Blog

Blender Meetup Vancouver

The Environment Guy Blog, Networking , , , , , , , , , ,

For the first time in two years there is finally a Blender Meetup in Vancouver that actually meets up! I had the opportunity to meet a couple of industry artists as well as hobbyists at the groups first ever event. You might recognize a few of them, the organizer Mike Pan created the splash image for Blender 2.72b start up screen, there was also Eoin Duffy an academy award winner for the short film ‘The Missing Scarf‘, and a software developer from Nerd Corps came.

Despite the impressiveness of an academy award I though the most interesting highlight was a hobbyist named Julio. He said he was a chef  that quit his job to learn 3D graphics full-time so he could get a job as an artist at a studio. Really look forward as to what becomes of him, he showed us his first ever environment scene and I have to say it was way better than most people’s first.

You can check out the group and even join if you’re in the area here. I love to meet and we had some great discussions.

Website Updates and Future Plans

The Environment Guy Blog, Website Updates

Here is the brief outline of things that are changing in November 2014.

  • Posting schedule changes
  • Update of About sections
  • Addition of a production sheet
  • Organization of photographs
  • Reduction in branding size on all images

 

Its been one month since the launch of TheEnvironmentGuy along with this are some changes to the posting schedule and content. Some people may have noticed that last Monday and Friday there were no posts. I apologize for Monday, there was an unintended release of early revision articles which were deleted as soon as I was aware of the problem. As for Friday a decision was made too only post once a week. It is distracting to write on workdays so the new Monday only release scheduled will allow everything to be prepared on weekends.

It is also with some degree of satisfaction to announce the deadlines for updating the about sections was met. You can view the updates with these links : Bio, Ethics and Values, Income Statement, Services and Products, Life Goals. Some people advise not to place information such as your finances and personal goals online but I believe having parts of your life open for public scrutiny is a good way to develop yourself. I expect myself to treat everyone according to my Ethics and Values and everyone should be allowed to know what they are and call me out if it were to ever not be upheld. In fact I believe it is an essential part to grow as an artist and it is my commitment to everybody.

Some upcoming plans are revision of some of the new about sections. Ethics and Values and  Life Goals in particular need more attention. I would also like to include a production schedule on the website that would be updated multiple days a week. It will list each day for the week along with whats accomplished in that day and what the plan for the next day will be. This serves the purpose of guide my own efforts as well as inspiring other people to do their best every day. As stated here, part of the purpose for TheEnvironmentGuy is to show people the real life of an artist with all its ups and downs, not an romanticized image of a greater than life journey of some young person pursuing his dreams.

Last week there was mention of an organization plan to make the site searchable for reference photos. It is now officially on the todo to adopt the organization used by CGtextures This means reworking the current photography section and content release plans to start outputting some great new easy to browse content. Along with that is the downsizing of branding on the images to be much less intrusive. It’s my goal to make this a valuable resource over the years.

If you have any comments/questions or suggestions please feel free to use the contact form.

-The Environment Guy

On the subway : Part 2

The Environment Guy Architexture, Blog, Photography, Transportation, Website Updates , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Photographic reference helps thinking up new environment ideas, so in this week some interesting things found was a train station in plastic wrap… I thought it was interesting. Along with that there are some interesting architectural items in this weeks selection.

Something that’s going to change in future photos on TheEnvironmentGuy.com is a reduction in branding scale. I feel the previous overlay elements are too distracting and take away from the true purpose as reference/inspiration. There is also a plan to make themed photo selections so that its easy to search the site for a specific reference, such as if you wanted to make a light fixture you could do a site search and get images of lite fixtures.

What I learned from a homless guy

The Environment Guy Blog, Networking , , , , ,

Quite often I pass by homeless people begging for spare change or food when traveling through downtown Vancouver. The sharp pain of an empty stomach is not at all pleasant and I know that the person begging isn’t just trying to rip me off if they ask for a meal instead of turning everyone’s pockets inside out.

Trapped in a hallway about to exit to the street and surprise a homeless man standing right in-front of the entrance to ‘shake sown’ the pedestrians. Normally this means look busy and give a simile and wave with a sorry sort of look as you quickly pass by. This time I thought I was lucky because someone else got there just a few steps before me giving an opportunity for the next person to slip unnoticed behind him. Little did I know just how efficient this man was.

As I passed he sharply turned around and held a paper cup right at my chest asking if I could spare some change. It wasn’t that I disliked him personally but I was broke without a job and had deadlines coming up the next day. In no more than another month I too would have a financial situation like his own. But instead of getting away he stayed uncomfortably close to my side and asked a new question that asked if I would give him something to eat.

Food seemed reasonable and how much would a meal cost anyways, six maybe seven dollars? So I asked him what he wanted and he replied “just a sandwich, we can go to the store over there”. So I thought alright, this will only take a minute or two. I did ask what he wanted so it would be hard to back out now.

No more than ten seconds later we are in the store with the homeless guy in the lead. Obviously he had done this before and knew exactly what he wanted. And that’s when it happened, he started asking for other things such as three packs of cigarets. Unfortunately for him I am strongly against smoking so there was no way I would give him that. But that was only the first thing he asked for. Once we got to the aisle where the food was I realized what he meant by a sandwich was actually a jar of jam, jar of peanut butter, loaf of bread. Now that cost estimate in my head multiplied three times but knowing he was homeless and that it wouldn’t change my already dismal bank account it rationalized in my head. All the while he was asking for approval of each item just as his hand was about to pick them up and I agreed to all of it.

After that he wanted a box of Cheerios. It seemed the last thing he wanted so I was thinking give it to him and it will be over. So he got that and we went to the register. At the register the counter had a glass top with lotto tickets under it. He tapped and pointed at the ticket he wanted. Lotto being one of the other things I am against it was easy to decline, but if it wasn’t for personal feelings its possible he would have it.

Finally paying for the food he asked if its ok if he went outside and he was gone. Didn’t see him again, no talk or anything. Feeling disappointed I went on with the plans for the rest of the day with an foreboding feeling in my gut since I just spent $20 that could break this months budget.

Thinking about it now I realized that experience had a huge potential opportunity that went almost completely wasted. The only reason it’s not wasted is because of the gains from spending the time to analyze and write about it. Not only was that man a great negotiator but had I been upfront and spoke with him I could have gained more from his knowledge and experience as well as got some pictures which would help me with my art along with a possible friendship. So focused on the future the present slipped by.

The environment around us is largely shaped by humans. Including the homeless whose entire life is in the public environment. Their contributions deserve our respect and appreciation. To ignore those who live within and effect it comes as a great loss to any artist who wishes to better his or hers ability to create compelling art. Even if your socially awkward they are go to resources for photographers looking for interesting sites and an ideal source of life story’s.

One week afterwards I now keep some non perishable food in my bag to hand out. Not only is it easy to give when there are items on hand but its an instant way to meet an often overlooked social group. That $20 was an investment that has had payoffs far greater than its monetary value.

A New Beginning

The Environment Guy Blog , , ,

Its been eight years since deciding to learn 3D graphics. In the beginning I thought it was a convenient way to make ‘cool stuff’ without ever touching a pencil and paper. I thought apps and fancy next generation tools would solve all my problems and best of all I would never have to become one of those artist types who spend literally thousands of hours practicing doing he most mundane of tasks such as trying to design things on paper. That was all primitive things of previous generations.

Now its 2014, almost 2015. I have spent thousands of hours as well as dollars practicing ‘mundane things’. Its left me in nearly $30,000 debt to the government as well as an entirely new outlook on life. The money was spent to go to art school where I have worked with a number of computer games and movie industry veterinarians. I will complete school in a few months from now but I spent no delay on dubbing my self an ‘Environment Designer’. I’m proud to be called that however the true environment design part is only just beginning, and today is a first step in building some sort of legacy to that title. To write a blog post that probably wont ever bee read by more than a dozen people. I find that fact to be demotivating but after failing hundreds of times with just a handful of successes I am mentally and emotionally prepared to work through a long term commitment.

I cant see the path we walk on, but I do know our destination. So today we (aka myself since there is no one else here yet) point to the distant mountains in the mist and trudge through the swamp waters in anticipation of better days to come.

Thus ends the first exploration log of sir Jeremy (The Environment Guy). Future swashbuckler of environment design.

12/10/2014