Still loads of texturing to go, though I quite like this basic steely thing he’s wearing. I’ve realized that “Ferriss Motomen” sounds like an instant noodle soup, while “Ferriss Moto-Men” is amazingly better. What a difference a hyphen makes.

Technorati Tags: retro robot, 3ds max, big lug, character, retro-futuristic, retropolis

Samuel Tourneux’ Même les pigeons vont au paradis is a cautionary tale about an old man who’s sold an unlikely machine that will take him to Heaven, at the usual unreasonable cost. In that respect it’s highly realistic; the ending, though, is possibly less so. Normally the folks who sell you on that deal get the last laugh, of course. Not to mention giving you all sorts of messy and uncomfortable neuroses.

This short film has garnered a whole collection of awards and honors, and for good reason.

Technorati Tags: computer animation, CG, Même les pigeons vont au paradis, Samuel Tourneux, Ars Electronica

Whirlpool is a short animated film that retells an aboriginal Australian tale about a raid by the Saltwater People against the Freshwater People, and how the captives manage to get away.

This is one of a series of twelve short animated films in the Dust Echoes series, produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

All twelve are adapted from tribal stories and the Dust Echoes site has a glossary and study guides which explain the background of the stories. The whole project is a very interesting one, and it’s great to see something like this produced.

Unfortunately this is a Flash web site so I can’t give you a direct link to the film. But it’s the leftmost of the film icons, just to the right of the “Explore” icon. Yet another demonstration of why Flash shouldn’t be used for site navigation. If you needed one, I mean.

Technorati Tags: computer graphics, animation, australia, aboriginal, tribal, legend, myth, dust echoes, whirlpool

Ars Technica continues its series on the history of the Amiga computer with Part Five – in which we see the machine and its inventors, apparently saved by an influx of cash from Commodore Business Machines, learn the awful truth.

The company wastes its resources in a completely bungled launch and the Amiga simply sits, unmarketed and practically unsold, for about two years before matters change and someone gains a clue about what to do with it. Meanwhile Jack Tramiel rushes the Atari ST to market and advertises it aggressively. The original Amiga engineers are split between those who move East to join Commodore and those who’ve already found that they’ve had enough.

The story so far:

History of the Amiga, Part One
History of the Amiga, Part Two
History of the Amiga, Part Three
History of the Amiga, Part Four
History of the Amiga, Part Five

Technorati Tags: amiga, amiga computer, commodore, personal computer, tech, technology, history

Here’s what makes me happy this morning – a jet packed penguin rocketeer by Fabio Bautista, modeled and rendered in 3DS Max. You just can’t keep a flightless bird down, even if he has to solve the immemorial “opposable thumbs” problem that’s stumped penguin engineers for centuries.

Bautista doesn’t have a web site of his own, but you can see his gallery – and a “Making Of” clip for this image and the brief “The Great Flight” animation – in his pages at CG Society, here.

Technorati Tags: penguin, rocketeer, jet pack, rocket pack, 3d, 3ds Max, animation, fabio bautista