I like to listen to Ted talks while I'm working. Recently I happened across a talk by Niels Different where he talks about his design background and then into his decisions on the Humanscale Freedom Chair. Its one of the major and decently known Task Chairs available.
I tried a Freedom chair out for about a week (not long enough- I had to give it back). Its a really nice chair. Solid construction and a head rest like no other. The first thing you will notice is the firm back that you can still lean back with a bit of force. Once you start leaning back the head rest moves to counter that. Its very different.
Video Below:
http://www.ted.com/talks/niels_diffrient_rethinks_the_way_we_sit_at_work.html
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
SONIC BOOSH! - GamePro article
GamePro February issue hit stands today (if you can find it! hehe). It includes a 3 page article/interview about Guile and M.Bison with full images. I really like the layout they did and effort they put into it.
......Now if I would get off my lazy ass and actually pose them or something.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Guile/Bison - GamePro
The article is at GamePro.com and touches on the Guile/Bison characters.
A larger article with more details on my thoughts and process will be in an upcoming GamePro magazine. I talk about the struggle of taking iconic characters from one style and trying to make them work in another. etc...
-Click Here for GamePro.com Article-
A larger article with more details on my thoughts and process will be in an upcoming GamePro magazine. I talk about the struggle of taking iconic characters from one style and trying to make them work in another. etc...
-Click Here for GamePro.com Article-
Thursday, November 5, 2009
UDK is out.
UDK has now launched. The Toolset that is used for creating Gears of War etc... is now available in the same way it was when it came with games like UT3, only now there is no purchase necessary. You can just download it! Its updated since UT3 ofcourse, and there is also options available for developement now.
Check it out here: http://www.udk.com/index.html
Check it out here: http://www.udk.com/index.html
Monday, October 5, 2009
M.Bison
!PSYCHO POWER!I recently finished up M. Bison! He is in much need of posing and a scene etc.. but I decided to go this far with it for now, and hopefully I will get around to rigging him later. I would like to get that smirk back on his face :).
LINK TO IMAGES
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Steelcase Leap Chair - Office Task Chair
A few months ago i bought a Steelcase Leap Chair. First a little background: I have looked into office equipment and ergonomic solutions for a long time, and the typical top 3 chairs were always Herman Miller Aeron, Humanscale Freedom, and Steelcase Leap. My experience and opinions lead me to thinking that the Leap Chair would probably be the best solution for me for a few key reasons-- despite the fact that in a quick overview it appears to be the most expensive yet cheapest looking of the bunch. I never had the chance to try one out until i found a shop that sells them locally in Raliegh NC.
Now that i've had the chair for a few months i can say that it is working out quite nicely. I consider the chair to be a (near) perfect chair for me because of how highly adjustable it is. In looking around at chairs you will probably notice right away that the big focus is usually on the back. This is important as your back is a big part of your health, especially in the long run. But for me i personally care equally as much, if not more, right now in the arms. Depending on your build it may be easier for you to find a chair cheap->expensive that has decent back support, but it may be nearly impossible to find a chair with arms that fit a large range of comforts. Below i've gone over a few of the chairs features.
Arms: The chair comes stock with a fully adjustable set of (modified) "t-style" arms. Key things are:
1. The arms go down and up beyond any level you'd care for! In fact they go so low that they are just above the seat. This is especially good if you like to put pads over the top (see pics and information below)
2. The arms top slide towards your body. This is a rare feature as most highly adjustable chairs will have arms that pivot, but do not "slide" left and right. For some of you this may be a great feature as you may have been looking for a chair with arms that can come close to your side so your arm is not sitting way out to the side.
3. Adjustable sliding forward and back. The tops also move forward and back along the body. Yet another pretty rare feature.
Back: The lumbar support is quite adjustable and is probably the first thing to stand out when you sit down. Everybody notices how different the lumbar feels. Its quite sturdy but has enough play in it to feel nice and comfortable. You should look at pictures of the back on their web site to see how it functions. It has this sort of fake-vertebrae look to it that flexes.
Seat: The seat moves forward and back unlike some other high-end task chairs. I really like this since its quite proper to move the seat to the point where the cushion is some-what close to (but not touching) the back of your legs/knees. And given that i'm about 6ft 1 i'm dependent on the build of the chair. Many high end task chairs seem to have smaller and thinner pads. The Leap Chairs pad could have more motion imo. I have it set all the way forward.
And ofcourse the chair can go up and down and the back can be set to be lax or more rigid. And i believe you can play with the tension. In fact i heard that it is set up so that as you lean back the seat moves up a bit so your eyes can stay level. I keep mine upright and set in place.
I urge anybody to find a place that sells them locally (if you can) and try it out before buying. I found mine at Healthy Back. I not only got to try out the fabric, leather, and stool versions of the chair but i also tried out the aforementioned chairs at the same time. I also brought my Perflex Gel Pads in to see if they fit - And they do! I use them on every computer setup and highly recommend them. They fit nicely (but tightly i might add) onto the arms and given that the arms can adjust well beyond my needs i can easily compensate for the extra 1/2 inch the pads put on them. The Healthy Back employees were knowledgeable about the chair.
Pros:
- Heavily Adjustable across the entire chair
- Very sturdy/quality build.
- Sleak and simple design
Cons:
-Price: You don't want to know.
-Arms: When i was at the store i noticed that the stool versions arm tops were loose. They moved around too easily. My only real worry with my chair is that over time the arms will become more and more loose. Right now it takes a bit of pressure to move them so that the frequency of re-adjusting them back is pretty low. If it gets to a point where they are floating around easily i will have to contact Steelcase about it and see what can be done.
- Some people might not care for how short the back is (though you can get head rests to attach) and how thin the padding is.
Now that i've had the chair for a few months i can say that it is working out quite nicely. I consider the chair to be a (near) perfect chair for me because of how highly adjustable it is. In looking around at chairs you will probably notice right away that the big focus is usually on the back. This is important as your back is a big part of your health, especially in the long run. But for me i personally care equally as much, if not more, right now in the arms. Depending on your build it may be easier for you to find a chair cheap->expensive that has decent back support, but it may be nearly impossible to find a chair with arms that fit a large range of comforts. Below i've gone over a few of the chairs features.
Arms: The chair comes stock with a fully adjustable set of (modified) "t-style" arms. Key things are:
1. The arms go down and up beyond any level you'd care for! In fact they go so low that they are just above the seat. This is especially good if you like to put pads over the top (see pics and information below)
2. The arms top slide towards your body. This is a rare feature as most highly adjustable chairs will have arms that pivot, but do not "slide" left and right. For some of you this may be a great feature as you may have been looking for a chair with arms that can come close to your side so your arm is not sitting way out to the side.
3. Adjustable sliding forward and back. The tops also move forward and back along the body. Yet another pretty rare feature.
Back: The lumbar support is quite adjustable and is probably the first thing to stand out when you sit down. Everybody notices how different the lumbar feels. Its quite sturdy but has enough play in it to feel nice and comfortable. You should look at pictures of the back on their web site to see how it functions. It has this sort of fake-vertebrae look to it that flexes.
Seat: The seat moves forward and back unlike some other high-end task chairs. I really like this since its quite proper to move the seat to the point where the cushion is some-what close to (but not touching) the back of your legs/knees. And given that i'm about 6ft 1 i'm dependent on the build of the chair. Many high end task chairs seem to have smaller and thinner pads. The Leap Chairs pad could have more motion imo. I have it set all the way forward.
And ofcourse the chair can go up and down and the back can be set to be lax or more rigid. And i believe you can play with the tension. In fact i heard that it is set up so that as you lean back the seat moves up a bit so your eyes can stay level. I keep mine upright and set in place.
I urge anybody to find a place that sells them locally (if you can) and try it out before buying. I found mine at Healthy Back. I not only got to try out the fabric, leather, and stool versions of the chair but i also tried out the aforementioned chairs at the same time. I also brought my Perflex Gel Pads in to see if they fit - And they do! I use them on every computer setup and highly recommend them. They fit nicely (but tightly i might add) onto the arms and given that the arms can adjust well beyond my needs i can easily compensate for the extra 1/2 inch the pads put on them. The Healthy Back employees were knowledgeable about the chair.
Pros:
- Heavily Adjustable across the entire chair
- Very sturdy/quality build.
- Sleak and simple design
Cons:
-Price: You don't want to know.
-Arms: When i was at the store i noticed that the stool versions arm tops were loose. They moved around too easily. My only real worry with my chair is that over time the arms will become more and more loose. Right now it takes a bit of pressure to move them so that the frequency of re-adjusting them back is pretty low. If it gets to a point where they are floating around easily i will have to contact Steelcase about it and see what can be done.
- Some people might not care for how short the back is (though you can get head rests to attach) and how thin the padding is.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Dominance War IV Finals Posted / Judging
I had the honor of being a primary (and final) judge in Dominance War IV. It was a difficult yet fun task that included cutting over 600 entries down to 75 with a couple of other artists. Then after that i put my top 15 in order and wrote some comments about the entries. Since i have been in past Domwars i took this on with a certain level of seriousness, constantly weighing out why one was better than another. I cut all 75 thumbnails into pieces using Image Ready and then ordered them by dragging them around in Dreamweaver, and using the built in Contrast/Brightness tools to darking ones i didn't go for to help focus things down to the final 15.
Check out the final entries and judging ---here---
Check out the final entries and judging ---here---
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Achron and Time Travel
Recently i had the pleasure of watching the creators of Achron speak about Time Travel in games (and other mediums). They are local here in NC and come straight out of NCSU. Achron is an RTS game that uses a Time Travel mechanic in a multiplayer setting. Players have a limited resource to spend on going back in time to alter it (sending units and change events) which then propogates those changes as waves moving ~2x's real-time to the present. I reccomend watching the video on it :).
Sadly there are no 1982 Deloreon units..... or barn buildings, at this time. :)
Achron Game
Sadly there are no 1982 Deloreon units..... or barn buildings, at this time. :)
Achron Game
Saturday, May 2, 2009
GDC 2009 Complete
This years GDC was one i was waiting for for ages. There was so much going on that it was very hard figure out what to do with my time. I met artists i had wanted to meet for ages, epic fans, and saw my friend win 2 IGF awards for Cortex Command. This year i sculpted at the Dominance War Booth along with other artists i admire which was good fun. Pictures can be seen here: DW Booth Pics
Highlights included:
Dominance War Booth
Polycount.com Dinner
IGF Awards
Art Direction - Horror in Deadspace
Art of Brutal Legend
Alcohol
Friday, March 20, 2009
GDC 2009!
It is here! GDC 2009 is just around the corner. I look forward to a fun and educational week. I will be doing a quick zbrush sculpting demo on the Expo floor at the Dominance War Booth. Other great artists will be doing demos throughout the GDC as well. The DW booth is sponsored by Pixologic and Wacom and will feature people demoing Zbrush with a Cintiq. There will also be a Dominance War gallery, so i hear. Also a cool Polycount/GA.org get-together hopefully sometime during the week.
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