Loklo Media 3D Animation Blog

“Death is very likely the best invention of life,”… “All pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure, these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”

‎”Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

1955-2011

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

update… Jobs’ Biography available on Amazon:

 

Watch This video, and tell me what you’re planning (or did) for Labor Day 2010?

Well, the question is more for you, really. I know I do – I’ve got hundreds of gigs of photos and movies that are backed up, both on an external drive and online.
What makes a good online backup solution? Well, cost has something to do with it, so does reputation. Ease of access to restore your files is also important. If your files are there but not accessible without jumping through hoops, then it’s not a great backup service. If the service doesn’t allow you to synchronize your computer, and adjust for changes, then it might not be for you.
Some backup services provide a mirror of your computer (you can select of course what needs backing up… would hate to backup a virus!), while others allow you to backup your data then delete it from your computer, more of an archival mindset.

Whatever it is you need, you probably need it.

Now, all that said, most people will be able to get by with a free limited 1 or 2gb service. If you’re an avid photographer and have lots of family photos, then you might need more. If you take digital videos, whether with your still cam or an actual video camera, then you’ll definitely need more.

Personally, for my home computer, I use Mozy (on a Mac – they have Windows stuff too). They have a free 2GB plan, but also offer bigger or unlimited plans. Typically, for any given month, the name of the month will get you a 10% discount via promo code. For instance, this month’s promo code is FEBRUARY. Here’s a link that’ll take you straight to the 2GB plan Page: http://bit.ly/mozy-free

Another thing to remember with Backups – they take a long time. Unless you’ve got a dedicated commercial really fast internet connection, assume that gigabytes of data might take days, weeks or more to fully backup!!

Think about it. You’re at a get together… you mention that you’re a digital artist of some sort – whether 3D, 2D, Web, or otherwise. People often times give me the “wow, that’s cool” reaction when I say I do 3D. Then I tell them I don’t do Pixar type stuff, but it’s still fun to know how all the technical mumbo jumbo works. (That’s one of my favorite quotes from “The Saint”).

Or maybe you’re an investor, or just a networker. Either way, you like finding yourself in these types of large groups, meeting new people.

Anyway, it won’t be long into a group like that before you meet someone who says “Do you have a card?”. Well… uh… no.. but I have a website/blog/online portfolio of sorts. And if you’re lucky you’re able to scratch the URL onto a piece of scrap paper, perhaps a receipt from your pocket or a napkin. Yay.

So you say to yourself… “self, I need a business card.” And you proceed to make something up, usually the first rendition (for me anyway) is quite nasty and not worthy of being shown. In the meantime, especially if you’re a freelancer of sorts, you think “I don’t have an official business name, or title or anything”. Who cares. Just put your name on the card with your skill: John Deadfoot – Illustrator/Animator/3D Specialist/Graphic Designer/Geek/Whatever. (I really like the geek option).

Then you go buy some perforated paper from the local office supply store. buzzzz! Wrong! Bad Idea. Don’t cheap out. This card is one of your first impressions to a potential client.

I made this mistake. Well, not with perforated paper, but I tried some inkjet photo paper. In handing my “fancy new card” to a guy I was talking to, he proceeded to destroy my card in the following 10 minutes or so while we were talking just by fiddling with it in his hands. I was shocked, and that night I tweaked my design and had a rush order of professionally printed cards on 100lb stock, double sided, color printed and delivered. I chose Vista Print, who I had heard good things of.

Vista Print allowed me to either choose one of their template designs, offer to pay one of their designers to do it for me, or upload my own. I chose the latter. They provided me with a PSD Photoshop template file, with margins, guides, etc for a full bleed. I finalized my design, made sure I was in CMYK color space, then uploaded it (front and back were two different images).

Needless to say I was extremely happy with the end product, the price, and the speed. What I wasn’t happy about was that I ordered 500, and while having still roughly 40% left, my phone number changed. Oh well.

Go check out what Vista Print has to offer – they even have lots of stuff for free.

A New (easy to miss) feature has been added to the Blog – Quote of the Day. On the right hand column, under the “Recent Posts” section, is a new, short, Motivational Quote of the Day. Check it out each day! For ease, I’ll include the script in this post, so that it shows up in this post also!