A new career path

Well, we spent a good amount of time looking for a good job and like everyone, we have experienced a number of setbacks. What do you do? We did the head hunters thing and then from there we tried direct hire situations. Nothing was coming up and better still, money was getting as short as our tempers. As the old saying goes, "Money isn't everything" it really makes you sit and look at the people in your life that you have and let's you see what's the most important priorities. I'm really happy to say that I have two amazing daughters and a little boy who mean the world to me. Most of all, I have someone that I love very much and although things are bumpy from time to time; it's being able to know that with each rough spot we learn more about the other and can grow from it. Are we perfect? Hell no! I believe that we're perfect for each other though, but like anything in life nothing is for certain.

I recall what my grandmother used to say... "You're the luckiest SOB that I know. You can fall in a pile of crap and come up smelling like a rose just about every time." You know, I thought that she was just saying it, but the older I get the more I understand that I do have a good amount of luck on my side and I have to really embrace that. Case and point, just as Jeanette and I thought we would be out of money all together, we end up getting a phone call the very next day. The call was from RJ Byrd recruiting agency informing me that I would be getting a call from HR Smart in Richardson, TX. HR Smart heard the situation and agreed to take me on as a web developer! The most amazing part is that the people that I work with are amazing! Not to mention that the salary is more than I've ever made too! The client list as well are top name companies that led me to be a little intimidated at first, but really it's a great feeling to work on some of the big company sites. I haven't as of yet, but I can see that it's going to be very VERY soon.

So what does the future hold? Who the hell knows! I have a great life and I'm willing to take all the pot holes that come with it (that's why they make filler right, LOL?) Just need to take it one day at a time and as the late great George Carlin once said "There is no such thing as living in the 'present', you live in the immediate future and the immediate past!"

I finally found an old picture from about 6 years ago of my old 1967 Camaro. I have a few that are in a scrap book, but this was definitely one of my most prized cars ever. You can see a closer look of the car with my daughter in the drivers seat on my other pages though. I thought I would share since I know a few of you enjoy the muscle car scene. :)

Effects Corner

For those interested in learning about VFX have a look at http://effectscorner.blogspot.com/ for some great information from one of the great VFX artists Scott Squires. I'll add more here later, but please feel free to jump over and take a look at some of his work and podcasts on such techniques as rotoscoping.

A little realism in a CG world

I have been looking at getting the new ZBrush 3.1 program for a while now ever since I was told from some folks in the industry that I needed to have more complex models. My thoughts on ZBrush to start focused on so many people who didn't know how to model, were using this as a crutch. Sure! You can make some amazing images and models, but what if you get in a studio that only has Maya or XSI? Can you make the transition?

This kind of stems back to an animation professor showing me a reel of a student who received an internship at a studio in Dallas, TX. The models were amazing, but you could tell right off that it was ZBrush. His other models were ok, but they were the inside of a Yacht. Many extrudes, bevels and not really complex modeling. At this point, I thought "This cat knows how to manipulate models, but it doesn't appear that he can do so in the base 3D application." Maybe I'm mistaken, but from the looks of the portfolio, that's how it appeared.

Of course change is like anything, we all tend to buck it until we try out the new way of things and find that we actually like the new way better than the old. So, as my copy of ZBrush sits in transit, I wait anxiously to check out the posible options that I will have available to me in bringing my characters to life with that little bit of extra realism.

Mark this day in history!

Well, as most of you know, I just got done car shopping. I decided to go with a *cough* Ford. It's not my first choice, but it'll work until the 2010 Camaro comes out and I can afford it. All is well though considering it could have been a lot worse. Here is a pic of the new car from a magazine although I should have some pics soon of the car.

New outlook to bring the last half of the year

Well, as it turns out I was in a car wreck on the 4th. An 82 year old lady wasn't paying attention and ran a red light while catching me right in the middle of the intersection. Good things have come of this though, she is ok and I'm ok, but old people cars are obviously more metal than mine. Hers appeared to have minor damage as it's suprising since she went through a brick wall after hitting my car twice (in the front and then spun to get the rear). It obviously could have been a lot worse and as I said, I'm just happy everyone is ok and no kids were in the cars.
With that being said, here are some pics of the Camaro as it sits now.


A lot of good memories in the car, but from the sounds of it they are going to total it. I'll have to wait and see Monday. If they do then I'll be car shopping for another Camaro and see what I can find for a good price that hasn't been beat on.

More later.

Well, it's about time! The 2009 *sigh* Camaro is going to be hitting the streets in late 2008 early 2009. It's going to be REALLY nice and about the right time for me to trade in this one.
The new one is SUPER nice and indeed something that I'm looking forward to taking even a test drive in. If you want to see the prototype, have a look at the new Transformers movie.