lalamax3d - cgArtist

Paragliding Trip (Training 101)

2011-07-05T23:07:00.000-07:00

last month, few friends of mine made sudden decision for three days paragliding training. here are few pics, before i erase them and small video, which i put togeather from all different useless clips. cheers...

PhotoWalk Lahore Veg Market (near ravi)

2011-06-12T05:19:00.000-07:00

portraits

some vegetables

Complete SlideShow here as well..

PhotoWalk Wateen Office Roof Top

2011-06-12T02:43:00.000-07:00

these are few images i liked...

these are few images i liked

Complete SlideShow as well, for full screen, click picasa icon at lower right and watch on picasa.

PhotoWalk Walton Airport (Aero Modeling)

2011-06-12T02:21:00.000-07:00

these are few images, i like

Complete SlideShow as well, for full screen, click picasa icon at lower right and watch on picasa.

i also have some HD videos, let me know if interested, i'll post them here via youtube...

more linux updates, thoughts (includes fedora)

2011-06-12T01:10:00.000-07:00

since last month, i had been using Fedora. i find this 95 % identical to ubuntu. first i'll explain similarities, then differences.

why i installed Fedora at first place, few commercial applications (maya / mocha / pftrack), there installers come by default in rpm format ( Fedora / red hat installer formats) not as deb files ( ubuntu intallers ). i know, i can convert rpms to debs via some utils (alien), which i had been doing previously for maya. but now i thought as more companies are using Fedora in big studios as far as i konw, so i thought no harm in checking this.
still ( personal opinion) all software developers (linux) should learn from nuke / houdini, these installers worked everywhere... love this..

installing Fedora was simple, process is 99 % similar to Ubuntu.

download Fedora from website gnome or kde whatever you like.
download unetbootin (in windows)
plug usb, format in fat32 version ( critical )
run unetbootin in, give it your fedora iso file ( downloaded above)
it will create bootable usb (live usb)
restart machine and boot from usb. run / try live usb
from apps, install fedora, process is again pretty similar to ubuntu.

proxy problem is again similar, it exists exactly as it was in ubuntu. so its hard to deal with proxy here as well. except you can set that in firefox and browse.

gnome shell 3, which was released few months ago, is implemented in fedora and default. where as you have to install that in ubuntu and turn off unity.
as far as usage is concerned, i find gnome shell 3 100 % similar in fedora and ubuntu. no difference at all.

Conclusion for linux flavor,

esthetically, i'll prefer ubuntu over fedora for its ease of use / bigger and friendlier community
technically, no difference, i am ok with both now.

Conclusion for desktop manager / shells,

esthetically, i'll prefer KDE over Gnome. i had concluded this for myself in past and recently i concluded again. its better design solution. its more complete solution. specially after gnome 3, i feel, may be in future, when more touch devices will be common, it will make more sense. plus its current implementations have some serious issues. i personally want to suggest, that gnome 3 should consider apple top bar design implementation. clock should go to right, app menus should be part of gnome top bar. currently lot of space is wasted

gnome top bar
then heavy app name , with close button top bar
then app main menu top bar
these three top bars should be merged ideally like in mac..

technically, not much difference.

fedora add remove software app (gui) is not as smart / cool as ubuntu synaptic is. here in fedora, i quickly get used to for yum which is equivlant of apt wget from ubuntu.
few common yum operations are

sudo yum install gimp
sudo yum remove gimp

check update
sudo yum list updates
check specific package updates
sudo yum update gimp

seach package everywhere ( pc / repos / )
sudo yum search gimp
get info about package before installing
sudo yum info gimp

remove old headers of packages that no longer are in database
sudo yum clean all
list packages that yum can install
sudo yum list available|less
list installed packages
sudo yum list installed|less
list installed packages that can be updated
sudo yum list updates|less

GENERAL rpm vs yum
This command will list any package that has "fox" in it's name..
sudo rpm -qa | grep fox
sudo yum list | grep fox
This command will list what is required by the firefox package...
sudo rpm -q -R firefox
sudo yum deplist firefox
This command will erase the firefox package...
sudo rpm -e firefox
sudo yum remove firefox
This command will erase multiple packages at once
sudo rpm -e firefox thunderbird
sudo yum remove firefox thunderbird
This command will list installed packages
sudo rpm -qa
sudo yum list installed

if manually delete a folder, now wanna remove / uninstall / db entry as well
sudo rpm -e --noscripts pftrack
A bit brutish but you could try:
sudo rpm -e --nodeps --allmatches --noscripts pftrack

just to save my a** from future trouble, i should mention that. LAMP or XAMPP doesn't exist in fedora. or lets say, its not meant for fedora or lets say, i find it difficult to setup for me. later on, i realise that, actually "httpd" is fedora default solution for this, instead of xamp. below is how i configure this.

installation apache/mysql/php
sudo yum -y install httpd php mysql mysql-server php-mysql

test installation for php support
sudo yum install php mod_suphp

more php modules to support web servers
sudo yum install php-mysql php-magickwand php-devel php-gd php-imap php-ldap php-odbc php-pear php-xml php-xmlrpc php-eaccelerator php-magpierss php-mapserver php-mbstring php-mcrypt php-mssql php-shout php-snmp php-soap php-tidy curl curl-devel perl-libwww-perl ImageMagick libxml2 libxml2-devel

securing / new password for root , press "y" to almost all options
sudo mysql_secure_installation

restart sql server
/etc/init.d/mysqld restart
start Apache:
/etc/init.d/httpd start

creating menu in apps, create apacheStart.desktop in /usr/share/applications and copy paste following lines
------------------------------------------------
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Httpd Start
GenericName=Start Apache Server
Comment=Apache Service Start from Terminal
Type=Application
Exec=sudo /etc/init.d/httpd start
Icon=/usr/share/icons/xampp.png
Terminal=true
MimeType=application/x-kdenlive;
Categories=Qt;Programming;Development;
------------------------------------------------

installing phpmyadmin
sudo yum install phpmyadmin
run phpmyadmin via
http://localhost/phymyadmin
give mysql username and password to login..

If you want to allow phpmyadmin connection from other locations other than localhost, then modify the following file

    gedit /etc/httpd/conf.d/phpMyAdmin.conf

by commenting out the following lines


    order deny,allow
    deny from all
    allow from 127.0.0.1
    allow from ::1


basically replacing the lines above with

    #
    #order deny,allow
    #deny from all
    #allow from 127.0.0.1
    #allow from ::1
    #

Lighting / Rendering / Composting for DevilAngelsAndDating

2011-06-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

i have recently finished lighting / rendering / compositing on a shot for upcoming short film named DevilAngelAndDating.

official Thread (WIP)

This specific shot was quite different comparing to majority of other shots, so it took far more time than i expected initially, one of major reason was camera was also moving, other than characters, plus few props were animated from foreground to background layer.

Early Lighting Test Images on forum
Early Layers BreakDown on forum

as far as i remember, i had 50 to 70 internal revisions with extremely minor tweaks of lighting variations etc. i can't have them now, plus i can't post there here. Below are last few revisions from forum, where its getting closer to final and locked stage.

Revision 15

Revision 16

Revision 17

Revision 18

Revision 19

and now my notes / comments / thoughts about my involvement in this project up till now.

Working with Michael Cawood is one of extremely enjoyable incident happened in my life. it is as good as working with Ahmed from Wireframe Interactive was. Fully fun and a lot to learn.
"Scene is nothing but description of assets" i have seen that first time, practically happening in this movie. each scene (shot) is nothing but description of asssets(static and or animated).
its been a wish list few years, to see, rapid (fast) , dynamic pipeline for short studios, where things are easy to setup / maintain. ideally, models / rigs / animations are independent from each other and updating easily throughout production. i was unable to find decent workable solution even in 2008. then i have first time, checked and done that in blender. then i have seen, equally good referencing methodology in this film, which gets turbo noss when combined with dropbox. i know its lengthy topic, so i won't write more currently.
specifically about this shot. i learned another really valueable thing. now i wanna call this "Light Loop" just like "Game Loop" in game dev. that is how light is going to affect an object. obviously at first instance it sounds simple. but its really complicated. in max i was used to of term "include exclude list settings in lights" in maya, similar things exist knows as light linking. but still understanding details is what matters and makes a differece. that is

light and object(subject) both should exist in same render layer
light should be visible ( not hidden in viewport )
now light should be linked to relevant assets
light should be turned on. etc ( shadows bla bla )

i love maya render layers / render passes / render pass manager groups, its well thought out.

Hick Film Character Rigs

2011-06-09T08:22:00.000-07:00

somewhere in 2010, i had a chance to work with Jess Herman. She is currently directing / animating a short film named "HICK". It is currently in production phase. I worked as character rigging artist and setup 4 main characters for film named "Bob", Joleen","Rosella" and "Mr.Fleen".
I am posting rig snapshots here, all characters are conceived / drawn by concept artist working in that film. and all characters are modelled by Jess Herman. Rest of my Notes are at end of images..

Notes / Comments

i used anzovin plugins to rig the characters, which include TSM and TFM
its most production ready tool, as far as rigging / animation thing is concerned.
its also one of best rigging tool, i have used so far anywhere.
amazing thing is their live support in forum. developers are always there to help. i was stuck at few points, and i found support amazing.
may be, in future i'll do a quick short tutorial about how to setup characters using this tool, current demos / tutorials are good, but missed few key points.
lastly, while adjusting face curves, manual is option if face proportions are strange. this is no symmetry tool, currently i managed to work, but in future, i think, i should write or someone else should write a simple scripted tool, which sees cv pos on left or right curves and mirror them on opposite side curves. sounds simple, shouldn't take more than a day..

common camera commands (MEL functions)

2011-02-13T19:58:00.000-08:00

while working in maya, i always miss 3dsmax wild / precise / speedy environement. there is huge list of things to document in this context about customization. but attached are three simple mel functions which let me assign 3 common camera commands to short cut keys or quad menus, exactly as i have those in 3dsmax.

below are functions descriptions and then how to install those quickly (at end)
click function name to download relevant MEL file.

Create camera from view (DOWNLOAD)

equivilant to 3dsmax menu > view > create camera from view
no idea, if it already exists in default maya.

Select Camera From View (DOWNLOAD)

equivilant to 3dsmax > view menu > select camera
in maya view menu, select camera. now u can assign key, move mouse in view, hit, it will select camera,
useful for quickly showing camera settings and tweaking

View From Selected Camera (DOWNLOAD)

useful when multiple cameras in view.
easiest is, simply select camera in view, hit shortcut key, it will move your current view to look at from this camera
if no camera is selected, it will pop up a dialog similar to max ( with list of cameras)
picking a camera will update viewport
double clicking will close this dialog as well.

i think, installation is so simple, i can't forget that. incase you need help about that, feel free to discuss

flash development Notes in General

2011-02-13T05:39:00.000-08:00

its been few months i am developing with action script 3. this post will document my current information about flash development process and future plans.

IDE. Flash Develop. from last three months. ( currently using this, port for mac is in progress, and i love this.)
Eclipse can be used with AXDT / FDT / FLEX SDK ( seems logical for linux users )
Flash Builder or standalone FDT can be used as well ( windows / mac possible approaches)

FRAMEWORKS / LIBRARIES

MOJOCOLOR

if you are dealing with colors (technically), it is must, can't just force, how cool and amazing this is. how much time it saved, while working on brightoPaints Project.

CAURINA TRANSITIONS

an extremely useful tweening engine / framework for as3 work. i have used it offcourse, in more than 1 project. too good

BOX 2D

obvious choice for 2d physics engine in flash. now a days working on this (python port is also available)

PAPERVISION

most probably, will be my obvious choice, if needed to do 3d in flash.

SOUND STEP BASE UI

GUI Layout framework, i m hoping to use in upcoming flash IDE project.

SOMACORE

modern / future version of MVC implementation (advance level). Hopefully i'll use it. currently hard ( out of scope )

PUREMVC

classical / current version of MVC implementation for as3. (python port is also available)

Above are the ones, in which i am interested and i have been following their development from quite some time. In similar context, you can find more generic and useful information on follow links.
Reference 1 , Reference 2

Lastly, some extremely cool flash dev relevant websites, which i visit quite often and i m huge huge fan of these genius guys. Thanks for inspiring me.

emanueleferonato
8bitrocket
iainlobb
soulwire
soundstep
somerandomdude
neave

Happy Flashing..

photography lesson 1

2011-02-07T11:05:00.000-08:00

few weeks ago(jan 2011), i was called by some of my friends at Evolve ( mahboob and nauman) ,got invitation for photowalk. i was given very special offer which includes
1- warning, that as cg artist, i should learn photography
2- warning, that as cg artist, i should have my own camera (DSLR)
3- offer, get training for free, one lesson a month, first lesson is gonna happen in that walk
4- offer, 7D and 5DM2 camera with few good lenzes at my disposal to experiment while learning.

offcourse, i accepted that. and below are my notes.

previously in this blog, i have put some images which i took while different trips. but i have to accept that, in all those occasions, i have given a good camera with "auto" turned on, i used to zoom / adjust frame and do click thing and feel good because of technology.

now in that walk, they have explained me, two new variables named fStop and shutter. fStop adjust range (area) around focus point and shutter adjust exposure to capture that range with sufficient light. for first few minutes, it was hard to remember and manage both variables. but soon, i get used to for them. Below are few pictures (20 approximately, out of 50 i took ) and i would like to put them here, before i erase them. so i can remember what i was thinking while taking and what i had learnt from each..

NOTES: i was told, that, typically, flower and or such images are not meant to be put somewhere... :)

NOTES: and then color corrected / tweaked images are also not appriciated.. :( so

NOTES: so i learned, i should give more time to frame, no harm in it..

and should always try to improve composition..(must hai)..

NOTES: should push khurram / master for next trip soon ( in feburary)

Brighto Paint App

2011-02-07T10:33:00.000-08:00

i have recently finished few simple web applications for BrightoPaints. I was hired / contracted by Evolve (Company which is doing complete web campaign, website etc). My role in project was to work as flash developer. I had luxury of having a flash consultant as well (if needed), Huge thanks to Nadeem Manzoor for providing such a wonderful help n support from his valueable time.
first and foremost important thing about this application, since its inception was, where user can pick areas (pre-defined) and fill colors and see final image. its almost same, but while discussions with client it has evolved a bit . Project can be seen at live website (BrightoPaints). it consits of few simple small apps / modules.

Paint App
paint application, where user can fill colors (from client data base) into images

Paint Calculator

estimate required paint amount (in-directly cost)

Color Browser
browse colors from client database and see other relevant color schemes based on simple logics.

NOTES:
this is my first implementation of OOP.
this is also my first implementation of Design Patterns. i have used MV design pattern.
evolve team still busy in filling up images and improving earlier testing masks, so quality of output is still WIP but generally application is working. hopefully, it will be finalised soon..

FUTURE:
initially, we wanted to make this a product, which evolve can resell, but due to time contraint, we had to drop that plan and test possibility via simple implementation. Now when this proejct is over, i think, it still has its potential as product in evolve products catalog.
to do this, i have to implement MVC design pattern , so Custom GUI's and skins can be added per client.
plus, i also feel, i'll write two more simple components for this in future
1- search client colors via name or code
2- search client closests colors based on any user picked color via custom attributes, where user can give hue / sat / val ranges and search database.

hologram rigging for DevilAngelsAndDating

2011-01-27T20:26:00.000-08:00

i have done some prop rigging for upcoming short film "devil angels and dating" on siggraph 2010 hopefully by Micheal Cawood. Apparently it was simple task, but i find it quite challenging and fun to do.Really enjoyed working with Director, pushing the limits to make it work. Here are few WIP videos from orignal website (if u r interested in more detailes, let me know, i'll try to post more detailed version... )

udpate_v2

Find more videos like this on Devils Angels and Dating
update_v3

Find more videos like this on Devils Angels and Dating
udpate_v4

Find more videos like this on Devils Angels and Dating

2010 wrap-up

2011-01-18T05:29:00.000-08:00

WOW, that was fast. lot has happened and still a lot more left to do. quick wrap up of few thoughts here..

i have recently finished some minor tweaks in Blog Design. (Actually did a new, better one, but was booked by someone ). For quite some time, i was thinking about updating blog more often. As things finish. So i have just decided that i minimum should update blog once a month...by all means.

i took two online courses last year. Maths from fxphd and MEL / PYTHON with PyMel from CGSOCIETY. Both were good and extremely helpful.

i worked in two Short films (this is official now). Finished 4 main character Rigs in HICK. Also some prop rigging in DevilAngelsAndDating and still doing some more lighting work.

Some very interesting Devices Released in 2010 and thoughts about them..

Microsoft Kinect

one of the most amazing device, i have recently seen / read about. so much is going on in this context, will be updated soon.... salute to prime sense (company who did all of this)

Sony PlayStation 3 Eye

i know, they have also done "move" but my interest is in their camera is for exactly same reason i m interested in Kinect. that is building / capturing motion.

Apple iPhone 4

even i m against Brand Price. Plus i haven't had good feelings since i tried first iPad (that was without multi-tasking). But they have made really good product. video quality is really good.

Almost last half of 2010 was mostly busy with development (flash / maxscript / python(nuke)). It seems that 2011 will continue previous trend and probably get more into serious development.

After Effects Batch Processing....

2011-01-18T04:34:00.000-08:00

In early 2010, i had done some after effects batch processing. Purpose of documenting it here is to find it again, when needed. Also write down what exactly i learned and where i left it. So continuging this again in future is little easy and less time wasting.

I ending up creating two simple tools. Primary purpose of tools were

producing lower thirds for some Content ( 1000 plus songs )
producing template based programs, where motion designer has finalized templates and now they want huge data to be filled based on specific conditions (each day or each week) in template and render out.

In both of above cases, Content information was available in CSV format, from CONTENT Team. (Note, csv files are simply excel sheets containing data in tables. almost similar to XML files).

Usage Notes:

Artist can run these directly from interface ( after putting scripts in adobe scripts folder)
next is to give it CONTENT Folder, where all of Video files are stored
next is to give it CSV file, so it loads / checks content and give warnings about missing stuff.
At this point, tool expects, that artist has already opened relevant template. Artist Simply needs to pick what he wanted to output and hit Process Buttons. Pretty Straight Forward ...
as soon as artist, picks some item from csv files, it tells, it finds all relevant information.
for rendering , i have setup h264 mov preset, via script, and outputs in mov. later on requirement came from mpg2 and its implemented..

Tech Notes:

Adobe DOM Model is good. Simple and Stright Forward.
Adobe Srcripting IDE (ExtendScript) is super well designed and Tightly Integrated with apps, i m sure about AE, and hopefully its similar with others.
Currently Tools using a function for CSV Parsing Data from CreativeWorkflowHacks, so all credits goes to them for there super help. I am getting lot of help from this by directly using this.
I remember, that Artist using that tool, sent request that once paths are set, tools restarting should autoload those and locations should be stored with it. i remember, i wanted to add that, but left this at this very exact point.

Few Useful Links for AE Scripting Learning (via browsing other super cool scripts..)

http://www.redefinery.com/blog/
http://www.crgreen.com/aescripts/
http://www.aenhancers.com/ (forum)

Nuke X cameraTracking Notes

2010-07-13T00:15:00.000-07:00

last few weeks i was experimenting with nuke X features (primarily camera Tracker). all these shots are purely nuke, except the fact that text was written in blender and exported as FBX. below is output with notes / conclusions..

CONCLUSIONS:

camera tracker is amazing, really strong
better than pfTrack but not as complete product as pfTrack is
nuke 3d shading system is not that good comparing to fusion for me.
cmi has made script to export tracking data out to fbx so next time i'll prefer to put 3d elements in fusion and finish there unless nuke gives good enough shaders mainly reflection / facing ratio bump etc. i know big studios can do this right now but generally from artist point of view, its still hard
another example is light casting shadows, again gizmos are there but its a bit hard. should be default feature etc
lastly, i heard atom kraft (google) 3d commercial renderer coming for nuke, hopefully it will make life easier
still in love with nuke customization, user friendliness, speed, and all other cool features. i wish they also start providing support for RPF files..like fusion..

Firefox vs Chrome Thoughts

2010-07-12T23:56:00.000-07:00

its been a year almost i have using both of these browsers and was trying switch to chrome and it was such a bad expereience that i finally stop trying.
without a doubt, chrome is speedy but thats only plus i found in chrome its not enough for daily use.
what confused me about chrome

chrome simply sucks while dealing with proxies and any big corporate has proxy / firewall setuped so its almost impossible to use this in a corporate environement. i have seen official link 100's of complains and google not paying attention to this.
whats the point for making google bookmarks service and then syncing bookmarks via docs. etc. and again if all of these new sync features can't work for proxy, why would i simply want to sync between office n home, where office has proxy setup......

recently firefox has announced a sync feature and i m glad it really works, helps to remove frustration...
plus amount of extras / addons that help are amazing...
may be if i kept breathing, i'll try chrome in 2011, ideally i think, if google has given that money to firefox and helped them to rewrite core or add speed thingy, that would have helped whole world more...

Arri Cam

2010-03-18T15:15:00.000-07:00

This was actually build for office work, we have to use this for broadcast promotional Campaign. Re-rendered for fun, part of experimentation with multichannel exrs. It was fun to play with in Nuke. Almost all aspects from 3d were controllable....

Shot

Breakdown

Car Fall Shot

2010-03-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

A simple shot to play with, shoot on my roof top with 5D Mark2. Almost 3 days to work with, including Matchmoving, animation,rendering etc...

Shot

Breakdown

Liberty Shot

2010-03-16T23:06:00.000-07:00

Quick test took total 3 days, from shoot to finish, it was taken while sitting in car and travelling at possible lowest speed (5km/h) and it was so jerky ...

hence the shot confirms following

current roads situation in lahore
suzuki mehran ultimate shocks

Shot

Breakdown

Notes of what i learned

do more qa on stablizing, once small errors moves on at this point, creates more confusion in end,

also never forget to take grid shot for lenz distortion estimation, other wise always remain in doubt

also dont forget to take white balance confirmation

linux windows dual boot notes

2010-01-03T23:56:00.000-08:00

previously( win xp and ubuntu 8 etc) it was easy and as follow

setup xp first, using first partition
setup ubuntu, using second partition or unpartitioned space, it automatically overrides windows boot manager and grub takes precedence and shows all options at start.

recently ( windows 7 and ubuntu/kubuntu karmic versions) little tough because whatever u do, windows 7 tries and eat boot load manager successfully and won't let you run linux easily. also there were enough confusions online e.g:
a- youtube search "how to setup windows 7 and ubuntu) few used wubi ( bad: virtualization )
b- google search "how to setup windows 7 and ubuntu ) few ok, but didn't get exact solution.
here is what i did and it really worked for me after few tries.

run ubuntu / kubuntu live cd/usb and run gparted
create 10 gb swap, 80 gb ext4 for ubuntu/kubuntu installation let remaining 80 gb for windows, untouched spaced. ( don't install, simply restart )
boot with windows 7 and setup in remaining space.
boot with ubuntu /kubuntu cd/usb again. this time, install in ext4 parition, i made earlier and this time grub installed after windows and it noticed partitions somehow and managed everything nicely, as i was expecting.

cheers

product renders

2009-12-30T04:01:00.000-08:00

Recently i asked few of my colleagues to give me products (car models, perfume bottles etc) to experiment with product renders. below are results, modeling credit goes to relevant modelers (naeem,raja,atyeb,farhan,safi,jab). i m putting two images here only. this model was done by raja.

From lalamax3d - cgArtist

CofeeBar RealTime Visualization WIP

2009-12-30T03:16:00.000-08:00

last month i had a chance to participate in interesting real time visualization project with EVOLVE Studios. my role in project was to setup process for artists to export data from 3dsmax to Quest engine. This is third output build where following are done

RealTime Reflections on Floor, OK
Artwork/ Assets Lighting / Baking process test, OK
Pano Image testing working,OK
All basic type of shaders (baked GI,cubic reflections,metal,videos) are working,OK

Download Executable(Zipped)Run in FULL SCREEN MODE, when asked and for navigation use MOUSE and “WSAD”. offcourse right now you can go outside, but in final version this won’t be allowed and things will be interlinked properly.

Conclusions
1- exporters:
there are almost 3 exporters out there on web (panda from some UK guy, cgr from orignal company and another one)
panda works best for me for sure right now
cgr didn’t worked perfect, crashed max but it has a shader which is similar to orignal application and it lets you setup everything in max and even lets you view this as well.
approach 1: using panda exporter

needs to reimport data in quest and save pool / manage ( save cgr file)
becareful about naming convention its hardly workable right now
do shaders setup again for reflection / refraction / GI / alpha / transparency

approach 2: using cgr exporter (native)

directly export cgr file (good plus)
can also setup shaders in max (good plus)
just thinking why it hanged…

2- workspace/project/data management:
as a newbie best approach is
1- save workspace file
2- save default project pool in same folder with suitable name e.g (main file.cgr)
3- save all – so everything will be udpated and in same folder (temp project should be removed right now)
4- import data(.x/cgr) with new pool name and save in same folder

mel editor (ide)

2009-12-29T21:30:00.000-08:00

this is on-going debate. so i'll add as i learn. it frustrates but hoping that some day, maya has simple decent script editor like max has.....

update 2008
searched a lot about IDE’s and found that actually commercial products are best like MEL STUDIO PRO and MAXYA. so many other opensource IDE’s and syntax hilighting files are available on highend3d but none ever worked for me the way it should be. for simple scripter like me, having funtions list available is huge stuff and if somehow i am not able to send commands to maya from external editor then it is useless. even some free ide’s complained that they do (jedit) but it never worked for me.

lastly in terms of free IDE’s i tried a lot and get closer to eclipse and jedit. both then needs to add bla bla plugins and setup that it gives me nothing but frustration rather then automating task and get the job done.
update 2009
i had puchased "maxya" and trust me if u r on windows, it is best possible thing u can have. later on i moved to linux. for some time, i had used CUTTER. pretty good. really amazing. java based script editor by genius guy "". its amazing for mel.
then i used mapy and scite for some time. its also equally good (except it supports python as well)
lastly i moved to eclipse and there is a plugin on creative crash. it also supports pymel etc and becomes as good as maxya on windows...

maya Dropbox Setup & Notes

2009-12-29T21:07:00.000-08:00

MAYA_APP_DIR (user variables)
this sets where different versions of maya created base preferences folder. e.g 8.5 and 2008
must remember that somehow it wasn’t updated unless i restart my PC.
windows::e.g : C:\Documents and Settings\haseebah\My Documents\maya\

MAYA_SCRIPT_PATH (system variables)
this helps to manage multiple folders organized. if you didn’t set this one in environment variables. also remember to put semicolon and add multiple path and was very helpful to put zooToolBox separately managed in above examples. this can also be set in maya.env file. but system / user variables take precedence if declared.
window::e.g : C:\Documents and Settings\haseebah\My Documents\maya\2008\scripts\zooToolBox;C:\Documents and Settings\haseebah\My Documents\maya\2008\scripts
e.g.
setting separate folder for python scripts is simple , add line in maya env file

PYTHONPATH = C:\Documents and Settings\haseebah\My Documents\maya\2008\scripts\Python

userSetup.mel or userSetup.py to initialize simple script commands at startup (loading packages and assigning simple name spaces helps a lot, e.g: import maya.cmds as mc etc) also useful to setup ports for listening from jedit and eclipse.

linux::e.g : (in .profile file located at /home/lala) add lines below, this helps to avoid all maya installations at multiple machines ( home / office ) has same look n feel. even installation of one script is also done at all places. changing hotkeys and shelfs at one place update other places. too good. offcourse u have to setup dropbox :D
----------------------------------------------------------
export MAYA_APP_DIR=/home/lala/Dropbox/Maya
export MAYA_SCRIPT_PATH=/home/lala/maya/2009-x64/scripts/zoo:/home/lala/maya/2009-x64/scripts/lala
export PYTHONDEV=/home/lala/Dropbox/Maya/2009-x64/scripts/pymel
export MAYA_LOCATION=/usr/autodesk/maya2009-x64
export PATH=$MAYA_LOCATION/bin:$PATH
export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:$PYTHONDEV
----------------------------------------------------------
maya.env in linux is like

MAYA_PLUG_IN_PATH = /home/lala/maya/2009-x64/scripts/pyPlugin
MAYA_SCRIPT_PATH=/home/lala/maya/2009-x64/scripts/zoo:/home/lala/maya/2009-x64/scripts/lala:/home/lala/maya/2009-x64/scripts/rigging
PYTHONPATH=/usr/local
MAYA_MMSET_DEFAULT_XCURSOR=1

Stretchy Biped

2009-12-29T20:59:00.000-08:00

Installation: Just drag-drop or put in your “usermacros” folder

Usage: 3dsmax>>customize>>lmRigging (assign key/quad etc)
Download: squashyBiped_v0.2

Update: new version add squash support (not physically real for volume calculation, but as per my liking aesthetically). also all reactor controllers now have been removed and expression controllers have been used.

Notes:The Script helps you to setup stretchy biped bones (arms,legs,spine,etc) quickly with 1 mouse click. It simply adds a parameter “stretchy” to first selected bone(modifier stack) from selection. ( you can copy paste modifier where ever you want after wards).

Example:if you want two arm bones to stretch and hand as controller parameter, just select hand and then arm bones and hit “make stretch” with optional “skip 1st”.
if you want whole spine to be stretchy, just select all spine bones and hit make stretchy.(parameter will be added to 1st selected biped bone)

Toon Eyes (quick/easy setup)

2009-12-29T20:27:00.000-08:00

Installation: Just drag-drop or put in your "usermacros" folder
Usage: 3dsmax >> customize >> lmRigging ( assign quad /key etc)
Download: ToonEyes_v0.2

Update: minor fix (closing UI accidently without finalizing now can be fixed by selecting left and right ffds and hitting finalize button.
Notes:The Script helps you to setup toon ffd eyes symmetrically. it also add two helpers which you can constaint later (lookat) .

motion builder study ( quick one )

2009-12-29T03:28:00.000-08:00

recently i had chance to study motion builder for few days to help an old x collegue. output shown below was done in few days while studing almost all aspects of motion builder, which makes it unique from other similar products (actually dunno any other similar product).

what i really liked / amazing / cool features

1- keyframing difference
its actually little different conceptually, comparing to max biped, where while keyframing, i need to care about feet keys in terms of plant / slide / free. where as in motion builder all such features are for my ease while posing. it has nothing to do with keyframe data, as most of time, its saving and interpolating this in real time.
another decent thing, i really enjoyed is default interpolation seems quite good and produces better result

2- camera / storyWindow
ahh, its so good. i am amazed why such features are still missing from max/maya. amazing to shoot action from switcher. its totally like actual filming, where i can add as many cameras as i like and switch back n forth automatically while playing and viewing final output. too good. i really loved this feature

3- Animation Mixing / NLA
another decent one. easy to use. more intutive than max mixer/ biped NLA stuff.

4- Physics
quick / fast / entertaining / fun to explore and enjoy variations.

Conclusions

when i found more time, i should test this software more and try to produce better results. specially if possible testing it with combination of endorphin. togeather these two will help a lot to produce better quality quickly, while making it fun
motion builder for sure is better replace of biped. no worries about where animation data is. its always few click to retarget-load to new rig / character.

weekend exercise

2009-12-29T03:03:00.000-08:00

me and two of my friends/collegues at evolve (raja and noma) decided to do some character based quick excercise on friday evening. purpose was to do little quick speed tests for different things we used to do in daily life.

we finalized 2 characters from book "DOT DOT DASH" (thanks to nida, for not asking that book back) credit for character design goes to artist who has done those.

day 1:

raj did that green guy (builder one) and noma starts boss guy.they handed me over base meshes(lowpoly form) to start on rigging after 2 hours. final models looked like.i finished rigs with CS same day.for day 1 ( 8 to 12 hrs) we were done with basic models and rigs.

day 2:

raja moved to character morphs and textures

i started with noma at reference for animation / scenario, we finalized monsters inc. shot where mike is training sally. after that, noma did all the animation body version, meanwhile i updated rigs with morphs to be animated.

day 3:

i refined all animations, even we knew there were so many errors / issues. but i rendered them with basic lighting / shaders and you can see the video below:

3dsmax to motion builder and back again

2009-12-29T02:58:00.000-08:00

recently i had to work with x collegue to solve this issue. it had been discussed on lots of forums but not concluded in precise fashion. below is process for my own memory so when i have to redo this i can save time.

before you start keep in mind
2 exporter version are there (fbx200608 | fbx200611)
process differs for motion builder7.5 and ext2. Because in ext2 autodesk has given a template for max biped and prcess becomes really simple. lets first discuss this

process 1: (motion builder 7.5 ext2 with latest exporter)

1- make sure system units are centimeters
2- export scene with all default options >> y up , centimeters
3- import scene in motion builder with import / merge fbx
4- drop max biped template, characterise, create cnt rig, animate , do enjoy
5- when done animating, plot your character from navigator ( i think its kind of baking process, but not sure)
6- export anim or do save file as fbx with all normal options
7- open same max file (which you used to export)
8- do exclusive merge while importing new fbx, all baked animation should come back to character

process 2: (motion builder 7.5 with older version of 3dsmax)

tip: process will be same as above but heirarchy & naming convention changes will be additional.
1- make sure system units are centimeters.
1b- select clavicals and neck joint, link them to last spine bone (changing biped heirarchy, don't worry, it won't harm)
1c- select both legs thigh joints and link them to pelvis
1d- rename all biped bones as motion builder. open MB and see that list, eg Bip01>Reference, Bip01 Pelvis >Hips etc. this may take time. i was thinking about writing a simple script to automate above mentioned points if needed again.
2- export scene with all default options >> y up , centimeters
3- import scene in motion builder with import / merge fbx
4- drop character template, characterise, create cnt rig, animate , do enjoy
5- when done animating, plot your character from navigator ( i think its kind of baking process, but not sure)
6- export anim or do save file as fbx with all normal options
7- open same max file (which you used to export)
8- do exclusive merge while importing new fbx, all baked animation should come back to character

Muzafferabad: aero modeling

2009-12-28T22:33:00.000-08:00

a valueable trip to muzafferabad with all pakistani top aero modellers. extreme fun...

ubuntu tips collection

2009-12-28T09:53:00.000-08:00

collection of useful tips, i found at places and tested and they worked well and i doubt some point in time in space i might need those and have forgotton. so putting them all here

TEMP ROOT ACCESS IN TERMINAL

sudo su

TEMP ROOT ACCESS IN EXPLORER (NAUTILUS)

gksudo nautilus (alt +F2 and type)

PERMANENT ROOT ACCESS IN EXPLORER (NAUTILUS)

install from synaptic manager
nautils-gksudo

MAKING A SCRIPT FOR NAUTILUS TO OPEN IN GEDIT AS ROOT
gedit ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/gedit-root

Copy the following lines into the file and save it and close it.

#created by Arnav Ghosh (United States)
foo=`gksudo -u root -k -m "enter your password for gedit root access" /bin/echo "Do you have root access?"`
sudo gedit $NAUTILUS_SCRIPT_SELECTED_URIS

Then make it executable with

chmod +x ~/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/gedit-root
thats it you are all set. Now right click on any file in nautilus and under "scripts" u will find "gedit-root"
click and enjoy!
UBUNTU GPG keys errors ( update manager not working right, having issues in downloading udpates )
apt-get update -o Acquire::http::No-Cache=True

Setting permissions recursively

sudo chown -R username:username foo/
chmod 755 -R foo/

Reset Xorg back to Failsafe Defaults

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.original
sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

adding environment variables mehtod 1 fails on restart

printenv >> prints all
printenv PATH >> print path variable value
echo $PATH >. does same
PATH = bla/bla >> will assign a value. scope dependency
to add path permanently different ways, pc / user / session
user is /.profile file>> it will overright pc values (if defined)
quick is pc direct values sample below
sudo gedit /etc/gdm/gdm.conf >> open file in gedit
search "DefaultPath" , append your value at end with :
save, restart gdm

adding environment variables mehtod 2

sudo gedit /etc/environnment
add >> PATH=#PATH;/directory

adding pythonpath to permanent pyhtonpath

sudo gedit ./bashrc
export PYTHONPATH=/home/lala/maya/scripts/mapy2.5.6

running multiple commands from launcher

gnome-terminal -x bash -c "cd /usr/local/Cutter; java -classpath .:/usr/local/Cutter/cutter.jar Cutter"
gnome-terminal -x bash -c "cmd1; cmd2; read -n1"

killing a process (by name from shell)

sudo pkill -9 name ( best tip for me )

e.g: sudo pkill -9 maya

changing display manager from ubuntu to kubuntu etc

sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm

ubuntu software installation methods ( manual )

2009-12-28T09:52:00.000-08:00

topic is complicated and might need refinement / edit after some time. but its good to write down my current knowledgebase for future use

OPTION1 ( RPM | Alien )

fedora has rpm installers and GUI is yum (synaptic in ubuntu). often rpm files are needed to installed in ubuntu (maya). process is simple can be done via 2 ways

install alien package, it converts rpm files to debian files while checking / updating dependencies
install rpm package, it lets you directly installs rpm files. only negative is it won't appear in add / remove place

installing applications
rpm -ivh --nodeps packagename
query installed apps
rpm -qa | more
removeing apps
rpm -e --nodeps packagename
>> query results x-x-x >> name-version-build>> while removing needs only name

OPTION2 ( APT | dpkg )

ubuntu has debian installers and system that works for auto updating / maintenance is APT, management of debian installers is done by dpkg from terminal and synaptic from GUI

Typing apt-get help will display:
Code:

Usage: apt-get [options] command
apt-get [options] install|remove pkg1 [pkg2 ...]
apt-get [options] source pkg1 [pkg2 ...]

Commands:
update – Retrieve new lists of packages = Reload
upgrade – Perform an upgrade = Default Upgrade
install – Install new packages (pkg is libc6 not libc6.deb)
remove – Remove packages
source – Download source archives
build-dep – Configure build-dependencies for source packages
dist-upgrade – Distribution upgrade, see apt-get(8) = Smart Upgrade
dselect-upgrade – Follow dselect selections
clean – Erase downloaded archive files
autoclean – Erase old downloaded archive files
check – Verify that there are no broken dependencies
————————————————————–
sudo apt-get install package.name
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -d package.name to just download the package.name
sudo apt-get remove package.name
sudo apt-get upgrade for non system upgrades
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade for system and normal upgrades
————————————————————–
Do not forget

apt-get -s install (to just simulate what would happen to your system)
apt-get -f install (do not specify a package. My package system is confused, Fix it.)

apt-cache search
apt-cache show

Update your local apt cache
sudo apt-get update

Install an Application
sudo apt-get install synaptic

Reinstall an application
sudo apt-get install –reinstall synaptic

Remove an application without configuration files
sudo apt-get remove synaptic

Remove an Application and all configuration files:
sudo apt-get –purge remove synaptic

To remove a installed package, for example Synaptic, and all dependencies, execute the command from konsole
sudo apt-get autoremove synaptic

To resolve all unmet dependences, execute the command from konsole
sudo apt-get -f install

Upgrade all your programs and libraries
sudo apt-get upgrade

Upgrade your distribution
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

To clean out .deb archives from packages which are no longer installed on the system
sudo apt-get autoclean

Search for an Application
apt-cache search packagename

Show information about package
apt-cache show packagename

Show information about packages
apt-cache showpkg pkgs

maya on linux (ubuntu x64)

2009-12-28T09:44:00.000-08:00

i have seen this topic on few different blogs already. each has its pros /cons as always, here is my attempt
these notes will

install license / docs
install maya, update sp1, sp1a
install Cutter ( Best MEL IDE )

BOUNS FEATURES includes

maya mouse icon issue fix
maya compiz conflict fix
maya file dialog issue fix (default is useless)
maya color scheme update (dark)

install MAYA
Install RPM Package Manager (maya installer came in rpm files, used for fedora / redhat installers). we can use alien to convert rpm's to deb's but heavy/time taking(not interested)
sudo apt-get install rpm
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/rpm
Install csh-shell (use synaptic, if possible)
sudo apt-get install csh
Create Maya-Temp directory
sudo mkdir /usr/tmp
sudo chmod 777 /usr/tmp2 Install Maya-RPMs
Install docs / licensing (assuming maya installer files in /desktop/maya)
cd /Desktop/maya
sudo rpm -ivh --nodeps AWCommon-11.5-19.i686.rpm Maya2009_0_64-docs_en_US-2009.0-63.x86_64.rpm
Get MAC Address
type command below and note down your mac address (12 digit number)
/sbin/ifconfig
Update License
sudo gedit aw.dat
replace "host_id" with "your mac address", save n exit
incase you don't know what to do then type
sudo wine awkeygen.exe aw.dat
sudo gedit aw.dat(again to check updated file)
keep this modified file ready, so when maya asks you can give this file
Install Maya / then update sp1 and sp1a
cd /Desktop/maya
sudo rpm -ivh --nodeps Maya2009_0_64-2009.0-101.x86_64.rpm
sudo rpm -ivh --nodeps autodesk_maya_2009sp1_linux64.rpm
sudo rpm -ivh --nodeps autodesk_maya_2009sp1a_linux64.rpm
Running Maya properly(maya icon is in graphics, not properly visible)
graphics to make shortcut at proper place for apps manually installed
sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/

Autodesk-Maya2008-x64.desktop
-- it will open file in terminal. type code below as per liking
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Autodesk Maya 2009 (64-bit)
Type=Application
Comment=Run Autodesk Maya 2009 (64-bit)
Categories=Application;Graphics
Icon=/usr/autodesk/maya/desktop/Maya.png
Terminal=True
Exec=csh /usr/autodesk/maya2009-x64/bin/maya
Exec=/usr/autodesk/maya/bin/maya
Encoding=UTF-8

INATALLING CUTTER (MEL IDE)
1- download cutter / copy jar file in /opt/Cutter/
2- creating desktop icon
sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/Cutter.desktop
copy paste following lines
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Cutter
Comment=Cutter IDE
Exec=gnome-terminal -x bash -c "cd /opt/cutter; java -classpath .:/opt/cutter/cutter.jar Cutter"
Icon=/opt/cutter/cutter.png
Terminal=true
Type=Application
Categories=GNOME;Development;IDE;Debugger;GUIDesigner;
StartupNotify=True
## fixing double click speed issue
create ".Xresouces" on your home folder and add line
*multiClickTime:400
save, logout and login

xtra bonus
maya mouse icon issue fix

MAYA_MMSET_DEFAULT_XCURSOR=1
in the /home/lala/maya/2009-x64/Maya.env file

maya compiz conflict fix

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
in the “Extensions” section MAKE SURE to have:


Section "Extensions"
Option  "Composite"     "false"
EndSection

maya file dialog issue fix (default is useless)

download file: http://www.kreanimate.co.uk/Tools/KE_MayaFileBrowser1_4.zip
Extract all .mel and .sh files from this zip file to your scripts folder ($HOME/maya/(maya version)/scripts/).
Create the file $HOME/maya/(maya version)/scripts/userSetup.mel if it doesn't already exist, and then using a text editor, paste the following two lines into it and save it:

KE_ScriptEditor();
KE_FileBrowser();

in my case, it worked.
thread that helped
http://www.kreanimate.co.uk/site/index.php/Tools/MEL-scripts/Improving-the-Maya-Linux-File-Browser.html

maya color scheme update (dark)

download file: http://www.kreanimate.co.uk/Tutorials/MayaScheme
Create a folder called "app-defaults" in your home area and copy above file, restart maya

maya missing fonts (texture names missing from below of texture nodes)Download and install the following rpm or .deb files (names vary slightly so make a search for something similar:1. xorg-x11-fonts-ISO8859-1-75dpi
2. xorg-x11-fonts-75dpi
3. Xinet.d
4. tcsh
5. libXp (for both .i386 .x86_64)
6. libXp-devel (for both .i386 .x86_64
7. mesa-libGLw mesa-libGLw-devel )
8. gamin-devel (for libfam.so)
9. Autofs

update:: after few months
mapy works on linux x64 with scite
previously i have been using Cutter, and its really good for MEL. in my case, it didn't work well for python and maya.
i had heard previously a lot about mapy and tried it few times, but it never worked in linux. but this time it worked. here are precise steps to make sure that it worked
1- download mapy installation from ( google groups )
file: mapy.301.Linux_x64.tar.bz2

2- its a zip file, unload all of its contents to a folder "rodmena.com" and place this folder in "/usr/local"
3- make sure you own / read-write (rights) on this folder
4- offcourse, i m assuming u have install scite already from yum/synaptic (whatever version)
5- update scite files (which came with mapy) to your scite installation e.g (mapy scite files will be at: /usr/local/rodmena.com/scite). also it is critical for 2 files (mel / python)
6- after copying those files, edit them in gedit or scite and update your paths at end. critical note is: they are looking for "mapy.py". remember that this is inside "src" folder of downloaded / installed place.
e.g file in scite (installed) : /usr/share/scite/mel.properties
cMel=python "/usr/local/rodmena.com/src/mapy.py" "$(FilePath)"
same goes for python in relevancy offcourse :)
if u tried and it didn't worked, let me know, i'll try to write more detailed steps. in my case it worked for sure (office / home) no paths updating in env or py
ok, to sync it with mapy, run port command in maya on start up (commandPort -n ":29555";)
for mel execution (F5) for python execution (ctrl+2) works
comments from previous blog
lala

if using kde, then default scite 1.x might not work,
get updated version 2.x from “getDeb” website. then compare three files from previous farsheed version
mel properties file
python properties file
global properties file
and off course previous changes and it will work
Francesco

I tried to install mapy but I have not been successful.
I installed scite then I overwrite the files with those supplied with mapy,but the mapy version does not work.
Using Ubuntu and overwriting files Ottens two versions of a Scite . one it works with python and the other the mapy version does not work.
I noticed that in Ubuntu install scite is written in lower case whereas in the mapy is written SciTE and not find the various languages.
Could you kindly give a more detailed guide to installing on ubuntu especially in Section 5 and 6 of your guide.
Keep in mind the difference between the versions of SciTE SciTE and ubuntu.
Also you can automatically launch commandPort-n “: 29555th? ;at Maya startup ?
Thanks Francesco
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
udpate:: again after few months
i know pymel and eclipse and eclipse plugin from creative crash worked. will write notes soon...

Ubuntu Config on Dell 690

2009-12-28T09:39:00.000-08:00

these are my ubuntu installation / hardware configuration / basic customization notes
basically, what i had noticd is ubuntu detects / configures 99% of hardware automatically but sometimes it didn't worked ( vga in 64bit auto update drivers never worked for me)
i have dell 690 at office and custom machine at home. at both places i am using ubuntu 9 (64bit). one major different in both machines is VGA (office has quadro 4600 where as home has radeon 4850) so i'll explain my installation / drivers steps for both nvidia / ati drivers. also dell (office pc) has sound card (creative xfi) which didn't worked with default ubuntu, so i'll explain how to setup this as well.
lets start
####################################
######### INSTALL MACHINE ########
####################################
ubuntu 9 - jackalop - 64bit
insert disk n install
remember basic disc formatting
i used ext3, it worked for sure and set swap to 20 GB after this.
setup proxy via system>administration>network proxy
it didn't worked with terminal so remember not to relie on terminal pkg updates
sudo apt-get update >> didn't worked, 407 proxy error
####################################
######### INSTALL AUDIO ############
####################################
1- download creative xFi driver from (only if sound is not working, 99 % it worked by default)
http://ccftp.creative.com/manualdn/Drivers/AVP/10792/0x0343D29A/XFiDrv_Linux_Public_US_1.00.tar.gz
2- extract is somewhere
3- install dependencies (didn't worked for me)
sudo apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-`uname -r`
4- making / installing driver
make
sudo make install
it worked for me :D
thread that helped
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=870001
####################################
######### INSTALL VIDEO ############
####################################

nvidia quadro 4600

part1: making sure no nvidia

sudo apt-get --purge remove nvidia-glx nvidia-glx-legacy nvidia-glx-new nvidia-settings
sudo apt-get --purge remove xserver-xorg-video-nv
Note: doing this means that the next time you restart X, you will have a 800x600, or an other low screen resolution, so do not be alarmed.
Another optional step, is to disable the nv and nvidia_new drivers from loading too, for those who have further problems.
gksudo gedit /etc/default/linux-restricted-modules-common
And on the line that says DISABLED_MODULES="" change it to
DISABLED_MODULES="nv nvidia_new"

part2: installing latest driver

1- download driver from nvidia website "NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-185.18.31-pkg2.run"
2- ctrl + alt +1 >> full page terminal
3- sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop >> stops the GDM
4- run installer, don't build kernal if fails(mine proxy error), don't run xconfig n let change xorg
sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-1.0-9746-pkg2.run
5- reboot machine, open terminal
6- backup /etc/X11/xorg.conf
7- sudo nvidia-settings >> so u can configure display/desktop n apply changes (xorg.conf)
it worked for me :D
thread that helped
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1125400
ati radeon 4850
below page, simply worked
http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubuntu_Jaunty_Installation_Guide
####################################
######### INSTALL WACOM ############
####################################
install wacom-tools >> via synaptic
download linuxwacomproject
extract it somewhere
./configure >> to run / install
wacomcpl >> opens GUI, if didn't show device that means some hal error
Helping wacomcpl
Unfortunately HAL assigns names to wacom devices in a way that the recent wacomcpl from jaunty cant find them, to help wacomcpl to find them:
Open a terminal and type:
sudo gedit /etc/init.d/wacomtohal
and paste this code in:
#! /bin/sh
## find any wacom devices
for udi in `hal-find-by-property --key input.x11_driver --string wacom`
do
type=`hal-get-property --udi $udi --key input.x11_options.Type`
## rewrite the names that the Xserver will use
hal-set-property --udi $udi --key info.product --string $type
done
then run :
sudo chmod +x /etc/init.d/wacomtohal
sudo update-rc.d wacomtohal defaults 27
udpate:: after a year, wacom stops working at once

if wacom thing doesn’t work somehow, and wacomcpl not showing device in list, even its working, follow these steps
install wacom-tools and xorg-server-wacom(synaptic > search>wacom, both results)
install 0.8.2.2 drivers via ./config from linuxwacom project
save below code as 10-wacom.fdi and save it to /usr/share/hal/fdi/policy/20thirdparty
n reboot
terminal check>> Now “xinput –list” and “xsetwacom list” produce same result, now wacomcpl should work
## all credit for following file goes to favux who told me about this on ubuntu forum, i doubt, i won’t be able to find it again in future when needed, so i m putting it here
—————–

wacom
stylus
stylus
hal-setup-wacom
eraser
cursor
pad
eraser
cursor
pad
—————–
## If you lose your calibration after reboot:
In terminal:
sudo gedit ~/.xinitrc
Find the line that says:
. /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc
and change it to
#. /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc
Save and exit.
Go to System>Preferences>Startup Applications and create a new entry named whatever you want.
The command should be:
sh /home/yourusername/.xinitrc
Your wacomcpl settings will now restore on reboot
thread that helped
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Installing_Ubuntu_9.04_%28Jaunty_Jackalope%29_on_an_X61_Tablet
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BONUS: few basic applications setup
ok, here are notes for quick installation of few pretty basic apps, which i need everytime i installed ubuntu.
####################################
######### INSTALL firefox 3.5 ######
####################################
Add the repository
$ sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/fta/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"
Add the appropriate key
$ sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 632D16BB0C713DA6
Expected Output
Executing: gpg --ignore-time-conflict --no-options --no-default-keyring --secret-keyring /etc/apt/secring.gpg --trustdb-name /etc/apt/trustdb.gpg --keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 632D16BB0C713DA6
gpg: requesting key 0C713DA6 from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.com

gpg: key 0C713DA6: public key "Launchpad PPA for Fabien Tassin" imported
gpg: no ultimately trusted keys found
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg: imported: 1 (RSA: 1)
Update your repository list
$ sudo apt-get update
Make a backup of your current Firefox configuration folder
$ cp -r ~/.mozilla/firefox/ ~/firefox_backup
Install Firefox 3.5
$ sudo apt-get install firefox-3.5
Navigate to “Applications >> Internet >> Shiretoko Webbrowser“
####################################
######### INSTALL FlashPlayer #########
####################################
install cooliris in firefox
goto cooliris page / installation guideline. there they have written adobe 64bit beta flash plugin and installation guide. it simply works
####################################
######### INSTALL jDownloader ######
####################################
1- extract downloaded "JDownloader" folder to /opt/JDownloader/JDownloader.jar
2- set permissions to my user via
sudo chown -R lala:lala /opt/JDownloader
sudo chmod -R +r /opt/JDownloader
3- making it runnable from terminal
sudo touch /usr/local/bin/JDownloader
sudo nano /usr/local/bin/JDownloader
this opens file in terminal, paste following
java -jar /opt/JDownloader/JDownloader.jar
close file by ctrl+x, then y, then enter
4- creating desktop icon
sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/JDownloader.desktop
copy paste following lines
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=JDownloader
Comment=Download Manager
Exec=java -jar /opt/JDownloader/JDownloader.jar
Icon=/opt/JDownloader/JDownloader.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=GNOME;Network;
StartupNotify=True
thread that helped
http://pagesofinterest.net/blog/2009/05/installing-jdownloader-in-ubuntu/
## fixing double click speed issue
create ".Xresouces" on your home folder and add line
*multiClickTime:400
save, logout and login
thread that helped
http://forums.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=585358
####################################
######### INSTALL pySDM ############
####################################
this let my auto mount windows / other partitions the way i want (pretty simple)
install from synaptic
run from terminal via
sudo pysdm
####################################
######### INSTALL Samba ############
####################################
install from synaptic
upon first time sharing, it gives warning and tell solution, do it, it works

linux Definations for newbies

2009-12-28T09:37:00.000-08:00

ok, this is first post in Linux category, which will contain all of my Linux notes in future. i had moved to Linux almost 4 months ago. for first 3 months, I used dual boot and kept my windows installation with me. gradually, I feel less need to go to windows so I finally removed it.
i don't have any intentions to write against windows or force reader to move from windows. leaving windows was kind of personal choice for few major reasons

a- i was tired from managing / updating my anti viruses and still infected by viruses
b- my current job(wateen), we have an IT dept, its purpose is to provide technical support. they are not good at it. they have screwed my pc so nicely and threatened me that they will keep screwing my machine in future, so i thought i should have some better option.
Purpose of this post is to sum up basic information about Linux which will be helpful to al-most anyone who wanted to:
a- move to Linux but reluctant for some reason
b- just wanted to know more about Linux
QUICK BASIC FAQ
Q: LINUX or not LINUX?
A: definitely LINUX
Q: why?
A: because there are more pros than cons
Q: OK, tell me CONS first (negative points)
A: lots of commercial applications (adobe products, few autodesk products) might not available in linux and you need time to migrate their comparable open source version.it might not be that easy, after all, you need to invest some time(like u r reading here). if you are sure about your energy / passion / clarity / self-motivation / pro-active behaviour than you don't need to worry a lot. a simple example is i used microsoft office for documentation previously, and now i used open office(free open source application with same functionality), and it took me 1 hour to shift to this. more complicated example could be of adobe photoshop(hard to imagine that i can work without it) but practically it took me 2 days to shift to GIMP(linux version of image editing application.

Q: OK, make sense, tell me PROS
A: not sure, but here are few
stable OS like MAC(even more) fast enough like windows
processing speed is a lot better, almost all applications works pretty fast
no need of anti-virus (i know its hard to believe for windows users, but trust me :D)
n so no worries about updating anti-virus
little less involvement in piracy
no need to burn your OS service packs, keep back up of small utilities etc. everything is auto updatable(needs internet connection) and auto mantained.
just imagined that u r using winXP and at night it updated itself to vista. never gonna happen. but i started ubuntu 8. and one day, it said, should i upgrade myself to ubuntu 9 and it didn't took too long.
also think about having 20 plus thousand apps / utilites auto mantained. just type name n install latest version
Q: OK, sounds good but i work for graphics. LINUX is more for tech / dev stuff?
A: u need a break, browse web, read articles and update your info section (let me know if you need links)
Q: OK, which LINUX, there are so many??
A: yes, few hundred, i think so, that is one of major factor, ppl are reluctant in migration.remember, that there are 3 famous big brands
UBUNTU / FEDORA / OPENSUSE.
i started with ubuntu and living happily with it, mainly because it works and community is extra ordinary strong and helpful. i tested fedora and stop thinking about it with-in a day.
Q: OK, i check UBUNTU website and read articles. which UBUNTU to choose (KUBUNTU,EDUBUNTU, UBUNTU-STUDIO, etc)
A: yes, 30 + flavours, normal UBUNTU is good (closer to windows vista or 7), kUBUNTU is flashy (like mac), xfce is simple / fast version of ubuntu (think of it as win xp)
ubuntu studio is for modern multimedia designers. open artist is even more customised version of ubuntu and focused towards art / design.
Q: what is gnome/kde>> see its confusing...>> i am really confused
A: these are `desktop managers` UBUNTU is gnome based. kUBUNTU is kde based
read these:
http://www.tuxfiles.org/linuxhelp/xwtf.html
http://xwinman.org/
don't need to worry much. any time you can move to any other desktop manager (if you don't like one, by updating)
Q: what is metacity / awn / compiz>> see its confusing again, same confusions
A: all are `window managers`. don't need to worry much.
read these:
http://www.tuxfiles.org/linuxhelp/xwtf.html
http://xwinman.org/
any time you can move to any other window manager (if you don't like one)

XAMPP on linux ( ubuntu )

2009-12-28T09:33:00.000-08:00

while shifting myself from windows to linux (ubuntu) i found this topic a bit confusing (time taking), lots of old websites still mentioned installing lots of packages to get it done but below are my notes for myself future reference.

installing xamp

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=61776&package_id=60248
Go to a Linux shell and login as root:
$su -
Extract the downloaded archive file to /opt
#tar xvfz xampp-linux-1.5.5a.tar.gz -C /opt
XAMPP is now installed below the /opt/lampp directory.

setting it up (www folder) >> because defult location won't allow to place files without root

open /opt/lampp/etc/htppd.conf
update line below as per your requirement
DocumentRoot "/home/lala/www"
create "www" folder if it won't exists there... (offcourse)
save and quit

setting default xampp / phpmyadmin so can be access easily, via (http://localhsot)

move contents from "/opt/lampp/htdocs" to above folder you just created "www"

TIP: for this you might need to open nautilus as root and you can do this by typing "gksuo nautilus"
hopefully it will work ;)

wordpress feelings

2009-12-28T09:27:00.000-08:00

after a month:

i recently shifted my website from joomla to wordpress after realizing that individual doesn't need to have CMS and as most important thing is content its easy to display this with wordpress.

process i have done uptill now is mentioned below for quick and easy steps

install wp on local system (just copy paste files/folder, unzip, setup db and ready to go)
export wp from wordpress.com and import on local one and remove wordpress.com account
install wp-columus (tag cloud plugin)
install next-gen image gallery for quick ajax based typical gallery viewing features
install all video plugin for video (flv) embedding
install all-in-one-SEO pack
install google-analyticator
install wordstat
install wngc(google calender)

todo: i noticed that all in one seo>> somehow not showing proper links, ideally catagory naming should work for seo as well, will work on this laters...
hopefully these notes will be helpful for other collegues (raj,jab,etc)
after a year:
it was wonderful and i love it. reason for switching to blogger was ease of use and tension free life. as my website start getting bigger, traffic start raising and gradually i need to pay more per year. the hosting company has already asked two times about additional money and i have finally concluded that i m going to put that on blogger.
i know i can use wordpress.com but i can imagine that as my website is going to be bigger or i m going to ask more features / support, they are going to ask for money as well.......
any ways, i'll miss wordpress cool features, there are so many and it will take blogger huge time....

Project Management ( Dot Project )

2008-06-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

while using project fork for joomla and all forum based help / hacks, i wasn't much satisfied in terms of easy usage for non-technical pupil in ( specially when working with artists), i thought about searching web based project management applications / features
here is online wiki list which even compare features for almost all available web based project applications
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_project_management_software

also noticed that one of best products to this context are
dotproject.net ( thanks to ahsan )

udpate:: ( after few weeks )
it has missing font issue in gant chart view
Error is that it cannot locate the file arial.ttf.
If the task is no longer marked as a milestone, this problem goes
away and the Gantt chart is displayable again.
Solution1:
This is just that the font file is missing. jpgraph doesn't supply
fonts anymore as part of their package but if you have a valid windows
license you can copy the fonts from there, otherwise you may want to
look at http://corefonts.sourceforge.net/
Solution2:
If you do install the Microsoft Core Fonts, you should then also create
a truetype symlink in /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts to point to
/usr/share/fonts/msttcorefonts. This will allow the library to just see
the fonts where it expects them to be and you shouldn't have to
configure anything else.
udpate2:: ( after few weeks )
few helpful tips ( remember stuff )
main help page
http://docs.dotproject.net/index.php?title=Main_Page
user vs contact
user is person who can login on dp, can update tasks (working as team member) (ideally users should have contact linked)
contact doesn't necessarily have user linked. client contact person could be contact. practically uptill now it does'nt worked so we even give them user ID linked with company representative of their own
static vs dynamic task Notes:

operative tasks should have one person assigned
operative tasks should be static (time measured)
milestones should be administrative
milestones should be dynamic

administrative vs operative task
approach 1:
milestones should be administrative and should have client person added as either assigned user or owner so he can reply to logs and update response
approach 2:
milestones should owned by team leads and they should update logs and send those to client intentionally to get review / feedback if needed

joomla 1.5

2008-05-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

i just started evolve.com, and on third attempt of putting it online, i noticed that joomla 1.5 (stable) has been launched. Quite amazing, because i have tested, joomla 1.5 RC4 (code name: takreeban) and wasn't happy, because it wasn't stable.
So i finally decided to take rist again, i know its not good thing to test things when short time and not sure about stability. thats what i am suffering from right now.
still below are my comments based on first project on joomla 1.5 after delivering two websites on joomla 1.0
make sure all the components / modules / plugins will work. it seems they will but actually they won't unless developers / community hasn't confirmed.
seyret video component didn't worked. but i was lucky enough to found xe-media galleries. they worked and they are good.
simple image gallery and pro version totally don't worked. developer is working on new version but not out. so i wasted almost 3 days with ahsan(radical) to find a new, easy to use (generate thumbnails from folders) one of main requirement from studio based websites. it all went waste. because there are so many galleries out there, a lot with plugin support rather than component (which is of no use in my case). i am still stuck at this point. Any way, hopefully it will be solved soon. Other than that, it is definitely one of the best joomla update i could imagine. They have really shrinked / reduced interface the way it sould be, slick, slim and smart.

joomla stuff & Notes

2008-05-20T08:57:00.000-07:00

while using joomla, i have tested so many components that i fear soon, i’ll forget everything about them. below are my feelings so when i have to use them next time, i’ll waste less time in searching and more time in getting output

Image Galleries

simple image gallery pro is best for creating run time thumbnails and works as mambot
FPS (front page slide show) extremly decent for front page artwork showcase, only drawback is you need to enter slides manually. still worth it.

Video Galleries

seyret is best video component available out there, super good.
xe-video gallery v3, looks more good then above :)

Boards/Forums

fireboard is best even i was unable to remove the “register button”

PMS (online project management)

project fork is best and was extremly helpful because only component to help / allow manage groups

News Letter Signup

letterman was which i choose from rest, simple, easy and usefull ( kees these separate from registered users)

BLOG

mojo wasn't as good as myBlog was.

FORMS

philAform was most suitable for me, simple , visual and easy to setup
will keep adding more
update: next year
IMAGE RANKINGS

recently i had to finalize logo for kids channel and we had so much options.
i had studied different methods / solutions. as i had to consider team votings so i found HOT OR NOT2 to be best possible solution. it is one of the best, it lets easily users to vote everything and add comments, which was very helpful
SURVEY's
i recently, had to do some surveys online ( my company 500+ ppl in office) to collect feedback
i consider lots of different extensions / components. major conclusions are mentioned below
some components which seems good are $ based. even major have feedback agisnst them
just like dotProject best product on PM available for free as huge/ massive open source product
company named LimeWire ((http://www.limesurvey.org)) has done lot of useful work to help everyone.
such a nice and decent stuff.
typical problem with beginner / simple users like me is not liking of separate application and digesting the headache of management this. so impressive thing is i found same software ported / implemented in joomla by one of pious and genius guy on earth. and just like other gurus, he has shared it for free.
component named was "joo survey" and definitely one of best possible thing as per my needs
huge thanks to guy

wamp on LAN setup

2008-05-19T08:52:00.000-07:00

today i was setting up kids channel local lan PMO Stuff. just for my memories
i started with installation of WAMP 2.0
then install joomla 1.0.15 and it worked perfectly.
then to make it available for LAN, i updated

configuration.php. changes made to that specific files were mentioned below find and replace “localhost” with “pc_name” in line...

apachee “httpd.conf” and replace server “name”:80 with my pc name and restart pc
it worked fine

update: 2010
i heard now there is a switch "turn online" which lets you acess this via lan card
also there is helpful post.

khanpur

2008-03-31T12:28:00.000-07:00

one of most memorable trip i ever had. anivista and evolve joint trip to muzafferabad. three days lengthy, includes caving, rock climbing and diving.......

2007 technical reel

2007-12-18T04:49:00.000-08:00

2007 Technical Reel
mostly based on 3dsmax scripting. i have done even better work after that, but hadn't find enough time to compile and put it somewhere. hopefully new work will be here soon..

haseeb aka lala Tech reel 2007 from lalamax3d on Vimeo.

anivista

2007-03-31T12:21:00.000-07:00

few anivista pics ( early days ) few team members...
hopefully i'll get few more soon, and i'll post them here ...

wireframe office

2005-03-31T11:34:00.000-08:00

few pictures of wireframe i still have and fear they will be lost soon, so backing them here... ;)

infologix

2003-03-31T11:28:00.000-08:00

few pictures i still have from infologix.(2002)

test

1999-04-17T01:12:00.000-07:00

khanpur