I’m waiting for a few matts to render out so I’ve got some time to fill a gap. I haven’t written in a while so I might as well update. So no rant today, sorry 😛

Christmas and New Years were lots of fun. Had lots of family and friends over, and my girlfriend and I have decided we don’t like people and are going to be hermits for a bit.

I’ve discovered a new renderer, Maxwell. I absolutely love it. Unfortunately you show a client a low sample level render, because it’s quick, and they freak about about the grain in the shot. And it seems no amount of explaining that the grain will go away subdues their worry. Ah well, new things often scare the client. I try not to involve anyone in the technical stuff. I had this one client many years ago who would constantly stick his nose into my process, “Use Nuke, do it like this, why is your comp so bright, etc.” Which drove me nuts. I’ve never heard of anyone going to a mechanic and asking them if they use a Bosch drill or a Black and Decker screwdriver; that’s downright ridiculous.

My little car that I’ve been working on has taken a back seat to a few other things I’ve got going, but there’s about 73 frames left then I’m going to comp the whole shot. But… there’s a big but… With my rediscovery of Maxwell I’m thinking of doing it over. I will let this Mental Ray render finish however (Let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot here).

So what does this new year hold for me? A new show reel, I can tell you that much; it’s WAY overdue. I’m going to be learning the shit out of Maxwell. What I find now is that I don’t have as many technical hurdles to jump with Maxwell as I did with Mental Ray. So this means that it’s down to my creativity and insight into photography to get things looking good now. And that’s a good thing; I’ve had enough of only one side of my brain being challenged.

I’m also going to be learning how to fly. I was recently gifted a flight in a little aeroplane and the pilot and I had a long chat in amongst the stalls and low flying over jet skiers. He gave me the yoke (The joystick) and let me fly for a bit and I loved it! Once we had landed he explained the costs of learning to fly and all the technical details and I’m very keen. It’s expensive but I can go without sushi for a while… And who knows, in a few years I’ll be able to fly myself and three friends down to Durban if I wanted to. My girlfriend giggled like a schoolgirl at the thought of me being a pilot and that motivated me even more.

Oh look my matts have finished. I may update more next week with an update of my car.