Sep 24
…to note that if you enter the search terms
doomsday machine
in Google, I don’t pop up until page 7 on the Web tab, page 5 on the Images tab and page 2 of the Videos. But if you enter
doomsday machine constellation
I suddenly jump to fourth place on the Web tab and the runner-up spot in Images (but am a no-show on the Videos… fooey).
Second place? Hmmph... you're #1 in my book
I guess there’s still some life in the old girl yet! 
Sep 21
OK, so you’ve probably noticed that August 31st came and went with no Act II. Unfortunately, a combination of real life and a dissatisfaction with the appearance of the planet killer have indefinitely delayed Act II until sometime in October. This will of course put the whole project deadline in jeopardy, but hey, a guy has to earn a living and sleep now and then!
Run away! Run away!
To tide you over in the meantime, I’m going to do something I don’t normally do and share one of my “rejects” with you. Follow the link below to watch the opening scene from Act II when the Enterprise is fleeing the planet killer:
Decompress the zip file and watch the movie on your local workstation–easy peasy!
There are some things I like about this scene (mostly, the POV jump—I was going for a 1960′s-style camera pullback here and I think that it works pretty good, but I’m all ears for your comments!), and a laundry list of things that I don’t (the too-procedural appearance of the planet killer, a goof with compositing the “fire” effects of the PK, the motion of the Enterprise as she swoops through the debris field, the asteroid that looks like a giant wadded ball of bubblegum, etc., etc.) Better luck next time!
A slightly different light source angle here that hints at a couple of subtle (and not-so-subtle) changes that I’ve snuck into the model.
Does this mesh make me look fat?