barbult's take on the lives of Jack and Richard - discursion thread

background · May 2

Barbult, I'm impressed by the way you are able to quickly produce renders to follow a story. I've though about doing some sort of 'comic' style story several times, but never really got going.

I think I may have asked before, but my poor memory fails me on recalling:-

Let's say I have story in mind, that I think might work and it's going to be a mixture of renders and text. I would probably start by doing some test renders to see if I'm inspired by the results, to continue and expand them into some sequence. I feel that if I start by creating renders of key points in the story, I will most likely have to redo them in the light of changing ideas that emerge as I think about the whole project more. Also some ideas that I have may prove impossible to render to an acceptable standard ( for me ), so I might need to change the story to fit what I am able to render.. I think I would want the freedom for the story to take its own course rather than having everything decided before starting work on it.

I'm probably overthinking the whole thing, I do tend to do that.

barbult · May 2

background said:

Barbult, I'm impressed by the way you are able to quickly produce renders to follow a story. I've though about doing some sort of 'comic' style story several times, but never really got going.

I think I may have asked before, but my poor memory fails me on recalling:-

Let's say I have story in mind, that I think might work and it's going to be a mixture of renders and text. I would probably start by doing some test renders to see if I'm inspired by the results, to continue and expand them into some sequence. I feel that if I start by creating renders of key points in the story, I will most likely have to redo them in the light of changing ideas that emerge as I think about the whole project more. Also some ideas that I have may prove impossible to render to an acceptable standard ( for me ), so I might need to change the story to fit what I am able to render.. I think I would want the freedom for the story to take its own course rather than having everything decided before starting work on it.

I'm probably overthinking the whole thing, I do tend to do that.

I don't start out with a story idea. I usually just do a render based on some comment someone posted, or some product I purchased and want to use. Then, if I work Richard Haseltine into to render, I post it here. From there it grows and grows as people comment or I have a follow on idea. Here are some examples:

I rendered an image of a bunch of LowPi characters on horses, because I was playing with LowPi. Richard wasn't even in the image. Then someone commented that they looked like they were chasing someone or something. So, of course I figured they must be chasing Richard Haseltine. From there it grew into the whole story of the posse infiltration and then Miss Kitty and the 5 Tom kittens, and then Jack repairing Richards broken horse, and then Richard giving the horse to Milly, and then the Toms finding new homes, etc. None of that was preplanned. It all grew organically from reader responses, one render after another.

Ron Knights mentioned that it was his birthday. So I rendered Richard buying him a birthday cake. Pretty soon we have a giant BBQ scene followed by explosions, destruction, and a police lineup. That was never my initial idea, it grew out of people's comments.

The fun and challenge comes from NOT having a plan to start with.

background · May 2

Ah ok thanks, so I guess you save each scene that you render, so that you can go back, edit it, and re-render if you want to change an element? Also I guess you have saved scene subsets, or some other method, for saving regular occuring characters or scene elements?

I have to admit I have got into the bad habit of using the 'perspective view' camera and rotating and traversing it until I get a viewpoint that looks pleasing, doing a render, and then moving to a new viewpoint. While this is quick and easy it means I can't recreate any previous render exactly, since the perspective camera's settings aren't saved.

barbult · May 2

background said:

Ah ok thanks, so I guess you save each scene that you render, so that you can go back, edit it, and re-render if you want to change an element? Also I guess you have saved scene subsets, or some other method, for saving regular occuring characters or scene elements?

Oh yes, I always save versions of the scenes as I work on them. I seldom go back after posting, but this time I just reopened the street scene and replaced Lola and Richard with the evil pumpkin carrot, replaced the LowPi witness with a real G8 I could pose and put an expression on, added the billboards and voila, there was the next render. This render includes a combination of several responses to the previous render.
Yes, I have scene subsets that I merge into scenes. I have Richard, Lola, Jack, Rob, Milly, and Ron, to mention a few. That way I can maintain consistency in their appearance without having to start over remembering how I concocted the character. I might just change their clothes, pose, hair, etc. to suit the new scene. Milly is a child, so she has to age a bit as we go along.

Richard Haseltine · May 2

barbult said:

background said:

Barbult, I'm impressed by the way you are able to quickly produce renders to follow a story. I've though about doing some sort of 'comic' style story several times, but never really got going.

I think I may have asked before, but my poor memory fails me on recalling:-

Let's say I have story in mind, that I think might work and it's going to be a mixture of renders and text. I would probably start by doing some test renders to see if I'm inspired by the results, to continue and expand them into some sequence. I feel that if I start by creating renders of key points in the story, I will most likely have to redo them in the light of changing ideas that emerge as I think about the whole project more. Also some ideas that I have may prove impossible to render to an acceptable standard ( for me ), so I might need to change the story to fit what I am able to render.. I think I would want the freedom for the story to take its own course rather than having everything decided before starting work on it.

I'm probably overthinking the whole thing, I do tend to do that.

I don't start out with a story idea. I usually just do a render based on some comment someone posted, or some product I purchased and want to use. Then, if I work Richard Haseltine into to render, I post it here. From there it grows and grows as people comment or I have a follow on idea. Here are some examples:

I rendered an image of a bunch of LowPi characters on horses, because I was playing with LowPi. Richard wasn't even in the image. Then someone commented that they looked like they were chasing someone or something. So, of course I figured they must be chasing Richard Haseltine. From there it grew into the whole story of the posse infiltration and then Miss Kitty and the 5 Tom kittens, and then Jack repairing Richards broken horse, and then Richard giving the horse to Milly, and then the Toms finding new homes, etc. None of that was preplanned. It all grew organically from reader responses, one render after another.

Ron Knights mentioned that it was his birthday. So I rendered Richard buying him a birthday cake. Pretty soon we have a giant BBQ scene followed by explosions, destruction, and a police lineup. That was never my initial idea, it grew out of people's comments.

The fun and challenge comes from NOT having a plan to start with.

It's a game of ((I hope) lack of) consequences.

background · May 2

But surely the art of being a master villain is making it all look like 'this just happened'.. And "It was like that when I got here! ( or very shorty afterwards)"

"It was as if some great hand reached out of space... and suddenly everything was on fire" ( ok ok so I pinched half that from Babylon5)

background · May 6

Maybe he was looking for the picture of 'The fallen madonna with the big boobies'. by Van Klomp.

Artini · May 8

What a story and images, @barbult

Could not resist...

barbult · May 8

SimonJM said:

barbult said:

SimonJM said:

Don'r forget the black beret!

You know your onions! (is that an expression in use in the US?)

No, I've never heard that.

Ron Knights · May 8

I'd never heard the "onions" thing either.

SimonJM · May 9

barbult said:

SimonJM said:

barbult said:

SimonJM said:

Don'r forget the black beret!

You know your onions! (is that an expression in use in the US?)

No, I've never heard that.

"You know your onions" or, more usually, "he/she/they know their onions" just means they know what they are doing.

background · May 9

I like the little sayings like 'He knows his onions', although some are cleverly designed to offer conflicting advice depending on the situation..

Like 'Too many cooks spoil the broth' vs 'Many hands make light work'

Or 'Look before you leap' vs 'He who hesitates is lost'.

Richard Haseltine · May 9

background said:

I like the little sayings like 'He knows his onions', although some are cleverly designed to offer conflicting advice depending on the situation..

Like 'Too many cooks spoil the broth' vs 'Many hands make light work'

Or 'Look before you leap' vs 'He who hesitates is lost'.

"A stitch in time saves nine" vs. "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof"

background · May 9

Richard Haseltine said:

background said:

I like the little sayings like 'He knows his onions', although some are cleverly designed to offer conflicting advice depending on the situation..

Like 'Too many cooks spoil the broth' vs 'Many hands make light work'

Or 'Look before you leap' vs 'He who hesitates is lost'.

"A stitch in time saves nine" vs. "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof"

I'm not familiar with that second one, probably on account of being thrown out of Sunday School at a young age for:-

A: Drawing a 'bum'

B: Saying that Jesus was a little girl

So I'm no doubt headed for eternal damnation. ( Both true, my older sister was mortified. ).

To be fair the drawing of the bum was just a circle with a vertical line through it, but it was graphic enough for the Sunday School teacher to consider me a bad influence.

barbult · May 9

I really like background's little list of familiar contradictory advice. I'm not familiar with "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" either, so I had to look it up, like so many of the things Richard knows that I am oblivious to. But I am an anxious worrier, so I should take that to heart.
I told my husband about the list of contradictions, and he summed it up to "Sufficient is he who hesitates to take the stitch in nine that saves the broth."

background · May 9

That sounds similar to the funny combination of James Bond film titles, which I believe produced 'Licence to Moon Her Majesty' ( for those unfamiliar to 'moon' someone is to show your bare buttocks to them as an insult.)

Richard Haseltine · May 9

barbult said:

I really like background's little list of familiar contradictory advice. I'm not familiar with "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" either, so I had to look it up, like so many of the things Richard knows that I am oblivious to. But I am an anxious worrier, so I should take that to heart.
I told my husband about the list of contradictions, and he summed it up to "Sufficient is he who hesitates to take the stitch in nine that saves the broth."

That sounds about right. I think most proverbs are essentially an exercise in "I told you so!"

barbult · May 10

Richard Haseltine said:

barbult said:

I really like background's little list of familiar contradictory advice. I'm not familiar with "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" either, so I had to look it up, like so many of the things Richard knows that I am oblivious to. But I am an anxious worrier, so I should take that to heart.
I told my husband about the list of contradictions, and he summed it up to "Sufficient is he who hesitates to take the stitch in nine that saves the broth."

That sounds about right. I think most proverbs are essentially an exercise in "I told you so!"

Or maybe "You'd better listen up; I know my onions!".

background · May 10

When I was a lad falling off a bike was part of the learning experience, and an incentive to do better next time. It's surprising how a few bruises can sharpen your skills. In these days of 'Health and Safety' there are probably padded bicycle riding simulators to stop the little dears risking getting a scratch. To be fair there were a lot fewer cars on the roads in those days, so your risk of being run over after falling off was very low.

I was thinking, maybe a 'concerned citizen' observed Richard falling off his bike and sent him off to learn to ride it 'proper', but I would rather other people came up with ideas because I don't want to monopolise the story. Barbult would be quite justified in saying "If you have so many ideas about what should happen, go off and make your own thread".

barbult · May 10

I never had training wheels either. We learned by Dad holding the back of the seat to hold us up as he ran behind. I remember riding downhill on a steep gravel road when I was about 10 and wiping out. That hurt and scraped me up pretty bad. I still had to ride home. Yes, kids were tougher back then. I used to play alone for hours outside in the cornfield and construction sites behind our house. Sliding down big dirt piles and picking up metal plugs that looked like coins were great fun. Nobody seemed to worry. I survived. All that dirt and pollen exposure might be why I have no allergies to that stuff to this day. We also had lots of pets- cats, dogs, hamsters, parakeets, goldfish, Easter chicks that grew into roosters... I'm not allergic to any animals either. Now kids stay inside with screens and I stay in glued to my render machine. I live vicariously through Richard's adventures. Of course I did go to Antarctica a few months ago.

background · May 10

Oh for sure. In the school holidays here I used to go and play down by the canal, which was so polluted I think the top half inch was a mixture of oil and God knows what. It was generally reckoned that if you fell in there you would be very lucky to survive. Nevertheless we played down there and I don't recall any of us falling in. One thing was for sure, there was no point trying to catch fish in that canal.

Richard Haseltine · May 10

background said:

Oh for sure. In the school holidays here I used to go and play down by the canal, which was so polluted I think the top half inch was a mixture of oil and God knows what. It was generally reckoned that if you fell in there you would be very lucky to survive. Nevertheless we played down there and I don't recall any of us falling in. One thing was for sure, there was no point trying to catch fish in that canal.

Sounds like a tributary of the Ankh

background · May 10

Richard Haseltine said:

background said:

Oh for sure. In the school holidays here I used to go and play down by the canal, which was so polluted I think the top half inch was a mixture of oil and God knows what. It was generally reckoned that if you fell in there you would be very lucky to survive. Nevertheless we played down there and I don't recall any of us falling in. One thing was for sure, there was no point trying to catch fish in that canal.

Sounds like a tributary of the Ankh

Had to look that up since my initial reaction was that it was something to do with the Egyptian life symbol. I've never read Discworld but I know of it, a bit more now. Yes the Ankh sounds similar to our canal. I wonder if the Ankh smelled bad when the weather got warm? I expect so, our canal certainly did. It was odd that however windy it was, there were no ripples on the canal, just a sort of hilly effect. sometimes we would throw things in, but they didn't go 'splash' it was more of a 'gloop' and a patch of darker colour where the surface had been disturbed.

SimonJM · May 10

barbult said:

Richard Haseltine said:

barbult said:

I really like background's little list of familiar contradictory advice. I'm not familiar with "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" either, so I had to look it up, like so many of the things Richard knows that I am oblivious to. But I am an anxious worrier, so I should take that to heart.
I told my husband about the list of contradictions, and he summed it up to "Sufficient is he who hesitates to take the stitch in nine that saves the broth."

That sounds about right. I think most proverbs are essentially an exercise in "I told you so!"

Or maybe "You'd better listen up; I know my onions!".

I was reading a book later the same day I made the 'knows his onions' post (a courtroom drama translated from the original Italian into English) and it had the phrase "he knows his onions" in it!

SimonJM · May 10

background said:

I had sort of hoped we would see more of Richard hawking his onions on his little bike, since the first image was so engaging, but I realise it would probably take up a lot of time, Still it might be nice to make more use of the effort you put into getting him dressed up and on the bike. It really felt like the start of a mini adventure ( by which I mean not involving explosions, police, or chaos, but a nice charming story. But of course it's your story, and I'm only here as an observer)...

Related to Stephen Hawking?

background · May 10

SimonJM said:

background said:

I had sort of hoped we would see more of Richard hawking his onions on his little bike, since the first image was so engaging, but I realise it would probably take up a lot of time, Still it might be nice to make more use of the effort you put into getting him dressed up and on the bike. It really felt like the start of a mini adventure ( by which I mean not involving explosions, police, or chaos, but a nice charming story. But of course it's your story, and I'm only here as an observer)...

Related to Stephen Hawking?

Nooo, Google summarizes it better than I can..

The term "hawking" in old English slang refers to the act of selling goods, often in a public place, and is synonymous with "selling." It is used to describe vendors who sell inexpensive goods, handicrafts, or food items, often advertising their wares loudly and engaging with customers to attract attention and enhance sales.

It might be the origin of the surname Hawking?

(ah apparently not, Hawking as a surname comes from falconry and the hawks used for it )

SimonJM · May 10

background said:

When I was a lad falling off a bike was part of the learning experience, and an incentive to do better next time. It's surprising how a few bruises can sharpen your skills. In these days of 'Health and Safety' there are probably padded bicycle riding simulators to stop the little dears risking getting a scratch. To be fair there were a lot fewer cars on the roads in those days, so your risk of being run over after falling off was very low.

I was thinking, maybe a 'concerned citizen' observed Richard falling off his bike and sent him off to learn to ride it 'proper', but I would rather other people came up with ideas because I don't want to monopolise the story. Barbult would be quite justified in saying "If you have so many ideas about what should happen, go off and make your own thread".

Many years agon in the UK there was (maybe still is?) a motor-cycle magaizne called Bike, which had a featured cartoon strip called 'Ogri', drawn by Paul Sample. One of the strips saw the appearnce from someone from the governmwent road safety showing what was t o be suggested as a way of making bikes safer - stabilisers, , flashing lights, engine crash bars, etc., etc., and the gyt wobbling off to show it in action, then hitting a brick and all the safety featues going off with a final speech bubble of, "oh no, not the air bags' or something similar!

barbult · May 10

SimonJM said:

I was reading a book later the same day I made the 'knows his onions' post (a courtroom drama translated from the original Italian into English) and it had the phrase "he knows his onions" in it!

That's how life works. As soon as you learn a new word (or in your case, mention something), you see and hear it over and over right away.

background · May 10

SimonJM said:

background said:

When I was a lad falling off a bike was part of the learning experience, and an incentive to do better next time. It's surprising how a few bruises can sharpen your skills. In these days of 'Health and Safety' there are probably padded bicycle riding simulators to stop the little dears risking getting a scratch. To be fair there were a lot fewer cars on the roads in those days, so your risk of being run over after falling off was very low.

I was thinking, maybe a 'concerned citizen' observed Richard falling off his bike and sent him off to learn to ride it 'proper', but I would rather other people came up with ideas because I don't want to monopolise the story. Barbult would be quite justified in saying "If you have so many ideas about what should happen, go off and make your own thread".

Many years agon in the UK there was (maybe still is?) a motor-cycle magaizne called Bike, which had a featured cartoon strip called 'Ogri', drawn by Paul Sample. One of the strips saw the appearnce from someone from the governmwent road safety showing what was t o be suggested as a way of making bikes safer - stabilisers, , flashing lights, engine crash bars, etc., etc., and the gyt wobbling off to show it in action, then hitting a brick and all the safety featues going off with a final speech bubble of, "oh no, not the air bags' or something similar!

I recall seeing something about a helmet with a built in airbag, to be honest it looked pretty dangerous, especially if it went off unexpectedly.

felis · May 10

This

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