BenjaminDBailey
Where art comes to life!
Drama, Wedding, Website
Aug 25th
A strange title, indeed. But I am going to update you on a number of special events that have passed by over this and the week before.
First off, the Historic Fayette Theatre Children’s Drama Camp 2010 went very well! Here are some photos highlighting the week:
I edited together a pleasant little music video the week’s events, but I’ll show you that next time.
The second event was my brother’s wedding. 
Yes, my second oldest brother, Tim Bailey, fell in love with a wonderful girl, Becky Smith, and they were wed this past Saturday at our church.
I was best man, toast master, and got to dress up in a lovely blue outfit. Pretty nice. And the bridesmaids were beautiful, too.
I wish them the best!
And finally, I’ve been working on my website design. You say “Oh come’on, Ben, seriously, you’ve been working on this for over a year.” Well, that’s true, but I just started a new design, to replace the old one. It’s much slicker and more stylish. It’s inspired by an excellent website I recently saw.
I’m considering coding the website as a Wordpress theme, but I’m not sure about that yet. Somehow I want this blog inserted seamlessly in with the rest of the design.
Well, that’s about it. I’ll catch you on the next train.
Bon voyage!
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!
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!
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?
