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2011.09.06
 04:28:17
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Couple of years ago while I was still doing designs for toys and other Disney products, I made this funny looking character. I lifted him off of my doodlings and decided to create & render the illustration in Adobe Illustrator CS2. It was a big challenge because most of the stuffs and functions I used were things that I was learning while I was doing it. When it was finished I decided to published it online thru big CG sites. Most of the people don't believe it was vector illustration so I decided to create a detailed tutorial on how it was created. Then 2 years later, it was picked up to be published by 2DArtist Magazine in Germany, still waiting for my copy though. You can visit www.2dartist.de and see the August 2011 issue. If you understand German, might as well get it but if not you can read the full article on my tutorial page. The cover illustration is the very first for me. Normally I keep a low profile where almost no one noticed my works, hehehe!
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2011.07.29
04:33:17
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It's been a while since the last time I posted a blog. Work were too busy. However it was a very good productive few months. I have created a lot of concept sketches for our new product--- a big task though. We are currently on the stage of prototyping 4.3" and 4" display capacitive touchscreen which we simply called Synrgic Phones. Here attached are few of my early designs, through time it evelove due to manufacturing and hardware issues. I must have created hundreds of drawings before we come up with the final design. As of this moment changes are still being done to refine the final product. I wanted to share bits of info as teaser for our latest product. It is going to run on Nvidia Tegra 2 1.2Ghz processor, powerful so I am really excited. OS will still be Android 2.3 or 3 tentative yet. We are also currently in talks with application developer for preinstalled apps to add rich contents on the phone. Guys if you have further question just drop me line, Cheers! Rodny Concept Design
Rodny
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2011.03.30
03:18:18
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March 8 was the launching date of Dreambook W7. Since then till now I was busy doing the promotional ads and preparing for the upcoming Electronics Fair at Shenzhen Exhibition Center this coming April 10-12. It's a 3 day show, which I am excited because I'll be seeing products from other companies here. I am sure there are tons of new techy stuff coming out, unlike CES in Nevada this is more like hardware manufacturer show but still big companies are joining. He re are the actual product ads and specs I was able to prepare in short time. If you guys interested in buying, please visit our website at www.synrgic.com
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2011.01.13
15:52:25
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About 3 years ago I did a pin-up painting as an entry to the now defunct PixelBrush.com art website. As my typical process, I saved sequences of the work-in-progress and posted it on the artsite and on my old website so this actually is just a repost. Hopefully, when I have spare time I will upload more WIP from my past works and few sketches from my new designs. Work is too busy with the launching of our tablet PC. Also a side project, an iPhone game are still in the process of approval from the investors. I am really excited about that but a lot of documentation, patent and copyright issues that needs to be settled first before real work starts. And a children's book illustration to do after Chinese New Year. Stories and storyboard are ready, just need more time and concentration, definitely! Anyway here's the pinup work I did few years ago. It'll be a long time before I can do another digital painting. So I will just be posting my previous works here.
The sketching
The color toning
The fleshing out
The toning
The detailing
The revising
The final painting
Please feel free to have your comments. Happy New Year! Rodny
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2010.12.14
03:55:21
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A few months ago I joined a team of electronic company Synrgic in producing their very first ODM tablet PC. My work basically is to design the outer shell of the device, which we finally called Dreambook W7. After several months of development, I am proud to have been the lead designer of this 7" wonderful device. It is running on Google Android Froyo. Release date will be early January. On the early stage of development I come up with a lot of designs and finally we have chosen a more straight forward with less frills, which I agree with. Here below is the images of Dreambook W7. For more info of the device go to www.synrgic.com Concept Design drawn in Adobe Illustrator.
CG render using Lightwave 9
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2010.11.26
07:33:44
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Two weeks before Shanghai World Expo ended my friend and I decided to go and visit it. The trip was all in all good, except for the harrowing first day of our arrival. By the time the plane landed it was showering outside. When we got out of the airport Tom and I decided to try the fastest commercial Maglev in the world, the Shanghai Maglev. At about 50RMB per person it was ok just for the experience of riding a train that is as fast or faster than a formula car. The top speed it run was 430Km/hr. It was as expected very quick, about 8 minutes ride from Pudong Airport to the city center. I almost didn't feel it even moved, it was that smooth. Confident that I could get a hotel anywhere I just head off towards the Youth Hostel without booking. Tom went on to go see his friends and get a hotel just outside the city center. Anyhow by the time I arrive in the Youth Hostel it was full. So I took a cab and headed towards the 2nd youth hostel. By the time I got to the 2nd YH I was drenched from the heavy rain. My small umbrella did not help, all it covered was my backpack which is important because I packed my camera and expensive lenses inside. There I was walking in the middle of Shanghai like a lost wet dog looking for hotels on the wet pages of Lonely Planet whilst browsing google map on my phone. I must have been to 8 different hotels, I even tried the expensive one and everywhere is fully booked. I called Tommy, he says he was able to get a hotel outside the city center. So then I went there after 2 hours of walking and being turned down from all the hotels. I was told by all the hotel that because the expo is ending many people are catching up and had been booked a week earlier. The next day, Sunday, we headed to Huangpu road and did some photography overlooking the skyscrapers of Pudong. Then took a taxi towards the expo. The taxi driver was kind enough to be our tour guide, although I've been to Shanghai couple of times but hearing an english speaking taxi driver makes a big difference. Because of the bad experience of the first day, we bought a bigger umbrella assuming that the rain will continue, but fortunately it did not rain. We're burdened of carrying gigantic umbrella all day though. By th time we got inside it was already jam-packed, mostly Chinese tourist and few hundred foreigners. The freezing cold in the morning didn't even help. Seeing the very long queue and waiting four hours in line is too damn long. So we decided to just walk and take photo of the facade of the pavillions. We tried as many food from other nations as our stomach can take, which is amazing because we had a feast. It was my first time to eat Saudi food, it was nice very sheep-taste, almost like Xinjiang food but less spicy. Had an indian hotdog which is interesting. We were going to try Shewarma but it's too damn expensive 50RMB for a small piece so we head towards the African pavillion and try their food, an ostrich burger. We went to Philippine Pavillion but the food was sold out already. That evening we capped the night by going to the hooters and eat a good chicken wings and rested our sore feet. The next day I found out from the news that it was a record breaking more than 1 million visitors. Click the photo below to view our Expo escapade.
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2010.11.25
15:49:30
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I had a lot of fun visiting Macau last week. Me and my friends watched the Grand Prix from the pitstop or from the back of the pitstop as we weren't able to get on the pitstop itself. But they were glad to see the formula cars up close and other fast and furious cars on the circuits basement garage. Unfortunately, my client's team was eliminated because two of his Formula BMW was damaged. As always it's thrilling to watch fast cars. After an exhausting day at the circuit and a short meeting with my client we headed towards the old city center and then played a little casino at the hotel. My friend won 450 HKD and I won 150HKD on the slot machine, not big but it was a lot of fun considering it's free. I never really like gambling but once in awhile its amusing. I am looking forward to modeling the new GP2 and designing products for the team. Here below are some of the photos from the Macau Grand Prix. 
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2010.11.17
01:47:05
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Few weeks ago I joined a local photography group. Most of the members are professionals and few like me are hobbyist. It's an open photography, meaning anybody can join the photo session which is fun. Even the models are volunteers. It's a good way to spend a boring weekend and practice photography. The models are camera lovers, they just love to pose. Here are few pictures from our weekend photography session. The Violinist
The Red Army Girl (Cosplay)
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2010.11.09
02:44:08
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Sorry for the lack of update, I have been busy for quite sometime since I came back from my trekking in Yunnan and Hunnan. A few days after getting back I had a call from a friend and was offered to design Tablet PC. And since I was free, I thought it would be nice opportunity to get into a new career path. I was burned out mentally from my previous job. Eight years of designing toys was really a long time. But it was really a great experience, I matured there as a designer. But it was totally exhausting, especially after the decline of the toy manufacturing in Shenzhen. I was constantly thinking of new ideas of how we can revitalize a business heading down. It was a really painful reality to see that even after we have succeeded with our product lines, the price of manufacturing had increase and buyers kept pushing down the manufacturing cost. At the end of the day, my boss had given up and steered to a different path for which I do not see myself following. I just finished the ID of the new tablet PC, I can't show it now because it's still under MD (Mechanical Design). The PCB was ready and I'll be doing a mock-up render of the final product in coming week. I'll post it here when it's ready to be launched. Meanwhile here's a few here are few sketches and studies I did while I was out of job for 2 weeks. Jeepney Toro. My quick study case of streamlining the design of our much beloved transpo.
Xtreme Gaming Headphone Studies
And Characters from the Children's book I am developing with Andrew. We are both excited with the development of the story and I have completed the character studies. For now I what I can tell is that it's all about crazy farm animal with a lost visitor.
And this piece that has been WIP for a long time, I don't like loosing my momentum when I paint because most of the time I don't regain it. Here's Damaso.
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2010.09.23
04:13:01
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Day 3, After 2 hours bus ride from Ljiang we arrived in Qiaotou towards the Tiger Leaping Gorge. At the bus stop I've met 4 other people who will go to the Gorge also. Since we are heading to the same place we hired a small bus to bring us to the gorge but unfortunately the road is underconstruction and we have to walk few kilometers to reach the mid-section. The place was amazing, at 2000m we could see the powerful Yangtze river running between high peak mountains of Jade Dragon and Habba mountains. The trek was long and if I plan to go further it will be a few days trek into Shangri-La, in Deqing County.
Maris and Helen were both from Forestry and they knew a lot about vegetations sand around the site. The other two guys Jason and his friend were just here to do some trekking also. It was fun but also tiring at the same time. I was carrying all my loads because I was planning to stay for the night but Helen advice me to go back to the main road because I can still get the bus to Shangri-La.
By afternoon we reach the small cottage near the road and we headed down to Teacher Zhangs place, where we paid 10 yuan to get to the pass. The descend was about 30 minutes but the ascend was something I underestimated. The cliff was too stiff and it gave me vertigo going up the rock pathways. By the time I reach 1/3 I was so exhausted as I was carrying a big bag. I ask an old lady if I can pay her to help me carry my load. It took me almost 2 hours to get to the top and nearly fainted all the way. I was stopping every 3 minutes just to get some breathing. It was physically challenging climb, especially for a guy like me whos stuck in the computer all day at work but it was well worth it by the time I reach the valley up. Near the cliff I say yaks and goats fearless of height that they may befall if they slip, but they wont.
Click the image to view my gallery. 
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2010.09.16
03:14:46
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Day 3
On the waiting room at the Lijiang bus station I've met a bunch of local folks. In my limited Chinese I asked them if I could take their photos. To my surprise they were really warm people, they even gave me little dance repertoire. I found out they were called the Naxi ren, or Naxi people. They live in the nearby village, they were in the old town for a performance. They wear a blue blouses and trousers covered by blue or black apron which is their regular dress even without performance. They are descendants from Ethnically Tibetan Qiang tribes. Nikon D90 with 50mm, f1.8 lens, click the image to view the gallery.
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2010.09.15
10:03:40
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Day 1 to 3 (Sept. 2-4, 2010) I left Shenzhen at 1:20 in the afternoon and we arrived in Kunming at around 3pm. Our stop over took about 3 hours due to heavy rain over in Lijiang. By the time the flight resume it was already 7 in the evening, we were supposed to arrive 5 in the afternoon. We land in Lijiang airport at 9 in the evening, I was really worried because I never really book a place to stay there. I was hoping to walk around the old city and find a hostel. On the plane though I met a Frenchman bound to Lijiang also. Benjamin told me he has a hostel to stay and I asked if I can join him there and pay for the night. When we get off the plane it was drizzling and cold, about 14°C. I was smart enough to bring a jacket because I knew that it would be freezing in Shangri-La, the actual place not the hotel, hehehe!
10:30pm, we arrived at the hostel run by his French friend, Alexi and Mikhail. I end up staying there for 2 nights. I met Benjamin's girlfriend, Sarah whose a performance artist. They told me they met a few Filipinos on the Mediterranean when she did a performance show on a freighter ship, quite an unusual act but she's a free spirited artist, somehow as an artist myself I envy this artistic endeavor. We had dinner at around 11pm, the food was great. That night we went out to a watering hole about 20 minutes walk from the hostel. It was an Irish Pub on the rooftop of a three floor building overlooking the stunning old town of Lijiang. I've met a pro-photographer who saw my camera and we instantly connect, he was giving me advices on panoramic shots and we talk lengthily about places to go in Yunnan which made me excited. Apparently beer from Laos is famous around the town, so I had a 2 bottle of Lao Beer, which is not bad. We ended our thirst at around 3 in the morning. I was so exhausted that soon as I enter the room I quickly fell on the bed and sleep like a pig. In the morning before I start my Lijiang exploration I had small chat with him Mikhail and later found out he was a chef back in Paris. It turns out he's been a chef for over 20 years and was burned out, left work and head towards China. He's been in Yunnan for 10 years which is quite evident with his mastery of Mandarin. 10 minutes of walking I stop at a corner shop to buy a map and also to eat breakfast. I had an egg boiled in green tea, a xiao long bao and a tea. I met fellow traveler there and had a small chat, which is quite typical when you are away traveling. Her name is Sarah, an American from Boston. She told me she was just dropped off the bus from Kunming. After breakfast I help her find the hostel where she is going to stay. The more we get closer to the old city center the more it's stunning. By the time we reach the youth hostel, I had about 50 shots of the place and people. Every corner is an interesting subject. Lijiang is filled with intricate waterways and canals, kinda like a the Venice of China but smaller canals without Gondolas. I found out that the water was from the melting ice from the Himalayas that's why it's very clear. In the afternoon while we were walking I was already feeling a little bit of headache and nausea, I was told it's altitude sickness but it will get pass quickly because the place is just 2.4km above sea and it did get away at night time. By midnight after strolling around the city, taking photos of the local Tibetans, and passing over Black Dragon Pool, I went straight to have my dinner at the local restaurant. The night scene was like going to rave party, it was loud, singing everywhere, eating beside the canal and just people really having fun. I had a lot of fun too, in the 2 days I've been there I've met a lot of interesting people with issues of their own. There is something with traveling that is relieving, exhausting but mentally relieving. I thought to myself while I was walking and meeting other folks that people are just like droplets of water, they kinda fill up our bucket of life.
For my shots I used Tokina wide lens 11-16mm, f2.8 and my very handy all around Nikkor AFS 18-200mm Lens. Click here to see my photography in Lijiang.
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2010.09.06
23:43:41
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Here's a cover photography from my on going journey to Yunnan. This is day 6 from my 2 weeks journey to the highlands of Yunnan and ending to Zhang Jia Jie in Hunan Province. I've had an altitude sickeness a day ago in Shangri-La, Yunnan, which is about 3300m. I was going to start my travel blog there, but all night I was lying in bed trying to breath more oxygen as I can. Anyway I will have it in details and photography later. I am in Dali now and yet to do some trekking around here.
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