Thursday, April 21, 2011

Tech Talk: Facebook Performs Better In Chrome ?

Hi, just a little chat today....

I have noticed that Facebook works more smoothly in Chrome 10.0.x (the version which I have) than in FireFox 3.6. Some elements of Facebook like Add Friend Dialogue Box make FireFox hang for a little time and specially when facebook opens the "Suggest Friends" dialogue box it just hangs the whole firefox browser until it has fully loaded and all other tabs get in-accessible during this loading and execution and on the same computer I used Chrome and it just works fine; it renders the box smoother, faster and doesn't hang other tabs. In the meanwhile other tabs just keep working as normal.

Did you see the same problem? Please let me know your thoughts. :D Not sure how Fire Fox 4 will perform in this regard. I'll post my thoughts when I use Fire Fox.

thanks
Iqtidar Ali
www.souldesigns.net

Friday, April 01, 2011

Tutorial: Gallery Thumbnail Roll-Overs - Flash CS5 & ActionScript 3

Hi. everyone designer / developer out there... how are you people? I am posting the first tutorial on Flash. I will try to make it as easier & simple as I can. OK, now to the real stuff.

Category: Adobe Flash CS4 / CS5, ActionScript 3.0 / AS3
Skill Level: Novice to Beginner
Live Demo Link: http://www.souldesigns.net/tutorials/flash_gallery/
Source Files(FLA & SWF): http://hotfile.com/dl/123691859/4824f09/gallery_rollovers.zip.html (updated download link)
                                                                                               
Author: Iqtidar Ali @ Soul Designs
Last Updated: Mar 15, 2012.


Summary:
Please take a look at above link first to get the idea of what we are going to achieve with this tutorial. I am going to take an approach that's going to take care of the details and where-ever I feel reasoning, I will give links to resources which elaborate why we are using a specific technique.

Flash designers should now face the facts that we have to get used to Action Script now... because you cannot ignore it... we have to learn it to at least to a level that will make our lives easier, and believe me it's not that difficult.

Step 1: What you need?
#1: Flash Cs4 or CS5
#2: A bunch of Images that fit your design.

Step 2: Creating New Flash File

Now it's time to get it going. First of all open Adobe Flash and goto "File -> New" it'll display a dialogue-box with severl options to start with; we are going to work with the default option "ActionScript 3.0" which is recommended if you are going to publish your flash work for your website. ActionScript 2.0 is not recommended as it is now quite old and not upto the standards of OOP (Object Oriented Programming).

Adjusting Document Properties
When Flash creates a new document it applies the default dimensions to the newly created document, most of the time we need to change the dimensions to our requirements. In this tutorial I am using a document of Widht = 850 x Hieght = 450 Pixels. We can change these settings by pressing "CTRL + J" or going to "Modify -> Document" in the top-menu.

Screen 2-0. Click or Right-click on image for high-res shot or righ-click open in new tab to download.

Step 3: Importing Images to stage.
Now we are in our new flash document and you need to remember to save it :) , it's time to import our images... so keep on the main stage and press "CTRL + R" or goto "File -> Import -> Import to Stage" See Screen 3-0.

Screen 3-0. Click or Right-click on image for high-res shot or righ-click open in new tab to download.

Screen 3-1. Click or Right-click on image for high-res shot or righ-click open in new tab to download.

After Clicking on 'Import to Stage' select all the images I already have put in a folder, you can select from your computer which images to import, but to be more organized we need to keep our stuff in the project's own folders. After the files have been imported on a single key-frame we will move further.

Converting to Symbol (Movie Clip)
when all our images are imported to stage and are on a single frame. We need to select them all either by Click(Mouse Down)+Drag just like we draw a rectagle but just with the ' Selection Tool (Shortcut "V") ' or Pressing "CTRL+A (select all)" and goto "Modify -> Convert to Symbol" or press "F8" on the keyboard, now a dialogue box will appear, select MovieClip as your type and other details of this box are discussed in Screen 3-3 below;

Screen 3-2. Click or Right-click on image for high-res shot or righ-click open in new tab to download.

Screen 3-3. Click or Right-click on image for high-res shot or righ-click open in new tab to download.

by default, the Movie Clip Registration Point is set to 'top-left', it's the origin point of a Flash Symbol (Movie Clip, Button or Graphic). For more info on Registration Point click here

Now press OK to finish the process of converting our stack of images to a movie clip. Now we need to 'Double Click' on the movie clip to enter inside it or to edit it.

Step 4: Setting up movie Clip:

Now that we are inside the Movie Clip, which we have named "ImageContainer" you can name it anything you like, we will be arranging our images so that we can work with them further.

Guides:
In this example we will use Guides to properly arrange our images, so, what are guides? Guides are imaginary margins you can draw on your screen to help you easily align your objects, set animation starting points and much more. For enabling guides you first need to make sure the Rulers on your page are visible, for this goto "View -> Rulers (CTRL+ALT+Shift+R)" and when you click on the ruler and drag out, the guide margins will appear and you can drag them anywhere on the stage where you want your objects to aligned to them. These lines will not be exported and will not be visible in your .swf , they're just for work in our source .fla files. See example Screen 4-0


Screen 4-0. Click or Right-click on image for high-res shot or righ-click open in new tab to download.

Converting Images to Individual Movie Clips
Now we are going to convert every image to an individual Movie Clip, for this we need to select every image press "F8" and select Movie Clip as the option in dialogue box and do it to all the movie clips in our "ImageContainer" Movie Clip.

Giving "Instance Names" to every Movie Clip
In AS3 if you want to interact to a Display Object you need to give it an Instance Name for sure. For this we need to select a movie clip, open "Properties" panel if it's not showing already and where it says we have to give this instance a unique name. I have given the image movie clips instance names like "img_01_mc", "img_02_mc" so on and so forth. See Screen 4-1

Screen 4-1. Click or Right-click on image for high-res shot or righ-click open in new tab to download.

Step 5: Creating Motion Tween
Now we will create motion tween / animation for each clip.
1- Double Click the first Movie Clip to get inside (edit) the movie clip

2- Select the first frame and insert two new layers (see screen 5-0)

3- Insert frames upto Frame 30 (see screen 5-0)

Screen 5-0. Click or Right-click on image for high-res shot or righ-click open in new tab to download.

4- Name the layers "images", "border" & "actions" from bottom-up. (see Screen 5-1)

5- Insert Keyframe( F6 ) on actions layer frame 15

6- Select frame '1' on actions layer and press ( F9 ) to open actions panel and add " stop(); " action and repeat this procedure with frame 15 Keyframe on this layer, so that when the movie starts it rests at the first frame and nothing happens. On Roll-Over state of the mouse we will have the image Zoom-In towards us. We'll do it later when finished with setting up with all the images(movie clips). (see Screen 5-1)

Screen 5-1. Click or Right-click on image for high-res shot or righ-click open in new tab to download.


7- Select Rectangle tool ( R) to draw the border that appears on roll-over, I have selcted a dark grey border, you can use a color of your own choice.

8- Now select first frame on the "border" layer and draw a rectangle of the same size / dimension as of the image and place over our thumbnail image. (see Screen 5-2)

9- Now select frame 15 on both layers (image & border) and " right-click " on your mouse and select " insert classic tween "

10- Again select frame 15 on both layers and Insert Keyframe, Press ( F6 )

Screen 5-2. Click or Right-click on image for high-res shot or righ-click open in new tab to download.

Screen 5-3. Click or Right-click on image for high-res shot or righ-click open in new tab to download.


11- Insert Keyframes on Frame 30 for both layers.

12- Lock actions and image layers. ( See Screen 5-3 )

13- Now select frame 1 on "border" layer and click on the border graphic, goto properties ( CTRL+ F3 if not open) panel and under "COLOR EFFECT" select "Alpha" and use "0" as the value of alpha, which will make the graphic visually disappear (% transparent) on the stage for first frame.

Screen 5-4. Click or Right-click on image for high-res shot or righ-click open in new tab to download.

14- Select frame 1 on both layers and goto Properties Panel and set easing to 100 ( see Screen 5-5 ), easing makes the zoom-in and out effect look smooth. Repeat this step with frame 15 on both layers.

Screen 5-5. Click or Right-click on image for high-res shot or righ-click open in new tab to download.

15- Now on frame 15, we will make both the thumbnail image and the square border increase in size to show a Zoom-In effect. 1st selct frame 15 on the Image layer and increase the width to by 14 pixels, in this example the image's original width is 96 px, so we make the width to 110 pixels, and on the properties bar if you link both Width & Height (see Screen 5-6) the size of the image or object will increase in proportion or we can say the ratio of width and height will be maintained.

Screen 5-6. Click or Right-click on image for high-res shot or righ-click open in new tab to download.

16- Now you have to repeat this procedure for every Movie Clip on the stage. After that we will move to the part where we will make these Movie Clips respond to the movement of our mouse.

Step 6: Applying ActionScript for Roll-Over effect.

As we know by now that we have created movie clips on the stage and have given them Instance Names i.e. img_01_mc, img_02_mc, so on and so forth. These instance names are like identifiers and are used to communicate with the display objects (Movie Clips, Buttons etc.)

Step by step we will define how to progress towards the goal. All of the actionscript will be put on the Image_Container movie clip's first frame; (see Screen 6-0)

Screen 6-0. Click or Right-click on image for high-res shot or righ-click open in new tab to download.

1- We need our movie clips to respond like buttons, to show hand-cursor on Roll Over and Later on make them click-able.
img_01_mc.buttonMode = true;
in this simple line we have given our movie clip instance "img_01_mc" the attribute of a button, now this movie clip will act as a button to the mouse, means when we take our mouse over this movie clip, the hand-cursor will appear like it appears on buttons. We need to add this piece of code for every movie clip in the actions panel. (see Screen 6-0)

2- We are now ready to start our first roll-over;. We need to add an "Event Listener" to the code; an Event Listener in AS 3 is like a radar in my opinion, it just keeps waiting for an event which will or may occur in the lifetime of the movie clip.
img_01_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, rollOverMC1);
in the above line of code we are adding an Event Listener to our img_01_mc movie clip, this event listener keeps waiting for the event when the mouse rolls over this movie clip / button, and when the mouse comes over this movie clip, it triggers the function called "rollOverMC1"

we also need to add an event Listener when the mouse Rolls Out of the movie clip, because when the mouse rolls out, we want our clip to zoom back or zoom-out back to it's normal position.

img_01_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, rollOutMC1);
it's the same event listener as above, just the difference is that, it listens to when the mouse rolls out and triggers a different function which is called "rollOutMC1"

Now we will create the functions which will command our movie clip "

function rollOverMC1 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_01_mc.
gotoAndPlay(2);
setChildIndex(img_01_mc, numChildren-1);
}
ok, now's the time to explain this function; we can see that first this function is triggerd on a MousEvent and it takes our "img_01_mc" to go and play it's 2nd frame, because by default our movie clip is stopped at frame 1 and when mouse rolls over it starts playing from frame 2 and stops at frame 15 because we have put an stop(); function there already, now till when the mouse is over our movie clip it's going to be at frame 15, at this frame if you remember we had made the size of our objects increase, right? so when it moves from frame 2 to 15 we'll get an effect of the image zooming in. and when our mouse rolls out of the movie clip we will trigger another function, but before that we need to explain what setChildIndex means and what it's doing;

Child Index:
On the main stage we have a mother movie clip named Image_Container, right? whatever name you have given is the main or mother movie clip or you can also call it parent, because it contains several more movie clips in it, which are our Button Movie clips img_01_mc, img_02_mc etc. etc.

The several movie clips inside the parent movie clip are it's children, automatically some clips are over others and some are under others like layers, if we count the number of these movie clips in our case, we have 12 movie clips and flash automatically keeps the record of all of these as the children and creates an index(number counting) to understand which clip is over another or which child is the eldest and which is the youngest. The eldest child is on top and youngest under the second-last one; but actually the number in flash's memory starts from 0(zero), so we have 12 children from 0 - 11; in this function what we are doing is counting all of the children and -1 one from them to take the movie clip which is being rolled over to the top-position or make him the eldest child so that it doesn't get hidden under other clips when it zooms in.

Roll Out Function
Ok now's the time to send back image to it's original position when the mouse roll out event occurs :)
function rollOutMC1 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_01_mc.
gotoAndPlay(16);

}
So, this explains it; very simple, when mouse rolls out it plays the frame sixteen from where the motion tween starts going back to normal and again goes and stops at frame one. Now's the time to create functions for all other remaining movie clips. Please remember that all function names should be different; there should be no same function names, I am pasting the code below for further understanding, when done with all 12 functions and event listeners, our movie works. I'll upload source FLA file for which the link will be given on top of this post :) soon.


// Enable Button Mode for Thumbnail Movie Clips
img_01_mc.buttonMode = true;
img_02_mc.buttonMode = true;
img_03_mc.buttonMode = true;
img_04_mc.buttonMode = true;
img_05_mc.buttonMode = true;
img_06_mc.buttonMode = true;
img_07_mc.buttonMode = true;
img_08_mc.buttonMode = true;
img_09_mc.buttonMode = true;
img_10_mc.buttonMode = true;
img_11_mc.buttonMode = true;
img_12_mc.buttonMode = true;

// Image 01
img_01_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, rollOverMC1);
img_01_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, rollOutMC1);

function rollOverMC1 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_01_mc.gotoAndPlay(2);
setChildIndex(img_01_mc, numChildren-1);
}

function rollOutMC1 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_01_mc.gotoAndPlay(16);


}


// Image 02
img_02_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, rollOverMC2);
img_02_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, rollOutMC2);

function rollOverMC2 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_02_mc.gotoAndPlay(2);
setChildIndex(img_02_mc, numChildren-1);
}

function rollOutMC2 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_02_mc.gotoAndPlay(16);

}


// Image 03
img_03_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, rollOverMC3);
img_03_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, rollOutMC3);

function rollOverMC3 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_03_mc.gotoAndPlay(2);
setChildIndex(img_03_mc, numChildren-1);
}

function rollOutMC3 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_03_mc.gotoAndPlay(16);

}


// Image 03
img_04_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, rollOverMC4);
img_04_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, rollOutMC4);

function rollOverMC4 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_04_mc.gotoAndPlay(2);
setChildIndex(img_04_mc, numChildren-1);
}

function rollOutMC4 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_04_mc.gotoAndPlay(16);

}


// Image 05
img_05_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, rollOverMC5);
img_05_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, rollOutMC5);

function rollOverMC5 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_05_mc.gotoAndPlay(2);
setChildIndex(img_05_mc, numChildren-1);
}

function rollOutMC5 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_05_mc.gotoAndPlay(16);

}


// Image 06
img_06_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, rollOverMC6);
img_06_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, rollOutMC6);

function rollOverMC6 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_06_mc.gotoAndPlay(2);
setChildIndex(img_06_mc, numChildren-1);
}

function rollOutMC6 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_06_mc.gotoAndPlay(16);

}


// Image 07
img_07_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, rollOverMC7);
img_07_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, rollOutMC7);

function rollOverMC7 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_07_mc.gotoAndPlay(2);
setChildIndex(img_07_mc, numChildren-1);
}

function rollOutMC7 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_07_mc.gotoAndPlay(16);

}


// Image 08
img_08_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, rollOverMC8);
img_08_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, rollOutMC8);

function rollOverMC8 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_08_mc.gotoAndPlay(2);
setChildIndex(img_08_mc, numChildren-1);
}

function rollOutMC8 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_08_mc.gotoAndPlay(16);

}


// Image 09
img_09_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, rollOverMC9);
img_09_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, rollOutMC9);

function rollOverMC9 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_09_mc.gotoAndPlay(2);
setChildIndex(img_09_mc, numChildren-1);
}

function rollOutMC9 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_09_mc.gotoAndPlay(16);

}


// Image 10
img_10_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, rollOverMC10);
img_10_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, rollOutMC10);

function rollOverMC10 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_10_mc.gotoAndPlay(2);
setChildIndex(img_10_mc, numChildren-1);
}

function rollOutMC10 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_10_mc.gotoAndPlay(16);

}


// Image 11
img_11_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, rollOverMC11);
img_11_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, rollOutMC11);

function rollOverMC11 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_11_mc.gotoAndPlay(2);
setChildIndex(img_11_mc, numChildren-1);
}

function rollOutMC11 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_11_mc.gotoAndPlay(16);

}


// Image 12
img_12_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OVER, rollOverMC12);
img_12_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.ROLL_OUT, rollOutMC12);

function rollOverMC12 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_12_mc.gotoAndPlay(2);
setChildIndex(img_12_mc, numChildren-1);
}

function rollOutMC12 (event:MouseEvent):void {
img_12_mc.gotoAndPlay(16);

}
//-------- End of Tutorial; I'll be adding anything I find necessary time to time; if you find a problem in the article or functionality, please do not hesitate to write it in the comments; i'll be following as soon as I can.

Last Updated: Apr 13, 2011.

Thanks
Iqtidar Ali
www.souldesigns.net


Tuesday, March 15, 2011

On My Way to Learning Gaia Flash Frawework

Hi. Everyone,

As I have been searching more and more and more help on learning Gaia Flash Framework, I have come accross good resources, but they're still less in quantity and help with less-complex project examples, but still a great help to get started with. One site that I find very helpful is TotallyNerdy.com take a look at the site, they offer good video tutorials that help you start fast track development with Gaia.

Please note that the video tutorials on this site are in English language.

thanks for today :)
Iqtidar.
www.souldesigns.net

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Gaia Intro



Lyla is introducing us to Gaia Flash Framework, actually at the moment I need every bit of knowledge on this framework, because I have a challenging project ahead of me and this seems to be a solution. I will post review and my experience with Gaia when I am done with the project.

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Sir Ken Robinson - Education System and Creativity



At TED 2006, Sir Ken Robinson speaks about how we need to revive our education system in order to prepare ourselves for the future. The lecture is delivered in a funny way. The vision in this lecture did of-course has made me think of human creativity and brain in a bigger circle. Enjoy the lecture.

Thursday, March 03, 2011

Apple Unveils iPad 2, with Steve Jobs on Stage :)

A Great News Today !!! iPad 2...........
iPad was hot.... and while still the heat was ON, they threw wine on the fire !!! :) this one looks sleeker and features look better. As we see on the Apple site they claim it to be faster, reliable and in sync with the social media of today, even content creation is there. iPad is my favorite hand-held device as of millions of you.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs returned from his medical leave to announce the iPad 2 at a San Francisco event yesterday. The new iPad is thinner than an iPhone 4, boasts faster processing speeds, and sports two cameras for Apple’s FaceTime feature.

“While others have been scrambling to copy the first generation iPad, we’re launching iPad 2, which moves the bar far ahead of the competition and will likely cause them to go back to the drawing boards yet again,” Jobs said in a statement.
The iPad 2 also comes in both black and white versions, and will be available in the US from 11 March. Prices start at US$499 for a WiFi-only model. There are a total of nine different iPad 2 models, with Verizon and AT&T having their own distinct 3G versions.

Apple has also taken strides in making the iPad 2 more than just a device for consuming media, as its predecessor was. With the announcement of tablet versions of its Garageband and iMovie apps, the Cupertino company is hoping the new iPad will be used as a content-creation device.

In addition, Apple has also designed its own case for the iPad 2, called Smart Cover. The case (below) uses a magnetic hinge, folds into a stand for typing, and will wake or put to sleep the tablet when opened or closed, respectively.
Along with the iPad 2, Jobs also announced an update to iOS. Version 4.3 includes a faster Safari, enhancements to AirPlay and the Personal Hotspot feature. The latter will allow users to share their iPhone 4 cellular data connection over WiFi with up to five devices.

courtesy of Apple

Learning Fragmentation in 3D Studio Max

Hi.
We meet again today. I found this great tutorial on working with Reactor in 3D Studio Max at CGCookie.com

The Video tutorial is around 37 mins and holds a great deal of learning curve. I hope you'll like my help.

http://max.cgcookie.com/2009/12/03/learning-fragmentation-in-reactor/

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

3D in Pakistan - Sharp Image.

Sharp Image
3D MonsterHi. Everybody !
Most of us would not think Pakistan as the place for a 3D Design & Animation Studio, but there are surprises. We have got some great talent and it's ever-growing. Sharp Image is a great place, I only visited once when Shiraz invited me to and a good environment to work for 3D and Post Production. I am placing some snap-shots of their work. Their areas of expertise are 3D Architecture, Character Design & Animation, 3D Asset Development & Post Production VFX. The site is www.sharpimageonline.com

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Shiraz Saeed Showreel 2009



Some more work from Shiraz :)

Shiraz Saeed - 3D Modeler & Animator - Showreel



Shiraz Saeed, is my long-time friend :) He's a passionate 3D Modeler, Designer & Animator, Has worked with great Pakistani companies such as Sharp Image & Post Amazers. Now a days doing his own business and providing above services to clients, I like his work a lot, will be posting more with time. Thanks for reading (if you did read it)

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Featured Site: Fantasy Interactive - My Favorite Interactive Agency

Review:
Hi. Everyone out there !!!
today I am reviewing the most favorite Interactive Agency. Fantasy Interactive evolved from a small one man endeavor to one of the top interactive / design agencies of the 21st century. I personally like them for many reasons.. like they have built up themselves from ground-up, they have evolved both in their approach and strategy with time. Once they were all FLASH.... heavy, animated and complicated, today they have reviewed their thought patterns and realised and adopted the "balance" which benefits their clients in many ways. These people are award-winners and passionate about what they do. Impressive list of clients and impressive work, as I see them through their website, looks to me one of the best places for designers, developers & creative directors to work at.
I think I have said enough today, visit their site for more info www.f-i.com

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Featured Artist: Mike-Nash


Hi, Long time since a featured artist. :)

Yesterday I saw the site of Mike Nash and his illustrations were great, so I thought I should post his work to my blog and emailed him for a permission. He gave me permission on the condition that everybody on my blog should take care of the copyrights and doesn't use his work on their site or projects. Mike Nash's Official Website is
www.mike-nash.com , Here you can find several tutorials on how to make great illustrations and his photo gallery.

Mike Nash has a great list of clients like Lord of the Ring, Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer etc :D

Monday, June 07, 2010

Grand Theft Auto

Hola !!!
I really liked this YouTube channel name GTAMissions, it's a great Channel featuring recorded missions from all the GTA Games. The guy has recorded all successful mission attempts and put on the youtube channel, what a great idea. It kinda helped me playing GTA Vice city, because the version I had, the voice-overs were missing from mission intro videos. So this channel has been a great help. The sound quality is also good, check 'em out! the official site is www.gtamissions.com , and the youtube channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/GTAmissions




KooOooL !!!

Phet Cyclone - Inspiration for Background Design

Hi. Everyone, Phet cyclone hit Oman a few days earlier, God save us all. But these pics I think can be used as inspiration when designing a cyclone or clouds etc.










Friday, July 10, 2009

Star Wars Old Republic - Cinematic Trailer




This is the E3-09 Trailer of Star Wars: The Old Republic, I watched this trailer today and I liked it a lot, another great work from Blur Studios and ofcourse Sze Jones my favorite female character modeller :)

Friday, June 26, 2009

Blur Studio, The Making of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Trailer

This is the event where Blur Studio makes about a 2 hour video presentation on how they brought to life the cinematic trailer of "Warhammer Online" which according to me is a great trailer featuring war scene and one-on-one fights of enemy race characters like an elf is fighting an evil female elf etc. etc.


The above female character is made by Sze Jones and in the third part of the video she describes step by step process of developing this character. A lot to learn from this two hour video, pretty helpful for inspiration from industry leading artists and animators.

Event Videos and Pictures Link: http://www.gnomonschool.com/events/blurwarhammeronline/blur_warhammer-online.php

Sze Jones Interview at ZBrush Central


This is a good interview of a great Female artist Sze Jones, She has great skills and specially in the area of "Female Character Modeling". In this interview she describes about her work and life, I was happy to know that she also learned "Belly Dance" :) and what can I say about her beauty the combination of beauty, skill, sense of humor and intelligence makes this girl a dream girl. Specially her new work on "Warhammer Online's Evil Elf" is something to look at.
Interview Link: http://www.zbrushcentral.com/zbc/showthread.php?t=062056