MY WAVE!!!: March 2007

Monday, March 26, 2007

20th Singapore Film Festival

Official Site: http://www.filmfest.org.sg/display.php?catid=505

and here are worth looking forward to:

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Saturday, March 17, 2007

I left Manila for Singapore in 1998 and never saw how this girl with her band bloomed into the limelight during those times. My brother Mark since had been updating me about Manila's band scene and this band named "Barbie's Cradle" was always mentioned. I didn't bothered until i sessioned with another Pinoy band here in SG and Barbie's song was covered.

Yesterday I got to meet her face to face, finally. Stefi was excited too, she's already a fan as evident in this video. We arrived early at the Nokia Musicstation stage so we got seats at the third row. Managed to take a few pics before the gig started. However, as soon as the band started to play my camera's battery went dead. (I realized wifey took one of the charged 2700's and replaced it with an uncharged 1800.) Ivan is seated in front with a videocam borrowed my tripod (he got his own share of glitch as his tripod's tilt lock malfunctioned). Here are the shots from the Musicstation stage:

(above: getting ready for the 1st song)

(above: a rich man's bass guitar. owned by a kid named Honasan, a good bassplayer!)

(above: emcees Patricia Tan and ?)

(above: Yamaha Stage Custom model, when do I get my hands on that kit and perform on that stage?)

She's very sweet, very charismatic in her expressions and even in her songs. I like how she communicated well with the audience. She would establish eye contacts and give a smile that keeps you hooked up and mesmerized. Too bad I didn't managed a nice shot of her, I'll make up for the next set at the other stage.

After the set there was a Nokia goodie to be given away. I knew the question is gonna be easy (i actually watched a jazz gig last saturday so this time i knew what to do). So when the emcees asked for volunteers I did not hesitate, and I caught their attention first, I was chosen. That was my first experience of stepping on one of Esplanade's stages but not as a performer, but as a contestant. The question was very easy, so I got the goodie (a Coldplay X&Y South East Asia Tour Edition CDs) and a Nokia leather picture frame.

The next set was at the Nokia PowerHouse stage. There was a two-hour gap so I had the time to buy batteries, fill-up our tummies, even got a last-minute opportunity for an authograph and a pose with Barbie.

Rivermaya was here last year for the same event, the Mosaic Music Festival. Barbie was given the same format--1st set at the smaller stage, 2nd set at the larger stage. The 2nd set was a bit longer (1hr) and Barbie did the same song lineup from the 1st set and added a few more songs, just like Rivermaya's. Next time therefore will probably just watch the 2nd set.

The heat was too much near the PowerHouse stage as the crowd has build up so we decided to position ourselves far behind the crowd. Ivan's nowhere in sight (i needed my tripod this time) so likewise, I didn't have a decent shot of the band again. Here are some lousy takes and hope you don't mind my shaky hands.

Most of their songs were new to us except for Overdrive (Eheads revival), High (TheSpeaks cover, which Stefi and I enjoyed specially the part "yeyey!", Ayoko ng Torpe. There were a few songs sounding like lullabies Stefi enjoyed and sang with familiar lyrics like "twinkle twinkle little star, abcdefg..xyz, Jesus loves me..."

They end both of their sets with flashy solo exhibition of each members. Barbie showig up her lead guitar skills (Titan, lead guitarist of Launchbox jokingly said, "damn she's better than me!," keyboardist playing a SuperMarioBrothers tune, bassist rendering another arcade game tune and drummer doing his solo (damn he's good in his solo) for a bang.

(above: yes she is 4-months pregnant. let's pray for her safe delivery and a healthy baby!)

Well, that's another concert to remember. Best of all, its "FREE!" Looking forward to another Mosaic Gig next year!

Links to photos by others:

Leyo's

Thursday, March 15, 2007

3D TUTORIAL: SPLIT RENDERING IN VRAY/3DSMAX

I promised someone to send him tutorial links about split rendering. However, I can't dig the links so I made a quick tutorial. Might as well share it here:

1. In your scene, assign a unique 'Object ID' number for each object (ref above image)

2. Set your Vray Frame Buffer parameters as shown above
A. Assign where to save the split channels (ref above image).

3. Set your Render Elements parameters (ref below image):

A. Add the channels you need to split render
AA. select the channels you need (ref above image). For this tutorial I picked VrayObjectID, VrayRawLighting, and VrayShadows
B. (pls. ignore this, assign filenames here if using scanline. we already done so in step 2A)
C. Added channels will be reflected here (ref above image)

4. Render to open up the Vray VFB (above image). You can scroll to preview the channels during rendertime (ref below images).

ObjectID pass:

RawLighting Pass:

Shadow Pass:

5. Split channels are saved after render (image below):

These is a very basic workflow and will need to be adjusted to suit your needs. Some channels may not work for different image formats (tif, jpeg etc). If you are using Autodesk Combustion for post, max can create a combustion workspace with all the split channels already layered within the workspace file.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

3 Generations of Gadgets

Long before the ipod was invented, the Sony CD Walkman had served me for years (Of course there's the cassette walkman but I don't have it already):

(click images for a larger view)

The walkman was not considered 'bulky' then. Its this bulky housing called LaserLine. This box can hold 12 cd's, has a through for the earphone so it can be used while its closed, spare battery holder, and a rubber strap (already gone)...

The walkman is velcro-ed to the LaserLine so it doesn't move or shake while you're on the go.

Next to the walkman was the Sony MD-walkman that I dreamt having but never had it. Cost is one reason coz when you buy one, you also have to buy a midi component. When I came to Singapore, its this tiny radio receiver was very handy as I take bus more than train--the Sony Groove:

It become obsolete after 2yrs as I had to take the train more often, after shifting to another job. You won't get any radio signals in the subways here in SG. Furthermore, its difficult to get a consistent radio signal anywhere in SG due to the tall buildings and HDB houses. Finally, the Ipod Nano. Simple, compact, mp3 format, I-tunes software, podcasts...just right. So there they are, my 3 generations of gadgets (my take in history):

Curious to see my favourite CD's? scroll down some more: