BenjaminDBailey
Where art comes to life!
Grey Justice: Puncher of Men
Jul 27th
OK, two weeks ago I helped create a short animated film, called “Grey Justice: Puncher of Men.” It was our entry for the Richmond 48 Hour Film Festival, so we only had two days to make a complete little flick of genius!
So, here is what we made!
Grey Justice: Puncher of Men from Jason van Gumster on Vimeo.
Led by Roberto Rubet and Jason van Gumster (Fweeb,) the Hand Turkey Studios team, both in Richmond and internationally, put together a short film against all odds.
Though quite rough, it is by far the best entry our team has made for this festival, this being our third year in the contest. This is my first year being part of the team, however, and it was a blast!
The two character models were pre-modeled for the project by Jonathan Williamson, but other than that, everything was done within the 48-hour span of time. After all, is an actor ever born the day of the shoot?
All the modeling, rigging, texturing, lighting, compositing, rendering, and animating was done with Blender! Ardour and Mixbus were used for mixing, and we had HyperRendering’s farm on board to plow through a bunch of shots.
Some of the team members recorded their computer screens as they worked, so you can watch the creation process as timelapse videos. As for me, I recorded my screen while modeling the little toy rocket that is featured in the opening of the short.
Toy Rocket – Modeling Timelapse from Benjamin Bailey on Vimeo.
Well, that’s about all. I really hope I can work on more films like this in the future. I don’t know where my life is leading my, or where exactly I’ll end up, but I want to have an amazing time as I find out!
All in all, we had an AWESOME team. I tip my hat to our whole, insane, hardcore group! It was great working with you all. 
Until next time, fair winds on the high seas, friend!
A Family Moved
Jul 15th
Last week I helped a family move from Berea, about 15 miles out of Cleveland, Ohio. It was a pleasant trip that lasted about three days. I went with Reverend Robert O. Morey and three friends, and we helped by packing boxes and loading the truck.
The moving crew
Just this last Saturday, some friends helped move the family into their new home in lovely West Virginia.
We left on Tuesday morning, and traveled to Berea. We helped them pack boxes, move furniture, and, decidedly the heaviest of all, carry the piano to the truck.
Robert and I stayed at a very kind couple’s home, who lived near a pleasant little shopping area, which was set within restored historic buildings, complete with brick walkways and an old steam engine, which was on display.
The conversations with the townspeople were very interesting, complete with opinions on immigration and the government’s move to sue Arizona. Breakfast was a lovely thing at the Odd Fella’s cafe, where Mr. Morey and I had a late start one sunny morning.
One evening Robert and I went to the University Circle area of CIM (Cleveland Institute of Music) to visit a friend of ours, Mingli Sun, who is pianist working on his masters degree at CASE Western and CIM. We had a very enjoyable talk and then headed back to our lodging.
Robert, Me, and Mingli
Long story short, the organization of the moving was great, and we worked together to make it happen.
On our last day in Ohio, the day we were to head back to West Virginia, we decided to visit the Cleveland bay and see some historic replicas of tall ships.
Our trip home was uneventful, save some more McDonalds smoothies and interesting conversations on haircuts, men’s style, and my future career.
Well, that’s about it. I really appreciate the good morale of my friends and pastor as we helped our friends move to West Virginia, and the great time we had, which I hope we will always remember.
And tomorrow evening starts another journey: my participation as part of a team creating an animated short film as our entry to the Richmond 48 Hour Film Festival, led by Jason Van Gumster. But more on that later.
For now, good tidings and fair sailing.
This is Benjamin Bailey, signing out.
The open sea... er, bay :}
Off To Cleveland Again :)
Jul 6th
I’m heading off in a few minutes to meet up with my ride to Cleveland again, but this time some friends and I are going to help a family move from Cleveland to West Virginia! I should be away for a couple days, helping load their truck and whatever else needs being done.
Recently I helped a friend prepare a photo for a contest (sadly I didn’t send it back to her until it was too late – it was taking forever to attach the file.) Anyhow, the job was relatively simple: remove the people from the background and make the image look stunning. Well, I didn’t get around to making it look awesome, but the people sure have disappeared.
Removing people from the background. Photo credit: Mai Kwok
She was very pleased with the result, and is even going to frame it, so all is well. I edited it in GIMP 2.6.6 and used the Clone and Heal tools, as well as blur.
Well, I had better pack for this trip. A ton has happened since this post and my last, including working on my website, (the main part of this site,) visiting Colonial Williamsburg, starting private vlogging, and so forth.
God bless and see you next time!
Humanity (and Six College Credits)
May 28th
Hello, all! Just letting you know that I have passed my first CLEP – that is, College Level Examination Program test. I took the Humanities exam. This means I have six (6) credit hours to my name, completely transferable to whichever college I decide upon attending!
Peeking Over The Results
Isn’t this just awesome? It took me a few months of preparation to be ready for the test, most of which wasn’t really studying. Alright, since I’ve confused you, let me give you the whole low-down on what I did:
- First, my sister decided that she wanted to take the Humanities test next, since it was on her list of CLEPs she needed to take. And since I didn’t end up taking Natural Sciences with her, I decided to have a go at this CLEP, too. Thankfully, I ended up taking the exam this time.
- Next, she bought a study guide, the official CLEP review book on Humanities. Man, was that book helpful. It provided us with two practice examination tests.
- Then we crammed. We were expecting to take it back in April, but we didn’t feel prepared. So we waited.
- Then it rolled around to last week, and my sister wanted to take the test. Fair enough, but when it came time for it, I still wasn’t ready. So we delayed till this week. She took it on Wednesday, but once again, I did not feel ready.
- So, I took it today. And passed!
One final thing you should know: right before a test, I would cram, cram, cram, using Wikipedia primarily. I searched up so many different authors, poets, playwrights, operas, movements – wow. I can definitely say I learned a lot. Thing is, I probably won’t remember a bit of it in a few months. But at least I can say I can cram.
After all, that’s all colleges want us to do, right? Get an A?
>Sigh< Well, I really did learn a lot from this preparing for this test. I’m glad for the learning, the college credit, and the personal macho-feeling it gives you. Even if the educational system is off-kilter, one can still choose to learn. Life is a journey, and no matter what, new adventures and places to discover will appear on the horizon.
Let us learn together!
P.S. And oh, BTW! I got a great score on the test: 72! You see, 20 points is the lowest you can get, and 80 points is the very highest, whereas 50 points is passing. So I did well, and I’m thankful. A great, big thanks to all my friends who thought of me, encouraged me, and prayed for me. Praise God!
PASSED!
May 24th
Alright! I passed my driving test! Praise God!
I passed! Yes!
Me with my new, red license
I woke up early (for me,) and we got there at the DMV early, had to be put further back in the line do to forgetting the car registration in the vehicle, and then eventually I was all signed up for the test. Then we just had to wait for the administrator to come in at 9am, and then? Time for the test!
It went well, despite my being sleepy. My test administrator was a very kind lady, and this time I had practice on those barrels, and made the parallel parking test on the first try. Praise God for a father who has spent the time to teach me how to drive well.
And a little render to top off the ice-cream. Any tips on how to improve my flame?
Flaming Suzanne from Benjamin Bailey on Vimeo.
God bless!
Driving Test… Again!
May 24th
I”m off to take my driving test for the second time. Yes, I failed on my first go-around. During the parallel parking portion of the test, which the administrator had me do right away, I backed up into the rear barrel, scraping against the plastic-orange obstacle and getting an instant fail. Oh well, better luck next time, right?
So I get three tries at passing the driving test. A no brainer, right? “You’ll do fine!” all my friends say. “It’s not that hard.” Then after I fail, they reveal that “Actually, the police officer may fail you because he broke a toenail that morning.” Seriously, what a great thing to know. Thanks.
Anyhow, tomorrow mornings the day for my second (and last,) shot at this endeavor, unless I want to renew my driving permit that expires on the 25 of May, which is Tuesday. So even though I am supposed to get three tries, I’ll only have two, due to the timing of things, having a to wait a week after each failure and all.
So toodles, I need some sleep. I’m uploading a flaming Suzanne mesh right now, off of the excellent fire tutorial by Miika. Check it out!
The flaming death... beware angry monkeys, my friend.
I sent in my messed-up .blend file to this teacher, and viola! I get an excellent, quick reply that fixes my issue. Thanks!
What I was doing wrong was resizing the domain cube in edit mode, causing the texture space to stay the same size. This caused the volume texture to repeat across the texture space.
A legion of flaming demon monkeys
And since that’s fixed now, I’m onto the start of fire making, and soon I’ll be a happy-go-lucky CG pyromaniac and proud of it.
Cheers! Off to beddy-bye.
P.S. I’m working on some other Blender stuff, but it’s Top Secret, so you’ll have to wait till I draw away the cloak an reveal some awesome upcoming classes with Kurv Studios!
Boids and Birds
May 10th
Check it out! My new video that previews my progress on using boid particles in Blender 2.5 to simulate a flock of birds!
Boids and Birds from Benjamin Bailey on Vimeo.
I am going to teach how to use boid particles in a webinar with Kurv Studios sometime in the near future. No dates have been set yet, and I still have a lot more to learn with boids, but be prepared, a class is on the way!
Cheers on the journey!
Aviation at JAARS!
May 3rd
A couple days ago I was privileged to see the JAARS headquarters!
JAARS (Jungle Aviation and Radio Services) is a Christian organization established in 1948 which specializes in providing essential transportation and communication resources to missionaries traveling to the far reaches of the Earth.
So this past Friday my family and I went up to visit some missionary friends, the Wussows, and stayed the night. We checked out their trails the next morning, and headed off for the JAARS headquarters, where Bryan and Joan work.
We toured the facilities, visited museums, saw a demo presentation of a Helio airplane taking off and landing in a stunning 5-plane-lengths, and enjoyed a lovely evening eating a taco dinner before heading back to West Viriginia.
I got to try out dubbing the Jesus film into English, meet a lead team member of the WordSign project (which I hope to contribute some assets to,) ride in a 4-wheel-drive vehicle over a rough-terrain training road, and take a ride in the Helio plane.
All-in-all it was a wonderful experience, and I am seriously considering my future options, and if JAARS will play a part in that future.
After all, I really want to travel – and what better way to do that then to spread the good news to the far reaches of Terra Firma?
Adios! May your journey be eventful and bright.
P.S. I got to be the co-pilot! It was pure serenity to fly over rural North Carolina in a bush plane… simply inspirational.
Beyond the Confines
Apr 1st
People often become too accustomed to one piece of software, swearing by it’s code and plastering slogans of it’s glory all over their favorite community sites. It’s become a patriotic religion, people! Come’on and grow up! It’s not the tool that makes the art, but the experiences of the artist portrayed through the medium.
To illustrate my point, I will share with you three of the most amazing CG videos I ran across this morning. Check them out for yourself and see if awesomeness is confined to one program.
Nature by Numbers from Cristóbal Vila on Vimeo.
DVEIN // Showreel ‘09 from DIGITAL TEMPLE Magazine on Vimeo.
And oh, my brother just got married last Saturday! More news on that in a future post.
P.S. Anyone have any thoughts on YouTube’s new format?
