• Official Batman V Superman Trailer 2 Released!!!

    Wow. Just wow. Superhero movies should never be ashamed of source material. Otherwise, why would people keep reading them?

  • Tips on Implementing Blazing Fast Qt Applications

    Qt Logo
    Qt Logo

    By Chongchen Saelee

    I want to share with you my personal tips on how to implement blazing fast Qt applications. I’m just a hobbyist programmer, but I still understand the importance of programming principles such as KISS (keep it simple-stupid), OOP (object-oriented programming), optimization, utility, and user-friendliness. In the end, you’re writing a program that people want to use. Therefore, if even you can’t use the program, then you’ve done it wrong. (more…)

  • How To Minify HTML With Notepad++

    By Chongchen Saelee

    When you want to optimize HTML processing speed, you might want to minify the HTML code. This is done by removing all whitespaces, assuming your code is strongly-typed and syntax and structure is all correct. You can do this manually, which will be a pain, or use the help of an advanced text editor.

    Download the latest version of Notepad++ (as of today, the latest version is 6.8.6). It’s free and way more robust than your standard Windows Notepad (obviously, if you can’t tell by the name). (more…)

  • Learning to Grocery Shop On A Budget (Or How To Grocery Shop As A Man)

    Grocery Cart clipart courtesy of classroomclipart.com
    Grocery Cart clipart courtesy of classroomclipart.com

    By Chongchen Saelee

    I have no shame in the learning process. As I’ve said before, just by mere observation, men don’t know how to grocery shop. As for myself, having relied most of my entire life on my mother’s grocery shopping decisions, I hadn’t released how difficult it is to balance a good diet and budget. My target is to spend around $50 and eat for at least a week or two. Anyway, here’s yet another one of my receipts from today’s grocery shopping experience at Walmart: (more…)

  • Lulu.com Comic Book Advanced Technical Review

  • Blender 2.76 Low Polygon Head + Hair Test

    Agent S Blender Test
    Agent S Blender Test

    UPDATE! Now he has actual Blender material lenses, not composited in Photoshop like last time. Also, the hair is still a bitch. Was looking up low-poly hair alternatives. Maybe will go that route next time have more control over styling.

    Blender 2.76 low polygon head + hair test
    Blender 2.76 low polygon head + hair test

    UPDATE! Figured the hair out. Lighting changed, but that’s minor and easier to fix.

    Blender 2.76 Low Polygon + Hair Test
    Blender 2.76 Low Polygon + Hair Test

    With enough practice, I actually modeled exactly what I wanted. Ramping up to my Agent S comic, I read that some artists have to sculpt their own character designs for reference, which I think will help. It’s like making a dummy or action figure, you just pose it and trace or whatever. Anyway, this was a low polygon head that I applied subdivision modifier to. I also experimented with the hair particle simulator, which obviously didn’t turn out that great. It’s hard to manipulate. But there may be another technique using cloth simulator and high resolution hair texture. That might be next time.

  • Neuromancer: Case and Molly character designs

    Neuromancer Case and Molly character designs
    Neuromancer Case and Molly character designs

    When you’re reading a novel without visual proof of what the character looks like, you have to get some reference point. Anyway, here’s my interpretation of the characters Case and Molly from William Gibson’s Neuromancer.

  • Blender 2.76 Glass and Metal Render Test!!!

    Blender 2.76 Glass and Metal render test
    Blender 2.76 Glass and Metal render test

    Man. Wow. Blender 2.76 was just released a few days ago. And wow, look at what I churned out. I modeled the glass cup really quick. But using Cycles Renderer, took about 3 hours to render out. The 3D text was easy, but I’m still challenged by how to make the bevel for the border/outline along with bevel for the inset area. Anyway, the performance seem to be way better, no more crashing. There’s also a new cloth, wind physics simulator. And a “portal” light tool that sucks up the ray tracing, which improves rendering times. All have yet to be tested by me, but Blender just impresses me with every release. They’re latest open source movie is called Cosmos Laundromat. It also looks incredible.

  • Manga Studio 5 Test: New 52 Action Comics Superman

    Manga Studio 5 Superman
    Manga Studio 5 Superman

    Another practice using Manga Studio 5. This time it’s New 52 Superman.

  • Manga Studio 5 Test: Wolverine

    Manga Studio 5 Wolverine
    Manga Studio 5 Wolverine

    I suppose like any other commercial work, you have to do it methodically. You have to lay out the foundation, then go in and refine it. This is what 2 hours yields me. But this time I experimented with Manga Studio 5’s watercolor tools. It looks very authentic, like it would if you physically painted it.