Pete Molinero: Alive and Digital

New and Updated Blog!

petemolinero — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 07:36:30 +0000

A couple weeks ago I revamped and moved my blog over to:

www.petemolinero.com

Enjoy!

-Pete

A Model a Day

petemolinero — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 04:48:37 +0000

I had big plans for my education this summer, but as work and leisure filled up my time I was finding that I was spending less and less time furthering my experience with CG and as a result less and less learning. In order to keep me on track, I decided to commit myself to doing one model every day. Before, I had been setting my sites on larger projects (model and rig an entire character), which can be daunting, and when I only have an hour or two here and there, it doesn’t get accomplished very fast. Soo, I decided I am going to put my one or two hours every day to use with something that I can actually complete. This could mean that one day I model a watch, another day I model a lamp, or other fairly simple things. A couple days ago I modeled my flash drive. Having smaller projects really helps me get things DONE, which in turn gives me something to show for my work, and keeps me working on things.

In addition to doing a model every day, I decided that if need be I am allowing myself to substitute other projects for the model. For example, in order to render out wireframe turnarounds I needed to figure out a good way to display the wireframe for a render. A method that I had used in the past was to enable contour rendering in the render settings. This wasn’t entirely giving me the results I wanted, so I ended up resorting to Toon Shade lines for the wireframe. However, setting up a render layer and creating the toon lines, adjusting settings, and preparing the render takes a while! And usually I don’t feel like doing all that by the time I finish modeling. So, for my “Model a Day” yesterday, I wrote a MEL application that takes care of all that for me. All I have to do is run the App, and it creates the appropriate render layers and adjusts all the settings for me so that I get a color pass and wireframe pass all with one click of a button! Very handy! I’ve still been adjusting the script here and there, but one I finish it maybe I will post it. In any case, that is an example of substitutions I might make for my “Model a Day.” I’ve also thought about spending a day on Camera Mapping, an area that has always interested me but I have never really looked in to.

I’m going to try to post models as I finish them, and there should be a ton on the way, so check back soon for more!

-Pete

MEL Script: Reset Translations

petemolinero — Tue, 25 May 2010 02:29:47 +0000

Tonight I wrote a script that performs a function that I have been wanting for a long time. It resets the translation numbers to the distance that the object is from the origin. So, for example, your object is sitting out in the middle of nowhere, and it has translations of 0 0 0. What you need to know is what this object’s translations would be if it had been created at the origin, then moved out in to space. Well, just run this procedure and it will reset translations to what they would be.

Maybe that doesn’t make sense, but here is the script.

proc resetTranslations()
{
string $selected[] = `ls -sl` ;
$resetTransformOBJ01=$selected[0];
CenterPivot;

polyCube -w 1 -h 1 -d 1 -sx 1 -sy 1 -sz 1 -ax 0 1 0 -cuv 4 -ch 1;
string $selected[] = `ls -sl` ;
$oldSpotOBJ01=$selected[0];

delete `pointConstraint $resetTransformOBJ01 $oldSpotOBJ01`;

polyCube -w 1 -h 1 -d 1 -sx 1 -sy 1 -sz 1 -ax 0 1 0 -cuv 4 -ch 1;
string $selected[] = `ls -sl` ;
$originOBJ01=$selected[0];

delete `pointConstraint $originOBJ01 $resetTransformOBJ01`;

select -r $resetTransformOBJ01 ;
FreezeTransformations;
makeIdentity -apply true -t 1 -r 1 -s 1 -n 0;

delete `pointConstraint $oldSpotOBJ01 $resetTransformOBJ01`;

delete $oldSpotOBJ01;
delete $originOBJ01;
}

I hope that helps someone!

-Pete

The Whites of Their Eyes…

petemolinero — Mon, 24 May 2010 01:45:31 +0000

I’ve been working on improving my modeling and rigging skills this summer, now that school is out, and something that I encountered today was the challenge of making really good eyes. I mean, I’m talking about eyes that you can look in to and see life. Unfortunately it isn’t incredibly intuitive so I consulted the all-knowing Google for an answer. Sure enough, within minutes and a few different searches, I found this great tutorial which I am now going to pass on to the rest of you.

Enjoy!

Tutorial: Its all in the Eyes By Adam Baroody

-Pete

Autodesk Products: Free to Students

petemolinero — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:21:04 +0000

I recently found out(through Andrew Martin) about an incredible deal that Autodesk is offering with their products. On students.autodesk.com, Autodesk is now offering their products FREE OF CHARGE to students. (I’m not entirely sure if this means only college students; high school students may give it a try as well. I ‘think’ the only requirement is that you have a school email address.) It seems almost too good to be true, but the products that they offer include the following:

3D Studio Max
Maya 2011
MotionBuilder
Mudbox
Sketchbook Pro
3D Studio Max Design
Softimage
Showcase
AutoCAD
AutoCAD Architecture
AutoCAD Civil 3D
AutoCAD Electrical
AutoCAD Freestyle
AutoCAD Map 3D
AutoCAD Mechanical
AutoCAD MEP
AutoCAD P and ID
AutoCAD Raster Design
AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite
AutoCAD Structural Detailing
Algor Simulation Professional
Alias Automotive
Ecotect Analysis
Impression
Inventor Professional
Navisworks Manage
Revit Architecture
Revit Structure
Robot Structural Analysis Professional

Is that incredible or what? They are all with a 13-month license (though some appear to be unlimited licenses?). These are all the MOST current versions of the products (Maya 2011, Softimage 2011, etc.). If you for some reason need an older version, you can get them, but they will have a shorter license (some 6-month). At this point I’m not sure if the 13-month licenses are renewable, but I would assume that as Autodesk releases new products (such as Maya 2012), these new products will be offered with their own 13-month licenses.

If you are looking to take advantage of this awesome software deal, simply go to students.autodesk.com and click the “Register” link on the upper right corner of the screen. Fill out all the information and activate your account and wal-lah! Over 25 products are at your fingertips!

But the free stuff doesn’t stop there! Autodesk has partnered with 3D World, the magazine, to provide an opportunity for learning to students. At http://autodesk.3dworldmag.com/ you can find tutorials for 3D techniques and tips for graduating students pursuing a career.

If you would like yet another avenue for keeping updated with Autodesks free offers, you can check them out on facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/Autodeskedcommunity.

Thank you, Autodesk, for being so awesome!

-Pete

The Icarus Balloon

petemolinero — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:15:20 +0000

Who knew that Icarus involved hot air balloons flying through snowflakes in outer space? I certainly didn’t know, however I’m excited that a designer at Motion Fruit was aware because their Icarus video is a beautiful piece of art. The colors, transitions, and overall design create a gorgeous, unified piece. It is actually a DVD intro, but outdoes most DVD intros that I have ever seen. Good job Motion Fruit!

Here is the video:

-Pete

Tips for your portfolio website

petemolinero — Tue, 04 May 2010 04:48:00 +0000

This is a great article that I found by Jon Jones that talks about the the things to aim for and the things to avoid when building a portfolio website. It contains a ton of great information and is a great reference on the topic. Enjoy!

http://www.thejonjones.com/2005/10/07/your-portfolio-repels-jobs/

-Pete

Cereal and Busyness

petemolinero — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 04:15:34 +0000

Hi! It’s been a little while since I last posted. This has certainly been “crunch time” for me in the semester, but there has been some fun learning going on! In my Inspirational Design class with Bryan Ballinger, we were given an assignment to design a cereal box front. To determine what kind of cereal we would be designing for, Bryan had created three envelopes which were each filled with different adjectives or nouns. Then you take those three words that you draw, put them together, and wal-ah! Your cereal. I drew “Brittle,” “Sticky,” and “Puffs.” Brittle Sticky Puffs. Ok.

And here is the image:

And now I need to get back to work on my other projects!

-Pete

Cottage in the Woods

petemolinero — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:02:50 +0000

Hey! This is just a quick sketch I did to familiarize myself with painter. It is basically my first attempt to use Corel Painter. I’m really pleased with how painter works so I plan to use it a lot more in the future, and hopefully spend a bit more time on my pieces too! For this one I spent a lot of time just trying different brushes and playing around with different features, so I think the total time clocked in at like an hour and a half. Next one should go much quicker, and hopefully look better too!

My first attempt to use Painter.

-Pete

Updated: GIANT TONGUE

petemolinero — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 18:41:42 +0000

Hi!

I’ve touched up my Giant Tongue poster a little bit. Check it out! The new version (on the right) is a bit more weathered, had a little bit of color work done to it, has a little spittle coming from the tongue, has some added grain on the tongue itself. I addition I cleaned up the line work a bit so that the lines are more distinct.

-Pete