Danamation Studios News

A Christmas movie?

2012-01-15T14:00:00.000-08:00

I am very excited about being hired to direct a Christmas movie for next year. I have been working extremely hard on preparing for our production which will begin at the end of this month. The star of the show is a dog who saves Christmas with the help from one special little girl. I am still waiting for the final word from the producers as to which actress will play as the little girl but I am confident that we will have a strong leading actress for the part. For the Santa in this movie we are trying to create something different from the traditional Swiss chalet style Santa. I want our Santa to be believable counterpart to the main character who is a very bright young girl.

This week I have been scouting out locations and prop shopping with my art director. We checked out some great prop facilities in the valley earlier this week. The first stop on our list was "History for Hire". If you have ever been there, then you know how amazing this place is. They have every period prop that you could possibly imagine.

As far as locations for our North Pole we found an amazing old factory location in downtown Los Angeles that we will be adapting for our Santa's workshop and living area. The location has so much character and has really grown on me. I hate to use the term Steampunk but that is sort of the inspiration for the look and feel of this version of Santa's world. The best part about finding this factory locations is that is has so many various locations in one central place. Shooting in this warehouse will enable us to shoot more than half of the movie in one location. So far of the places we have scouted we are convinced that we can lock our shoot down to just three locations for the entire movie. We will have the warehouse in downtown, a house possibly one we've already scouted in Simi Valley and a movie theater. The theater we are looking at now is an amazing old theater with a Gothic motif inside and a more retro look on the exterior. So far everything we have been looking at has added new depth to our story. Each location has pushed our creativity to the next level and each challenge has helped us forge a stronger connection between the story and the design.

SANTA'S DEN AREA

EVIL VILLAIN'S LAIR

I am continuously surprised by the amount of production value we are getting out of the locations we have found here in L.A. and by the quality of crew members who really care with a passion about what they are doing. Everyone on board for this production so far has been amazing. Each person has gone above and beyond my expectations. I only hope that we can all continue down this path until the end and come out with a movie that each of us will be proud to show to the world.

Verizon NFL Mobile App Spots.

2012-01-15T12:34:00.000-08:00

In December I directed three spots for Verizon's NFL mobile application. Verizon provided us with the creative and our team executed the production of the three vignettes. We planned to shoot all three commercials in a single day and to my surprise were actually ahead of schedule throughout the entire shoot. I was fortunate on this production to be able to work with a very talented group of individuals. The spots turned out amazing and even better the client loved them and had little feedback during post. This was another surprise for me since I am so used to having to make revision after revision during post. We definitely created something very special and unique for the client and I was very proud of the team I worked with for being able to pull these projects together with very little resources.

Ford Fiesta 2012 Spot.

2012-01-15T11:52:00.000-08:00

Last week I wrapped production on a new spot for the Ford Fiesta 2012. This was a special project for me because I actually wrote the script and directed the commercial. I had a great time directing the actors and driving the new Fiesta on set. It was a challenge to light the car and it took the crew an entire day to pre-light but in the end everything looked amazing. The spot has yet to air but as soon as it does I will post it. For now here are some screen shots.

10 Minute Fruits!

2011-04-03T11:51:00.000-07:00

Here's the result of Thursday's 10 minute painting exercise. We decided to paint a variety of fruits this week. It was a tough night for all of us. As for myself I had a the most difficult time painting the strawberries. At the end of the night when I stepped back from my canvas I was actually surprised at how well everything came out. We had Gregorio Gonzales join us and although he decided to draw instead of paint this week I expect he'll be back to paint another time. Below is my finished canvas.

I've been uploading these painting to the daily paint works website along with some of my other artist friends. I recommend you go check out this site if you are interested in these types of challenges.

More 10 minutes paintings.

2011-03-30T22:37:00.000-07:00

left: Dan Racusin center: Edward Morden

right: Oscar Arroyo

Here we are after painting for ninety minutes. As you can see we are all very excited about these weekly challenges. It definitely helps to put limits on yourself. It pushed me to find new ways of painting.

11x14 oil on canvas board.

How do you like them apples?

Photo: Edward Morden

10 Minutes Challenge!

2011-03-21T23:01:00.000-07:00

Here is my first submission to the 10 minute challenge. This was a great painting exercise and definitely one I plan on trying again soon. Painting with in a ten minute window really forces you to plan out your process. It really kept me on my toes the whole time. The first panel made my heart race a bit. After the first couple of panels I found myself getting more comfortable with the short time frame.

This was a second setup after painting the bell pepper. At the end of the night I couldn't believe how many paintings I was able to complete in a night.

Always Painting!

2011-03-12T21:28:00.000-08:00

As a personal project of mine I've been painting on and off for a year now and have created a small collection of still life studies. These are some of my favorite paintings.

This painting came to me the night before my friends art show Amores Muertos. I already had two paintings but then this image came into my head. I painted as fast as I could and tried to copy the image in my head onto the canvas.

This is another painting that came directly from my imagination. It seems that most of the images that come directly from my mind are dark.

Jenny's rock collection. I thought it would be nice to document one of her art projects by painting it. She is crocheting very intricate covers for each these stones.

Part I and II of the toy series. Above are my son's Fisher Price stacking rings and wood-block train.

These last two paintings are 5x6 inch studies done during a couple of our Thursday night painting sessions. Both of these pictures show a personal break through in my overall technique and continually excite my creativity.

Superman Video Release!

2011-02-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

Here's the end result of a music video I collaborated on back in August. The video was shot all on green screen with both the Canon 5D and 7D. The name of the song is Superman so naturally I felt compelled to make it visually like a comic book. I had a great time working on this video and also with the entire crew. In the end up spent more time with the graphics than I originally thought I would. But ultimately I am very happy about the way things turned out. This is the first of two videos we have coming out for the band "Fantazzmo".

Canon 7D with Older Manual Nikon Lenses

2010-05-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

Today, I received a Nikon to Canon EOS adapter ring in the mail and went right ahead and started testing out a set of older lenses from my Nikon F-1 SLR camera. The adapter I choose was the cheapest one I found and at first I had some trouble mounting and removing the adapter. It took a little playing around at first to figure out. Partly, because I was trying to be cautious about not damaging the lenses and partially because there were no instructions. After I figured things out I found that it was quite easy to change the adapter quickly between lenses. These are the lenses I used; 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 55mm, 105mm, and 70-210mm. Below are the resulting images taken from my initial test. Although the images were taken in natural light they have also been color corrected for effect.

The one bellow is my personal favorite. I really like the how the 105mm brings you right up close to your subject by flattening out the images perspective.

I also found a macro converter that fits on all of these lenses. Here's a short video I cut together with footage I shot while testing out the macro converter.

DIY Canvas Box

2010-02-05T18:15:00.000-08:00

At some point in the last two months my friend Oscar and I decided to change our Thursday night drawing sessions into still life painting nights. In this short time we've been meeting I've painted a total of eleven miniature flat panel canvases. Because I'm painting with oils and oils take days to dry I found myself with less and less deskspace and more and more of these 6"x 12" paintings. To remedy this problem, I decided to BUILD MYSELF A BOX!!! Now I've been know to be a box builder kind of guy and although I've built many boxes in the past this was no ordinary box. This box had purpose and was going to require extensive planning and....ah, screw it! It's just another box!

Actually this really is a simple project as you can see. It's just a wooden box! If you don't happen to have a router you can try gluing down small strips of balsa wood instead. Luckily I had access to a router this time and my box came out better than I could have every expected. Because I decided to route 0.25" lines in the wood I was forced to use both 1" and 0.25" plywood. Interested yet? Here, follow these steps and build your own.

1.) Cut the 0.25" plywood into

2 x (0.25" x 12" x 12")

2 x (0.25" x 6" x 12")

2.) Cut the 1" plywood into
4 x (1" x 5.5" x 12")

Next route lines lengthwise down the 1"(5.5" x 12") panels placing the grooves every half inch. Now all that's left is to assemble the box, add hinges/handles and your done. After all that hard work I've final have a clear desk and I'm ready for my next project.

Monday Night Drawing at Buckwild Gallery in Venice!

2010-02-05T13:39:00.000-08:00

At the end of December last year we attended an art show at the Buckwild gallery in Venice. That night we met the gallery owner and talked with him about the possibility of hosting weekly figure drawing sessions in the space. We quickly came up with a plan and were soon on our way to getting things ready for our first meet up. Jennifer began advertising while my dad and I built ten new drawing benches for the class. The second Monday of January was our first session at the new location and to our surprise the night was a big success. Jennifer brought her amazingly good chocolate chip cookies and every seat was filled.

Next Monday will be a special drawing night in honor of Valentines day. We have a lovely couple modeling for us, so if your local and want to brush up on your drawing skills come on down. For more information about our Monday night figure drawing sessions check us out at www.meetup.com.

DIY Camera JIB Project - Remote Camera Mount Part I

2010-02-04T20:27:00.000-08:00

As parts of the JIB I decided to build a remote mount in order to control the tilt and pan movements of the camera. I started of with some concept drawings for the design of the rig. After much trail and error I became very discouraged and at the point of my ultimate frustration when I was about to give up I was stuck by a rare bolt of inspiration. BAM! The project was saved by synchronicity. I just so happened that a few weeks before my frustrations began I was on my way home work when a bus hit one my skateboard. The bus cracked one of my trucks leaving the other intact. Right before I decided to quit I gave my closet one last glance over to see if I had anything laying around that might help and, HELLO! Skateboard trucks make camera rigs. After a trip or two to the hardware store I was in business. So far I have successfully built the tilt mechanism. I used two plastic gears I picked up at Smith Brothers Hobby Center.

Here's some test of the tilt movement.

DIY Drawing Charcol

2009-12-01T23:08:00.000-08:00

We went camping up in Big Sur this Thanksgiving with a friend of ours. While we were planning our trip someone suggested, stocking up on drawing charcoal for our Monday life drawing sessions. Then someone else suggested making our own charcoal while we were camping. I said, why not after all it sounded like a very efficient plan. Besides, if you have ever been to the art store to purchase a box of vine charcoal you know what I'm talking about when I say, it's @#$!'s expensive. Well, the good news is that it's actually pretty damn easy to make. It's so easy in fact, we were able to make while we slept. Here's how we did it!

Tools & Materials

1.)__________________Knife

2.)____Campfire / Barbeque

3.)_______ Twigs / branches

4.)________________Tin foil

5.)_____________Hot ember

_______________________________________________________________________________

First off you'll want to gather enough twigs and branches to make your charcoal. You'll have to experiment with different types of branches to get the right hardness. We used pine branches because it was all that was available.

Use your knife to whittle away any bark and make sure there aren't to many knots before you move on. Next, break them down to size and put them bundles of three or four. Wrap them tightly with one layer of heavy duty tin foil. It is important to make sure there are no holes in the foil and that the bundles are well sealed.

The last step is to set them on top of the hot embers(but not in the fire)for up to five hours. We put our bundles in the fire before we called it a night. Once the fire died down we placed the bundles in the pit and hit the hey. The next morning we pulled them out of the ashes, unwrapped them and BAM! DIY drawing charcoal! It might take some playing around before you find the right balance between the wood and the heat but is worth it in the end. So, if you're anything like we are, then you're nuts and if you're nuts then the next time you decide to go camping or to have a barbaque remember. DIY vine charcoal! It's just that easy!

DIY Camera JIB Project - Building the Structure Part 1

2009-12-01T22:38:00.000-08:00

INSPIRATION.

This is one of those projects I've always wanted to do but never had the time or space. The inspiration to actually go ahead and build the jib came from my friend Oscar Arroyo. We were talking about designing camera rigs and he suggested building something large and mechanical. We immediately started researching other DIY Jibs and sketching out our own ideas. Shortly there after we had a solid blueprint and a plan plan to move forward.

SO IT BEGINS!

I knew from the very beginning that I would need to call in the help of some experts for professional guidance. The first person I called was my good friend Dave T. Offner, Master-Builder I showed him my sketches and together we gathered all the parts and began building the main structure. Here are the materials we used to get started:

Tools & Materials:

1''x1''x16' aluminum square rod (1/4'' thickness)

3/4''x3/4''x3' aluminum square rod

2 gears with 16' chain (bicycle gears, ect.)

2 1''x1''x2' aluminum right angle rods

4 L-brackets

1/4''x3'' bolts with matching hex-nuts and washers

1 Lazy Susan

1/4'' woodscrews flat

2'x2'x3/4'' plywood sheet

1/4'' drill bit

Electric screwdriver

Drillpress with metal drilling bits

Wrench

Miter saw with metal cutting blade

C-clamps

___________________________________________________________________________________

BUILDING THE BASE!

Cut one 1'x1'x3/4''piece and one 8''x8''x3/4'' piece from your plywood sheet(fig.1b). Center the Lazy Susan on the 8''x8'' sheet(fig.2b) and use the 1/4'' wood screws to fasten it down(fig.3b). Turn it over and place it on top of the 1'x1' sheet and screw the Lazy Susan down(fig.4b)

(fig.1b)

(fig.2b)

(fig.3b)

(fig.4b)

CONSTRUCTING THE BOOM!

Cut the 1'x1'x16' aluminum square pipe in half. C-clamp the two 8' pieces together side by side and drill 1/4'' holes on both ends of the rod(fig.1a). Cut the 2 1''x1''x2' aluminum right angle rods into four 1' pieces(fig.1b). Place the 1' aluminum right angle rods back to back in pairs and C-Clamp them together. Drill a 1/4'' hole 1'' from the top on both pairs and another set of holes 3'' up from the bottoms(fig.1c). Hammer the 3/4''x3/4''x3' aluminum square rod into one end of an 8' rod and bolt all of the pieces together.

(fig.1a)

(fig.1b)

(fig.1c)

To be continued...

DIY Ghost Buster Pack LEDs!

2009-10-26T23:19:00.000-07:00

My friend Oscar asked me if I could help him with the electronics for his "Ghost Buster" Halloween costume this year. His vision was to recreate the original proton packs from the movie. The circuit would simply turn the four red lights on the back of the proton pack on and off in sequence. This would also include a power switch and a knob to control the rate of the blinking LEDs. I started by searching the web for LED circuits and the first thing I stumbled upon was great website which turned out to have a large resource of free circuit designs. I found an LED Chaser circuit that could control the LED sequence. The circuit combines two IC's (integrated circuits) a 555 timer chip and a 4017B CMOS decade counter. Most of the materials and parts you'll need to build the chip can be found either online or at your local electronics store(RadioShack, ect). To build a prototype on a breadboard you'll need a few resistors (1K, 10K), a 2 10uf capacitors, a 10K-500K potentiometer, 11 LEDs and lots of wire. Below is the circuit design for the LED chaser from www.elecfree.com.

We started off by building a prototype on a bread board. This step is easy just follow the diagram and make sure that all of your connections match the circuit above. Once we tested the chip on the bread board we were ready to design our PCB (printed circuit board). Oscar found a free multi-platform application online for designing and testing PCB's called EAGLE. The program is easy to use and comes with a library full of parts to use. You simply select the parts you need, lay them out and wire them together. Export the final board from EAGLE as an image file and print it out on a laser printer. If you don't own a laser printer you can always go to a copy store. Because the etching process is much more involved I've written a separate tutorial on the blog showing you the process, here (DIY PCB etching).

If you'd rather skip the etching process and you just so happen to be a fountain of patients you can solder the parts directly onto a pre-perforated board. To do this you have to have a clean work space and the right tools. Soldering this board took me around 4-5 hours but I imagine with a little more practice I could have it done in about half the time.

In this video you can see as I turn the potentiometer controlling the 555 timer's pulse i'm also changing the rate of the blinking LED. The although the 4017B(the larger chip on the board) is not hooked up in the video it does function and can sequence up to 10 LED's at one time.

DIY PCB - Etching your own (Printed Circuit Boards) at home.

2009-10-26T22:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick tutorial on etching a custom PCB at home. All of the materials can be found at your local electronics store or online. Here is what you'll need to get started.

MATERIALS:

sodium persulfate(toxic stuff)

1 sheet of copper clad board(also pretty toxic)

acetone, rubbing alcohol and cotton balls

glossy photo paper

1 sharpie marker

TOOLS:

3 plastic containers(got mine from ordering won ton soup)

1 rough side of a dish sponge or 1 sanding block

laser printer(or access to)

ironing machine

Dremel or small hand saw

PCB Software (EAGLE)

(CAUTION)

The materials use in this tutorial are toxic, dangerous and even deadly if not handled properly. Make sure to wear protective gear and to work in a well ventelated space. It's a good idea to wear gloves and a paper mask while following these steps.

GETTING STARTED

We are going to start out with our circuit already exported from EAGLE, the software used to draw the circuit. The first step is to print your circuit design out on glossy photo paper with a black and white laser printer. Next cut the design out leaving 1/4'' boarder around the outside.

CLEANING THE CLAD

Cut the copper clad down to the size with a dremel or small hand saw. In order for the ink to transfer correctly to the copper we must first cleanse the surface of any oxidation. Use a rough sponge or a sanding block to remove the first oxidatized layer. Scrub firmly until the entire surface is lightly scored. Use the rubbing alcohol to remove the first layer of grim left behind from the sanding. Use the acetone and remove any excess rust or dirt that may be left behind. Clean until there is no more dirt transferring from the copper to the cotton swabs. Once the surface has been thoroughly cleansed be very careful to not touch the surface again with your hands.

TRANSFERING THE DESIGN

Turn your iron to its highest setting. Lay the printed design face down over the copper side of your chip and sandwich everything between a sheet of wax paper. Once the iron is preheated place the iron on the chip and apply at least 40lbs of pressure for a minimum of 30 seconds. Then use the iron tip and continue to put pressure until the paper sticks to the chip. after the chip cools down a bit dunk it in cold water. After a minute take it out and peel the first layer of paper off. Put the chip back and let it soak for another 10 minutes or so before taking it out again. To remove any excess paper, rub the surface with your thumbs or use a soft tooth brush. Inspect the transfer and make sure all of your connections copied over correctly and that no residue left behind from the paper. If you did not get a good transfer start over from step one. Some errors can be fix by drawing over them with a sharpie marker.

ETCH-A-PCB

Alright here comes the fun part. Preheat the sodium persulfate by placeing the container in a bath of warm water for about 5-10 minutes. Place the chip in a container and pour sodium persulfate over until the chip is just covered. Agitate the container constantly for the next 15 minutes or until all of the exposed copper has been dissolved away. Take the chip out of the solution and drop it into a seperate container of cold water. Dry the chip and there you go all that's left is to drill the holes and soldering on the parts.

Big Brown Table releases new video!!!

2009-10-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

Todo Muerto is complete and coming soon to a television station near you. Shortly after the release of Los Telecasters new album Todo Muerto, Big Brown Table announces the release of the bands latest video. Check it out! If you like Los Telecasters here's a link to their website. http://www.lostelecaster.com

DIY Skateboard Setup.

2009-09-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

My friend David just bought a brand new complete skate setup online for about $60 and some change. After he received it in the mail he brought it by to show me. I thought it would be fun to put together a short tutorial for the blog on how to put it all together and he agreed. Granted we are not professionals, this tutorial is a true testament to how easy it really is for almost anybody to do this for themselves. So if you've ever wondered how to put your own custom skateboard together follow along with this instructional tutorial. For all of those visual learners out there we've provided a video so please enjoy! Here's what you'll need.

You can buy a setup online or at your local skate shop that includes these items. 1 set of trucks, 1 pair of spacers (shock plates), 1 set of barrings, and the hardware(nuts, bold, washers). For the detailing on the board you'll need grip tape any stickers you want to add. You will also need these tools; a screw driver, a wrench and an exacto knife. And of course how could I forget the most important part of all the board!

Old school natural pool deck 10" x 33"

STEP 1. WHEELS AND BARRINGS.
We start by putting the barrings in the wheels. Each wheel has two barrings one on both sides. Take one of the barrings and push it firmly into the backside of the wheel. Then flip the wheel over and place one of the small plastic spacers from your hardware kit into the hole. Next, place the second barring in the wheel over the spacer. Repeat this step for all four wheels.

STEP 2. TRUCKS.
Take one end of a truck and place in series a washer, a wheel, another washer and tighten them all down with a nut. So this for all four wheel axis.

STEP 3. MOUNTING THE TRUCKS.

It is very important that you place each truck in the proper direction. Notice the direction of the bolts in the picture below.

Next we will want to mount the shock plate(or spacer) and the trucks. The quickest method I found to do this is to hold the board upright while placing the bolts. Holding the bolts in place with one hand, mount the shock plate and the trucks. Use the wrench and screwdriver to tighten the trucks to the board.

STEP 4. GRIP TAPE W/DETAIL STICKER.

Roll your grip tape out face down. Align the stick and place it upside down on the grip tape. Now, either trace the sticker on the grip tape or tape it down and use an exacto blade cut around the shape. You'll end up going over it several times with the blade no how sharp your blade is so take your time. We decided to leave some space between the sticker's shape and the grip tape. Next, punch out the shape, flip the grip over and lay it on top of the board. For this next step be very careful to not ***K it up. Slowly peel the grip apart from its backing. Fold the backing underneath the grip and carefully start laying the grip over your board. Work your way down the board smoothing out any trapped air bubbles. Continue pulling the backing out from underneath the grip as you go. Use a screwdriver to crease the edges by running it along the outside of the board. Cut the excess flashing off with your exacto and walla! All that's left is to place the sticker and your all done.

35mm Lens adapter Version 3.0!

2009-09-24T16:56:00.000-07:00

Here is the final 35mm lens adapter. After hour of searching the web for an encasing I found this 5.9"x5.9"x2.25" plastic box. The box is slightly larger than what I had in mind but it was the best I could find for under $10. As soon as I recieved the box I began working. First I drilled the holes for the lens mount, second for the motor plate inside the box and last a small hole in the back for the battery cable. Next I attached the adapter parts to the front and back plates.

After all of the hardware was assembled and tested it was time to paint it black. I took everything apart, used masking tape to cover anything I didn't want painted, laid the front and back plates out and use a matte spray paint to cover the box.

This is by far the best adapter box I've yet to build. As soon as I find the right parts I plan on adding a remote controlled focus puller as an addition to the box. But that's for another time and another blog.

DIY Life Drawing Bench!

2009-09-12T16:28:00.000-07:00

Our Monday/Thursday life drawing group has been in serious need of drawing benches for a few months now. The one main reason that has been holding us back for getting the seats is our lack of space. Since we don't have the space to store the chairs I decided to build special collapsible benches that could fold up flat and be stored under our couch. For this job I knew I would need the very best help I could get so I called my dad. We got together and started thinking about the design. Actually due to our genetic impulsivity we started building right away without a clear idea in mind and ended up failing quite miserably. Nevertheless this did not discourage us from trying again. After all this was the first time either of us had built a functional chair before. There was much to consider in designing the benches and the fact that I wanted them collapsible proved to be an even greater challenge. After our first design had failed my dad came up with an ingenious plan. His design uses the weight of the person sitting down to keep the unfolded legs locked into place. His design seemed like the best option so we quickly moved forward. We cut the legs at 18" base on a stool we found in the garage. The bench itself is 42" long/12" wide and the back board another 18". The legs fold out and are held in place by two 12" long 4x4's cut at a 15 degree angle. For the rest of the wood we used half inch sheets of plywood. We also screwed two small pieces of scrap wood to the bench that hold the drawing board in place. The entire thing was put together with wood screws and hinges. After the whole thing was put together I sanded it down so that when you sit on it you're safe from splinters. Aside from the time it took build, the bench cost around $30-$35 in materials. Later I found this standard drawing bench online for $150 and another for around $80 somewhere else. If you're a starving artist in need of an affordable drawing bench and you have the tools and the time, this is for sure the way to go. Below you can see the prototype that we built and how easily it folds up.

It took two weekends for us to finally build one chair. But now that we know how to put one together the next bench shouldn't take nearly as long. For now we're only building three benches but if more people come to the Monday/Thursday night meet we will definetly be making more. In the future I might even add an upholstered cushion to the seat but for now I'm just excited to try it out!

35mm Lens adapter Version 2.0!

2009-09-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

This is my second attempt at making a 35mm lens adapter box. This time I used beaver board to build the case. I ask one of the guys at my local hardware store to pre-cut the pieces for me. I used three 5''x 5'' pieces and four 5''x 3''. First I clamped the three 5''x5'' plates together and drilled my holes. Four holes for the main bolts and one large hole for the lens. Next I attached the motor and lens attachments. This is the motor I used for the spinning ground glass. I gutted a CD player and mounted the motor to the beaver board.

This is the CD I used for the ground glass.

These are the front and back plates. The front plate(right) has a Nikon lens mount ring attached and the back plate(left) has an extension tube.

Here's a video I shot to test out different lenses with the adapter. Unfortunately, when I took it out in the sun light for the first time there were a lot of light leaks. My next step will be to seal the box and paint it black.

35mm Lens adapter!

2009-09-02T11:50:00.001-07:00

After having a conversation with a friend about planning weekend shoots and filming short stories I came up with an idea. I wanted to start using the things I build to make a series of short "MAKER" videos. Most of what will be used in the making of the videos will be hand made. Which brings me to the latest tutorial on how to build a 35mm lens adapter for your digital camera. Here's a short list of things you'll most likely need if you are to attempt this yourself.

SQUARE BOX 5''X5''X4''
35mm BACK LENS CAP / 35mm SLR CAMERA
35mm CAMERA LENS
CD PLAYER / DC MOTOR
BATTERY & SWITCH

In short, the adapter works similarly to a pin hole camera. Light comes in through the 35mm lens and is projected insides the box onto the GG(Ground Glass). Your digital camera is place in back and is focused on the GG. This is what the projected image looks like. Notice how the image is upside down on the GG.

For the GG(Ground Glass) I used a clear CD and sand it to give it a diffuse surface. In order to get a clean image without scratches I mount the GG to a spinning motor. You can use a DC motor if you like but I found this to be much to loud. Instead, I highly recommend salvaging the motor from an old CD player. For the outside case I used a tin box that came with my old wallet. Luckily I didn't throw that away!

Now to get the 35mm lenses to fit the box. I took the front end off of an old Pentax camera and attached it to the top of the box like so.

Next, I drilled a matching hole on the other side of the box and put the whole thing together. You need to measure the distance from the lens to the GG in order for the light to focus correctly. I was able to eyeball it by moving the GG around until I got a focused projection. Then I used plastic spacers to place the GG at the correct distance. I hooked up all of the electronics, mounted the on/off switch to the side of the box and locked everything else down. For the last step I used the cans from all of the diet coke I drank while building the adapter to seal the box.

Although I haven't found the right camera setup for the "MAKER" video series this would give me a good push into the general direction. Here's some footage from my first test.

I'm currently working on adding a remote focus pull. Here you can see the front of the box with the servo inserted next to the lens. I need a set of gears to make it work but that'll have to wait until next time.

Sources:
www.mediachance.com/

Thursday Life Drawing with the Ringmaster!

2009-08-07T11:39:00.001-07:00

Last night we had a very special drawing session. The Ringmaster was in the house! Jennifer surprised us with a magnificent costume, we had a new artist join the group and the best part of the night (I dare say) was Jenny's home made peach cobbler a la mode. Delicious! Before everyone showed up Jenny and I debated over what music to listen to. We both believe that music has powerful influences and that it's important to pick the right tunes before drawing. Having said that, agreeing on music is not always the easiest thing to do. For example, my pick for Thursdays circus theme was Mr. Bungle. Jenny disagreed with my musical choice, calling it geeky white guy music and instead suggested we listen to Louis Armstrong. These are obviously two very different artist but in the end I had to agree with Jenny's pick. Something as hardcore as Mr. Bungle would have been to distracting to listen to.

We made a compromise and settled on Louis Armstrong for drawing and Mr. Bungle for cobbler. In the future I want to put together a life drawing play list. I'm leaving it open so email me if you have any suggestions. I'm taking request! Aside from that we had some great poses, everyone ended up with beautiful drawings and I can't wait until next Monday.

Monday Night with Barbarella the vampire slayer!

2009-08-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

This weeks drawing session was inspired by the classic cult sci-fi super heroine Barbarella. Jennifer and I came up with our own interpretation of her character, appropriately dubbed "Barbarella the vampire slayer". We pieced the costume together with various articles found in our closet. We even dug out the wig to make sure we got her hair right. The poses were nabbed from old movie posters we found on Google image search. Jennifer added her own unique perspective and to our delight she made a perfect Barbarella.

On the other hand though after seriously reviewing the groups drawings over the past few months. We have come to the realization that our subject had begun to grown stale. On that note we have decided to continue with the costume and character themed drawing nights from here on. This Thursday we will have a special appearance from a mystery guest. Come join us to find out who. Here's my drawing pick from last Monday, a 5 minute pose I believe, drawn by Oscar Arroyo.

Get ready to draw! It's Monday Night RAW!

2009-08-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

A few months back I came up with an idea to start holding a life drawing meetup. I was surprising to find so few places in Los Angeles that offered life drawing. The one place closest that I found only met once a week and the other was 45 minutes through the worst rush hour traffic. Well I really felt like I needed do something to keep from getting rusty. So I found a willing model invited people to come and draw. Ever since I along with a few other artist and a very lovely model have been hosting bi-weekly meetups. We get together Mondays and Thursdays and draw! We have a very strict schedule that keeps the artist from taking advantage of the model. We are always trying to find a few more die hards to color in the negative spaces. So, if your are on the west side of L.A. and are interested in drawing check us out. To get more information and updates about future meet ups join our group on facebook (Westside Life Drawing).

Zzzzzz.....

3D Scanner DIY

2009-08-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

The most innovating music videos I've seen as of late (House of Card' by Radiohead) has inspired me to investigate the process of creating 3d data animation. Aaron Koblin is one of the guys behind the scanning technology used in the video. These are very smart guys with all of the right resources and what they've come up with is beyond amazing. But I want to find a way to do this on my own. I started looking around for solutions when I came across the DAVID-LaserScanner a DYI 3Dscanner kit. Next thing you know I'm head deep in getting this ****ing thing to work. The good news is I got it to work after a few days of fiddling around. The not so good news is that in order to save the models I scanned I'll have to buy a licensed copy of the software. The genius behind this product is that if you have the time to spend tweaking your setup you can have a low priced 3D scanner at home that works moderately well. You can purchase a starter kit or do what I did and look around the house for parts. You can try the software out free but there are restrictions when saving object.

How does it work? Well the software does all of the hard work. The most complicated thing for me was printing out the calibration sheets and pasting them onto foam core. But that's just because I I'm not very good with cutting and pasting. After making your boards, align them with your webcam and run the David software. Once the calibration in David is done you're ready to scan your first object.

Although it is possible to scan an object by hand I had more success anchoring the laser to a pivot. I used servos to control the laser a small turntable. Also keep in mind, certain types of surfaces scan better than others. If you have problems scanning an object try a matte paint! Also keep in mind, in order to scan you'll have to spend several hours a night, at home, by your self, quietly sitting, in a very dark room. On the flip side, check out how cool this program really is. After spending way to much time with myself in the dark here is the payoff!
Not to shabby for my first try. Sure there are still a few tweaks I think I could make that can help to improve the end results. I'm looking into getting a better laser and using an HDVcam but for now I think this is perfect.

Although this is not the end goal it puts me one step closer to being able to scan live 3d data. My next experiment starting from scratch is to create a spinning scanner with multiple lasers and use Matlab for interpreting the data. This will require much more research and take much longer. Until then I'm going to buy a license of David and try to fine tune my setup.

www.david-laserscanner.com

www.velodyne.com/lidar

www.geometricinformatics.com

3D Stereoscopic Viewer

2009-07-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's me and yes I am very excited in the picture. Ok, so a couple of weeks ago I decided to take a new project and build myself a 3D stereoscopic viewer. I've always wanted to do this so I could play around with it at home and create my own 3d movies. I could have just as easily made an Anaglyph viewer but I can't stand using those red and green glasses, they hurt my eyes to much. I started by following a tutorial I found online "How to build a home Vizard (video-wizard)". First thing I needed to do was to find two matching flat screen displays. I was able to find both 19" monitors for $230 at Staples. The next step was to build an enclosure for the screens. I asked a friend of mine if he would help me design and build the box. Lucky for me not only did he help build the box but he already had all of the materials laying around from past film projects he'd worked on. Since the monitors I used had different dimension from the ones used in the tutorial we had to augment the design of the box. The next step in putting the box together involves purchasing a very hard to find Half silver mirror or a 50/50 mirror. There are many names for this kind of glass and after doing some research I discovered that this was the same glass that was used for teleprompters. Needless to say the glass turned out to be the most expensive item on the list. I found very few sources online and with a little research I was able to find an east coast company that would manufacturer this special (Beam Splitting) glass custom. They quoted $175 for a single 15'x16' size piece. I though this was a bit to expensive so, after researching some more I called around to my local glass shops. I was able to ordered a piece of reflective mirror from a place down the street from my house. The glass worked perfectly and only cost me $34.00. After all of the parts were put together I hooked the monitors up to my computer and surprise! I have my very own 3D viewer! Over all it was a fun side project but ended up being more work than the tutorial lead me to believe. This is definitely a project for those who like the "do it yourself" thing. If you have the money and are serious about 3d I would recommend you go out and buy a setup. The one drawback I found for the home Vizard was the lack of software or support for mac users. I am trying to find a work around for this and have a few ideas already in mind but have yet to test them out. Below is the original video tutorial from wired magazine for those of you who might be interested in trying it out for yourselves.

LATV.com Promo

2009-07-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

This is a funny promo that we did for LATV.com. Lalo Morron the programing director from LATV liked the animation so much he decided to have it sent to a professional sound studio for the final audio mix. Also the two main stars of the video are none other than David Ramos and Daniel Velez.

Los Telecasters "Todo Muerto"

2009-07-21T14:59:00.000-07:00

Los Telecaster's are originally from Venezuela have achieved international recognition for their music. With a new album soon to be released and an upcoming tour the band is steamrolling its way across Latin America. "Todo Muerto" will be the second video for the band and the first single off the new album. David Ramos of Big Brown Table directed the video and is currently working towards finishing it for August. The video was shot in Mexico City (D.F.), some of the footage was shot on 16mm film and later telecined. The other parts of the video were shot on DV and later composited to match the look of the film. We're looking forward to posting the final video and to hearing people's feedback.

To many things on the table!

2009-07-20T14:02:00.000-07:00

Big Brown Table is a small company in Los Angeles California that offer post-production services and years of professional expertise in the field. It has been a very busy month for the small start up as they've been working hard to complete two music videos while launching a new website. The first video on the list is "Message" by Monte Negro off their new EP Fugitives Of Pleasure/Pasajeros, the second is "Todo Muerto" by Los Telecasters. The videos are currently in the post-production stage but are expected to be a released later this month. The Big Brown Table website should include the company's most current reel, bios and more details about the company for people in the industry who need post-production services.

Danamation Prepares for 2009 AFM

2009-07-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

Danamation Studios is currently developing scripts for the up coming American Film Market in November. Our goal for November is to have five complete scripts with budgets and promotional material for each. The projects currently in development range from fantasy to dark comedy. Two of the five scripts in development are complete and have been registered with the WGA. The plan is to create production artwork to accompany each script. So eventually we'll be posting artwork.

Bandrilla's Song Completed!

2009-07-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

Finally after a year of hard work Danamation Studios is pleased to announce that "Bandrilla Song" the music video from the feature script "Bongee Bear and the Kingdom of Rhythm" (Yankee Films) is complete. This project has taken over a year to complete and was a labor of love for all who were involved in it's production. The video will be touring around children's film festivals starting this summer! Bandrilla has already been receiving great reviews from film festivals here in California. The Videos had it's world premiere at the California Independent Film Festival in May. It has also been accepted into the San Diego Children's Festival and is scheduled to play at Comic Con this Saturday at the San Diego Convention Center. The video is two and a half minutes and will soon be available on itunes. Depending on the success of the video we hope to continue working on finishing the entire project if a deal can be struck. The feature length animation includes a cast of vey funny talented actors i.e. Dom Deluise as Myrin Bongee Bears goofy side kick, Ruth Buzzi as Bandrilla the evil witch, Darrel Sabbara and a slue of others. We'll keep updating as the project progresses.

"Loco Por Tu Amor" Music Video

2009-07-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

During the month of June DanamationStudios and Big Brown Table(BBT) were contracted to do two music video for the popular bi-lingual rock band Monte Negro. BBT approached the bands lead singer Kinski Gallo about making a video in early May of 2009. Kinski was already in gear at the time and eager to start working on a video for his next big single "Loco por tu amor".

Kinski had most of the ideas already worked out in his mind when we first met. He has a strong vision for how the band presents itself. At times Kinski's vision was so strong it seemed to be limiting our own creativity. This was a big challenge for the group. Kinski came to the table with tons of research, images and ideas about the video. There was so much to consider at first and it took a couple of weeks before we started to let it all sink in and to narrow it down. The whole process of making the video was very much like putting a collage together. We had several different elements that we collected for the video. We had pictures and video of old town Puerto Rico, we had collages that Kinski had made and we had the green screen footage of the band.

Some of the images from PR had very rich colors and others had more texture and no color at all. The architecture and the town itself is diverse in this way. The trick then was to take all of these elements and to make them fit as though they belonged together. We didn't have much time but in the end I think the video turned out to be something to be proud of. The video was premiered this month on MTV tr3's and can be found on YouTube or on the Monte Negro Myspace page. Working with Kinski was a pleasure and we are looking forward to the release of the next video Message which is soon to come. If you want to hear more of Monte Negro's music check out their latest album on the itunes music store.

Group: Monte Negro

Album: Fujitives of Pleasure

Lable: Feed the Hungry Records

Bongee Bear "Bandrilla's Song"

2008-06-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Danamation Studios is currently working on a short music video from the upcoming feature film Bongee Bear and the Kingdom of Rhythm. We are proud of the designs our team developed and specially with how the final renders are turning out. Animation for the video is still in production with about 50% of the work completed. We are continuing to push the limits of the characters performance and the overall direction of the video. The video is expected for release until May of 2009. But expect an exciting except from the video soon!

Below is a short break down of our compositing process. To acheive the final look of the video we have broken down the image into several different passes. Each shot will be rendered out with an occlusion pass, a color pass, a depth pass and a shadow pass. Here is an example of what the ccclusion pass looks like. This pass gives us more control over the softer refractive shadows in the scene.

This is a composite of the interior without an occlusion pass or any color correction. Next we'll ad in our those layers and our FX layers (smoke, flame, ect).

This is how the shot will look after all of the render passes are composited together and color corrected.