Countdown: 8 days until MRS

Well, as much as I wanted to keep Dog N Suds a daily routine, things have gotten extremely crazy as we are now only basically a week away from being married.

Also unfortunate, I really wanted to take part in a large collaborative project with Animation Mentor this summer, but I'm hoping another opportunity will roll around, because the deadline is the day after our wedding and I have not had any time for progress. I haven't had time even for my contract job, which had been paying for groceries - but the time is approaching when we no longer have to juggle with florists, cake vendors, videographers... I'm ever so slightly jealous of those who have an opportunity to go on a honeymoon just after their wedding. That would be awesome, but, we have another ceremony in October to celebrate Naveen's Hindu traditions, which will be awesome too. We're starting to look at potential honeymoon spots in November.

Meanwhile, in between the weddings, I'd really like to hop back on the horse with Dog N Suds whenever possible. The intention is to get another project or two figured out before sending out some reels. It'd be nice to do that before the end of the year.

Time to get back to putting together our ceremony programs. Just a small note: I've had to begin moderating comments on this blog due to unwanted spam comments from a user named "lijialefw." I intend to eventually turn the moderation back off, since I (like you) enjoy seeing my comments posted immediately, but for now, the word verification tool just isn't enough to block that user from spamming me.

That's all for now. Wish me luck, we're just a week away!!!

Pet Shop Becoming Dog-N-Suds

After trying to come up with a more interesting title than "Pet Shop," I decided that "Dog-N-Suds" is becoming more appropriate since a fish will also be involved later on. For now, there has been some progress, although slight. I didn't like how Blogger posted the video, so I think I'll use YouTube for now.

It's about 20 seconds of planning, done in maybe 8-9 hours, spread over a few days. I'll be leaving for Wisconsin tomorrow, staying through Sunday, so hopefully I'll post another shot on Monday night. I'm going to try to post YouTube dailies on Mondays-Thursdays until we get closer to the wedding.

Pet Shop

It seems that time is flying by too fast these days. Last night, Naveen and I were talking about our upcoming wedding, and our move to Chicago, and it occurred to me that months have passed during which time I have taken a long break from animating. I haven't been happy about that, but with everything else going on, it hadn't been possible to stay on a good schedule. Now that we are pretty much settled into our new apartment though, it felt like a good time to get back into character animation.

I started out just moving my old AM character files onto this desktop machine, thinking I would use them to do some usual motion tests. But at the end of 3.5 hours, I had 9 seconds of blocking done with Pawn, the pup. It did start with mere motion testing, and some posing, and then I thought about doing a very short 30-second piece with this dog looking cute at a pet shop in front of a potential owner. It's not much to look at now, but if you have any comments, please let me know! Thanks.

Purdue Day On Campus

I very recently joined a group on Facebook called the Purdue University College of Technology group. It's still new, so there isn't much there just yet, but maybe it will serve as yet another way to stay in touch with folks. Today I posted about an internship with SIGGRAPH for web design and programming, and I happened to see a post from Matt Bosma saying that the college is hosting Day on Campus this week and next (June 10-20), asking if anyone had a story about their day on campus, if incoming freshmen had any questions, or if alumns had any advice to share.

I remember my Day on Campus fondly, as a prime affirmation of confidence in selecting Purdue University for my undergraduate years. Although there were admittedly times throughout my education at Purdue during which I felt misled by some of the information I received that summer day, I must stress that so much was offered me that I had not come to expect, and ultimately I regard my days at Purdue with warmth and gratitude for the experience.

Still, here are some words I wish someone had said to me that day:

Don't just believe everything you hear. Do your homework and trust your instincts, and most of all, remember that it takes hard work to earn a degree - it isn't just given. No one is entitled to success. Always be aware of your personal goals and the steps it will take to achieve them.

And, for Pete's sake, don't stay up working four days straight in Knoy 346.

Best wishes.

3 Months To Go

We're getting married in 3 months!!!

So much is going on - it's a bit of a wonder that we're staying on track. Naveen graduates this month, we move, then he begins work as a software gaming engineer next month. Meanwhile I'm beginning to look at animation opportunities in the area.

I've gotta shout out to my friend Chris Street who just made the journey over to Rhythm & Hues. That is so awesome! Congrats. It's really cool starting to recognize more and more names in those animation credits. ;) And hey, it beats selling books called "How To Sell Books, Volume One" for a living, right?!?

I've had a couple friends and even some former profs give me a hard time about not applying yet to some of the big studios out west. Trust me, I'd love to do that, and I'm hoping to try soon. It's complicated, and right now it's a real benefit being close to family before the wedding. I do intend to spend a good part of the summer getting back into some animation. We had a really rough month in late April with some awful news that set us back for about a month. Meanwhile we also had to find a place in Chicago, and quick - and what a find! So now with that out of the way, and most of the wedding stuff in place, I can start to focus back on what I'd like to do most.

I think I'd like to do a couple of shorts - like, 10-20 second pieces, definitely using some dialogue. I know the pantomiming projects were great at AM, but I really think I'd like to do acting with dialogue in my next projects. If possible, I might even want to create the dialogue as well, vs. borrowing from a favorite movie. I'll keep you posted.

... Meanwhile... Still Psyched...

3 Months To Go!!!!!! Best wishes, everyone.