CG horsing around

Here's a brief clip of our current CG horse tech at Weta Digital. I built this digital animal last year utilising reference captured at Massey University's Equine Veterinary lab... It took a few months to put together and is a bit of a snapshot of the current state of our deformation technologies for muscle, fat and skin simulation. Some derivatives of this piece can be seen in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and of course our upcoming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and it's other two parts.

I worked on the digital double horses and riders for The Two Towers and The Return Of the King and it was a privilege to be making our new horse far, far more detailed this time around.

Take a look: [the clip has been edited and excludes the fascia, fat and under skin layers sadly].

-j

UPDATE: there's now a story on the stuff.co.nz site about it and Abraham Lincoln etc... plus I just listened to a review on National Radio about Chris Rogers' involvement in working with us. Chris was in charge of the team we worked with to gather the reference and was not afraid to put a horse on a treadmill at the drop of a hat ;-)

Wedding Photography - Some things I've learnt.

I shoot the odd wedding to expand my portfolio and keep myself up to speed. I started by doing it for friends and family and now I'm branching out into new clients as I become more confidant. I've reached the point now where I feel comfortable with people and scenarios enough to roll with the punches ie: go with the chaotic circumstances and changing conditions...

You only got one chance. Best you be on your A game.

I've also reached a point where I'm comfortable enough with my gear to stop wrestling with it and focus on the people in front of the lens more. I liken this to the days of having clients over my shoulder while I was producing artwork on Quantel or Discreet Logic machines. When someone is paying NZ$1000 per hour to have you put their television advertising together you want the machine to be the last thing on your mind. You need to be able to operate the 3D keyer [showing my age here] while counseling your client on how her dog is gonna be fine cause it ate too much sashimi [this has happened to me BTW and there were actually negative repercusions hahaha - no animals suffered I assure you, just humans].

I realise, [and this is something I say to my clients], that this is an important day and there are no second chances. There will never be this combination of people, dressed the way they are, with this weather, in this situation, in this mood, here for this reason, feeling like this, looking this good... EVER AGAIN.

So that's why I'll be all over the place like a rash, getting shots and getting in people's faces and making people laugh and feel relaxed so that when they look the images they don't cringe and say 'I look terrible in photos'. It's a lofty goal but if I've taken a photo of someone who hates having their photo taken and they don't mind the shot, then I've won. You gotta aim for the stars right?

This is not going to happen again.

These are some of the complications you face doing wedding photography as opposed to shooting in the studio or more controlled circumstances:

• A schedule that is not in your control.
• Challenging and often adversive lighting conditions.
• Children and possibly animals!
• Uncooperative people who may not want to be photographed at all.
• Unforeseen equipment problems or limitations.

When presented with these things I try my best to go with it and make up new shooting possibilities on the go to make the most of the available backgrounds, lighting and weather. This is not to say I don't go with a plan and a backup plan too, it's just that even these things can be torn to shreds by well meaning clergymen and the whims of the wedding party.

Be ready to change your plans.

So, with this being said here are a couple of things I learnt on the last job:

1. Leave as LITTLE as POSSIBLE to the last minute in terms of organisation. The bride requested that I get more shots of her leaving for the venue than my schedule allowed. I accommodated this at the expense of getting to the venue with 30 seconds to spare in terms of prep for when she arrived. I forgot to sync the clocks between my main camera and the backup. I should have done this the night before. [Exiftool to the rescue!]
2. Have more storage than you need. Seriously, 22GB is nothing when you're using a 5DMKII. I filled up and borrowed an extra 4GB from a friend who appeared with his camera. D'oh!
3. Plan the formal arrangements with the bride and the groom so you don't miss them. I got what needed to be got last time but the location for this changed and getting everyone required there was a challenge. If we'd planned even better this would have gone smoother, and it really helps to nominate a member of the gathering who knows who's who to be your wrangler and get the right people to the composition at the right moment.
4. Have a backup camera. I didn't have an equipment failure on the last job but I realised on the day that this extra camera meant I could have two lenses for the ceremony and other moments. This meant I got some more intimate moments with the 100mm during the ceremony that would've otherwise not been possible with the 16-35mm.
5. Find a nice way to avoid managing other people's photos. I found a few well-meaning people were hoping I might manage an extra 20GB of their photos and 'just upload them'. I cannot do this. There's no way I'll put them of my site with my name on them even if I wanted pretend they were mine cause they were better than what I shot!

I still had a lot of fun and the couple whose wedding it was were relaxed and flexible and open to playing up a little in front of the camera. I think we got some shots they're be happy to look at for the rest of their lives... which is good otherwise we gotta do it all again!

-j

Standing up desk

So, after working at a standing up desk at Weta for about 5 years now, I decided it was time to give it a go at home too. Both Anna and I were fed up with sitting at the kitchen table for our sessions of nerding/reading/photography etc and finding it gave us both a sore neck and arms. Besides, the benefits of not sitting down all day are now becoming more widely known.

After investigating the local pre-built options I decided to buy the frame from a New Zealand supplier www.heritagehardware.co.nz and order the Blake Electric height-adjustable frame kit. This arrived in short order and my only remaining choices were what to put on the top and the backing plate/"modesty panel". I decided to save money and bought a door from Bunnings for $50! Sweet as.

Some bits! Oooo I love bits.

Upon unpacking my boy Jamie wanted to know where the motor was and how it was going to lift the desk. We found the motor and I explained the way a worm gear worked, how strong it was and how he could find the same thing at work in his Lego Technic dump truck.

Mate, I think it's like this... ooo look, you've got one too!

The first thing to do was to cut the modesty panel wood to the right length and mount it onto the leg frames. This is the piece that prevents people from seeing up your skirt at work. I never wear skirts at work for precisely this reason! I chose untreated 18mm pine from Bunnings for this and got down to drilling some holes for the mounting hardware. The leg frames have a peg system with internal fasteners... this needed some precise drilling, and without a drill press or routing kit I was just going to have to use the force and keep my hands steady.

Good job I did some practice holes, it was only on hole #4 I figured out how to do it right.

I didn't help that the hole cutter wouldn't fit in the chuck of my cordless drill and I had to use the corded drill with the wobble in the shaft - this offset in the rotation produced a hole about 2mm larger than I required. However, given that the mounting force of the fastener wouldn't put letting the locking bolt out of the frame, it didn't really matter that much. With all the holes drilled, it was time to put the modesty panel on the legs and get them standing up. This also involved connecting an extendable drive rod from the motor [which is situated on one of the legs] across to the lifting mechanism inside the other leg. The lifting mechanisms are almost entirely contained, so there's nothing to get your skirt caught in. [phew! I mean, yeah... safety]

Ain't no-one gonna be lookin' up my skirt here man.

With that in place it was time to hook up the power supply and test the lifting capability. It was very smooth and reassuringly strong. This lifting unit is rated to lift 70kg. I'm not sure if that is including the desktop surface, but I guess it must. Still, I'm sure while I'm at work the kids will try using this as their personal elevator to... to... the spiders around the window frame of course!

Now it was time to turn my $50 door into a desktop.

Who'da thought that the hollow core doors are actually baffled internally!? FOR THE WIN.

So, I thought that my cheap desktop surface may sooner or later become the victim of a cave-in ie: the very thin customwood/MDF panelling that bonds the outer surface of the door might be damaged by excessive weight or dumping of stuff on top of the desk. We've all been to parties with a damaged hollow core door somewhere right? Right? Of course you have, you just don't remember cause you were too drunk or something.

I'd anticipated chopping the end off the door and inserting a bracing piece of pine to reinforce the surface, but when I cut into the panel to reduce it from 1800mm down to 1600mm in length I discovered internal cardboard baffling. Hooray! No need to reinforce and I could get on with trimming and plugging the end of the cut with some more untreated pine. With this done it was time to screw the desktop on and tidy up the wiring etc.

Cool stretchy spiral cables weren't just for the 60's you know. And you thought your laptop had a big power supply.

With the desktop surface [door] screwed down, it was time to fit the power supply to the underside of the desk and tidy up the wires. The power supply and cabling was very user-friendly with really simple plugs to connect everything up, and a nice stretchy spiral cord to accommodate the varying distance from the power supply to the motor unit. Now to attach the control unit.

Dual-switching gang sign required. I don't know what this means on the streets.

The up or down activation is achieved through simultaneous pressing of two rocking switches on the control panel. Push them both in the same direction to activate the motor [which thankfully cuts out automatically at the full height or bottom of the range - sorry kids!]. The lifting is smooth and though not silent, it is a confident whirring sound. The height range reaches from 660mm [approx 2 feet 1 inch] to 1180mm [approx 3 feet 10 inches], which I think is going to be enough even for pretty tall people. I'm a short-ass however at 172cm.

And with that, it was done.

Here it is in it's tall state. Or 'angry', however you prefer to think of it reared up to full height. Incidentally this is the best appearance the desk will ever have as it is not covered in crap, which it soon will be.

So, I'm writing this on the computer standing at the desk now and it's so full of win I must share with you a couple of thoughts:

• The frame is expandable, so you can create a wider desk than what I've done to fit in the space we have. It's up to you, to a maximum of 1800mm [nearly 6 feet]. And that's just the frame - you can put an even wider top on it. I made ours 1500mm.
• I think ours needs to be painted with something durable like maybe even enamel. If you're going to use your own top, what surface do you want? 
• You may want a tall chair. I use one at work because the desks there NOT adjustable. We don't have the freedom to sit at the normal height. However, this is good cause you end up standing a fair bit, and you can still slump for a break if you like.

It already feels better. If you do any desk-based work at home I suggest you consider doing the same for your own good!

-julian

MrWinter - Urban Shepherd - CD packaging and shoot

So, my friend Chris Winter [MrWinter] has just finished putting the eyebrows on his latest effort entitled 'Urban Shepherd'. It's a modern jazz/blues/electronica/brass-infused romp worthy of your time and ears. He plays percussion, keyboards, brass, sings, mixes, mics everything and makes the tea too. He asked me to help conceive and shoot the cover as well as put the CD packaging together. I told him I'd be delighted.

I'd initially said something with lights and long exposures in the studio would be cool but he had other things in mind, including a crook and a cloak and a trumpet. We hashed out the idea that he'd be a back country shepherd on his way into town to convert a flock of cityfolk to the way, the trumpet and the light.

At some point this involved rain, and a bus stop, a remote release camera, lighting and some car tail lights. I went and shot a test or two alone so we stood a better chance of hitting it right on the night and I think we got what we wanted in the first 5-8 frames. I love it when a plan comes together! Take a look at the cover images and then the resulting CD packaging below. And if you want to listen and/or buy head straight over to mrwinter.com.

This forms the front and the back of the package.

100% crop

cover and disc

inside panels - shot with an Olloclip on an iPhone4 - shhhhhh!

One of the promotional posters and the disc label image too. Hooray for the polar coordinates filter!

The angels of RGB

This image painted by Jeremy Enecio sums up my feelings towards colour in the world I see!

-j

It's been a busy couple of months

And look what just made it into beta to scare Facebook? Google+ is here to hopefully challenge FB on it's own turf, right some wrongs and give us another yet another social network to spend our time on. My question is, which post for which network? Are you going to spend time updating two [in my case... in your case maybe more?] pages on your comings and goings? Or will it be Posterous that you use to click once and be everywhere?

Google buzz came outta the gate and got slammed a year or so ago for being a little too open and friendly by automatically adding your contacts to everyone else's, thus instantly destroying one of the more delicate tasks involved in sharing your digital self - the task of controlling who gets to see what about you and your daily life? Google+ manages this by letting you arbitrarily create sharing 'circles' whose membership you can define in a highly dynamic manner. It's pretty elegant and it turns out, put together by an ex-Apple employee Andy Hertzfeld and the clarity and simplicity is evident. I was able to quickly find my way around, set up new contacts and manage existing ones and create posts etc... I think however Google do owe a fair bit to the layout of Facebook and the miles that interface has traveled.

On another note I'll soon be spending a photographic weekend with my buddy Brian Lomas and should have some image based fun to share after we've had a mad session of shutter clicking and burrito eating. 

In the meantime, work at Weta has taken some very interesting turns and I can but leave you with this cryptic image to describe my involvement:

-j

Caught my eye

Two photographers have caught my eye lately, namely Mitch Dowbrowner and Camille Seaman. They're both devoted and hard-working landscape photographers who really focus on waiting for the right moment when the light is right... if you agree that 99% of life is showing up, then these two not only show up but then wait the extra time for the moment to arrive.

You can easily see the influence of Ansel Adams in Mitch's photos, and it's unclear whether he's enhancing  the pockets of detail and nuanced exposure in his images by digital means after the capture, or by getting his fingers dirty in the developer tray [like Ansel did] during the enlargement process... but either way, if you've never seen his stuff, take a look at his online portfolio here: http://www.mitchdobrowner.com/

[is this infrared? Digital or film? Mitch doesn't reveal too much on his site about how he shoots.]

Likewise, Camille Seaman's work exhibits the same decisive patience where paying close attention to the light is vital in the composition - she admittedly states she almost never manipulates her images post shooting. Something that I hadn't realised about her lighting choices for icebergs is that she says you need to wait for overcast conditions to expose their character, whereas I had assumed that bright sunlight would be necessary for sharp form relief... Here's her site: http://www.camilleseaman.com/

-j