looks like it’ll be a fun one, I’m keeping my eye on it too.

Looks like the close race between the consoles is generating some of the best content I’ve seen in a while. Last year was a good year to be a gamer, and it looks like my wallet is going to lose some weight again this year as well.

I picked up this pair of shoes a month ago when I couldn’t find a pair of New Balance 903s. Since I’m working on no landing on my heels, I needed a low profile shoe with a minimal heel. I noted the Haywards after some glowing user reviews on several shopping websites, particularly users who’ve run with knee pain in the past. After trying on the shoe in various sizes, I ended up buying the shoe a full size up (I have wide toes).

On paper, the Hayward is a bit of an oddball that’s based on a shoe design left by the late Prefontaine. As such, it’s a retro-styled waffle trainer with amazing flexibility but still soft and supportive with looks to match. It’s a bit heavy to be a performance trainer (though it is advertised as such), but it’s far lighter than my New Balance 1010s.

My first few runs with these guys were on the treadmill at my local gym. The first thing I noticed was responsiveness of this shoe; it needed no break-in time. Being considerably lighter than shoes I’ve previously ran in, I felt much faster as well. Plus, the lower heel gave me plenty of clearance for forefoot striking without forcibly landing on my toes, so it definitely works for building technique.

My longest run I did in the the Haywards was the 5 miler last week. Some users complained that the minimal design makes the shoes bad for longer runs. I finished the run with a little bit of pain around my right forefoot, but I can’t necessarily blame it on the shoes considering this being the longest distance I’ve run in a long time. The aching went shortly after finishing, so it wasn’t too big of a deal.

The Nikes have been good to my knee , more or less. I still have the occasional twinge, but most of my days have been pain free. Despite not being my original choice, I really like the Haywards, perhaps more so than I would’ve liked the 903s. These shoes are cushioned, flexible, and easy on the eyes.

Been quite busy these past few weeks, but I did manage to make it to this casual run last week. The Sunset Run is a 5 mile fun run sponsored by Nike and Fleet Feet Sports. The run started at Fort Mason, ran to Golden Gate Bridge, and back again to the start.

Despite it not being a race, I was plenty nervous leading up to the run. 5 miles is the longest I’ve run since my surgery in March, and I wasn’t totally sure how I’d hold up. I started off tense and ready for the worst and about two miles in; when I was able to see the bridge through the fog, I was finally able to relax and enjoy the run. When I reached the halfway point, not only was my body not begging for a walking break, instead I felt stronger and ready to go faster. At finish line was plenty of free snacks and smoothies from Jamba Juice, we all got t-shirts for participating as well.

I made it the whole run without stopping, it’s not the biggest feat in the world, but it’s a personal victory after all the rehab and gait retraining. There’s another Sunset Run in September that I plan to participate in as well.

Haven’t gotten a hold of my own copy yet, but this a title I done some nice maya rigs for last year. It won’t be until the movie is out when Massive Black and myself can show off some of the characters we’ve worked on.

I’ve heard moslty good things about it so congrats to Sega and Edge of Reality. The game looks great and I enjoyed contributing!