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Written by Mike Best
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Wednesday, 24 March 2010 05:00 |
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Recently I have been doing a bit of work on updating my showreel, and have ported it over to HD. After getting frustrated with the banner ads, and not being able to choose my own poster frame on YouTube I decided to stump up the $60.00 and go for Vimeo account. So far the results are looking pretty good. In the process of getting some of my older bits updated to HD as well, and working over some new animation concepts which I will upload soon.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 24 March 2010 05:05 |
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Settling into Vancouver... |
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Written by Mike Best
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Saturday, 21 November 2009 22:52 |
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After many months of deliberation and planning, we have finally moved to Vancouver, Canada, where I am from originally. After 12 great years in London, my family and I have decided its time to enjoy the west-coast lifestyle and be closer to my family. I have recently taken on a role at Smoking Gun Interactive as their Lead Technical Artist, and have been working on developing the animation and art pipelines for an upcoming console title. The studio has been getting some great response to there latest innovative online project which can be found at www.exoriare.com. My focus so far has largely been on the development of the character animation pipelines, and have created animation tools and exporters, as well as building state-machines and animation trees for a character based project. Before joining Smoking Gun, I finished up work on the EyePet for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. The project has recently been released in Europe to critical acclaim and commercial success. EyePet is planned for release in North America in Spring 2010. |
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Last Updated on Saturday, 21 November 2009 23:05 |
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Written by Mike Best
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Saturday, 06 June 2009 16:59 |
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After of few weeks being submitted to daytime TV I have returned back to work. All is going fine, and I am steadily getting back into the swing of things. The support I have recieved over the last month from friends and family has been outstanding and very much appreciated, and Sony has proved itself again to be a brilliant company to work for. It's good to be back on my feet! On the work front we are getting closer to completion on EyePet, are we are all very proud of how its shaping up. We showed it at E3 this year, and the response was fantastic. Some of the coverage from E3 can be seen on the BBC webstite. Outside of work the sun has finally decided show its face, and we have had a couple good weeks of weather. My family and I decided to take advantage of it a couple weekends ago by pulling the camping gear out of the loft and heading down to Cornwall for the long weekend. It was our first time down there and it lives up to it's reputation for being one of the prettiest regions in the UK. There was so much to do we would definitely like to make it down there for another trip this summer. My wife and I are still looking to relocate to the west-coast of North America, and I am always interested to hear about interesting opportunities over there. |
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Last Updated on Saturday, 06 June 2009 17:18 |
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Mike temporarily out of comission |
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Written by Mike Best
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Monday, 04 May 2009 15:09 |
I have recently had a bit of a health scare which requried surgery. It means that I have had to take a little time off work, and have temporarily put the brakes on plans for moving back to Vancouver for the time being. I am currently taking it easy at home for a couple of weeks, until I am recovered enough to head back to work. We will likely revisit the moving plans in the early autumn depending on how things go.
Just using the time to get caught up on back episodes of 'Lost', 'Mad Men' and 'The Mentalist' or noodling on the guitar. Can't do much else so might as well enjoy the time off...
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Last Updated on Monday, 04 May 2009 15:22 |
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Written by Mike Best
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Monday, 20 April 2009 12:43 |
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Its been a busy month. At Sony, we have been putting the finishing touches on the latest stages of EyePet. The game is starting to look great and we are all very excited about it. I am particularly happy as the next bits seen by the public will show off more of the facial animation stuff I have been doing on the project. Will post more on this when there is further info.
I am still pursuing a senior role on the west-coast of North America, with a few interesting possibilities presenting themselves. Obviously can't say too much on that one, but hopefully we are still on track for dipping our toes in the Pacific Ocean by July.
I was at a great lecture a couple weeks ago by Scott Eaton. It was an in-depth course on muscle and skeletal anatomy, with a particular emphasis on CG modeling. Highly recommended. As a result I decided I just had to go run out and buy myself a 1/3 size skeleton to sit up on my desk and keep me company. Its got a lovely anterior superior illiac spine (phwor). Ah, life is in the details.. Had a lovely long weekend chilling out at a cottage in Kent, surrounded by deep, dark and quiet woods. Great chance to relax and do a little work on a series of facial animation articles I am working on, the first section of which I posted - others to follow soon. |
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Last Updated on Monday, 20 April 2009 13:16 |
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