2009 Animation Showreel

This is my Animation Showreel as of October 2009.

Shot Breakdown available here!

Redtribe

My time at Redtribe, a small games company here in Melbourne, came to an end recently. I was there for 2 years and 8 months, and now I'm sniffing around for greener pastures. It was an interesting introduction to working console games, and over 4 or 5 projects I soaked up as much knowledge, experience and fun as I could, until I became a soggy, wet sponge. I've been wringed out since, and now I'm just excited about what I could be working on next!

Infestor's neural parasite doesn't seem to fit

The Infestor is new Zerg caster unit in Starcraft 2, replacing in part the Defiler from the original game. I've only seen them in action in the recent Battle Report 3, but it must be said that the fact this fat, spiny creature can use its Neural Parasite ability to instantly mind control any unit (biological or mechanical) WHILE BEING UNDERGROUND (!) is a little overpowered, and unconventional.

This ability came two abilities of the previous game, and both abilities were pretty fitting. The queen spat a parasite onto another unit. The dark archon was a kind of supreme being shrouded in red smoke while hovering; OK, he seems capable of mind control. The Infestor doesn't. Blizzard have nerfed the ability in making it temporary, it is still very much OP.

Basically, I reckon the infestor should have to unburrow, spit the parasite, wait x (10) seconds for the infestation to occur, then mind control for y (also 10) seconds. It should be up to the targeted player to notice if the unit has been infested, giving them a chance to act. This should result in less spam of the ability, gets the infestor away from the front lines, and adds an more of an element of sneaky to the game, rather than just darn unfair.

Splinter

Splinter is a pretty cool horror film. Without giving too much away, its got something to do with corpses with spiney things coming out of them, plauging a small group of characters who were already caught up in a bit of a tangle. Other than one or two squimish scenes, its a fun film, featuring creatures, critters, and people being tricky by using a pump action shotgun with only one arm. Always a winner!

11 Second Club November 2008

The head scientist returns to an experiment gone horribly wrong...

See notes.

Starcraft 2

Blizzard have finally released their 2nd 'Battle Report' for Starcraft 2, showing new graphics and gameplay in a terran vs zerg matchup. The battle report concept is a tool to illustrate Starcraft 2's design as an E-Sport title, in response to the competitive nature of its predecessor. It's also a great showcase of the game in progress, which remains highly anticipated despite a lengthy development period.

It certainly seems to be a very good looking game. I've been keenly following it since its announcement, and hopefully it will be released by the end of the year. While it doesn't seem to have the charm of its 2d predecessor, Blizzard community managers are actively working with their fan-base to ensure this sequel exceeds all expectations. This also means geeks like me can cling to all kinds of dev information and images and salivate over it.

Personally I hope they add some more goo, slime and blood to make it more like the original. So many iconic visuals came from marines exploding into a blood pool, and hydralisks spraying spines with green slime splashing from their shooters. The pictures, the sounds, my hope is that it feels the same to play. By the look of things though, I have nothing to worry about :D

Left 4 Dead

Despite my initial fears, L4D is still great, and has been eating most of my free moments over the past few months.

The game is survival horror, and you choose one of 4 characters to survive against entertainingly large amounts of zombies. Mixed in there are 4 (also playable) special infected types. You generally play with other people, and usually against other people.

After prepurchasing the game, I was certain the full version would have more variation in it than the demo. More infected types, more survivors, more weapons, more levels. To my dismay, it only had more levels, but I keep playing, and it's still fun.

Fortunately Valve continue to support their games post release, so this game will probably continue to evolve over time, (just as Team Fortress 2 has) maintaining a strong userbase in the meantime.

Claudio Munoz

Fell in love with this illustration in The Economist today. 

There is nice grouping in the heads, in pairs. I love how the expressions blends from being terrified of going down the roller coaster, to sullenly noticing death from behind. And the one squealing like a pig! Meanwhile the background is so playful!  

The artist's name is Claudio Munoz, more gems to be found in his portfolio.

The Thing

John Carpenters The Thing is a cult horror film with a gory charm I had forgotten until recently. I found it particularly interesting for its wild special effects shots with gruesome images of dogs and humans and other creatures being imitated by the Thing, sometimes rather inaccurately.

I was interested to learn that the special effects were mostly handled by a young guy named Rob Bottin, who lived at the studio for the year or so it took to complete the film, subsequently being admitted to hospital... He really loves his job! Stan Winston also helped out with some shots of the dog monster in the kennel, which I felt were less wild and exaggerated (and more spooky) than some of the other parts Bottin handled.

However, without picking each shot apart, it all sums up to a wild ride. You should watch it (again?), unless you're a little squiemish about.. well.. revolting images.

Oh, and word has it that a prequel is in the pipes, involving the events suffered by the Norwegian crew after discovering the alien ship. I suppose it could have some kind of surprise ending involving more aliens... Either way the bar has been set pretty high!

Raptor Run Test

I've been playing around with this giant bird character for a little while. Its basically a velociraptor with a beak, a shorter tail, and longer arms. This animation would be a run that is just before a pounce, so I have the hands out a little; they would otherwise tuck in under the chest.


Raptor Run Test from Joe on Vimeo.

Facelift

I've been away for a little while, having pre-christmas work nightmares, and then post-christmas travels. So, to boost my enthusiasm now that I'm back, I decided to spruce things up around here. Looks better to me!