looking back
Jan. 30th, 2008 10:54 amHmm. Overall, this month has been a really shitty start to the year. I made some bad decisions and dealt with the results... less than gracefully. Here's hoping my February goes better.
Jan. 30th, 2008
Trying to make clean, low-profile Flash files is like trying to program in assembly language. And optimizing your code as you write it. And some optimizations you have to do, because the assembler will try to do them for you - and do them wrong.
Want a camera move? Sure, you can do it. Better hope you got all your timing right underneath it, though. Changing it hurts.
Want a cross-fade? Sure, you can do it.
Want to cross-fade between two shots with camera moves? Sure, you can do it. Changing anything around it is going to be a hell of chasing down little fiddly sub-sub-sub-sub changes.
Want to change the overall timing of a shot with a camera move in the middle? It's gonna hurt!
man, I really need to just try using Something Else. The thing is, I don't actually like animating any more. On the other hand, the amount of technical hackery I have to do in Flash is part of why I don't like animating any more. It's a nice little vicious cycle, isn't it?
Flash was never written for the kind of animation people have gotten out of it. And over the years, its user interface hasn't evolved to help animation one iota. You still have to go through the exact same complicated mental gyrations just to do something as fundamental as a camera move. Why do I keep using this damn tool?
Habit. And the fact that it's an "industry standard". It's the devil I know; it's the devil everyone wants.
Want a camera move? Sure, you can do it. Better hope you got all your timing right underneath it, though. Changing it hurts.
Want a cross-fade? Sure, you can do it.
Want to cross-fade between two shots with camera moves? Sure, you can do it. Changing anything around it is going to be a hell of chasing down little fiddly sub-sub-sub-sub changes.
Want to change the overall timing of a shot with a camera move in the middle? It's gonna hurt!
man, I really need to just try using Something Else. The thing is, I don't actually like animating any more. On the other hand, the amount of technical hackery I have to do in Flash is part of why I don't like animating any more. It's a nice little vicious cycle, isn't it?
Flash was never written for the kind of animation people have gotten out of it. And over the years, its user interface hasn't evolved to help animation one iota. You still have to go through the exact same complicated mental gyrations just to do something as fundamental as a camera move. Why do I keep using this damn tool?
Habit. And the fact that it's an "industry standard". It's the devil I know; it's the devil everyone wants.
reluctant phoenix
Jan. 30th, 2008 03:36 pmA second illustration (the first was this) for The Whole 9's monthly newsletter. The theme was 'varying amounts of sexuality'.
( Cut for boobies )
The other sketches were a lot more decadent. Ask me to celebrate sexuality and I will. I'm halfway tempted to put one or the other through AI for myself, but another month's gone by without me so much as touching Five Glasses of Absinthe...
I was also the subject of an interview in this one. Mostly it's just a bunch of Trans 101 questions, so I don't think you'll pick up anything new about me unless you didn't know already. Obviously I need to learn something about giving good interviews. Actually having projects to pimp in them would help too. Ah well.
Oh, also, the color printer Nick ordered arrived today.
( Cut for boobies )
The other sketches were a lot more decadent. Ask me to celebrate sexuality and I will. I'm halfway tempted to put one or the other through AI for myself, but another month's gone by without me so much as touching Five Glasses of Absinthe...
I was also the subject of an interview in this one. Mostly it's just a bunch of Trans 101 questions, so I don't think you'll pick up anything new about me unless you didn't know already. Obviously I need to learn something about giving good interviews. Actually having projects to pimp in them would help too. Ah well.
Oh, also, the color printer Nick ordered arrived today.
thanks, hp!
Jan. 30th, 2008 05:48 pmI really needed your iPhoto clone along with the maintenance utility and the drivers for the printer we just got from you! And thanks for putting the drivers where the system's printer selection can't seem to find 'em, too. Good job!
The last time I actually hooked up a printer to my computer it was a dot-matrix printer and my c64. I think it was easier. I'm sure I'll get it sorted out eventually, but man, what a pain.
edit: There seems to have been some weird permissions error going on. HP kinda intimated that it was Apple's fault but I suspect it's just that they're idiots; I gave 'em my admin password for the install and they could've put any damn thing they liked anywhere on my machine. Now I at least have it halfway-functioning on my machine. Rik wants to try and get it working via Windows Printer Sharing instead of swiping the cable from his machine but I think that may end up being the amount of hassle that requires me to garrotte someone with an USB cable.
edit: one reboot later, even though I can print direct from my machine as exactly the right printer, when I try to add it across the net, a looooong list of printers pops up that does not include this one. I suspect some cache needs to be cleared. I don't care enough to find it and flush it.
edit: and after all this, I seem to get better color correctness and resolution by sneakernetting a file to Rik's machine. So that'll be the process, I guess. Sometimes I really hate consumer electronics. Still, now Nick can print his game prototypes, and I can experiment with offering badges and suchlike.
The last time I actually hooked up a printer to my computer it was a dot-matrix printer and my c64. I think it was easier. I'm sure I'll get it sorted out eventually, but man, what a pain.
edit: There seems to have been some weird permissions error going on. HP kinda intimated that it was Apple's fault but I suspect it's just that they're idiots; I gave 'em my admin password for the install and they could've put any damn thing they liked anywhere on my machine. Now I at least have it halfway-functioning on my machine. Rik wants to try and get it working via Windows Printer Sharing instead of swiping the cable from his machine but I think that may end up being the amount of hassle that requires me to garrotte someone with an USB cable.
edit: one reboot later, even though I can print direct from my machine as exactly the right printer, when I try to add it across the net, a looooong list of printers pops up that does not include this one. I suspect some cache needs to be cleared. I don't care enough to find it and flush it.
edit: and after all this, I seem to get better color correctness and resolution by sneakernetting a file to Rik's machine. So that'll be the process, I guess. Sometimes I really hate consumer electronics. Still, now Nick can print his game prototypes, and I can experiment with offering badges and suchlike.