Google Reader...

I know I'm probably late to the party on this but I have a new favorite toy and its name is Google Reader. No longer do I have go to 33 1/2 sites every morning to see if there's updates. I go to one and can see all of the updates from news, blogs, articles, everything... Not only that, but I can share (plug) articles I like and they show up on the side of my blog here. Sweet! Google freakin' rocks - I now use them for my blog, email, maps, web photo albums for fam and friends, and now my rss aggregtor (Reader). How is it possible they don't charge for any of this? No, that's not a suggestion, Google.

Couple of days of doodles...

Been doodling a little at work while playblasting some stuff. Nothing too amazing, just feels good to get the drawing hand stretching a little. Lots of late nights at work lately, but it's coming down to the end of the project I'm working on so that's the way it goes. Most of these doodles were sketches for a drawing club that I've been wanting to get in on but me thinks this week I won't have time to do anything final really, ah well...

Adobe Updateage!

The new photoshop and other items on the adobe buffet have been updated. Some of the new features look pretty darn slick, the new pricing...not so much:(

Check it out!

Ratatastic!

Yet another weight on the scales of why Pixar is so freakin awesome...inspired design, fantastic animation, intelligent humor, perfect timing...le sigh....

Check out the images AND the trailer!

Useful Gardening info...

So yeah, I'm in to all kinds of stuff. Anywho, my friend posted a fun blog entry I can't specifically link to so I'll just reprint it here. Learned something new today. Thanks, Bean:)

Yesterday, I was trying to water the lawn, but there were all these bees and wasps flying around, so I was nervous, but I know that bees can smell fear and so I tried to NOT be nervous. Then I came inside and looked up wasp repellent and found the most useful piece of gardening data to date. Wasps and bees are allergic of mint. They are DEATHLY allergic to it. Birds can't smell it and it isn't harmful to them anyway, but mint kills wasps and bees. The author of the website I found recommended using mint extract to ward off the nasty creatures, but I had no mint extract no time to run to the store and purchase some. But they smell it and stay as far away as possible from it, so as to preserve their lives. Knowing this, I threw a mint candy into the garden and today -- NO WASPS OR BEES! Completely remarkable.

"Secret of Pixar Storytelling" Article

Good article on the fine craft of storytelling from the perspective of some of the best in the business.
If you wanna say "the best", you won't get an argument from me:)

elasti......IK!

My same buddy who pointed me on the script yesterday, dropped another in my lap today. This one looks sweet as well and I shall check it out as soons as I have a few minutes to spare.

ELASTIK is a suite of plug-in IK solvers for Maya. Delivering squash-and-stretch functionality at the touch of a button, ELASTIK makes it simple to create dynamic, versatile, and extensible rigs. elastikSolver

• Auto-stretch
• Adjustable smooth stretch
• Interactive elbow/knee manipulation
• Hyper extension

elastikSplineSolver

• Auto-stretch
• Dependable twist
• Curve sliding

More Castle Crashers footage!

This game makes me want to pluck down $300 smackers for a console to play a downloadable game...however, my over zealous frugal side will prolly win the battle. :(

matchBox...

No, not the cars, though they were pretty sweet when I was a kid...:) This is a sweet looking mel scipt. A buddy from work pointed me to it and I'm putting it here so I don't lose the link:) Here's what it says of itself:

MatchBox is the result of an effort to develop a universal character flipper that will work with any rig, every time. While animating a walk cycle, poses will be mirror images for the opposite stride. Even though the thought process has been completed for posing the first step, it’s a time consuming process to match the pose on the opposite stride. Match box allows you to quickly reverse and match the poses for a complete cycle. If the starting or ending pose of a cycle needs to change, the leading or ending foot may change as well, requiring reposing of the entire walk sequence. While some tools exist for flipping animation data across an axis, it becomes very difficult if the character is turning a corner or walking on an arbitrary angle.

Splinophobia Part 2 - "Spline Hygiene"

Part 2 of Victor Navone's spline tutorials. Great stuff!

This is one sweet looking game...

This game looks awesome!

Love the design, love the nostalgia of old co-op coin-ups, great flash animation. Win, win.....win!

Avatarholic

Hello, my name is Josh. I will be 29 on Friday and I love cartoons...

...my current vices being Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends and Avatar. The latter of the two is hands down the best cartoon currently airing in the U.S. Fantastic story, epic battles, comedic characters...it has it all. So yeah, my munchkin nephews and their uncle watch the same show and yes, I got them Avatar toys for Christmas. Fans of the show - namely 6-12 year old boys (and animators) are eagerly awaiting season three to begin.

In the meantime, my fellow fans, I stumbled across this little parody cartoon that will probably not make much sense if you don't watch the show. So, for any fans out there, enjoy.

Click here
"koh"

I like 3d 3d!

Check it out!

I saw The Ant Bully last year in 3d and really liked it. I look forward to more films done that way. So long as they're not the pop-up storybook style done with Chicken Little which was decidely not worth it to me.

Holy moody fun animation, Batman!

Do yourself a favor and check out this sweet little short from an animator from Spain. Fantastic style.

In case you hadn't noticed...

...my new website design is up! After far, far too long, I have a new website design that is up and working. I've not fleshed out quite all the content yet, but it's a start. Projects has been updated with some recent projects, so give it a look see. The Gallerific section is done sans the animation and photography areas and I'll be getting to my reel update in the next month or so (the one I had up here is way old anyway. Also, I updated the awards won by my buddy David Bokser's Le Vieil Homme et les Poissons which I had the pleasure of working on. For people who care how some things were done...

• Gallery script - Simple viewer
• Cool Image pop up for blog and any images for that matter - LightBox
• Implementing new blogger in template -
• Some info here
• More here

Support the Art(ist)s...

My good friend Jared Chapman illustrated this book by Phil Vischer who also happened to come up with some cartoon or another about some chatty bouncing vegetables? Anywho... this is definitely on my to buy list as Jared is a phenomenal arteest