Pseudospace

Quartz Clock Gadget

2010-09-11T00:29:00.030+08:00

I was checking out some Rainlendar skins and came across this very simple-looking analog clock, which I think looks way better than the default Windows 7 Clock gadget. Don't you think the minute and hour hands are much easier to tell apart?

Unfortunately, the above Rainlendar skin seems a little unfinished(?). There is a noticeable white patch in the middle of the face on the right clock. I decided to mess around with the Windows 7 Gadget source files and try to work on a customized clock by modifying existing codes and skins.

My customized clock is more than 20% bigger than the default Clock gadget and almost as tall as the full-sized Weather gadget. I've always wanted a slightly larger clock on the desktop so that I don't have to strain my eyes whilst gazing at the monitor. ;-)

I can't think of a kick-ass name for this timepiece gadget, so I'll just call it "Quartz Clock".

If you are interested to give Quartz Clock for Windows 7 a try, it's available for download HERE (147 KB). Simply open the gadget file and the clock will pop right onto your desktop.

Sadly, there is only one selectable clock skin at the moment.

Kimi ni Todoke ED Piano Arrange (Kataomoi)

2010-02-21T09:09:00.047+08:00

Wrote this piano arrangement of Kimi ni Todoke anime ending theme during the Chinese New Year holidays but only had time to upload the sheet music and post this blog today. The original song is sung by Chara, titled Kataomoi which translates to unrequited love. Decided to compose the ending theme shortly after I transcribed the insert song of Kimi ni Todoke because this is one of those catchy anime theme songs that will get stuck in my mind for some time.

The intro and outro sections of the piano music are transcribed by ear. Source is from the background music in episode 18 and 15 of the anime respectively. I had to compose and arrange the interlude that connects the intro and outro from scratch since I cannot find a fuller piano version.

Download Kataomoi piano sheet music here.

PDF format from MediaFire or Ichigo's.
MUS format from MediaFire or Ichigo's.
(MUS file requires Finale Reader or other Finale products to open.)

YouTube video done in Adobe Flash. Guess I'm getting the hang of working with simple transform animation using Flash. Background image by 住屋 published under Pixiv Commons.

You can also download the piano music below.

MIDI file from MediaFire or Ichigo's.
Lossy MP3 (320 kbps) version from MediaFire.
Lossless WAV format from MediaFire.

Enjoy!

Kimi ni Todoke OP Piano Insert Song

2010-01-26T04:45:00.102+08:00

Been busy during the past months due to a surge of events affecting my personal life. Therefore, I didn't manage to do anything creative to blog lately. But after watching the recent episodes of Kimi ni Todoke a couple of days ago, I was determined to set aside some free time in order to transcribe this beautiful piano insert song of the opening theme, which is one of the background music in episode 15 (approximately after 04:00 into the show).

This short piano piece could have appeared in earlier episodes and I probably missed it since I was relying on my crappy laptop speakers for my previous viewings. If I missed out a longer version of this piano music, please do let me know.

Sorry I couldn't afford to spend too much time and effort on the visual in this video hosted on YouTube. It's just a static picture of Sawako-chan with some simple video effects done in Adobe Flash. My main concern was getting the notes and audio parts to sound as good as possible.

The initial transcribing was done in Guitar Pro which I find very comfortable to work with, even though it is meant for writing guitar tabs. I feel that the editing of notes in Guitar Pro is less hassle than other software I've tried, like Notation Composer and Finale Songwriter. But eventually, I have to fallback to Finale Songwriter for publishing of my transcription in a more readable and presentable format.

Download sheet music in PDF from MediaFire or Ichigo's.
Download sheet music in MUS from MediaFire or Ichigo's.
(MUS file requires Finale Reader or other Finale products to open.)

The nice thing about using all these notation software is that most of them have the ability to export your transcribed music into MIDI files. With the MIDI music file, I can feed it into a synthesizer software that can produce a reasonably good sounding piano music.

I didn't actually play the piano music you hear in the video clip above. It is fully computer generated and produced by this software I recently rediscovered called Pianoteq 3. The previous version was totally unimpressive but now I'm quite happy with the piano tone in this latest installment. The free trial version of Pianoteq has a limitation where some higher # keys cannot be played but that can be easily fixed with some transposing tricks and sound engineering skills.

Anyway, you can download the piano insert song below:

Lossy MP3 (320 kbps) version HERE.
Lossless WAV format for those with super hearing powers HERE.

Enjoy!

Official Twitter Widget on Blogger

2009-09-18T16:21:00.036+08:00

Just got a Twitter account yesterday and had fun stalking people and bombarding messages around.

Yeah, I know I'm slow at adopting latest tech trends, but it had no real use to me until I realize that I can use Twitter to bridge the gap between my Blogger and Facebook, which I often neglect. This is easily done by installing Twitter's Facebook Application and then subscribing to Twitterfeed to parse my blog's RSS feed. So, whenever I post something on my Blogger, Twitter and Facebook will get the updates as well.

The next thing I tried is to display the official Twitter Widget on my blog and this is where I ran into a little hiccup. As you can see from the preview on Twitter's site, the widget is nicely formatted and styled.

But once I copy and paste the code into Blogger's HTLM/JavaScript gadget, it turns out like this - broken. Yucks!

The problem is that Blogger will choose to ignore all external stylesheet links in your code. Therefore, this line below is purged and not saved in your Blogger's layout.

<link href="http://widgets.twimg.com/j/1/widget.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet">

So how do we workaround this problem?

Easy. Just use the style attribute and put CSS code directly into your HTLM/JavaScript gadget. Here is what you do:

Open http://widgets.twimg.com/j/1/widget.css with your web browser.
Copy the CSS code. (You can leave the comments.)
Open the HTLM/JavaScript gadget in Blogger where you have your widget code.
Replace <link href="http://widgets.twimg.com/j/1/widget.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet"> with <style type="text/css">
Append/paste the CSS code you copied earlier right after <style type="text/css">
Add </style> at the end of the bunch of CSS code to close the style tag.
Save your HTML/JavaScript gadget.

For example, let's say we're grabbing the default Twitter Search Widget code, the working code for Blogger will look like this.

<div id="twtr-search-widget"></div>
<script src="http://widgets.twimg.com/j/1/widget.js"></script>
<style type="text/css">.twtr-widget{position:relative;font-size:12px!important;font-family:"lucida grande",lucida,tahoma,helvetica,arial,sans-serif!important;zoom:1;}.twtr-fullscreen{font-size:220%!important;}.twtr-fullscreen .twtr-new-results{display:none!important;}.twtr-widget .twtr-spinner{width:14px;height:14px;position:absolute;background:url(http://widgets.twimg.com/j/1/spinner.gif) no-repeat;top:3px;right:3px;}.twtr-inactive{display:none;}.twtr-widget a img{border:0!important;}.twtr-doc{overflow:hidden;width:100%;text-align:left;font-weight:normal;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;border-radius:5px;}.twtr-bd{padding:0 1px;}.twtr-widget .twtr-tweet-wrap{padding:6px 8px;overflow:hidden;zoom:1;}.twtr-fullscreen .twtr-tweet-wrap{padding:20px;}.twtr-widget .twtr-tweet{border-bottom:1px dotted #ddd;overflow:hidden;zoom:1;}.twtr-widget .twtr-tweet a.twtr-reply{visibility:hidden;}* html .twtr-widget .twtr-tweet a.twtr-reply{visibility:visible;}.twtr-widget .twtr-tweet:hover a.twtr-reply{visibility:visible;}.twtr-widget-profile img.twtr-profile-img{display:block;float:left;width:31px;height:31px;border:0!important;}.twtr-widget h3,.twtr-widget h4,.twtr-widget p{margin:0!important;padding:0!important;line-height:1.2!important;width:auto!important;}.twtr-widget-profile h3,.twtr-widget-profile h4{margin:0 0 0 40px!important;}.twtr-widget h3{font-size:11px!important;font-weight:normal!important;}.twtr-widget h4{font-size:16px!important;}.twtr-widget i,.twtr-widget .twtr-new-results{font-size:9px;font-style:normal;display:block;margin-top:2px;zoom:1;}.twtr-widget .twtr-new-results{text-align:center;padding:3px;margin:0 auto -10px auto;display:block;position:relative;bottom:5px;}.twtr-results-inner{line-height:1;font-size:100%;padding:4px 0;position:relative;bottom:-2px;width:40%;margin:0 auto;z-index:2;text-align:center;}.twtr-results-hr{width:100%;position:relative;z-index:1;height:1px;border-bottom:1px dotted #ddd;bottom:7px;background:none;overflow:hidden;}.twtr-new-results span{position:relative;z-index:3;top:-14px;display:block;font-size:9px!important;}.twtr-hd{padding:10px;position:relative;zoom:1;overflow:hidden;}.twtr-fullscreen .twtr-hd{height:0;padding:0;}.twtr-timeline{-moz-border-radius:6px;-webkit-border-radius:6px;border-radius:6px;position:relative;overflow:hidden;z-index:2;height:225px;}.twtr-flat .twtr-timeline{overflow-x:hidden;overflow-y:scroll;}.twtr-widget .twtr-tweet:last-child{border-bottom-width:0;}.twtr-ft{position:relative;}.twtr-ft div{overflow:hidden;padding:10px;zoom:1;}.twtr-ft span{float:right;text-align:right;}.twtr-ft a{float:left;display:block;}.twtr-ft span a{float:none;}.twtr-avatar{width:40px;height:40px;float:left;overflow:hidden;display:block;}.twtr-fullscreen .twtr-avatar{width:80px;height:80px;}.twtr-img{height:25px;width:25px;}.twtr-img img{width:30px;height:30px;}.twtr-fullscreen .twtr-img img{width:72px;height:72px;}.twtr-fullscreen a.twtr-join-conv{display:none;}.twtr-tweet-text{margin-left:40px;}.twtr-fullscreen .twtr-tweet-text{margin-left:90px;}.twtr-doc a{text-decoration:none!important;}.twtr-doc a:hover{text-decoration:underline!important;}</style>
<script>
new TWTR.Widget({
search: '\"San Francisco\" OR @sf OR #sf',
id: 'twtr-search-widget',
loop: true,
title: 'What\'s being said about...',
subject: 'San Francisco',
width: 250,
height: 300,
theme: {
shell: {
background: '#3082af',
color: '#ffffff'
},
tweets: {
background: '#ffffff',
color: '#444444',
links: '#1985b5'
}
}
}).render().start();
</script>

Another solution is probably to move the CSS link code, as opposed to the entire CSS chunk, to the head part of your blog's HTML. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to work for me when I was meddling with the HTML header in the Template editor. I wonder if I looked in the right place...

Well, I hope this post will provide some helpful information to those who aren't too familiar with HTML and CSS taggings, and/or have the same problem with the official Twitter Widget on Blogger.

Mirai Figma (TFS Version)

2009-08-04T16:26:00.051+08:00

The real Mirai Figma is finally here! Looks like Mirai-chan's optical eyes are painted just in time for Tokyo Figure Show 2009. This is not the final product so I assume there will be more touch ups when she is ready for mass production. Nonetheless, Mirai-chan is looking gorgeous!

Close-up views...

Some of the DC readers might have noticed the weird joint on Mirai-chan's left wrist, but in any case, I believe this can be easily rectified with some minor adjustments.

While I was modeling 3D Mirai, I actually noted that Max Factory used to choose their Figma characters carefully - girls usually wear sleeves, wrist bands or guantlets to "hide" those hideous looking joints. A clever design I must say.

Hmmm... is it me or do Mirai-chan's lower arms look a bit too ermm.... plump? Probably can't be helped due to the elbow joints.

I feel that Mirai Figma's painted eyes are slightly different from those illustrated by Azami Yuko sensei but they are still very lovely. I approve!

I worry about those twin pigtails though. Notice some supposedly glue residue left on one of the pigtails? Hopefully, the production team will reinforce them with metal wire or something, so that they won't break off too easily.

Well, I could be wrong about the glue residue since the picture quality isn't the best as I believe they were taken from the mobile phone shown in the photo below, which Danny first used it to tease his readers a few days ago. LOL

And more pictures of Mirai Figma display at the Tokyo Figure Show...

Notice only Mirai Figma houses a clear case. I guess she's the only prototype?

I kind of like this photo shoot by Danny. The lighting and camera angle are refreshing. :)

Edit: Better images of Mirai Figma display can now be found at Danny's Tokyo Figure Show Report (1 day after this initial writing). Also hijacked this very nice shot below by ニトロ有線式.

スエナガ・シスタース≪シスコン編≫

2009-05-27T06:39:00.014+08:00

元の.PNG画像(2480x3507)のダウンロード
Original resolution (2480x3507) in PNG HERE.

At first, I did thought of doing this webcomic in Japanese but due to my limited knowledge of the language and after considering my target audience, I dropped the idea and did it in full English. Thanks to meronpan who helped with the translation of the dialogs, I now have a Japanese version. ^^

Other than my poor ability to read and write Japanese, I realised my Japanese font library is just as pathetic. Luckily, I managed to find some fancy fonts from this site for the main title of my webcomic. Changed the subtitle from "Sibling Love" to "shisukon" (Sister Complex), which I feel is more appropriate in Japanese. I don't know how to translate the small print that says "Dakimakura image from dannychoo.com" so I just ripped off some text from Hobby Stock...

Now I wonder if any Japanese will ever get to see this... wwwww

Suenaga Sisters: Sibling Love

2009-05-23T23:34:00.020+08:00

Another one-page webcomic featuring dannychoo.com's mascot sisters. This time done in manga style; you read this in a right-left and top-down fashion.

Original resolution (2480x3507) in PNG HERE.
Japanese version HERE.

While I did this for fun, I figured I'm not cut out to be a mangaka. My art style is too inconsistent and my drawings lack the "wow" factor when I restrict them in boxes. I need lots of references to draw and color decently as well. I just hope I don't have any weird colorings in here since I'm colorblind. I could finish the comic with simple toning but the dakimakura will definitely not look spectacular in grayscale.

The image of Mirai in apron is actually a rework of the dakimakura doodle I did some time ago. Sorry I do not have plans to complete the dakimakura sketch. Azami sensei has already done an official one and Danny is kind enough to share the PSD file somewhere on this page.

If you'd like to get the image of Mirai in apron with transparent background, click HERE to download the PSD file. Thank you.

Figma Mirai in the Making Part 2

2009-04-02T15:12:00.029+08:00

More pictures of Figma Mirai in the making. Images hijacked from Danny Choo's post.

Coincidentally, the original writeup was posted on 1st April which caused much doubts and confusion among DC readers regarding the genuineness of this Figma product. Whether this is an elaborated April Fool's joke or not, I reckon that the process of 3D rapid prototyping and the assembly of individual body parts is no easy task. Whoever worked on the prototype has done a pretty impressive job.

There is something missing from this action figure however and I wonder if anyone else has noticed it. Hint: Maho~ (Pani Poni Dash!)

Now if you'll please excuse me, I feel like I'm in a mood for some candy...

Figma Mirai in the Making

2009-03-12T13:31:00.015+08:00

Oh wow! Just read this news on dannychoo.com. Simply awesome!!! Can't wait to see the finished product.

These Figma body parts seem to be printed from the 3D model I sent to Danny a few weeks ago. I hope Good Smile Company will do some modification to Figma Mirai's hair, torso and skirt, which I felt could have been done better.

Man... wished I could visit Good Smile Company's factory and witness the actual production of this Figma in person.

P.S Danny, hope you don't mind me hijacking this picture.

Mirai Dakimakura Sketch

2009-03-06T02:12:00.011+08:00

Before I did the Nyoron Haruka-tan 4koma, I actually made a quick and rough sketch of a Suenaga Mirai dakimakura. Unfortunately, I had to put this sketch aside because I was still trying out PaintTool SAI. Sketch progress was slow too since I have no easy access to a computer and tablet for the past couple of weeks due to major renovation work at my place. After reading Danny's latest news on Mirai Merchandise, I decided to upload this sketch and thought maybe Danny could use it as a reference. Is her pose a little conservative? XD

By the way, does anyone know the best resolution and pixel dimension for drawing dakimakura? The original DPI for my sketch is only 72 pixels per inch with a dimension of 2267 by 4818 pixels. I wonder if that's too small...

Pocket Digital Clock is One Year Old

2009-02-28T13:49:00.023+08:00

Pocket Digital Clock (PDC), which is a Windows Mobile Today screen plug-in I wrote for displaying date and time on the Pocket PC in a stylish manner, just turned one year old today. Yay!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all users who have supported PDC for the past year. I have never imagine a simple personal project would have benefited other Windows Mobile users and grown into something I'm proud of, especially for someone who had no Windows programming background. Unfortunately, I'm unable to develop the software further due to time constraints and other commitments. Even though there are almost no software updates for the past six months, visitors still keep coming to PDC's home page.

As at 28 February 2009, the total number of visitors has already exceeded 106,000. (The site counter - ClustrMaps was only registered on 15 April last year.) Wow! And the world is populated quite nicely, isn't it?

What surprised me most is that the top visitors are from Japan, follow by the States. The reason is probably because I authorized two Japanese companies - SHINYUSHA Co., Ltd. and Mainichi Communications, Inc. to publish and feature PDC in their magazines. Well I guess I should be saying "arigatou gozaimasu" instead.

Nyoron Haruka-tan

2009-02-25T10:17:00.015+08:00

While Mirai Suenaga gets her own anime, the younger sister - Haruka is receiving the nyoron treatment.

This time drawn mainly with PaintTool SAI as recommended by most DC readers. Experimented with the various different painting tools in SAI while I tried to imitate the art style in the Nyoron Churuya-san series created by Utsura Uraraka. I had to use Photoshop for the text however... nyoro~n :3

The above 4koma with empty speech bubbles is available for download HERE and you're welcome to caption it.

File Hosting Fail

2009-02-11T22:20:00.004+08:00

I don't know why but I constantly receive complaints of inaccessible files on savefile.com where I host my transcribed sheet music. If you're being directed here due to download problems, you can find copies of the files in links below the respective YouTube videos.

Granado Espada Piano Title Music (Full Ver. + Piano Sheet)

Alternate hosting sites:
MediaFire
Picasa Web Album (Piano sheet music only)

CLANNAD - Nagisa/Dango Daikazoku Ver.2 (Rearranged + 初音ミク)

Alternate hosting sites:
MediaFire
Picasa Web Album (Piano sheet music only)

Due to local ISP proxy, my choice of file hosting sites is quite limited. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Mirai and Haruka 4koma

2009-02-09T23:33:00.027+08:00

Last week, I was cleaning my Intuos2 tablet and moments later, found myself scribbling away with the Wacom pen without realizing. Images of SD Mirai, which appeared on Danny's site not too long ago, must have been haunting me so I ended up drawing semi-SD version of the Suenaga sisters.

I'm no stranger to CGing but this is probably my first 4koma... I think. Artwork is a little crude since it was a rushed job.

Drawn entirely in Photoshop CS2. Yes, it's not the best software for inking digital lines but I didn't have Painter installed. Anyone wants to recommend me a better program for drawing lines with a tablet?

By the way, this 4koma is an inside joke for the dannychoo.com readers.

Panel 1: じーっ (stare)
Panel 2: ドド (heartbeat)
Panel 3: ドドドドド (racing heartbeat)
Panel 4: きゃあ～ (shriek)

Highlight for spoiler >>> Dolphin is another word for penis on dannychoo.com <<

Gamer's Worst Fear Realized

2009-02-01T14:27:00.005+08:00

After returning home from a boring trip, I could finally relax and and fired up my Xbox 360 for a couple of Gears of War 2 tournaments. Just when I was navigating through the multiplayer menu, I heard a short but loud screeching noise as if someone was tearing the TV apart. The next moment, the entire screen was glitched with checker-like patterns and the game froze.

My only option was to re-power the console in hope of getting my shooting spree started. And right before my eyes, I witnessed what all Xbox 360 owners fear most - the Red Ring of Death.

My reaction... OTL - I just couldn't believe this would happen so soon since I only bought my first Xbox 360 last year. By the way, it's a Falcon board.

Thanks Microsoft. You just ruined my weekend.

Toying with Photosynth

2009-01-31T01:12:00.025+08:00

Ever since Microsoft launched their new product - Photosynth, I've been tormenting my old Pentium 4 laptop to cough out (render) more 3D images of Figma Mirai at various viewing angles.

Test 1:

(8 Photos - 100% Synthy)

Initially, I tried to synth Figma Mirai with existing images I did previously. I was quite surprised to get 100% synthy, meaning all the images matched, but something's just not right...

Test 2:

(24 Photos - 21% Synthy)

This time, I used the nekomimi version of Figma Mirai as the test subject. I read through the Photosynth Photography Guide carefully and rendered my 3D model at every 15 degrees in hope of synthing Figma Mirai accurately. The result is a little disappointing though - only 21% synthy.

Test 3:

(72 Photos - 56% Synthy)

Then I tripled the number of photos from the previous test, i.e. I do a snapshot at every 5 degrees angle instead. Still quite disappointed with the result. But at least I get to see a fraction of the navigational halo now.

Test 4:

(72 Photos - 56% Synthy)

Since Photosynth detects textures instead of edges, I thought that by decorating the floor with some characters, I can raise the synthy percentage. Guess what? That didn't help at all... orz

Test 5:

(360 Photos - 100% Synthy)

I decided to go all out and rendered Figma Mirai by rotating the camera at every single degree. Although I scored a perfect synth this time, I still could not get a full navigational halo.

Conclusion:

The synthing algorithm requires more work. Photo quantity matters. And I need a better PC for faster rendering xD

Another Ronery Xmas

2008-12-25T01:19:00.018+08:00

One of my net friends, Rieru, took these pictures and showed them to me just before Christmas.

So I googled a bit, did some photoshopping, and responded with the picture below. Sorry I didn't take my own photos because Christmas Eve dinner was already in my tummy XD

Original photo from Danbooru. Higher resolution of Mirai Suenaga wallpaper HERE.

Oh by the way, wish you all out there a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Figma Mirai Meets Augmented Reality

2008-12-23T23:01:00.068+08:00

If you're sadden by the fact that Figma Mirai Suenaga is nothing more than an illusion, or if you've heard about the release of Dennou Figure ARis about a couple of months ago but couldn't bear to part with 9,800 yen (like me), here's your chance to have some fun with a virtual figure.

Based on the same Augmented Reality technology of ARis, I've implemented a virtual Mirai Suenaga - mascot character of dannychoo.com. This virtual Mirai is a lower polycount version of the Figma Mirai I've done previously. The application is called ARmirai.

The downside of ARmirai, however, is that you can't pose or molest... I mean... interact with the virtual figure other than move the marker around and rotate her using the left/right arrow keys.

Video taken with a Genius Look 110 webcam. Recorded using FRAPS on my sister's faster laptop. I apologize for the poor camera quality. I guess this is the kind of result I should expect from a budgeted webcam.

Download

ARmirai (Build 20081223) - 4.49MB
ARmirai (Build 20081226) - 4.49MB
(Modified the video plug-in to read XML configuration file.)
ARmirai (Build 20090105) - 4.48MB
(Removed duplicate polygons in one of the model files.)
ARmirai (Build 20090107) - 4.56MB
(Included MSVCP71.DLL required for some systems.)

Webcam, marker boxes and Caramelldansen song not included.

License Agreement (EULA)

ARmirai is free for personal and non-commercial use, meaning users cannot sell, profit from, or commercialize the software. All 3D models that come with this package are copyrighted and cannot be redistributed without written consent of the author. By using the software, you accept the above terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the software.

Requirements

Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/Vista
Graphics card with shader support
(Might be able to run without shader but program console will be flooded with error messages)
20MB of harddisk space
USB Webcam using VFW or WDM drivers
(Let me know if the Xbox LIVE Vision Camera works here)
Printed markers (4x4 cm)

How to use ARmirai

Extract the ARmirai folder to any where in your PC.
Markers are located in the ../ARmirai/patterns subfolder. Open and print the GIF files using Microsoft Paint program at the default resolution, i.e. 96 dpi.

Note: Height of the 3D figure is dependent on the marker size, i.e. 4x4 cm marker will display an approximately 13 cm tall figure.
Run ARmirai.exe file.
Configure webcam properties.

If you do not see this setup, that means your webcam is not using VFW or WDM drivers and therefore not supported. Sorry.
Place the printed marker in front of your webcam and ta-daa~!

Virtual Figma Mirai in comparison with my Figuremate Asuna ^^
Press "h" to toggle the help screen and "Esc" to quit.

Additional Programs

osgviewer.exe

ARmirai supports only IVE (OpenSceneGraph native binary) 3D format in order to reduce package size.

The osgviewer program is used to view the IVE model files. See the user guide for more information.
mk_patt.exe

I've also included ARToolKit's mk_patt program in the package if you want to create your own custom marker. Please refer to the ARToolKit documentation on how to use it. You can also read the documentation by Team Bear3Media which is easier to understand.

To register your custom marker with ARmirai, you'll need to edit the ARmirai.cfg file using a text editor. Append a line for the new marker, e.g:

marker ID single;data/patt.mymarker;80;0;0
- ID is an identifier.
- patt.mymarker is the custom marker filename.
The new marker line must be followed with a model entry, e.g.:

model ID path/model.ive
- path is the path where the 3D model resides.
- model.ive is the 3D model file.
Translate, scale and rotate settings are optional.

Normally, you do not need to calibrate the webcam to use this application but if you have problem getting your camera to recognize markers, you might need to run the calib_camera2 program from ARToolKit (not included in ARmirai). You'll also require glut32.dll to run the ARToolKit program.

Troubleshooting

Problem: I can only see a blank screen after the camera property sheet setup.

Cause: When two or more video input devices (USB camera, software camera, capture card, and TV tuner, etc.) were connected with the PC previously, the ARToolKit video plug-in does not know which device to use.

Solution: Edit the camera configuration file to explicitly read the device name of the webcam.

Make sure the webcam is plugged in.
Open Windows Explorer and go to "My Computer".
Note down the device name of the webcam (excluding the # and number that follow).

You can also use AMCAP, which comes with most webcam installations, to confirm the device name.
Navigate to the ../ARmirai/data/ subfolder.
Open WDM_camera_flipV.xml with a text editor.
Find and replace "PGR" with the device name of your webcam.
Save the XML file and give ARmirai another try.

Author's Notes

3D Modeling

The model of Figma Mirai in ARmirai is recreated using 3ds Max 9 and has about 28,000 polygons, low enough to be used in real-time applications like this, and maybe even games.

For some reasons, I had great difficulties exporting bone and skin animation in 3ds Max to 3D file formats other than Autodesk's. Most of the time, the animation is either missing or doesn't look right. Fortunately, I made Figma Mirai so that she only consists of rigid body parts.

The 3ds Max exporter I used is a third-party program called OSGExp (version 0.9.4). Works great with the settings shown below.

FK animation translates nicely but not IK. I had to do extra work to clone and rebind the legs in order to mimic IK animation. I actually made quite a few animation sequences but due to the above limitations, I ended up with only the Caramelldansen/Uma uma dance.
Programming

The application is created using the latest osgART 2.0 Release Candidate 3. It is a combination of OpenSceneGraph 2.4.0 and ARToolKit 2.72.1. OpenSceneGraph is not the latest version though. I could not compile the newer scene graph binaries on Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 due to missing dependencies. Luckily, changes in OpenSceneGraph 2.6.1 does not affect the workings of the application.

I was not working with any 3D scene graph libraries initially since I thought I could make use of OpenVRML renderer supported by ARToolKit. However, the SimpleVRML example produced really weird clipping problems with the exported WRL files on my laptop.

The WRL files looked fine though when I viewed them using a browser with the appropriate plug-in.

View the VRML 2.0/97 model (3.25MB) HERE if your have a VRML plug-in installed in your browser. The weirdness is probably due to the outdated OpenVRML binary package that comes with ARToolKit. Not to mention VRML is ancient technology.

Next, I tried the MQO loader for OpenGL/GLUT which is popular among the Hatsune Miku + ARToolKit demos on Nico Nico Douga. The MQO loader is straight forward and very easy to use for simple models. There is also a MQO importer/exporter for 3ds Max 9 that works like a charm.

Sadly, the MQO format does not contain 3D animation data and 3D rendering looks flat when used with the loader in OpenGL. See example. That means you need to texture and shade the entire 3D model if you want it to look presentable. There is a newer(?) MqoLoader_080221 which renders gouraud-like facets but it's slow and crashes my system most of the time.

Then I stumbled upon osgART 2.0. (I wonder why they have different web sites for version 1.0.) Although osgART lacks proper documentation as of this writing, it does a pretty good job rendering my exported models. So naturally, I started using osgART for this project.

Too bad there is no OgreART. I personally prefer Ogre to OpenSceneGraph in terms of programming struture.

Other References

Christmas Mirai

2008-12-08T16:28:00.010+08:00

Mirai Suenaga wishes you a happy holiday.

Original resolution: 1600 x 1200

Figma Mirai Suenaga

2008-12-08T16:22:00.040+08:00

Mirai Suenaga is the mascot character of dannychoo.com designed by Azami Yuko sensei. If you're directed to this blog from dannychoo.com, truth is Figma Mirai Suenaga is only a concept Figma figure - a 3D illustration. Gotcha!

But who knows, maybe we might get to see the real thing in the near future.

All linked images below are resized. If you like to view the original images, you can browse them on my Picasa album HERE.

Disclaimer: I am neither selling Figma figures nor related to Max Factory. All illustrations here are strictly fanart. I also do not own any Figma figures so please pardon me if the joints or any other parts are interpreted incorrectly.

Mirai-chan and her default pose.

She's glimmering with happiness, isn't she?

Brunette megane Mirai-chan in blue uniform.

I think I'm running out of poses o.o

キラッ☆(kirakira)
．
．
．

ぱんちら(panchira)~
Gotta love bad puns xD

Mirai-chan demands a hug. Any volunteers?

Nekomimi moodo desu~♪
Nya I like cats too...

Figma Mirai Suenaga created using 3ds Max 9 (not 2009) and rendered with V-Ray 1.5rc3 on an old 2GHz Compaq Presario laptop. She weighs in at a whopping 260,000 poly count if collapsed to a mesh and caused my poor lappy to freeze at times.

It spent me more than 5 months to work on Figma Mirai. Took me long because I was re-learning Max and researching on different modeling techniques concurrently. The last time I actually completed something with the 3D program was probably like 10 years ago when I did the EVA-01 mod for Quake2. Self-taught back then as well.

I'm pretty new to V-Ray (a 3D shader) though. I still don't quite understand what most of the V-Ray settings do. For all I know, I had to used the lowest irradiance map settings, otherwise Max will take forever to finish rendering on this computer. Maybe that is why the images look quite coarse if zoomed in.

Currently working on another Figma Mirai model that has a lower polygon count. Might be interesting on what I could do with her.

Shana Draft

2008-12-07T17:35:00.011+08:00

I always wanted to model an anime-style female character. Initially, I planned to make a 3D Shana (from Shakugan no Shana) but shelved the project shortly after I finished an orthographic projection of the said loli. Reason being I prefer girls with more curves ^^;;;

Subsequently, I pondered upon the possibility of a Hatsune Miku model. Didn't take too long before I dropped the idea due to her over-hypeness (which I'm glad I did). And that was when I start noticing the mascot girl of dannychoo.com last year.

More details of the mascot girl after the jump.

Blink Blink

2008-12-07T16:27:00.019+08:00

This article is about blinking sequences of optical eyes in anime shows. I did a little research on this so that I could animate CG eyes that depend on frame rate. The writeup used to be on my Facebook which seems out of place. Now moved to this blog.

An animated blink usually lasts about 6 to 8 frames in an anime with a frame rate of 23.9 fps.

A blink has about 3 to 4 states.
State 1: Fully opened (O)
State 2: Closed tight (C)
State 3: 3/4 opened (O1)
State 4: 4/5 opened (O2)

Common sequences (at about 0.415s per state):

Sequence: O -> C -> C -> C -> O1 -> O1 -> O1 -> O
Conclusion: Requires least work but jerky animation.

Sequence: O -> C -> C -> C -> O1 -> O1 -> O2 -> O
Conclusion: Pretty convincing.

Sequence: O -> O2 -> C -> O1 -> O2 -> O
Conclusion: Would be better if there is one more C state.

Sequence: O -> C -> C -> O1 -> O1 -> O2 -> O2 -> O
Conclusion: Too linear(?)

Can anyone guess whose eyes are these? No peeping at the above post!

Mabinogi Fanart

2008-12-05T15:12:00.015+08:00

Not too long ago, a friend asked me to show him some 2D art I did previously. For a moment, I stumbled and realized I had not drawn anything for years... :/

Googled a little and found a couple of Mabinogi CGs I did in 2005. I was surprised I could still find them on the official Mabinogi fanart gallery. Higher resolution (2.0 MB) of the image can be found HERE.

This pic is titled "Who pushed Mika?" and Mika was the game character I customized and played on the Korean Mabinogi test server. Good thing I kept some screenshots of the game.

I'm only showcasing this drawing because the other one posted on the fanart gallery was more like a quick doodle. Oh and by the way, I'm not Korean.