Adam Savage visits Weta Workshop to get up close with some of the practical props the effects studio made for the upcoming film Ghost in the Shell. Weta Workshop's Richard Taylor shows Adam the mechanical geisha masks and animatronic puppets his team created, and how Weta Workshop used new fabrication and design technologies to make these props possible.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Painting: Attack on Hoth
"Attack on Hoth" by Darthtate
Via: Star Wars SubReddit
Acrylic on a 2 foot by 4 foot canvas depicting the view from a Snowspeeder.
Woodwork: Wooden Enterprise
Prints available for purchase from Etsy. US$3,000
This beautiful wooden replica of the Enterprise (NCC-1701) measures 36″ long by 16″ wide by 8″ tall. It was made from hard maple, black walnut, padauk, osage orange, ebony, and yelloheart. Every detail you see, from the ship’s iconic NCC-1701 badging to the colors of the warp nacelles and deflector shield were created using different types of wood.
Tattoo: Doctor Pika-Strange
Doctor Pika-Strange by Chris Morris of Frontier Tattoo Parlour in Cardiff, Wales
And now I'll never be happy until I see a Bulbosaur Hulk.
Link Round-Up: February 27, 2017
"Geeks and Freaks" Stranger Things Fan Art by Netherlands-based Ruby Faber
Prints available for purchase from Society6. US$20
T-Shirts available for purchase from RedBubble. US$29.50
DeviantArt Community Worries that New Corporate Overlords Will Ruin Everything: "Yesterday, the social network for artists was acquired, for an impressive $36 million, by Wix, a DIY website design and hosting company based in Tel Aviv." Wix.com - primarily a WYSIWYG Web hosting company - buy DeviantArt Established in 2001, the art community / noticeboard DeviantArt (aka DA) has long been the place to see some of the best hobbyist, and professional fandom and original digital art.
Hamilton in Sunnydale: Buffy the Vampire Slayer screencaps with Hamilton lyrics.
How to Draw an Exoplanet: "Fifteen years ago, Tim Pyle was animating spaceships for Invader Zim on Nickelodeon. These days, he illustrates exoplanets orbiting stars in the Milky Way."
The scenario of the '71 movie The Andromeda Strain is marvelously illustrated. It uses sketches, diagrams, animations and multi-screen effects so as to better convey the complexity of the vision of Crichton’s novel. The article gives backgroud to the scenario and includes a full copy.
Use Epoxy to Build an Ocean Table
yt-er kaptainkrisitan on Adapting the Unadaptable Watchmen.
The zippityboombot prints in one piece (if your printer is fine tuned), but then has full articulation. Its pretty cute, and free on Thingiverse too.
Monday, February 27, 2017
Sci-Fi Round-Up: February 27, 2017
"GITS" by Kwang Tatt Yang
Interviews
News
Astronomers Have Discovered A Tatooine-Like Star system
Astronomers May Have Just Discovered Luke Skywalker's Home World
"Black Mirror" Just Signed On The Perfect Director And Actor For Season 4
Dune Movie Remake Finds A Director
In China, This Is Science Fiction'S Golden Age
Incorporated Canceled By Syfy After One Season
Iron Fist Photos: Explore Netflix's Latest Marvel Series
Netflix Ceo: Our Future Audience May Be Ai Lifeforms
New Novel Looks At Time Travel And Responsibility
Roborace Unveils Robocar, The World's First Ai-Powered, Self-Driving ...
Roborace Unwraps Its Driverless Electric Car
Sci-Fi Hall Of Fame Grand Opening At Mopop This Week
SpaceX have announced the first space tourism mission to the Moon, launching next year. The two private citizens will be flying in the new Dragon 2 spacecraft and launched by the Falcon Heavy, which will undergo testing this summer. With the launch of a Falcon Heavy priced at $90 million, the mission as a whole will likely cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Star Trek: Discovery Release Date Scheduled For Early Fall 2017
Suicide Squad Wins An Oscar, Along With Arrival And A Few Others
Syfy's "Incorporated" Canceled After One Season
Untitled Han Solo Star Wars story High-Res Cast Image
Ursula K. Le Guin, Ann Patchett Voted Into Arts Academy
Vera Farmiga Joins The Godzilla Sequel
Worlds Beyond: Nebula Showcase Anthology Offers Sci-Fi Highbrow
Astronomers May Have Just Discovered Luke Skywalker's Home World
"Black Mirror" Just Signed On The Perfect Director And Actor For Season 4
Dune Movie Remake Finds A Director
In China, This Is Science Fiction'S Golden Age
Incorporated Canceled By Syfy After One Season
Iron Fist Photos: Explore Netflix's Latest Marvel Series
Netflix Ceo: Our Future Audience May Be Ai Lifeforms
New Novel Looks At Time Travel And Responsibility
Roborace Unveils Robocar, The World's First Ai-Powered, Self-Driving ...
Roborace Unwraps Its Driverless Electric Car
Sci-Fi Hall Of Fame Grand Opening At Mopop This Week
SpaceX have announced the first space tourism mission to the Moon, launching next year. The two private citizens will be flying in the new Dragon 2 spacecraft and launched by the Falcon Heavy, which will undergo testing this summer. With the launch of a Falcon Heavy priced at $90 million, the mission as a whole will likely cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Star Trek: Discovery Release Date Scheduled For Early Fall 2017
Suicide Squad Wins An Oscar, Along With Arrival And A Few Others
Syfy's "Incorporated" Canceled After One Season
Untitled Han Solo Star Wars story High-Res Cast Image
Ursula K. Le Guin, Ann Patchett Voted Into Arts Academy
Vera Farmiga Joins The Godzilla Sequel
Worlds Beyond: Nebula Showcase Anthology Offers Sci-Fi Highbrow
Friday, February 24, 2017
Sci-Fi Round-Up: February 24, 2017
Star Wars: Rogue One Poster by Travis Ruiz
Prints available for purchase from the artist's website. US$30
Interviews
Awesome New Interview With Sci-Fi Author Jay Posey
Interview With The Stars Are Legion Author Kameron Hurley
Emotional JJ Abrams Talks Screening Star Wars for Ill Fan
The Expanse's Executive Producer Tells Us Everything
News
2016 Bram Stoker Awards Final Ballot
2017 Rhysling Award Candidates
Aias Announces 20Th D.I.C.E. Awards
Alita: Battle Angel Secretly Added Michelle Rodriguez To Its Cast
American Gods Gets A Premiere Date On Starz
Captain Fantastic Director Jumps To Big-Budget Sci-Fi Tomorrow And Tomorrow
Damon Wayans Jr. Joins Fx Sci-Fi Comedy Singularity
Deadpool 2 Enlists Former Daredevil Showrunner To Help Finish Script
Denis Villeneuve Is Hollywood's New (Canadian) King Of Sci-Fi
Eve Online Players Are Set To Help Astronomers Find New Planets
Game of Thrones‘ Iwan Rheon will be starring in the Marvel Inhumans series
Joe Carnahan Will Be Intimately Involved With "X-Force"
Samuels Accuses Wicb Of Playing Hardball On Eligibility Rule
Sense8 Season 2 Images: More Drama, More Action
Shooting Gets Underway For Han Solo 'star Wars" Film
Stranger Things Season 2 Plot News
The 'Star Wars' Original Cuts May Finally Get Re-Released For The 40Th Anniversary
Tomorrow And Tomorrow: Captain Fantastic's Matt Ross To Direct
2017 Rhysling Award Candidates
Aias Announces 20Th D.I.C.E. Awards
Alita: Battle Angel Secretly Added Michelle Rodriguez To Its Cast
American Gods Gets A Premiere Date On Starz
Captain Fantastic Director Jumps To Big-Budget Sci-Fi Tomorrow And Tomorrow
Damon Wayans Jr. Joins Fx Sci-Fi Comedy Singularity
Deadpool 2 Enlists Former Daredevil Showrunner To Help Finish Script
Denis Villeneuve Is Hollywood's New (Canadian) King Of Sci-Fi
Eve Online Players Are Set To Help Astronomers Find New Planets
Game of Thrones‘ Iwan Rheon will be starring in the Marvel Inhumans series
Joe Carnahan Will Be Intimately Involved With "X-Force"
Samuels Accuses Wicb Of Playing Hardball On Eligibility Rule
Sense8 Season 2 Images: More Drama, More Action
Shooting Gets Underway For Han Solo 'star Wars" Film
Stranger Things Season 2 Plot News
The 'Star Wars' Original Cuts May Finally Get Re-Released For The 40Th Anniversary
Tomorrow And Tomorrow: Captain Fantastic's Matt Ross To Direct
Link Round-Up: February 24, 2017
"Streets of Jedha" by Akirant
Prints available for purchase from Acme Archives Direct. US$350
This Guy Uses Shattered Tile Pieces to Recreate Vintage Comic Book Covers
Netflix announced earlier this month that they’re developing a live-action series based on Castlevania, the classic video game. Today they released a promotional poster that’s about as spooky as you’d expect from something like this.
Why Are Trending 3D Printable Models So Popular?
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Posters: TRAPPIST-1e Travel
Posters available to download from NASA.
Yesterday, NASA announced the discovery of a new solar system just 39 light years from ours, full of Earthlike planets. The announcement was accompanied by several imaginative artist renderings, and this morning, NASA began offering downloadable travel posters.
Link Round-Up: February 22, 2017
Adam Savage shows off an insanely intricate Board Game for Jim Henson's LABYRINTH from Weta. I would happily dedicate a room to this set.
The Creator's Code
Download 20 Free eBooks on Design from O’Reilly Media
The Enduring Appeal of Macintosh Picasso Artwork
A jazz variation on the Harry Potter theme
Justin Cyr makes pixel art, and has done a number of 32x32 portrait studies using the 16 color MSX palette. Here's 16 portraits. Wait, here's a timelapse of 16 portraits. Hold on, geez, here's 500 portraits. No, wait, shit, here's over a thousand. Also, hey, an animated 8-bit kraken.
Make your own Calvin And Hobbes Time Traveling Terrarium
Rethinking The Ethics Of Photoshop
Sci-Fi Round-Up: February 22, 2017
"Quick sketch inspired by S2 promos"
Interviews
A.F.E. Smith, author of the third Darkhaven novel, Windsinger
Bruce Sterling believes that what's happening now is scarier than sci-fi
Colin Gibson, Oscar-Winning Production Designer of Mad Max: Fury Road
Nicholas Eames, Author Of Kings Of The Wyld Bruce Sterling believes that what's happening now is scarier than sci-fi
Colin Gibson, Oscar-Winning Production Designer of Mad Max: Fury Road
Monday, February 20, 2017
Sweets: Minas Tirith Wedding Cake
"Wedding Cake I helped work on for a super stoked bride who was a huge LOTR fan." All I can think is that this would make for a really morbid birthday cake with a Denethor candle on top.
Sci-Fi Round-Up: February 20, 2017
"Arrival" by Kevin Tong
I finally rented this movie this weekend. It was outstanding - a modern day Slaughterhouse 5. I watched it three times, and I was as impressed the third time as the first. It's going to kill me watching A Madea Halloween sweep awards season.
Interviews
Lightship Chronicles Author Dave Bara Talks About His Latest: Defiant
Why It's Good To Play A Villain, According To Jason Isaacs
Why It's Good To Play A Villain, According To Jason Isaacs
News
Arrival Takes Top Honors At The Writers Guild Award
Author Philip Pullman Announces A Follow-Up Trilogy To His Dark Materials
Bookies name Tilda Swinton as the front runner to lead Doctor Who
Neil Gaiman Is Releasing A Neverwhere Sequel Called The Seven Sisters
Neil Gaiman: Next Book Will Be Neverwhere Sequel
New Star Wars novel Details Rogue One Aftermath From Empire's POV
Shane Black Says "The Predator" Will Be Gory And Rated R
Spacex's Three-Eyed Raven Is A Nod To Game Of Thrones
Spacex Launch Heaps New History On Top Of Old In Major First
Star Wars: The Last Jedi title confirmed to be plural and fans are freaking out
Star Wars 8: Is Benicio Del Toro Related To This Classic Trilogy
Tilda Swinton is new favourite to land Doctor Who job
Tremors 6 Is In Production Here's What Producers Say About The Story
What To Expect From Drax And Groot In Guardians 2
Author Philip Pullman Announces A Follow-Up Trilogy To His Dark Materials
Bookies name Tilda Swinton as the front runner to lead Doctor Who
Neil Gaiman Is Releasing A Neverwhere Sequel Called The Seven Sisters
Neil Gaiman: Next Book Will Be Neverwhere Sequel
New Star Wars novel Details Rogue One Aftermath From Empire's POV
Shane Black Says "The Predator" Will Be Gory And Rated R
Spacex's Three-Eyed Raven Is A Nod To Game Of Thrones
Spacex Launch Heaps New History On Top Of Old In Major First
Star Wars: The Last Jedi title confirmed to be plural and fans are freaking out
Star Wars 8: Is Benicio Del Toro Related To This Classic Trilogy
Tilda Swinton is new favourite to land Doctor Who job
Tremors 6 Is In Production Here's What Producers Say About The Story
What To Expect From Drax And Groot In Guardians 2
Link Round-Up: February 20, 2017
"Who shot first?" by Cracow, Poland-based Konrad Guliński
Bring Minecraft to Life With These Cheap 3-D Printers
Japanese Designers May Have Created the Most Accurate Map of Our World: See the AuthaGraph
The Nerdy Charm of Artisanal, Hand-Drawn Infographics
An Official LEGO Set For Dungeon Building Is Closer Than Ever
Robots Can Create Art — But Can They Critique It?
Monday, February 13, 2017
Short Film: Tears In The Rain
"Tears In The Rain" (A Blade Runner Short Film) by Christopher Grant Harvey
Check out this outstanding Blade Runner-inspired short film created by Christopher Grant Harvey on a budget of just $1,500!
In a dystopian Los Angeles future, replicants or genetically engineered humanoids are created to work forced labour on off-world colonies. The latest generation, the Nexus 3 series, begins to display erratic and violent behaviour. Replicants were not designed to experience complex emotions or develop long-term memories. In the wake of corporate scandals of the previous decade, the Tyrell Corporation quietly attempts to remove Nexus 3 from circulation.
Sweets: Mud Cake Monster
Watch a video of this confection being created at Youtube.
If Tim Burton ran a bakery, this is what his cupcakes might have looked like. It was created by French pastry chef Mélanie Launay, aka La Châteleine.
Link Round-Up: February 13, 2017
Chocolate Cthulhu Skull by Annabel de Vetten (@conjurers_kitchen)
Calc-Man is a MSDOS-era Pac-Man clone that looks like a spreadsheet, written by Dan Tobias. It's a game that is its own boss key, albeit not a very convincing one. You can play the DOS version here, or if that's too fancy for you, the older Apple II release.
DIY Printable Star Wars Valentines Cards with Glowstick Lightsabers
Free Coloring Books from World-Class Libraries & Museums
Hey parents, here are some ideas for class Valentines.
A Look Inside the Comic World's Tribute to the Man Who Created Akira
Neil deGrasse Tyson Might Not the Worst Person to Watch Movie With
Studiorbit has recreated the opening credits to Stranger Things with actual Eggo Waffles.
Friday, February 10, 2017
Link Round-Up: February 10, 2017
Rogue One poster by Krakow, Poland-based Rafał Szłapa
All 375,000 images of public-domain works in The Met collection are now available to use, share, and remix—without restriction.
Building Your Own Workbench
Burger Fiction has created a supercut video of every Oscar winner in the “Best visual Effects” category since 1927. They cover everything from the 1927 silent war film Wings to Ex Machina from 2015.
Cooperative of Photography (COOPH) has created a new video where they share great tips and tricks on how to build your own simple DIY photography studio to shoot various sized objects.
The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock in comic form.
Maastricht, Netherlands LEGO enthusiast Berthil van Beek has created an incredibly complicated machine, known as a Great Ball Contraption, out of LEGO that continually accelerates small LEGO soccer balls and basketballs through a winding roller coaster at 1,000 RPM. It is an amazing recreation of a marble run originally designed by Akiyuki.
Rendered: A partial index of published architectural rendering
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Link Round-Up: February 8, 2017
The Force Awakens Posters by Aix-en-Provence, France-based Ladislas Chachignot
15+ of the Coolest Bookstores to Visit Around the World
As stated in the most recent Full Frontal Nerdity strip, the trench on the Death Star may not be where you think it is, and you can be excused for having been misled.
Have you been reading our new Heirloom Tech series? Well you should. This week’s article is on the interesting acoustics of the Music Hall of the Ali Qapu, a famous palace of the Persian Empire’s Safavid Era. Besides being stunning, the cut outs in the decorative muqarnas (read this Heirloom Tech article to get more info on muqarnas) diffuse sound in the room while preventing echos.
Turn an IKEA Lamp into an Exploding Death Star from an IKEA pendant lamp with this Instructables tutorials from MariaK64.
We have a list of the greatest Spirographs in the world, which is a handy primer for Inspirograph, an online Spirograph toy! I may have to stick a few images from that on a virtual refrigerator somewhere.
As stated in the most recent Full Frontal Nerdity strip, the trench on the Death Star may not be where you think it is, and you can be excused for having been misled.
Have you been reading our new Heirloom Tech series? Well you should. This week’s article is on the interesting acoustics of the Music Hall of the Ali Qapu, a famous palace of the Persian Empire’s Safavid Era. Besides being stunning, the cut outs in the decorative muqarnas (read this Heirloom Tech article to get more info on muqarnas) diffuse sound in the room while preventing echos.
Turn an IKEA Lamp into an Exploding Death Star from an IKEA pendant lamp with this Instructables tutorials from MariaK64.
We have a list of the greatest Spirographs in the world, which is a handy primer for Inspirograph, an online Spirograph toy! I may have to stick a few images from that on a virtual refrigerator somewhere.
Monday, February 6, 2017
Video: Adam Savage's NERF Rifle
In another installment of One Day Builds, host Adam Savage made a custom paint job and modification of a Nerf Longstrike CS-6 rifle for his Imgur Secret Santa.
Savage gave the rifle a more realistic and weathered look, replaced its
internal mechanism with a more powerful spring, and added a working
scope and bipod.
"This past holiday, Adam took part in Imgur's secret santa gift exchange, surprising a fan with a custom modded and painted Nerf rifle! For today's One Day Build, Adam shows how he took the Nerf toy apart and put it back together with his functional and aesthetic improvements."
Video: Miniglobelet
Crystals form, colors swirl, and liquids combine in the beautiful microscopic film series “Miniglobelet” by Beauty of Science. The four-part series covers the crystallization of alunite and ammonium chloride, pigments flowing in alcohol, and various liquids reacting to being combined with each other.
Sculpture: Darth Vader
Available for purchase from Etsy. US$12,000
Do you want to scare the crap out of visitors to your house? Well, this
massive Darth Vader statue should do the trick just fine. It measures in
at a whopping 7’2″ tall, which is about how tall the real Vader is, and
it tips the scales at nearly 850 pounds, which is what Jabba the Hutt
probably weighs.
The sculpture was made by Kreatworks, using a variety of old car parts, and other found junk. If Darth Vader were really made of this much metal, he probably would have survived Return of the Jedi.
The sculpture was made by Kreatworks, using a variety of old car parts, and other found junk. If Darth Vader were really made of this much metal, he probably would have survived Return of the Jedi.
Gaming Round-Up: February 6, 2017
A Burnt Torch: Darkest Dungeon, Mental Health and Lovecraftian Horror [Paste Magazine] “Darkest Dungeon [wiki] is a tactical, party-based roguelike with a Lovecraftian flair. You play as the last heir of a fallen noble house. It’s your job to recruit and command a set of heroes, sending them into the decrepit bowels of a ruined estate—and the corrupt environs surrounding it.
"Eventually Atari came to us and said, 'What do you guys really want out of this?'" On the thirty-fifth anniversary of the popular arcade game, Benj Edwards chronicles the rise of Ms. Pac-Man and how a few MIT students created the next big thing off the back of the previous big thing in 1980s arcade history.
A History of Deus Ex's Racism Controversies “With futuristic, sci-fi sequel Deus Ex: Mankind Divided [YouTube], developer Eidos Montreal has once again found itself walking atop the fiery coals of controversy.
How Designers Engineer Luck Into Video Games
Martian Immigration Nightmare [via mefi projects] An online game specifically made to call out Elon Musk on his collaborationism with the Trump regime. Will you manage to board the Mars rocket, or will you be crushed by an unsympathetic bureaucracy?
At The New Yorker, Raffi Khatchadourian writes about the future of interactive films, with a focus on the company joined by Her Story developer Sam Barlow.
Original design documents and sketches for the first Legend of Zelda game
Richard Stanton has started a new column at Kotaku which looks at British game developers big and small. The first entry focuses upon shmup designer Jeff Minter.
Sci-Fi Round-Up: February 6, 2017
"Darth Revan" by Thuddleston
Interviews
Billy Dee Williams opens up about "Very Nice Lunch" with Donald Glover
Life On Mars: An Interview With Neal Holman of Redline
Life On Mars: An Interview With Neal Holman of Redline
News
Hard Science Fiction Web Series "Deep Six" Coming In May
Joe Hadsall:Sci-Fia Great Way To Sneak Romance Into Movies
Joe Hadsall: Sci-Fi a Great Way To Sneak Romance Into movies
Katee Sackhoff Returns to Space in Sci-Fi Thriller Origin Unknown
Meet The Steampunks: "Victorian Sci-Fi" Fans Take To The Streets
Pacific Rim 2: Scott Eastwood Stars In Sci-Fiaction Blockbuster
Rocket Raccoon's New Comic Series Is A Scifi heist CaperJoe Hadsall:Sci-Fia Great Way To Sneak Romance Into Movies
Joe Hadsall: Sci-Fi a Great Way To Sneak Romance Into movies
Katee Sackhoff Returns to Space in Sci-Fi Thriller Origin Unknown
Meet The Steampunks: "Victorian Sci-Fi" Fans Take To The Streets
Pacific Rim 2: Scott Eastwood Stars In Sci-Fiaction Blockbuster
Romanian Government Backs Off But Demonstrators Remain
Seniors Welcome New Robot Friends
Star Wars: New Movie About Hardcore Fans Coming
Link Round-Up: February 6, 2017
"Rogue One – A Star Wars Story" by UK-based Lon Chan
Adobe Unveils Its 10 Design Predictions For 2017
This Fan has Reimagined the Original 151 Pokémon as Hearthstone Cards “Thanks to a Redditor named Corpit, the original 151 Pokémon have been reimagined as Hearthstone cards. [Full Imgur Album]"I tried to capture the character of each species while trying to make them unique as cards too," Corpit said.”
A Guide to Buying Your First Laser Cutter
This Legion Art Installation Will Blow Your Damned Mind
When Galina Balashova designed her first space habitation module for Soviet cosmonauts, she drew a landscape on its interior wall, something that could remind them of home. In a 2015 interview, she said, "When I popped by to commission the final product they asked me where to procure the painting for the wall. When I replied that it was not needed I was reproached: 'No, it’s been signed off and so we will build it exactly that way.' So I sat down one night and painted pictures for the space capsules. Usually watercolors depicting Russian countryside. They all burned to nothing on re-entry."
Women Who Draw is an open directory of female professional illustrators, artists and cartoonists who take freelance work.