Zestful One

Lighting in 3d

Posted by IcedNyior on May 29, 2008  |  1 Comment

I went for my 3ds presentation yesterday. I have a robot-like character in a box. The story is, the character wakes up and stands up and walk towards the door. He (or rather, it) tries to open the door using the door knob but its locked. Then it takes a chainsaw and tries to saw the door down. He fails. Then he gets an axe and tries to chop it down. Finally he decides to run and push against the door.

So anyway, I showed it to my lecturer the other day. He said it was okay but my animation was a bit too slow :( I lost around half marks for that. The other major thing that was missing in my animation was lighting. I didn’t have enough lights to brighten up my scene so the scene looks dull and rather plain. Another thing was I didn’t have any lights inside my box so the robot was dark. He encouraged me to use spotlights – in real life it would be something like Golights – to shine on the robot.

I think that lighting is very important in 3d, especially if you’re creating something realistic. This is because you have to ensure that all the shadows and stuff are correct – just like in real life.

Still so much work to be done on my project. *sigh*

3ds max rendering error :(

Posted by IcedNyior on May 25, 2008  |  2 Comments

Click to see a bigger pic

Haih~~ Im almost finishing my 3d project and decided to test out the rendering to see how long it will take. Then I find out that it crashes everytime I want to render it as a video (either AVI or MOV). Probably because I’m using the pirated version, I don’t know.

Im trying to complete it ASAP (sometime this afternoon) and then I’ll send it to a friend of mine who will try to render it for me. But I’m not really sure of what version he’s using and he can’t promise to deliver it on time (I need it by Tuesday for my presentation).

Worst come to the worst, I’ll probably have to render it frame by frame then find some kinda software to create it into an avi – much like stock motion animation. Sucks!

~~~~~

On another note, I always thought that independance was an intergrated part of me and that I wont be a needy gf. But when I know he’s going outstation, I feel weird. I don’t know how to explain it. Its just weird. He feels bad going. But I want him to go. He needs to go because he has things to do. It’ll be selfish and bad for me to deny him that. I understand everything rationally. And usually, I would even give a second thought about this kinda things.

I don’t know where this irrational feelings come from. I mean, I leave him all the time – Phuket last January, Jakarta this coming June (this one not confirmed yet), KK this coming July, and somewhr – most probably Koh Phangan – end of this year (still in planning). Maybe its because it the first time he will be away. Or maybe its because i broke it off with my first bf when he balik kampung and was taunting me about the fact that he got married. He has always been taunting me about other girls that he has and it was the last straw. So I called it off there and then, over the phone.

Blergh! I dont halang him going – I understand perfectly the reasons why and I accept it. I just feel weird.

Edit: Worst part is, i cant contact him coz he didn’t bring his phone :(
~~~
I don’t have a good feeling about today :(

Haitus for Finals

Posted by IcedNyior on May 20, 2008  |  4 Comments

Sorry for the lack of updates people, but I have about a week or so to complete all my projects for my final. So the blog (and my social life) would have to be put aside for a bit. Not to mention that I’m having my period (which makes me feel like I want to sleep all day) and killer cramps. So yea, frends, dont take it the wrong way when I dont respond or can’t join you guys going out. I will be back in roughly 2 weeks. I will cari u guys then. Promise!

Oh yea, my sister has this really cute ‘Shrek’ headband and I just had to put it on and also take a pic. Cute kan?

P/s: Happy birthday Jazzy! Sorry couldn’t make it to your party that day. I feel asleep while waiting. LOL!

Okay now, gtg! Muax!

Much love,
IcedNyior

Quick update

Posted by IcedNyior on May 15, 2008  |  2 Comments

Wow! I didn’t realize its been almost a week since I last updated about the Speed Racer movie. Well, things have been kinda hectic here.

My parents are away for about a week (Sunday to Thursday) so it has been kinda kelam kabut in the house. I do most of the cleaning. Somehow my sister (this is her own words) “did not see” the 5 plastic bags of rubbish I put outside the door for her to throw away. And my mom gave her the money for groceries and somehow she finished it in 2-3 days.

Also, next week is week free for me for most of my subjects BUT i have to complete all my projects in two weeks so if have problems with it I should be meeting with my lect next week. That means, TWO weeks to complete everything. *sigh*

So yea, wont be able to update as often. But I’ll try :)

On another note, I made chocolate spritz cookies using my new cookie press. Fun and quite nice also. Recipe @ Zestful Eats.

Projects and more projects

Posted by IcedNyior on May 8, 2008  |  No Comments

Perhaps I should talk about my projects. Since its just about all I’ve been doing these few days. Except for a few instances that I manage to escape this heavy weight on my mind and shoulders (and fingers) and take breaks.

First is my major project which is a timetable kinda of system where it  generates a timetable to match students & tutors for extra classes (tutorials) to help weak students. Static website done, now just waiting for the database part. Got munak to  help me on this. yey! thanks! such a lifesaver :*

Next is my Character animation project which I have to design a character – the Lego Man which I wrote about a week or so ago – which will tell the short story of how Mr Lego tries to escape from his box. Finished the character already. We just learned about skinning in 3dsmax so it should be time for me to start doing movement for Mr Lego.

Finally is my virtual reality project in which I have to design an indoor scene. What you see in the pic above (click for a bigger pic) is one of the two ‘rooms’ I’m creating. It has two stories with stairs leading up to the upper floor and the rectangle boxes are actually tiang.

The perspective of the ‘room’ looks weird because I havent added textures – which are colours and patterns – on the walls so everything looks weird. My friend says it looks like a dungeon. Come to think of it, he’s right. LOL!

Still got 1 more ‘room’ to finish. Then have to create all the furniture in 3ds max, import into my ‘rooms’, adjust, resize and move. Then hopefully I’ll be done.

Yea, three projects to complete in a month. Die or not liddat?

Of books and online shopping

Posted by IcedNyior on April 29, 2008  |  4 Comments

Someone said that its been a while since I wrote a proper post. Sorry! Been so busy lah :P Main been catching up with all my pending assignments. Have 3 projects this final sem *die!*. One of my assignments requires a short animation in 3d and this is my character, a lego man/robot. Thats a rendering of my character. I had to add knees to my lego man to allow for better movement later when I animate it. This class is really so much fun! We did bones last week and this week we’re doing skinning. Its all done in 3ds max 6. I actually have 3dsmax 9 but the lab uses 6 so better use 6 lor.

Okay, nuff about school work. I went to the PayLessBooks Warehouse sale last Sunday. It was sooo cheap! Fiction books for RM12 for 5 books and science fiction books buy 1 free 1, even for hard covers. The bf was so excited to see a StarWars hard cover book for only RM18 and a Dick Tracy book. He ended up buying 4-5 books. I ended up buying 8 books- 5 fiction (RM12), 2 science fiction (RM8) and Pulitzer (sp?) Winner book titled "Angela’s Ashes" (RM5). Cheap eh? Oh, we also bought this bookabout personalities of guys based on their horoscopes. Really interesting read.

Hurm, what else? Oh yes, I’m currently very addicted with online shopping. This month alone I spent a lot on online shopping. Which explains why Im kinda broke now.  I mostly buy stuff from overseas that I can’t get here. This is all from LYN forumers who conduct sprees so that the shipping costs will be cheaper. This is what I’ve bought as of now:

• Biomedics Contact lenses – RM75 for a box <–this one a bit expensive :( found a cheaper shop now
• White wallet for my sis – RM14
• Sunsilk Hair Mist – RM4 <–I absolutely LOVE this one!
• Elf (www.eyeslipsface.com) cosmetics (13 items) – RM100 + USD17.50 <– Decided to spend some money on my sisters about RM50 each and used my paypal to pay for half
• Bath and Body Works (www.bathandbodyworks.com) Body Splash (3 items) – RM 90
• Victoria Secret Beauty Rush Grapefruit Blast Body Drink Lotion & Double Body Mist – USD 27.90 <–yea paypal again

Whoa, after listing it out then I realized I really did spend a lot of money on shopping. LOL! Thats almost RM400 (or more) there. Okay, enough shopping till the end of the year. At least its way cheaper to pay via paypal then to withdraw it out in RM (this is to pacify myself for spending alot). Haha!

Damn you online shopping!

Opps..time for class. gtg

I need a break

Posted by IcedNyior on April 24, 2008  |  No Comments

Uh, I need a break. So much school work to do and I feel so distracted. The great thing about this semester is that I don’t have lots of papers to complete. Especially since its my final semester and I’m so happy I’m not bogged down by loads of exams. The bad part is, I have 3 major tedious projects to finish up by the end of this semester.

The thing I like to do to de-stress is to hang out with my dearest friends. Usually we go clubbing or partying to let of some steam, have a couple of drinks, dance to good music and ogle at hot guys – be it black, white or brown. Other times we have pigging out sessions where we either gather up everyone for a potluck or eat out at a nice restaurant.

Hey babes, we should go for a picnic one of these days. Bring sandwiches and other food, lay down the picnic blanket and have fun. Or go to a waterfall or something. It’ll be fun yea?

What comes after graduation?

Posted by IcedNyior on March 20, 2008  |  4 Comments

Im supposed to be graduating in June. As of now, I’m terrified of the prospect. Why? Well because I feel that my course – BSc (Hons) in Software Engineering with Multimedia (BSEM for short) – was not up to my expectations. My course focused more on the multimedia modules. On the IT side, they taught mostly theoretical stuff like Networking, Software Requirements and Software Project Management. I feel as if I want to go and take some short courses to brush up on important stuff like networking and database.

There’s this website I found that offers training and courses for certifications such as Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE). Perhaps I should go and do PMP training to get a Project Management Professional Certificate?

Unlike what some people think, I’m not just sitting around doing nothing. As of now, I’m currently sourcing around for internship posts and or training places so that I can learn stuff in a real working environment. So wish me loads of luck!

Playing Unreal Tournament in class

Posted by IcedNyior on March 8, 2008  |  No Comments

Its been about 2 weeks since I started my final sem. Class so far has been so-so, lots of cancelled classes, one or two missed classes, some classes which lasted only 30 minutes – which is super frustating because it takes me 30-45 minutes to get there (almost 2 hours to and fro).

But the classes this year are fun (well except for that class with Mr H which is a bit boring). We’re doing Character Modeling using 3dsmax & then we’re doing Virtual Reality using Unreal Editor. Yep, the editor for that game Unreal Tournament. First half of the class was spent playing UT. Haha!

Last week, he took 2 days of work to spend time with me. Aww..so sweet I know :P Lots of laughing, talking, eating (well especially the eating), walking around, watching movies, watching DVDs and starbuck-ing (as usual). It was fun.

Speaking of fun, I’m going out with Pam and the gang tonight at Frangipani so see you guys around. Have a good weekend!

p/s: Vote? Vote? I’m underaged and unregisted. LOL!

Timetable Change

Posted by IcedNyior on March 5, 2008  |  No Comments

My timetable has changed again. The good thing is now I mostly have afternoon classes, well except for friday:

Monday :: 2.00-6.00 pm ~ Software Testing & Reliability

Tuesday :: 4.00-8.00 pm ~ Character Animation

Wednesday :: 2.00-6.00 pm ~ Major Proj II

Thursday :: No class!

Friday :: 9.00-12.30 pm ~ Virtual Reality