I added my website to coolhomepages.com. It’s a good reference for web designers; it provides inspiration and examples of all sorts of designs. So when you submit your site to their database and they think it’s cool, YOU WIN AN AWARD!!!!!

So yeah, my site is one of the top few hundred thousand or so web sites listed on coolhomepages.com. Yea, kinda of a big deal. In other link news, I have removed ColorPrintUSA from the blogroll because the guy who emailed me about offering me work in exchange for a link never sent me one single thing to work on.

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So here is a clip form a commercial I did that had to do with UCF Athletics. Instead of just using regular-old text, I constantly try to think of different methods to present title work. In this sports themed commercial I added the title work onto a material in Cinema 4D and created a waving pennant using the cloth tag.

I would recommend using the cloth tag to create any sort of waving flag like this rather than the wind deformer. The Cloth tag is very easy to set up and with some trial and error you can create a much more natural looking movement than with the simple wind deformer. Don’t forget to make it a child of a hyperNURBS object to make it even smoother.

There are several tutorials on this subject already out there, including this one.

I’d really like to get more in depth with the cloth tag to better understand how the settings can alter the movement and reaction of your object. I haven;t been able to find an in depth review of what certain things like flexion, global intersection analysis, global drag, etc. actually “do” when changed. If anyone has a breakdown of this to link to or would perhaps put it in writing please let me know.

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I felt my home page was in need of a bit of a makeover, so I created a new welcome video. I consulted my Xbox for inspiration and decided to create a Guitar Hero style video for my site. After doing tons of interactive research while observing the details and nuances of the game, I did my best to recreate the look and feel of the game with Cinema 4D, Photoshop, Motion, and After Effects. If you’ve never seen or played Guitar Hero (or even more awesomer, Rockband) then I suggest you head down to somewhere like Best Buy and take the floor sample for a spin.

Motion Graphics Hero: Guitar Hero Style Intro from Michael Szabo on Vimeo. 

I’m pleased with the way this came out. It’s good to know that all of my research and hard work payed off.

I’m planning on doing more welcome videos to the site every so often. I’ll either have them play randomly if I can figure out how or I will have a way to cycle between them. 

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Head over to www.colorprintusa.com if you need just about anything printed or designed.

I’m looking to freelance as a designer for the services they provide, so contact me or them to get started with any print design you need.

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I finally got on FLICKR and to upload some of my photos. I’ve always liked photography, which lends itself to many motion graphics and 3D design related techniques I use. I’m not too great at it yet, but I always keep my camera handy ready to capture that unforgettable moment…

Like when a tortoise wanders into your backyard.

Originally uploaded by bigmikedesign

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I used to have a Mitsubishi Galant, I wonder if it was made by these robots.

The ad agency that developed the Idea was BBDO in Toronto and the visual effects were done by The Mill.

I have not located the whereabouts of any basketball-playing-robots generator/plugins that I can get for Cinema 4D, have any of you?

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I recently stumbled upon a useful tool in Cinema 4D on how to keep cameras (or any object for that matter) locked in the same position.Quite often I mistakenly moved my camera in the viewer window, and Cinema 4D doesn’t allow you to revert back to the view you just had, so essentially your perhaps perfect camera angle is gone. The only solution  was to add only one set of keyframes to the position values at a specific frame. But their has to be another way…. 

And there is. I stumbled upon the “Protection” tag in the Cinema 4D tags menu.

So in the Object Manager ->Tags -> Cinema 4D Tags -> Protection.It works for anything else too, its the equivalent to locking something in Photoshop and After Effects.

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OK my reel is back up and running, I updated it by adding a the Current TV promo to it and changing the order of certain clips.

In other news my career as a student is likely over, as I will be graduating in the next few days. I’m working on updating my resume page in anticipation of looking for a job.

I also added a new blogroll link, the MographWiki, a great resource for motion graphics.

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I’ve found a new site I’m going to link to:

the c4d base

Excellent source of Cinema 4D tips and tutorials. This site has a ton to offer for C4D users.

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When I saw these Sony ads on TV, I headed over and looked them up online immediately. I wanted to confirm that I witnessed the PS3 seamlessly sprout tentacles, shoot machine guns, evolve between organic and mechanical objects, blow my mind, etc.

(Direct link in case the youtube link doesn’t last.)

From the official Playstation Blog, “the icons and characters of the PS3 world come to life in the vivid black onyx world of the PS3 and nearly burst out of its seams.”

Yep, that sounds accurate.

I hope I will be able to work on something that cool someday. If I were good enough to do that, I would actually be able to buy a PS3.

****UPDATE***** 

I found the studio that was behind the work; it was done by Superfad. Well done.

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