Flew into Adelaide this week to sit down and gather the clips together for some special ADAPT videos. They all come together incredibly well. We have lots of artwork to patch in as overlay and the grabs from the interviews run in well together. Director/Cameraman Paul Ryan snipped it together with ease in FCP.

Turning round to the office though, was rather interesting. Nearly every male in the building had the beginnings of a handlebar mustache. It was all in aid of 'Movember', which is a sponsorship drive for the recognition of Men's Health issues. The initiative asks guys to grow mustaches and beards for the month of November and raise money for research and support for the causes hitting middle aged males.

I'm glad they didn't have people shave their heads. Now that would have been a scarier sight. Finished the vids, and went to the new local pub in the area (very close) and had a few pints with the hairy crew.

Wow, what an amazing, busy and crazy time SIGGRAPH in San Diego turned out to be. It was actually easier once the trade show floor opened for one reason or another. Some of the people I needed to talk to, wrangle and finally meet are stapled to their chairs there in the halls for the time, and any time outside of that, they are bouncing off walls, doing presentations or just 'somewhere else.'

As with last year, a meetup was organized among some of the CGTalkers to catch up. Then the next night, there was the aircraft carrier party, which was huge. BOXX party, Studio Pendulum, SideFX and VISMasters. I caught up with truly, so many people, and the only way anyone could make sure they remembered who anyone was, was to swap business cards. Then the face and name geled. Even spotted some faces I knew only from the CGSociety SIGG videos we made last year.

Got to sit in on the keynote, saw several bits of sessions, but there was less cooperation by the volunteers for the media. I simply was not allowed into some sessions, like the Transformers one, Shrek and another about Pixar's Food session. I made a tiny fuss but didn't want to make a full scene. They were pretty full in there. I had plenty of other attractions on my list to see.
Thankfully, I also had two great journalists covering stuff for me too. I was full up trying to catch up with artists at the booth, getting stills for the diary and generally working the rooms.

I was working late every night and was up quite early each morning too, to get out and look at this part of the city before business hit. I went out to the beach but there were shipyards behind the Convention Center, so it wasn't a good look. Ate at many of the small cafes for breakfast along Fifth Avenue, so I could get going early. Some just didn't have a very good measure of time tho, and I ended up being late to one meeting cos the waiters left my breakfast on a bench getting cold.

I had a great moment on the last day too. I ran into Doug Trumbull, (actually spied his nametag and approached him) and at the same time, John Knoll was walking past. Quickly spoke to both about their SIGGRAPH experience. Doug was VFX Supe of the classic '2001: A Space Odyssey', and well, John invented Photoshop. I was on my way to the press room and I spent the entire trip up the escalators after I left them, with the biggest grin on my face. ;-)

The CGSociety crew all got together on Thursday night with others for drinks at the Hyatt. Some had had to leave earlier, but the balance of the crowd went on to have dinner at Chianti, a cool Italian restaurant on Fifth. Back at around 1am to the hotel to post the latest diary entry. I think I fell asleep around 3am, which was home base's home time in Adelaide.

'Character Modeling 2' is in the judging and layout stages right now. Also captioning is a priority, as any, ANY mistakes are just not going to happen; they just aren't.

Also, EXPOSÉ 5 Call for Entries is open for another month and the entries are streaming in. Looks like this one will be a pearler. Bit of a ways to go but I have been trying to keep the captions, contacts and indexing clean all the way back here before they are called for the book because the artists need that attention and extra time sometimes.

The great stories keep coming in for CGSociety features, with many that I cannot mention here. As they appear on the front page, they will be revealed. Lots of Artist profiles, studio profiles, production coverages and other stuff.

All good. OK, now the weather. Drought; sun, water supplies to the city down to 30% and not much about to change.

These are some of the emails I received back after a day of sending out EXPOSÉ 4 results packages out. Some got in, some didnt, but the reactions were positive, creative, happy and humbling. All Identities are deleted.
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Thanks for the kind note -- I appreciate not being kept up in the air
(it is amazing how many publishers don't take the time to send our
rejection notes :o)

Of course it is a disappointment, but given the fantastic caliber of
artwork that's being produced these days, it is understandable. I can't
get over the explosion of quality CG illustrations that has taken place
over the last few years -- a real Renaissance.

And Ballistic Publishing is spearheading the revelation of what is going
on, and that is so greatly appreciated.

So keep up the good work because it is helping every artist who puts a
digital pen to tablet.

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Paul,

I'm speechless
You have made me a master!
Thank you is all I can muster at the moment

The postal address is correct.

Just got a membership last week!

Again thanks, hopefully I'll be able to this kind of work full time with this kind of exposure.
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Dear EXPOSÉ team,
Thank your for all, and I’d like to encourage you to continue this unique
publication, good continuation.

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Hi Paul

I would like to upgrade to a leather bound version,
please let me know how to go about this

I'll also be getting an extra (soft cover) copy,but I can do that part via the links you supplied.
& thanks again..I am still buzzing about being accepted
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Thanks Paul,
Thanks for the information and thanks for the congratulations =)

take care, hope to hear from you soon, I submitted a bunch of work for
the d artist concept art book up next with any luck I'll get something
shortlisted.
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Hi Paul,

My CGTalk username is XXXXXX

And YES, I would love to upgrade my copy to a Leatherbound book please.

I wanted to make this brief since I know you must get a lot of e-mails, but I also want to quickly say how much I appreciate your books and the way you handle submissions and notifications. Thanks very much.

Have a great day,
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Thanks for letting me know Paul.
I really appreciate being considered for Expose 4. Your books are awesome. Keep it up.
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no worries saw the preview pages and bought it,!!!

even thou i just finished uni and have no work or money -

some really inspirational work
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hi paul,
Thank u very much for the encouragement.I will try to get thru next time.
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I will be out of the office until Monday, April 10th. If you have something urgent, please call the main office line at (xxx) xxx-xxxxx and someone will assist you.
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Dear Paul,

Thank you for your email.

I am in a state of excitement about waiting the book.

And I'm so happy having CGS Membership. My is CGTalk username "xxxxxxxxxxx".

Thank you again!
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Hi Paul!

Thanks for the email and the great offer!
I just went thru the page gallery and I must say it’s AMAZING! You got the best art books ever!!
I’m looking forward to Expose 5!
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Oh, thank you so much for letting me know--and I appreciate the discount
very much! Off I go to order..:-)
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I've had some enquiries about where the image is that is the banner on my Portfolio.

That is near Port Campbell on the western coast of Victoria, (Australia). Called the Twelve Apostles, by a distant explorer who couldn't count, the natural outcrop has lost a few elements over the years through natural erosion, and I think is down to nine.

Its quite an impressive, cold, blustery tourist spot and well worth the drive from Melbourne, especially if you go down the Great Ocean Road.