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DoT d000's and D000nt's

Here is a quick list I rattled off before work in regard to solo 3d feature filmmaking... THESE are my OWN PERSONAL ones... I'm NOT trying to tell you that these are THE RIGHT WAY... this has just been my way that's worked for me...  they aren't in any particular order cept the order I wrote them in.
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M dot D00000nt'S

  1. Don't spend over $1500 on your workstation (not including monitors) Why spend $3000+ on a workstation now when you can buy one for $1500 then afford to upgrade it in 18-24 months when new tech is out?
  2. Don't buy your render systems until you actually need to render
  3. Don't try anything in production WITHOUT TESTING IT FIRST… don't send anything out to render as a final without doing render tests first to look for potential issues
  4. Don't upgrade your hardware/software while in production (unless render times are insanely slow)
  5. Don't create complex rigs…only build in the controls you NEED..keep them as simple as possible… you probably DON'T NEED all the controls built into the rigs the "professionals" use…it will slow you down and if things get screwy you don't have a TD to come fix it for you mid production
  6. Don't use GI… LIGHT LIKE A REAL MAN! ^ ^ (GI increases render time and introduces lots of possible glitches for animation as well…let the architects use it) Your restricted to what the GI engine can do OR the "physically accurate" system so that all works will have a similar look…they were all photographed in the "same place"
  7. Don't use PRESETS! Take the time to make your own things as in the end your work will look the same as everyone else's using the same tool/plugin etc… its EASY to do but for the viewer since its so common its EASY to forget as well
  8. Don't use mocap..ANIMATE LIKE A REAL MAN! ^ ^ (For all the time it takes to "massage" and clean up the data you could have keyframed animated it) It also decreases your ability to create unique human motion as your limited to what a human body can do…
  9. Don't COPY anything… try your best to make everything as ORIGINAL as possible… and if thats too much work for you ADMIT YOUR A DRONE already and go back to work on other peoples ideas!
  10. Don't get stuck on "photo realism" instead aim for "photographically correct" What you see through the lens can be "unreaL" but as long as you shoot it, light it and render it according to the laws of photography it works some how
  11. Don't copy anyone else's style... until you come up with your own style your just a second rate version of someone else's YES it is instantly recognizable but your facsimile is also INSTANTLY FORGETTABLE
  12. Don't try to please other 3d geeks/designers… remember they are NOT your audience…if they are your audience you have a very small fleeting potential audience… will "yeh but everyone on cgtalk loves it" impress anyone NOT on cgtalk? Will that make the man on the street want to see your film? Will that make film industry types want to fund your work? Probably NOT
  13. Don't create "cool" models and sets THEN try to figure out a "cool" story for them… FUCK "COOL" put some heart and soul into it! "COOL" shit lingers in peoples minds for as long as it takes them to say "COOL" to some other shiny vapid thing
  14. Don't do anything you've seen before in the same way as you saw it… reinterpret in a new language and add your own nouns and adjectives don't do a straight translation
  15. Don't do what other people want…its your film so do what the fuck YOU WANT!
  16. Don't WASTE your time on facebook and other time/life eating ad revenue not for you generating cyber wastelands
  17. Don't be afraid to leave normal life behind… once your film starts to come alive YOU WON'T MISS IT and it will create an awesome life for you ^ ^
  18. Don't be too proud of yourself for completing small steps on the way to your bigger goal…you can celebrate when the film is finished...THEN its on to the next film
  19. Don't share your film ideas/concepts/art for your film with the internets BEFORE it is completed… some one else WILL "borrow" your ideas IF they are original and they might put something else with your ideas before you are done… there's TONS of drones out there with MAD SKILL AND NO ORIGINALITY don't feed them yours!
  20. Don't be a wimp… don't whine…. don't whimper… don't feel sorry for yourself… just WORK
  21. Don't listen to the doubters, the haters, the critics… instead work harder…they voices will fade and disappear...
  22. Don't listen to anyone else especially that M dot Strange guy …. as he's possessed by over 9000 demons who drive him like that crooked hat marionette that he is!

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M doT D000000s


  1. Do buy a UPS and connect all your computers to it
  2. Do back up your work every day to an external drive(s)
  3. Do have a logical file structure/system
  4. Do archive your work files and make them easy to navigate
  5. Do render stills from completed shots and refer to them as a living storyboard
  6. Do reuse assets as much as you can while keeping the reuse transparent
  7. Do explore using FK as well as IK as it works better for many movements
  8. Do use ANY 3d application that works for you…unless you want to work for someone else, what app you use does not matter… no one else BESIDES 3d artists and potential employers CARE ABOUT WHAT APP YOU USED and your audience is NOT other 3d artists or them companies…cgtalk is NOT REALITY it is an extremely small skewed version of it ( I RECOMMEND CINEMA 4D + ZBRUSH btw)
  9. Do create things people have never seen before…if there's no comparison your the best by default
  10. Do spend the MOST TIME in pre-production working out your story/themes
  11. Do put your HEART AND SOUL into your work and if you don't have any HEART AND SOUL then GET OFF YOUR FUCKING COMPUTER AND GO LIVE LIFE! LOVE HATE! GET YER HEART BROKEN CHASE AND FACE YOUR FEARS FEEL THE BEST FEEL THE WORST then get back onto your computer and put those feelings into your work
  12. Do study your favorite animation frame by frame to to see the secrets of the masters
  13. Do collect TONS OF REFERENCE and use it in EVERY phase of making your film
  14. Do more work and less play
  15. Do share your process with people before the film is done
  16. Do focus on keeping your body and mind as healthy as possible…if that fails NOTHING else matters
  17. Do constantly envision how great your film will be when its done and how great your life will be too…make completing your film a major step to your overall happiness in life and the source of your self worth (this can be dangerous but it has worked for me)
  18. Do continue to re-work everything until it is rendered… grind and grind trying to do everything in the best possible way without being an OCD nut until its rendered… then move on
  19. Do STUDY everything not just filmmaking stuff… psychology, history, metaphysics, geometry, language, nature etc… it will ALL ADD TO YOUR FILMS
  20. Do rid your life of things that are unnecessary for you being the greatest filmmaker you can be
  21. Do keep working after everyone else quits and goes out for a pint… RIGHT NOW there's someone else in the world trying to do what your doing! WHEN YOU are feeling sorry for yourself and complaining THEY ARE WORKING.. while you are on facebook THEY ARE WORKING…while you are hungover THEY ARE WORKING… do you want to get left in the dust by them? And they are probably younger and better looking too OW! WE MUST WORK HARDER AND DEFEAT THEM!!!  THOSE BASTARDS!!! ^ ^
  22. Do make filmmaking your life with everything else starting in second place… be willing to sacrifice everything and everyone else for your goaL (just like Griffith in Bersek 0_o)
  23. Do plan big things out! Do things on paper thoroughly beforehand… if it doesn't work on paper it probably won't work….work out potential problems IN THE DESIGN PHASE
  24. Do be honest with yourself about what works and what doesn't work… YOU KNOW when things don't work so don't let your ego get in the way of becoming a better filmmaker
  25. Do put as much of yourself in your work as possible…if you don't then its SOMEONE ELSE'S WORK

There's MANY more I could add but that's all I could do now before work....

Comments

  1. Question, What is a ups?
    besides a shipping company that is lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. UGH. I gotta be patient.
    I gotta "Live Life" and work my ass off until December, then I finally graduate, quit my job, sit on the cash I saved up and start the long journey.

    I HATE being all talk and no do right now. But it's all I can do for now. I'll doodle on the side, make a cartoon, but I can't give it my full attention yet with all these distractions.

    I've made it this far, I'm almost done!~ I JUST CAN'T WAIT!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. @funy_mony d00d your WAY ahead of the game me thinks! You started dabbling in animation and storytelling at such a young age and you've already made SO MANY win things before even finishing school yet and you worked hard for it all so yeh..... I know your going to do big thangs for sure... and you know if you ever need my help I'm there! ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  4. @ Drainage Ubuntu Prostitute Servers
    this is
    Universe Psycho's Spaceship

    check you all your computers connection to it

    really it is power source

    controlling your voltage xD

    ReplyDelete
  5. @16 bit YES my computers became way more stable after they start running through Linux based prostitutes filled with RAID arrays! So go get yours today!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Every fucking university CG student in the world should be given these lists and forced to memorize. A lot less mediocrity would result.

    ReplyDelete
  7. @Drainage64 - UPS = Uninteruptable Power Supply, aka battery backup. Saves you when the power goes out or if you have brown-outs because the power grid in your area sucks. Definitely have one on your main machine so you don't lose any work, and probably on your file server too. Render nodes don't necessarily need to be UPS backed up because you can always re-launch renders if your power goes to hell. The UPS basically allows you to keep working if power goes down for a few seconds, or gives you time to safely shut everything down if power goes down for a long time.

    M., that is a great list of do's and don'ts. Once I can start on my own film, I'll be following the vast majority of the suggestions. I can't follow all of your suggestions because I have a wife and kids and they would be hanging out at the door to the computer room and asking in pitiful voices, "may we please eat today?" :-D

    Cheers,
    Michael

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm gonna be even more original by ignore m dot's list and making my own >:0
    THEN WE WILL SEE WHO HAS A BIGGER ROCK

    ReplyDelete
  9. Reyori...Read The Manual, Sir xD

    ReplyDelete
  10. from the beginning of the year I learn platonic solids and their fractals
    and their projections
    The Lattice of Quotients of H4 {3,3,5} family xD now

    Only people don't learn philosophy philosophers are lost in the worlds
    They are really lost
    who can you believe if one goes one way, another-another one
    find your way
    please try not to join the crazy parade

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank You! That list hits gets to the core.

    ReplyDelete
  12. m dot didn't follow a manual
    fuck the manual
    Build yer own
    nobody can tell you how your life rolls except you
    MY ROCK WILL BE BIGGAH M DOT STRANGE
    FEAR MY PASSIONATE RAGE
    *eats a sandwich while fighting a bear with lazer beams firing out of his eyes*

    ReplyDelete
  13. @all Yeh so I know it sounds kinda crazy and isn't for everyone in every situation..I'm just sharing the way I did/do things...

    @Reyori I fear NOTHING!..... except being locked inside a Walmart 0_o

    ReplyDelete
  14. Printed your list Master dot and stuckit on the studio's board...

    ReplyDelete
  15. @M Dot
    Just Wal Mart?
    Not any other stores?

    ReplyDelete
  16. i like this list, its super practical after thinking about it fer a few minutes, i'll be adapting the don't bother with newer versions o software thing into my little workflow for sure(it's super easy to get caught up in it especially with the open software stuff). BTW those old film skool # IDK u did forever ago were really helpful, they helped me get a better sense of the prepro stuff, something im working to get better at

    ReplyDelete
  17. d00d...this post... so amazing. And inspirational too!

    BTW, Mdot, be sure to give me a heads up about anything I can work on for your film! I'm still lookin to animate somethin for ya

    ReplyDelete

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