This morning we held a kick-off meeting for a new site we will be developing. I have to say, I am very excited about this project as this is one of the rare opportunities that DDA can truly flex its creative muscle. Many times with projects, whether they be a tradeshow graphic, brochure, or custom corporate and medical video, our creative freedom is limited to the clients comfort zone. But with this particular company and product, we have received the green light to strive for innovative and ground-breaking site concepts, animations, and interactivity that will lead the way for future site development.

It is a joy to watch the imaginative wheels turn.  The new ideas brought to the table push the boundary of the norm and open opportunity for immense success. Site interactivity, that employs the user’s involvement, is the answer to effective websites that inform, engage, and entertain, and DDA’s website development service is continuing to reach for the best methods of application.

Videos, 2d and 3d animations, site navigational elements and more, combine to make a user experience unlike any other. Excited?  Yes, I am.

Dear Thursday:

I love you. You are the last day of my work week. Most people give Friday all of the props and push you under the rug as just another day. At DDA though, you are the pinnacle day.

After 3 days of working hard programming websites, animating in 2D with flash, and/or animating and modeling in 3D with lightwave, you bring me a happy feeling. When 5 o’clock rolls around I know there is a beer with my name on it, thanks to you. Before I leave I also know that my paycheck will be given to me as well, thanks to you. When I’m driving home I get an awesome feeling knowing that I can stay up as late as I want, thanks to you. There is also the week’s best lineup of prime time shows on television at night, again, all thanks to you.

So my dear Thursday, I just wanted to let you know my feelings about you and that I appreciate all you do. Keep up the good work.

Your not so secret admirer,

Vinnie

PS: Same time next week. I’ll be waiting for you…

This morning on the way to work, I was listening to the SETI Institute podcast. They were discussing the search for extra-terrestrial life, and what we would want to send them if we ever found life out there listening to us.

The scientist they were interviewing made the interesting observation that it is more than likely that they have been listening to us for at least the past 50 years, throughout the age of television. His opinion was that this “cacophony of humanity” was far more accurate a representation of life on Earth, especially modern life, than some Shakespearian manuscript or clip of Mozart’s music.

In the Information Age, we on this planet have become a media-centric society. We use television, the internet, and radio to gather information from around the world, almost instantaneously. Working at DDA, I have the privilege of being on the cutting edge of the newest and most innovative media and animation technologies. It’s exciting to think that what we accomplish in 3d and 2d animation, video editing, and web design may be among the things being broadcast into space to possibly be viewed by intelligent life!

We are more connected to the rest of the planet than we ever have been before. With such a small world, it is only a matter of time, I believe, before outer space begins to get smaller as well!

One of the things I find most fascinating about  3d animation in modern video games is that it has to be dynamic. Until recently, animators could get away with creating a set of 5 or 10 canned animations for each situation that may occur with a character (and in rarer situations, they might use only 1 or 2!) Eventually, with the introduction of Havok physics and its ragdoll technique, a lot of possibilities opened for many game animations to be created not by animators, but calculated by the CPU. Dynamic 3D physics engines have been blowing up the 3D and video game scene these past few years, and huge advances are being made everyday.

Take Euphoria, NaturalMotion’s new proprietary physics engine that handles character physics and environmental interactions in a way never before seen in 3D animation. Currently, you can find the Euphoria engine in Rockstar’s new Grand Theft Auto IV, as well as LucasArts’ upcoming Star Wars and Indiana Jones titles. Watch some of the videos and see for yourself what makes this engine so incredibly awesome.

Euphoria takes character physics to a whole new level by integrating self-preservation AI, advanced hit detection and interaction, and adding a sense of the environment to the character. This makes the model truly come to life, interacting with everything around it in a dynamic and realistic way that changes every time it is simulated. Euphoria truly is the next step in dynamic character animation, and I am excited for the day when common users like me can finally get their hands on it!

I color-code the projects in my task list depending on their status and the green projects are those that need my attention. Tasks are piling up today and turning green. The project that is on my mind the most is the DDA Poster Designs I wrote about earlier this week. This is the perfect example of a graphic designer acting as problem solver.

The problem: Design 7 posters that are timeless, informative, all encompassing, and (dare I say) sexy. They need to visually scream that we are (pardon the overuse of these phrases) “A one-stop shop,” with “everything-under-one-roof,” or a “full-service” advertising agency. We are talented beyond belief, customer-service oriented (no voice mail here, thank you), motivated, intelligent, and professional. Our services range from 3d animation to 2d illustration, corporate and medical training tools to photographs of garden tools, and much more! There are a handful of talented copywriters just upstairs and an entire video studio equipped with a sound booth and video/audio editing services. Need a custom logo design?… no problem. Want your logo animated?… again, no problem. The posters need to share a common design theme, work together, and be able to stand alone.

The solution: stay tuned!

At DDA, I have been able to make various 3D animations, flash animations and applications, and numerous website updates. No matter how much I have made, I still can’t help but show every new finished product to everyone I know. My parents, siblings, relatives, girlfriend, and family friends have all been given a glimpse at the projects I have been able to work on.

The fact that I love to show off the finished products is a tribute to DDA and its innovation, creativity, and ability to push the envelope. If I was constantly making generic, cookie-cutter animations that were just adjusted to match a new company theme, I would have no reason to show anybody. It would be like saying, “Hey, look at this thing I already showed you” or “Look at this thing I made that you’ve probably seen on numerous websites before.”

The things I get to show them I know they’ve never seen before. The DDA Power Pyramid for instance is a really new concept for showing off some portfolio work and there is nothing else like it out there. Plus, it’s just flat out cool to play with. That one always gets shown if I know you haven’t seen it before. You can tell by people’s reactions too that these things are new to them and that they are impressed because of the “wow” that comes out of their mouths. The wow factor is always a good indicator.

I know there are more creative projects on the horizon to work on and when they are finished I will be proudly showing them to everyone.

Common practice here for me when working in Flash or Lightwave is to always save. I save often and I save many copies. I will typically save a new version every time that I reach a new step, fix the latest problem, or undertake a new phase in the project. I typically label them with numerical values attached to the end of the filename. For example, “test1.fla,” “test2.fla,” “test3.fla,” and so on.

This is the best way to work in my eyes because there are always mysterious and unforeseen problems that can occur.

For instance, in Lightwave we had a project that we worked on for a long time and had been saving many copies. Then a mystery error occurred which corrupted the file we had saved and it would not reopen. It wasn’t a catastrophic problem because we could just open the last version of the project and minimize the damage.

Another problem that could happen is accidentally deleting something important that can’t be undone. Yet another, is a mysterious error in your latest version that makes the program close itself every time you run it. These can both be remedied as long as you have backup versions that you know work and haven’t been tainted with any of the latest code or errors that you may have made.

This practice is the best way to ensure that there are no devastating problems that would cause you to start over from scratch. If you aren’t saving multiple versions yet, you should start.

At Dynamic Digital Advertising, it is important that we stay on top of the latest software that will help us achieve outstanding results in visual effects, video production, and 3d animation.

I was reading an interview today with Newtek’s Jay Roth about the upcoming Lightwave version 9.5. In it, he goes over some very interesting new features being implemented into Lightwave with this release.  Best of all? They’re free!

Firstly, they are adding a new animation system to Lightwave. Lightwave has always been known for its simple to use, but somewhat limited, animation and rigging tools. They work, but the user just doesn’t have the kind of control that can be found in programs like Maya or 3ds Max. However, to do it in Maya or Max one usually has to do a ton of extra scripting, and if you’re an animator like me and know next to nothing about software programming, this can be very difficult.

Lightwave 9.5 will have new tools for controlling parts of a rig that are usually very difficult to access. For instance, it has an up vector now, allowing better control of joints like knees and elbows. It also has a control for “Soft IK,” which slows down movement of a bone when it approaches its IK limits. This will help the animator eliminate bone pop, which is always a major source of frustration when working in character animation. Finally, a joint bone creation system will allow the creation of “stretchy bones,” helping animators make cartoony characters or strange alien life forms with extending limbs.

Stay tuned to my blog for more updates on features coming in Lightwave version 9.5. Next up - the new hair and fur plugin, Fiber FX!

So it is only appropriate that our latest video project is for a plant watering system. Yesterday, I began working on a promotional video for a mass plant watering system and the concept is quite neat. We are going to be using a growing vine effect which can be achieved in Adobe After Effects. With the simple use of the “write on” effect, we have created a growing vine intro animation that incorporates the company’s logo and catches the viewers eye. Intro animations are very important since they are the first thing the viewer sees and could determine if the viewer keeps watching. We will also be adding animations to photos to show the path of the water. At DDA, we take pride in all of our video projects and are always coming up with cutting edge concepts to dazzle the eye.

The majority of my weekend I spent driving. Over 13 hours to be exact. The drive was tedious to say the least and I spent a large portion of it wishing it was over. I’ve found this, “Are we there yet?” mentality transcends to more applications in life than just driving. Often times we have the finish line in site, but we often wish to skip the whole ‘getting there’ process.  But without the hard work and time, would the final destination be as sweet?—probably not.

Like a long trek to a highly-anticipated location, the steps towards the completion of a project can be lengthy and involved.  But these advances towards the final product are what make the end result so rewarding. Proper website development, brochures, custom corporate and medical videos, 2d and 3d animations, and admin and database programming require a vast amount of time and effort. Though seeing the final product is supreme, the steps getting there are what make the project a success.

At DDA, our production process is carefully mapped-out to ensure the final destination is all that you imagined it would be. Programmers, graphic designers, webmasters, search engine optimization specialists, and project coordinators, work seamlessly together to ensure the process is done right. And though it may at times be lengthy, the end result is well worth the wait.