Chroma: I'll be getting big-headed. Ta.
Ervin: thanks so much for trying to track down the problem, and for the exoneration of SH3D. Yeah, the day/night cycle was one of those things where you think 'I'll just move the sun around the world', then a month later 'What have I bitten off? Everything has to be changed in realtime... fog rgb, sky rgb, stars, character shadow lengths.'
Kev: Well since you ask, it would be nice to tell the story for once…
The quick answer is ‘b*llsh*t with a smile’. I tried a couple of phone calls to English Heritage and got nowhere with the gatekeeper, so phoned back, asked who the top man was, then rang off. Then rang again asking for him, was told he was out but would be back tomorrow. I said tell him I called and I’ll ring tomorrow. Rang the next day and told the gatekeeper ‘Yes, he’s expecting my call.’
And simply coz he’s a nice guy we got invited down to demo SH3D in front of him and his team. Met a lot of resistance from them (‘What makes you think you know about this?’) but flattered them by saying ‘What I know is due to you people spending years on your knees in the dirt.’
At the end he said ‘I want this. I want it on big screens in the new visitor’s centre. Just make out your proposal and I’ll get it passed by the accountants.’
And now the warning to us all:
We sent in the proposal, then phoned the accountant who said, ‘No, we’re not approving this. We already have a CD supplier.’
I said, ‘But the Head of Stonehenge has already approved it.’
She said, ‘We already have an existing contract with a CD supplier.’
To which I said, ‘I know your 2 existing suppliers, and neither produce realtime 3D.’
And she said, ‘I phoned our main supplier, who says that they’re already working on a 3D Stonehenge for us. They have a contract to supply all our CDs.’
I said, ‘Aside from the fact that they can’t do realtime 3D – they do not have this technology - the CD is not the media, merely the method of delivery. Do you get all your paper and books from only one supplier – I think not.’
But the subject was closed, and whenever I tried to phone the Head he wasn’t available (for the next 3 months?). My guess is that he’d been knocked back and put in his place (‘You don’t make marketing decisions.’). My other guess is that the ‘preferred supplier’ were laughing up their sleeves at how clever they’d been – 3 years later and no 3D products have been delivered to English Heritage, but they saw off any potential threat by just one phone call.
With the Liverpool museums it was easier coz I lived in the area: ‘We’re a new small Liverpool company…’ Again, nice people, again, very keen, saw the potential of 3D for their line of work. We began serious discussions about adapting the Stonehenge3D engine to show Roman life in and around Liverpool (newly discovered that year), and we talked a budget of about £80k for what they needed. Then the Liverpool Museums all had their funds pulled by the government – this time at least they were apologetic, but they would probably have to let staff go.
So sometimes sh*t happens, and it’s absolutely nothing to do with you whatsoever.
Oh I nearly forgot. The next thing was that my brother (a landscape architect) got a deal with the people over here who look after all the stately homes, and also swung a deal for a 3D rendition of one of the homes. ‘This is on,’ he said ‘you’d better start the work.’ It’s a good job I waited. They also had their funds pulled, 3 months down the line.
So I’ve come to the conclusion that trying to find work through government-backed institutions is an almost complete waste of time – in my case 3 years of it. Though I do know that my good friend IPete2 has had some success there.
Ervin: thanks so much for trying to track down the problem, and for the exoneration of SH3D. Yeah, the day/night cycle was one of those things where you think 'I'll just move the sun around the world', then a month later 'What have I bitten off? Everything has to be changed in realtime... fog rgb, sky rgb, stars, character shadow lengths.'
Kev: Well since you ask, it would be nice to tell the story for once…
The quick answer is ‘b*llsh*t with a smile’. I tried a couple of phone calls to English Heritage and got nowhere with the gatekeeper, so phoned back, asked who the top man was, then rang off. Then rang again asking for him, was told he was out but would be back tomorrow. I said tell him I called and I’ll ring tomorrow. Rang the next day and told the gatekeeper ‘Yes, he’s expecting my call.’
And simply coz he’s a nice guy we got invited down to demo SH3D in front of him and his team. Met a lot of resistance from them (‘What makes you think you know about this?’) but flattered them by saying ‘What I know is due to you people spending years on your knees in the dirt.’
At the end he said ‘I want this. I want it on big screens in the new visitor’s centre. Just make out your proposal and I’ll get it passed by the accountants.’
And now the warning to us all:
We sent in the proposal, then phoned the accountant who said, ‘No, we’re not approving this. We already have a CD supplier.’
I said, ‘But the Head of Stonehenge has already approved it.’
She said, ‘We already have an existing contract with a CD supplier.’
To which I said, ‘I know your 2 existing suppliers, and neither produce realtime 3D.’
And she said, ‘I phoned our main supplier, who says that they’re already working on a 3D Stonehenge for us. They have a contract to supply all our CDs.’
I said, ‘Aside from the fact that they can’t do realtime 3D – they do not have this technology - the CD is not the media, merely the method of delivery. Do you get all your paper and books from only one supplier – I think not.’
But the subject was closed, and whenever I tried to phone the Head he wasn’t available (for the next 3 months?). My guess is that he’d been knocked back and put in his place (‘You don’t make marketing decisions.’). My other guess is that the ‘preferred supplier’ were laughing up their sleeves at how clever they’d been – 3 years later and no 3D products have been delivered to English Heritage, but they saw off any potential threat by just one phone call.
With the Liverpool museums it was easier coz I lived in the area: ‘We’re a new small Liverpool company…’ Again, nice people, again, very keen, saw the potential of 3D for their line of work. We began serious discussions about adapting the Stonehenge3D engine to show Roman life in and around Liverpool (newly discovered that year), and we talked a budget of about £80k for what they needed. Then the Liverpool Museums all had their funds pulled by the government – this time at least they were apologetic, but they would probably have to let staff go.
So sometimes sh*t happens, and it’s absolutely nothing to do with you whatsoever.
Oh I nearly forgot. The next thing was that my brother (a landscape architect) got a deal with the people over here who look after all the stately homes, and also swung a deal for a 3D rendition of one of the homes. ‘This is on,’ he said ‘you’d better start the work.’ It’s a good job I waited. They also had their funds pulled, 3 months down the line.
So I’ve come to the conclusion that trying to find work through government-backed institutions is an almost complete waste of time – in my case 3 years of it. Though I do know that my good friend IPete2 has had some success there.