Category Archives: Blog

Concept Robo Buffalo Drawing

Concept Robot Buffalo Drawing, Daily sketch ~ My love for Robotics and wildlife series: I drew this while taking a mental break from animations and editing work on the second short sci-fi film, NaEEXUS II. I was inspired by the African cape buffalo, with a slight twist.

Quest: I am doing this as an exercise to continually put ideas to paper and to use it as an opportunity to practice mechanical and Wildlife anatomy.

In the News, My Home Made Head mounted Camera Rig

From Masaka to Miami, Dreams do come true!! So so cool to see my work making its way around the world!! A friend who attended this mocap workshop by Noitom at the Miami Ad School, shared this photo of my home made head mounted camera rig featured as a solution together with the perception neuron motion capture suit, for independent film makers and storytellers. Thank you so much Kg Greene!!! I see you!!!

Drawing and Coloring – Children’s book illustration

Drawing and Coloring – Children’s book illustration. A concept design I created for a new kids story for the Nkoza and Nankya app. It’s been a busy week with film direction work, balancing this with creating content for this dream. Never give up on your dreams, friends, with faith, hard work and dedication, doors will open. I am a witness to that process. God continues to show himself faithful on this journey of taking this vision from dream to action.
https://youtube.com/user/NkozaandNankya

My Favorite GPU Render Engine is Octane

My favorite GPU rendering engine is hands down Octane, now in its 4th, 2018 and 2019 versions. It’s made it so much easier for me to light and render the scenes in the episodes of Nkoza and Nankya, and for a number of my cinematics and short films. I render using Octane in both Maya and 3DS Max.

There was a time when I rendered primarily with Mental Ray, but once the industry shifted to GPU and realtime rendering, I pivoted to using GPU rendering as well. The demand to turn around 3D renders pretty quick has also driven my quest to find the fastest way I can realize my scenes both as concepts and final renders. Some of the challenges have been rendering things such as smoke, volumetric lighting, dust, and fluids, but all those issues have been addressed in the most recent builds of Octane.

Check out some of the renders I have done using Octane for the Nkoza and Nankya episodes.  Series Website:  www.nkozaandnankya.com  ~ Subscribe to the Nkoza and Nanjya Youtube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/user/NkozaandNankya  ~ Visit and like the facebook at this link: https://www.facebook.com/NkozaandNankya/

You can see more renders at the Nkoza and Nankya gallery at this link: http://www.nkozaandnankya.com/gallery/

Working on the Second Chapter of NaEEXUS Short Sci-Fi Film

Working on the Second Chapter of NaEEXUS, a short sci-fi film in partnership with Reallusion ~ this was my day today in Noitom Perception Neuron 2.0 Suit, motion capture session: animation refining for 2 new characters and one from the previous film: watch it at this link: www.sowl.com/2019/01/naeexus-sci-fi-short-film-i-directed-and-animated/ ~ I am having lots of fun working on this, wearing multiple hats as the Writer, Director, animator, actor, lighting and rendering artist 😉 I can’t wait to show you all the finished product. For now, I am deep in the animation trenches. Watch this space.

Motion capture session for 2 new characters. So grateful for the support of the Reallusion Team, and honored to be a Brand Ambassador. I do love animating with iClone.

My Art journey in the Diaspora, From Dream to Action ~ Working Full Time on Nkoza and Nankya

My Art journey in the Diaspora, From Dream to Action ~ I am finally back to working full time on Nkoza and Nankya, and Painting!! ~ I transitioned from working full time for almost 2 years as the Art Director of a Virtual Reality (VR) gaming studio based in Washington D. C, I was so blessed by my time there, and I know that God led me there so I could make a difference, grow and become a better artist.

I learned so much about Autism, Virtual Reality gaming and the major shift happening in the industry. When I first joined, I had no idea how to build apps, and I had been looking around for someone to help me, but almost everywhere I looked, I was told I had to pay between $5000 to $10,000 dollars.

During the last 2 years, I dived into learning how to create iOS and Android apps whenever I got home home from work, and I did it!!! That’s how I was able to create the Nkoza and Nankya app ( http://www.nkozaandnankya.com/mobileapp ).

I am now in a better place and I know that the time is right for me to give Nkoza and Nankya my full attention. I will also be painting, I will share more about that. Do please show your support by liking the Nkoza and Nankya facebook page at this link: https://www.facebook.com/NkozaandNankya and subscribe to our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/NkozaandNankya ~ I am daring to Dream Really Big!!! Thank you for your support!!

Thank you so much to each and everyone of you that has believed in and encouraged me. To the Nkoza and Nankya team and my loving wife and kids, I am forever grateful!! ~ family and friends, dare to dream Big!!

Iron Man ~ tyFlow Simulation Test, 3DS Max and Octane 4

Iron man thinking, Maggots ain’t got nothing on me.. but tyFlow got something on me!! ~ This is my second test with this awesome plugin tyFlow for 3DS Max. I am using the target attraction node and taking the tyFlow worms scene a little further. I rendered the scene using Octane 4. Check out the video below.

Don’t forget to Subscribe to My Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SolomonJagwe ~ Visit and like my facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/Art.of.Solomon.W.Jagwe

tyFlow is an Awesome Plugin for 3DS Max

Every now and then, a plugin comes along with the potential to change the workflow of many CG artists, and sometimes it takes a while for said plugin to be adopted and for it to be embraced by casual and professional users ~ well, recently a new plugin for 3DS Max came along and it has been embraced enmass by many 3DS Max users, because it is easy to use and carries along a familiar glow, pun intended… 🙂 ~ tyFlow is like Particle Flow, pFlow’s new sibling that is growing in leaps and bounds and has the potential to replace it.

I did some tests with tyFlow and I must say I am hooked!!

Tyflow Animation rendering using Autodesk 3ds Max? and OTOY? Octane 4.0 ~ I finally got the animation rendered, check it out!! ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAkJHAn1NY4 ~ I loooove this plugin!!!