Life is Full of Surprises but Sometimes We Even Surprise Ourselves

When we are growing up, we don't foresee how our lives will turn out. Even as adults, we may be surprised at how certain things in our lives turn out. That could be regarding both good things and bad things alike.

One thing that has come to surprise me at times are some of the things that I have been able to accomplish. There are some things that I would never have foreseen that I have ended up doing. There have been certain accomplishments I have had that I would have never predicted. It's a great thing, though, to achieve those things that you have not anticipated in life.

One thing that I really surprised myself with was doing the 3D art and animation thing. I just started getting into it a couple of years ago. Actually it won't be two years for another month or so. but I'll just round it up. I started out slow just tinkering around in iClone and then I moved on to Daz Studio. I like both programs and there are some projects that i have done that have utilized both programs.

Another thing I didn't expect to do was put out my own music CD. had always been part of a band for a number of years and that was just as a guitar player. Now I also sing. I have done solo performances in bars and night clubs as well. i never foresaw myself becoming a solo act.

I am also active as a writer on the Internet as well. I have always wanted to do some sort of writing but a lot of people dream of doing that but never actually get around to doing it. To be honest, I thought about it long before I had actually taken the steps to do it. but here I am on the Internet writing articles and blogs.

I am also a web developer. that started out when I was trying to do a local arts magazine and needed a website. I had someone else do it and he did not quite work out. So I started doing it myself. Eventually, I got pretty good at it and I did get a lot of visits throughout the years. I have gotten millions of page views over the years.

Even my articles have received a good number of views. On one site that I write for, I have received more than 1.5 million views total.

this is not about bragging about my accomplishments. It's about how you never know what you can pull off until you actually try. If you listen to others who will tell you that this can't be done or that can't be done, you will never really find out what you can do. sometimes you have to brush them off and make the effort to see what you can accomplish. I guaranty that if you do that, there will definitely be times where you will achieve things that you never thought you would.

I am always striving to learn new things and to try new things. Over time, you will do things you never thought you'd be able to do. You will surprise yourself. Sure, life is full of surprises but sometimes we even surprise ourselves.

Photo Credit: Image created by Bob Craypoe, also known as R. L. Crepeau.  

Swapping Out a Computer in a Business Environment

I wish I had a dollar for every new PC I've set up for an employer. I could probably retire by now. I've done it for a number of different employers from a variety of industries but, really, the procedure doesn't vary much and it gets easier as you go along. Setting up a new PC for a company executive or one of the bosses, though, can be a bit intimidating and that's where you really need to make sure you do the job right. So you need to take a few things into consideration and they are as follows: what software are they running? Where do they keep their data? What kind of printers and peripherals do they use?

The first thing you obviously would do when setting up a new computer is load the operating system, unless you purchased a computer that came with it pre-loaded. The next step is to load all of the device drivers to make sure all of your hardware works. You may check the Device Manager to make sure that there are no devices with an exclamation point next to them. That would indicate a driver issue. Sometimes I just have to wipe out an old system and re-load Windows and all of the software the new user would need to use for the job or position. The procedure is basically the same for that as it would be to load up an entirely new system from scratch.

New systems usually come with a drivers disk. An old system may have a folder on the hard drive that will have all of the driver installation files you would need. However, if you don't have them, you may find them online by doing a simple search through a search engine. I don't like to wipe a system clean by formatting the hard drive until I am sure I am able to get the drivers I need.

After the installation of the operating system, you would have to validate your copy of Windows but, in order to do that, you need to have internet access. So you would obviously configure the computer to use the company network. I've worked at companies that assign specific I.P. addresses to each computer. You can't use the same I.P. as the one you are replacing until you go to swap it out, so often you will use a temporary one that won't conflict with any other computers on the company network. I've used the same test I.P. address for each one I set up. When it's ready, then I will assign the same one the user has on the old computer.

After you get online and validate your copy of Windows you will need to run all of your Windows updates. I will just copy and paste a shortcut for Windows Update onto the desktop because I will keep running them until they are no longer necessary. After that, I will then install the anti-virus software. Then I will install all of the usual plug-ins for the web browsers like Acrobat Reader, Flash Player, etc. you will then have a functioning PC at that point. Now it's time to install all of the software the employee uses. I will then create a system restore point in the event that there is a problem with the programs that are soon to be installed. It's always good to be able to restore to a point before the problems began.

After you install all of the necessary software, check to make sure it all functions properly. Many companies have their own software that is unique to their business. Some have programs that only they use. These are usually the most aggravating programs you will have to install and configure. If the software is only used by your company and was developed for the company specifically, you can't Google the problem on the Internet to look for a resolution to it. You may sometimes have to consult with the developer personally to see what has to be done in order to get it to function properly.

After you get all of the necessary programs and applications to work, install the network printer that the user will be printing to. If they use other peripherals like a scanner, install the software for that. After that, see what data may have to be transferred from the old PC to the new one. Also see if they have e-mails that need to be transferred over as well. Some users don't always know where their data is, so it is important that you hold on to the old PC and not remove anything in the event that you may have missed something. Sometimes their data is kept on the network and most often it is kept on their hard drive, yet the user may not know where it is kept. They are used to just going in and retrieving it with out giving much thought to it. So sometimes you will have to determine where it is kept. Sometimes the user will have a network drive mapping where their data is saved and they don't understand that the M: drive isn't actually a physical hard drive in their computer. Make sure you map all of the drive mappings they usually use, unless your network is configured to do that for each user based on their login.

Always double check before the day you swap out the computers that you have everything on it that the user needs and uses. Then notify the user you are ready for the exchange. This is basically the best way you can do this with minimal inconvenience to the user. Down time should only be the amount of time it takes to shut their old PC down, disconnect it, connect the new one and have the user test the programs right in front of you to make sure all of the programs function properly. Just dropping it off and leaving doesn't cut it. Usually something either goes wrong or they have some sort of questions or perhaps something was overlooked. If you just drop it and leave you will probably get a call about something and have to return anyway.

So that's it in a nutshell. Once you do this a number of times it will get easier. Also, if there are certain things you need to remember to either install or configure certain programs, type up a nice little cheat sheet to make it all easier. I have always used them. I keep them in a binder and use them to make sure I not only set things up right but that I also remember everything that needs to be installed. It's sort of like a checklist that I can use to make sure everything is done that needs to be. Try it out yourself and see how it works for you.

Photo Credit: Image created by Bob Craypoe, also known as R. L. Crepeau.  

3D Character Creation is Like Using a Recipe

I create 3D characters in Daz Studio as well as iClone. I really enjoy the process of creating characters. Whenever I create a new one, it is sort of like using a recipe. Allow me explain what I mean that:

In Daz Studio as well as iClone, you have control over just about every feature. let's use the eyes as an example. You can control the size of the eyes, the color, the spacing between them and how high or low they are on the face. You can put bags under them, have them sunken and can even have wrinkles or other things to make the character look older.

For the nose, you can make the tip bulbous or pointy. You can make the nostrils large or small. you can set how high or low the nose is on the face as well. With each individual facial feature, you have so many things you can adjust to create your character.

There are other options with the body of the character as well. You can set the proportions however you want. You can make your character fat, muscular or skinny. You can make your character hunched over like an elderly person. the list goes on.

Then you can get into things like how they are dressed, their hair color or hair style. You can choose as to whether your male character will have a beard, mustache or no facial hair at all. Maybe you just want a little five O'clock shadow for that scruffy look.

How about the teeth? Do you want a character with a gap in the front? You could even have some teeth missing or even decayed or yellowish in appearance. If you want the character to be a monster of some kind, you can give him fangs.

Another thing to consider when creating a character is what kind of personality you want it to have. Do you want it to be a goofy character? How about mean or crabby? The character could be the villain and villains most definitely need to look the part. Of course heroes need to look heroic as well.

One thing I like to do a lot is mix elements of different characters. I  might do 10% of one character and 20% of another. I generally don't use base characters that are not modified in some way. I prefer to customize my characters to make them unique. That's how they are sort of created like a cake is created from a recipe. Of course, I like to keep them a secret.

Photo Credit: Image created by Bob Craypoe, also known as R. L. Crepeau.

Introduction to 3D Art and Animation

I am fairly new, at the time of this writing, at the whole 3D art and animation world. However, in the short time I have been doing it, I have acquired enough knowledge to give some tips to those thinking about getting into it but might not know where to start. So I can at least provide you with some of the basics.

There are numerous programs available that you could acquire in order to get started. There are very expensive programs as well as moderate and low cost programs. The expensive ones would include programs such as Autodesk's 3ds Max and Maya. Unfortunately, you are talking thousands of dollars to purchase either program. Fortunately, though, you may download trial versions that would allow you to use them for 30 days for free. If you feel you may be able to grasp onto it, then you may decide to make that big purchase. Those two programs are industry standard programs used in 3D animation and art.

Now let's talk about more affordable options. First of all, not everyone has the kind of money needed to purchase the high end, industry standard programs. So how do you get into it without going broke? One idea is to purchase the more affordable and more user friendly programs and become proficient at those before venturing into the more expensive and more difficult programs. I am referring to programs such as DAZ 3D, iClone, Poser, Bryce, Blender and Hexagon.

Reallusion's Iclone is probably the easiest 3d animation program to learn. It's not a high end program like 3ds Max or Maya though, so you won't be getting an animation job working for Disney but you can learn enough of the basic concepts that would make it easier for you to learn the high end programs later on, should you decide to try them. Even if the interface is different between all of these programs certain concepts learned in one can be applied in another. So iClone is a good place to start. It also has a great lip syncing feature that makes it easy to make your characters talk in sync with a wav file or with the text to speech feature that comes with the program.

Iclone includes basic characters that you could modify with different facial features, clothing, hair, etc. It also includes some motion capture (Mocap) files that can be applied (dragged and dropped) to a character that will animate that character with relative ease. There are also ways to modify the character's movement and make fine adjustments. You can get the professional version for under $200. there are also numerous add-ons you can purchase in order to increase your capabilities. Add-ons or additional content like clothing, scenery, characters, motion capture files and more. Many of the add-ons or content go by specific themes. You may find out more on Reallusion's website, Reallusion.com.

Then there is Smith Micro's Poser. Poser is great for creating 3D artwork and you can find online galleries consisting of submitted works done by its users. Some of it is quite impressive I must say. You can acquire Poser for under $200 from Amazon.com as well. You may want to check Amazon for any of the programs I mention because there are times when you can get them cheaper on Amazon that you could from the manufacturers' own websites. Poser will come with a lot of 3D models and has a site where you may purchase more content. You can check it all out at poser.smithmicro.com.

DAZ 3D is another great program for 3D animation and art. The company was started by some people who worked for Poser. Everyone has their preference and there is a bit of rivalry between Daz and Poser users. Personally, I prefer Daz Studio myself. Daz's interface is not as friendly as iClone's but it does have better quality rendering for 3D art. If you just want to create 3D art, Daz would be a great place to start. Currently, Daz can be downloaded for free but there are add-ons that, once you see them, you would definitely want to purchase and that's where they really make their money. They allow you to download the program for free in the hopes you get hooked on it and start to purchase the many add-ons and additional content they offer and let me tell you, they offer a lot. Many more than iClone has available. I have to admit that learning Daz Studio can be quite frustrating because they don't offer the kind of detailed documentaton iClone or Poser does but once I started to learn it and purchased some of the amazing add-ons they offer, I was hooked. Some of the content available for purchase will work in both Daz and Poser, which is a big plus.

I also believe that the quality of characters you can create in Daz are a bit better than what you are capable of creating in iClone. However, iClone is much easier to animate characters in. One way to get the best of both worlds is to create a character in Daz Studio and convert it to an iClone character to be animated in iClone. In order to do that, though, you would have to purchase iClone 3DXchange Pro. 3Dxchange Pro allows you to convert the Genesis series of characters from Daz Studio into iClone avatars. 3DXchange Pro also allows you to convert props from Daz Studio and industry standard obj files into iClone's iProps format. 3DXchange Pro is also under $200. All 3 programs together would cost you under $400 at this time. But, just to get started, you could download Daz Studio for free and maybe purchase iClone.

Reallusion offers 14 day free trials of iClone and 3DXchange. I would recommend that you try iClone first because unless you learn that first, 3DXchange will be of very little use to you. I got started by trying the 14 day trial of iClone and fell in love the program so I actually bought the full version before the trial even ran out. Then I did a search for other programs to see what other 3D programs I could get started with. That's how I found Daz Studio. Then I came upon two other programs offered on the Daz website. Bryce and Hexagon. Bryce is a 3D program that allows you to create landscapes and backgrounds that you can import into the other 3D programs. It was available for free download at the time, as was Hexagon. Hexagon is a program that allows you to create 3D objects from scratch. I would recommend you try the easier programs first, although Hexagon does offer a 900 page pdf manual, just as Bryce does. I just wish Daz Studio offered the same.

Reallusion offers great pdf documentation for iClone and 3DXchange around 800 or 900 pages or so. You can find instructional videos for all of the programs mentioned on YouTube as well. You may also find help in the forums too, which I was able to acquire quick responses on a couple of occasions that were very helpful.

Blender is a free open source 3D program that is not as user friendly as the rest and about as difficult to become proficient at as the high end programs like Maya and 3ds Max. There are a lot of instructional books available for it though and you can even find the Dummies version. You may also find instructional DVD's on its website, Blender.org.

There are sites like Renderosity.com and RuntimeDNA.com where you may purchase content for Poser and Daz Studio. Installation may be a bit tricky though. Sometimes you have to manually copy and paste the content into specific folders on your hard drive. If you copy them to the wrong folders they simply won't work. So you may want to just purchase your content or add-ons from the Daz and Poser sites at first, since they usually have automated installation programs for their content and should help you to avoid installation frustration. In Daz's case, you have to remember to install everything in the My Documents/Daz/3dStudio/My Library folder. Most of the time it will do that automatically but sometimes you are prompted to point to the installation directory. You may also need to run the installation programs in compatibility mode for Windows 7 if you are trying to install it on a Windows 8 system.

Many of these programs will use certain industry standard file formats which will allow you to import some items created in one program into another. For example, obj is one common file format. Some programs have their own proprietary file formats like iClone's iAvatar and iProps. When you start to work with these programs you will get a better understanding of which file formats are universal and which file formats are proprietary.

I could probably go one for quite a while but I think I've covered enough of the basics to help you get started. Just go to Reallusion.com, Daz3d.com, Poser.smithmicro.com, Blender.org and Autodesk.com for more information. You should also check out some of the online galleries to see the quality of work these programs are capable of. So check it all out and good luck.

Below is the first video I created in iClone:

Photo Credit: Image created by Bob Craypoe, also known as R. L. Crepeau

Introduction to Fingerstyle Guitar

I have been playing guitar for decades now but I had actually started fingerpicking on the guitar in my second year of playing. Obviously, after doing it for so long, I have improved significantly. now I am a pretty good fingerstyle guitarist, if I do say so myself.

It all pretty much started when I saw my cousins tinker around with it and I decided that it was something I wanted to learn. In my first year of playing guitar, I just basically concentrated on learning the chords and the keys they were in. in my second year, I started to do some fingerpicking with those chords I learned. 

I also taught myself how to read music. So eventually, I accumulated the knowledge of all of the chords in their various keys, fingerstyle guitar and how to read music. I was on my way to becoming a pretty good musician.

One day, while flipping through the channels on the TV, I came across a flamenco guitarist and he was good. really good and I loved watching him. I told myself that I had to learn how to play like that. So I kind of incorporated some classical guitar and flamenco techniques into my playing. It worked out rather well for me overall. 

In the video I have included here, I explain the basics for anyone who may be interested in learning how to play fingerstyle guitar. I have also included a link to my website where I have some basic lessons to get you started, just in case you may be interested. You can go to DrPsychotic.com. I hope this interests you. 

Photo Credit: Image created by Bob Craypoe, also known as R. L. Crepeau.