Artist / Musician / 3D Designer, Ken works ONLY with select clients and established musicians. If you have eyes to see and ears to hear then consider bookmarking this page and visiting from time to time. All the Ken D. Webber postings of any consequence will make their way here. Welcome!
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NEWS
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My Art/Music project launches on 4/7/2014
Alan Bamberger
09/06/2012--- www.artbusiness.com is the highly rated site for artists and art collectors. I have read Alan's outstanding book "The Art of Buying Art" and it is highly recommended. I used Alan's consulting service and it's some of the best money that I've ever spent. Check out his site.
Movie Poster...
06/04/2012--- Almost done. I've left 10 green empty spots that are to be filled with some special kickstarter supporters when the project launches. This is a LARGE FORMAT movie poster in the old original "one-sheet" ratio of 27 inches by 41 inches. Nowadays most companies cheat their one-sheets by cutting off 2 inches on the height but I found a company that still has the capabilities of printing a real one-sheet size so I'm excited. Click here to view a small computer sized preview of the poster. The original file is huge, over 200 MB as I did it at 300dpi so that when it prints it'll be crystal clear. There will two other posters in large format. One will be all 333 squares of art and nothing but the art. The third is designed with a movie poster look. You can see a preview of it right now by clicking here.
Cover completed...
05/29/2012--- Click the thumbnail below to see a rendered comp, which with the exception of the song list (subject to change at any secondJ), is the finished exterior of the digipak that I am working on. I've left some of the words garbled on the right hand side of the picture to obscure a plan I'm saving for when the project launches. Top secret ninja stuff!
Some advance work
03/21/2012--- I've been posting things to my secret URL for my secret project. Thought you might want to see, oh, two of them. The first one is 6 X 6 inches and the other is 24 X 24 inches in size. Click on the thumbs to see enlargement.
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Latest results of new 123 Catch program
01/05/2012--- There is a new FREE program that 3D artists may find useful. It gives mixed results depending upon your skill in setting up the lighting for shots and taking photographs. The progam is called 123 Catch by Autodesk and it works by stitching photographs together to create a point cloud, from which it then creates a digital mesh. Once you have some fairly accurate results you can then export the mesh into other 3D programs such as 3D Studio Max, Zbrush, Carrara, etc. and clean it up. It also creates the texture map for the mesh resulting in fantastic results WHEN it works. As I said, you need to play around with it and get an idea for what works and what doesn't work to create a useful mesh.
My first experiment failed because I used a stationary camera and a rotating base. You can't use a stationary camera, as the software uses cues from the environment to extrapolate the data. My second and third experiments also sucked due to bad uneven lighting. Fourth time I brought the subject into my studio and used diffused 360 degree lighting and that worked perfectly. I was able to photograph a paper mache mask and then extract and clean up the mesh in Carrara. FANTASTIC! Now I have a perfect 3D mask that I will be able to use in youtube animations when I launch my "Room for 333 Squares Art/Music Project." I'll be able to go back and forth between greenscreen and digital, from the real to the unreal.
The software doesn't work well with everything. Reflections give it fits. But if you work with fairly matte objects it's great. My results can be seen on this link, and keep in mind that what you're looking at IS a 3D digital mesh with a texture map: Plague Doctor in 3D!
EX-CIA agent speaks out
New Ad up on Design page and...
12/09/2011--- just finished the ad for a spot in Guitar World. The ad is in a template format. What I mean by that is that this project involves creating 333 works of art and those works are not yet done. So I've created a 3D master and anytime I finish a work I just drop it into the template. When the template is full, then I'll render the final ad and all those circle and dots will become individual oil paintings. One look at this ad will let you in on the Art/Music project that I'm working on. IT IS HUGE!!! What's really cool is that, being a 3D set, I will also be able to animate and film inside it to create my upcoming youtube channel.
Click here to get a glimpse of The Room for 333 Squares Art/Music Project.
Click here to go the design page where I've posted a step-by-step visual of how I do things.
12/05/2011--- They are rolling off the "assembly line" now but I'm waiting for sunshine to return to create official photographs. Everything here in Marlin, Texas is dark, rainy, and gloomy. But you can click the preview image below to get a glimpse into the quality of what I'm doing with the Room for 333 Squares Art/Music project. These are the first seven paintings. Each minature oil painting is six inches by six inches on gessoed wood panels done in the alla prima method to ensure longevity, and prevent cracking.
11/21/2011--- I have completed most of the graphic design work and have now entered the actual oil painting phase. I am getting my "legs" with this new medium having only limited experience with oil paint. It is definitely a challenge. As I find the time I will post the results of the daily paintings on my hidden URL. Once I get say, 200 really good paintings under my belt I will officially launch the page and make all things public. Until then please check out the work of two of my favorite artists in this field, Edward B. Gordon and Carol Marine.
The Thing after the Thing
11/01/2011--- If you've found my hidden web page then you know I have a MASSIVE project going that involves a whole lot of oil paintings and music, call it "my thing." Well now I've run ahead to the thing after the thing. Everything is being done backwards, in that all the graphic design is being completed before the real work. Here's a glimpse of the thing after the thing, with certain things fuzzed out to remain hidden things soon to be revealed. Got that?! Click Here!.
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This guy gets it right. The finger of blame SHOULD point to The Federal Reserve System as it's a ponzi scheme. Who is listening to this guy? Well, right now, YOU could. You'd learn a thing or two, maybe three. As a monetary expert myself, I can say this guy is spot on.
Slowly gearing up
09/01/2011 --- Lots of progress behind the scenes, not so much to show for it as much is still secret. I've been working on a facebook band page, a youtube channel page, video templates you won't see for at least a year, and hard at work slapping gesso on cradled wood panels in preparation for The Room For 333 Squares Art/Music Project. Anytime there's a sale over at Cheap Joe's Art Supplies I end up buying lots of six inch by six inch panels. This weekend I'll spend hours getting 40 more ready. I hung a greenscreen this week and tested it out with the Flip and it is perfect. At my day job I'm doing double duty, in that I'm making a lot of 3D modeled props that I also will be able to make use of when I begin my youtube channel. I'm still intending to don a mask, ala' Buckethead, when I begin next year. And finally, I finished a new video at work for Broken Rail Detection that includes some nifty animation, click here.
Here are a few shots from a video I'm currently working on. I modeled most of the props with the exception of the switch machine and the lights. The model is made in extreme detail so that I can really zoom in. The ipad in the briefcase cover even runs a film clip (from a texture map). Cooooool!
The dollar bottom drops out to reveal a 3D dollar...
Zoom in closer and you see a bright green train coming into Franklin Station.
The tracks have a siding that goes around Ben Franklin's head on a huge bridge...
...and I can even zoom in close enough to see details, which I can then animate!
UPDATE:
I just got the new Chickenfoot CD AND IT ROCKS! It also comes with a set of 3D anaglyph glasses. Why do I mention this? Because I use GIMP, and The GIMP has a 3D anaglyph plug-in. Here's my dollar anaglyph... if you have the glasses. If not, I suggest you buy the Chickenfoot CD.
Putting things in place
06/04/2011 --- Found a simple way to dry the paintings when I finish them. I put up two eyebolts and strung some wire between them then screwed a cup hook into every wood panel. When I get done with a painting it'll just hang on the line and use paperclips to ensure they hang straight without bumping into other paintings. After reading Alan Bamberger's "The Art of Buying Art - 2nd Edition" I changed my mind about my plan for the prints (I highly recommend that book by the way). I'm now going to paint 305 oil paintings and do 28 other images in the computer which will become limited edition "original giclees" as opposed to "print copies" in order to provide real value to collectors. The 305 oil paintings however, will become print copies - open editions - printed through www.society6.com. This way real art collectors will be able to get their hands on some high quality original art for around $230.00 and people who just want an image can get that for around the same price as a pizza. As things are put in place, I have also finished two new blurb books in a template form so that when an image from the upcoming project is finished it'll drop in place. Looking into my mental "crystal ball" I see The Room for 333 Squares Project beginning sometime in August. Looks to be a really cool year.
In other news, I will be unavailable June 17th to the 22nd. I am going on VACATION!!!! I will be traveling to the east coast to meet my biological father and for the first time EVER - I am going to meet my other two sisters and many nieces! Me and my brother Mike are extremely excited and looking forward to a really cool family reunion.
Simmering
05/06/2011 --- Behind the scenes I am now doing all the prepping. Each paycheck I can afford to buy more 6" X 6" wood panels. When they come in they're really only a 1/2 inch thick instead of 3/4 so I use wood screws on the back and they fit just perfectly into the floater frames I'm getting. Each piece is given three coats of gesso on the front and sides. I use a paint roller to give it a smooth finish. Going to be a blast when I finally begin the oil painting series, 330 small ones and 3 large.
I am also working on the screenplays and the animations for the videos. Just added Media Monkey gold to my arsenal, which will help immensely when I get into the recording phase, making the mp3 files and tagging. Not much I can really show for the weeks and months of work but I do have a stereoscopic 3D image that was created as a byproduct of an ad that will run in Guitar World once the project gets the greenlight and a successful end from the kickstarter community. It is also going to be animated for the video. click the thumb below and cross your eyes to see it in 3D. May take some patience.
Backburner heating up
02/25/2011 --- Not news, so much as anti-news, but it's worth a mention. I have one old backburner project that is heating up and one completely new project that is going to be going on the backburner for at least a year. The first project is a screenplay. The second project is a huge ART/MUSIC/Kickstarter project that I am currently gathering art supplies for (oil paintings). So if you're wondering, "Did Ken disappear?" Nope. Just creating something that will eventually blossom into one helluv-a-mazing project! Click the thumb for a sneak peek.
Progress of New Web Site
01/20/2011 --- The Jim Bob Radio Show is almost complete. The design and functionality are coming together quite well. The site is for a personal friend of mine, our voice-over actor at Global, Bobby Peterson. While working on the site I happened to get and see the movie The Social Network about the creation of Facebook and how Mark Zuckerberg stole the idea out from under three men who contracted him to do a web site while they were all students at Harvard. Sad that the movie gives web designers and coders such a black eye. Anyone else seen the movie and know what I'm talking about? Anyway... Jim Bob Radio.
Work progresses and we should have the site up sometime in February. For now you can click on some screenshots below and judge for yourself. Designs copyright 2011 by Bobby Peterson and The Jim Bob Radio Show; All Rights Reserved. I'll add a link and a blog entry when the site goes live.
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New Slideshow
01/03/2011 --- Just posted a new slideshow in my Hidden Gems section. It is for my new digital Art Gallery, The Pyramid Effect Gallery. Only six points to form a globe. The Gallery is chock full of hidden things for those with eyes to see. First there will be sketches. Then there will be oil paints. Then those paintings dry for a good year. We end by unbottling and burning, and if we're lucky... chop, chop, chop! I guess you'd have to see it for yourself to know what I'm talking about.
Obama is NOT your President!
01/01/2011 --- Article 1 Section 8 gives authority to arrest Obama and prosecute him for TREASON and put him to death as he violates The Law of Nations because he is NOT a "natural born citizen." He is an illegal usurper and a domestic enemy of all Americans.
Killed it and redid it
12/20/2010 --- Updated the site AGAIN! You may think I'm a web monkey addict (and I am to a certain degree) but I had to do it. Too many speed problems with the old site, although as far as site designs go - I really loved that last one! This new site is faster loading, basic, adds a mailchimp sign up form, and should carry me well into my upcoming kickstarter phase. Comments appreciated.
A Possibility
11/25/2010 --- Click on the guitar for a larger version. I need your feedback people kensmindmovie@hotmail.com I am contemplating developing this anodized gold (or red) aluminum guitar frame into a kickstarter project. I am looking around for a company that can make the molds and anodize the finish. Depending upon the costs I could very well go into production on this early next year. I'm thinking of changing the pickups to standard humbuckers in the final form with gold covers. The guitar would be offered in several tiers, first as just the frame itself, then with electronics, then with a neck. What do you think? Know any companies dealing with aluminum that could cast this in an extremely accurate modeling?
A Teaser of what's coming
10/15/2010 --- I S O M E T R I C. That's what you see below, an isometric rendering of a project I am working on (that means a flattened camera view). Take a look.
People who are familiar with who I am and my life will recognize certain elements in this room, such as say, the MRI of my brain on the floor with the brain tumor centered; highlighted in red. But what are the other "symbolic" elements? This is only a teaser. I will tell you that this is a hexagonal shaped room and you're looking down on it. That's about all I should say for now.
It must seem that I work at a snail's pace sometimes so I wanted to at least let you see what I'm working on. When finished, the above project will allow me to invite the world into my art and music studio in a manner that hasn't been done before, not to this extent. "Nuff said."
Back from the Endocrinologist
09/20/2010 --- Eh, not what I expected. My GH was the lowest it's ever been at 2.5 (normal is 0.0 ng/ml in the daytime, up to 30 ng/ml at night) but my IGF-1 levels are back in the stratosphere at 810 (normal is under 300 ng/ml). My doctor says scar tissue makes more surgery an impossibility so we are down to the last option, gamma knife. That's where they lock your head in a vice and give you multiple radiation treatments from converging angles. Not as easy as it sounds since the area they'll be irradiating sits right beneath the optic chiasm. One wrong move on their part and I could go blind. Gamma knife also doesn't take effect over night. It will take five to ten years to kill off any remaining bits of brain tumor. The Doc told me that once that happens then my case of acromegaly should be in remission.
Here's to a great ten year wait!!!
My mistake, your gain, EASY CONTEST!
09/18/2010 --- Every now and then I pull a real brainfart. Just recently I 
felt a fire burning a hole in my wallet and the urge to buy something so I logged onto amazon.com and bought a book. It was only after I hit the buy button that I thought, "waitaminute... do I already have this book in my library?" I checked and yes, I did have this book in my library. So now I have two copies of the fine book you see at right, Blender Foundations The Essential Guide to Learning Blender 2.6 by Roland Hess (click image to read reviews). As you may or may not know, BLENDER is a free open-source 3D modeling program available on the Internet that is used by professionals the world over for 3D modeling, animation, and movie compositing.
How do YOU gain you ask? Easy, just be the first person to send me your mailing address and I will mail the book out to you for FREE! When someone does this, then I will take this notice down. kensmindmovie@hotmail.com
Recovery, New Dad, Video, CUT TO:
09/06/2010 --- I am about recovered from the surgery, even the itches are mostly gone. I was almost on vacation but work made its demands. I would have liked to say that I got some great work accomplished but sometimes the client wants it done another way... Hmmm? At least I got some good experience editing video in Pinnacle! I am currently working on a short video (very short) this week for an audience of three, Richard, Angel, and Melissa. They are my new family members and the new video concerns them. So coffee all this week! I haven't posted any new chapters of Coffee Cup but I did rewrite (again) the first scene of my screenplay (look in Hidden Gems) in order to reflect the new unspoken rule that spec scripts have no CUT TO:'s in them. Let us hope I have another exciting scene ready later this month!
Part One of Burundanga Becomes You, Rewritten
08/13/2010 --- Check my Hidden Gems section. I just posted the first part of my screenplay, Burundanga Becomes You. This is a rewrite from previous versions. It is all going to be posted online as it is finished because outside of maybe Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez (unconventional directors in other words), I don't think anyone would touch it. This is the type of screenplay that scares the government in the TRUTHS that it reveals. I say, fuck them! I would also like to report that I am a week out of the hospital after hernia surgery and I am feeling better every day.
New Chapters added
07/06/2010 --- In my hidden gems section (click the red gem link - hidden in plain site - above) I added some more chapters of COFFEE CUP. I am attempting to post at least one chapter a week until I have the entire book converted into HTML format from print. Wish me luck and enjoy the read while it's up for free. When the entire book is finally converted it'll go back into hiding once more.
TRUTH 2.0
06/26/2010 --- I have spent the last two weeks learning Carrara's Vertex Modeler with great success. I uncovered many quirks in the programming that I have since learned to work around to avoid losing work. I currently do not own any screen capture software but Camtasia is on my horizon, so very soon I shall be able to offer tutorials on my modeling. For now, I have a new version of my TRUTH Guitar for you to see in the main header banner above. TRUTH is the world's first truly occult guitar. I have designed it around the Tree of Life (Kabbalah, Cabala) pattern. Your comments are appreciated!
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All art, music, design, writing, animation, works on film, and merchandise copyright 2010 by Ken D. Webber; All Rights Reserved. TRUTH and MAAT are the trademark names of my guitar design series and my pyramidal amplifier series.