These are some very early tests we did for... Bumblebees transformation while developing the tools and pipeline for Transformers Rise of the Beasts. Bumblebee was the character that we did all of the initial transformation testing on at MPC. The team knew they had to create a tool which allowed complete creative and technical freedom to animators to allow them to transform the characters in a believable way while still being able to address notes from leadership. The tool created by the team let animators separate any piece they chose by providing it with its own controls in the rig. Artists could also choose to cut pieces of geo where ever they wanted, giving them a near infinite level of control and possibilities to make the directors vision come alive.show more

We made full detail, life-sized statues of some of... our hero characters for the marketing of #Transformers ROTB. To create these, we sent 16K turntable renders of the chosen characters in a studio environment to the manufacturer along with the 3D models so that they could replicate them as closely as possible. I worked on the Optimus Primal 3D delivery and can confidently say that those last few days of preparing the character for renders and send-off were some of the most stressful of the entire production. I remember working until 4am on the Friday delivery day to get the character sent down the pipe, ultimately having to skip the MPC Summer Party which was held on the same day. Shout out to everyone involved in the creation of these statues, they turned out amazing!show more

Optimus Prime transformation playblast from Transformers Rise of the... Beasts. This was the most complex Optimus Prime transformation shot on the film, with a lot of moving parts and generally a lot slower movement than his other transformations. I remember seeing the first iterations of this animation during production. As a huge Transformers fan, it was super exciting to see something as complex as this be worked on by our animators. I modelled the head, face, and battlemask for Optimus Prime. Playblast by MPC.show more

This is one of my turntables for Bumblebee's damage... variant from Transformers Rise of the Beasts. We use renders like these to critique our work on the characters in a sterile environment before putting them into shots. Normally, fans don't get to see these behind the scenes looks at our characters, but I convinced the marketing team to also include this turntable in the official breakdown for the film as I think it is super cool to see how the characters are made and brought to life. I have so much behind the scenes work to share about Transformers but unfortunately 99% of it is under NDA so the odds are that no one else will ever see them, as unfortunate as that is.show more

Austin Reaves on the win in OKC: “It’s huge... … And where the standings are, you could go from third to eighth in the snap of a finger. So for us to come in here and play such a good team the way we did tonight is big”show more

A point of utter embarrassment and shame for many... Iranians is the manner in which elements of the diaspora danced on the streets in Western capitals as bombs rained on Tehran. It is also a source for a lot of anger among Iranians in Iran who oppose the theocracy but nevertheless did not favor war and who are stunned to see some in the Diaspora being so indifferent to the suffering caused by the war. But there is another aspect that deserves closer scrutiny. These, almost exclusively pro-Shah elements of the Diaspora, did not dance to celebrate the downfall of the regime. They didn't dance because they had won. They simply danced because the war had started, nothing more. As if their goal was neither freedom nor democracy, but simply revenge and the pleasure they took from seeing Iran bombed. Had they danced after the theocracy had fallen (which it hasn't), it would be a bit different. It would be a moment where they could argue that the price was very high, but because the regime is defeated, it was worth it, and, as a result, a cause for celebration. But they didn't wait for the regime to fall. They danced right away. Signalling that the cost was worth it, EVEN IF the regime didn't fall. Because it was always about selfish revenge, not freedom.show more

Battletrap had one of the coolest designs in Transformers... ROTB. He was a character that looked very badass, our modeling team did an amazing job on him. Originally, he was a Decepticon, even having the Decepticon insignia on his forehead and in concept art. We changed this to the Terrorcon insignia fairly late into production to match the rest of the Terrorcons like Scourge and NightBird. He was a very large character and we spent a good chunk of time making him dirty and greasing him up. I did the blocking Texturing & LookDev on him before handing off to my team to take him through to final. We experimented with making the lights of his eyes pulse and animate as he spoke, since he doesn't have a mouth, but these efforts were scrapped as he didn't have enough dialogue in the film to warrant the R&D efforts required to make it look great. Fun fact: During production, a Transformers fan had found my University graduation project of Titan (the predecessor to Hyperion) and claimed it was a leak of Battletrap from the film. This was very funny to see from my perspective as someone who had made the referenced work and was also working on the film itself. CREDITS Modeling by Jonathan Watkins Blocking Texturing & LookDev by me Primary Texturing & LookDev by Nina Chlodnik Final Texturing & LookDev by Martin Kamminga Video by Paramount VFX by MPC and WetaFXshow more

“Connor and I had chemistry instantly, but then we... had to find a way to have get shane and ilya to have chemistry which is different than our own…for sure” the fact that the instant chemistry was between Hudson and Connor, and they had to create a different kind of chemistry for the characters…show more

This video was posted by Russian propagandists today. A... Russian drone is adjusting a fire with four guided thermobaric bombs on the position of one of our brigades near the village of Lyptsi, a key village on the approaches to Kharkiv. The small landing is literally demolished by powerful explosions, and the hits are very accurate. After this strike, with the help of a drone adjustment, a Russian assault group went to assault the landing site. They were supported from above by a drone that dropped grenades. And even in such difficult conditions and after such strikes, a group of Ukrainian soldiers survived. And they, all shell-shocked, did not run away or surrender. A few Ukrainians dug themselves out of the trenches completely covered with earth, got up, and suddenly met the Russian assault group with aimed fire. Ukrainian heroes withstand a high density of enemy strikes, they fight to the death for every meter of land near Kharkiv and do everything possible and impossible. They know that they will not be covered from the air, they know they will have to equip their positions on the front line themselves with shovels, they know that the enemy has a lot of force. But they are Ukrainians, and behind them is Kharkiv, and next to them are their brothers-in-arms, who are fighting and also repelling all Russian attacks. We need to destroy Russian aircraft on Russian territory. We need to save our Warrior Heroes.show more

Protesters at Saint Annes police station last night. I... have seen in the Echo today that politicians have come out condemning the next protest organised by the same person on County Road next week. Country Road is one of many areas in Liverpool that has undergone massive demographic and cultural change in a short space of time. Many of the locals are upset that this has been done to their home without consulting with any of them. It’s not that they were ignored. They were never part of the decision-making process to begin with. So they are taking to the streets to make themselves heard. And now they are being silenced by the very people that did this to them.show more

The Bitcoin Bookshelf is the corner of the library... where people from all backgrounds can come to discover what Bitcoin is. By taking out the intimidation, we will create an environment for us to strengthen the code, the software, and the network behind it. We have created a place for discovery, for families and friends to learn together and teach one another about the benefits of a decentralized future. I want to thank all the sponsors that helped make this dream a reality, and all the authors who donated all of the books for this project. We are working hard to bringing a bookshelf to all corners of the world, a dedicated section in all libraries so everyone can have access to financial freedom.show more

The West is not dying. It is being killed,... and the names of the traitors are known. They occupy our capitals, infest our courts, pollute our newsrooms, and preach in our churches. They open the gates, kneel before the foreigner, and smirk as their own blood is driven from the land. They mock the fallen, defile the heroic, and spit on the blood that raised every city worth defending. They are not misguided. They are not mistaken. They are the enemy. They must be treated as such. For too long, we have been ruled by cowards, “men without chests,” by merchants loyal to nothing but the dollar, by liars who speak of progress while presiding over decay. A new generation now rises, armed not with apologies but with the fire of remembrance, with the memory of what we once were and the will to become greater still. We do not ask permission. We do not seek approval. We will reclaim what is ours, because no one else will. Victory will not come through debate. It will come through discipline, through will, through the unbreakable decision to endure, to outlast, and to return to the excellence and greatness that befit our people. We do not need millions. We require only a vanguard: men of loyalty, endurance, and resolve, hardened by truth and unmoved by fear. I say this not for approval, nor is it offered in hope of a reply, but in the spirit of doing what must be done. It is a promise made in full knowledge of what must come. The time of submission draws to a close. The age of reconquest begins. Let the traitors tremble. Let the weak, the feckless, and the unworthy fall away. The future belongs to those with the strength and the daring to seize it.show more

From despair to hope and from struggle to triumph,... this is the incredible story of a wild elephant mother's fight for survival backed by a dedicated and professional team of foresters and vets from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu Forest Department .The mother elephant was found sick and lying on ground with her 3 months old baby roaming around her in confusion and distress.The team consulted experts and vets and successfully lifted her with the help of a crane. She was kept supported by the crane for three days while being treated by Vets. Her baby joined the herd and other siblings roaming in the nearby forests visiting the mother in the night. Thanks to the treatment,she gained enough strength and was released to freedom in the wild today. We are monitoring her to keep an eye on her well being. Gratitude and kudos to the entire team for their efforts. Way to go team 👏👍Video Credits Tamil Nadu Forest Department #TNForestshow more

The highlight of the past election was how technology... disrupted ZANU PF's rigging strategy. They used ZANU PF's member register to move those who are not their members from their traditional polling stations in cities. They gerrymandered the electoral maps and then created double candidates. In every step, Team Pachedu followed them and highlighted these discrepencies and pointed areas of focus. Zimbabwe Electoral Commission refused with the voters roll. Pple didn't know where to vote & the double candidates made it so they don't know who to vote for. A week before elections we released CredibleVote Bots on Whatsapp and Android which completely disrupted the ZEC-ZANU plan. 487 000 pple checked where & who to vote for in 5 days and 84% of these were in Hre, 10% in Byo. By our calculation, CCC wld hve potentially lost 32 seats without this. On election day, CredibleVote had 2 war rooms. One in Mashonaland & the other Matabeleland far away cities powered by satellite internet. We deployed Meshtastic repeaters across the country to cover areas without network. Maximum range we got was 53km but repeaters made it we cld get results from 150km away. We also had MQTT servers that relayed this info to our result servers. All this work was done by volunteers outside of CCC. The only thing we asked of CCC was that they shld have polling agents at every polling station. Then the issue of resources came up. We again built the #Mazizi platform to crowdsource from supporters & that raised $105K which was miniscule compared to the need. This setup was novel and it was a culmination of 2yrs of planning, coding & deployment by pple who didn't have a stake in CCC. I believe ZANU PF & the State machinery never knew abt our work. They raided ZESN probably after the noise by Team Pachedu about Mandla. That did not affect the Crediblevote work at all. Results were coming in from our network , from CCC agents and we also opened a crowd platform for anyone to send V11. In the backend we were using computer vision & language models to read V11s & sort them. There were 3 tiers of validation. Our roving agents had highest trust, then CCC agents, then the crowd. In the first 48hrs after elections, we received & validated results from 10500 polling stations. We got a further 1600 from CCC as some agents chose to hand deliver their V11 etc... I had a meeting with Nelson Chamisa & presented him with what we had. We had close to 350 V11s from Mash East & West which had no stamps and the agents were saying ZEC had said they didn't have stamps but ZANU PF agents were bringing stamped V11 pointing to conniving with Zimbabwe Electoral Commission NC, said we shld wait for ZEC to release their results. Unlike in 2018, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chose to not release their results from each polling station. They used bruteforce to ram unsubstantiated numbers to pple. The responsibility of a credible election lies on the electoral board and nobody else. We had a debate as to whether we shld just release all the ~12100 results we had or not. The SADC report came out and it became clear that the most logical thing to do was reject the whole process & all results given the irregularities that SADC also acknowledged. I was shocked & distraught when folks chose to go parliament. In the end, I think the gun prevailed as it always temporarily does. What we showed is that no process run by the military can ever wield a product that represents the will of the pple. I have written this to highlight the power of volunteers, technology & commitment in challenging autocratic systems. I hope in future others will build on top of our work. I wish I cld thank all the volunteers by name but you know yourselves.show more

Faith in humanity is a rational hope that, by... choosing the path of reason and compassion, it can overcome its own limits and rise to the level of a mature civilization. : The author defines faith in humanity as a rational hope grounded in reality rather than wishful thinking. It is the conviction that by consciously choosing the path of reason and compassion, humanity can overcome its own limitations and rise to the level of a mature civilization. This faith acknowledges our flaws selfishness, short-sightedness, tribalism but refuses to accept them as permanent. It trusts in our demonstrated capacity for growth, learning, and moral progress. Reason gives us the tools to understand and solve problems; compassion gives us the motivation to use those tools for the benefit of all. When these two forces work together, they become a powerful transformative current capable of reshaping societies, institutions, and human relations. Faith in humanity is therefore not passive belief but an active orientation a commitment to build, to improve, and to aspire higher, even when the path is difficult. It is the quiet but firm assertion that we are not doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. We can do better, and we should.show more

We always listen to and value the voice of... our community, treating every piece of feedback as an opportunity for progress. We remain committed to staying on track and delivering on our vision. Our goals are aligned with our users, and together, we’re moving forward toward even greater success! 🚀 While we understand that NFTs may still raise questions for some, rest assured that $XCOIN and NFTs are vital to the continued growth of NebX_Land. Whether you're ready to dive in or prefer to observe from the sidelines, we respect your choice. As the development team, our vision for NebX_Land remains strong, and with testing coming next month, exciting possibilities await. Join us in shaping the future! 🌟show more

An interesting issue with Tesla Robotaxi where it took... us to a Starbucks, but the Google data had the incorrect location. At drop off we were 0.2 miles from the Starbucks, so we had a short walk. Is there a way the Tesla AI team could add functionality in the app so riders can update map info to correct errors or inaccuracies on the underlying map data and then this propagates to the fleet? Being able to do this with a pin drop on the map instead of having to use an address might make this very easy and user friendly! Or, as a bigger ask, would it be possible for the car to be able to use visual images on its own to look for a Starbucks sign and on the fly, get us closer and update the map data on its own?show more

What do we mean by hand marbled paper? It's... a traditional process for adding painted oils to paper to give a striking effect. Here are the cover papers for our M.R. James edition being made by the team we use in the English county of Wiltshire. The oils are placed on water and the patterns are threaded through them. The paper is then placed on top and the oils are pressed on to the paper by the opposition of the water molecules, whilst the oils keep the water from seeping into the paper. The papers are then gently peeled away. The process is then repeated for the next sheet and the finished pieces are left to hang throughout the day and overnight until they set. It's the individuality of this process that makes every cover unique This is hand-marbling. This is perfection being lots of little things being done well. This is one of the many ingredients that go into making the covers for OSP leather editions. Support us to continue to support these kind of expert artisan skills and the artisans and artists that make them.show more

Young Nigerians are on fire! Leave everything & listen... to our Gen Z speak. I’m so proud of them! Why should anyone pay over ₦600K for a substandard education in a public university? NELFUND is a Ponzi Scheme. The APC almost got away with it. They removed the subsidy in Education, & ‘public’ school fees skyrocketed! To make matters worse, you told them to borrow from you before they could go to school. How much did you pay to attend a public school? Which school did you attend? Their struggling parents can barely afford food & rent. Where do you expect them to fetch the 600K from? From the poverty you created? We have to speak for these young minds. We should never make the mistake of abandoning them. Education is a RIGHT, not a privilege! Over ₦600K in a “public” university without functional laboratories, electricity, R&D, & a conducive environment for higher learning, is no education, but punishment! You are denying our children their right to a guaranteed future. Education was under attack in eleven years. They want to keep you poor & uneducated. Asiwaju is an octogenarian. He is not part of Nigeria’s future debates. His Generation are already on their way out. We Millennials ‘may’ have failed. But the APC cannot withstand the Generation Zoomers. The youngest among them is 15 years. The oldest just turned 30. They came of age on Sai Buhari’s watch. We must keep their fire alive. They are the ones to carry the torch. They are legatees of the New Nigeria that is POssible. They will protect the right of Nigerians to choose. The future belongs to these young minds, & we must protect their right to a quality & affordable education. We must teach, guide, & protect them. WE MUST!show more

Just days after the Kiev regime was “devastated” by... a “Russian” strike on the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, a few thugs tied to the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine Ltd.” seized the St. Alexander Nevsky Church in Odessa, forcing its parishioners out and injuring one of them. Earlier, the church was carefully restored by the local community and the raiders had been having their eyes on it for some time, forging documents and preparing for the operation. The new administrators have already announced they will rename it, changing its patron from Alexander Nevsky to Agapetus of the Pechersk. One has to wonder: what would St. Agapetus think of his name being used as a political tool in a hostile takeover?show more