What’s the holdup, Pencase guy?

Apparently, I am the only one overly concerned with a delay in Pencase production. Insert some witty remark here while I’m not looking.

I did meet with some interesting 3rd party 3d printing suppliers and makers at Siggraph. At least one of them offered to print one of my files at – get this – “no charge.”

My radar usually tells me quotes means no charge at all to rpint, but oh, you have to come get it yourself. OR, you have to do something else to get you into the showroom or sales floor etc.

I suppose I should be more open about this, but their printer lineup is two things: amazing in output, and totally out of my price range. I won’t mention names, but I honestly drool over their samples. They are consistently amazing.

The fact is they do resin and other materials that are honestly just so messy and prone to my constant fumbling and clumsiness. I really want to outsource to an American manufacturer if possible, and there were services that were on the floor at Siggraph that were within reach.

I hope to have a sample soon, if not a full fledged killer one of a kind METAL version of the Pencase. But evennthis would be a trick of sorts, since the most interesting samples were metal coated resins. REALLY high quality chrome and pewter finishes – luxurious to say the least.

That was exciting. Just imagining the Pencase with that fine a finish. Actually almost anything with that finish. Wow. As they say, stay tuned.

Siggraphs shrinking act

So, this year was the first time in two years since I’d been to the annual event. Since it was in Anaheim, I couldn’t resist because it’s easy enough to pop into Dinseyland with my annual pass.

The first thing to notice is how small it is these days. It barely covers the two halls D and C. But its an interesting contrast when you consider how much tech and money depend on the research that is on display at the event.

It’s no surprise that 3d printing represented a smaller portion of the floor but it would be a mistake to say it’s no longer relevant. 3d printing companies have their own specific shows now, so Siggraph doesn’t represent the annual opportunity for exposure it once did.

Otherwise, I still found some new ideas, new software and valuable insight into the state of computer graphics and digital technologies.

Google demo’d their new mobile platform with built in motion, scanning and VR features. They are trying to make mobile content creation a viable platform based on their tech.

Amazon started offering free gaming development software and education in hopes of getting you to host the games with Amazon web services. They already host huge portions of the corporate world, you might be next.

One of my favorite offerings though was rather small and as yet less formal. Wolfram was offering new bridges between their raw mathematical powers and the real world. In particular was a great way to derive 3d printable models from pure mathematical models, molecular data and more.

So there, in a nutshell, is why I still like going to Siggraph. I always find something that goes a bit beyond the current. This year also marks the 15 years since my first Siggraph. I bought a backpack back then that I still use, though it’s a bit ragged nowadays. Just like me!

Siggraph, VR and 3d printing

I hope I can make it to Siggraph this week. I rarely go unless it’s in town mostly because I’m usually working but since its also right next to Disneyland …

Just kidding. Sort of. I dont like going when Siggraph is held anywhere else because it actually becomes that much more expensive. I can always get free parking at the parks and I dont mind the walk.

This year, it looks like people have gone full VR or AR and are trying to pivot most visual effects work into pipelines that make these new projects and tech.

Its a pretty easy sell when there is that much money floating around the topics – the valley investors like to call it ‘stupid money.’ It’s the kind of investing where parties can lay down millions without knowing or caring since it’s basically gambling. Sometimes, the payoff makes whole new industries.

If I have anyhing nice to say about Pokemon Go, its that it has made some investors very happy, some companies very successful,  and hppefully led to more jobs for friends and myself.

And along the way, some people are figuring 3d printing might get a boost from the amount of gadgetry VR And AR espouse. I saw someone make a 3d peinted template to replace a phone case to help guide your finget acurately when playinh Go. Clever. Not groundbreaking but fast, useful, and most importantly paying attention.

Hope to habe a report soon.

An unexpected emergency project

I broke my sunglasses case, which was actually the case for my last subscription pair. It was also the origins of the whole pencase journey.

I’ve said before I started designing the pencase after Inktober, but in reality I made a list of things I wanted to make when I ordered my first 3d printer.

I had all kinds of things skethed up, but one of them was a new case for my glasses. I even tried to design some new frames for my glasses at one point, but I needed more time to experiment. Everything looked kind of ‘oakley-esque’ so I put that aside.

While the pencase is totally practical for me, it’s nowhere near as everyday a requirement as my glasses case. I am pretty sure it will be a kitbash of some of the pencase elements, but I immediately had an idea for it’s design the second the sunglasses case lid snapped off.

I go to Disneyland a lot. I mean, a LOT. I’m a grown man, but I still love the place. It’s representative of a history that wasn’t mine, and it happens to have an ambient energy that is unmatched. But while I am there, going in and out of different areas, I switch my glasses on and off constantly.

It’s one of the behaviors which made the current snap, side hinge and belt clip design of the pencase so important. I usually keep my sunglasses in a side pocket of my backpack. But without my backpack, there is no easy way to carry my sunglasses.  Inhate dangling them from my neck. And no Ferris Bueller principal flip lenses for me, thanks.

So hopefully I can burn thru this latest project quickly. I bought a cheap store bought case which is terrible because of the way it opens lengthwise. Cases like this make it more likely I’ll drop my glasses. But, its also happens to be quite slim and fits my current backpack pocket.

So it’s off to Disneyland, and then back to the grind,.

New design, hopefully a fresh start

So I am very close to a new printable design for the Pencase which addresses both users comments and my own qibbles with the first design.

I’ll be honest, the first design was ideal for me. It had everything I needed and wanted but it had little in the way refinement. While I am a very skilled 3d modeller for entertainment projects, the demands of working on something which needed specific tolerances and durability required a lot of rewiring.

So with the new design, I think I have something I’d like to test with much more exotic materials – in particular, aluminum and stainlness steel. More 3d printing services are offering these materials and while a single print in either will likely cost into the hundreds of dollars I think it’s a worthwhile test.

But I would never ask a consumer to pay those kinds of prices for a pencase in said material. I already know that some of the parts I have designed are only achievable in the short term with 3d printing. The goal of the material test is exploration.

I won’t entirely rule out another round of design changes if it turns out I need to resort to cold casting, metal casting or other more common short run fabrication methods. But right now, I feel I have a good design and a decent schedule for this round of testing.

The 3d printing bubble

I have read at least one analysis of the financial bubble around the 3d printing industry and I have a pretty frank response. I don’t care. Sort of.

Of course I want 3d printing to succeed as an activity, but to me, it was always an activity meant for a particular group of a particular size. Sounds elitist doesn’t it? Not really, just “niche.” I think that’s a much better word.

Every bubble bursts they say, and the pundits of other industries buzz like flies until the market ultimately settles down. 3d printing to me had always been a thing OTHER people had access to and now, miracle of miracles, I OWN two 3d printers.

While some of the investment and excitement of 3d printing has slowed in some metrics, I can safely say no technology since the desktop revolution began has affected me as much as 3d printing.

But I am definitely one of a small contingent of people for which 3d printing is a perfect fit. I am a visual effects artist who models, textures, rigs, and animates various things. I also design, write, and self publish my own comics about original characters. Why WOULDN’T I need a 3d printer, is a much more valid question.

While most of the market for 3d printing follows a pattern much like Apple’s focus on education markets early in its history, 3d printing companies follow a similar path. They focus on designers, makers, and also educators but it’s some of the emerging niche markets that catch people off guard that I think might end up sustaining them just as  much.

In particular the pop culture niches, gaming, cosplay, food and fashion that turned up interesting and useful applications for 3d printing that were easier to grasp. Not everyone is going to invent and prototype widgets, but almost anyone can make costumes, mini gaming figures, jewelry or pancakes.

The first thing I wanted to print was the Gulanee from Defiance, a show I worked on and a 3d model I was proud to display. But the process of getting it printed was definitely easier for me since I already knew well and had access to 3d design tools to get the most out of a printer.

3d printing companies are still trying to keep the story going, but I think that’s part of MY job now. I want to do more, and more interesting things with my printers. 2016 is half over, and already I’ve designed my first consumer product, tested it and revised it. Last year, I only did what most other 3d artists did when they got 3d printers – they made kits from their 3d models. Toys, basically.

Nothing wrong with that. But like many people wondering what 3d printing is worth, I at least can search for at answer directly.

Breaking

Ugh. Burnout. Over committed. Under delivered.

Sometimes, you just have to admit when too much is too much to handle.

But there was always time for art, right?

Art is easy enough these days. You don’t even have to wait for paint to dry or plaster to set when you work digitally. No molds to clean, no dust to vacuum.
But if you believe the popular theory of how blue ligjt affects your mood and metabolism, there’s the looming glow of stress sitting in front of you or in your hands nearly every hour of you day.

Like insaid, that’s if you believe in the color light theories.

I experimented a little bit with those theories and loaded a light therapy app on my tablet since it’s usually the last screen I see before I try to get some sleep.

It’s supremely annoying already that tablet screens don’t have the greatest color fidelity. Working in visual effects, companies often take great care to calibrate monitors. Light therapy apps change the color temperature of the screen and can do so with varying intensity using the theory that warmer light is more relaxing.

Well, I think it works, but to be honest I do other things to manage “sleep hygeine” these days which might contribute more to overall rest.

A dark, quiet room is actually tough in many cities. Light from other clocks and devices and even outdoor lighting and traffic in some places I have lived make this a luxury item indeed.

So there’s always room for improvememt.

Bigger and yet smaller

Two of the most conflicting responses to the pencase were it needs to carry more and larger items but it also needs to be smaller.

Conflicting, right? Frustrating in the least. People watch too much Doctor Who and think that stuff is real. Joke. I may have talked about this before, but sometimes you can never really ask the right questions.

While there is room for improvement, its funny that the size of the case wasn’t one of the things I was overly concerned with since I knew it would fit my most used items.

I have brought the Pencase into Disneyland a few times. I even gave one to a sketch artist there. It’s a test of appearances, since they have recently upped their security measures to include heavier screening of suspicious items.

Needless to say the results are not uniform in that some personell ignored the case completely while others have definitely questitoned me about it. But all of them eventually let me into the parks.

I thought about using clear filaments next to get even closer to that odd balance of interesting design and un-threatening appearance. If you have ever used clear filaments, they are kind of hard to use if your print requires heavy cleaning, but the pencase uses very little.

But trimming the case further would help people identify it’s contents faster without tagging it with a silly looking PENCIL CASE label or clumsy icon. Any decent security officer shouldn’t trust labels. Should they?

Still, we imbue objects with our story, not the intended one.

Working for friends

Ive been pretty busy these days working on some projects for some of my closest friends.

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One of those projects is a giant space opera themed card game which is just too silly perfect for me. Creatures, astronauts, interplanetary mass scale campaigns – right up my part of the galaxy.

Its good to get out of your own head creatively on ocassion. Makes the world seem bigger. It also conversely means less time for personal projects, but this work is personal as well.

I spend an inordinate amount of time obsessively working in things that might not fly. It’s the latest guru fueled ethic – “if I fail more than you I win because it means you quit.”

I don’t really like this mentality but it’s just semantics at this point. I prefer to think there are winners and losers no matter what you do, so you might as well play and play your best.

Friend work

I’ve been insinuating myself into my friend’s businesses lately. Nothing rude, just poking around into their projects here and there.

Every so often I get stuck analyzing my own work, and one of the easiest ways to break out of that is to ask my friend’s if I can do something with their projects.

Honestly sometimes I don’t ask, I just do it.

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Above is one of the notes I made on a friend’s work.

Gerimi Burleigh is a friend and comics maker with whom I collaborated years ago on a version of the story of John Henry. I wrote, he illustrated. I told him once we should turn those roles around as I think he’s a good writer.

As an artist, Gerimi admits his struggles with his own work and I chose to make some notes on his latest Morningstar cover. Actually, I made a version of my own after one of his blogs. A few rounds of notes and he was happy. He tells the story better, of course.

Soon, I’ll be back on my own projects.