DigitalCircle – Page 3

NISP KEI: and why measuring matters.

Here's the best infographic you will see on Northern Ireland’s growing Knowledge Economy this year: http://t.co/alH9ZYopyc — NISP CONNECT (@nispconnect) November 26, 2013 Cool, huh. But look at this. There’s more to these numbers than meets the eye. Despite the fact that the Digital Circle membership has been growing since 2008 and currently sits at … Continue reading “NISP KEI: and why measuring matters.”

Here's the best infographic you will see on Northern Ireland’s growing Knowledge Economy this year: http://t.co/alH9ZYopyc

— NISP CONNECT (@nispconnect) November 26, 2013

Cool, huh. But look at this.

There’s more to these numbers than meets the eye.

Despite the fact that the Digital Circle membership has been growing since 2008 and currently sits at 321 business and 2107 members, the methodology used by government in these statistics says that employment dipped 41% from 711 to 413.

Now, part of this is the definitions.

How many people making computer games would identify closer to software than “creative content and digital media”? Indeed, there is a section in the SIC codes classification for computer games (code 50920210).

So we have to look at the definitions:

Creative Content

59111 Motion picture production activities
59112 Video production activities
59113 Television programme production activities
59120 Motion picture, video and television post]production activities
59200 Sound recording and music publishing activities
18201 reproduction of sound recording
18202 reproduction of video recording
18203 reproduction of computer media

Software

58210 Publishing of computer games
58290 Other software publishing
62011 Computer programming activities
62012 Business and domestic software development
63120 Web portals

Software as a whole has grown but the employment in the video/audio sector has dropped. Some of this will be due to the environment (and that includes the BBC rationalisation in their DQF project) but also these figures are from 2011. That means it’s going to be previous to the immense growth in the animation sector in recent years.

And while the Creative Content sector may have reduced in employment, the number of companies in the sector has actually risen. It looks like the industry is changing – indies are rising as the BBC reduces.

A quarter of our 18-24 years olds are unemployed – and that’s up over the last year

A quarter of our 18-24 years olds are unemployed – and that’s up over the last year. #spotlightni — BBC Spotlight NI (@SpotlightNI) November 19, 2013 Between the ages of 18 and 24, I left school, went to university, worked in a newsagents/stationers, joined the QUB OTC, joined Dragonslayers at QUB, rewrote their constitution to … Continue reading “A quarter of our 18-24 years olds are unemployed – and that’s up over the last year”

A quarter of our 18-24 years olds are unemployed – and that’s up over the last year. #spotlightni

— BBC Spotlight NI (@SpotlightNI) November 19, 2013

Between the ages of 18 and 24, I left school, went to university, worked in a newsagents/stationers, joined the QUB OTC, joined Dragonslayers at QUB, rewrote their constitution to include a convention, founded Q-CON, set up and organised the Star Trek Megagame and wrote my first book, The 23rd Letter. I do believe I was lucky to have my parents, my mother was a RMN and had a senior job in the health service and my father had been a serial entrepreneur with a series of ‘do what he liked’ businesses until he got ‘sick‘. The thing is – the drive to do things is not borne of privilege or luck, but it is a state of mind. The problem we are faced with is not that we have some of the worst deprivation in Europe and it is not that we have suffered under the threat of civil war for the entirety of my life (because, like it or not, the threat has never gone away) and it is not that we are on a small tip of a small island on the edge of a crumbling empire. The problem is that our young do not believe in themselves.

There have been times when things were not working out the way I had hoped and even my boundless arrogance was blunted. But a kind word from friends could often put me right and get my will directed again. Sometimes I need to be reminded of what I have done and reminded to be proud of these things. I may not be racing around in a Porsche or living in a mansion with a sea view but I know I have something to be proud of. I know this is not going to be the same for everyone.

We have and continue to fail our youth. We trust that the things that made us will make them whole. We give them pen and paper while they are bathed in the most distracting age the world has ever known. Every second of every day they are blasted with enticing imagery on how to do everything quicker – whether that is to lose weight, look cool, get laid, get rich, get famous. Our society lies to our children and when they fail to achieve all of these impossible dreams, they feel worthless. We are unrelenting in our scorn for failure. When even a supermodel feels the need to photoshop her own body for Instagram, what hope is there for socially awkward tweens trying to emulate them? We are failing to provide a safe environment for our children.

So, what the fuck are we doing about it?

Women Who Code

Started in Belfast this month. Events coming soon. Spread the word. Related posts: “Music: an aperitif for the maw of Digital” Women Who Code – poster and update There Are Women Who Code STEM is for women

Started in Belfast this month. Events coming soon. Spread the word.

Her Majesty’s SPIFFING – a call to lights, camera, action!

This is the latest endeavour from Billygoat Entertainment and they’ve got a Steam Greenlight page up. Related posts: Raspberry Pi: some useful links for doing more than playing around. Guns and Games: it’s a dirty deal Translink: just close the doors and turn off the lights Camera+ Enhancement – Must Have

This is the latest endeavour from Billygoat Entertainment and they’ve got a Steam Greenlight page up.

Unity. C#.

Something that Paul from South West College has drummed into me is the need to have a knowledge of C# to get the best from Unity. I found these tutorials on Youtube via the Unity forums. The beautiful thing about Unity 3D for me is that you can achieve so much without code. In an … Continue reading “Unity. C#.”

Something that Paul from South West College has drummed into me is the need to have a knowledge of C# to get the best from Unity. I found these tutorials on Youtube via the Unity forums.

The beautiful thing about Unity 3D for me is that you can achieve so much without code. In an ideal world your artist can achieve much, your designers can achieve much and your storyboard-ists can achieve much…all before a line of code is written. In theory it allows everyone to focus on where they have strengths.

Old Maps to 3D Worlds

This is stuff we’ve been talking about for ages. And the British Library has gone ahead and done it. Related posts: Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world … Continue reading “Old Maps to 3D Worlds”

This is stuff we’ve been talking about for ages. And the British Library has gone ahead and done it.

Old Maps become 3D Virtual Worlds — Sure would be great if the BBC would make it easier to link to their content.

“So, you’re telling me that what we did this morning is how they make characters in movies? Like, for real?”

From the Loop: At #3ddojo we have moved on from Blender and onto Maya. The problem being that Autodesk doesn’t seem to have a programme designed for parents and their kids. The best solution seems to be to sign up for a course at a University or College and use their really friendly education support … Continue reading ““So, you’re telling me that what we did this morning is how they make characters in movies? Like, for real?””

From the Loop:

At #3ddojo we have moved on from Blender and onto Maya. The problem being that Autodesk doesn’t seem to have a programme designed for parents and their kids. The best solution seems to be to sign up for a course at a University or College and use their really friendly education support programme.

Today at the Dojo, Shaun led a full house through modelling an arm and hand in Maya. The results were simply breathtaking considering most of the attendees were new to it. We were ably assisted by Greg Maguire (Professor of Animation at the University of Ulster and some of his undergraduates. The efforts of individuals within the industry to reforge our future are to be applauded.

And the kids, well, they enjoy it. And they can’t believe they’re working on the same tools used to make computer games and movies. That’s the icing on the cake.

Noah (8) does a Minecraft animation

Noah spent yesterday afternoon and evening putting together a short animation with camera control, rigging, motion blur and textures. This was put together using Blender 3D which he’s been learning at the 3D Dojo in Belfast, Northern Ireland. This is how kids use their mid-term holiday if you give them the right tools. Noah was … Continue reading “Noah (8) does a Minecraft animation”

Noah was amused that “in my day” we didn’t even have cameras to do stop motion animation. We had to write little pictures in the corners of notepads and animate them by flicking them quickly. These days he has the entire gamut of animation software to try things out.

This is why we need to do more of this across the region because the kind of thinking that got us to this place will not get us out of this. We need to re-brand Northern Ireland as a “creation nation” or an “innovation nation”. That’s the sort of rhyming that gets the PR truck running.

So, watch what else comes out of 3D Dojo. We have some of the best minds in the country. We have some of the best creatives in the world. And, perhaps for good or bad, the only way is up.

13 Coins Out Now.

13 Coins was released yesterday. I’ve been following the development of this for several reasons, not least because I consider Martin and Greg to be friends, but also because Phil, Paul and I did something similar a few years ago (which Phil has made into a lovely little app dev company. A static picture can’t … Continue reading “13 Coins Out Now.”

A static picture can’t do justice to the 13 Coins comic. What we did in Infurious was revolutionary then and was, by far, the best comic platform at the time. What Corinthian Publishing have done with 13 Coins is absolutely re-define the comic buying experience and the scale and scope of what can be done. It goes much further than just putting a comic onto the iPad, it’s about giving a real comics fan the sort of digital experience they’ve been wanting.

Hyperbole? Maybe a little – but I’ve got experience of this. And this is good stuff. I wonder if they’re interested in publishing Murderdrome?

Take a couple of minutes to appreciate genius.

This morning I made everyone late by getting trapped on the Black North vimeo page. Have a look yourself: CLOUD SKY Main2x from Black North on Vimeo. New forest from Black North on Vimeo. forest test (Enhanced) from Black North on Vimeo. There are heaps more videos on their page. You’ll notice they’re building “Finn … Continue reading “Take a couple of minutes to appreciate genius.”

This morning I made everyone late by getting trapped on the Black North vimeo page.

Have a look yourself:

CLOUD SKY Main2x from Black North on Vimeo.

New forest from Black North on Vimeo.

forest test (Enhanced) from Black North on Vimeo.

There are heaps more videos on their page. You’ll notice they’re building “Finn in the Forest” in Unity. (I’ve mentioned that Digital Circle is offering free training in Unity RIGHT NOW)

WIPERS TIMES trench shot breakdown from Black North on Vimeo.

GRAVE.mov (iPad, iPhone 4 & Apple TV) from Black North on Vimeo.

This stuff looks like magic. In other words – the technology is sufficiently advanced 🙂