http://danshewan.cgsociety.org/blog/ danshewan's blog en-us 120 http://danshewan.cgsociety.org/blog/2430
Firstly, they should always hold these sort of events at BAFTA Headquarters, since it's such a lovely building. So lovely, in fact, that upon arriving bang-on 6:30pm for doors open, I felt somewhat misplaced in my scruffy jeans / tee shirt combo and scruffier-still Converse sneakers. Imagine my relief when other game industry types started arriving, and looking equally unkempt. I was constantly waiting for them to ask for some identification, or ask me to leave. Needless to say, that moment never came (much to my relief).

Second of all, despite my trepidation, the event was actually very interesting, and Henry's talk on biomechanics and their effect on gameplay was truly insightful. Also, it gave me a rare chance to grab a butcher's hook (or look, to those that don't speak Cockney rhyming slang) at EA's prop tools for their mocap integration, was was very cool indeed. Despite EA's bad press and startling lack of imaginaiton when it comes to their own IP, their animation work recently is really top-notch.

Overall, a definite success. I decided against asking the almost-obligatory questions about the future of keyframed versus mocap, and instead settled for a nice glass of wine (white, chilled) and a chat with the other attendees who were a friendly bunch indeed. Apparently, the next planned event is sometime in May, so keep 'em peeled for a (slightly more detailed) report on the next one, if I'm 'lucky' enough to score a ticket.

Also, in other news, I've finally sucumbed to the evil that is World of Warcraft and registered and account. So far, I'm loving it. Except the forums - not fun. Anyways, if I ever resurface back in the real world long enough, see you in the forums,

Dan


]]> Thu, 26 Apr 2007 12:56:37 +0000 http://danshewan.cgsociety.org/blog/1840
This year, I'm going to be focusing entirely on my animation work - I suppose one of the few resolutions I have is to become actively involved in the animation session mini-challenges, and to enrol at www.animationmentor.com. I've had enough of working as a generalist, and feel that since I'm too ugly for acting, character animation is the next best thing.

And that's about it, really - when I'm not animating (or cruising the forums) I plan on getting my motorcycle licence and just generally trying to contribute more than just opinions to the CGS - I've gotten so much out of it, I feel quite strongly about trying to give something back, especially since the amount of new members on the boards is quite remarkable.

Aside from relief that 2006 is finally over (it's been a tough year, and not just professionally - freelancing in London isn't for the faint of heart), I'm strangely optimistic about this year, and right now I'm going to get back to work - procrastination is the enemy.

After a quick bash on Halo - yeah, it's old school, but so what?

See you in the forums,

Dan

p.s Oh yeah, here's that piece on retro-futurism, in case anyone's interested:

http://www.palaceofculture.org/index.html
]]> Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:54:48 +0000 http://danshewan.cgsociety.org/blog/1412
More than anything, it was great to be able to ask the panellists (Stephen Moore, Chief Operating Officer of Aardman Animation, Peter Molyneux, founder of Lionhead Studios - a Microsoft-owned games design and production studio, William Sergeant, CEO of Framestore CFC - the leading visual effects and post-production studio in Europe, and David Gardner, Executive Vice President and COO of Electronic Arts Worldwide) questions that were on our minds.

I actually asked the very last question of the evening, and I think in all honesty they weren't expecting it - I even received compliments from other attendees after the event. I had asked the panel if they thought that entertainment companies such as themselves were truly innovating when it came to their output, or if they felt that they were playing catch-up with ever-more demanding audiences. I could even hear the shocked gasps as I finished speaking into the microphone.

The response was good, especially from Peter Molyneux and William Sergeant. I think that EA's representative was slightly taken aback by the question (but he rebounded well after a moment to think), and Stephen Moore seemed way too slick to be taken seriously, in my opinion. I cornered him after the event, and casually asked him (after several glasses of wine) what actually happened with the recent Dreamworks split. He ended up reciting pretty much verbatim what had been included in the press release, which is also pretty much what I had expected.

The chance to actually meet Peter Molyneux (one of my favorite game designers) was just too tempting to pass up, so I sauntered on over to meet him after I'd finished my encounter with Moore. Having been a fan of his work for about seventeen years, getting a chance to meet him and ask him what he really thought was happening to the games industry was just priceless. For someone who sold his studio to Microsoft, he's one of the nicest, most professional people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.

All in all, it was a great event and I'm glad to have had the chance to meet some really great people (and no, not the panellists - you guys know who you are!), and I also had my first taste of Xbox 360 by playing the new Burnout game - man, was I impressed. Why the hell does Metal Gear Solid 4 have to be PS3-exclusive? Ah well........

Until next time, see you in the forums.

Dan]]> Sat, 14 Oct 2006 18:20:52 +0000 http://danshewan.cgsociety.org/blog/1294
I've only just recently got internet at my apartment, so there should (he says, fingers crossed) be a steady stream of work beginning to filter down through the gallery (if it's deemed worthy, of course) into my portfolio - of course, constructive criticisms are always welcomed (although there will be some very early work in there, so play nice, ok?). Hey, I have a thick skin - I can take it. Unless you're pointing out typos - not cool. Typos, I mean, not pointing them out.

Anyways, I gotta get back to it. I suppose this isn't just my first CG Society blog entry, but my first ever blog entry anywhere. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but hey, the internet's pretty big - maybe no-one will bother reading this and I'll miss those two minutes of my life. I should have been working anyway.

Wow, even reading this you can tell I've not done this before. But hey, like CG, I can only get better, right? See you in the forums.

Dan]]> Tue, 26 Sep 2006 20:24:22 +0000