"Scott's Brain"

random doodles from a middle-aged trekkie

Archive for December, 2009

Act II Scene 2 complete!

Dec 29

Posted by Scott Gammans in The Doomsday Machine

Ah, that’s better! I fixed the angle that the planet killer flies past the camera so that the viewer can now more clearly see the four component lances of the antiproton beam coalescing together, and I composited in the missing asteroid field and volumetric space dust layers that were missing from the previous test video.

This will not end well

This will not end well

I probably could spend another week or two endlessly tweaking this 66-frame sequence, but I think this is the best it’s going to get. It’s a shame, because there are a few things that have always bothered me about this particular sequence… more after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , ,

9 Comments

SpockBoy Weighs In

Dec 29

Posted by Scott Gammans in The Doomsday Machine

My buddy Paul Sibbald–whom many of you may know by his nom de plume SpockBoy–has taken the time to compile the following video critique of some of the visual effects I’ve posted thus far:

Scott Suggestion from spockboy on Vimeo.

Some of the visuals he’s commented upon are from the aborted March 2008 effort, but many of them are not. In any event, I am immensely flattered that Paul has gone to this depth of effort to analyze and offer constructive criticism of my work, and I place a great deal of value in what he’s got to say. Paul just recently started film school (attaboy, SpockBoy!) and anyone who’s seen his immensely creative mashups at LiveVideo and YouTube know that he’s got a keen eye for all things Trek. He’s definitely given me a banquet’s worth of food for thought, and I’d also be very interested in hearing comments from the peanut gallery.

Tags: ,

No Comments

Pill or Star Trek Character?

Dec 29

Posted by Scott Gammans in Humor, Star Trek

Happy holidays everyone! I hope your winter holiday (or summer for my friends south of the equator) has been as enjoyable and stress-free as mine. So! While waiting for scene #2 in Act II to finish rendering I took the Star Trek Character or Erectile Dysfunction Pill Quiz at mentalfloss.com. (How’s that for a seamless segue?)


Oh well, at least I beat the average of 52%, but 70% is a poor showing for a Trekkie. :(

Tags: ,

No Comments

Part 3 of 8 Test is now online!

Dec 22

Posted by Scott Gammans in The Doomsday Machine

Part 3 of 8 is now online–sort of. Let me explain, after the jump.


Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , ,

4 Comments

The Enterprise is about to have a very bad day

Dec 15

Posted by Scott Gammans in The Doomsday Machine

Here’s a little work in progress image from Act II. Don’t worry; the lens flares will be toned down for the final animation.

The Enterprise is about to have a very bad day

The Enterprise is about to have a very bad day

Tags: , , ,

No Comments

Part 2 of 8 now back online!

Dec 10

Posted by Scott Gammans in The Doomsday Machine

Part 2 of 8 has been posted at YouTube! You can thank my chronic insomnia for the much sooner-than-anticipated completion of the new viewscreen insert.

Onward with Act II!

Tags: , , , ,

6 Comments

Part 1 of 8 now back online!

Dec 9

Posted by Scott Gammans in The Doomsday Machine

Part 1 of what I project will be eight parts has been posted at YouTube! Since I revised the appearance of the planet killer somewhat for its debut in Act II, I have to re-render the viewscreen inserts from the end of Act I before I can post part 2 of 8… hopefully that will be completed in the next week or so.

And yes, I plastered a permanent “watermark” copyright on all of the live action footage from 1967. My intent here (indeed, my intent all along) is not to steal from Paramount/CBS Video or deprive them of a DVD sale. The original footage is posted merely to present my revised effects in the context of the original episode–nothing more. Hopefully, the constant watermark won’t be too annoying, but I feel that it’s necessary. ‘Nuff said.

Tags: , , , , ,

5 Comments

The hard sell for perfect survey evaluations

Dec 8

Posted by Scott Gammans in Surveys

Work continues apace on Act II. My next release will be everything up to the skirmish between the Enterprise and the planet killer, and I’ll also be re-releasing the video thus far on YouTube later this week.

Meanwhile, I’m going to do something I normally don’t do, and that’s to mix my personal blog with my professional life. Some of you may know that I work as a software engineer at Vovici Corporation, an enterprise feedback (read: survey) company based in Northern Virginia. Recently my colleague Jeffrey Henning—an opinion leader in enterprise survey feedback technologies and methodologies—wrote an excellent blogpost on the mini-rant I’m about to blast after the jump. If I can spread the word just a little bit to help nudge companies towards curbing what I feel is a particularly odious practice, I’ll have done my good deed for the day. :)
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , ,

No Comments