So, tell us a little bit about yourself, who is ockham and what
does he do when he isn't doing Poser related things?
Short answer: (a) David G. Drumright. (b) Sleeps.
Long answer: When I was little, I was happiest alone, drawing cars
and houses and building dumb "inventions" with Tinkertoys and
cardboard.
After some messy years in the hippie era, I settled down to play by
the rules, and ended up teaching electronics at a DeVry school.
Sometime around age 35, I realized that the social contract was
false. Supposedly if you work hard, treat people decently, do
public service, you'll get good results.
The only thing I got was a drinking problem. So I switched over to
speech and hearing research, and started aiming toward more
freedom.
After 15 lean years, I finally reached the goal of being
"independently poor" in 2001. Now I'm back to drawing and building
things -- this time with Poser instead of cardboard -- and I'm more
or less happy again.
My income is from a series of courseware products in the area of
speech and hearing, which mix Poser animations with text and custom
programming.
This requires about three months of work per year, to manage
updates. I own a tiny house in a safe neighborhood, optimized for
minimum expenses and minimum contact with humans.
How did you get started in Poser?
The first courseware project received bad reviews during
development. I was using line-drawing animation, strictly within
Windows GDI, and the reviewers thought it was crude and dull.
I started casting about for a way to put some life into the
animations, and found Poser.
Almost immediately I realized that Poser would also put more life
into my life!
Having checked out your freestuff, I see that you began with
mainly freestuff models. Did you begin with modelling and find
Poser, or did you begin with Poser & move to modelling?
The latter.
For those who aren't too sure, could you give us a simple
explanation of what python scripts are and how to use them?
Basically, scripts are a way to perform repeated tasks.
Change the intensity of all the lights at once, or move the body
downward in all frames of an animation.
These are tasks that could be done without the script, but would
take many minutes of error-prone repetition.
Less basically, scripts can do fancier things like reading a MIDI
file to control a model musical instrument, or training a prop to
follow a drawn path.
These jobs couldn't be done at all without the script.
A quick one-picture guide to using scripts can be found at:
ockhams
bungalow
If someone wanted to learn to write their own scripts, do you
have any recommendations for them when they are starting
out?
Start from the end, not the beginning.
This means: don't try to memorize definitions and functions.
Instead, take existing examples, see them work, then modify them to
meet your needs, making sure that the script works at each
change.
Have a real purpose in mind, and try to rig your activity so that
you can see a real result at every stage.
The way Python works inside Poser is distinctly different from the
way it's described in various tutorials, so you shouldn't spend
much time on the tutorials *first*.
With that caution, a couple of good tutorials on the web are:
diveintopython.org
http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/thinkCSpy/
When did you first come across Python scripting and what
attracted you to it?
Frankly I don't remember the sequence.
Judging by some dates on files, it appears that I didn't really
notice Python for the first year or so in Poser; I was too busy
trying to learn the basics and get the project done.
Oddly, the first idea for using Python was an attempt to reproduce
a certain --ahem-- fantasy ;-)
Also oddly, I've never fully accomplished that original idea,
though some spinoffs have proved enjoyable.
Programming itself was nothing new; I've been using assembly, Basic
and C in the realms of speech analysis and acoustics since
1984.
Python took a fair amount of unlearning; its essential worldview is
very different from C.
Although you began by posting models to freestuff, nowadays you
seem mostly to post python scripts. What prompted the
change?
Probably a sense of usefulness.
The popular models are humans and clothing; I was no good at
drawing those things when I was young, and still no good in
Poser.
Houses and furniture, though I enjoy making them, aren't especially
popular, unique, or useful.
My scripts are certainly useful and some of them are unique.
Where do you get your ideas from?
For models, largely from the past.
At one time I collected antique gadgets and radios. Through years
of traveling light, most of those large objects got left behind,
but I still remember and enjoy the details.
Rebuilding them in digital form is almost as much fun as fiddling
with the real things, and less expensive.
For scripts, mainly from suggestions in R'osity forums.
What was the first model you ever made and did it work out the
way you planned?
Again the details are lost.
I began by combining Poser primitives.
The first "original" model that I remember was a zither, made
partly in Amorphium.
Now I use Amapi for modeling.
How about the first python script?
Going by file dates again, it appears that the first attempts were
all in the area of --ahem-- fantasies.
There's a considerable gap in time between those and the earliest
practical script, but that's largely because the practical scripts
tend to get revised fairly often.
So any script that I've used often will show a fairly recent
date.
Which of the many models & scripts you have given away free is
your favourite?
Model: Player piano. Script: SoundScape.
Which one did you most enjoy working on?
One of my latest efforts, Hansel and Gretel, was definitely
fun.
Your "Python script: Eureka (deformer)" has over 5,900 downloads
currently making it your most popular download. Were you surprised
at how many people have downloaded it?
Yes, definitely. It's imperfect and fussy, not my best work.
Another surprising aspect: many of my models relate to food and
cooking. Yet in real life I'm the opposite of a gourmet; if there
were a way to get along without eating, I'd do it. Possibly my
"inner foodie" is trying to express itself through art?
What do you like best about giving these items away for
free?
Seeing my productions used; seeing that they actually help a few
people.
Whats the worst thing?
It's frustrating that the work I enjoy most is not popular.
Most Poserites are artists who do still lifes, and I'm just not
interested in that sort of work.
I'll gladly fulfill requests to serve that area, but my heart isn't
there.
I enjoy making animations and dealing with sound; my favorite
models and scripts are in that realm, but very few others seem to
be doing animation.
What do you hope to achieve by giving these items to the Poser
community?
Seeing my productions used; seeing that they actually help a few
people.
Do you have any favourite images created with your
freestuff?
My "Dream Village" animations.
http://ockhamsbungalow.com/Movies/Recorder.wmv
Do you have any favourite freestuff providers or a favourite
freestuff item made by someone else?
Geralday and SAMS3D.
Geralday's things are specifically made to be used in animation,
and his tastes somehow resonate with mine.
Sharen and Mike have a perfect eye for ordinary things.
What does NVIATBWAS stand for?(from ockhams gallery)
Naked Vicki in a Temporal Bone with a Stapes.
Sort of an inside joke for medical types.
I made that image when I was trying to get jazzed up for a
courseware update involving the inner ear.
I find that it's useful to wake up the Muse with sexually oriented
work, then channel the same work into more practical realms.
You have made some beautiful models, but you don't seem to post
your images, why is this?
I've always been more of a tool-maker than an artist.
On a bad Poser day, when everything seems to wrong with the
freestuff thing you are making, what keeps you going?
Take a walk, sleep, or shift to sexual subjects as mentioned
above.
What do your offline friends and family think of your Poser
habit?
My teddy bear approves.
How long have you been a member and what do you like about our
Poser community here?
Since November, 2000. Renderosity seems to be well managed, despite
the usual little catfights.
Not only do you share a lot of superb free items, but you are
also a well known regular poster in the Poser forum here, what are
your hopes for the forum in the future?
Just that it keeps going!
Which version of Poser do you use and why do you like it
best?
P4PP. I only use 5 to make sure that a script will work in both
versions. P5 is too clumsy for animation.
Thanks so much for giving us all a chance to get to know you a
little better and I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank
you for all your wonderful freestuff items. We'll all be looking
out forward to seeing what comes next
Shanna
