My name is Andrew Ogley (the 'M' being my middle initial). I am an early-40's-ish Englishman, currently living just to the north west of Amsterdam in Holland.

I work as a Test Manager at a well-known ISP (and mobile phone provider) in Amsterdam.

So why 3D? What got me interested and why am I doing this?

I first got interested in computer animation way back in the day when I was still at University (in the early nineties). I was on an honours degree course in Computing and by chance managed to catch a TV program about graphics that showed the animation "Luxo jr" for the first time and immediately fell under the spell of CG. At the end of that particular year, I gave a presentation about the subject.

After leaving university, real-life kicked in and there was never enough time to persue the interest, plus there were only limited resources available (pre-Internet .. however did we manage?). During this time however, I started playing video games, something that still occupies my leisure time today ... which almost brings me up to date. Eventually after too many hours (more than I care to admit) spent playing games, I then started getting interested in trying to create games which introduced me into the worlds of level-editing and modding.

So where does the 3D come into this? (Finally...)

Well, simple level editing wasn't enough. I wanted to learn how to create my own custom models to populate the levels that I was working on. Luckily for me, I happened to stumble on a site called 3DBuzz. I followed some of the free tutorials on the site, and followed the additional tutorials on the Editors Edition of Unreal Tournament 2004 DVD's, and finally got hold of the "Mastering Unreal Technology" book which introduced to Maya. Suddenly I discovered I could create the models, and moreover, really enjoyed the whole process.

Finally, I invested in the course for "Mastering Maya: The Fundamentals" (mainly for the modeling) and discovered animation for the first time. A whole new world opened up! Following this course, and the Max Fundamentals course, I now find myself taking the interest further by attending the ADP course ... which brings us bang up to date!

Following on from the "epic" above. Having now already worked through the (larger part of) the fundamentals and looking to go deeper, I found that I was missing how the complete process worked. Obviously I was not the only one because the folks over at 3DBuzz announced the ADP course that would cover the whole production process.

Thus, I am aiming to learn how the whole production process works from start to finish. I am looking forward to learning a suite of new applications, and how they are used within the production pipeline. Ultimately, I'm looking forward to creating my own CG Digital Mini-Masterpiece.

Currently my 3D Experience is very limited. I have worked my way through most of the the Maya Fundamentals Course, and the Max Fundamentals Course. Unfortunately I have not made it as far as the Mastering Maya Advanced Course (which is sitting on my desk). I plan to work through some of the modeling projects in the Advanced class whilst working through the early stages of this course.

In addition, to the above, I have also worked through some tutorials from other sources, including 3D-Palace, but for now, that is the unfortunate limit.

So after completing this course (and the modeling courses surrounding it - Like Advanced Modeling in Maya) what would I like to model?

There are so many models I would like to try my hand at:
- an Eagle from the old TV Series Space 1999
- some of the Shado vehicles from the TV Series UFO
- the Sulaco and dropship from the film Aliens
- Hals Eye from 2001
- Xenomorph from Alien (If I could develop all the skills including Zbrush for texturing, I would love to be able to rig and animate one of these creatures)
- TIE Figher, just so much cooler than an X-Wing.
- Some Warhammer 40K Mechs and Space Marines.
- Serenity from FireFly (I have 3D-Palaces Christmas Mech pack which includes this model - unfortunately I would need to get back into Max first)

I find modeling relaxing. I guess it is the same as some people find painting or playing music. I love sitting down and just creating the models and seeing them appear, and I guess, in the end, that is why I model.

A shortlist of animatic/cinematic influences:
- Tim Burton, Ridley Scott, Luc Besson
- Luxo Jr
- Halo 3 trailer
- Gears of War (Mad World trailer)

Just for Fun ... a list of current "likes and favourites":
- Favourite Films - Bladerunner, Alien, Halloween
- Favourite Animations - Nightmare before Christmas, Luxo Jnr (still)
- Favourite Games - HL2, Deus Ex, Doom, Day of Defeat, Portal, Team Fortress 2
- Favourite Authors - Asimov, Philip K. Dick, William Gibson

In the interests of balance, a short list of "dislikes":
- Mobile Phones (and the people that seem to have them permanently glued to their ear .. or using them as micro-sized Boom Boxes)
- Reality TV (such as Big Brother, America's Next Top Model, etc. Why do we have put up with this and yet have series like Firefly pulled?)
- Hollywood Remakes (are they really starved of ideas? The next classic for massacre "The Day the Earth Stood Still")
- Dance (trance, techno, etc) versions of older songs - why oh why??
- Mainstream games - is it just me that feels Mainstream is synonymous with Mediocrity?
- Bad Console to PC ports of games
- l33t speak in online forums - closely followed by any extraneous use of lol and roflmao
- people who seem to think that filling emails with emoticons at the end of every sentence is an acceptable form of communication

Just a short list ...

Not that I get a lot of time to sit and watch TV these days but a short list of the shows that I make some sort of effort to catch:
- The Office
- Top Gear
- The Big Bang Theory
- Jeeves and Wooster
- Mythbusters
- Brainiac
- Captian Scarlet (animated series)
- Batman (animated series)

A quick list of the music that currently resides on my various music players:
- The Killers
- Rammstein
- The Fray
- Radiohead
- Thom Yorke
- Placebo
- Depeche Mode

Not being one to read just a single novel at any one time, this is the current reading list:
- Unseen Academicals (by Terry Pratchett)
- Orcs (by Stan Nicholas)
- The Man in the High Castle (by Philip K Dick)
- Lord of the Rings (by someone-or-other)

In the world of high-speed communications, it's difficult to remain incommunicado for any length of time.

There are a number of ways to contact me:
- PM me (if you are a member of 3DBuzz)

In the virtual worlds of online gaming:

- Steam Community - I'm a member of both of 3DBuzz steam community groups, registered under the name of Gaspode
- Steam based games - Day of Defeat (Euro servers), TF2 (Euro Servers) - Same Steam name "[-DIR-][M] Gaspode"
- XBoxLive GamerTag "Nexus Grunt" - Guild Wars - Ranger Elementalist named Gaspode Formese