Category Archives: Blog

N-aEEXUS Sci-Fi Short Film I Directed and Animated

Wooohooo!!! I am officially a Sci-fi Film Director!! lol!! “N-aEEXUS”, the Short Film I Wrote, Directed and Animated as a one man team in partnership with Reallusion, using iClone and Character Creator 3, is finally online and I can share with you the amazing journey!! My wife acted in it as the female Major in the interrogation chamber!! I played the part of the Commander, and did the Voice acting for the Alien Lord and Commander as well. This was so much fun!! Check out the Feature tutorial on CGSociety at this link: https://cgsociety.org/news/article/4330/creating-a-3d-sci-fi-short-in-30-days ~ Dare to dream big, friends!!

I am so grateful to my wife for joining me on this adventure and playing a key acting role in the film.

The video below shows a side by side demo of me acting and the Alien Lord 3D Character with Facial Mocap from an iPhone X mounted on my home made head mounted Camera Rig, built on my wife’s bike helmet, captured in iClone 7 using Motion LIVE, LIVE Face and the Perception Neuron 2.0 motion capture suit for the full body mocap. This has so much promise as a combo solution for Indie film makers and storytellers.

3D Artist Magazine Feature ~ My Tutorial in Partnership with Reallusion

3D Artist Magazine Feature ~ My Tutorial in Partnership with Reallusion ~ What an Awesome Day!!! Nkoza and Nankya are going places!!! Nankya is featured in one of the largest Print and Online magazines in the world for 3D artists!!! Don’t miss issue 123 of the 3D Artist Magazine!!! In the article I share the process I use in my Facial animation workflow for the characters in the Adventures of Nkoza and Nankya, using Reallusion’s iClone, Motion LIVE, Faceware Realtime for iClone, and Noitom’s Perception Neuron 2.0 Motion capture suit. The digital version for 3D Artist Magazine Issue 123 is out as well. Never give up on your Dreams Friends, and as always Dare to Dream really Big!!

Speeding Up Your 3D Renders using Octane 4 Render Engine in 3DS Max

A quick Tutorial showing how you can speed up your renders in 3DS Max using the Octane 4.0, featuring 2 of my favorite features: Denoiser and Dynamic Subdivision ~ I am using GPU rendering with Octane to render a short film based on Pacific Rim, and getting an average of 5 seconds to 10 Seconds per frame.

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

Home Made Head Mounted Camera Rig with iPhone X, iClone Motion LIVE, LIVE Face

“Never ever be accused of not using your head” Katwe Style… I brought my old home made head mounted camera rig from retirement and updated it to support an iPhone X. I am now using it to do combo full body and facial mocap using Reallusion’s Motion LIVE and LIVE Face plus Noitomocap’s Perception Neuron 2.0 mocap suit. Sometimes technology shows up at just the right time and place. Taking the Nkoza and Nankya vision from dream to action. Friends, Dare to dream BIG!!! – www.nkozaandnankya.com

To create the Rig, I used my wife’s bike helmet, and attached a Flexible Universal Gooseneck Smartphone Stand with Clamp from a Haitent Retractable Adjustable Cell Phone Tall Tripod Stand Holder, using zip ties. Check it out at this link: https://amzn.to/2PDtEPd

Here is a rendered animation showing the combo result of both Facial and Body mocap.

Trip to Rome, Italy ~ a Photo Essay

My wife and I wrapped up our Anniversary vacation with a last stop in Rome, Italy. It was so awesome to see the colosseum and all the other historic buildings in Rome. We decided to walk instead of taking a tour bus and I must say I am glad we did, because we got a chance to experience the people as well as the architecture.

There was an Italian vendor who cracked us up as we were returning from our touring of the colosseum, he referred to us as Jay-Z and Beyonce!! lol!!! I had to take my hat off to his marketing skills because he almost got us to buy whatever he was selling.

Overall, I was truly impressed at how people hustle in Rome. We came across a gentleman balancing incredibly as a Genie and another working as an invisible man.

We encountered musicians too, that were playing popular hits on the side walk… we walked away hand in hand to the acoustic sounds of “Despacito”

What an amazing experience this Italian trip has been. I can’t wait for the next adventure with my sweetheart!!

Check out the photos from my Rome experience below. Enjoy and comments are welcome 🙂

Trip to Florence, Italy ~ A Photo Essay

I finally made it to Florence, Italy with my Wife as we celebrated our 18 Anniversary.

As a traditional artist, I had always dreamed of one day visiting Florence to see with my own eyes, works by the old art Masters like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Corriggio and many others. It was a double blessing to visit Florence with my wife, who has been an awesome supporter of my art journey and my wacky art ideas.

It was a long line to get in, but finally we made into the Gallerie Digli Uffizi!! I got goose bumps as we walked through the hallways and took in all the incredible works of art.

I left Florence with much needed inspiration, my desire to paint and create was so heightened, I was lost in thought as my wife prodded me for how I felt about the whole experience.. all I could utter was.. Epic!!!

Check out the photos from my experience of Florence. I took so many photos, but the ones below, best express what I was able to see and experience. I highly recommend Florence to every artist and Art lover, you have to see it with your own eyes. Enjoy, comments are welcome 🙂

Trip to Venice, Italy ~ a Photo Essay

My wife and I had such a wonderful time in Venice, Italy. Here are some photos I was able to capture with my camera. Venice is so beautiful and awe inspiring!! We were fortunate to have 2 days of gorgeous weather.

I highly recommend Venice for an anniversary vacation or a family vacation. Be ready to walk though or at least budget for water taxi fares to get around the island. Even after the water taxi drops you off, you still have to walk to the various restaurants and hotels. They have Gondolas that dock near the different hotels that line the water ways, budget between 80 to 100 Euros. Drink lots of water; there is a grocery store called Coop, that offers much cheaper water than the one available near the more popular tourist sites. There are also drinking water spouts along the walk ways.

Depending on the time of year you visit, make sure to bring shorts and T-shirts for summer travel. It does get really hot in the afternoon, so it’s better to walk in the early part of the day and later in the evening. Whatever you did, take your time and enjoy the people as much as the food and architecture. I will never forget this place!!

Enjoy the photos below, comments are most welcome 🙂

Facial Mocap with an iPhone X and Face Cap

This is a quick test I did using an iPhone X and Face Cap, I captured myself singing Amazing grace. I rendered the scene in 3DS Max using Octane with a single light to capture the mood. At least now we are getting back the features we used to love with Faceshift. Thanks to developers like Niels Alexi. Next will be to take this animation ability and apply it to the characters in my animated series, The Adventures of Nkoza and Nankya and Galiwango.

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

Octane 4 ~ How To Use AI Denoiser to Speed up Your Renders

I am so impressed with Octane 4.0 and the new Denoiser feature. I was able to render this Alien animation in the Octane 4.0 Standalone version at less than 30 seconds per frame at a frame size of 1280 x 720. GPU rendering ROCKS!!!

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

HUMANS ~ Short Sci-fi Film ~ Animated in iClone 7 & Faceware Facial Mocap Plugin

This is a quick Facial mocap test I did for a short concept sci-fi film entitled “Humans” ~ I used iClone 7 and the Faceware Realtime for iClone Plugin, plus the Faceware Mocap for Faceware plugin. This pipeline has a lot of potential and shows great promise in making it possible to indie film makers like myself, to create good animations at very affordable price. I rendered the animation in 3DS Max using Octane 3.0 GPU render engine.

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/