Secondly, sorry about the lack of posting for a while, i’ve been working hard on new and upcoming projects. If you happen to be at Universal Studios in Hollywood in the coming days, you might just stumble upon my Rain Over Water animation. I’ve got some guest speakers lined up for the site which should be really interesting, and a surprise guest tutorialist (yes, that is a word) with something you guys will definitely like.



Myself i’ve been working on a new site which will hopefully launch in a couple of months that you guys will be hearing all about, and also working on some really cool 3D stuff. I’m still thinking of ways i can turn some of this stuff into tutorials, but mostly i’m holding back at the moment because i’d rather make sure i’ve covered all the ground i can before i dive in and try and tell you guys how to do it.


As you can see, this is a lot more versatile and dynamic, so it’s pretty unfortunate i’ll probably not be able to employ it in what it was originally designed for. Although, it actually has a hand in the process of creating the quicktime version, so it’s always going to be useful. Anyway, check them out and tell me your thoughts - which is better; did it work; did it not work; did it blow up your computer, etc.


This isn’t as dynamic as the Java version, but it’s a lot more portable since the Java requires getting non-standard openGL libraries to your computer on the fly which is tricky, and it’s also fairly clunky. Unfortunately the QTVR approach is limited and this particular VR only lets you pan horizontally - i could have rendered out some more pictures for vertical pan, but not on this occasion. Anyways, let me know what you think of it. I’ll probably be employing this in a new site i’m working on which i’ve been hinting about for a few months now.

Things have been a little slow around here lately i’m afraid, but hey, it’s all been in a good cause. I’m working pretty solidly on more technical coding projects and other time consuming activities (like degrees). In the intervening month i’ve had my head buried in code; html, javascript, php, css, ruby, perl, flash, java - you name it.


But fear not bretherin, forgotten about you i have not. Above is a little update on the firefly project which is going slowly, but it’s a cool sideline and i’m having fun with it. Hopefully over the summer i’ll actually have some free time to finish it. But where are the freakin tutorials i hear you cry. Well, i’ve got a couple of ideas for when i get some time, but i’d really like to hear from you guys with what you’re interested in seeing. Any particular tutorial you really like and want to see more of? Or want me to expand on some of my 3D stuff? Or perhaps something totally different with web development. Anyway, let me know. Meanwhile, i have a couple of big projects that i plan on really getting moving in the next few months that should have a big impact for you.


In other misc filler news, i’d like to point out that the myspace page is still available here and rhys-works actually has a youtube page you can check out here. Incidently, in the interests of user input, are there any other features you’d be interested in seeing on the site, like a forum perhaps.


And for the sudden influx of visitors we’re magically having today, hi. I don’t know where you’re coming from, but wherever it is, i salute you.

The very long awaited and featured rain over water sequence is now complete in tutorial form! This tutorial is in 3 parts detailing the initial texture, creating the water, and creating the rain, all completely inside After Effects. This one has been a long time coming and i’ve had a lot of requests on how to do it so i hope this satisfies you guys. Any questions, you know where to ask them.


As mentioned in the tutorial, the hi-rez quicktime version of the effect can be found here right click, save as.

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…)

This cool effect in After Effects was made as part of an expressions mini-site i’m working on. You can come up with a tonne of different looking effects with this so have a play around and see what you can come up with. The tutorial itself is largely just an exercise in what you can do with stacking effects in AE, with a few extra tricks thrown in such as handling cameras and a tiny bit of expression work to make our life easier. Those of you who have watched previous expression tutorials will recognise the trend i’m going with in making a controller null object to handle all our composition variables.