Griffin's Nest

Bot Walk

admin — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:06:52 +0000

The war is over?

admin — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:11:15 +0000

Artrage 3

admin — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 00:36:23 +0000

I just bought a copy of Artrage 3 for my tablet PC. I like the programs simplicity. Unlike other digital drawing programs, Artrage does not need to load a million plugins. The drawing tools provide a very “pen and paper” feel with little to no tinkering with the existing brushes. Best of all the price is only $4o.

I hope to produce a few quick drawings every week so I can try to maintain what limited drawing skills I have acquired in my lifetime. I will be adding these drawings to the gallery in my side bar, so drop by once in a while and tell me what you think.

Experimental spine rig

admin — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 03:10:37 +0000

For many years I have been playing with motion paths for rigging. Recently I started putting together an IK/FK spine that relies on a motion path. I will be posting my progress here so I can get some opinions as I develop this experimental method for rigging a spine. Eventually I will post a tutorial so you can build one for yourself. The rig is setup in Maya 9.0.

So why use a motion path to build a spine? The big advantage is that you get a nice stretch effect without the use if distance or math nodes. Setup is extremely simple, and FK rotations stick with IK translations. There is another big reason I prefer this type of setup, but you will have to wait until a later post to hear about that.

Download the Maya file.

A great article concerning math, physics, and animation.

admin — Thu, 20 May 2010 17:22:18 +0000

This article adds a little geek to the art of animation. Check it out.

While you are at it, check out this article on cloth sim.

Kenpo Technique Spredsheet

admin — Fri, 14 May 2010 02:37:41 +0000

I have been putting together a handy spreadsheet of Kenpo techniques. Feel free to use it for your own training. Critiques are welcome.

View the page here.

The Griffin’s Nest on your phone.

admin — Thu, 06 May 2010 20:31:16 +0000

Thanks to the WPtouch iPhone Theme Plugin, you can now view this site on your Apple iPhone, Android, and other touch-based smartphones. The plugin needs some tweaks on my end, but I have to say I am impressed.

Zbrush modeling Part1

admin — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 05:38:30 +0000

I am taking a stab at modeling in ZBrush again. This is my first pass on a model I am doing for a friend. I started this in Maya then imported to ZBrush for texturing, details and new topology. Tired now so here’s the images.

Robot battle Stage 1

admin — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 05:24:04 +0000

This is my blocking pass on the first stage of an epic robot battle.

Simple Walk Cycle

admin — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 05:12:29 +0000

I decided to take this “Simple Bot” rig for a spin, and came up with this.