I have spent half of 2016 planning a VR Stealth game, “Espire 1: VR Operative”. Over December-Jan I created a basic prototype of the game and have now announced the project with a prototype video.
You can learn more about the project on my dedicated Espire 1 website. If you’re interested in being involved, do get in touch!
Our 4th VR Diary video is an overview of our “VR CAD Model Viewer”. This app allows you to view and interact with CAD data in Virtual Reality. The models sit on a virtual tabletop at user-specified scale. You can view these scale models from any angle and isolate specific areas. The user can explore key areas of the model in a 1:1 real-world scale.
We think it will be incredible useful for Architects, Industrial Designers and anyone who would want to use Virtual Reality for their Rapid Prototyping!
In this video, this VR app is in its early stages. In our future videos we will show some of the progress we’ve been making as well as some other examples where it could be useful in rapid prototyping for products and in industrial design applications.
The model featured in this video was Designed By Melbourne-based Architect Paul Evans. It is part of a submission to the Royal Society of Victoria by Paul Evans, Nigel Westbrook and Michael Wentworth-Bell.
At the moment, the process of preparing the model for VR is not automated – we are preparing the model in 3ds Max before sending it to Unreal.
We are in the process of automating as many of the processes as possible:
Depending on the complexity of the scene, Optimization of the resulting meshes is required. With some prep, The few test scenes we have worked with so far have maintained a stable 90fps in the headset on standard hardware.
There are a few solutions available for viewing CAD data in VR that are completely automated. Ours is not completely automated yet, but we are translating our experience in Arch-Vis into realtime VR, and can create projects that are a lot more specialised in their use – adding specific functionality per project.
This is a very popular and exciting use-case for VR tech and one I can see many CG studios being a part of!
I love my job, making 3d “Stuff” all the time. I use 3ds Max for more hours every day than I care to admit.
I have been part of the 3ds max beta programme for 4 years. Last year I was very lucky to be a part of the 3ds Max “Charter” group and to get in touch with the developers and some of the best 3ds Max users around the globe. It has been great!
[image title=”3ds Max beta Tshirt” width=”544″ height=”816″ align=”center” lightbox=”true” icon=”zoom”] http://thelode.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/2016-05-17_Micael_Wentworth-Bell_3ds_Max-1.jpg [/image]
Goosh was unveiled at the Lana Lights projection festival 2015 this weekend. I created “Goosh” in collaboration with Alf Kuhlmann and Erin McKimm. It is an illusionary architectural projection bringing the disused Zuegg jam and juice factory in Lana, Italy to life as it is filled with Jam.
You can read up more about the event and our artwork on the Lana Lights website.
You can view a live recording of the show below and find out more about this artwork on my portfolio page (coming soon!).
As we wave goodbye to 2013 and begin the new year, I’m excited to put together a quick review of my highlights over the last twelve months.
My most exciting moment this year by far has been proposing to my Girlfriend Ivy. I proposed to her 4 years to the day we first met, and 3 ½ years after we first started our romance together. It has been the greatest 4 years of my life – Ivy has given me so much love and support and has made me a better person in countless ways since the day I met her. I am very lucky to be spending the rest of my life with this amazing and inspiring woman!
[image title=”My proposal to Ivy – 4 years to the day we first met” width=”544″ height=”362″ align=”center” lightbox=”true” group=”michael2013″ icon=”zoom”] http://thelode.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Michael_Ivy_Engagement.jpg [/image]I proposed to Ivy at sunset at the top of Mt. Dandenong, Melbourne. We walked down the Kyeema track to the main lookout point and Ivy was shocked to find a large ring of fairy lights circling the vantage point. As we approached the fairy lights I laid down a picnic blanket in the middle of the circle and 2 of my closest friends, James and John, appeared from behind the trees playing the Beatles’ ‘And I Love her’ on acoustic guitar.
I sang the song to Ivy as they provided the backing music. I then picked up a 3rd acoustic guitar to perform the guitar solo before the song finished. I then knelt down and proposed to her. It was the greatest moment of my life, and I was quite embarrassed because there about 10-15 people standing by watching – I hadn’t realised the lookout was such a popular spot!
The whole moment was captured on video and with photos by my Boss and friend Alf Kuhlmann, who I have had a relationship with longer than Ivy haha. I owe my friends a lot of gratitude for their support on that special day.
[image title=”My proposal to Ivy – 4 years to the day we first met” width=”544″ height=”362″ align=”center” lightbox=”true” group=”michael2013″ icon=”zoom”] http://thelode.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Ivy_Michael_Engagement_Friends.jpg [/image]Earlier this year I was extremely happy to see my best friend get engaged to his long-time partner and my sister celebrate her engagement with my soon-to-be brother in law. Many Close friends have become engaged and have become married throughout the year. It’s been a big year for love and one i’ll always look back on with fond memories for the rest of my life!
I have been very lucky this year to be offered a full-time position at Reel Pictures. One of my first industry roles was at Reel Pictures in 2010 via the Swinburne industry placement program. After that 1 year placement I returned to Uni to finish my degree, but have continued to work for Alf Kuhlmann as a freelance motion graphics artist and 3D generalist. Early this year I was given the opportunity to work full-time with Alf and was very happy to accept it.
I have been able to work on some very exciting and technically demanding projects this year for a variety of clients. We have created motion graphics and 3D animation for TVCs, corporate videos, accident re-enactment/use in court cases and created 3D content for permanent installations.
The most exciting highlight has definitely being a part in creating a large ‘Wonder of Gold‘ animation for the Perth Mint. We used RealFlow extensively for this project and it was the perfect opportunity to learn this extremely powerful software.
[image title=”Screenshot of the ‘Big Bang’ Sequence” width=”544″ height=”82″ align=”center” lightbox=”true” group=”michael2013″ icon=”zoom”] http://thelode.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Reel_Pictures_01.jpg [/image]This year I have also been offered a role as a sessional lecturer at Swinburne University of Technology. I helped teach the ‘Typography for Screen & Motion subject in Semester 2. The subject is an overview of Typography and it’s application for screen apposed to Print via an introduction to Motion Graphics using Adobe After Effects. This subject is taken by a range of design students. Our class had students from Digital Media Design, Communication Design, Interior Design, Film & TV and Industrial design!
It was great fun helping deliver this subject to students and introducing them to After Effects. After Effects is extremely popular in motion graphics but there are so many opportunites to use it in many design & digital media disciplines. it’s a very important program to add to your toolset, that’s for sure!
I had the opportunity to update the coursework and contribute 5 new tutorials to the subject. This was the last time this subject was offered as part of the faculty of Design before Swinburne changes the Design Campus from Prahran to Hawthorn and the subject will be revised into 3 new After Effects subjects at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. This is an exciting time to be involved with the course and I hope to continue to be a part of its evolution in the future.
2013 has been a good year for my own design practice – the Digital Lode. Due to my new roles at Reel Pictures and Swinburne, I have scaled down the amount of projects I am taking on. I have found this to be a very good arrangement because I am able to choose & commit to projects that really interest me. I have worked on a variety of different projects this year, but my main focus continues to be 3D design for print. I have worked on various posters, websites and other promotional materials. In the coming year I hope to continue to work on exciting projects via the Digital Lode!
Earlier this year I traveled overseas with my partner Ivy and spent a month visiting Hong Kong, Mainland China and Thailand. I had an incredible time visiting Ivy’s extended family and celebrating Chinese New Year with them in Ivy’s hometown of Chenzhou.
[image title=”Celebrating Chinese New Year with my Partner and her extended family” width=”544″ height=”363″ align=”center” lightbox=”true” group=”michael2013″ icon=”zoom”] http://thelode.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/China_01.jpg [/image] [image title=”Fireworkds during Chinese New Year” width=”544″ height=”369″ align=”center” lightbox=”true” group=”michael2013″ icon=”zoom”] http://thelode.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/China_02.jpg [/image]I cannot wait to visit Ivy’s family again in early 2014. This time my parents are coming also – the first time my Dad will have left Australia. Norfolk Island doesn’t count!
One of my favorite projects of 2013 at Digital Lode has been creating the cover art for Buchanan’s debut album, Human Spring. I worked on this project over a period of 6 weeks at the start of 2013. The album was official unveiled and released in April/May and is now available in both digital and print over various music services. To find out more about the album and their music, check out the official Buchanan Site.
[image title=”Buchanan – Human Spring – Cover Artwork” width=”544″ height=”177″ align=”center” lightbox=”true” group=”michael2013″ icon=”zoom”] http://thelode.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Buchanan_Album_Cover.jpg [/image]This was a challenging and incredibly fulfilling job. I had a fantastic experience forming a working relationship with the band’s front-man Josh Simons, who came up with the original concept for the cover art, and helped Art Direct the artwork over the course of its creation.
It was through this artwork that I received an invitation to join the 3ds Max beta program. This is a community of Autodesk 3ds Max users that test and evaluate early versions of the software. I was able to road-test Autodesk 3ds Max 2014’s ‘populate’ feature during it’s development and provided feedback based on my experience creating the Human Spring cover art. There were over 400 Populate people used to make up the crowd in the cover art.
I created this video overview of the Human Spring project which was used as a ‘sneak peek’ video for the Populate feature in the leadup to the release of 3ds Max 2014.
2013 has been a year of continued learning, which anyone working in industries like this will be doing for the rest of their lives! Much of the fundamentals of design and animation stay the same, but most of the technical skills that I remember learning when I first started studying 3D Animation have changed drastically or been completely superseded!
To keep up with the fast past developments in this industry, i’ve signed up for a few different services this year.
I signed up for the free university ‘Coursera’ at the start of 2013 and enrolled in a few subjects. Coursera is an amalgamation of tertiary level degrees, subjects and classes that are offered by top universities from around the world, including Harvard, Stanfard and Melbourne University. It’s completely free and accessible to anyone with an internet connection and is therefore an extremely important and generous initiative!
I’ve enrolled in a few different classes this year. The first class was the Introduction to computer programming with Python. This is an amazing 12~ week crash course in computer programming offered by Rice University. Other classes i’ve enrolled in include an Introduction to Public Speaking and the extremely interesting subject Internet History, Technology and Security.
As well as Coursera, i’ve been subscribing to Digital Tutors on-and-off throughout the year. This site is fantastic with over 4000 hours of digital media and visual effects courses for all the industry software. There are standard ‘software tutorial videos’ and project based ‘creative development’ courses that are presented by top professionals in the industry. Finally, there are learning paths that arrange all these key videos into playlists to guide you through learning a software from scratch. I used the 60+ hour RealFlow learning path to get up to speed with RealFlow while working on the Wonder Of Gold Animation with Reel Pictures.
Finally, I found the lecturing job at Swinburne has been a fantastic opportunity for me to stay on top of the industry and keep my finger on the pulse of all the latest trends and workflows in motion design. A lot changes in just 12 months and by teaching a motion graphics subject I force myself to be refining my craft and learning the very best techniques.
I attended a week-long Growth Partnership course for the second year in a row. ‘GP’ is organised and run by the multi-talented Andrew Chua. The main portion of the course is a 72 hour stint in French Island accompanied only by a partner of your choice. I went with my best friend James and we spent the time setting up a basecamp, exploring the swamps, playing guitar and talking about the big issues in life. Half-Life 3 – is it coming? Is it true that there is a place in someone’s brain that if you shoot it, their head will explode? Etc.
[image title=”Fireworkds during Chinese New Year” width=”544″ height=”403″ align=”center” lightbox=”true” group=”michael2013″ icon=”zoom”] http://thelode.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/FrenchIsland1.jpg [/image]It was a fantastic rare opportunity to escape your normal life, switch off from everything and focus on The island 20km x 12km island has no running water, electricity, sealed roads, law enforcement or council. There are 95 residents and 2 ferries to/from the island operating everyday. The perfect setting for this course.
These are some of the highlights I’ve had in relation to my work and personal life in 2013. Thanks for your interest in me and for reading this post. A very big thanks to all the people who have helped and assisted me in work and personal life over the past year.
Thanks to the people who have offered me so many fantastic opportunities and to everyone i’ve had the chance to work with. I look forward to what the next 12 months have to bring and I wish you all the best in 2014!
This is a short post about one of the most ambitious personal projects i’ve ever undertaken;
The Last Guitar Hero.
Last Guitar Hero is a short film, shot entirely in ‘first person’ perspective and in Stereoscopic 3D using 2 Cameras. It is an visual effects-heavy short film with computer generated characters & visual effects, all of which are composited in a completely stereo3D environment. I started work on this film as part of my final honours year project & spent 13 weeks in an attempt to start and complete the project, but unfortunately did not finish the film in time! I did, however, learn a great deal during these 13 weeks –
I learn’t a lot of what NOT to do on a Stereo3D job – and in that respect, it was a successful research project.
I have started a website for the Last Guitar Hero in order to track the production of this project, to share my thoughts and techniques, and to hopefully document the mistakes I make on the way! My plan with this personal project is to:
[list style=”list_1″] [li]Create a short film that really pays homage to 2 of my favourite loves: Goldeneye n64 & Music[/li] [li]Create & working pipeline for Stereo3D visual effects using ‘standard’ affordable software (no Flame or NukeX allowed!)[/li] [/list]I have received a lot of support from friends, classmates, mentors and workmates who have helped me work on the film so far, and I hope to finish the film in my spare time over the next year so I can thank them all, and show them what all the hard work was for!
I hope I can share some more good news about this project in the not too distant future!
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