My classes begin today. I’m taking the following:

1. Conceptual Physics
2. Advanced Texture and Lighting

I’m really looking forward to both of these. I haven’t taken physics since undergrad, but I’m not too worried. The class is going to cover the underlying physics in relation to the field of Visual Effects and Animation which will help me understand the fundamentals of science. We’ll be covering waves, particles, light, color, refraction, diffraction, motion, and much more.

The advanced texture and lighting class will no doubt help me tremendously. I’m familiar with the basics of texturing and not so much about lighting. Later this fall, I’m planning to take a lighting production class that will cover the rules for lighting during a green screen shoot, among other things. I’ll post updates on my work in the class. Stay tuned.

I took an incredible trip to Thailand for two weeks with my brother. After another long semester, it was a well deserved break. My brother lives in NY, so we actually flew separately and met up in the hotel at Bangkok. The first week, we toured through the mainland from Bankgok, all the way up north to Chiang Mai. The cities we stopped along the way were Nakom Pathom, Kanchanaburi, Ayuttaya, Sukhothai, and Phitsanulok. While in Chiang Mai, We took a tour further north to Chiang Rai and to the Golden Triangle. This is where Burma, Loas, and Thailand intersect, and there is an interesting history behind this regarding opium production (wikipedia article). The final week, we flew south to the island of Phuket and relaxed at the JW Marriot resort (my brother used one of his time shares). The resort was phenomenal to say the least. It was with question the best resort I’ve stayed at period. We had our own 2 bedroom Villa with all the perks. The only downside was that  it was isolated from the rest of the island, so traveling to other areas was difficult. Here are some of the photos from Thailand: