Whenever I'm working there comes a point everyday when I enter... The Zone.
What is the zone? Why does it exist? How do I enter it of my own will?
Well for me the zone is basically a point in time during office hours when I my focus will peak and my productivity will be really high. It can go on for as fast as 30 minutes to as long as 4 hours. Because there was this one time I had to do this project and was so focused and in to it that I didn't realize that four hours had passed, and that I was freezing my ass off.
Four hours straight work. No jacket. No break. No talk. Just work. When I finally came out of the zone, I had goose bumps from the cold. I was feeling very cold. My bladder was about to burst. But my work was amazing.
Why does the zone exist? I don't know. Maybe because I make it exist. Because I focus so much that I become super-productive.
How do I enter it? I don't know. It just happens. In fact I'm so sure that I can enter the zone everyday if only the factors were right. One factor could be direction. If I know what I have to do and that thing is finalized I can get in the zone. But if its really an unsure thing no zone.
Anyway. Enough of that. Got Live 2006 yesterday and tested it out at the mall. It worked. At home? Nope. So I'll try getting a copy from another store today. If it still doesn't work I'll have the former replaced tomorrow. And if that still won't work? I dunno.
Out.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Back in Business
You all know about getting the monkeys off my back. And you all know that right now I'm mainly working on a game. But yesterday I got assigned this other test for another client. Got supervised by my officemate/mentor/master and he approved of my work.
My word! I'm actually back in advertising. And I can't believe I've missed a lot of things about it. Like the fast deadlines and the pressure to improvise to achieve your goals. Not that I'm dissing the game I'm working on, but its basically repetitive. Model, model, model. Or you just animate what they've rigged (because they have to follow a specific rig for the character). I'm sure there's a lot more to games but right now I miss the fast-paced action of commercials.
Its more pressure but why not? At least I'm having fun. So far. Because there's still no problems with the project. But hey, what better way to improve than this, right?
Anyway this new thing I'm working on is pretty simple, actually. So far its just a test of how we model something and how we animate it. After that if the client likes it we get to do the actual commercial.
What's great about being back in ads is the fact that I'm not so constrained anymore by polygon count. In games we were basically limited to around 1,500 polygons per model for characters and significantly less for props. But for the test I'm doing already the first model I've made has around 10-15k worth of polys. Nice.
Anyway I'm a pretty happy guy again. So far.
Out.
My word! I'm actually back in advertising. And I can't believe I've missed a lot of things about it. Like the fast deadlines and the pressure to improvise to achieve your goals. Not that I'm dissing the game I'm working on, but its basically repetitive. Model, model, model. Or you just animate what they've rigged (because they have to follow a specific rig for the character). I'm sure there's a lot more to games but right now I miss the fast-paced action of commercials.
Its more pressure but why not? At least I'm having fun. So far. Because there's still no problems with the project. But hey, what better way to improve than this, right?
Anyway this new thing I'm working on is pretty simple, actually. So far its just a test of how we model something and how we animate it. After that if the client likes it we get to do the actual commercial.
What's great about being back in ads is the fact that I'm not so constrained anymore by polygon count. In games we were basically limited to around 1,500 polygons per model for characters and significantly less for props. But for the test I'm doing already the first model I've made has around 10-15k worth of polys. Nice.
Anyway I'm a pretty happy guy again. So far.
Out.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Disclaimer
When reading this blog please remember the following:
1) This blog is written by me and me alone. Most of the thoughts here are mine unless otherwise stated.
2) This blog is meant to be an outlet to my thoughts, frustrations, joys and whatnot.
3) This blog is not meant to be slanderous, treasonous, or any other "onous" or negative thing towards others. Unless otherwise stated.
4) This blog is open to anyone who wants to read it. I am not forcing you to read it, unless I asked/begged you.
5) Re-writing or copying of any of my thoughts here without my permission is wrong. Even if I don't find out that you stole my work I hope your conscience bothers you for the rest of your life and beyond.
6) Any complaints or suggestions can be dropped in the comments section where a response from me may or may not come.
1) This blog is written by me and me alone. Most of the thoughts here are mine unless otherwise stated.
2) This blog is meant to be an outlet to my thoughts, frustrations, joys and whatnot.
3) This blog is not meant to be slanderous, treasonous, or any other "onous" or negative thing towards others. Unless otherwise stated.
4) This blog is open to anyone who wants to read it. I am not forcing you to read it, unless I asked/begged you.
5) Re-writing or copying of any of my thoughts here without my permission is wrong. Even if I don't find out that you stole my work I hope your conscience bothers you for the rest of your life and beyond.
6) Any complaints or suggestions can be dropped in the comments section where a response from me may or may not come.
Getting Monkeys Off My Back
Finally. After x number of months, two commercials I worked on have finally aired.
Two monkeys off my back.
You see, even if I never showed it, not airing those two commercials severely affected my confidence at work. My officemate Portia gave me some good advice when I told her how much it bothered me. She said something like, "You gave them what they wanted. You did everything they asked. They haven't complained about what you did, its in their hands now."
And she was right. But still. It bothered me. Usually commercials take us one to two months to create then it airs a few days (to a few weeks) after we make them. But not these two. One of them was from last year. November to December. Got put on hold. February to March I had to work on it again. Finished it in the deadline they wanted. They accepted and all. Never showed. And this was a project which was mine. I wasn't helping out anyone. It was given to me. I handled it and made it.
The other one was a group effort. But it was my scene which had all the revisions. Two months worth actually. It was going around in circles.
Stuff like that can ruin my confidence. Is it something about me? Is it something with what I've created? I did as the director asked. I followed my officemates' suggestions. Everything was great and yet revisions kept coming.
Damn.
And once the online got finished they didn't even air them. Months passed. Sure I've forgotten about them and moved on to the game. But I've been afraid of doing commercials since. What if it gets held again? And that happened. Again. To this test we were supposed to do. I did as asked. I passed it. Its up to them now, I guess. What bothers me is that it seems that every commercial I've recently helped out in gets held. Is it a jinx? Or is it a problem with the ad agency and their client? We're just "suppliers" who give them what they want. They need a 3D plane? Butterflies to pop out of a mug? A dragon tossing a pretzel? You got it.
Now why won't they air it at once? I can understand one of the reasons. The new packaging wasn't done yet and the labels they gave us were the new ones. But the other two? One was supposed to be released during the first weeks of summer and the other was just a test, dammit!
Oh well. I've found solace in games. At least the deadlines are weekly. And the client has always approved the work Kem and I have done. But lately I've been "longing" (for lack of a better word) to work on a commercial again.
And if it gets held again, tough. Another monkey'll just climb on my back.
Out.
Two monkeys off my back.
You see, even if I never showed it, not airing those two commercials severely affected my confidence at work. My officemate Portia gave me some good advice when I told her how much it bothered me. She said something like, "You gave them what they wanted. You did everything they asked. They haven't complained about what you did, its in their hands now."
And she was right. But still. It bothered me. Usually commercials take us one to two months to create then it airs a few days (to a few weeks) after we make them. But not these two. One of them was from last year. November to December. Got put on hold. February to March I had to work on it again. Finished it in the deadline they wanted. They accepted and all. Never showed. And this was a project which was mine. I wasn't helping out anyone. It was given to me. I handled it and made it.
The other one was a group effort. But it was my scene which had all the revisions. Two months worth actually. It was going around in circles.
Stuff like that can ruin my confidence. Is it something about me? Is it something with what I've created? I did as the director asked. I followed my officemates' suggestions. Everything was great and yet revisions kept coming.
Damn.
And once the online got finished they didn't even air them. Months passed. Sure I've forgotten about them and moved on to the game. But I've been afraid of doing commercials since. What if it gets held again? And that happened. Again. To this test we were supposed to do. I did as asked. I passed it. Its up to them now, I guess. What bothers me is that it seems that every commercial I've recently helped out in gets held. Is it a jinx? Or is it a problem with the ad agency and their client? We're just "suppliers" who give them what they want. They need a 3D plane? Butterflies to pop out of a mug? A dragon tossing a pretzel? You got it.
Now why won't they air it at once? I can understand one of the reasons. The new packaging wasn't done yet and the labels they gave us were the new ones. But the other two? One was supposed to be released during the first weeks of summer and the other was just a test, dammit!
Oh well. I've found solace in games. At least the deadlines are weekly. And the client has always approved the work Kem and I have done. But lately I've been "longing" (for lack of a better word) to work on a commercial again.
And if it gets held again, tough. Another monkey'll just climb on my back.
Out.
Eating Out
Last Saturday my girlfriend and I decided to have dinner in Heaven N' Eggs Glorietta. So after hearing mass and walking around a bit we decided to go there. Bad move. There was a long queue and we had to wait. Fine by me. The place was packed. Maybe because the food was good, maybe because it was the "in" restaurant right now, I don't know. Anyway we waited around 30-40 minutes there. I really didn't mind waiting since the food does look good and because its a new restaurant. But ultimately we decided to leave since I was getting real hungry and because it seemed like it would take 20 minutes just to seat a group, and we were 14th in line. You do the math.
So we moved to Avenetto. At least we got seats. We even ordered already. Maica ordered eggplant parmagiana and I got this calzone. Waitress says calzone takes 35 minutes to cook so fine by me. Just bring the pasta out first, aight? Aight. So we sit. Chat have some jokes. Calzone arrives in fifteen minutes. Huh? Oh well. Eat some, chat some. After thirty minutes the pasta still hasn't arrived. Maica's getting pissed. Says to either cancel it or bring it now. Finally it arrives. So we eat some more. Ask for the bill. Wow talk about pronto! Get the change. Wow, talk about pronto! It seems the only time the service got fast was when we were going to pay already.
Okay so maybe it was bad timing on our part. It WAS Saturday. Everyone was out. But still. Avenetto's food was great. The service could be better. But the food was great and worth it. Would I eat there again? Maybe not. How about Heaven N' Eggs, would I try to eat there again? Maybe when they're not the "in" thing. Or maybe when they're about to close and they're desperate for customers. But in the near future? No. I wouldn't eat in any of those two places anytime soon.
Or maybe it was because they're both relatively new restaurants in the area and their staff aren't veterans yet. But still. Friday's serves better. No, wait. Don't get me started.
Out.
So we moved to Avenetto. At least we got seats. We even ordered already. Maica ordered eggplant parmagiana and I got this calzone. Waitress says calzone takes 35 minutes to cook so fine by me. Just bring the pasta out first, aight? Aight. So we sit. Chat have some jokes. Calzone arrives in fifteen minutes. Huh? Oh well. Eat some, chat some. After thirty minutes the pasta still hasn't arrived. Maica's getting pissed. Says to either cancel it or bring it now. Finally it arrives. So we eat some more. Ask for the bill. Wow talk about pronto! Get the change. Wow, talk about pronto! It seems the only time the service got fast was when we were going to pay already.
Okay so maybe it was bad timing on our part. It WAS Saturday. Everyone was out. But still. Avenetto's food was great. The service could be better. But the food was great and worth it. Would I eat there again? Maybe not. How about Heaven N' Eggs, would I try to eat there again? Maybe when they're not the "in" thing. Or maybe when they're about to close and they're desperate for customers. But in the near future? No. I wouldn't eat in any of those two places anytime soon.
Or maybe it was because they're both relatively new restaurants in the area and their staff aren't veterans yet. But still. Friday's serves better. No, wait. Don't get me started.
Out.
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