July 20th, 2010
People have been asking me how my first week has been. By it’s nature, the first week at a new place of work is rarely as exciting as you imagine it will be. Alas, it’s true!
You tend to get bogged down in paperwork, reading documentation and the new tools and procedures you need to learn, when all you really want to do is crack on with work. Of course, in this instance having been a Maya user almost exclusively since I started university, it will be a little while before my work performance in MotionBuilder will be able to keep up with my enthusiasm. When you throw in trying to remember everyone’s name and how to get in and out the building without getting lost, it’s a wonder new-starters get anything done in their first week!
I’d never really thought about it before (and I don’t suppose you will have either unless you’ve changed 3D software), but one of the worst things about using new software is learning the camera controls. If you feel like you can’t navigate a scene properly, it massively compounds the sensation that you have no flipping idea what you’re doing and that learning the new software is going to be a near-impossible task. If only you could remember what button combination controls pan and which activates tumble, you’d be able to concentrate on learning the important stuff… the new stuff!
People are telling me not to worry about it and that I’ve got plenty of time to settle in, which is really nice but it does highlight the sense of frustration; that the software and workflow are hindering my ability to just get on with it and if only I can get that stuff out of the way, the fun stuff can really begin.
I had a little breakthrough on Thursday when I got a good bit of pace going, turning out three or four animation cycles. On Friday a totally new thing landed at on my desk and I felt completely lost again! 8)
Despite all that and with a great deal of help from Andy and the other guys on the team, I already feel like I’m starting to get used to MotionBuilder, it’s camera controls and it’s slightly obscure “thought process”. It’s only been a week; I suppose I ought not to worry too much!
My first week at Rockstar was absolutely brilliant; the people, the project, the office are all completely awesome, but it was intermingled with a heck of a lot of frustration! I should also say that (since I wrote most of this post last week) I feel like I’ve made tons of progress in MotionBuilder today and yesterday – things are definitely starting to click!
I think I’ll have to do a post about the bonkers way MotionBuilder works/thinks sometime soon!
Tags: mocap, motion capture, motionbuilder, rockstar north
Posted in Animation, News, Work | 2 Comments »
July 19th, 2010
In order to celebrate my new position at Rockstar, I’ve kitted out my XBOX Live avatar with some appropriate new attire (courtesy of Red Dead Redemption) and I’ve finally managed to convince Twitter to let me upload a new background image.
Twitter is incredibly flaky in this regard; 99 times out of 100 it claims Twitter is over capacity. Apparently the maximum image size limit allowed is 800k, but I rarely get it to upload unless the image is somewhere in the region of 200k (a.k.a. hideously compressed).
Get it sorted please Twitter!
Anyway, here it is in action:
Should you wish to follow me on Twitter, you can do so here: http://www.twitter.com/asphaltOnline
I am aware that this post might come across as a shameless, shallow attempt to gain more followers, but it’s really just so I can show off my new background, honest guv!
Oh and the Rockstar website does have some awesome wallpapers and avatar images by the way. If you’re into that sort of thing, you should definitely visit the Rockstar Downloads page.
Tags: asphaltOnline, avatar, gaming, rockstar north, twitter page, xbox live
Posted in Gaming, News, Random, Twitter, Work | No Comments »
July 19th, 2010
As I get ready to start my second week at Rockstar North, I feel like it’s probably about time I posted an update. In order to avoid it being massive, I thought I’d break it up a bit.
So first things first! A new city to explore! Edinburgh!
Edinburgh is awesome, I absolutely love it already. Mind you, moving into an amazing apartment for a month whilst I find a place of my own doesn’t hurt!
It’s lovely:
Of course, it can’t last forever and eventually we’ll have to find somewhere else to park our stuff. We had quite a few viewings last week and I think we’ve found somewhere to stay. As long as the application goes OK, we should be able to move in quite soon. Rather inconveniently, the weekend we’re leaving this apartment is the same weekend we go to Sweden for a wedding. Very bad timing.
Anyway, as I was saying, Edinburgh is awesome. It does have it’s fair share of weirdos too though! I’ve already had one mad old woman threaten me for accidentally bumping into her (I tried to dodge out of her way, but she ploughed into me, then gave me a death stare and swore at me!) and there are quite a lot more daytime drunks than I was anticipating.
On the other hand, within an hour of landing in Scotland I’d already seen someone playing the bagpipes. Swings and roundabouts!
Tags: apartment, edinburgh, moving, new job, rockstar north
Posted in News, Work | No Comments »