Date:	2010-11-24 23:59
Subject:	Day 328
Security:	Public
Mood:	artistic

Some tablet studies at work, but mostly drinking with cow orkers (only a half day of work today) and watching Tangled.

I have to revise my opinion of Tangled.  Though the story (and especially the songs) are virtually a parody of a Disney film (like Enchanted was), and the character designs were rather bland, I still have to say that I think this film raised the bar for 3D feature animation in almost every way.  Besides some impressive advances in cloth and (naturally) hair, the broad performances had a hand-drawn plasticity that you rarely see done successfully in a CG film-- extreme squash and stretch, and even some Clampett-like smears, which I wouldn't think you could get away with in three dimensions.  But there were some exquisite bits of subtle acting as well, close-up on the character's face and you could really feel the emotion as if it was a living breathing person rather than a CG puppet.  Most of these were on Rapunzel, who turned in one of the best animated performances I've ever seen.  The film was also nicely edited-- definitely a modern style, but it worked well.

Don't see this movie in 3D.  It adds nothing, and it subtracts from one of the best things about the film: the color.  OMG the color.  So delicious.

Date:	2010-11-06 23:59
Subject:	Day 310
Security:	Public
Mood:	accomplished

Productive day, but not for drawing.  Still:  Moira saddling a horse.

Also did a bunch of keyboard exercises for Rock Band 3, and mastered Everybody Wants to Rule the World on medium difficulty. It has been a long long time since I played any keyboards; I was slightly giddy when I was able to keep up with the fingering.

Date:	2010-10-26 23:59
Subject:	Day 299
Security:	Public
Mood:	Peeved

Music is an art, right?  Rock Band 3 came out today and swallowed my entire evening.

I'm a Rock Band freak, mainly I play the drums but I also like to sing (if you could call it that).  RB3 adds a keyboard, which has me excited (I used to play piano and *cough* accordion).

The game is incredibly good so far: they addressed virtually all of my very few gripes from the previous game-- Your band members are there no matter what mode you're playing in; they added hi-hat functionality to pro drums; you can build setlists for quickplay and rate songs so that the ones you hate don't come up on shuffle; if you fail out of a difficult song halfway through a set you can still finish the set; keyboards are challenging but well set up.

The only disappointment is aesthetic.  They went for a more realistic look, which is understandable considering the pro mode, but the body models are not as appealing-- badly proportioned, wonky anatomy.  There is some degree of customization with the faces, but not enough to nail a look you are going for (it was actually easier to do in RB2 with fewer options).

One of my great pleasures in RB2 was watching my band members perform and interact onstage.  The band members interact well, but since you can no longer assign attitudes to your characters they all look kind of the same.  And since, inexplicably, you can no longer assign a stand-in band member to a specific instrument, they just play parts randomly-- you don't even get as much personality as 'this is the bass player, this is the drummer'.  The drumming animation is a big step backwards.  I actually learned a couple of things about drumming from watching my avatar play in RB2; now the drumming is stiff and lackluster.  The crowd is the worst-- bad models, terrible animation, it should not have been allowed into the game in that state.

Of course, this is first-day "RAAR it doesn't look like I'm used to."  But I also have a huge peeve about removing functionality from a game without clear reason, and I become attached to my characters, so I am really missing those aesthetic options.

Date:	2010-09-17 23:59
Subject:	Day 260
Security:	Public
Mood:	blank

 Nothing of consequence

Date:	2010-09-16 23:59
Subject:	Day 259
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired

Hunter.  Brandi.  Song lyrics 

Date:	2010-09-14 23:59
Subject:	Day 258
Security:	Public
Mood:	blank

Leaves

Date:	2010-09-14 22:08
Subject:	Day 257
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired

Doodles of Brandi Panda at work during OT

Date:	2010-09-13 23:59
Subject:	Day 256
Security:	Public
Mood:	blah

More inking

Date:	2010-09-12 23:59
Subject:	Day 255
Security:	Public
Mood:	annoyed

How hard is it to remember to post before bed?  =p

Trying a different inking technique in Sai.

Date:	2010-09-11 23:59
Subject:	Day 254
Security:	Public
Mood:	blah

 Turning tonal comp into color comp.  Niggling.

Date:	2010-09-10 23:50
Subject:	Day 253
Security:	Public
Mood:	useless

 Tonal comps.  Niggling.

Date:	2010-09-09 23:59
Subject:	Day 252
Security:	Public
Mood:	productive

Moira.  Painting in Sai.  Comps in Sai.

Date:	2010-09-08 23:59
Subject:	Day 251
Security:	Public
Mood:	Late

Moira.

Date:	2010-09-07 23:59
Subject:	Day 250
Security:	Public
Mood:	blah

Megan.  OT at work.

Date:	2010-09-06 23:59
Subject:	Day 249
Security:	Public
Mood:	sad

Nothing of consequence

Date:	2010-09-05 23:59
Subject:	Day 247-248
Security:	Public
Mood:	listless

Nabile.  Painting in Sai.  The Ranger Plane.

Date:	2010-09-03 22:25
Subject:	Day 246
Security:	Public
Mood:	drunk

Hannah.  Working out hair

Date:	2010-09-02 23:51
Subject:	Day 245
Security:	Public
Mood:	dorky

Rock Band series: Hannah

Date:	2010-09-01 23:58
Subject:	Day 244
Security:	Public
Mood:	satisfied

Color study in Sai.

Date:	2010-08-31 23:57
Subject:	Day 243
Security:	Public
Mood:	busy

OT at work.  Sketch of Brandi Panda over supper.