Time and Decisions

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I had a great visit with my family and I just know they all felt the same way (about me ;] ). It was probably the best year for me as far as being pleased with my gifting for everyone. And my family's gifts for me were great also.

One in particular I'd like to talk about is a small one with many big possibilities called an "Arduino". Basically a computer board, with an open source code (meaning available to everyone for free). By itself the only thing it can do it turn on an LED when plugged into a power supply. But with the right components and coding, the possibilities are limitless! Just look it up.

I had an idea quite a few years ago about a portable music making device, Gameboy in size, that will record the music you put in, and will store it on different layers, so you will be able to play them simultaneously. That's my first plan for it. I'd like to find a way to use this to help me in animation, but I haven't thought of anything yet.



As for animation, I recently joined a group of student animators on a short film we're creating for Halloween 2012. Animation is where I've decided to steer my major career path with VFX as a minor focus. Because of the demands of this project, my recently started VFX project 'Digital Daydreams" will slow down (I wont be able to put out 1 video per month as originally planned) and potentially halt for a time. I'm in the middle of post production on one video. I might get it uploaded in January, but after it's done, no promises. I was thinking I could incorporate animation into Digital Daydream to help both projects move forward, but animation is a long process, and i'm not sure how the logistics of that works out just yet. Please let me know your thoughts on this.



And the unpreventably unproductive thing I've come away from Christmas with is this very intriguing game called Braid. A game about choices, mistakes, and the ability to travel backwards in time to fix those mistakes. If the gameplay wasn't interesting enough, the story line that builds as the character progresses further enhances the experience of the "what if". I'm only partway through (not sure where half is) but it had me from the start. Thanks a lot Ronni. I also received Skywayd Sword from her, which I've been waiting a few months to play. But I'm being good so far. One game at a time.


Recap: Arduino = another project on my list, Digital Daydream = on hold, Animation = on full throttle, Braid/Zelda = continuously distracting it all.



Until my next reason to write!

=Nathan=