Category Archives: Blog

Blog, Galiwango Tweets, News and Updates

Visiting Kigali, Presenting Galiwango Film

May 27, 2011 Solomon W. Jagwe 3 Comments

Last year I traveled to Kigali, Rwanda, for the first time to present the Galiwango film to the Rwandese Wildlife and Conservation team, the IGCP and the Greater Virunga Transboundary Secretariat.

The meetings were awesome and I met women and men who are totally dedicated to the conservation of the last remaining mountain gorillas. It was a great experience and I was blessed from listening to them share their wealth of knowledge and years of experience from the conservation effort.

Here are some memories from my 4 day trip to Kigali, November of Last year, 2010. I was graciously welcomed by Rica Rwigamba, the head of Tourism and Wildlife in Rwanda.

It was great meeting another young person so passionate about the conservation of endangered wildlife and the hard work done by the game rangers.

I was introduced to her by my good friend and former classmate from the days of Budo, Frank Twagira. His wife welcomed us into their home with love. I made the trip with Hazel Collett, a family friend and a JJ Uganda Ministry Leader (JJ Nsumi is a school for Orphans in Bushyenyi, she heads the ministry).

Kigali is rapidly expanding and the skyline is beautiful. I was really impressed by the cleanliness of the city and the efficiency of the work at the RDB. Everything that you could possibly need to register a business, is located in that one building.

I met with several team members of the IGCP in Kigali at their office not too far from the RDB (Rwanda Development Board) building. Rwanda is doing a great job of sensitizing the youth to the work of conserving the endangered wildlife. It was really cool to hear the stories of students participating in mountain gorilla tracking trips. We definitely need to reach out to the younger generation, we are the consumers and leaders of tomorrow afterall.

Blog, News and Updates

Surviving a Tornado, Close Call

April 18, 2011 Solomon W. Jagwe 8 Comments

I have lived through some really powerful storms back in Uganda but nothing prepared me for the harrowing experience of the power of a tornado. Altogether, 45 five people died in the storms that swept through North Carolina all the way to Virginia. The memories are imprinted on my mind, and I will forever be grateful to God that my family and I were spared the brunt of the storm.

This is the path of the Tornado as it swept in from Fayetteville, heading North East Towards Virginia.

We survived a tornado and I will never forget the experience. I have lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina since the beginning of 2006, but I had never experienced anything like the storm that swept through our neighborhood. It was one incredible and very scary experience.

I looked up at the sky and the clouds were this dark greenish color and things were spinning. We ran back into the house just in time. The sound of the shrieking wind was horrifying, almost like a freight train bearing down on you.

Neighbors picking up the pieces after the storm hit

At first there was this calmness, and then out of nowhere the funnel touched down almost like a finger – a line of damage from the elementary school behind us through our neighbors yards 2 houses down from us. I was too stunned to switch on my video camera. But after the storm passed I ventured out and took some snapshots, doing my best to be sensitive to neighbors who didn’t want their homes photographed.

Our kids swing was no match for the strong winds. I watched as this was literally being shredded before my eyes, like a weak sail against a powerful storm. Now I know why so many people got injured, I was watching it like a deer caught in headlights, almost too numb to move, when I should have been taking refuge in a bathtub, since we do not have basements here in Fayetteville. We just don’t get these kinds of storms. This one took us by surprise.

Neighbours working hard to fix their roofs after the storm. Whats amazing is the precision of the Tornado, and how on either side there was no damage; seemed to have been focused on the path the funnel took. I am so grateful that it didn’t linger too long, I think our whole neighborhood would have been destroyed.

Please keep the victims families in your prayers.

NORTH CAROLINA TORNADO AFTERMATH UPDATE: Here is a more complete Gallery from the photos I took of the Tornado devastation in the Dunn Neighborhood of North Carolina. This is off of Exit 72, 95N – Pope Road.

Blog, News and Updates

Cinematic Project Photo from GDC 2011

March 3, 2011 Solomon W. Jagwe 2 Comments

My Recent animation done for Mixamo seen here being used at their Booth at the Game Developers Conference in Carlifornia. A friend at the Conference took this with their phone. It sure feels great to see one’s work travel thousands of miles, and actually serve a purpose. All the hard work and sleepless nights were so worth it. woot! lol

Blog, Galiwango Tweets, News and Updates

Galiwango Film to be Screened in Sweden, Mar 23-28th

January 3, 2011 Solomon W. Jagwe 5 Comments

CinemAfrica ~ African Film Festival | Sweden | I am excited and a little overwhelmed at the same time. I am desperately trying to clean my plate of all the pending projects so I can have a full 2 months worth of work and rendering in preparation for the Festival.

Looking back at 2010, I have to say thank you!! Thank you to my family and friends who supported me and stuck by me even with all my outlandish dreams. I want to thank all those that have made this journey of making the Galiwango Film, such an incredible experience. My heart and gratitude goes out to all the UWA family, the IGCP team and the Greater Virunga Transboundary Secretariat. I look forward to a better tomorrow. Happy New Year to you all.

Blog

From an Egg to a Rooster ~ 3D

December 13, 2010 Solomon W. Jagwe 2 Comments

Dreams Become Reality | Never Give up

Looking at these guys and their Super Kooooool Gadgets, I am reminded of the Ugandan saying, “Even those that are roosters, were once eggs” It sounds better in Luganda, but anyways … Gakyali Mabaga. Inspired to Create and Great Story Telling … Sinakowa .. here is to having a vision and a dream and sticking to it | www.sowl.com | www.galiwango.com

3D Stereo Now Child’s Play

Rendering 3D stereo images with finalRender 3.5 has become so easy, it can be used in every single rendering or visualization project.

Impressive 3D stereo renderings are no longer just for the “big guys” in Hollywood. finalRender democratizes this area of rendering and brings it to the mass market. Architects and designers, for example, can now easily create 3D stereo renderings of their designs for every single project. The added overhead to create a fully stereoscopic 3D image from an existing rendering is near zero and adds little to the render-time.

The rendering shown below illustrates how 3D Stereo Camera creates images that show real depth in any rendering. No extra effort was needed to obtain this effect with finalRender 3.5.

Blog, News and Updates, Tutorials

Solomon’s Canon 60D Review

December 13, 2010 Solomon W. Jagwe 3 Comments

Hi Guys, taking a breather from editing videos on several projects to give my 2 cents on Canon’s most recent DSLR release, the EOS 60D. I think Canon got something right in creating this mid-level, semi-pro Digital SLR. I have had it for about a month now and I must say I am enjoying the Vari-angle 3.0-inch Clear View LCD monitor.

I have worked with both the 5D Mark II and the 7D, and I finally realize how much I have missed having a flippable LCD monitor, especially for those low shots that require going down on one knee. With the 60D, I don’t have to contort myself to see whats being filmed; all I have to do is swivel the lcd monitor and continue shooting. The canon team also paid attention to the direction of the lcd monitor swivel. I noticed that on the Nikon equivalent, the LCD monitor flips downwards and not off to the side like the 60D. This means that if you have it mounted on a tripod, chances are that you will be limited in how far you can swivel the monitor.

I am also liking the 18MP censor which is similar to the 7D. Storage wise, I wished the 60D had the same card slot as my 5D and 7D, because I now have to buy 2 types of media storage cards – the CF cards for the 5D and 7D plus the SD card for the 60D.

It’s rather convenient to be able to swap cards on the 7D and 5D.

I will be updating this blog as I continue to work with the 60D. Overall I am pretty impressed by the new features and the body design. It has been criticized for not having a sturdy body similar to the 7D, but I think it is sturdy enough even for road warriors. But just like any camera, you have to take good care of it and you have to watch that flip screen and keep it tucked away, avoiding nasty accidents where you crash it against an obstacle and losing it completely.

More to come.

Blog, News and Updates, Poetry

A World with No Border | Poetry

October 17, 2010 Solomon W. Jagwe 2 Comments

I might be scraped and a little Older
And you might be right in saying I follow no Order
But I sparkle and glint with new solder
weaving in and out of a world with no border

You often frown at my rusty fender
and verbally rip apart any slow sender
Berating my rider threatening to tell on his lender
swearing and comparing my style to that of a blender

But I see spaces in places you call slender
and I take you swiftly caring not about your gender
maybe you should take some time and ponder
why I never complain about your sweaty ordour

An awkward thank you, I don’t expect you to render
But at least begrudge me this dear rider
and admit that when you are stuck and call my sender
the name you love to utter is, hey Boda Boda!

Blog, Galiwango Tweets, News and Updates

Gorilla Motion Capture ~ Mixamo Studios

October 10, 2010 Solomon W. Jagwe 13 Comments

Galiwango, Obulamu Bw’ekisodde | A Luganda Animated Mountain Gorilla Conservation Film | www.galiwango.com | Here are some video captures of my time out west in San Francisco at the Mixamo Studios doing motioncapture sessions for the Galiwango film. Had lots of fun. I did fall asleep on the train though and ended up in San Jose!!

Blog, Galiwango Tweets, News and Updates

Short Film in Partnership with Mixamo

September 29, 2010 Solomon W. Jagwe 10 Comments

For Game Developers Conference 2011 | Video and Still Shots from a 3D animated short film I created in partnership with Mixamo Studios. It’s a futuristic setting with a team of soldiers fighting against Mech Style Robots. I had lots of fun with this one. I used motionbuilder, 3DS Max, Vue xStream and AE. To learn more about Mixamo Studios, check out their services at http://www.mixamo.com

Blog, Comic Art, Galiwango Tweets, News and Updates

Galiwango “Kasobeza” Comic Book, Editions1&2

August 28, 2010 Solomon W. Jagwe 35 Comments

Dear Friends, I am excited to bring you the 1st and 2nd editions of the Galiwango Comic Book Entitled “Kasobeza”. To Order, Click on the Paypal Buy Button. You can buy more than one copy if you so wish.

Do please share with all your friends and family. Let’s work together to raise awareness to the plight of the last remaining mountain gorillas and the brave men and women that are working tireless to protect them in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Thanks for your support! Together we can make a difference.

2nd Edition:
Colonel Kasobeza wrestles with what he’s about to do. He is tormented by the mission he has been assigned. A mission that requires him to painfully ignore his training as an elite game ranger, and his upbringing as a native dweller of the forest when he was a kid.

1st Edition:
The comic book traces the life of an elite game ranger called Kasobeza as he transforms from a hardened rebel recruit to a ranger and a mountain gorilla advocate. Setting is the Virunga mountains. Kasobeza has been tasked by Musawo to deliver a baby mountain gorilla in exchange for weapons and money