I originally used a much simpler implementation of this effect years ago in my final year project at Bradford Uni. Definite nods to the best wormhole effects I’ve seen, the beautiful whirlpool / liquid ripple effect used in the Farscape wormholes and the rapid motion tunnels used in the later series’ wormhole sequences seen in the various incarnations of Stargate.

The effect was built and animated in Maya, rendered using Mental Ray and touched up in After Effects. The machine I’m working on at the mo has seen better days so the render time was about 30 minutes per frame (200 frames). Totally worth it.

As well as working on various commercial projects at the moment, I’m gearing up for some visual effects work on a short film in the near future. I’m not sure there will be call for a wormhole, but you never know.

Sinse my last update on this project I’ve added a whole bunch of new details and sections.

Firstly I’ve added a layer of greebles, which I have either developed myself or used from the fine selection in Greeble Pack 1-4 by Jedilaw – which helped to speed up the process and give me some ideas for future updates.

Secondly another set of engines has been added to the ‘wing’ section at the rear of model. These are the FTL drives. I’ve seen lots of different ways of implementing some kind of FTL engine in many models in sci-fi, and I always preferred the more discrete or mysterious designs which embedded such mythical technology within the body of the ship – like in Battlestar Galactica, however this is a modeling project so big super-sized wing-mounted mega-engines it is.

Thirdly I’ve added some teeth to the ship as well. On the tilted tips of each wing section now rests an assortment of large guns, making this a warship of sorts (I’m not really interested in developing much of a back-story for this model, its just an exercise).

I’m already seeing things I want to change and I’m going to need a new sketchpad soon with all the doodles for ideas and changes I’ve had.

Let me know what you think!

The films are carefully selected from the best shorts from across the UK and arranged in a specific order on each volume, so that when watched one after another, the viewer gets a truly enjoyable short films experience. Each of the films are also great to watch again and again on their own but effort have been taken to select films which work well together, complimenting each other or creating interesting juxtapositions.

As part of our early campaign to get Volume 2 on everyone’s must watch lists we’ve produced a series of trailers. The first is a general ‘teaser’ trailer that showcases all the films and demonstrates the tone and feel of the volume in around 1 minute. As well as this we’ve also produced ‘preview’ trailers for each of the featured short films themselves. These previews, don’t give give away the films conclusions or twists but they do provide a more individual taste of the shorts than the teaser.

You can pre-order Volume 2 and get a copy of Volume 1 today – hit the links in the sidebar <—.

So here is the latest design of Starship1 (still working on the name).

I’m also playing with some After Effects techniques when putting together these YouTube WIPs. Quite pleased with the scan line wipe thingy on this latest one.
The joy of having time off to play!

After playing with the engine unit I built a while back and the hull even longer ago I decided that some redesigning was in order.



I felt that the first design was too bulky and wide so I’ve slimmed this design down somewhat, next I’m going to integrate it into the updated model of the hull.

It is rather tempting just to dive in and work on lots of different aspects of the model all at once as this is just for fun but I don’t think I’d get very much done. So I’ve had a quick go at putting together one of the engine types that will be fitted to the model. Have a look:

Not a bad start, think there are already some things I want to change and I’m still wondering about the level of greebling I want to go for on this one.

Anyway that’s all for now.

Today however while out on a lunchtime flat viewing with a mate from Workshop – SUCCESS!!

Capture is on the shelf after the staff restocked this morning. So cool to see the DVD there with the price label on, which I’m sure sounds daft but me and the team have worked so long and hard to get this project going – its great  to finally see it out there in the wild and not just on a website.

Volume 1 will soon have company with Volume 2 and 3 underway. However if you are looking for it in the shops you’ll find it filed in the ‘Feature Film’ section – just because HMV and shops like it don’t usually have a ‘Short Films’ or ‘Anthologies’ section.

So we’re off to a great start for our label A1’s first DVD release. More stock on the way so no worries there.

But fear not Volume 1 is still available in store and at many other online retailers – Amazon.co.uk, Play.com etc. THIS POST has details about Volume 2 and where else you can get a copy of Volume 1. Anyway Volume 2 is well on the way now and HMV are taking pre-orders for it already. The hunt is on for Volume 3 films already!

The team at Workshop have been developing the idea the ‘filmmaker’s film network’ for a while now and Monday saw the new network get off to a great start. The great turnout from filmmakers from all over Lancashire and Cumbria were treated to a panel discussion with representatives of the film industry and representatives from major organisations, North West Vision and Media and The North West Development Agency. The topics covered in this first event were centred on the issues of funding / finance for films in the North West region and The Future of Film in the North West.

Despite a known irritant in the filmmaker community attempting to use the event for some ill-conceived public rambling, the panel covered a great deal of questions and the majority of the attendees found it both enjoyable and enlightening. The atmosphere was engaging and very friendly with ample opportunities for people to network and enjoy a drink at the NICE bar at The Storey.

Reel Vision has thrown open the doors for ideas for future events and programs to the filmmaking community. Please get in touch if you have any ideas or suggestions.

This is just the launching pad of Reel Vision, with so many enthusiastic and talented filmmakers operating in the North West region, I have no doubt that Reel Vision will go from strength to strength.

This is going to be my first project to get to retail so I’m quite excited about seeing it on the shelves in HMV, no doubt in the number 1 position on the chart shelf

I might even pop down on my lunch-break and sign a few copies!