So, here are some pictures from Day 1 of the AnimeUSA convention 2011, held in Crystal City. Enjoy, and if you see yourself in one of them, please leave a comment!
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Category: Japan things!
These things are about Japan!
Hatsune Miku, computer-generated singer (from Japan, of course)
There is a company in Japan that has written a fantastic piece of software that allows even non-musicians to write music and songs for a “virtual singer” to perform. Continue reading “Hatsune Miku, computer-generated singer (from Japan, of course)”
CATDAT-41 latest report on the Great East Japan Quake
Nearly 20,000 dead or missing, 60,000 still living in “temporary” shelters, and over 1500 children who lost parents or guardians.
The CATDAT-41 report by the Earthquake Report website spells out many details about the dead, the missing, the costs in money of the destruction, and the effects on Japan.
Beautifully choreographed synchronized gymnastics
Absolutely beautiful, I don’t know where this competition was held, but hopefully this Japanese team made it into the finals at the very least. More like watching a ballet than a gymnastics exhibition, the athletes coordinated almost flawlessly.
Boy’s love for Morning Glories lives on long after his passing…
This is a nice story about a boy’s love of Morning Glories, and his mother’s love for him, which she spreads to the tsunami survivors through seeds from the flowers he grew just before he died, and which he never lived to see bloom.
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/life_and_death/AJ2011092612223
Background music from a game called “Touhou”: “Bad Apple!!”
I’ve never heard of this game, but then I’m not a gamer, but this is really neat traditional-style Japanese music, played with authentic instruments on a traditional stage.
Tilt-shift experiment number 2
Now that I found a good tutorial on it, this may work out better. Adjustment layer, clipping mask, gradient fill and gaussian blur for the win! I did this in 1/10th the time it took the previous version, and I think it works a little better.
Just a little Photoshop experiment on an Otakon 2011 picture…
Thought I’d try out my Photoshop “skills” (as if I had any!) to see if I could take a photo from my set of Otakon pics and try to simulate the “tilt-shift” effect. Â True tilt-shift involves a fancy $1000 lens, but since I’m not going to have one of those in the near (or even distant) future, this should be the next best (cheapest!) thing.
This should be a small image, clicking on it should bring up the full-sized one, if this works right.
