Ideas XXX Research

ocean solution from Houdini user

2011-09-05T14:02:00.001-04:00

http://www.nico-rehberg.de/shader.html#Ptex

Mental ray adaptive sampling

2011-06-30T05:11:00.000-04:00

http://wiki.bk.tudelft.nl/toi-pedia/Rendering_Mental_Ray:_Anti_Aliasing_Settings
http://www.impresszio.hu/szabolcs/MentalRay/MentalRaySampling.htm

reflection pass, good to review

2010-10-13T00:10:00.002-04:00

If you want to do just a reflection pass
a. create a blinn
b. change the color to black
c. set Eccentricity to 0
d. set Specular Roll off to 1
e. set Specular color to white
f. set Reflectivity to 1

Then add the blinn to the reflective object in a seperate layer. Make sure you have the primary visibility turned off off all the other objects so they dont render and just your reflective object renders. In After Effects or Photoshop or whatever program you composite with you can set the reflective layers blend mode to screen and then control its opacity to get the amount of reflections you want

maya is a stupid cow when it comes to References files and render shader/layers......fuck!

2010-09-26T05:15:00.002-04:00

http://forums.cgsociety.org/archive/index.php/t-588503.html

about water shader

2010-09-02T06:27:00.001-04:00

reduced rendering time
http://www.vidoemo.com/yvideo.php?i=QUJTZ3pKcWuRpSTZwM2c&maya-tutorial-9-water-shader=

http://www.videojug.com/webvideo/how-to-create-a-water-shader-in-maya

http://habib.wikidot.com/projected-grid-ocean-shader-full-html-version

how normap map/ specular map works
http://polysplendor.com/?p=107
http://www.gametutorials.com/Articles/RealisticWater.pdf

Nvidia plugin to produce normal map

http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html#downloads

rocket science behind the shit
http://habibs.wordpress.com/water-mathematics/

Renaming multiple objects in maya+Mel resources

2010-08-05T01:54:00.002-04:00

good mel script site
http://www.rodgreen.com/?p=117

in case he delete it one day
///////////////////////////////////////////////

// Copyright (C) 2008 Rod Green
// All rights reserved.
//
// Website: http://www.rodgreen.com

// ---------- Global variables
 global string $pointerObjString = "objectPointerMessage";

// ---------- Utility procedures
 global proc string padInt(int $inputInt, int $length)
 {
  if($length < 1) return "";
  string $returnString = $inputInt;
  for($i = size($returnString); $i < $length; $i++) $returnString = ("0" + $returnString);
  return $returnString;
 }

 global proc string[] getSelection()
 {
  return (ls("-selection", "-long", "-flatten"));
 }

 global proc string renameLong(string $object, string $newName)
 {
  return longNameOf(rename($object, $newName));
 }


 global proc string newTransform(string $name)
 {
  string $transformObj = createNode("-skipSelect", "-name", $name, "transform");
  refresh; // This is needed to finalize the createNode operation to stop the proc from becoming out of sync
  return $transformObj;
 }

 global proc cleanStringArray(string $inputStringArray[])
 {
  string $cleanArray[] = {};
  for($eachItem in $inputStringArray)
  {
   if($eachItem != "") $cleanArray[size($cleanArray)] = $eachItem;
  }

  $inputStringArray = $cleanArray;
 }

 global proc string niceNameOf(string $inputObj)
 {
  return(match("[^|]*$",$inputObj));
 }

 global proc string cullTrailingInts(string $inputString)
 {
  int $intCount = size(match("[0-9]*$", $inputString));

  return (substring($inputString, 1, size($inputString) - $intCount ));

 }

 global proc string adjustString( string $baseString, string $prefix, string $suffix, string $find, string $replace)
 {
  if($find == "") return ($prefix + $baseString + $suffix);
  return ($prefix + substituteAllString($baseString, $find, $replace) + $suffix);
 }


 global proc string[] filterObjectsByTypes(string $objects[], string $types[], int $evalShapeChildren)
 {
  string $returnObjects[] = {};
  if(size($objects) == 0 || size($types) == 0) return $objects;
  for($eachObj in $objects)
  {
   int $matches = 0;
   for($eachType in $types)
   {
    $eachType = strip($eachType);
    if(objectType("-isAType", $eachType, $eachObj))
    {
     $matches = 1;
     break;
    }
    // This loop will be called if the evaluate shape children option is true
    // This way we're able to distinguish a transforms 'shape' type and process as needed
    if($evalShapeChildren)
    {
     string $shapeChildren[] = listRelatives("-fullPath", "-shapes", $eachObj);
     
     for($eachShape in $shapeChildren)
     {
      
      if(objectType("-isAType", $eachType, $eachShape))
      {
       $matches = 1;
       break;
      }       
     }
    }
   }
   if(!$matches) $returnObjects[size($returnObjects)] = $eachObj;
  }
  return $returnObjects;
 }

// ---------- Utility procedures (Object Pointer System)

 global proc int attrSize( string $baseObject, string $attributeName)
 {
  return getAttr("-size", ($baseObject + "." + $attributeName));
 }

 global proc string createObjectPointer()
 {
  global string $pointerObjString;
  string $groupObj = newTransform("__objPointer__");
  addAttr -ln $pointerObjString  -multi -at "message" $groupObj;
  return $groupObj;
 }

 global proc addObjectsToPointer(string $objects[], string $pointer)
 {
  if (size($objects) == 0 || $pointer == "") return;
  global string $pointerObjString;

  for($i = 0; $i < size($objects); $i++)
  {
   connectAttr -f ($objects[$i] + ".message") ($pointer + "." + $pointerObjString + "[" + $i + "]");
  }
 }

 global proc string getObjectFromPointer(string $pointer, int $index)
 {
  global string $pointerObjString;
  $pointer = longNameOf($pointer);
  string $returnObject = "";
  if (!attributeExists($pointerObjString, $pointer)) return $returnObject; // Attribute doesn't exist so return nothing
  string $listConnectionsResult[] = listConnections("-shapes", 1, "-connections", 1,
         ($pointer + "."+ $pointerObjString + "[" + $index + "]"));
  return longNameOf($listConnectionsResult[1]);
 }

 global proc string[] getObjectsFromPointer(string $pointer)
 {
  global string $pointerObjString;
  $pointer = longNameOf($pointer);
   string $returnObjects[] = {};
   if (!attributeExists($pointerObjString, $pointer)) return $returnObjects; // Attribute doesn't exist so return nothing
   int $attrSize = attrSize($pointer, $pointerObjString);

   // Scan attribute for all connected objects
   for($i = 0; $i < $attrSize; $i++)
   {
    string $listConnectionsResult[] = listConnections("-connections", 1,
           ($pointer + "."+ $pointerObjString + "[" + $i + "]"));
   
    if ($listConnectionsResult[0] != "") // Skip blank entries
    {
     $returnObjects[size($returnObjects)] = longNameOf($listConnectionsResult[1]);
    }
   }

   return $returnObjects;
 }


// ---------- Core procedures

 global proc string[] renameObjects( string $objects[], string $newName, string $prefix, string $suffix,
      string $find, string $replace, string $typeMask, int $padding, int $cullTrailingInts)
 {
  
  string $filterTypes[] = {};
  tokenize($typeMask, ",; :/\\|.-", $filterTypes);
  cleanStringArray($filterTypes);
  
  string $filteredObjects[] = $objects;

  $filteredObjects = filterObjectsByTypes($filteredObjects, {"shape"}, 0);

  $filteredObjects = filterObjectsByTypes($filteredObjects, $filterTypes, 1);

  string $pointerObj = createObjectPointer();
  addObjectsToPointer($filteredObjects, $pointerObj);
  string $newNames[] = {};
  string $originalNames[] = {};



  for($i = 0; $i < size($filteredObjects); $i++)
  {

   // Set object names to "__tempName__"
   $originalNames[$i] = niceNameOf($filteredObjects[$i]);
   renameLong(getObjectFromPointer($pointerObj, $i), "__tempName__");

   
   // Establish base name
   string $baseString = $originalNames[$i];
   if($cullTrailingInts) $baseString = cullTrailingInts($baseString);
   if($newName != "") $baseString = $newName;
   int $offsetIndex = 0;


   int $maxLoopCount = size(ls());


   // Generate new name from options
   // If padding is used then loop over name until a unique name is found
   // $maxLoopCount is used to detect a Infinate loop
   string $eachName = (adjustString($baseString, $prefix, $suffix, $find, $replace) 
      + padInt($i, $padding));
   while(objExists($eachName) && $padding > 0)
   {
    $offsetIndex++;
    if ($offsetIndex > $maxLoopCount)
    {
     print ("Attempting to Undo..\n");
     undo();
     delete $pointerObj;
     warning "Renamed failed! - Infinite loop detected!";
     return {};
    }
    $eachName = (adjustString($baseString, $prefix, $suffix, $find, $replace)
      + padInt(($offsetIndex + $i), $padding));
   }

   $newNames[$i] = $eachName;
  }


  // Finally exectue the rename operations
  for($i = 0; $i < size($filteredObjects); $i++)
  {
   string $objectToRename = getObjectFromPointer($pointerObj, $i);
   renameLong($objectToRename, $newNames[$i]);
  }



  string $renamedObjects[] = getObjectsFromPointer($pointerObj);
  

  delete $pointerObj;

  print ("// ----------- Rename details\n");

  for($i = 0; $i < size($filteredObjects); $i++)
  {
   print ("\t" + $filteredObjects[$i] + "\n\t\t-> " + $renamedObjects[$i] + "\n\n");
  }

  print ("// ----------- Success! Renamed " + size($renamedObjects) + " Objects\n");

  return $renamedObjects;

 }

// ---------- UI procedures

 global proc renameObjectsUI()
 {


  global string $renameObjectsWindow;
  if (window("-exists", $renameObjectsWindow)) deleteUI -window $renameObjectsWindow;
  $renameObjectsWindow = window(
      "-widthHeight", 306, 281,
      "-resizeToFitChildren", 1,
      "-sizeable", 1,
      "-title", "Rename Objects Advanced",
      "renameObjectsWindow");
  
   columnLayout;

     rowColumnLayout -width 308 -numberOfRows 9;

         
      string $prefixCtrl = textFieldGrp(
          "-label", "Prefix",
          "-ann", "Prefix to final object names",
          "-cw", 1, 90,
          "-cw", 2, 208,
          "-text", "");

      string $newNameCtrl = textFieldGrp(
          "-label", "New Name",
          "-ann", "Override existing names with this string",
          "-cw", 1, 90,
          "-cw", 2, 208,
          "-text", "");

      string $suffixCtrl = textFieldGrp(
          "-label", "Suffix",
          "-ann", "Suffix to final object names",
          "-cw", 1, 90,
          "-cw", 2, 208,
          "-text", "");
      string $findCtrl = textFieldGrp(
          "-label", "Find",
          "-ann", "String to search for an replace",
          "-cw", 1, 90,
          "-cw", 2, 208,
          "-text", "");
      string $replaceCtrl = textFieldGrp(
          "-label", "Replace",
          "-ann", "What to replace the 'found' string with",
          "-cw", 1, 90,
          "-cw", 2, 208,
          "-text", "");
      string $typeMaskCtrl = textFieldGrp(
          "-label", "Exclude Types",
          "-ann", "Enter types of objects to exclude seperated by commas: i.e. camera, locator",
          "-cw", 1, 90,
          "-cw", 2, 208,
          "-text", "");
      string $paddingCtrl = intFieldGrp(
          "-numberOfFields", 1,
          "-label", "Padding",
          "-ann", "How much to pad integer suffix. 0 relies on Maya's default incrementing",
          "-cw", 1, 90,
          "-cw", 2, 30,
          "-value1", 0);
      string $cullIntsCtrl = checkBoxGrp(
          "-numberOfCheckBoxes", 1,
          "-cw", 1, 90,
          "-value1", 0,
          "-ann", "Delete trailing integers at the end of objects before renaming",
          "-label", "Clean Ints");


     setParent..;



     rowColumnLayout -numberOfColumns 2
     -columnWidth 1 150
     -columnWidth 2 150;

      
      
      button -l "Cancel" -c "deleteUI -window $renameObjectsWindow;";
      button -l "Defaults" -c "renameObjectsUI();"
       -ann "Reset settings to defaults";
     setParent..;

     rowColumnLayout -numberOfColumns 1
     -columnWidth 1 300;

      button -l "Apply (Selection)" -c ( "renameObjects("
           + "getSelection(),"
           + "(\"\" + textFieldGrp(\"-q\", \"-text\", \"" + $newNameCtrl +"\")), "
           + "(\"\" + textFieldGrp(\"-q\", \"-text\", \"" + $prefixCtrl +"\")), "
           + "(\"\" + textFieldGrp(\"-q\", \"-text\", \"" + $suffixCtrl +"\")), "
           + "(\"\" + textFieldGrp(\"-q\", \"-text\", \"" + $findCtrl +"\")), "
           + "(\"\" + textFieldGrp(\"-q\", \"-text\", \"" + $replaceCtrl +"\")), "
           + "(\"\" + textFieldGrp(\"-q\", \"-text\", \"" + $typeMaskCtrl +"\")), "
           + "(intFieldGrp(\"-q\", \"-value1\", \"" + $paddingCtrl + "\")), "
           + "(checkBoxGrp(\"-q\", \"-value1\", \"" + $cullIntsCtrl  + "\"))"
           +");")
           -ann "Do rename!";

     setParent..;
     string $form = formLayout("-numberOfDivisions", 100);
     string $website = text(
        "-width", 300,
        "-enable", false,
        "-font", "smallFixedWidthFont",
        "-bgc", 0.1, 0.2, 0.3,
        "-align", "center",
        "-label", "www.rodgreen.com");

     formLayout -edit
         -attachForm     $website     "top"    -4
     $form;

  showWindow $renameObjectsWindow;

 }


// ---------- Entry

 renameObjectsUI();

MentalRay shader resources: for maya old version(2008,2009)

2010-08-05T01:50:00.002-04:00

http://www.pixero.com/downloads_mr.html

Mental Ray Alpha Map get Bitchy: notes!

2010-08-04T23:17:00.002-04:00

The only other thing that comes to mind is on the Quality tab, at the bottom under Framebuffer, make sure your Data Type is a type of 'RGBA'. If it is just 'RGB', you won't get the alpha channel.(choose 16bit!!!)

and also, check "Alpha is luminance"....stupid feature.

found some basic along the way, good to have

Maya (and mental ray) both regard Black = 0, White = 1. When applied to a “Transparency” attribute, 0 = no transparency (opaque) and 1 = full transparency.

I would make three separate files in Photoshop - one with the picture of the leaf, one with the leaf filled in completely with black and the background completely white, and the third would be a grayscale image of the leaf against a black background.

In Maya, create a file texture node; import the picture of the leaf as the image, and connect it to the color attribute of your shader (I was using a blinn).

In the hypershade, select the file texture node, select “Edit - Duplicate - Duplicate with connections to the network”. (Use the “Edit” menu command from the hypershade, not the main menu). This gives you a new leaf, but it is connected to the same placement node as the original. Replace the image with the picture of the black leaf against the white background.

Drag this on top of your blinn material, and from the drop-down menu that appears, select “other”. This brings up the connection editor. In the left column, find the “color” attribute, and connect that to the “transparency” attribute on the right. Maya wants to connect alpha or transparency by default- you have to force this connection.

Finally, duplicate this again in the same way, replace the image with the grayscale image, and connect that to the “specular” attribute of the shader. You can adjust the specular by using the “Color Gain” slider for the image in the attribute editor.

IQ n clarification of different formats

2010-01-31T15:41:00.001-05:00

Just so I wont forget, note from MB class last year

1)VSK's are made from ROM files( range of motions). These are the smaller X2D files that are easy to recognize since they all have the word ROM in them. (ex. JSN_ROM_001 etc). You fill those and calibrate them, and then export them to VSK's with the same exact Rom Name(ex. JSN_ROM_001.vsk)

2) Game moves, or capture files, are basically every OTHER x2D file we captured with actual game moves on them. These captures are easy to find as well since they all have CAP in the file name, and these x2d's are also much bigger than roms in size. (ex. sh001_cap_001_t001, etc) You label and fill these as well but instead of calibrating and exporting as vsk's, you simply export these as c3D files. (Go to File--> Export and make sure in the c3d option box export unlabeled trajectories is on NO)

Thats pretty much the two file types, VSK's and C3d's that we export from IQ. Some people got confused when we threw the word trials out there. A trial file is just what IQ makes when we work in it. Everything we do in IQ for the most part is in Trial file format, and then saved/exported out in other formats. EVERY time you save an x2d file you are working on IQ creates a trial file with the same name.

camera mapping tips

2009-12-12T06:48:00.002-05:00

http://www.g-3d.com/Newer_AAC_3d_499_Cam_Map.html
http://qvolabs.com/otis_cam_proj_mp_01.html
http://www.digitalartform.com/archives/2004/11/camera_projecti_1.html
http://jon.bandedartists.com/news/camera-projection-tutorial

for c4d but worth looking at
http://www.3dfluff.com/cameramapping/cameramappingtut.htm

compositing problem in maya2009

2009-12-11T07:16:00.001-05:00

http://aloedesign.com/2008/11/compositing-maya-2009-render-passes-with-after-effects/

AO pass+control in maya 2009

2009-12-11T06:53:00.000-05:00

great article

http://linghaoli.com/blog/?p=86

http://linghaoli.com/blog/?p=99

http://linghaoli.com/blog/?p=117

motion vector pass setup for maya

2009-08-25T12:15:00.001-04:00

http://www.impresszio.hu/szabolcs/MentalRay/lm_2dmvMayaFiles.htm
http://www.alamaison.fr/3d/lm_2DMV/lm_2DMV_ref.htm
http://www.revisionfx.com/support/faqs/motion_vector_FAQs/motion_vectors/#Maya

Maya Bevel fuck surface normal up issue

2009-08-11T12:28:00.001-04:00

so here is the fix..... go to channel to turn of the smoothing angle....a little fucker that by default is turned on for watever reason

Rendering issue: obj from max is invisible in reflection/refraction

2009-08-07T15:16:00.002-04:00

another user unfriendly stuff for maya user: while import obj from max, the geo wont be visible in reflection nor refraction, might also invisible in casting shadow. so remember to do this while importing obj from max to maya: select watever geo that is, go to Window>General Editor> Attribute Spread Sheet, select all the columns in "visible in reflection", "visible in refraction","casting shadow" and "primary visibility" and put 1 to turn it on. Just so while it can be properly rendered.

Ocean plugin for XSI

2009-07-29T18:08:00.001-04:00

http://www.xsibase.com/forum/index.php?board=29%3Baction=display%3Bthreadid=39689
http://warpedspace.org/aa_ocean.html
http://www.aip.org/isns/reports/2008/005.html
http://vimeo.com/4697942

Maya get bitchy about deleting imported default cameras

2009-07-29T11:34:00.002-04:00

quoted fromhttp://ewertb.soundlinker.com/mel/mel.082.htm

good resource http://ewertb.soundlinker.com/mel/mel.htm

How do I delete an imported camera that Maya identifies as "non-deletable?"

You may find at some point that Maya has imported an extra default Camera into your scene and refuses to allow you to delete it. Take for example an extra orthographic Camera named "front1" that has found its way into your Outliner. You attempt to delete it:

// Error: Non-deletable node 'front1Shape' cannot be deleted. //
// Error: Non-deletable node 'front1' cannot be deleted. //

Now what?

Maya's cameras can be queried for their non-deletable status using the "camera" command:

camera -q -startupCamera persp;
// Result: 1 //

Try this on the rogue "front1" camera. If it is a startup camera, clear this attribute with:

camera -e -startupCamera false front1;

Now Maya will allow you to delete it.

MentalRay Gets Bitchy On Transparency Map

2009-07-28T12:55:00.001-04:00

http://www.3dbuzz.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=158984

If this transparancy map is a file texture and you are using maya 2008 then you will need to check the "alpha is luminance" flag in the file texture attributes. This is an assumed default for the software renderer, but not for mentalray.

this is a new setting turned off by default in maya 2008
hope this helps

IES lighting+good reference source

2009-07-20T16:56:00.004-04:00

http://www.cgarena.com/freestuff/tutorials/max/ieslights/
ies light for maya (axis direction problem)
http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/11287-architectural-modeling-tutorial-maya-5.html
architectural lighting using maya+mr
http://deyoungs.carbonmade.com/

kool art direction+execution
http://www.methodstudios.com/
http://www.rossarossa.de/index.html

The Unseen Journey

2009-07-20T00:42:00.005-04:00

The Unseen Journey from Jason Magic Tseng on Vimeo.

2009-04-15T11:38:00.001-04:00

so thats what ive been working on.....need a better quality live action footage....

storyBoard-in the middle of production

2009-03-06T09:16:00.001-05:00

Update

2009-03-01T06:37:00.002-05:00

Wing_Flapping_Early_Test from Jason Magic Tseng on Vimeo.

It took me 2 weeks and half from knowing nothing to complete rigging a crow and a whale....
not bad but not fast enough for the crazy schedule...Anyway it was a good experience. Now I can pretty much rig anything...at least thats how I feel~
These are 5 mins quick tests for the rigs of my creature, didnt animate all the joint, just to see if them work.

quick update2

2009-02-18T11:07:00.005-05:00

So this is the rig I been working on.....it's really weird that rigging a bird wing is such a demanded topic but has so little useful information of "how to" on line. Especially for Maya, it is really hard to find a good tutorial. I did found some MEL script but not sure how or where to put the syntax and make it work. I ended up using several basic built-in functions of Maya to achieve the wing flapping task. So far I'm still in the middle of rigging it and am not 100 percent sure if this methodology would work. Will update and give more details once I got on the stage confirming everything does. As for the modeling, it's actually easier than I expected, only took me 2 days to do the whole body, not bad for a one year 3d rookie like me~

That so called "academic"

2009-02-18T08:50:00.003-05:00

Well, I've been busy doing the modeling and the rigging part of my project since the semester started. Which means I didn't write a thing to satisfy the "academic requirement". As much as I hate writing in English...technically should be "typing"; at some point I gotta start doing it. I think that "point"....is now, unfortunately.

So here I would like to try to outline the structure of my thesis paper. After reviewing all the options of writing format we suppose to choose from, I figure the "magazine" format kinda fit my project the best. It's the only format would allow me to have a healthy combination of thesis elements and 3d technical researches. The only problem is that I cant find a decent template to follow, so I have to imagine the structure all by myself.

Abstract_including the simplified version of thesis impetus and project description
Domains and precedents
Storyboard
Methology_here is the part I will put my technical research

ok...the problem is obvious: How is this structure different from the "academic format"...well, I don't really know. But I imagine the editing of my thesis paper more like a normal magazine, which means the layout will be composed in a readable way for my potential readers, who are 3d rookies,like me, and people who are interested in VFX/motion graphic. It suppose to be one of those useful "how to" kind of essaies for people who are searching for technical help.

In my imagination, chaper 1~3 are really not that different than the academic papaer we been writing. What really will be diferent is the methodology part....I guess. Because according to my storyline, I have a bird to model/rig/texture. That itself is complex enough for an essay. Besides that, I also have fluid dynamic and some compositing, even camera tracking issues. That being said, is chaper 4 itself should be the "magazine essay"? Should I dump chapter 1~3 and only focuing on writing a useful, readable technical tutorial as final result of thesis writing? I dont know.....will ask Lousia later and we will see....

Quick update

2009-02-18T00:33:00.002-05:00

It's been quite a while since last update. After winter break I got into the production part....like...slowly. This week I'm trying to figure out how to rig a bird's wing properly. Surprisingly there are not too many good tutorials online....I got a hard time trying to put all the pieces of information together. Anyway, thats that, will upload some work-in-progress pictures later.

Below is a short documentary I did for the motion capture class. Didn't really have time for editing so just put the clips together real quick. It was a really fun experience, even as a class took place at valentine's day~ I really enjoy every part of it so far.

mocap@Curious Picture from Jason Magic Tseng on Vimeo.

50 people 1 question

2008-12-21T22:03:00.003-05:00

Fifty People, One Question: New York from Crush & Lovely on Vimeo.

This is a project that I adore the most recently. Simple concept, beautiful shooting, wonderful editing. I can't pull off the smile on my face while watching it. This clip is the previous featured question of their project. According to the website, there are more coming up~ This project reminds me those little simple, trivial things in life that make life worth living. so good.
Visit the website here for more detail if interested.

Look&Feel+Technical Prototype

2008-12-18T08:57:00.002-05:00

Implementation Prototype from Jason Magic Tseng on Vimeo.

This is an test rendering I did last night. Another attempt to find out the look and feel of my PSA.
Using MAYA particles and After effect to render. I like the way the particles flow, however the less realistic look of the head makes me concern if my target audience can still have the feeling of "getting into the subject's world". Well....gotta do some user testing. Except that...I'm kinda happy about how this look regard the short amount of working time and light workload. Not a bad option for production at all.

Live Avtion Prototype

2008-12-15T11:13:00.003-05:00

This is a test shot I did last week, just to practice on the shooting and trying to get a sense how to work on stuff like this. The left one is the ending cut of my animation, the right one is the first cut. I will upload the footage once I finish the keying work.

It was a really fun experience, thanks to Mike and Joana, they are really good actors. Also Esteban helped me a lot on the shooting. I found it extremely difficult to get the good lighting, which has a huge influence on the quality of the image. Also I had some problem keying the footage. However, it was a good learning experience.

StyleFrame prototype

2008-12-14T03:54:00.003-05:00

The final presentationof this semester is tomorrow, so basically I'm killing myself preparing that.
This is a quick style frame I did as an attempt to find a good/suitable art direction for my animation. I also shot some live action footage, that was a fun experience however I haven't have time to post it online. Will update more after presentation. Oki, that's that. Have to go back to my presentation slices~~~hope for the best!!

Animatik to date 1208

2008-12-08T05:09:00.002-05:00

Animatik1208 from Jason Magic Tseng on Vimeo.

I just realized that I didn't put "bipolar" in the voice over. The sentence should be "taunting at bipolars' struggles is easy".... another problem is that the music at the end didn't come out. But at this point I care more about if the way I put it together making any sense or not.

Mania:
The main character will be represented by the line. The line will come out from a male's head at the first couple shot, and get into the shape of a bird. The bird should fly precariously toward the sun. After reaching certain height, it'll kinda lose it's balance in the air and melt to the shape of a meteor and fall into the ocean.

Depression+difficulties of finding right treatment:

In the underwater environment, Passing by the whale, avoiding all the torpedoes in the water ( different medicines), the line get frustrated and going down.

How people's behaviors/attitude can make influence on bipolar

When passing by three trash-talking mouth-jellyfishes, the line get nervous and become shaky and jagged. It keep going forward, get into the shape of a spiral and eventually get into someone's ear. The camera zoom out and we see it's a girl's ear, she reaching the guy( from the beginning) and put her hands on his shoulder in a friendly way.

well....for now it's hard to tell how people will react to it. Might have to talk to people around. Hope for the best~~

In the search of art direction

2008-12-08T00:19:00.006-05:00

Mato Atom BELVEDERE
Onesie, FX concept
Nervo.tv, Branding piece for FOX Japan
Nervo.tv, TimeX TV spot

StoryBoard....again

2008-12-03T22:38:00.006-05:00

OS:20.9 million people are suffering
OS:from the sense of racing their own minds

OS:from the sense of falling from the top of the world
OS:from the feelings of being draged
OS: and drowning
OS: from the painful journey of searching the right hope
OS: taunting at bipolar's struggles is easy
OS: listening with an open mind
OS: is hard
text: ListenDunJudge.org

KoolMakingOf from FOX:fringe

2008-12-03T01:04:00.004-05:00

I'm still revising my storyboard (finger crossed: for the last time...please). In the current version I plan to have live action in it. Fringe is overall a kool precedent of the combination of live action and visual effect( okay to be honest, a great entertainment as well) for me to look at. For the episode 9th, they also provide a making of on FOX's website. It's kool to be able to see how they shot the scene.

A little progress from thxgiving week, finally!!

2008-11-29T22:05:00.003-05:00

OS: 20.9 million people are suffering
OS: from the cycle of racing their own minds
OS: and the feeling of being drag, and drown
OS:Also from the painful journey, of finding hope.
OS:Sneering at their strugglings is easy
OS: Listening to them with your heart, is hard.

A thought about how to put my piece together just hit me ...thank god! Here is a quick rough storyboard....just for myself to catch the thought which I've been waiting for whole week.

Thesis statement to date, again

2008-11-29T21:20:00.004-05:00

Manic depression, also known as Bipolar disorder is one of the most common seen mental illness in our society. However, the society appears to ignore the fact that there are 20.9 million people who are actually suffering from the clinical disorder and being discriminated and labeled as “crazy”, “having weaker wills” because of the weak understandings and omnipresent prejudices toward this issue.
When it comes to understand the real syndromes and problems the word “bipolar” represents, very few people have correct basic understandings. I believe the lack of interest to understand this issue generate discriminating behaviors and rigid attitude around our society and make lives of people, who suffer from bipolar syndromes, even more difficult to cope with.
As “mental” illness, bipolar disorder is not as visually recognizable as physical disability. My thesis is about boost people’s interests and understandings toward this issue. I want to make the “invisible”, ”non-visually obvious” situations and difficulties bipolar patients are struggling with more visually clear.

By utilizing the compelling visual language of animation, I hope to bring attention to this issue and make the situations bipolar patients are coping with more comprehensive to the general public in order to help eliminating stigma toward bipolar.

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

So in another words, my main goal is to provide more appealing way for the public to understand the basic struggles of bipolar. By utilizing animation/visual effects to grab my TA's attention.

Main ideas in my animation:
the struggles that I need to visualize:

Mania
Depression
Finding treatment

Other info I want to stuff in:

It's a real illness
20.9 millions people are suffering from it.
listen, don't judge.

Some thouhts:

to talk shit about others is easy, to listen with your heart is hard

Good stuff....a bit over due~

2008-11-29T21:04:00.002-05:00

Although I'm not really a gamer, metal solid 4 still shocked me by it's amazing real-time render image quality when it first appeared on a HD tv of my friend. (yes, Kenneth,AKA 001, that's you) couple months ago. Here is a great essay disclosing a lot info about the work flow of production. More or less it's kinda like a promoting essay of XSI 7, however the descrition of design process and work flow defenitely worth your time to read. At least I really enjoyed reading it. It gives me a general concept of how these amazing works were being created and done.

Precedent: narratives that stuffed with a lot info...from Superfad

2008-11-29T20:23:00.005-05:00

watch it
watch it

Superfad has some very cool examples of how to stuff bunch of information into one piece. I guess the questions for me then are

What information am I going to stuff? What's the main message? Is there any already existed static and data that is crucial for my project?
What kinda of art direction am I aiming at? Which type of design will will work accordingly better with the information as well as being a solid animation to watch?

Timeline of December

2008-11-29T00:24:00.002-05:00

week of Dec 1 ---pre-production week

finalize the storyline
new storyboard
new animatik
technical research on fluid dynamic, water splash
domain paper
contacting other organizations/connections
searching for adviser

week of Dec8---start production week

modeling of the objects
styleframe
blocking animation
contacting other organizations/connections
searching for adviser

week of Dec15

modeling
blocking animation
technical research on rigging

By the end of this semester, my goal is to have

storyboard complete
styleframe
blocking animation
models---at least in progress
a organization to work with
an adviser

Re-focus

2008-11-26T14:48:00.004-05:00

OK....I'm kinda losing the sense of what am I suppose to focus on at this point. I tried really hard to work on the storyboard but somehow it got stuck in the middle of nowhere really bad....Friday is gone and I've achieved basically nothing.....which suck and made me panic!!!!!So, it's probably the timing to write something to organize my chaotic thoughts regardless how much i hate writing.

There are couple messages I want to deliver.
Informative ones:

Bipolar disorder is a real illness.
There are 20.9 millions(9%) people suffering from it in United State.
Bipolar are suffering from cycles of mania and depression.
Searching for the right med and right treatment is usually a painful journey for them as well.

Provocative ones:

Bipolar have been treated poorly, with unfair stigma and discrimination.
It's ignorant to making fun of people's illness or saying it's because they have weaker wills that they have the syndromes.
The illness is genetic and strongly related to the chemical imbalance inside the brain.

Eventually I want to achieve:

Boost people's basic understanding about bipolar syndrome
Alleviate the stigma.
Make more people paying more attention on this issue.

Narrative strategies I may consider to adapt:

metaphor, visualize the mania/depression
high drama?
personal experience?
info-graphic way?

I've been tracing back to the beginning of this project and have tried really hard to focus on one subject. However this issue itself is tremendously complex.......

What is my animation doing regard the objectives listed above? What strategy am I using?

If I'm aiming at "boosting the basic understanding of bipolar syndrome", is it okay the storyboard to be as general as it is now? What are the other options of giving out the information??

It seems that I have to separate the "intro of bipolar" part and "alleviate the stigma" part into different layer. Which is my main goal?

Constructive Feedback From Peer Review and Drinking Presentation!!

2008-11-22T22:57:00.005-05:00

Just presented at the peer review this Saturday and got some really useful feedback, thx a lot for Noam, Tarynne and Sandhya pull up this valuable event and also provide enough wine and beer for us to have during the whole day! I was having my 4rd glass of wine while presenting!! It was fun to see other people's projects too.

A quick note from the feedback:

Now the storyboard is kind of general. Maybe I should try to make it more focus on one subject instead of stuffing all the information in it.
I have to figure out if this piece is going to touch on the stigma part or not. Because if it is, then I have to do some studies on the discrimination and stigma related behaviors to make it specific.
The music is too happy.

FeedBack from Anezka!+nextStep to date 1121

2008-11-22T12:40:00.005-05:00

Cut down the copy( the voice over in my animatik), limit them into three sentences.
Stay in third party perspective
Focus on the main messages I want to /should be deliver, which are:

Bipolar disorder is a real illness
20.9 millions people are suffering from this
Be a friend, be supportive.

Also she has the same concern about the octopus. It's sketchy on the conceptual side, and too difficult to model/rig. I'll seriously consider to take that out regardless how much I love it visually....

Another really valid reminder is the fact that PSA cant live outside the context of campaign or media exposure. That's why I've been shooting out emails, seeking for opportunities to cooperate with organizations that work on mental illness issues. However I do have to work harder to get the connections I hope to get, or start thinking about what other works need to be done to fulfill my purpose.

So, my next step will be:

finalize the storyboard and rewrite a more focus, object oriented copy associate with it.
Another version of animatik
find/establish connections
Start modeling
A blocking animatik
Look and feel test and styleframe

Animatik to date: revised again

2008-11-21T10:48:00.002-05:00

Animatik_2008-11-21 from Jason Magic Tseng on Vimeo.

I've gained some really constructive feedback from people, but still, please leave a comment if you can, I'll appreciate it . Thanks!!!

Implementation prototype:Partical Instance+Softbody, Look& Feel

2008-11-21T03:58:00.000-05:00

Implementation prototype:Partical Instance+Softbody, Look& Feel from Jason Magic Tseng on Vimeo.

This is another test for my ongoing thesis. I didnt separate the meteor smoke and the ocean in different layers. So the smoke of the meteor looks kinda funky. For now it's alright. As for the technical part, it was a good practice on softbody and particle instancer. It took me quite a while to get the softbody(the surface of the ocean) react to particles when they collide. However I haven't find a decent way to generate the splash...that should be my next step.
tool
MAYA 2008 + AEcs3

Technical Prototype

2008-11-20T08:35:00.003-05:00

Technical Prototype: MotionTrack+ParticleExpression from Jason Magic Tseng on Vimeo.

A simple practice, using tracking speed as the element that determent how much particle can emit from the tracking point. Technical Prototype 01. 1,000 thanks for Akiko's help!!!

Cultural Material: LStudio from imaginary forces

2008-11-19T17:28:00.005-05:00

L studio is a new website Imaginary Forces created for Lexus. Normally I'm not a fan about sponsored web because 1,most of the time they are just bunch of empty, no soul content wrapped up with good looking visuals. 2, creating that kind of crap was my old job and I know too well how fake and boring this kind of stuff should/can be.

However this one is pretty different. The site basically is consisting of bunch of great quality narratives. From comedy series , short urban love story to PSA animation about environmental issue. It's like a small channel with selected short films without having annoying commercials jumping around trying to brainwash you how awesome Lexus is.. I really enjoyed watching the hilarious Web Therapy series as well as the PSA visual effect piece. For me its a great precedent that having fun to look at.

Thesis Concept Structure mapout

2008-11-17T15:34:00.009-05:00

Context

Why is my project important/valuable?
How will the project change users/audience's life?
What is the problem I'm trying to solve/question?
What fact legitimate my project?
Who will this project matter to?
Where is the project most effective, where does it live?
How does it relate to existing works?
What is new about my project?
What form best communicate my project?

Look&Feel

How does material effect function/presentation?
How does that material contribute to the project's meaning?
Does it look approachable to my audience?
What/ How much research do I need to do?
What material am I using? How much do I need?
How much will it cost?
Where am I going to get the material?
How does it look like? What's the color/scale/length/shape/style/tone of it?

User experience

How will my audience access the project?
How do they navigate think through the project?
What is the sequence of the user experience?
What is the feedback or reward?
How does it keep the audience engaged?
How should the audience respond?
What are all possible ways users can interact/respond/interpret the project?
Does it do what it designed to? If not, why and what should be adjusted?

Implementation

What are the techs/equipment/techniques that are necessary/work best?
what is the time-line?
who if anyone is working with me?
Is it public or private?
Who would fund/support/sponsor this project?
What are the alternatives if plan A doesn't work well?
What is the lifespan of this project?
What to test w/ specific prototypes?
What metaphors/story describe my project?

Story Board, revised version

2008-11-17T01:02:00.013-05:00

OS: everybody has highs and lows
OS: But like other ten millions, I am facing something different
OS:Bipolar disorder is a real illness, like cancer or diabetes
OS:The chemical imbalance in my brain makes my moods and energy shift
OS: severely.
OS: For people like me, life is a repeat cycle
OS:Between Mania
OS: and depression
OS: medical treatment is key
OS: However, finding the right one, is challenging
OS: People talk behind us, saying that we are crazy.
OS: We are not. we are just fighting a life-long battle that we been forced to fight
OS: you may not understand
OS: but you can be a friend

So this is the storyboard I've been working on this weekend. Ideally it will be a piece that combines motion graphic and 3d visual effect. Sorry if some transitions in between is not very clear right now. It took me a long time trying to make it informative and making sense in a way. I also took the suggestion of Ethan from midterm presentation and tried to make the OS sounds more personal.

If you happen to have bipolar syndrome, please answer these questions below for me, I will very much appreciate your comments and consider them seriously. Thanks in advance!!

Can you understand the story?
Can you relate your experience to this story? Which part can/cannot you relate to?
What do you think about the visual metaphors (the meteors+giant octopus for mania, underwater for depression) I used in the story? Are they valid or exaggerate?
Does this piece to some degree depict your situation? Or it fails to do that? Which part does it/ fail to ?
What information would you add in this piece to help others understand bipolar disorder or people who have it better?
Overall how do you feel about this story?

Please leave a comment, thx again!!

Great Process Reference from ShyTheSun

2008-11-15T23:32:00.002-05:00

Sea Orchestra: The Making Of from Shy the Sun on Vimeo.

Sea Orchestra from Shy the Sun on Vimeo.
This is a great demonstration of how a narrative project should go through!!!!!!!! Fantastic reference for me. (From Shy The Sun)

Also, I'm thinking about how much information should I put into my animation. It also relates to how the storyboard will look like. At this point I really need to finalize my storyline and get to make the animatic!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Feeling behind is killing me!!!!!!!!!!

This is a talk-through kind of motion graphic that shows so much information in the piece (from Theo Alexopou, who is a alumni from ArtCenter). It made me to rethink about the different possibilities of the way I structure my narrative.

Learning RF4: one small step, more questions!

2008-11-15T20:08:00.007-05:00

I've been learning MAYA dynamic for a while and so far I've found it although powerful and handy, having a lot issues when it comes to simulating/manipulating fluid and particle events (i.e...collision detection). So learning RealFlow4 is my new thing in order to make my already falling behind thesis happen.

It's great to find out that RF4 can generate splash when objects colliding with the RealWave surface, unlike maya softbody has really limited practices. However the performance of doing it is really not rendering friendly. Besides, I haven't tried out if this can work with dynamic instance. It's such a drawback that MAYA doesn't allow dynamic instance behave like rigid body....it's SUCH an obvious need AUTODESK!!!

Anyway....technical questions are popping out like hell...

How to make dynamic instances behave like rigid body?
How to create splash when the object ( likewise, dynamic instances) hit the ocean surface?
How to rig a soft-body creature...in my case, an octopus?
How to create underwater kinda look?
How to rig a whale?( this one I think I already found some potential solution...need to test it though)

BTW...I heard MAYA2009 improved the particle system (nParticle) and fluid dynamic a lot...
hope that will help me eventually~

The attemp to start over!! Storyboard, rough version

2008-11-12T23:06:00.005-05:00

After getting the feedback from others, and seeing Anezka's class presented on Tuesday, I feel I need to work on extending my storyboard more. Considering the previous story didn't cover the mania part of bipolar disorder, I think it is crucial to include that in my new story. Also the feedback shows that I need to find a way to make the metaphor explicit to my audience or they would otherwise misunderstand the message or even not getting it at all.

So I came up with this new storyline. Playing with the metaphor of wave to imply the strength of mood-swings of bipolar syndromes. Also I want the voice of this PSA being more informative and direct in order to give my audience a clear sense what the film is about. Right now the voice is the copy I wrote, however, Im also thinking Ethan's suggestion in my midterm presentaion: tell the story from a more personal perspective. That could also be another way of my vocal in the story.

Anyway, I drew out the rough version of the new story pretty fast in order to get it out of my head and also to get some feedback from others. Thanks to Rabia, I already got some useful opinions and will put them into consideration for the next version storyboard.

feedbacks!!

2008-11-11T19:47:00.003-05:00

I showed the prototype, animatik and the storyboard to 6 people. Two of them are people with bipolar disorder, one is with depression, three of them are just my other friends.

I got some constructive feedback and made me think about the storyline again.

It's hard to tell the cup is container.
The metaphor I use is valid, people can relate to the drawn experience to their emotional disorders, however they need some instructions because it's not clear in the story
The story showed the depression episode of a bipolar, but failed to show the mania part, which made me thinking about creating another story.
Showing the negative behaviors of my character doesn't necessarily make my audience reflect to their owns'.

Character design process

2008-11-11T03:32:00.004-05:00

11/08 update
unify all container into glass form
considering take off the nose of the characters
considering adding different elements on one basic shape to create different character
considering the technical aspect of production
still need tutorials on rigging part
learning fluid effect
10/15 second draft
revised looks
9/21 first draft...developing concept

Precedent:kool project!

2008-11-10T22:43:00.007-05:00

watch clip

directed by Christian Bevilacqua ( Threapy Film)
for LunarBBDO
illustrations of "Doodles" created by illustrator Billie Jean
watch clip

website

Thanks to Esteban's info. This is a really kool project that is truly inspiring and encouraging for me to look at. Samaritans is a organization that provides "non-judgemental emotional support" for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair.

These two clips are fantastic precedents for me because they are depicting the inner difficulties of their users, exactly like what I plan to do. Instead of putting a lot information or showing bunch of data in it, the animations were constructed in a more abstract but narrative way to depict the distress feelings and visualize them. The art direction and execution are poetic and beautifully done. This is definitely one of the most relevant precedents to date.

Quick&dirty prototype:animatik

2008-11-09T22:35:00.013-05:00

Its pretty rough and ugly because I just want to see if the story make any sense in animatik form.
After reviewing it, I feel like between the 2ns and 3rd shot I should put more info to help my audience understand "everyone got a cup on the top of head" scenario. Also I already got some feedback saying its hard to tell if the thing on the top of my character is container or just it's hair. That should definitely put into consider when I doing the character design. Another concern I have is about the storyline itself...is it too much to show the funny twisted face of a drawn character and imply it as a bipolar patient? Is it doing the opposite of my purpose and corrode my TA's minds and enhance the negative stereotype impression even more??....it really bothers me now...shit!!!

quick&dirty prototype from Jason Magic Tseng on Vimeo.

Domains of my thesis

2008-11-09T21:46:00.003-05:00

Story Board !

2008-11-05T22:10:00.004-05:00

Thesis Concept to Date (11/05)

2008-11-03T03:04:00.012-05:00

Current thesis concept

Manic depression, also known as Bipolar disorder is one of the most common seen mental illness in our society. People use the word “bipolar” all the time with all kinds of diverse meaning in it. In most of the cases the word is used as a negative label of a person’s behavior or personality. However, the society appears to ignore the fact that there are millions of people who are actually suffering from the clinical disorder and being discriminated and labeled as “crazy”, “having weaker wills” because of the weak understandings and omnipresent prejudices toward this issue. The common misusing of the word “bipolar” is one subtle example of all the discriminations bipolar patients facing nowadays.

When it comes to understand the real syndromes and problems the word “bipolar” represents, very few people have correct basic understandings. I believe the lack of interest to understand this issue generate discriminating behaviors and rigid attitude around our society and make lives of people, who suffer from bipolar syndromes, even more difficult to cope with.

As “mental” illness, bipolar disorder is not as visually recognizable as physical disability. My thesis is about provoking people’s attitude toward how people who have bipolar disorder being treated in our society. By putting the omnipresent social issue into a narrative context, I wish to show my target audience how ignorant and inconsiderate of some taken for granted behaviors are when it comes to attitudes toward bipolar patients. Also I want to make the “invisible”, ”non-visually obvious” situations and difficulties bipolar patients are struggling with more visually clear.

By utilizing the compelling visual language of animation, I hope to bring attention to this issue and make the situations bipolar patients are coping with more comprehensive to the general public in order to help eliminating stigma toward bipolar.

Precedent research/analysis

What precedent works are most related to your current experimentation?

Consider the fact that the issue is in the category of mass communication and bringing public awareness/attention, pieces of currently existed PSA (public service advertising) would be the main source of my precedents. It would be beneficial for me to see how other public issues, especially those involve with certain group of people who suffer from certain conditions, were being operated to gain attention or understandings, even supports from the society.

Directly related precedents and resources

2008-11-02T23:43:00.017-05:00

C.A.L.M is (Campaign Against Living Miserably) aiming at prevent it’s target audience harming themselves. By offering help, information and advice via a phone and web service, it transform the abstract support into different visual format.
This is a bit different than other precedents I have because the main target audience of this project is people who do have the problems. However it is very informative to see how they distribute and promote the supportive messages and advices.
website
PSA clip (done by Ogilvy & Mather, Directed by Dick Carruthers and Tom Woodcraft, D.O.P Jason Shepherd, editor Henry Stein, Edit Video.)

The Banyan Tree Project is a national campaign to stop HIV/AIDS-related stigma in Asian & Pacific Islander (A&PI) communities.
website
PSA clip
StandToReason(UK)
NoStigma.org
StampOutStigma
OpenMindsOpenDoors
OpenUpToolkit
WhatADifference.org
psa clips on youtube, search for Stigma: Friend
Door Knob

NAMI
http://www.creaturediscomforts.org/
The Secret Life of The Manic Depressive is a documentary done Stephen Fry, a comedian, actor, author and filmmaker. Stephen interviews other celebrities with bipolar, including Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher, Hollywood star Richard Dreyfus and British comedians Tony Slattery and Jo Brand.
This is a fantastic precedent for my project. It did something really relevant and touched a wild range of people. Although it’s in a documentary form, Stephen Fry still manage the film to a fun, interesting narrative to watch. It also shows me how a personal perspective can help getting the story more compelling and get the audience a clear insight point of view.
watch the film
The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive
Stephen Fry's two-part documentary explored what it's like to have bipolar disorder.(BBC)Also check the health section of BBC's webpage, bunch of resources about bipolar~~

Depression Is Real is an organization trying to educate people who don’t believe depression is a real biological illness. The PSA took a pretty straightforward approach, having people (at least dress and behave like) medical professionals, biological professor and shrink talking to the camera telling the message.
This project is so close to what I want to do, it related to my project in every aspect. However the strategy it has is a bit different than what I have for now. It’s telling the message directly instead of putting it into a narrative context. The advantage of this strategy is that the audience won’t have any problem understanding the message since it’s explicit and 100% direct. The concern I have for this method is that it’s so straightforward and plain, wouldn’t it lose people’s attention or even not getting any because of that?

watch the clip
website
watch this clip
EIC
DBSA

PSA precedents collection+some makings

2008-10-27T14:16:00.029-04:00

By showing support group, Stand Up to Cancer is a campaign about gaining awareness and support toward people with cancer from the public.
The PSA shows a lot of Hollywood stars and different groups of people standing up showing their supportive attitude toward fighting cancer. I think in this case the target audience of their setting is not only the general public but also people who suffer from cancer.
Same strategy was also adapted by American cancer society. The Making Stride Against Breast Cancer campaign has very similar approaches with Stand Up to Cancer campaign: showing the positive support from others, either people also been through breast cancer or people who care about this issue.
These two PSA show another type of strategy to change people’s attitude and to gain attention.

website
watch clip
Making strides against breast cancer
website
promotional piece
PSA from MSF.(Medecins Sans Frontieres) This animation shows how HIV started from a small group of people but spread rapidly and getting the whole society paid the unbearable price at the end. The way the director using visual metaphor is exactly what I am aiming at. It makes an abstract concept visually compelling and strong.

HIV PSA
website
film
Drinking awareness PSA made by BBDO New Zealand 2008
website
film
WSIB work safety PSA
website
film
Wear a helmet campaign
website
film

3 different PSA, done by AIP foundation (Vietnam helmet wearing public awareness campaign), AIAC(drinking awareness campaign) and WSIB. (Workplace safety public awareness campaign in Canada) Although talking about very different subjects, these three PSA have very similar strategy selling the concept. All of them show visually scary narrative in order to change people’s attitude.
These are good examples of showing audience something they usually just heard of. By actually visually showing the terrible results, or even the accident itself, the messages they try to spread out seems would be more likely to be taken seriously by the audience.
They are related to my project for two main reasons. First of all it’s about behavior/attitudes modification. Second, the strategy they took gives me some validations of visualizing something that normally is not easy to see in order to enhance the message.

PSA website promoting healther recipes and eating habits
PSA research, a good resource site with lots of info
A Parent's Guide to the Teen Brain is about providing information through an entertaining mix of media — video, interactive segments, scenario-based role-playing experiences, expert advice, and practical tips. It illustrates the teen behavior and the big changes happening in teen brains. By doing so, the site offers parents the guideline to understand and guide their teen kids.
It’s a good example for me to look at how a PSA can tackle some complex issue with lots information in it. The use of mix media in this case really shows how different designs can work together to form the compelling message.

PSA websites+films

Matt Lambert wrote, directed and edited a stirring PSA/short fllm entitled “Footprint.”* Jellyfish Pictures handled all the animation, vfx and production. The official, cut-down version aired on The Discovery Channel. (quoted from motionographer.com )

Matt Lambert wrote and directed this animation PSA. By focusing on a dumped can and showing the audience the never-going-to-disappear feature of it, the director delivered his message clearly. This example shows how can we utilize animation to show something true but visually impossible to see and get the Idea more compelling and self-explanatory.

Creature Discomforts is a PSA campaign of Leonard Cheshire Disability (UK). The main goal of the campaign is also the goal of the organization: change public’s attitudes to disability.
The serial commercial pieces were created by studio Aardman Animations. They created several different sets of incarnate animal characters talking to the camera about how they, although with disabilities, live in very different ways than how the society would picture them.
The website contains games and forum to interact with it’s audience to enhance the message. It also contains the PSA animation pieces and the footages of the making of the animations.
I think this is strongly related to my project simply because their goal is to change attitudes in the society and took the same approach I would use. The idea of putting the actual message content into game and website context made me think of the possibility of using mixed media in my project.

An PSA created by aardman
clip01
clip02
http://www.creaturediscomforts.org/

PSA (fighting hunger) done by Daf

An PSA for Canada’s Heart and Stroke Foundation, done by NAKD

This PSA visualize the traumatic experience of victims who had been through sexual abuse during childhood as a sticky, gross looking creature that always entwines it’s host and harasses every happy moment the hosts have later on in their lives. This is a great example because part of my project also need to visualize something not visible in our minds, like feelings or experiences. This piece successfully depicted the negative, traumatic feelings inside human and transmitted the strength of the feeling to the audience.

http://www.dunkelziffer.de/home.html

watch film

An PSA piece from TBWA and London based studio, Minivegas
the making sketches:

http://motionographer.com/aides-production-art/

kool people interview

ARK, a film based on mental illness

(ARK)it provids a good inside view on the making of the best of show siggraph 2007.

User Scenario Diagram

2008-10-21T18:23:00.004-04:00

TA: People who are not suffering from mental disorder, who are relatively more capable to care about others. Have basic educational level and can understand common visual language. Not experts on psychological fields and have little understandings toward bipolar issue.

I am aiming at subtle behavior/attitude modification.

Before: Heard about it, but have very little knowledge/understanding about bipolar.
Tend to think people who suffer from the syndromes are just having weaker wills.
Consider "mood swings" is just different mood statuses that everybody has.

After: Understand that the attitude (described above)they hold are ignorant and
inconsiderate. Ideally would be more willing to understand the situations
/conditions that bipolar patients are coping with. At least start willing to show
more considerate atitude to people who have the disorder.

I will organize my storyboard and post it here to make the ABCD sessions relate to the actual plot of my story later on.

1020WritingNote

2008-10-20T15:24:00.001-04:00

5 creation stories
10 precedents
IRA glass

due mon

Precedents

2008-10-19T21:08:00.004-04:00

look and feel reference
commercial by Laurent Nicolas
An animation directed by Russell Brooke. The cartoon shows a 2d cartoon kid being hit and bounce around like all the old school funny cartoons. However as the story goes the audience will find out it’s a kid that being abused. At the end the kid got thrown to the wall and fell, the camera than revealed it’s a real kid, and said “real kid don’t bounce back.
This piece is interesting and relevant for me to look at because it shows the power of story-telling techniques, also it reminds me the importance of slogan and text in an animation based PSA.

PSA reference
by Russell Brooke

Tips to speed up the workflow

2008-10-15T00:44:00.005-04:00

This essay is good for me to look at since I am about to move to the production stage of my thesis.

Precedent" Narrative give life to product

2008-09-24T16:55:00.001-04:00

Precedent: narrative on global warming issue

2008-09-23T17:27:00.004-04:00

This short animation (directed by Flaviomac, post-production by Seagulls Fly)shows three animals kill themselves out of despair. The director came up the extremely dramatic story, which is realistically impossible but metaphorically precise. The good thing about this is a lot people commented on it so I can observe how people (normal audience without technical knowledge of 3d& animation) react and think about provoking piece like this. A lot of people said that it triggered their emotions, most of them said it made them creep or sad and think about this issue more seriously, and some even said they cried after seeing this.(which I would consider as part of the internet culture:not 100% true, but still it shows how people are emotionally touched by the film). Although global warming is the kind of issue that not too many people would underestimate it's promimence, this precedent still shows how narrative can drag a slogan or a concept from the non feisible field into people's attention.

After !st Presentation

2008-09-07T19:40:00.004-04:00

I did my presentation last Tuesday. It went ok but I found myself stuck in the middle of two directions. One is my curiosity toward the correlations between emotions and mind performance, which is more like an interactive project(not necessarily, but seems more incline to that side) for now. Another is the original direction of provoking people's interpretation of how much attention should mental illness gain.(for now its for bipolar syndromes/prodromes). Both have some unsolved problems.

while I am thinking and searching for this, I found these two kool narrative projects. One is a short film made by Chris Milk
Another is a motion graphic piece from Pleix Film

The first one is an example how narrative can translate and amplify the strength of a common feeling inherent in us. By visualizing the abstract feelings into a visual piece, it definitely made the statement of that feeling a lot stronger and more eyeballs catching/visually compelling. The difference is that it was not the director's intention to deliver more information than that, so the piece doesn't have too much information. However, how an abstract topic can be empowered is perfectly shown in this piece.

The second piece definitely has more to say about the issue it touches on. The interesting thing about watching this piece is that it actually does what I want to achieve: provoke people. By showing different episodes the director gradually showing his perspective toward plastic surgery and social ideology of it to the audience. However, although he choose a relatively controversial approach to make the concept has more impact, the issue itself is actually not as controversial as the narrative strategy.

paper draft

2008-09-01T05:24:00.003-04:00

Jason Tseng
How's It Going? A Well-Being Mind Project
niplus777@gmail.com
Outline
The study of manic depressive disorder has attained considerable prominence in recent years, but these studies often incline to emphasize on how to help people who already suffer from severe disorder syndromes and on how to make those who suffer less miserable. For people who might suffer from significant mood swings, but the symptoms are not sever enough to be considered as "qualified" manic depressive patient, these studies only address the syndromes as part of the spectrum of manic depressive disorder. From a patient’s view point, these studies are not very helpful because these papers and books were written in particular ways for psychology professions or consultants. It’s also hard to find exactly what is helpful from piles of data that doesn’t focus on the prodromes.
When it comes to seeking help, although there are many self-help books and guides available on the book stores, libraries and internet, not all of them have solid academic supports for what they suggest people to do. In other words, there are many disqualified books and information out there and thus makes finding a reliable one relatively difficult. Even if you found one, the self-help methodologies suggested by those experts are not necessarily easy to keep up with. Either because they are too complicated for average people to understand or too time and labor consuming for their readers to actually implement.
While a lot of efforts were put into helping sever disorder patients to live in a less miserable life, it made me curious that not too many resources mentioned their studies on how to help patients to establish overall better and happier life experiences. It’s understandable that dealing with the syndromes is the main priority when it comes to medication. However, from a patient’s point of view, being less miserable is not necessarily the same thing as being happier. I believe that knowing how to optimize my mind and live in a livable, fulfill life is just as important as knowing how to reduce and cope with the syndromes.
There is another major issue about people who might suffer from mood swings: very possibly they are not even aware of their own problems. It’s not unusual because psychological status is something that we live with in, it’s actually more difficult than it seems to pull one away from the own position and review himself objectively.
My project is about taking a look of these problems in a design and technology perspective. Aiming at helping people who might not know they need help and people who suffer from significant mood swings or manic depressive prodromes. I have no intention to become a shrink or doing project that is purely focus on studying this mental disorder. My intention is to look at what we have now on both (psychology and design) sides, and utilize the contemporary technology to integrate the resources and provide a different perspective of coping with the issues addressed above. Also I would like to help people to review and recognize their emotional status better.
My ultimate goal is not only to find out how to make people who have mood swings less miserable. I am also aiming at boosting people’s understanding of mood swings; finding out how to gain more control of mood swings and mind; and improving the performance of our minds and quality of life.

Keywords: psychology, manic depressive, emotion regulation, bi-polar, design, mood swings, mass communication, narrative strategy, interactive design, self help, self regulation, optimize experience, flow

target audience:
People who might or might not know they are suffering from significant mood swings or prodromes of manic depressive disorder. People have access to internet, television and other mass media. Mostly live in urban environments. Age 15-40.

Prototype
The first question I had: what is the correlation between

Introduction

Why manic depressive prodromes and mood swings?

The reason I picked this topic is simple: I myself often suffer from significant mood swings and it constantly gives me hard times. Sometimes I feel dead depressed and have very low level of self-confident; sometimes I feel extremely energetic and don't need to sleep and hard to concentrate on one subject. Either period could last from few days to few weeks. Both periods have been causing me a lot of energy to deal with. As a designer, I live on a pretty tight schedule and multiple deadlines. Although the emotional problem has constantly tackled me from what I suppose to do and have slowed my work flow down, I didn't think I need to seek help. I thought it's normal to have different emotional statuses in different times, and my condition is not too different from everybody else.
Last year I came to the U.S and became a graduate student at Parsons. The environment around me dramatically changed. The language is totally different, I had no friend around, I spent all I had to came here and don't have income anymore since it's illegal, and all the close friends and love ones are on the other side of the earth. Everything was alien and different. While struggling to adapt to all the differences and challenges, I also found myself being in the longest depression period I ever had. It was then I started to notice that my mood swings have great influence on my mind performances and can cause impacts in my life. After doing some research, I found that my experience is not an unusual case.
Mental disorder and mood disorder are international. They are also universal social issues. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year. Approximately 20.9 million American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year, have a mood disorder. In Taiwan, there are about 700,000; approximately 5% of Taiwan population suffering from bipolar disorder problem. The impacts it causes to the society are substantial. In “cognitive therapy for bipolar disorder"( 1.Dominic H.Lam Steven H.Jones.et al., Cognitive Therap for Bipolar Disorder 1998), the authors mentioned:
People tend to break down at what would be usually be the beginning or early part of their careers, with very few sustaining their chosen line of work. Difficulties with family relationships are common and rates of divorce are high. Social functioning even between episodes tends to be impaired. These factors create a picture of multiple difficulties present throughout the illness.
There are also many researches indicate the high suicide risk among people who have bipolar disorder. Below is a diagram quoted from from Manic Depressive Illness ( 2. Frederick K. Goodwin, Kay Redfield Jamison, S. Nassir Ghaemi. Manic Depressive Illness, Oxford University Press US, 2007), showing that the suicidal tendency among bipolar patients is extremely high.

Consider the significant impact bipolar disorder can cause to the society and the individuals, it is important for us to look at how to help people who suffer from mood swings being aware of their own mental status and monitoring their emotional changes, gaining more control and understanding over their minds better. I believe self monitoring and regulation are essential for preventing a significant number of people from mood swings to serious disorder. Although this is also the view point of almost every study and book, the methodologies provided by the current studies are written in syntax formats and very often are too complicated to follow. Imagine describing the methods of doing self help in 50 pages or even more, I believe that could lose a lot of readers--who might just need the help. Part of my project will be looking at this problem and taking design and technology in and hopefully provide some help.
What are commonly seen manic depressive disorder prodromes?
Before figuring out what kind of help my project can provide to people with mood swings and manic depression, I need to take a look at the nature and degree of the mood changes and the associated features of the problem. First of all, What mood swings can be defined as prodromes?
The word prodrome comes from the Greek word "prodromos" which indicates the forerunner of an event. In medicine prodromes are defined as the early signs and symptoms that herald a full episode.Molnar et al.(1998) defined prodromes as the interval from the time that the first symptoms were recognized to the time when the symptoms reached maximum severity.( 1.Dominic H.Lam Steven H.Jones.et al., Cognitive Therap for Bipolar Disorder 1998). However, it's true that every normal human being has different moods under different situations. So when do we know that our mood swings become a problem? How do we distinguish normal mood changes and probelmatic ones?. Jan Scoot(3. Overcoming Mood Swings, New York University Press,2001) defined problematic mood swings in the follow:
Mood swingthat are particularly problematic usually share some or all of a range of characteristics:
• unpredictable, frenquently flucuating but without obvious precipitans;
• uncontrollable, emotional responses that seem inapproiate reactions to events and are beyond control;
• extreme, with moods always experienced as intense highs or lows;
• excessive, with very frequent ups and downs occurring over many years
• extensive, marked changes of mood that last for a long time
• accompanied by associated changes, in your thoughts, the way you behave, and possibly in the biological systems that impact on day-to-day functioning
• disruptive to lives, causing significant problems for the individual experiencing them and/or for others
The major difference between mood disorders and other forms of mood swings is that mood disorders tend to show a consistent pattern symptoms that occur together whenever a significant mood disturbance occurs. The most common mood disorders are :
• dysthymia( chronic minor depression);
• major depressive disorder
• manic-depressive disorder
Here because of the focus of my project, I will review only the traits of manic depressive disorder. The term manic depression actually emcompasses a number of syndromes characterized by both downswings and upswings.
Individual with Bipolar I disorder experience episodes of major depression and mania. There are two types of mania: euphoric mania and dysphoric mania. Individual with euphoric mania is elated and full of optimism, while individual with dysphoric is high but also irritable, impatient and agitated. People with Bipolar II disorder experience major depressions, less intense highs and cyclothymia( an unstable mood state,with milder ups and downs than those of bipolarI and II disorder). Although some syndromes are less severe than others, mood swings and changes occur in an unpredictable way over many years still cause serious disturbances and difficuties in people's day-to-day lives.

Here is a table I quote from Scott's book, (3. Overcoming Mood Swings, New York University Press, 2001) describing some typical characteristics of depression and mania. To be classified as bipolar I disorder, the symptoms have to be present for at least seven days for mania and fourteen days for major depression. In bipolar spectrum disorder, many of these symptoms occur in a less severe form and for a shorter period of time. Although the definition of manic depressive is clear, for most people to detect prodromes is difficult because how to define the individual's pattern of prodromes very from each person. When it comes to identifying one's depression prodromes, some researches show that close to 30% of patients can't detect their depression episodes. It is also why that I intend to look into this problem on the process of doing my project.

What can design and technology do? What questions do I have?

After reviewing the psychological side briefly, I think there are some issues that I addressed above can be reconsidered in a design perspective:

Self monitoring and regulation: many studies pointed out that this is the essential part of gaining understating and control of the mood swings and manic depressive prodromes, but the current form of doing self regulation is keep the note and compare the pattern manually by the patient. I am wondering what if we can make this part of job easier by the utilizing the strength of technology?

Mass Communication: for those who don’t even know they might have mood swings, I am thinking maybe I can organize the information and

Methodology

early stage prototype: understanding the correlation between emotions and mind-performance

prototype: understanding people's opinions and attitudes toward this issue

precedents and related works

Bibliography

1. Dominic H.Lam Steven H.Jones.et al., Cognitive Therap for Bipolar Disorder 1998
2. Frederick K. Goodwin, Kay Redfield Jamison, S. Nassir Ghaemi. Manic Depressive Illness, Oxford University Press US, 2007
3. Overcoming Mood Swings, New York University Press,2001
4. E. Fuller Torrey, Michael B. Knable, Surviving Manic Depression- A Manual of Bipolar Disorder for Patients. 2005
5. James R. Phelps, Jim Phelps. Why Am I Still Depressed 2005
6. Ksy Redfield Jamison Touch With Fire-Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament. 1993
7. Howard J.Ehrlich The Social Psychology Of Prejudice. 1973
8. Janet B. Ruscher Prejudiced Communication-A Social Psychological Perspective.2001
9. Stephen P.Hinshaw The Mark Of Shame-Stigma of Mental Illness and an Agenda for Change Oxford 2007
10.

positive psychology talk on TED

2008-08-24T19:06:00.001-04:00

health+animation

2008-08-24T18:56:00.006-04:00

this link pop out when I keyed animation and manic depressive in google search.
Not anything that I want to do, but glad somebody did it. It shows that animation can be an easier/ more friendly/more appealing approach to learn some "hard content", or at least it can make some serious/hard stuff more visually attractive.

here

and here

and here

references+related works note

2008-08-23T19:10:00.006-04:00

here are some readings I found interesting/insightful and might be helpful (haven't read then all)

How do experts design compelling experiences: A qualitative identification of key dimensions by Sarah Stone. (article)

Emotion and Life by Robert Plutchik (book)

How our brain become who we are (book)

this link is interesting for me to look at(narrative and emotions)

this book

this blog

this project

TA&Prototypes ideas

2008-08-22T15:22:00.005-04:00

To answer the question I have:How do emotions affect our "performance" as human? Do people aware of that? How do they see this issue?

my target audience: people who live and work in an urban environment; might be interested in the correlations between their own emotional status and mind performances.

prototypes1: I want to see the graph of the correlation between emotional status and mind performance. Since I'm working at the design department of a broadcast company, working performance is something that easier to evaluate. So I asked couple coworkers to be my participants. I asked them how they feel, what they are working on 2~3 times a day. At the end of everyday, I checked out the working files they claimed working on, and see how much progress they had made. The good thing about practicing this prototype at a design department is that everybody saves the results of the works and make copies everyday. It's the standard work flow. This is ideal for me because I can visually see the works that have been done by my participants. Combining with the emotions records I keep, I can see the correlations between their emotions and mind performances.

prototypes2: under development. Hopefully will coming soon.

questions&interests

2008-08-19T23:47:00.011-04:00

these two weeks I've been reading a lot and wondering what exactly am I gonna focus on. I read "the craft of research" couple times, and also borrowed couple books about mental disorder syndromes from NYU. The readings are helpful but at the same time it confuses me even more. I'm not sure my project is gonna provide any "solution" to my readers. The structure of the question is like this: I'm working on the topic of : _current work flow__ so that I can know more about:__wilder field in which my focus locates_ because I want my readers to know:_a potential solution of a problem or some information__, at which I put my thoughts and ideas into and exam them again and again. But somehow none of my idea can perfectly fit, which is pretty annoying. I am going to read "how to make a claim" chapter and see if thats gonna help later this week.

For now, I know I want to do a visual piece about people's emotional feelings and their psychological status (in an urban environment), but not too sure what the specific claim/argument am I gonna make. I've been confused that how am my piece gonna "not only for myself but also for others". It's quite difficult because I always do projects that interest me instead of others. I don't want to do something purely for others, otherwise I would be enroll in one of the NPO, not being a digital artist. But I've been seriously thinking if my pieces have to provide the society something, what is it gonna be? I actually don't believe artworks, especially works locate in the field of fine-art, can actually provide "solution" to any already existed social problems. Instead, provoking questions and challenging the society's pervasive perspectives, showing different vision or point of views are things that I think artworks should be focusing on.
On the technology end, it's more likely that technology can provide our world practical "solutions". As a designer, I think our job is to see and use technology in a innovative way. However, the technology I'm interested at this point are: 3d visual effects/motion graphic/data visualization. All of them are more like visual communication tools. So I believe my piece, although I still haven't have a clear idea, will be more like a visual communicational and/or informational piece.

In this belief, I list two main essential qualities of my thesis:
1. something that is visually;aesthetically compelling.
2. address a question or highlight an issue, not necessarily a new one, but maybe an existed one that not perceived as much attention as it should be, in an innovative way.

Questions at first stage:

How do emotions affect our "performance" as human? Do people aware of that? How do they see this issue?

How do people suffer from the feelings of loneliness and isolation (in an urban environment) deal with it? How do their daily lives feel like? What do they do in order to get rid of/get along with the feelings?

what cause people feel isolated/depressed/down? How do we know if we should be aware of our mood swings? To what level does a mood swings count as disorder?

What are the most common mood disorders in urban environments? What's the general public attitude toward this issue? Does that attitude influence people who might be suffering from mood disorders?

My interests/ in which area can I find my future career?/which professional field would be interested in my work?

I'm interested in

narrative skills: the ability to make visual effects, motion graphic and short film, which have a large but highly competitive market here @ ny

data visualization: some processing/AS3.0/PHP or web base language might be involve/web design market

psychology/anthropology research: psychological consulting institution?

mass communication: the ability to plan/execute a campaign might be involve/ advertising industry?

ok, not really well-organized. But that's the best I can do for now. I've been suffering thinking about these for a while. I will review these questions later on.

short film reference: Madame Tutli-Putli

2008-08-12T00:56:00.004-04:00

Since I decided to put my thesis more on the narrative side, I've been looking at short films that deal with the psychological status of human being. Madame Tutli-Putli is another film that I found and like very much. It's a stop motion animation made by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski. The main role, Madame Tutli-Putli got on the night train with her earthly posessions, and run into an adventure that lies between the real world and the surreal one. The filmmakers play a lot with the metaphore, for example, travel on the train (reffers to the journey in her mind, on my interpertation); tremendous amout of luggages ( her past; memories and obsessions) and the attack ( her inner conflic); almost every part of the narrative contains metaphors. The filmakers also showed their incredible abilities of controlling the art direction, camera movements, characters design and detail modeling skills. The movements of the cameras and the characters are the parts that amazed me the most. They are so well-designed and have such a nature looks and feel even with the beautiful but bizzare; strong visual style. I think that's why it got nominated by Oscar this year. Visit the official website here

short film reference:Tempbot

2008-08-10T12:25:00.011-04:00

I really like this film because it deals with the issue that I'm interested in: How all kinds of relationship affect the psychological status of people who live/work in an urban environment. The director(Neill Blamkamp) used a robot as the lead role to illustrate the distance between people; the fail endeavor to get closer to others; and the sense of being lonely inherent in our lives. The beauty of this film is that it depict the subtle feelings we have of being isolated in the modern society in a innovative way. I also like the art direction, how they composited everything, and the way the director tell the narrative. watch the film here: Tempbot

List of my interests and what interest me

2008-08-08T11:13:00.004-04:00

Well, it's August. Time to narrow down my topic and find a focus. So I decided to write down this list to help myself find out what I really want to do.
along the way, an idea just hit me

narrative in the space

2008-08-03T22:50:00.001-04:00

idea note_Space&Time

2008-07-27T12:22:00.003-04:00

we are so used to see time-base media and location-base media as two different type of art form. What if we can see a time-base piece/narrative in a real space? triggered by our interaction or movement?

some other school's thesis show

2008-07-27T03:13:00.000-04:00

idea notes

2008-07-24T01:10:00.002-04:00

why does it need to be promoted?
why does it need the assistance of technology?
Who will be my target audience?
how to get my target audience interested in this form of art?
how to combine or add up new elements to calligraphy?
what role does digital media play?
personalize?

2008-07-23T23:53:00.001-04:00

something interesting to look at

from this link

2008-07-22T00:56:00.002-04:00

several rough ideas....this is just a note for myself

Calligraphy, as I claimed on my SOP: why is it different from Korea, China and Japan?
why is it need to be assisted by new technology?

Identity confusion, the extra sin of Taiwanese
How to help solving this tangled and super sensitive issue?
on what stance am I standing on?

Internet distraction. It's hard to keep focus.

Why can't we have a more efficient way to commute?

Invisible racial or language discrimination issue

Wall E and something else

2008-07-20T23:15:00.005-04:00

Recently I'm trying to read this book "Devices of The Soul" by Steve Talbott. The writer exams technology in a critical perspective, challenging that instead of assisting us, modern technology actually forcing us to adapt to it's current form. He argues that human spirit, from which technology stems, is lost, while a recent study shows over 65% of American consumers spend more time with their PCs than with their loved ones.

I've always have the same feelings about technology: Yes, it's great to have our lives a lot easier and more convenient, more efficient. But is technology "always" good?

Last night I went to see Wall E. The story is for kids, so at the end there is a wonderful happy ending. However, as an adult audience, it's clear that there are some warning messages behind the innocent little robot.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is convenient and efficiency really always good?
Are we deteriorating ourselves by conforming to the current technology?

Recently I'm doing internship in a production software company. There was one little discussion about the one-touch screen and multi-touch screen in a coffee break. One of my colleague claimed the multi-touch technology is "fancy but useless". He believes that for normal users, one-touch screen is enough. "Because it's just like using the mouse, it's convenient. Why would you want to use another hand at the same time?". I didn't say anything, since I'm just an intern. But at that moment, I thought about Steve Talbott's argument.

ReadioHeadXXXDataVisualization

2008-07-15T10:00:00.001-04:00

http://code.google.com/creative/radiohead/#the-making-of

2008-07-10T01:54:00.001-04:00