I can't tell you enough how I think that Philippine Movies and TV Drama Shows are absolutely painful to watch. Time and time again, stereotypical and unrealistic characters fill the scenes, cliches make the dialogue very boring to listen to. And right from the beginning of the movie or the start of the show, I can predict exactly how things will end.

Technically, I rarely see any kind of creativity in the way these movies and TV shows are produced. The camera angles are stale and boring. The way they portray the scenes make it look like the directors only want to showcase the faces of the actors like they were shooting a fashion show.

I care less on the special effects and all that. They're only secondary to the main focus of the movie or TV show, which is the portrayal of the characters and story. But, God, in these recent Filipino fantasy series like Captain Barbell (a local version of Superman), Gagamboy (Spiderman), Darna (Wonder Woman), the effects are way too painful to be ignored, as if the story and dialogue isn't cheezy enough already.

Our local entertainment industry absolutely lacks quality when compared to foreign shows and films. In one of the latest shows to hit the TV screen, "May Bukas Pa" (There's still a Tomorrow), the only reason why it appeals to TV viewers is that it is mostly Christian in nature, depicting a boy who gets in touch with Jesus and provides wisdom and guidance to his townsfolk. I'm atheist, which means I'm unaffected by the theme of the show. I can see all kinds of stereotypes and unrealistic characters. Hell even the way Jesus is portrayed just screams "stereotype".

In films, all the local film industry ever produces nowadays are Love Stories, starring the latest local sensations and pairing up "love teams" and all about drama and romance. There have been 9 local films in succession having the same stuff over and over again in the past 10 years.

IMO, local directors and producers are an insult to Filipino potential. I know that I may seem to be a snob. But I'm not snorting at the directors/producers for being bad. I actually think they have lots of potential to match up or even succeed the quality of foreign films and TV shows. IMO, they're not living up to their potential because all they care about is MONEY. Our country's population is mostly below the poverty line. And TV shows and films are made to appeal to the the majority of people who could only comprehend the simpler things in life, thus generating more income than if the shows are more creative and diverse (something only people who watch foreign shows experience).

The entertainment industry may be overshadowed by political problems and newscasts and all. But it's actually what the vast majority of people watch every night, once they come home from work or school. Believe it or not, the industry is what influences the way people think about themselves and how the world works. Question: How can we expect to progress our nation past its status as a Third-World country when the general populace aren't experiencing new and creative ideas in the industry? We can't. As long as directors/producers keep pumping out the same out-of-date stuff out of their studios, we can't.

I've recently read an excellent WikiHow article about "How to Deal With Impossible People".

It can be found here: [link]

I deal with a few impossible people in everyday life. I once even considered myself an impossible person. But through much maturity and improved self-awareness, I've realized my wrong ways and tried to change my image.

Let me talk about my experience with this one person. This is a person that I never seem to get into good relations with. It's always like a roller coaster ride where one moment we're high up and the next we're low down. We fought alot. And most of the time I ended up banging my head against my desk, thinking ways of dealing with him. I thought I could fix this person, but couldn't because I thought doing something wrong. I tried different tactics but nothing seems to work.

Then I realized that it is my relationship with the person that's causing the problem. The time came when I simply lost the morale to try to forge a good relationship with him. I realized that it was...impossible. My solution to the problem? I simply ignored him whenever I could.

But I still didn't know if what I did was wrong or right and what I 'should' have done before in the first place. The WikiHow article about "How to Deal With Impossible People" gave me the exact answers I was looking for. The article is definitely a "must-read" for all people who share the same problems I had.

Read it here: [link]

As some of you may know, I'm part of the team developing StarCraft: Sons of War, an upcoming 100% fan-made mod for StarCraft Brood War. Most of what I submit here in DevArt is for SoW and it goes into our official gallery. You can check it out here:

[link]

No matter what 2d or 3d application you use, the only way you can make your work look good is through practice practice practice and lots and lots of determination. Think of it this way: Even if you have the most expensive pencil, the most high-tech pen, the most advanced graphics tablet, or the very best paper in the world, your drawings would still look like utter crap if you can't draw in the first place.

First off, you may ask: "What is Mudbox?"

Well, in simplest terms, Mudbox is a 3d sculpting program. You make a 3d model in mudbox or import a model from another 3d program such as 3ds max, subdivide it several times to increase the resolution of the model, and then you "sculpt" the model. Just like sculpting a clay model with your hands, sculpting a 3d model in Mudbox makes it much much easier to create incredibly detailed organic models.

My first experience with 3d sculpting programs was born out of the need to efficiently create organic and life-like models. I first tried out ZBrush because it was stated that it was a excellent program for the job. But I was awestruck by the complexity of the interface. In other words, I just couldn't find my way around. Not being able to find good enough tutorials, I lost the inspiration to learn it.

Then I saw the work of my friend who used the program called "MudBox". The name didn't quite struck me much. But he said it was much easier to learn than ZBrush. I tried it out. And he wasn't kidding. It was indeed MUCH easier to learn. In fact, it has virtually no learning curve whatsoever. All I had to do was subdivide the model, pick a brush of my choosing, and click on the area where I want to create bumps or dents. The interface was as simple as hell. No fancy gizmos, no so and so icons, just a pure and simple viewport with a brush palette at the bottom and brush options at the right. I fell in love with it and I've been using it for all my organic models.

But it took me a long time to fully understand the 3ds Max/Mudbox connection. And here it is.

1. Make a low-poly model in 3ds Max or any other 3d program. Most preferably a 100% quad-based model (a model composed of 4-sided polygons)
2. UVW Unwrap it well. I mean, REALLY WELL. Make sure there are no distortions or stretching.
3. Export it as an OBJ file.
4. Import it in Mudbox.
5. Using SHIFT+D, subdivide the model as much as needed.
6. Sculpt the model as much as you want using various brushes.
7. Export the low-poly model from Mudbox AGAIN.
8. Extract the Displacement and Normal maps from the high-poly sculpted model. Most preferably as 16-bit TIFF or TGA files at 4096x4096 resolution.
9. Import the low-poly model into 3ds Max or any other 3d program.
10. Apply 1 or 2 levels of subdivision (Meshsmooth or Turboshooth).
11. Apply the displacement and normal maps on the model.
12. Now you can easily rig and animate a low-poly model while being able to render a high-poly model with incredible detail.

Now in Mudbox 2009, the program has an incredible new feature: Texture painting! Now I can apply textures DIRECTLY on the model instead of switching back and forth from 3ds Max and Photoshop just to make the textures. The newest version also has an improved interface and new brush options. It's such a great program. If ZBrush is for people who have the time to study a complex interface and a steep learning curve, Mudbox is for people who don't have that time and just want to start sculpting a UV mapped model right away.