submono's sublog

hong kong memory

submono — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:10:38 +0000

i made a soundscape in ableton that utilizes and connects sounds and impressions from my last visit in hong kong: “hong kong memory”.

hong kong memory.mp3

augmented reality in unity 3d

submono — Sat, 05 May 2012 14:57:00 +0000

made a small augmented reality demo in unity 3d for a chinese client. the scene runs in real-time with lights, shadows and wind force at a steady 45 fps @ 1980x 1080 px on my (okay, very fast) notebook.
the “stars” of the whole scene are actually the beach sun umbrellas. they are covered in invisible solar cells that store energy during the day. this energy can then be used to power build-in led lights at night.

kinda nifty

launchpad and nocturn

submono — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:12:24 +0000

just ordered a launchpad and a nocturn midi controller from novation can’t wait to mess around with it in ableton live. glad that easter is around the corner…

tension 2

submono — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 03:56:24 +0000

new, more abstract concept painting. bigger version as always here.

from dull to bright

submono — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:03:11 +0000

it took one hour of work and a little love from my friends adobe and wacom to turn a dull grey day into an exciting exhibition night.

lajin paida

submono — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 05:08:49 +0000

my “love affair” with lajin paida, a self-healing technique started after i had torn a muscle in my thigh during one of my rowing workout. for long weeks i received extensive physical therapy in germany but nothing could diminish the exquisite pain resulting from the torn muscle and a resulting blood clot where the muscle had bled into the soft tissue.

it all got turned around when my wife brought home a lajin bench from china. within a week of self-healing therapy my condition changed dramatically with the blood clot dissolving at an incredible pace and the muscle finally healing. it was a painful process (in the first sessions i could barely bend my leg at a 45 degree angle) and completely against my german doctors advise to rest and to keep the leg still but the results spoke for themselves.

now back in shanghai we’re again happy owners of a lajin bench and i do daily lajin and paida exercises to keep my blood pressure low and the chi flowing. more in-depth information about self-healing and lajin paida can be found on the hubpages of good guy.

light

submono — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 05:05:33 +0000

if i, for some stupid and limiting reasons, would have to choose just one book out of the myriad of published sf novels it would have to be light by m. john harrison. this is not an easy read, full of sex and violence (humanity’s most powerful expressions of what it means to be human) as it is and most people will probably have a hard time feeling any emotional connection with the protagonists. it is not a “feel good” book, not easily digested and might leave you confused, disturbed and even angry on the sidelines. however it is a book so deep, vast and encompassing that it will blow your mind, like it or not. just read it!

oh, and ian m. banks would come in as a very close second any day.

“the alley” in unity 3d

submono — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 06:46:21 +0000

i’ve been learning unity 3d for a while now and used the last spring festival break to complete my first game level called “the alley”, set in a dark and rainy back alley. it plays in marrakesh in 1978 and i imagined a scene like out of one of george alec effinger’s (highly recommended) great budayeen sf novels. the player takes on the role of an arabic private eye trying to solve a murder case.

i did all of the modelling, texturing, scripting and sound effects myself in eight days and it was a great learning experience. unity 3ds is an awesome (i don’t use this expression lightly) application and now a fully integrated part of my professional toolbox.

sorry for the bad frame rate, the screen capture software sucked the life out of it. the whole level (nothing is pre-baked) runs at 45 fps @ 1920 x 1080 px on my dell precision laptop.

soundscape: security check dubai airport

submono — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 07:20:37 +0000

it sounds like little kids getting slaughtered in an electro-mechanical version of hell. we are a noisy species.

security-check.mp3

back from kuwait

submono — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 07:03:03 +0000

back from warm and sunny kuwait and right into shanghai’s cold rain. i can’t wait for summer to arrive. the project in kuwait is finally progressing well and we have a great team together. i’ve always been a big fan of the middle east and over the last visits also kuwait city has really grown on me. and i have even started throwing my rusty arabic at innocent bystanders.