Quba HQ

Mousepaths

I have recently come across a very cool java applet developed by Anatoly Zenkov (kickass idea for the flash background on the site, by the way). It’s a quite simple, open-source code that tracks your mouse movements on the screen and creates a visual representation of your activity.

The following image was generated while I played through the Retrieve the IFF device mission in Mass Effect 2. I superimposed the graphic against some watercolor splashes, since with all the doodles QubaHQ started becoming a bit too monochrome.

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Your Life as One Big RPG (from DICE 2010)

Whether you are a gamer, designer, marketing specialist, advertiser or a consumer – you do not want to miss this presentation by Carnegie Mellon University professor Jesse Schnell. The presentation was delivered during DICE 2010 summit and covers games, social networks, marketing strategies, consumer trends, and many more subjects, delivering quite an interesting prognosis for the near future of life and entertainment.

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Unspectacular VFX

Usually, when we hear keywords like VFX, green screen and compositing, what comes to mind are spaceships, CGI characters, explosions and other elements impossible or incredibly expensive to shoot in real life. Visual effects are, however, present in most of the shows you watch on TV, often in the places where you least expect it.

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Nuit Blanche

Nuit Blanche is a short film directed by Arev Manoukian. It caught my eye today over at Motionographer, and although I realize most motion graphics enthusiasts already visit that site on a daily basis, I decided to re:post it here as well.

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Gene Pool

By now, most likely, everyone-and-their-extended-families have seen the Gene Pool application. On the odd chance you haven’t, I decided to feature this awesome program/game/simulation here.

Gene Pool allows the user to observe evolution of miniature digital creatures known as swimbots as they travel around a pool of liquid in search of food and mates. The user can decide on the composition of the pool, amount of food, types of swimbots and the rules of attraction between them. Once set, you sit back, relax and watch little swimbots go at it in merciless fight for species survival.

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Charlie Brooker: How To Report The News

This video has nothing to do with motion design or arts, but I found it too hilarious to pass up.

After watching it, you too will be able to create a perfect BBC style news report.

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Nothing to See Here

It is going to be a few slow news days for QubaHQ, as I am completely swamped with work and simply don’t have time to create or find new content. I have some cool things planned, so watch this space, but for a while things may get a bit more sparse.

Meanwhile, why don’t you hop on to http://chichiland.com/ and check some of Cigdem’s awesome illustrations? That should keep you occupied.

Video Copilot Optical Flares Released

Yesterday marked the release date for Video Copilot’s Optical Flares plug-in. Set at a fairly low price point of $125, Optical Flares are soon to become a must-have tool in the arsenal of any After Effects user.

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Let’s Enhance!

I just could not pass this one up. Markus Gustafsson posted the link to this little gem in the comments for my Image Enhancement tutorial. I think it pretty much sums up my reasons for making that training video.

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Diesel: Be Stupid

Diesel launches their first major campaign of 2010 entitled Be Stupid. Created by Anomaly London, the concept of this ad embraces unlimited creativity and (typically for Diesel) challenging the established rules.

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