Today's Project... Birthday Trap card...

This is Very familiar

Dramatic Eagle

Enough Said.



Possibly better than Dramatic Chipmunk...

Evan Whiteside - 3D Showreel 2010

This is my Showreel for the 2009/2010 year.

Enjoy!



Constructive criticism is encouraged.

Alex Roman's Latest Treat

Oh wow, this is by far the most beautiful CG fruit I have ever seen.

Rendered using 3ds max, V-Ray, After-Effects and Premiere. All tool that I use on a daily basis...

Why haven't I made a falling fruit animation? Probably because I'm not a genius like Alex Roman.


Silestone -- 'Above Everything Else' Alex Roman on Vimeo.

My Other Car

This here is my 1974 XJ6 Series 2 Jaguar.
I call her Onyx. She is a harsh mistress at times, and requires a lot of looking after. But she's well worth it when you take her for a spin.

The modifications include:

• Removal of Original Jaguar engine, replaced with a 327ci Chev V8. 
• Converted to run efficiently on LPG with a sprintgas LPG system, tank in boot.
• Lowered suspension and Alloys from a XJS Jag.
• Chrome wheel arches are aftermarket.

Some highly advanced features for a car from the 1970's.

• Electric windows 
• Central Locking 
• Remote alarm
• Airconditioning
• CD player.

I've driven the car quite a bit, but on my way up to the Central Coast earlier this year was a fatal voyage.

The engine cooked, and i came away with a shrunken piston, cracked head and blown head gasket.

That was when I bought the Probe, as i knew the Jag would need to heal for a while before coming out again.

 

So, at the time of this post she is at my Mechanics. 

Originally i was considering upgrading the engine to an LS1, this comes with certain bragging rights, but it's also a very expensive move to make, it means you'd have to switch to a full fuel injection system, which means a performance ignition system, all the mounts are different, it needs a specific transmission which needs electronic linkups, it needs a modified sump... in other words, it's a big pain in the butt.

2nd idea was to buy a bolt-in engine replacement. Buy a crate engine, pop in it and bobs-yer-uncle.

I was put off this idea because it costs a fair bit, but it's really only giving me back what I lost in the first place. So I thought, if I'm going to put money into this, I want to customize it so it's exactly what I want.

What do I want? Lots of Torque... Horsepower is secondary.

So I decided to go down the custom build path. The great thing about doing this now is our pwnage of the American dollar at the moment. One of the biggest disadvantages to Australians building US engines is the restrictive price... now that now longer exists. Chev parts have always been relatively cheap compared to other engine types. And now the dollar makes it even cheaper! 

This is what is going to happen:

Having the engine stroked to a 383ci. (the largest of the small block Chevs, originally banned by the government for being too powerful for road cars) she'll get a roller cam and rockers, performance heads and intake manifold. She'll have the exhaust system re done with a x-pipe, and hi-flow headers. 

The FMX transmission is going to be removed and replaced with a reconditioned Turbo 700R4 (four speed auto) with a shift kit.

And if there is extra cash left over at the end of this process there is a decent supercharger which would go nicely with the rest of the setup. It'll eat ricers for breakfast, and nibble commodore bogans for desert, all whist retaining the simple luxury feel of an English living room.

Sigh....

Then there are the smaller things like heat/sound insulation, polyurethane upgrades instead of the easily worn out rubber. and adjusting the suspension for the weight of the new engine. 

But in the end this will be the classiest beast on the road. 

I've updated to FroYo!

Thanks to Optus Lying and then promising, then leaking and lying... I've decided to screw them and update my Samsung Galaxy S phone to Froyo manually.

[ROM] Doc Froyo XWJPA v7.6.2 / XXJPO v7.6.2 (6/11/10)

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=817703

I installed the JPO, with the No-RFS Adv Ext4 Lagfix and all the boot tweaks enabled.

And it was easy as god damn pie. Just have to carefully follow the instructions...

Things to note. Definitely back up all the apps and system data with an app like MyBackupPro or Titanium. (you'll need root access first, which is easy to get with a one click root app)

Backup the /EFS folder which contains all your IMEI data. Just incase something stuffs up, you don't want to loose this.

This is such a great ROM, it doesn't require ODIN to do the flashing. You just need to use the Clockworkmod recovery mode and install the zip that way.

Seriously... I'd been scared that I'd brick my phone... Now I don't know why I didn't do it earlier!

This is my BOOMSTICK!

Here's a Costume I made for a fancy dress party the other night.
I've always been a fan of the Evil Dead movies, Ash is just such a friggin jerkish everyman that he makes the films incredibly funny. At least, to me it does. My beautiful Stephanie (the Cat) doesn't like the films, but I can't blame her; I don't really know why I like it myself.

Web Designers vs Developers

Damon Hill Makes me Sick

I was quite disappointed by the final round of the Formula 1 this year. The german racing clone Vettel winning the championship after not leading at all the entire year, with Webber and Alonso stuck back down behind some annoying Renaults it was just like watching a very slow and agonizing death. I was hoping for another explosion from Vettel's engine towards the end of the race... but then again i always do.

But watching this cheered me up...



And here's some impressive overtaking... keep in mind the speeds that these guys are doing!

Dyscalculia

I believe I've discovered why I've always had so much trouble with Mathematics, but not only that, also why I have trouble reading out a string of numbers without buggering them up, and why I still find analogue clocks difficult to read even though I've had one on my wrist for 10 years.

I think I might have mild Dyscalculia... (Dis-Cal-Coolia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia is a specific learning disability where the person is completely normal, except that they have an inability to comprehend mathematical concepts.

I was reading the wikipedia article and several of the symptoms jumped out at me and made me think, YES! Thats ME! 

• Difficulty with everyday tasks like checking change and reading analog clocks.
• Inability to estimating the cost of the items in a shopping basket.
• Difficulty with multiplication-tables, and subtraction-tables, addition tables, division tables, mental arithmetic, etc.
• May do fairly well in subjects such as science and geometry, which require logic rather than formulae, until a higher level requiring calculations is obtained. Mild dyscalculia is no obstacle to performance in higher, abstract mathematics that does not involve numerical calculations.
• Many of those who suffer from dyscalculia may have parents who perform well to excellent in Mathematics-related fields (such as architects, engineers, or math teachers), though this connection has yet to be genetically linked.
• Difficulty with conceptualizing time and judging the passing of time. May be chronically late or early.

• Having particular difficulty mentally estimating the measurement of an object or distance (e.g., whether something is 10 or 20 feet (3 or 6 metres) away).
• Often unable to grasp and remember mathematical concepts, rules, formulae, and sequences.
• An inability to read a sequence of numbers, or transposing them when repeated, such as turning 56 into 65.
• Difficulty keeping score during games.
• Difficulty with games such as poker with more flexible rules for scoring.
• Difficulty in activities requiring sequential processing, from the physical (such as dance steps or sports) to the abstract (signaling things in the right order). May have trouble even with a calculator due to difficulties in the process of feeding in variables.
• The condition may lead in extreme cases to a phobia or durable anxiety of mathematics and mathematic-numeric devices/coherences.
• Inability to concentrate on mentally intensive tasks.
• Low latent inhibition, i.e., over-sensitivity to noise, smell, light and the inability to tune out, filtering unwanted information or impressions. Might have a well-developed sense of imagination due to this (possibly as cognitive compensation to mathematical-numeric deficits).
• Mistaken recollection of names. Poor name/face retrieval. May substitute names beginning with same letter.

So...
That might just be my issue, apparently about 5% of the population have it. It's un-treatable, the only thing that can be done is to keep mathematics to real world practical applications.
Understanding of the condition is at it infancy, (About where the understanding of Dyslexia was 30 years ago)

My Probe

I purchased this car for $3000 as a run-about while my Jaguar was being repaired.

It's a 1994 Ford Probe. Known as a Probe GT in the US...

These cars were unpopular in Australia as they were marketed as a replacement for the Ford Mustang, i.e. more fuel efficient. Which missed the mark in Australia because we weren't suffering from the same oil shortage that the US were.

As such most Ford Dealers didn't even know this car existed, and many these days still have to check their computers to confirm it.

Features include:

* Faded Paintwork (chipped at the front)

* Dodgy ignition module

* Dying ignition coil

* Possible Vacuum Leak

* Broken Air Vents

* Clogged Cat

* Suspected Stuffed EGR Valve, and IAC Valve.

So, in other words it's been an absolute pleasure to own.

It's actually a nice car, I like it quite a lot. I'll post in the future regarding the modifications/repairs that were needed over the year of ownership to date.

Excellent Monkey Island Fan Art!

The Monkey Island franchise is definitely one of my favorites in the PC gaming world.
I was starting to think that they'd never make another decent Monkey Island game after Curse of Monkey Island.



Then I saw this Exceptional re imagining of the original Monkey island world within the Crysis Engine:



And now that they've released the fantastic episodic Tales of Monkey Island and then officially Remade the original 2 Monkey Island games and given Guybrush his voice, it's starting to seem as though the franchise is back in business!

Fingers crossed that the interest generated was enough for Lucas Arts to fund us a nice big Monkey Island adventure game some time in the near future.

Making apple pie from scratch...

The 9th of November was Carl Sagans birthday...
Besides sounding like Agent Smith I've always been a big fan of Mr Sagan, his effort to bring science to the masses, making it understandable and entertaining was something that no-one had managed to effectively do before.

He's dead now, and that's sad. But he left behind a wealth of scientific information and most of it's available on YouTube. I've been watching his Cosmos series and it's amazing that such an old science TV program could be so spectacularly well done. Sure the sets are cheese, the lighting is very dated, and some progress has been made to the understanding of the universe since that series was made. But it still stands the test of time in terms of communicating large scale concepts in an accessible way.

And if you haven't heard this autotuned Symphony of Science before. Then you'd damn well better! Do it now!

A First Post..

Hey all, This is my first addition to the blogging world.
I'll jump right into it with a tried and true first step; a proper introduction...

My name is Evan, I live in Sydney, Australia. I've got a whole lot of interests, which on one hand is very good as there's always something to do but on the other hand can be quite time consuming and expensive.

The topics of my posts are going to be widely varied, with some detailed technical posts, and some will be merely skimming the surface. Partly due to laziness, partly to do with time.

Here is a selection of topics I'll be wanting to cover...

Costume Building - Instructions, suggestions.
DIY - Home Renovations, tools and tips
Home Theater - Projectors, Media Tanks, Setups.
Cars - Jaguar Owning, V8 Engine Rebuilding/Improving
Cooking - Gluten Free, Restaurants
3D - CG Tips (3ds max/V-Ray), portfolio work, Archi-Viz
Fitness - Rock Climbing, Squash, Cycling
Movies - Reviews, overlooked classics, cult.
Android - Galaxy S, Apps
Coffee - Plunging, Grinding, good cafes.
PC/Xbox 360 gaming - Computer building, Recommendations
Misc Links to cool stuff!

Obviously these topics will expand and contract depending on my relative Hobbisphere...

Hope you enjoy!
Evan