My animation#2 [IPL on SET MAX--Bowls you over!] !!

After making the animation involving a table lamp and a ball and watching it come alive with the background audio, I felt it has to be uploaded to YouTube here just before the IPL starts on march 12, 2010. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, proving yet again that there is so much more that we can do with Maya.

Since the video was a kind of short 21 second promo for the IPL on SET MAX, there was lots of excitement about it, what with the frenzy building up all the time.

As IPL means a carnival of sorts from SET MAX, the background score should also reflect the carnival mood. And while I was searching for the right audio, I settled for the A R Rahman track from the Couple's retreat, which was long-listed under the Best Original score for Oscars this year, but unfortunately didnt make it to the final nominees list.

Personally it is a very energetic song with very peppy-foot-tapping tunes and goes like "say na na...". Rahman's dexterity and mastery of tunes alongwith constant rhythm needs no special mention as he is a legend in himself!

I am not sure how many in India have heard the song or even known about it, but its worth listening it here for the magnificient energy that it sends out!

Like most Rahman's songs, it may not strike you at the first time, but will slowly grow on you with every consequent listening.

Coming back to the making of the IPL on SET MAX promo, it could have been even better if I had created the audio first, felt it and then created the video later! Suggestions from the audience on the video also showed that there could have been more anticipation and exaggaration[both being important principles of animation] of the table lamp's behaviour.

I will surely make the improvements in my major project by making the background score first and then video later.

So looking forward to the project work on Avatar-2 now and expecting a greater and bigger product! And for now, bye..tc

With love..
Anil

First experience of creating animated movie!

When the first shot of the ultra short-4 second video unfurled, it can be called a dream come true! Always wondered how a simple lifeless object in maya can be brought to life to entertain viewers across the world! Yesterday was the day when the complete process presented itself to me when I made this short video just for a demo purpose and the world of possibilities that lay ahead in the road laid out by the amazing software called maya!The video just shows a kind of large reptilian bird[or a kind of flying dino as you may call it] approaching the camera, hitting a billboard in front of 3 sky scrapers, and going away.Next was finding the right audio for background, and luckily a tiny part of Avatar's trailer soudtrack suited it pretty well!Of course Maya is just a tool whereas the real creator is within ourselves-- The amazing thing called "creativity"!No doubt the final demoreel/[or project as you may all call] product is not going to be easy, what with lots of things to be learnt in the ocean called with a simple word "Maya"!Its mind boggling to imagine how the creators of Avatar imagined all the characters and brought them to life on the super big screen, even though the motion was handled by all those cameras and huge performance capture systems. Video is available on YouTube here



With love..
Anil

Story of a Tea Cup

Story of a Tea Cup

"There was a time when I was just a dumb lump of red clay. Then one day my master came. He took me, brought me home, rolled and pounded me on a wooden table. Again and again, he poked his fingers into me until finally I yelled out: 'Don't do that! Leave me alone!' But he only smiled and gently said: "Not yet!"

Then, whoommmm! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly spun around and around and around until I lost all my sense of direction: 'Stop it; don't you see that I'm getting sick? Quickly, take me from the spinning wheel!' But the master only nodded in understanding and quietly said: "Not yet!"

Then he placed me carefully into an oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door: 'It is hotter than hell - I'm burning to ashes. Please get me out of here before it is too late.' I could only read his lips as he shook his head from side to side and silently pronounced, "Not yet!"

After I had cooled down he carefully picked me up, looked at me and brushed some dust away. Then he brought the colors! The fumes were horrible! 'Please... you have no mercy! Please, Stop it!' But he only shook his head and said: "Not yet!"

An hour or later he came back and placed a mirror before me and said: "Look at yourself!" And I did.What I saw amazed me. 'That's not me!' I said. 'It is too beautiful...' With a very compassionate voice he spoke: "This is what you are meant to be," and then he explained: "I know it hurt you when I rolled and kneaded you on the table. But if I had not gotten the air out of you, you would have broken. I knew you must have lost all your sense of orientation when I was spinning you. But without this you would never have come into this form. I know the fumes of the colors were intolerable when I painted you all over. But if I had not done that, you would not have had any color in your life."

God is the potter and we are the clay. He will mold us and will expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we will become a perfect piece of His liking.

--Anil

Beautiful Message..

Regards,
Friends of Lord Krishna (FOLK)
ISKCON, Bangalore

Visit us at
www.folknet.in
www.iskconbangalore.org

Best Regards,
Anil [http://anilreddy12001.blogspot.com]

Don't Interrupt Others or Finish Their Sentences

Another nice message from ISKCON Bangalore:

Don't Interrupt Others or Finish Their Sentences

When you interrupt someone, or finish his or her sentence, you have to keep
track not only of your own thoughts but of those of the person you are
interrupting as well.

This tendency (which, by the way, is extremely common in busy people),
encourages both parties to speed up their speech and their thinking. This,
in turn, makes both people nervous, irritable, and annoyed. It is also the
cause of many arguments, because if there's one thing almost everyone
resents, it's someone who doesn't listen to what they are saying.

Once you begin noticing yourself interrupting other, you'll see that this
tendency is nothing more than an innocent habit that has become invisible to
you. This is good news because it means that all you really have to do is to
begin catching yourself when you forget. Remind yourself (before a
conversation begins, if possible) to be patient and wait. Tell yourself to
allow the other person to finish speaking before you take your turn.

You'll notice, right away, how much the interactions with the people in your
life will improve as a direct result of this simple act. The people you
communicate with will feel much more relaxed around you when they feel heard
and listened to. You'll also notice how much more relaxed you'll feel when
you stop interrupting others. Your heart and pulse rates will slow down, and
you'll begin to enjoy your conversations rather than rush through them.

This is an easy way to become a more relaxed and loving person.

--
Regards,
Friends of Lord Krishna (FOLK)
ISKCON, Bangalore

Visit us at
www.folknet.in
www.iskconbangalore.org

Develop Your Compassion

Today, I received this beautifull mail from ISKCON Bangalore..

"Compassion is a sympathetic feeling. It involves the willingness to put yourself in someone else's shoes, to take the focus off yourself and to imagine what it's like to be in someone else's predicament, and simultaneously, to feel love for that person. 

Compassion is the recognition that other people's problems, their pain and frustrations, are every bit as real as our own---often far worse. In recognizing this fact and trying to offer some assistance, we open our own hearts and greatly enhance our sense of gratitude.

Compassion is something you can develop with practice. It involves two things: intention and action. Intention simply means you remember to open your heart to others; you expand what and who matters, from yourself to other people. Action is simply the "what you do about it."

Compassion develops your sense of gratitude by taking your attention off all the little things that most of us have learned to take too seriously."

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Best Regards,
Anil [http://anilreddy12001.blogspot.com]

Full text of Pranab Mukherjee's Budget 2010-11 speech

IBNLive : Full text of Pranab Mukherjee's Budget 2010-11 speech : Print Page

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Enjoy..Anil

Wild Family "Cheetah Blood Brothers" on Nat Geo Wild---Amazing!!

Yesterday's documentary about "Cheetahs--Blood Brothers" on Nat Geo Wild was an amazing experience! Its an endearing program about how cheetahs' life and the heart touching story of cheetah brothers/cousins. Its amazing how they manage and cooperate within themselves!
The two cheetah brothers waiting in vain for their elder brother was particularly touching! Also the shot where the two brothers stay close while drinking water[so as to protect themselves from any attack] was superbly taken! Kudos to the makers for this amazing piece of documentary!! I strongly recommend this show, as well as the movie Duma [coming soon on WB and HBO] for those who love wild life films!!

With love..
Anil

Check out Save Our Tigers | Join the Roar

Title: Save Our Tigers | Join the Roar
Link: http://gotaf.socialtwist.com/redirect?l=-358487566719608936821

"Gulliver's Travels" now live in the Kindle Store!!

The legendary book of Gulliver's travels is now available at the kindle store

here

..

Just login at the site : https://dtp.amazon.com

With love..
Anil