Textures are no more

Sorry for those few people (1 or 2 I think xD) who used the textures I posted, but I won't be providing free textures anymore for various reasons that I don't care to discuss atm.

I was thinking of closing down the blog, but then again, i'll eventually make another one, so I thought I'd just keep this one going and do something with it xD

Stargate Universe: The Revolution is Sci-Fi?

Be Warned, Spoilers ahead

Six episodes down the line, the last one, ‘Life’ has had me thinking a great deal. Up until now, the sci-fi genre has been focusing on aliens and space battles and technology, and the Stargate franchise has long been an advocate of the type, but its most recent endeavour, Stargate Universe, has gone down a rather different road.

From the pilot episode till the last aired one, Stargate Universe has had a different focus which comes as unexpected, to say the least. As it begins we are treated to an enormous spaceship, the stowaways, and a theme of survival. If you are familiar with the previous Stargates, you would expect the protagonists to come across some amazing technology and formidable alien enemies. But there is little if none of this. Instead, the series take an unprecedented turn as the focus lands on the people themselves, their lives, their past, their personalities, and how they manage in the circumstances they are in, billions of light-years away from home. Stargate Universe is definitely darker and much more personal than the previous ones, as we learn more and more about the lives of each of the characters, from the young lieutenant Matthew Scott’s religious life, Eli Wallace’s mother’s HIV, the Colonel Young’s marital problems, and more recently, sexuality concerns, as is introduced by Camille and her partner Sharon (who she visits via someone else’s body thanks to Alteran technology) and the fact that Camille’s parents didn’t appear overly thrilled to hear from their daughter, and the latter’s reluctance to go see them. This last item shows how deep this focus is going to run, and how much more believable and realistic the people are. Once the resident alien (there has to be one or it isn’t Stargate ;) makes his/her appearance, and the main foes are revealed, it will be perfect. Character development will not only remain, but the action that is to come, the plots, will become factors that will help shape these personalities even further. Right now we are learning about these people’s past and their lives, later we will witness their evolution in an alien environment. In essence, keep it up, SGU, you’re on the right path ;)

Flame On!

You've most likely already seen these tutorials, but I just happened on 2 of them todays, and I can tell you that I was pretty impressed by the creative ways in which the Cloud filter was used to create a fiery effect of just plain fire. There are the three tutorials:

Blazing Text: possibly the most popular fire tutorial example. The one I saw was actually from a different website, but I couldn't find it again, and this one is pretty much how it's done, so good enough :)

Burning Cloud: not just for the fire, but teaches you a thing or two about gradient maps.

Fiery Eclipse: creative example of how the cloud and difference cloud filters are used to obtain realistic fire.

Free Photoshop Brushes #1

This one isn't by me but by anjinanhut from Deviant Art. Try out his brushes and tell me what you think! Personally, I think they're bloody brilliant! I don't really have a demo to show you, but you really should try them.

And please read before downloading.

Click Here for the Brush Set

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a RANT!

Where do I begin? Avatar: the Last Airbender. The cartoons were absolutely amazing! Nickelodeon did masterful work on this one. I enjoyed it so much I was this close to getting an Aang tatoo! Okay, maybe not, but it is an amazing cartoon.

Now, onto the tragedy that will befall 2010. The Last Airbender looks like complete and utter horseshit. My bad, but I had to say it. This is my first impression anyway. Here's why I think this movie is a horse-spawned anal product:

Zuko - okay, maybe it can be considered creative to turn the Fire Nation into Hindus. Why not? This could work. But, my oh my, why is Dev Patel the guy playing Zuko??? Zuko should look intimidating, not like he's gonna crack a joke any second. I seed Dev Patel more in the skin of Sokka if anything.

Sokka - Jackson Rathbone doesn't fit the Sokka character at all! If anyone, it's Zuko he should play, then again, I'm still having a hard time imagining a non-chinese person playing him, so nevermind that.

Katara - you're telling me they couldn't find a pretty native-american or hispanic or inuit girl to play her? I am sincerly hoping that her role in the movie won't be some dumb damsel in distress role. She's a powerful waterbender and should be portrayed as such.

Toph/Azula - where the HECK did these two go??? You CANNOT have an avatar movie without Azula, for crying out loud.

That's about all for now. I really hope what I saw was an incomplete cast, or some stupid hoax. I get a feeling this movie is gonna pull a Dragonball-movie. I mean, Dragonball was good as a movie, but for a Dragonball fan, it-was-lame!

Anyway, rant over.

Texture Pack 9

Yes, it's a volley. For all of you grunge lovers, here's a texture pack for your pleasure. Enjoy!

Click Here to Download

NB: all my textures are completely free and require no crediting, although it would be nice to tell people where you got 'em from ;)

Texture Pack 8

Just like with the barks, the cloud texture pack wasn't very savvy. Here's the improved version, if you will.

Click Here to Download