Some stills from The Pirates!

I've uploaded some images of my Matte Painting work at The Pirates!. They are not the best nor the most interesting ones, but the only shown in the trailers. When the movie is out in March I will upload a lot more. Stay tuned! (and please don't miss the movie, is a real fun and visual delight!)


I'm back in Spain. Now, to tranquilly resume some unfinished personal projects :)

He subido algunas imágenes de mi trabajo de Matte Painting en Los Piratas!. No son las mejores ni las más interesantes, sino las únicas que se salen en los trailers. Cuando la película salga en Marzo pondré muchas más. Estate atento! (y por favor no te pierdas la película, es hilarante y un deleite visual!)

Ya estoy de vuelta en España. Ahora, a seguir con calma con varios proyectos personales inacabados :)

Hasta luego!

 


--- Comments --------

Impresionante Diego.

Me encantaría ser tu aprendiz.

Saludos y enhorabuena.
Anxo ~ 5 days ago

Bueno, de momento está claro que tengo un fan :D
Gracias :)
Diego ~ 5 days ago

xDDD

Cuando necesites un ayudante, por favor acuérdate de mi :)

Y perdona por la doble publicación de antes.

Un saludo.
Anxo ~ 5 days ago

Bienvenido de vuelta!!! ay has acabado otra peli....mola!, que ganicas de verla tengo! :) un abrazo companheiro!
juarez ~ 4 days ago

  
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Write down: MERLI  

2 telediarios

Este viernes, dentro de 3 días, se acaba la producción de The Pirates! en Aardman. Después del viernes vuelvo a ser libre en manos de FSM y del viento! Estos próximos días estaré haciendo la mudanza, y para la semana vuelo de vuelta a España.

Hace un par de semanas, y dado que todos los demás departamentos tenían una salvo nosotros los de VFX (departamento de Efectos Visuales, los que no tocan muñecos pero chupan mucha pantalla), tomé la iniciativa e hice el diseño de unas camisetas y sudaderas para el departamento. Al final tuvieron bastante éxito, pues se hicieron un total de 258*!!




Más imágenes

*Especial mérito se lo lleva Paula (chica de Producción) por el impresionante trabajo de organizar y gestionar los pedidos, con la gente por un lado y la empresa de serigrafía por otro, luchando con números, tallas y colores, y hacerlo todo en una semana! :o


EDIT: Una pequeña muestra de las camisetas finales.. a ver si consigo una foto mejor :P


--- Comments --------

Que dibujo más chulo, pon fotos de la camiseta! :)
Anxo ~ 21 days ago

Gracias! :) ahi tienes
Diego ~ 20 days ago

Me encanta, tienes la gris en M? xDDD

PD: hazte un fb!! :)
Anxo ~ 18 days ago

  
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Write down: MERLI  

One ideal (for me) Window Manager

Today I was wondering how my ideal Window Manager would be. After some hours playing, I got this:


Click to maximize

Before you say anything, I know I know, it needs to be polished lot more and it lacks TONS of things, but hey, it's just a rough concept.. 

The main features are:

- With no windows opened, the only you see is the gray background and the clock, and optionally the mail icon informing of incoming messages/chats/twits/mails. If you click on the clock, the calendar (sort of fantastical) appears. Click on the mail icon to open chat/email/etc.

- Windows have almost no chrome but a slight shadow.  No title bars, no window buttons but just a simple + on the bottom right corner to maximize/restore the window. For moving/resizing, the alt+click/drag way of Linux is perfect (I miss that). No scrollbars too (or hidden, like macosx Lion's) today all mice have scrollwheel.

- When clicked Windows/Mac Cmd key a small centered window appears on top of everything. Is a launcher (kind of Quicksilver), which displays 4 things: An input box for searching for stuff (applications, folders, files, complex commands), a list of favorite folders, a list of favorite applications, and a list of icons for accessing administrative/system tasks. As soon as something is selected, the window disappear.

- The workspace has a third dimension for sending windows backwards. I'm pretty sure somebody thought of this before (link?) I think it can work very well.. with some combination of key+mouse or scrollwheel, the windows can be send back and forth, so you can leave them in the background, so they don't bother but you still can peek at their content (to know if some task finished, or to simply know which one to bring back). Depending of how far you send the window, it gets more/less blurred, transparent and small, so you can decide the level of 'presence' of it. Moving windows in this dimension should feel confortable and intuitive, with some snap in the top level, etc.

- It relies on shortcuts. They replace visual buttons/menus for common tasks, and specially the File Browser (copy/paste, new folder, information,  preview, new browser...)

- The File Browser (bottom right window) shows files and folders (separately), no more.  Right click should display a context menu with options for sorting, show/hide file size/date, and other tasks.

This overall look should work with wallpapers and other theme colors (although the aim of it is the simplicity, clearness and readability, so it should be preferably designed with plain and simple color schemes in mind).

What do you think? do you see big mistakes? do you have any more ideas for it?

Cheers! :)


--- Comments --------

With things like Fluxbox/Openbox, GNOME Do, and Compiz, this thing is completely doable. Get a design-loving programmer to fork Openbox and you'd be a good bit of the way there. Love it. :D
@PROGRAM_IX ~ 1 month ago

I'm glad you say that, for I really was a Fluxbox lover :) I loved how lightweight, fast and productive was.. :_)

Yup, sure it can be done.. But I should work more on it and find someone to do it.. Not an easy task :)

Anyway, thanks!!
Diego ~ 1 month ago

It's funny because for a time I thought about programming mine too. Something without distractions-just like your idea! Though it seemed like too much for one person only (with my knowledge at least).

Some feedback on this thought experiment:

- I like that windows that aren't in the foreground get grayed out (fog style). Most managers tend to apply 50% alpha to background windows and it ends up being a translucent mess :-S
- I'm not so sure about having to manage their z order manually, even with the mouse wheel it might get a bit cumbersome
- The IE icon .must.go.away. It's incredibly disturbing!!
- Although I like the launcher window
- Invisible scrollbars a la Lion are "nice" until you get to use them. I got to use them recently and finally ended up enabling visible scrollbars instead. Most of the time I didn't quite click where the "invisible area" was and it was frustrating. Maybe this could be fixed with some more allowance when invisible, not sure.
- The clock on the center... nooo!! It's like having someone reminding you what time is it at all times. I'd rather have it hidden or visible only (fade in) when hovering near the top area. Ideally it should be configurable. E.g. have it as an area for putting stuff that fades out when not active, so you can put things like the clock and other notifications there.
- Ideally I'd like to be able to put windows on top of the "clock" area, not sure if you considered that.

Did you think of the concept of workspaces? This is something you either loathe or love. I'm curious about your opinion on this. It seems "artists" tend to avoid workspaces while "programmers" abuse them.
sole ~ 1 month ago

Hi Sole! :)

It's funny because for a time I thought about programming mine too. Something without distractions-just like your idea!

haha cool :D I think the 90% of users don't really use the 95% of the stuff what is visible on the screen. That means something is wrong!

Though it seemed like too much for one person only (with my knowledge at least).

yes, for mine too.. I guess we could do something eventually, but we would need a lot of time to learn all the stuff you have to put between the OS an the Applications.. buhf, too much stuff..

I like that windows that aren't in the foreground get grayed out (fog style). Most managers tend to apply 50% alpha to background windows and it ends up being a translucent mess :-S

well, they get grayed out because the background is gray X) but yes, my intention is to fade background windows as much as possible, with LOT of transparency (30% and more) and blurring.. In fact, maybe the big background windows in the mockup are too visible yet..

I'm not so sure about having to manage their z order manually, even with the mouse wheel it might get a bit cumbersome

I'm not sure too, I think that should be something you have to test a lot with prototypes..

The IE icon .must.go.away. It's incredibly disturbing!!

haha XD it's like saying "look, you can EVEN use IE on it". Yes, it's a bit disgusting, sorry.

Although I like the launcher window

I think the launcher could work, definitively. Like a small swiss knife always ready and convenient. And it's something I/we could actually program! :D


Invisible scrollbars a la Lion are "nice" until you get to use them. I got to use them recently and finally ended up enabling visible scrollbars instead. Most of the time I didn't quite click where the "invisible area" was and it was frustrating. Maybe this could be fixed with some more allowance when invisible, not sure.

Yup, you're right. I guess something in between could be better.

The clock on the center... nooo!! It's like having someone reminding you what time is it at all times. I'd rather have it hidden or visible only (fade in) when hovering near the top area. Ideally it should be configurable. E.g. have it as an area for putting stuff that fades out when not active, so you can put things like the clock and other notifications there.

That's true, too.. I thought of it more as a simple decoration, as "this is the only thing you'll have, with no windows open". I like the hovering on top idea. And we should allow some space for notification stuff. I thought the launcher could be a place, but near the clock -as the email icon- could work too.

Ideally I'd like to be able to put windows on top of the "clock" area, not sure if you considered that.

hmm.. maybe that could be configurable.

Did you think of the concept of workspaces? This is something you either loathe or love. I'm curious about your opinion on this. It seems "artists" tend to avoid workspaces while "programmers" abuse them.

The idea of workspaces are cool, but at the end of the day, you/I don't use them. I used to have two workspaces 8 years ago, but not today. Maybe is that I'm getting old and my attention span is much shorter, or maybe is that having workspaces you lose track of what you have opened, or that is not really productive. If you don't really see the window, why having it opened in another workspace? don't know.. it does not work for me anymore, at least.

Thanks for your time! :D
Diego ~ 1 month ago

Hi Diego,

Have you tried GNOME 3? When you press the "windows" key it shows you the opened windows in tile mode plus a launcher on the left and it let's you type to immediately find an application.
I think you might like it.

Maybe you can see a bit of its usability from this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wLGWc3y22w
Joaquim Rocha ~ 1 month ago

I had seen bits and pieces, but the video is quite cool. I like it indeed, the whole thing seems very slick and neat, with some nice ideas (the clock/calendar is quite similar to what I was thinking!)

Impressed too of how much they got 'inspired' by the macosx! but well, that's for good :)

Thanks for sharing! But I'm afraid Linux still has the same problem as when I left it. Too much fragmentation and lacking a bit of cohesion, and underlying overcomplexity. Well, the fragmentation is not a real problem, but the core of all Linux philosophy.. It's difficult, but it's improving the user experience *a lot*, that's for sure.

Thanks!!
Diego ~ 1 month ago

  
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Write down: XOTE  

Animales disecados

Hola! hay alguien ahí todavía?

Ahora con la moda de las redes sociales, los blogs personales están cada vez más en desuso, disecados... que si tuiter, que si feisbuc.. ahora el que tiene algo que decir ya lo dice en una de estas webs, no necesita un engorroso blog personal. Hasta que vuelva a cambiar la moda, claro.. qué será lo próximo?..

En fin, yo de momento seguiré poniendo cosillas por aquí, aunque sea muy de vez en cuando.

El fin de semana pasado estuve en el Bristol Museum con Mauro, dibujando algunos animales disecados que tienen por allí.



(click para ampliar)


--- Comments --------

Que chulos, envidia me dás, yo debería también practicar también, aunque seguro que tendría que invertir el triple de trazos y lo ensuciaría todo... xD
Zaf ~ 2 months ago

Oooh que chulos, me gusta la cabra estrábica!! jijiji
Bss
gracia ~ 2 months ago

Gracias! ^^
Diego ~ 2 months ago

Chulisimos. Para cuando Pirates en los cines?

Un saludo!
Anxo ~ 1 month ago

Para Marzo, si no me equivoco! :)
Diego ~ 1 month ago

  
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Write down: BASTAR  

Holy Night!

En 2008 trabajé unos meses en Dygra para la película Holy Night! , cuyo estreno está previsto para estas navidades. Con permiso de la empresa, he publicado en la web algunas de las cosas que hice. 


Como veréis, es un poquito de todo: ilustración, estudios de color, estudios de iluminación... No he podido recuperar los matte paintings, pero tampoco fueron muchos ni muy interesantes.. :)

Ver galería Holy Night!



  
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Write down: NIGHT  

Trailer de Pirates! disponible

Ya están disponibles los dos trailers de Pirates!, la película de Aardman en la que estoy trabajando. Uno es para el mercado americano, el otro para el inglés. No es difícil adivinar cual es cual ;)


La película se titula de diferente modo también, dependiendo del mercado:

Pirates! Band of misfits en Apple/Trailers

Pirates! In an adventure with Scientists, en Guardian

Ambos están disponibles también en YouTube (como no).

Espero que os guste! :)



--- Comments --------

Yo estoy bastante decepcionado, la verdad. Para el trailer han cambiado totalmente los colores, y no tienen nada que ver con el tono y la calidad de imagen de los planos originales. Me parece el trailer de otra película diferente... qué penita :_(
Diego ~ 6 months ago

Pues se ve muy chula :D
WoRMs ~ 6 months ago

Pues si, tiene muy buena pinta, ademas parece divertida ^_^ (como nosotros no hemos visto los colores que se diseñaron originalmente.... nos gusta...) Cuando la estrenen ya nos podras enseñar como era en principio... :)
Bss
gracia ~ 5 months ago

  
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Write down: LUXI  

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