Above is a little sneak-peak of something i’m working hard on, and rest assured it’s directly related to you guys and will essentially be a part of rhys-works.com, though with it’s own unique site. As for what it is exactly.. i can’t tell you that. Yet. A few hints maybe. I’m developing a fairly sizable Java program in openGL (real-time graphics rendering) that’ll allow you to embed your Maya and Max objects directly into a website in a fully 3D environment, so you can check yours and other people’s objects out online without worrying about screenshots from all sorts of different angles, that’s directly related to the new site.


For those of you interested it was designed in photoshop and is the first of this particular style i’ve attempted, as historically speaking i suck with photoshop, but no more hopefully. It’s been an interesting learning curve and i think i’m finally getting a proper handle on things. (more…)


Hey guys, i’ve been working on my modelling skills with Max just lately and decided to undertake a project to make the Firefly class ship from the popular show Firefly and film Serenity. Just a little point of interest, as i know so many of you like the series and i thought this was a pretty cool project to undertake as an re-introductory into the amazingly mindblowing world of 3D.


We all like to tinker around in 3D, so what about a rhys-works.com 3D tutorial in AE? I think it’s about time we played around in AE’s 3d space, there’s a lot of simple but stylish looks that can be pulled off, and of course it has many uses in creating realistic effects and composites.

It’s been a little while since we’ve had an update around here, so i thought i’d better let you all know about the situation as it is of the moment.


In respect to new tutorials - they are coming. I promise i will get at least one done over the Christmas period. The trouble at the moment is due to that of circumstances; my current residence does not lend itself well to quiet recording conditions, and secondly, i’m working an inordinate amount of hours a week as a computer scientist. I’ve had a number of requests in for the Rain Over Troubled Water tutorial and the Falling Drop sequence, the latter still being perfected and will almost definitely be released as a public tutorial. The former, i’m considering as an addition on the first (critically acclaimed) rhys-works.com dvd feature. (more…)


Geekza.com have just recently trumped their George Takei interview with the new Billy West interview, the voice of popular characters from far and wide (think Futurama, Doug, Ren and Stimpy) so be sure to check out the interview at geekza.com, which marks the end of their usual podcasts and the start of a new direction the hosts are taking the site in so be sure to check in at the site and watch this space into the future.

The new site has gone down pretty well and i’m glad to see that we’re still working well within our bandwidth with plenty of room to expand. The site is pretty popular lately, we’ve been featured in the P2L newsletter for the V for Vendetta tutorial and had a handful of enquiries from various (and significant) VFX and tutorial groups around the net. Thanks to everyone who’s made kind comments on the latest batch of tutorials.


So on the topic of tutorials, if you guys have got any requests for AE feel free to send them in via comment on this post. I can’t guarentee i’ll be making each one of them but i’m interested in what people want to see, whether they’re interested in more academic AE instruction or more specific effects, and so on, so let me know. (more…)

Ever played a MUD? They’re online text-based games. Don’t give me that look. You like World of Warcraft, so you’ll like this better. The difference between a MUD and something like WoW (apart from the lack of graphics) is that MUDs have been developing for years, and the one i recommend to all, elephant MUD, has been around for about 15 years.


It would take me days to explain every reason why you should play a MUD. Suffice to say, in terms of your WoW comparison, they’re far more developed, detailed, and involving. Honestly. As to why you should play this one, because i play it, and i’ve played a lot in my time, and this one has kept my interest for about six years, and half of the players there still think i’m new. (more…)

Over at theforce.net this year we’re running a new kind of competition, those of you who are familiar with the fanfilms forum will probably know about the the Lightsaber Choreography Competition that spawned work such as RvD and RvB, but i’ve got something a little different for you to take a look at, namely, the Harry Potter Wand Duel Competition. (more…)

The new website is up. There’s even content in all the sections, although not as much as there will be. The code section specifically has taken a holiday for now, but will probably return sooner or later. But, most importantly there’s a lot of new tutorials up and i’ve got plans for a whole load more, so look out for that.


Oh yeh, and i have this blog thing now, so feel free to leave comments on anything. All the tutorials have an entry. Also, as a slight experiment i have a myspace page open you can find the link to at the bottom of the page for quick contact and random info, so we’ll see how that goes and what happens. (more…)