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This week Ben and Ian continue their discussion about things that influence them and have a spin-off conversation about movies. Should children’s films be just for kids or are they served better when everybody can enjoy them on some level?
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This week Ben & Ian discuss the TV shows, movies, comics, and other things that have influenced and inspired them.
Ben’s Influences
Saturday Morning Cartoons
Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies
Droopy/Tex Avery cartoons
Tom & Jerry
Bill & Ted
Back to the Future
Real Ghostbusters
Tales from the Cryptkeeper
Tiny Toons
Animaniacs
Pinky & the Brain
Samurai Jack
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
Comic Strips
Rediscovering Walt Kelly’s Lost “Pogo” Short
Webcomics
Indie Animation
Movies
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This week Ben and Ian discuss the phenomenon known as Matrixing.
Matrixing or pareidolia is the experience of seeing meaningful patterns or connections in random or meaningless data. Matrixing frequently occures in the paranormal field.
Perceiving Phoney Patterns: Apophenia
Matrixing or Pareidolia at Minnesota Ghosts
Matrixing Types
Video / Imaging Matrixing
Seeing non-existent images or patterns in video recordings or photographs, Usually from noise or artifacts.
Audio Matrixing
Hearing non-existent noises, or voices from an audio source, such as tape recordings radio players, or phones. EVP and Backmasking are common examples.
Text Matrixing
Seeing non-existent patterns or words in text, such as books, passages from bibles, or letters.
Number Matrixing
Seeing non-existent patterns in numbers. Gambling for example, people can see patterns in the occurrence of numbers in lotteries, roulette wheels, and even cards. Seeing profound patterns in stock markets and other statistics. Numerology is also a popular form of number matrixing.
Event Matrixing
Seeing non-existent patterns in events throughout a person’s life or through history, often times giving rise to political conspiracy theories or doomsday prophecies. Synchronicity or coincidence is also common.
Object Matrixing
Finding non-existent patterns or profound meanings in physical objects, such as religious manifestations, where people often find the faces of religious figures in pieces of toast, the grain of cut wood, in statues, walls, and event art. Divination is also common, where people attempt to foretell the future, present, or past by finding patterns in animal entrails, tossed sticks, or stones.
Mentioned on the Show
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
The Others (2001)
The Number 23 (2007)
Knowing (2009)
Grave Encounters (2011)
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This week Ben and Ian discuss creative challenges and jams.
Comics
A 24-hour comic is a 24-page comic book written, drawn, and completed in 24 hours. Scott McCloud originally came up with the challenge for himself and Stephen R. Bissette as a creative exercise. McCloud drew the first 24-hour comic to prove it could be done on August 31, 1990, and Bissette did his on September 5.
Rules
It must be begun and completed within 24 consecutive hours. Only one person may be directly involved in its creation, and it must span 24 pages, or (if an infinite canvas format webcomic is being made) 100 panels.
The creator may gather research materials and drawing tools beforehand, but cannot plan the comic’s plot ahead of time or put anything on paper (such as designs and character sketches) until he is ready for the 24 hours to begin. Any breaks (for food, sleep, or any other purpose) are counted as part of the 24 hours.
If the cartoonist fails to finish the comic in 24 hours, there are two courses of action suggested: Stop the comic at the 24-hour mark, or continue working until all 24 pages are done. The former is known as “the Gaiman variation” after Neil Gaiman’s unsuccessful attempt, and the latter is called “the Eastman variation” after Kevin Eastman’s unsuccessful attempt. Scott McCloud calls both of these “noble failures”, which he will still list on his site as long as he believes that the creator intended to finish the project within the specified amount of time.
Drawing
Painting
Daily Painting
Writing
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
Game Making
Music
Photography
Weekly Photo Challenges at the Daily Post
3D Modeling
POLY Limit – 3D Modeling Challenge
Animation
Misc
Places to find challenges/jams
Online
Conventions
Meetups
Start your own
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This week Ben and Ian discuss 3D Printing.
Varying Fields of Use
3D Printing Services
Home 3D Printers
3D Model Repositories
Common Materials
ABS and PLA Plastic (Common Thermoplastics)
Comes in a variety of colors.
ABS and PLA plastic printing are the most common in home 3d printing. Constructed from a thermoplastic, ABS and PLA are very useful for functional applications because they match
80% of the properties of the real injected production material. ABS models are very accurate and have a intermediate level of printed details. You have a lot of freedom for the design of your
model. However, the surface quality of the models is rougher compared to other materials. A long plastic wire is fed by a spool to a nozzle where the material is liquefied and drawn on the
platform where it immediately hardens again. The nozzle moves to drop the material at the correct location, drawing your model line by line. When a layer is drawn, the platform lowers by
one layer thickness so the printer can start with the next layer. PLA is biodegradable plastic which can come in more colors than ABS. PLA also is smoother than ABS and can be more
detailed.
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene
The Difference Between ABS and PLA for 3D Printing
PLA vs ABS Plastic – The Pros and Cons
Compare 3D Printer PLA and ABS Filament
Polyamide (Nylon Plastic)
Usually white, but can be dyed and painted.
Constructed from a white, very fine, granular powder. The result is a strong, somewhat flexible material that can take small impacts and resist some pressure while being bent. The surface
has a sandy, granular look, and is slightly porous. The material is started with a bed of nylon plastic and is sintered layer by layer with a laser, solidifying each layer.
Alumide (Nylon Plastic and Aluminum Powder)
Gray color with a slight sparkle. –
Alumide is nylon plastic filled with Aluminum dust. This dust gives Alumide the sparkle, but also makes the material more brittle than other nylon plastics. The material is started with a
bed of mixed Nylon Plastic and Aluminum powder, and is sintered layer by layer with a laser, solidifying each layer.
Sculpteo – Alumide
Resins – (Liquid Polymers)
Usually off white, but can be dyed and painted, can come in detailed and also transparent variations.
White or dyed resin, very close to standard plastic. Rigid, opaque, smooth surface, perfect for high detailed visualization. The model is printed layer by layer with a high-performance
compound, photo polymeric liquid. Each photopolymer layer is cured by UV light immediately after being jetted.
Spray-Painted Detail Resin
Multicolor (Fully Colored Sandstone)
Off-white/grayish material colored with ink, using the 3d model’s textures.
Constructed from a fine granular powder. Models are created by printing layer and layer of binder material and colored ink into a bed of gypsum-based powder. The products are then
finished with a glue sealant to ensure durability and vivid colors. The final product is a hard, slightly brittle material that is great for little figurines and models of your favorite video game
avatar, but not suited for structural parts under great load. Colors are printed with a resolution of 600 x 540 dpi.
How To? – Full Color Sandstone Printing
Multi-Color Composite With Rainbow Color Variety
Metal Printing
Common metal printing materials includes, Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Brass, Stainless Steel, Titanium, and Aluminum. The finishes for each material can be varied, using post
processing techniques such as polishing and plating. The methods using in printing the metals can also vary, depending on the desired metal. Some metals can be printed layer by layer
using a metal powder and glue. Some metals can use laser sintering to harden metal powder. Other metals use casting techniques, which prints a model out of wax, and creates a plaster
mold, from which the wax is melted out of. Liquid metal is then poured into the plaster mold, and broken free, when the metal hardens.
Other Materials
Ceramic
Yes, This Ceramic Fruit Bowl Came Out of a 3D Printer
Rubber/Elastic
Wax
Max (Wax) — Solidscape’s Latest 3D Printer in the 3Z Series
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This week Ben & Ian discuss 3D scanning and photogrammetry. Used in a wide variety of fields
General Discussion on Point Clouds
Scanning Methods
Mechanical Contact Probe Scanning
Pros – Older technology, but highly accurate, has a higher resolution.
Cons – Scanning is very slow and tedious, and could damage the object being scanning, such as older and valuable historical objects.
Useful for smaller objects, such as toys or figurines.
Laser Scanning
3D Scan with Virtucube and David Laserscanner David Laser Scanner offers DIY, low-cost 3D recording solution
Pros – Fairly accurate, with high resolution.
Cons – Scanning can be slow, depending on the desired resolution, and requires the subject to not move. Also multiple scans are required to construct and stitch together the whole model. Depending on the laser scanning method used, the shape is reconstructed, but without color information.
Useful for small to medium sized objects, such as toys, figurines, dolls, faces.
Structured Light Scanning
Portable 3D Scanners: Handyscan 3D
Using Projectors and a Camera
Real Time 3D Scanning with Structured Light
Real Time 3D Scanning How to Realtime 3D geometry video scanner
New TV Camera turns reality into 3D, The F5 Mantis Vision
Kinect
RecontrsuctMe Kinect for Windows with PCL
Low-cost 3d Laser Scanner and fast Surface Registration
Tutorial – ReconstructMe Multiscan
Comparison of ReconstructMe, KinectFusion and Skanect
Pros – The advantage of structured-light 3D scanners is speed and precision, and you can often capture the color information along with the model. Can be more precise than laser scanning. Also moving / animating objects can be captured in realtime.
Cons – Multiple scans / viewpoints are needed to reconstruct the whole model, and each scan needs to be stitched together either manually, or automatically depending on the software used in reconstructing the point cloud data. Useful for medium to large sized objects, depending on the method used, such as faces, people, progressive scanners can capture environments.
Photogrammetry Stereo(Multi-Image) Photogrammetry – Stereo Cameras – Multi-Camera Rigs – Image-Based Modeling – Reference Modeling – 3Sweep
3D Reconstruction from Multiple Images
The Importance of Camera Calibration
Introduction to Photogrammetry
[Photogrammetry] Autodesk 123d Catch – pt.1
How to Model for Google Earth using Google SketchUp
Turn Ordinary Photos Into Extraordinary 3D Models
3-Sweep: Extracting Editable Objects from a Single Photo, SIGGRAPH ASIA 2013
Pros – Very good accuracy, especially with capturing color detail with the model, no special equipment needed for scanning, easy workflow.
Cons – Process can be slow and require a large amount of images, using up disk space, multiple cameras gets expensive.
Useful for a variety of object sizes.
Photometric Stereo – Multiple Lighting Conditions – Shape From Shading – Form Recognition – Bump Mapping
Virtual Reality, HDR, Photogrammetry at ICT
Non-Rigid Photometric Stereo with Colored Lights
3D Face Shots Snapped by Single Camera
Pros – High accuracy and detail and speed. Realtime capturing can also be possible from multiple angles.
Cons – Also results in a large amount of images which are captured, Multiple angles need to be captured and stitched together.
Useful for very small to medium sized objects, and also useful for capturing surface detail for bump mapping.
Light Fields (Capturing the angle of light) – Lytro
Turn any DSLR into a light field camera, for free
Volumetric 3D and 4D Scanning
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This week Ben and Ian discuss the cloud and digital rights management. (DRM) Do you really own something once you pay for it or are you only licensing a copy in that particular format? Our hosts tackle this question as well as others on the way to understanding ownership in the digital age.
Further Reading
The Cloud
Wal-Mart in exclusive deal to convert DVDs to digital for $2 each
Future of “the Workstation” and “the Cloud”, thoughts?
Autodesk 360(Cloud Service) TOS: Have you guys read this stuff?
14,000 petition Adobe to revive the Creative Suites
Is Office 2013 proof that it’s time to switch?
DRM
Valve sued in Germany over game ownership
Why BluRay is still a DOA format…
Toshiba CEO talks about life after HD DVD
The Death of Physical Video Media??
SimCity DRM, what lessons to be learned?
XBOX Live: New TV shows and Films Coming
SimCity DRM: “Always Online” Mode Results in Disaster For Gamers
Interview: Paradox CEO Fred Wester Talks Up PC Gaming, Calls SecuROM DRM “a Waste of Money”
Ubisoft’s Revolutionary DRM!!!
Copyright
Congress wants to make streaming copyrighted media a FELONY
Is The UK Government Trying To Kill Off Photographers
Does Sony Pictures own your art portfolio?
Pinterest’s New Requirements to Avoid Copyright Infringement Lawsuits
Is Pinterest a Haven for Copyright Violations?
An author of software cannot oppose the resale of his ‘used’ licences allowing the
use of his programs downloaded from the internet
Autodesk adding rental options to most software
Other Discussions
Adobe cuts Australian prices after inquiry summons
Autodesk / Adobe International Price Discrimination
DVDs and Blu-rays will now carry two unskippable government warnings
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After last weeks hefty introduction to textures, Ian shares with us some tips, trips, and best practices for using and making them.
Ian’s Advice
Procedural Textures
Hand-painted Textures
Photographic Textures
Further reading
Dimensions and Projections
A Common Mistake in the ‘Flatland’ Analogy
Procedural Textures
List of Procedural Texture Generators
Texture Painting
Texture Pack Creation Playlist
Create a Brushed Metal Texture in Photoshop
Adding Knots to a Wooden Texture in Photoshop
Texture Painting Wooden Planks
Specular Map Creation Tutorial
Texture Photography
12 Tips for Shooting Great Textures and a Free Texture Pack
How to Photograph Your Own Textures
Textures Ep 113: Take & Make Great Photography with Gavin Hoey: Adorama Photography TV
Photographing Forms and Textures
Tiling Textures
How to Turn a Texture into a Seamlessly Tiled Background
Creating Seamless Textures in Photoshop Tutorial
Photoshop Offset Filter Making Seamless Textures
Easily Create Seamless Photo Textures
Creating Seamless Textures from Photos in Photoshop
Seamless Textures in Photoshop
Seamless Textures with Photoshop
Photoshop Seamless Texture Tutorial
How to Create a Seamless Pattern in Photoshop
How to Make a Painting into a Repeating Pattern in Photoshop
Create a Seamless Pattern in Photoshop
How to Make a Seamless and Tile-able Wallpaper
Photoshop Tutorial: 10-Minute Pattern Creation
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Today Ian, our resident 3D guy, gives us an introduction to using and making textures.
Textures
Textures fall under four main sub-categories – Procedural, Hand Painted, Photographic, and 3D Model textures, but technically, can fall under multiple categories, by combining textures.
Sub-Categories
Procedural Textures are patterns or designs generated by software, either randomly or using mathematical equations.
Procedural Generator Software includes
Hand-painted Textures are manually created patterns or designs, digitally or traditionally.
Painting Software includes
Photographic Textures are patterns or designs taken from cameras, scanners, or other optical devices.
Photo Software includes
3D Model Textures are patterns or designs made to specifically project to 3D models and can be created for the model, or generated from the model.
3D Model Software includes – 3D Max
Main Categories
One Dimensional
Two Dimensional
Three Dimensional — Usually are raster (voxels) or vector (curves or nurbs).
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On today’s episode we introduce a new co-host, Ben’s buddy Ian. The two share how they met in art school and reconnected over the internet after losing touch for a few years. They also discuss whether higher education is really as necessary or useful today as generally assumed.