Wow…it’s really been a while since I’ve updated. Time just slipped away it seems. I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately which probably explains it. Finally got the DVD set released for Siggraph of this year, so I’ve been reading a lot of the papers, and there are many interesting ones. The only thing is that reading one paper usually results in the reading of 10 other papers that it references, so it can become quite time consuming. Most interesting for me are the papers on fluid dynamics, image processing, and rigid dynamics. Once the engine I’m working on is finished I should have a nice framework for doing tests and implementing some of the algorithms.

Managed to get a lot done today…did a lot more writing. Seem to have the writing bug these last few days or even weeks. I suppose it’s a good thing as I’ve needed to do a lot of documentation recently. When I go through a long period of research I just feel the need to write down my discoveries.

Finished the last test of the week this morning. That’s a big relief for me. Now I can focus most of my energy back on the “important” things of life.

The title really says it all, which means this will definitely be a short update. Spent much of the day studying for my two tests with little breaks to work on the scripting portion of the engine. Also added another two pages onto the article I’m writing regarding the creation of production-level software…that should be an interesting read once it’s done.

Finished the geology test at 10pm…went alright, but the prof. definitely expects a lot from the students. The average was 47% last time, which I think would demand a restructuring of the test, but this test didn’t reflect any changes. In fact, it actually seems to be worse. I think I did alright, but I’ll just have to see when the results are posted.

Got back on Houdini this evening as I now have the footage necessary to complete the shot. Should have some sample shots done this week. The footage is pretty clean…only a little cleanup and wire-removal necessary. This is going to be the first project in which I’ve heavily used COPs, so this should be an interesting experience…hopefully a positive one. I’ve done lots of tests with COPs in the past, but it’s when you really do a full-blown project that you get to see it perform. I do have pretty high expectations, though, as the main compositing package I’ve had experience with is Shake. Will let you all know how it handles my abuse. :)

Managed to get LUA and TCL implemented nicely into the engine now. The next step is to add all the necessary functions for communicating with the engine. This will be a LOT easier now that I’m using LuaBind. I’ve now set a few new deadlines for myself since I have a more organized schedule put together. Should be by the middle of next month I’m going to start sending it out to people for testing. It’s going to be very primitive when I do start the testing, but better to start early than wait too long and be stuck with a bad design…it’s one thing for me to like and quite another for users to like it. Since I already had gotten a long way in the first design, I have a lot of code to reference, which is making things go a lot faster.

Been busy planning various things over the last few days. Trying to decide what things are of greatest importance and making a plan of what needs to be done and when. My website, demo reel, and Agents are really high on the priority list. As I’ll be flying back to China over Christmas break, I’m seriously considering buying a laptop so that I can continue my work. By spending ~$1000 I can get a decent laptop that should suite my needs. It’s a considerable investment, but one I think will pay off quickly. If anyone knows of any deals or sees any in the next month or so, please let me know.