Lone Wolf Drafting, Down, But Not Out

Once again, it has been some time since my last post.  These past few months have been both challenging and rewarding, and things remain fluid even as I write this.

First, the challenges.  As some of you may or may not know, I have been struggling to keep my little company, Lone Wolf Drafting and Design, afloat in these hard economic times.  Eventually, the company went further under, and I had to stop servicing my clients.  Between the failing economy, aging hardware and out of date software, I could no longer continue my business as it was.

Lone Wolf Drafting and Design - It's not over yet, I hope.

So, it was time for some real soul searching. Do I want to save my company?  Do I want to continue being a sole proprietorship in an economy that punishes you for your hard work?  Do I want to really invest in new equipment as my client base shrinks due to their own economic struggles?  Can I justify the expense of new software just to keep up in a market that is changing day by day?

Well, the short answer is "yes, maybe, sort of".

However, in order to do any of this, I was going to have to divide and conquer; I was going to have to call in favors, pull together resources, and when none could be found, I would have to create work-arounds to get the job done. 

So first, new equipment.  Toward the end of 2012, it came to my attention that my old Mac and PC just were not up to the task of supporting new software, the hardware was just too old. 

My Mac is not this old, but in the face of new software, it felt like it!

This will run Windows 7, right?

The first option was to spend a RIDICULOUS amount of cash on a new Mac - around $13,000.00. 

It's a beautiful machine, but at 13 large, it was not an option.

That was just not going to happen.  I needed a new plan.

Enter in my tech guru, Rusty.  I have mentioned him before - Rusty has been instrumental in keeping my hardware running, and has helped me with all computer issues, great and small.  But this was a doozey.  We were going to have to build a brand new machine from the ground up.  We needed a new motherboard, new processor, new heat sink, memory, hard drives, the whole thing.  The only thing salvageable from my old machine was the case and the original hard drive - and that was to be for on-board storage only. So, I gathered up all my pennies, and old equipment (routers, hubs cables, keyboards, antennas, whatever I had that I thought he could use) and went to Rusty's to build a new machine.  Yep, Rusty didn't build it alone, I helped.  I wanted to know how it worked and why we were using specific components.  We salvaged a BioStar motherboard with 8 gigs of RAM from another of Rusty's machines, and from that, we were going to build this thing.  We included a Solid State 128 gig drive to hold all of my programs, and installed a Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card. This machine is a beast; it works amazingly well, with dual monitors - fantastic.

Super Graphics Card

Massive new heat sink.

The BioStar Motherboard.

The super processor.

Next, the software.  Fortunately, Autodesk is the maker of both new suites of software that I wanted to learn - Maya and 3DStudio Max/ Design Suite.  Autodesk offers both programs for free under their student licensing program.  The only restriction is that you CANNOT use the student versions to turn a profit.  No problem, Autodesk, and thanks for making that available.

Maya

Max

Next up, a tutor.  For my readers that have been with me for a while, you may remember me working on a project called MegaTokyo - a video game concept that is being developed by Steve Lundberg and Jade Phoenix - examples of my work on that project can be seen here.  Over the course of a year, Steve was showing my work to others, and offered to put me in touch with someone that could teach me new software.  Steve is a creative visionary with true heart and passion for what he does.  His game will truly be a work of art as he completes it, and I hope to have a small hand in helping him develop it, especially as I continue to learn new software.

But first, I have to learn it....

Enter in Bruce Buechner.  This guy is amazing at what he does.  A self taught 3D artist, an expert modeler, rendering artist, animator and rigger.  His work is really something to see.  He has also spent time as a studio recording technician, and has won 3 Grammies.  This guy is the real deal!  He is so talented at what he does, universities have used his work to teach their classes.  I came to know Bruce through Steve, as Bruce was one of the people Steve forwarded my work to. Without Steve's introduction to Bruce, I would have never come this far in my education.   Bruce has been kind enough to get online with me via Skype, Google Hangout, and even through text messaging on Yahoo on IMO to show me the ins and outs and what he knows.  You can see Bruce's tutorial videos here, on YouTube.com. His knowledge seems never ending, and I am forever grateful to both Bruce and Steve for all they have done, I am in their debt.

Here are a few of the models I have created since Bruce has taken the time to tutor me.

Train platform.

Fire hydrant based on Bruce's tutorial on his YouTube page.

Oil rig.

So, as of right now, Lone Wolf Drafting and Design is on hiatus.  I hope to maybe obtain some additional software that will allow me to continue my business, or I may start looking for employment using my newly acquired knowledge.  Either way, the start of 2013 is a rebuilding period; I will figure out what I am supposed to do, and what my next step is in the evolution of Lone Wolf Drafting and Design and in my professional life.

I will post again as soon as new developments arise.

Thanks for reading!

I’m Back! (Again)!

It has been quite some time since my last post.  Over the past few months, I have been busy with a couple of extremely large jobs.

The first job was a massive double sided garage for GarageMahals, LLC.  This project was a meeting of old world class and sophistication and old fashioned American muscle. 

The first side, the classic garage side, was designed to be a richly appointed showcase garage.  There is not a tool box to be seen in this space!  The entire garage is decked out in rich Earth tones.  The flooring is a special epoxy blend with a copper tint, while the walls are finished off with hand plastering and painted a deep bronze in color.  Even the wainscoting is plush; the footers and headers are comprised of mahogany, with the actual wainscoting done in black supple leather with a tufted design.  The rear wall of the garage features artwork relating to the automotive industry.  The front of the garage consists of two double wide doors with custom graphics affixed to the back.  Custom columns flank each door and stretch up to the specially designed cover system that hides the doors when they are in the rolled up position.  

Custom Columns and Door Art.

Custom Columns and Doors.

Custom Column.

Rear Wall Art and Wainscoting

Rear Wall with Columns, Wainscoting, and Artwork.

Rear Wall with Art, Wainscoting and Columns.

The second side, the muscle car side, was designed to be a showroom and a workshop. The color scheme here conjures up thoughts of high quality, American built, automotive muscle.  The shades of blue, grey and black and punched up with a deep red trim and columns covered in competition orange.  Like the columns in the classic garage, these columns are custom made and support a cover system that also hides the garage doors in their raised state.  Unlike the classic side, this garage features a large workbench and plenty tool storage space.

Custom Column in Competition Orange.

Custom Column and Door Graphics.

Custom Column, Close Up.

Wide View of Columns and Doors.

Columns and Door Graphics.

Workbench and Tool Storage.

View Down the Garage, Laterally.

While I was working on the garage projects, I was also embroiled in the modeling and rendering of a custom home in Chennai, India.  This massive home actually started as an exterior rendering project in 2011.

Front of Home.

Front of Home.

Front of Home.

Rear of Home.

Earlier in 2012, The Sater Design Group came back to Lone Wolf Drafting and Design to begin rendering the inside of this one-of-a-kind custom home.  In all, over 100 interior images have been rendered for this project, and we are only now wrapping up the unfurnished stage of development!   For this post, I will only upload images of several key rooms. Once all of the furniture has be been selected by the interior designer, LWDD will go back and begin filling in all of the furniture for each room.  Once that stage has been completed, I will post another blog showing the best of the completed rooms.

Formal Living Room.

Formal Living Room. 

Formal Living Room, Upper Level.

Formal Living Room. 

Bedroom.

Bedroom.

Bedroom Suite

Entertainment/ Theater Room.

Entertainment/ Theater Room.

Entertainment/ Theater Room.

Entertainment/ Theater Room.

Soon, I will be engaged in finishing out the Chennai home, as well as a few more, smaller projects before the year is out.

I’m sorry for the long delay between posts, but as you can see, it’s been a busy year.  For all those that have stayed with me and the blog, I thank you.  I hope those of you who have left will come back, and catch up on the latest news from Lone Wolf Drafting and Design.

Thanks for reading!

Just a Quick Note

Hello Readers! (Assuming I have any readers left).  I know it has been a very long time since my last post, but it has been for good reason.  Over the past couple of months, I have gained new clients, lost an old client, and have been working on exciting new projects.  Throw in a family vacation or two, and that pretty much sums up everything over my writing hiatus.

I will be back soon with in-depth analysis of my latest projects, and maybe some vacation photos.  If anyone is still around, please hang on just a bit longer!

 Thanks, and talk to you all soon!

Tech Review Part 3

This post is a continuation of my Tech Review Series.  You can read Parts One and Two here and here.

Today, I will be discussing the differences between the Droid and iPhone cell phones, and how they have worked for me in my daily life.

Apple vs. Android - Let the games begin!

 Before I go on – I know that there are many die hard fans of either platform.  I am not writing to equivocally say one is better then the other – these are just my experiences with these two phones, and how I have used them in everyday life.

Droid Evo Shift with Sprint Service

The Evo Shift with Google by Android

I had the Evo Shift for about 2 years and I loved it.  I was not a fan of the “tapping on the glass” method of text entry, so the fact that the Evo Shift had a slide out keyboard was the first very attractive quality that hooked me right away.  The Shift had a very nice display screen, and was easy to use.  The Droid Marketplace (now called Google Play) was easy to use, and I often found exactly what I needed right away.  I also loved the way that my email, calendar, contacts, etc all synced with my phone easily and effortlessly from my Google Accounts.  My Shift started off working great – it was fast and easy to use, and my favorite feature – built in voice navigated turn by turn directions from Google Maps.  Every time I had to take a trip, my trusty navigation unit was right there telling me where to go.

I do miss this...

However, after about a year or so of use, I started to notice some issues.  First off, the sync system that Droid uses is very slow and cumbersome – there was always some issue with trying to sync the phone with my PC.  Most of the time, I didn’t even bother. Second, there was a real memory/ storage issue.  When I bought my phone, the salesman did say that the Evo Shift was a great entry level to mid range smart phone, and he was not lying. The Evo Shift came with a 2 GB memory card and even less internal storage.

Not. Quite. Enough.

After about a year, I started getting low memory/ storage warnings.  Add to that, many apps could not be transferred to the SD card, so I had to start deleting apps to make room for the updates to the apps I wanted to keep.  And oh, the updates – there were just so many!  As my phone filled up, the system got slower and slower, until it got to the point of having to power down and reboot.  The time had come to upgrade.

Apple iPhone 4 with iOS 5 with Sprint Service

The iPhone 4 with iOS 5 by Apple

I was leery about moving over to the iPhone.  Many swear by it, but when it fails, I hear it fails spectacularly.  However, the time had come – Sprint was having a great deal on iPhones, and I decided to go for it. 

I have had my iPhone for about 2 weeks, and I really do love it, but it does take some getting used to.  The display screen is a bit smaller then my Droid, but not by much.  The nice thing, though, is that my screen is far more sensitive, so text typing on the glass is not as big of an issue as I though it would be.  I have also noted that apps work much better on the iPhone then on the Droid.  A perfect example is Instagram.  I enjoyed in on the Droid, but I love it on the iPhone (especially as the camera on the iPhone is fantastic). 

Instagram rules on the iPhone!

 The iCloud system is really what makes this phone awesome.  Look, as the end of the day, most phones do the same thing in one way or the other.  The iCloud, however, really does take it to the next level.  I love being able to download a song on my iPad and then have it instantly available on my iPhone and Mac.  The same is true with apps and documents – everything gets shared across multiple devices.   

The iCloud is awesome - and is a real selling point for Apple products.

My iPhone 4 is definitely faster then my Droid Evo Shift, and it can run more apps at once without a problem.  Add to that the 8 GBs of internal storage (and no need for a separate SD card), and so far, this phone really has been terrific. 

All that being said – the iPhone is not without flaws.  The first major shortcoming is its lack of on board navigation.  Really, Apple - you can’t figure that one out?  There are apps for this (and I will discuss those later), but they are not as good as the navigation system on the Droid phones.  The other downfall is the ongoing feud between Apple and Adobe.  This nonsense has to stop – Apple has to realize that not having Adobe Flash is hurting there phone (as a matter of fact – that was one of my deciding factors in getting the Shift).  At the same time, Adobe has to realize that Flash takes up a tremendous amount of space, and weekly, almost daily updates (as it feels like sometimes) is just annoying and unnecessary.  They have to get this figure out.  

Adobe Flash - Get it together guys!

The final major downside is Apple does not play well with Google.  After syncing all of my contacts from my Google Accounts, the showed up on my iPhone all messed up.  After downloading my contacts, I saw multiple entries for the same individual, information in the wrong place, and some of it just plain missing.  That was two hours of going through everything to get it all up to date.  Furthermore, the iPhone contacts list does not include entries for Facebook and Twitter with real time updates – you have to use separate apps for that.  The Droid platform lets you tie all of those accounts together, letting you see everything at a glance.  However, the apps do work much better on the iPhone, so I guess it is just a trade off at that point.

Facebook and Twitter work great on the iPhone!

So, there you go – my simple and personal reviews between the iPhone and the Droid.  I would like to point out one other thing though – I will continue to use Sprint for as long as they are as good as they are.  

Sprint: The way to go for me - for now....

 AT&T, which I have had in the past, stinks – I will never use them again.  A long time ago, I had Cingular, (inventor of the roll over minutes) which was awesome.  They had great customer service, and a terrific product line.  Then, AT&T bought them out, and the whole thing went down hill in a matter of weeks.  I actually paid the $250.00 cancellation fee; that’s how bad they were.   

AT&T: BOOOOOOOO!

I have heard Verizon service is good, but their version of the iPhone cannot multitask, which was a problem for me. 

I hope this little synopsis helps anyone toiling with the decision of purchasing an iPhone over the Droid, or vice versa.  My next post will concentrate on my favorite apps available for the iPhone. Thanks for reading!