IronDragonStudios

07/20/2024

Filled up my gas tank (by myself) for the first time since forever! I have lived in Oregon for all of my car driving age. Oregon has finally switched over to a self serve model.

Helpful hint to those of us who haven't done it in awhile. When you put your card in, it locks it in, then enter the dollar amount of gas you want on another screen. Then select the gas type, then pull the trigger.

Note: I have no idea how to just fill up the tank.

Progress?

07/08/2024

It has been 4 years since I last went to the DMV. And I have to say they have their s**t together! AC was nice. Clean waiting area, lots of chairs, helpful people as soon as you walk in. Automated ticket kiosk was a breeze. My wait time was about 45 minutes for a license renewal/new photo.

What I had psyched myself up for as a negative experience turned into a positive one. Or maybe it was the heat. :-) Either way I left impressed with my recent user experience at the Oregon DMV by the Upside down building at VRC.

Slow clap for you DMV!

05/19/2024

Another great legacy tool, now free to use for all. This one is called e-on VUE and is a landscape generation tool. It has been used in high end rendering for movies and tv. Warning, it is a memory hog and is not real-time. So it's not exactly a game dev targeted tool, but you can still export your own mesh/texture creations to Unreal. Plus it makes decent stand alone renders if you're into that sort of thing.

Plant Factory is also now free so if you need/want to create custom plants, trees and other goodies.

Unlock the legacy of e-on software! Enjoy free downloads of VUE, PlantFactory, and PlantCatalog.

05/10/2024

Finally diving into Unreal and UEFN. I have to say the amount of pre formatted content that you can plop into your world(sorry, island) is amazing. Here are a couple of grabs from one of my test islands. And the best part is that it is 100% free. At least until you generate a million in revenue. Basically free for the majority of us!

Thanks Epic Games!

04/24/2024

I finally found it! Thanks ebay!

I present to you Imagine #3 from 1978. I started my search for this after discovering that a painting I purchased years ago by Steve Leialoha was used as the back cover for this issue.

Feels good to see them together.

04/19/2024

Found this on a remote work site, mind blown.

Motion Graphic Designer Requirements and Qualifications

-35 years of graphic design experience with an emphasis on motion and animation.

It's like they think we're elves and dwarves. Must have 50 years of foraging skills, 25 years hunting orcs, and 35 years of dugeon busting. We can start you out at 2 coppers a week! Full pension available when you reach 150 years of age!

02/13/2024

2024 Q1 halfway report!

Here are some of my recent efforts at creating bonus income from content I create. The goal with this biz is to build recurring revenue streams. If you as a creator find this useful, great! Give me a like or share you comment!

Accounts set up and connected to each other

Website blog- another place to talk about all the things.
KDP account - two products live!
Printify store - 12 products live!
Metricool (to manage social media posts)
Google Adsense underway.
Affiliate Links acquired.

After a bit of youtube/tiktok research. Don't judge me, you probably do it too. :-) I bought into the idea that talking about the software and other products I already use on a daily basis could have value.

for example... do you draw with Prisma color pencils or markets? I love em by the way. I have hundreds (ok thousands) of small drawings, doodles and other sketches I have done over the years.

My next thought is how do I turn my affection for colored pencils and a pile of drawings into a source of income. Here are the broad steps I took. I will offer a free download of my entire process as I get further along if there is interest.

-Create a blog account

-Create a pinterest business account.

-Sign up for an affiliate plan (amazon associates, or Blick art supplies etc.) Get your unique product link to a Prisma Color Pencil Set.

-Create your content(stills or video) of you discussing/showing the work you did and the tools you used and why you like them.

On your blog include the video plus text and the affiliate link that viewers can click on to buy that product. Publish the blog and get the link to the blog. Use keywords and SEO practices.

Now we need to get people to see your blog. Thats where Pinterest comes in. Your blog may eventually rank on its own, but having a Pinterest account to help with traffic is big boost.

On Pinterest. Upload the video as a pin and include a link to your blog. Some people link directly to affiliate products on pinterest, but to play it safe, direct traffic to your blog first. Include your affiliate link on the Pin. Very important- be sure to include keywords in your pin settings on pinterest that your ideal customer might be searching for.

Pinterest is a visual search engine. But it also employs SEO and keyword search. You can help Pinterest out by sharing that Pinterest pin link to various places. Like your other social media accounts or even Groups and pages that support these types of links.

the ideal flow for this type of engine, is that a random person searching for "colored Pencil tutorial" or "why should I buy Prisma" on Pinterest. Your video pops up, the user says cool, I want to see more of that. They click on the pin and go to your blog where you go into more detail why you like the product. And give them an opportunity to purchase if they like. At the very least you received a click, and you might get a follow or a comment.

From here its simple. Just repeat this process a thousand times for different products. :-) Or if you like, have 20 posts about colored pencils, with each one containing a link to the product.

In my next post I will dive into print on demand and ways to leverage content you have already created.

Oh yeah, and here are a few of my colored pencil doodles.

11/23/2023

Wishing a Happy Thanksgiving to all!
🍁🦃 🍁

08/05/2023

Landscape 3.

06/13/2023

reunion is this month. Bak = Betrayal at Krondor video game. One of the fun tasks I had on the game was to create a stop motion puppet of the Wyvern. It was sculpted in sculpy (the white stuff) over tinfoil. The wings were tissue paper over coat hanger wire and Elmer’s glue! It was held together with rubber bands and screws on the inside. Our plan was to pose it, take pictures, then clean it up in dpaint. I think in the end we just decided to draw the frames from scratch. Design and paint was by Michael Mchugh. Photo by Dale Tendick.

05/22/2023

Great sale going on at sketchbox. You can buy one box and get another free!

Fun way to test out some new art supplies!

11/23/2022

In honor of the Godzilla game anniversary.

11/06/2022

Upgraded to a .com. Woohoo! Time to change some links.

IDS Creative is a digital content development company. AR, VR and visualizations are our specialty.

09/28/2022

AI art inspiration. Fun exploring how to use these new tools!

08/04/2022

Come check out the awesome work from my buddy Cabel!

05/03/2022

Art fun.

04/06/2022

You do realize my biscuits are only half full right?

02/28/2022

Ok, I may need some advice on how I vest this windfall! 😂

01/29/2022

New app! Fun results. https://www.wombo.art/

12/27/2021

Snow time lockdown abstracts! I like to use to start with random shapes then layer them with different blend modes to create happy accidents. From here I use these as starting points for compositions, textures or illustration ideas.

07/18/2021

Practice drawing. Trying to not worry about the details.

06/27/2021

Heatwave self portrait from last night. Tools used…. &

04/14/2021

My backyard has announced its arrival! 🌸

04/01/2021

Mo practice. Thinking more about

03/20/2021

Environmental NFT ART. I just may be all in. Anyone else looking into these?

12/13/2017

Sharing this far and wide. Come check out some great poems and dare I say, Groovy AR?

Glimmer Technology is excited to be partnering with Wordcrafters In Eugene, EPark Eugene, and the City of Eugene for the newest installment of Step Into Poetry, now with augmented reality!

December, 15th @ 10AM
Overpark Garage, 960 Oak Street, Eugene, OR 97401 on the north side ground level breezeway.

10/10/2017

IronDragonStudios's cover photo

09/26/2017

Closing out yet another sketchbook. Here are some that I liked for reasons yet unknown!

09/23/2017

AR>VR!

08/17/2017

Offerings

Great free resources for viewing cad files. If you're so inclined.

1) Autodesk free viewer on their website site. sign up for a free account. https://www.autodesk.com/viewers/all-viewers

2) DraftSight. free downloadable version is ok. For 99 bucks the pro version does a lot more. https://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight-cad-software/offerings/

Discover DraftSight®, a professional-grade 2D design and drafting solution that lets you create, edit, view & markup any kind of 2D. Live the 3DEXPERIENCE.