"m-indicator" the best teenage travelling partner

In Mumbai as you get older being a teenager you would like to get your freedom to go anywhere you want.
ofcourse you cannot go anywhere because of the fear of getting lost or maybe you don't how to get to your destination without paying alot money to get there. Well for a long time now in Mumbai m-indicator has helped me and a many other people to travel better.
May it be by train by bus by taxi or by rickshaw, m-indicator has it all to help you travel better.
To tell you the truth for someone like me i was an alien to train travel and bus travel but thanks to this amazing app i can travel better and reach on time. Plus i wouldn't get embarrassed by my friends for not knowing how to travel on my own or calling me a child or something like that.

It is available for all phones here is the link : m-indicator.mobond.com

Body Anatomy - Google Labs

Hey all you animators or science students out there google has made a really interesting app from google labs.
This app will help you study the human anatomy much better because i believe that the best way to study anything is the practical way and not through books.
Here is the link : Body Browser - google labs
There is a slider where you can peel off layers of the body plus you search for the parts of interest.
It takes a while to load completely because it a completely 3D viewer.
You can check the body in whatever angle or position you like and also zoom in for a closer look by using the mouse.

I highly recommend all of you to bookmark this. 

Some Education in the Gaming Feild

Although video games have been around for decades, if you want to go about making games for a living, the paths to doing so aren’t readily laid out for you. Fortunately, more and more universities and colleges are now offering courses and degrees focused on game design. Here, we give an overview of some of the different game design programs across the country, as well as what skills, materials and advice students need to get properly schooled for a career in the games industry.

Skills and InterestsIf you’re reading this, you probably play and are interested in video games -- and that’s a great start.

“A love of video games is obviously a must,” says Jameson Durall, a senior designer at the studio Volition Inc. (Saints Row, Red Faction) based in Champaign, Ill., and a Full Sail University graduate with a degree in game design. “Not only does this love give the student the ability to correlate what they are learning on the development side to what they’ve experienced in the past, but that love of games also helps give the desire to continue learning, even when things get difficult.”

Katherine Isbister, an associate professor of digital media and computer science at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, adds that studying game development isn’t, well, all fun and games. “Someone who mostly wants to just play games, or talk and write about games, shouldn’t really go into a game development program,” she says. “At this point, there are great programs that emphasize critique and theory about games too, so be clear about why you are getting into this.”

Many prospective students seeking a higher education are often undecided in their specific areas of study. But would-be game developers should have at least some idea of what they’re looking to do within the industry if they want to go to a tailored program.

“As far as technical skills go, it depends upon the game program itself,” explains Isbister. “Many programs have multiple tracks, so having strength in one core area of game development -- programming, art, management -- may be fine.”

Tools You’ll Need
Schools provide most of the equipment you’ll need for your studies, but it helps to be familiar with the materials you’re working with, especially if you want to get a head start.

For many programs, you won't need more than a good quality mainstream computer to start with, like one featuring an Intel Core i5 or AMD Phenom II X4. But if you do want to invest in a hardware upgrade, an Intel Core i7 or the forthcoming AMD Bulldozer or should be top of your processor wish list. Similarly, add-in graphics cards like the GeForce GTX and Radeon HD brands can pack adequate power for reasonable prices.

The software needed is particularly program-dependent, but most game development tools are PC-based. There are also free game development tool sets that students can learn and practice with. Industry standard software packages from Unity, Unreal Engine, Havok, PhysX, MAYA, ZBrush and Adobe Creative Suite all have free or reduced-price options for students, not to mention scores of tools, white papers and communities that are available for free on manufacturer websites. Unreal and Intel in particular have vast resources available for no charge.

“I always encourage students to download a free version of a 3D modeling suite so they can practice building basic environments and worlds,” says Durall. “Getting a game development package like the Unreal Engine development kit will allow students to experience what working with game development tools are like and let them practice on their own.”

Words of Advice
All in all, if wannabe game developers have the passion and the drive, they can succeed in getting a higher education and find a great career in games.

“Students need to realize that making games is hard, and that it requires patience, persistence and openness,” advises Isbister, who also runs the Social Game Lab at NYU-Poly . “Teamwork is a big part of game development, so being willing to collaborate and able to communicate is valuable.”

“I recommend anyone wanting to get into the games industry to get a gaming education,” reiterates Durall. “Coming out of school with not only the knowledge of how to make games, but also with working examples from your studies, is a huge bonus. With so many other aspiring game designers out there now, you have to get every advantage you can.”

Gamer's Education for Animation

As video games become more and more popular, educational programs for aspiring game designers are cropping up across the country. And once a student has decided to get a gaming education, nothing beats the hands-on development experience with some of the best tech tools out there. Here are some of the most popular software kits for students, plus what to look for when choosing a tool so you can get a head start in your gaming studies.

Blender
An open-source 3D content creation suite available for all major operating systems, Blender allows creators to do a variety of things: 3D modeling, compositing, UV unwrapping, texturing, rigging, skinning, animating, rendering and video editing, to name a few. It also lets people create their own video games. There’s also Game Blender, a game-specific sub-project that offers interactivity features such as collision detection, dynamics engine and programmable logic. The best part? It’s completely free. 

“Its biggest and most obvious strength is its cost because, as a student, your bank account is far too busy balancing out a beer/video game purchase ratio,” says Mike Bithell, a lead game designer at U.K.-based social game-maker Bossa Studios. “Open source lets you get building assets -- without stealing someone else’s hard work.” 

Source
The Source software development kit was created by Valve Software, the makers of groundbreaking titles like Half-life 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2 -- all hit games built with Source. The software offers cutting-edge character animation, shader-based rendering, advanced AI and real-world physics, plus it allows wannabe game developers to make their own maps and mods for Valve games. To boot, the Source SDK is available free with the purchase of a Source-based game on the company’s digital distribution service, Steam. It’s been a favorite among the mod community for years.

“The Source engine has powered all of Valve’s latest games, and offers a whole slew of content to work with,” says Chuck Wilson, a designer at id Software. Wilson, who majored in game design at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, used Source to help him learn the ins and outs of game development. “Source’s content pipeline was a lot harder to learn, but had more up-to-date tech to work with.”

Bithell, who also used Source when studying game design at the University of Wales, still extols the use of Source. “The key differentiator for Source engine is the character animation system, and it’s still one of the best out there,” he says. Valve now offers SourceU, which helps schools teach Source engine technology in the classroom, as well as plenty of tips and tricks online.

Unity

Unity is used in more than 400 schools, universities and research programs throughout the world. The authoring tool has an integrated development environment with hierarchical, visual editing, detailed property inspectors, and live game preview. It currently powers games such as Battlestar Galactica Online and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Online. Over the years, it has gained popularity for being easy to use and able to run on an array of platforms.

“Game design students need to be able to prototype their game in the blink of an eye and show the game on multiple platforms, and Unity offers them an easy tool to visualize their prototype on the fly,” says Joe Santos, a spokesman for Unity Technologies. “With the built-in assets store, game designers have access to different gameplay, script and art assets built from our community to expedite their prototype cycle. In the end, the game designer can switch the prototype elements with final art assets with a mouse click from the asset store and present a final game.”

For Bithell, Unity is his current engine of choice. “It’s brilliantly put together and a pleasure to build games with,” says Bithell, who’s using it to make his own independent game Thomas Was Alone. “It also comes in an impressively feature-packed free version, which is more than enough to make some great games.” 

Unreal 
Developed by Epic Games, the makers of Unreal Tournament and Gears of War, the Unreal development kit lets users create advanced visualizations and detailed 3D simulations on PC and iOS. Though primarily used for first-person shooters, Unreal has also been used to make MMOs and RPGs, and is one of the most widely used engines in video games.

Wilson worked with the Unreal development kit extensively when he was a level designer at Gearbox Software making the Borderlands. “Unreal was an excellent engine to use because it comes packed to the brim with an excellent suite of tools,” he says. “It comes equipped with a powerful scripting system called Kismet that allows a designer to do practically whatever they want inside his or her world; this makes scripted sequences, streaming content and prototyping insanely easy.”

He highly recommends Unreal, which is free for educational and noncommercial use, to anyone looking for a career in games. “Unreal delivered a very clear and extremely easy content pipeline for the students to use,” says Wilson. “Its art pipeline made it a favorite by students because people who had never brought an asset in game were able to create, import and view their art in no time.”

How to Choose the Right Software for You
The best software for students depends on the student, says Bithell. It’s about finding your focus and using the engine that suits you and your goals. “Ask yourself, ‘What kind of game will I be making?’” he says. “‘How long do I have to learn a potentially scary new piece of software?’ ‘Is there any possibility of trying to sell my game?’ And, if the finished game has any dependencies, ‘Will the player or potential employer have what they need?’”

Additionally, Wilson suggests checking to see if the game you like has tool sets available. This may be a good software choice for you. If the game you really love doesn’t have a tool set readily available, he says the software tools listed above are all good choices. “One of these engines should certainly work as a stepping stone on your way to the game industry."

Tracey John has written about video games, technology and comics for Wired, MTV and Time Inc. Her work has also appeared in Electronic Gaming Monthly, The Escapist, Wizard and The New York Post, among other publications. When she’s not writing, she’s probably reading comics and baking cookies in her Brooklyn apartment, where she lives happily with her myriad consoles.

Google gravity project

Here is a cool and fun link i found try it and have fun surfing the web : Google Gravity Search

Long time gone

Hey guys i have been busy with alot of things for a long time now so i haven't been able to put up any new posts well i hope that ends soon. Well Anyway i will tell you what i have been up to so far basically my college just started so been busy just trying to fit in there.... and well been working on some new stuff on modelling and VFX. Plus i have joined "tasi.org". For all of you people who don't know what it is, well i will tell you. It is the Animation Society of India. I will be putting up a separate page for it soon later on for reasons i don't really  want to tell all of right now because I am feeling a little lazy. But don't worry about it you will soon know why. Hoping to keep on posting alot things about animation and other fun stuff.
Ohh and i will be taking out the Amway page so you wont be seeing that anymore.
Well i can tell you what you can be looking for on my blog in a couple of days. Let's see umm i guess more posts   more page updates and hopefully more fun stuff to see and enjoy.