Another Bump In The Road

On a slightly different tack then my last few posts which have mostly been about that Themepark project in China I decided to document what I am currently doing this week. Right now I am not on a job. I recently returned to USA from China after our project there died and have since then been trying to re-aclimate myself to eating American food ” feel like I have gained 10 pounds in spite of going back to the gym ” hopefully thats not really true..Working with the Imagine Now group from the China project on RFP ” request for proposal ” for gigs here in the states Linq Hotel casino in Vegas and Hasbro ( cross fingers ), and preparing presentation materials, documenting my work to try and prime the pump for new jobs. I will share more of those later.

But to this latest project o mine…

Last Fri I had 2 teeth extracted which will eventually have implants in them, but in the meantime it has been very  very painful and I have not been up to even going outside until just this weekend. Once I was functional enough to get out of bed though I decided very quickly that I was bored. I don’t have a gig so what to do?

I could do a painting or finish some other project. Fanny is back in China ” hopefully for the last time alone ” which means, I pretty much have nothing to do but my art, since there isn’t really anything else I am interested in doing here in Baton Rouge… And since I am on  serious pain meds right now probably not the best idea I go tooling around the countryside…

I decided to give learning MODO; my long since purchased, but barely ever used, except for rendering software. I don’t have to learn it for my work I can still do what I need thats 3D using Sketchup Pro and its way faster for me ” maybe cause I know how to use it ” But I am fascinated by 3D modeling, I just never learned when I should have in school. I thought I was pretty cool doing it the Old School way, by hand,” what some might call real 3D” which I am glad I learned but at this time I kind of wish I had at least gone to my Allias classes instead of sneaking off to the shop…

Anyway what sparked this was MODO now owned by the Foundry has just released their newest version 901. the one I original bought was 301 so you can appreciate just how long I have been procrastinating :).

Like always they claim it is the be-all and end-all of everything!!! Greatest thing since sliced pepsi cola pudding pops, yaddah yaddah yaddah! But it did look pretty cool so I broke down and downloaded the trial version.

Modo901

This is one of the main new functions I want to learn in Modo, (Mesh Fusion) is a more developed version of Groboto which was a really cool little program I played with a few years ago. Modo has now fully integrated it within the program as a tool set… It will be awhile before I am ready to play with this…

MeshFusion

I also went and reactivated my membership to Digital Tutors, this time I did a full year  I figure its worth it, they definitely have a lot of tutorials for lots of software. The tutorials are done very well and mostly interesting enough to keep me awake while I try and watch em…

digitaltutors

I have also purchased from 3D garage their intensive training course specifically for 901. I have found that Modo is one of those softwares that the developers love to change ” I mean improve ,wink wink nudge nudge say no more… ” which means that when trying to learn it you have to deal with the fact that the training you are looking, at whether professional produced or just some guy on youtube may not make any sense if the version they are using is not your version.

The cost was cheaper as it is on pre order…

3D garage Course

I will be learning basic modeling. The course is project based which makes sense to me and at the end of it your supposed to have created a cool little dune buggy remote control car thingie. I know myself and I know I won’t end up doing exactly whats in the project files or even finish it necessarily. My goal is to learn the tools so I can do my own work.

MODO-DigitalTutors-Tutorial

The tutorial starts off much like the one I did last time using Cinema 4D with basic polygonal modeling.

Cinema4D

This one was pretty fun as well and I am pretty sure the experience has helped me with my understanding of how 3D works, but in the end the price of Cinema 4D is simply to high to justify at this time. I think a current full seat on Cinema goes for nearly $6,000 versus the $400 bucks for an upgrade to 901.

I was able to do some fun stuff with it though…

Flying Craft

The tutorial starts off with basic polygon modeling to make the basic shape of the body. Its kind of fun to see how; depending on where you put the control points,  it affects the shape during subdivision.

body4

The basic body shape still in hard angles with no subdivision. The Subdivision function  is what gives it the blocky form its curve but the curves are all dictated by the position of the hard angled shape its made from…  Its confusing and seems like black magic but this is the main function I wish to learn and add to my tools. Skecthup has though certain plugins like Artisan the ability to do sub division modeling but its controls are very primitive compared to the more advanced 3D programs like Modo

here is an example of the subdivision thang in Modo… Starting with a basic rectangle shape.

Cube

Rectangle  smoothed, Modo has the ability to jump back and forth between the polygonal modeling mode and the Sub Divided mode

Rounded Cube

By adding an edge loop one of Modo’s many tools you get this basically the same shape but with a series of slices through the shape…

Cube with control points

Just hit tab and it gives you this.

shape that is created

I know anybody who does 3D modeling will be pretty bored at this point but I am just trying to explain this in a way that will make sense to somebody like who knows very little… Like myself 🙂

Building the basic body shapes

body1

body2

body3

These are screen grabs from the tutorial as I didn’t decide to document my progress till later on.

The body when sub divided.

Body5

Fast forward to when I decided to make a post out of this. At this point the body shape is basically done and I now am working on the wheels…

wheel un-sub

Here you can see the wheel created from a basic primitive cylinder shape without any sub division magic.

Same shape with Sub Division. Since there are no controlling points or cuts in form yet the shape is very soft and amorphous. This could be good for some things but probably not for a machined piece like a wheel.

Wheel Sub2

With some more control points ” really not sure what is the correct term for this ” depending on where you place the lines and how much force they have applied the shape will alter when sub-divided.

wheel sub1

The more developed wheel, at this stage I have increased the number of divisions which allows for greater detail.

wheel3

Each tutorial last for about 10 to 15 minutes and they take you through the use of various tools to achieve different modeling goals. Here I am building up pieces of the frame and suspension. I am roughly following along with the tutorial. I did not do as they suggested and import the orthographic views of the dune buggy to use while modeling. I figure this way I can make my own exploration which will be more relevant for my use of the tool in work. No one will be handing me views to work from since thats pretty much my job…

early frame view

Actually beginning to enjoy Modo, I wonder if its because they have improved the program or if somehow I am just ready to understand it now…

frame view1

Some views of the buggy from inside the rendering window. 901  has made a lot of changes to its interface since 601

901Render window7

901Render View4

901 Renders in real time which I think will be really fun once I get a handle on it. You can see below the wireframe view, pretty complicated even this early on.

The Buggy is starting to come together now, I have decided that my dune bug will not be a toy but a full size 2 person vehicle. Just can’t really get into making a toy…

ModelView4

Here is some funny, Trying to build a set of shock absorbers for this beast and its just not working. the main body of the shock is fine but the spring is not working out…

shock

What the hell is that? Hopefully it will make more sense later… Believe it or not this function is supposed to be quite simple, I am really not sure what that squiggly line is but I suppose it makes sense to the logic that drives this program.

Radial Sweep

Later on I have made more progress working on the suspension parts I went ahead and made my own super special sci fi shocks that utilize the patented Un-Obtainium™ Technology

ModelView3

and more now we have a wing which is somehow able to stay up there with no actual support structure.

model View2

Rear view of the wing, Going to need to develop some more structure and possibly some kind of tech pieces I can pretend would be power source for this thing. I am actually thinking its a solar powered vehicle possibly with the aero wings doubling as energy collection. Each wheel could have an electric motor in the hub…

Wing Model View

Switching from the modeling view to the render view I can immediately see they have changed quite a bit since 601. Main thing is I now have a real time preview of the render which right now shows really nothing since there are no materials assigned yet. Speaking of which they also seem to have hidden the materials pallet. Going to take some getting used to, but I am sure it will be worth it. Modo has a very strong Rendering capability which I am not showing here 🙂

Render window4

Complete with Wings2

Complete with Wings

Just for fun I decided to take the model into my older version of Modo. Aside from the dire warning that there may be and I quote ” weird behavior ” since the model was built in a newer version it seems to be fine.

901Rendering1

Using my preset materials in 601 I am quickly able to add some materials to the model…

901Rendering2

The funny little random square render thing that happens in 601, I wonder if it still does this in the new one.

601Rendering

601 No Materials

Materials are fun

601 Render2

eventually when its finished I will do a full render but thats for later…

601 render

Here is where I am leaving the buggy for now. I figure I could continue on using the tools I already have learned but I am thinking a better plan is to start my training course which arrived last night instead. That way I will have more knowledge to use in completing the project.

Dune Buggy

I hope you enjoyed this, more later…

 

 

First Review

It’s kind of funny but here I sit on a Fri morning, in Shenzhen trying to figure out how to finish this story. Its taking too long, but as I write I realize its actually very important for me to get this down. The last two years on this project have been some of the most intense experiences of my career. I have met amazing people, seen and been involved in things I never would have expected, and genuinely enjoyed myself ” most of the time anyway “.  Honestly, I have not worked harder on anything since my days at Art Center.

To date we have completely Conceptualized a “gianourmous” park 4 times with 3 unique themes . The team doing this at no time exceeded 8 people, most of the time being closer to 4. In case you don’t know this is completely ridiculous… The conditions were hard, the client somewhat crazy and always unpredictable.

In spite of our best efforts I can not say what the future holds for this project, we have a great design and a great core team but there is still a huge amount of work to be done…

To make it even more fun, I leave tomorrow for Beijing and a possible reboot of the project… again….  I think this makes the 5th reboot but I am getting ahead of myself…

 

OKIE…

Our last entry had us completing the first real day on the project, meeting the team and going on site to see the construction.

At this stage we have a pretty open concept based on our clients wishes, the site and what the DPI team has produced so far. My first impression was correct, there has been no real development for the theme park.  They have done some prelim work on the water park portion and  since that’s right around half the current scope I feel better about our partnership. It’s also interesting to note that Dr park has actually done quite a bit of engineering for us based on his previous experience with Lote world in Korea. This is good as it never hurts to have an engineers viewpoint on design, to make sure things will fit and actually work. The one drawback to Dr parks efforts are his idiosyncratic work style which does not include the use of a computer. The man doesn’t even have one, this should be interesting down the road…

Our first step was to identify potential story lines and build an overall theme for the park. Its obvious the Koreans are much more comfortable in the world of water parks where theme is secondary to the attractions… In a theme park you are creating a unique world that exist within its own reality. The idea is to make the guest feel that they have not only come to a place but to whole new world. To do this we will have to create back story which provides a framework for the park and everything in it. All the elements must work together to support and reinforce this story from the look of the architecture to the costumes and mannerisms of the park staff. The best examples I can think of right now would be all the Disney parks and the Harry Potter experience from Universal Studios. Everyone else is doing what they can to reach that level.

Our first real goal is to produce a presentation for the chairman of Lian Bang in 2 weeks time, Based on how our first pass is received we can refine that design to its completion. In this we are extremely lucky to have Doug May on board, Doug was an executive producer for Disney for over 20 years, he’s a ” story ” man and this will be a key element in our development here.  Chris it turns out will be a great help as well with his long career of water and amusement park operations experience. He was even chief of operations for the six flags in CA at some point.

Just some examples of things Doug has done over the years. Some of these might be familiar…

This park in France…

Disney Paris

This other one in Japan

Disney Tokyo

Some show about a fish girl…

Little Mermaid

And of course some crazy thing that happened in Orlando…

25th Anniversary Disney World

Point is Doug knows a few things about Theme Parks 🙂

Our initial thoughts are for 4 zones. An enchanted garden, a space themed area, a young adult oriented cyber land and the valley of dragons. All these zones will have themed rides and shows but for the time constraints of first review we must pick just a few to develop.

With Danilo and I producing artwork, Doug writing  and making overall plans it will be up to the Koreans to finalize a rough visual master plan and put together a powerpoint presentation which will be shown in 2 weeks time…

At Lian Bang we settle in and begin the process with a charrette style meeting to come up with a general concept and plan of action. This gives me and Danilo an idea of what we need to produce.

You have to start somewhere…

Humble Beginnings

At the end of our first design day we head back to the Ambassador Hotel for dinner and some rest. It is Sat but we agree to meet in the morning at the hotels executive level for a final design meeting to solidify our concept and plan. Just the first of many 7 day work weeks. The hours on this project are pretty crazy, we are signed up for 6 days a week by contract and as all designers know you often end up working more to meet the deadline.

This 6 day work week is actually pretty common in China, they make up for it by not actually working as intensely, and having a whole slew of mandatory vacation days. Sorry, but that’s my first hand observation. The idea of quality over quantity has not taken a firm seat here. Its much more important to the mainland Chinese that an employee shows up on time and is present then whether or not they actually accomplish anything… This attitude is slightly alleviated within Lian Bang as it’s a privately owned company. I have no doubt as China becomes more competitive on the world stage this attitude will change…

Jet lag has been particularly hard on me this time around and once again I barely remember the dinner or even falling asleep. Doug claims he had to pound on the door a few mornings to wake me up that first week, but I am not sure I believe him :P…

Shijiazhuang is not the prettiest city in China, little did we know this was the nicest part of the year… This is the view from my room, we never did check out the Babi Club 😦

Ambassador Room

 

On Sunday we have a  surprisingly good breakfast and head to the executive lounge. Over the next few hours Doug Danilo Chris and I agree on the designs we will produce and present. We found that during our time at the Ambassador the staff were very attentive and would help us in just about anyway they could.

It’s actually a great brainstorm meeting I am firmly convinced of Doug’s imagination, Danilo is a pro of course and Chris surprises again with his unique view and insight. In some ways I still feel this original design concept, one of the three we will  develop over the project’s duration  is the strongest…

We break the work down as follows, Danilo will develop the main icon for the park  the “castle” as you will, and a birdseye illustration, I will take on the povs for the enchanted garden, space zone and dragon land… as mentioned before this work will be produced by hand and only rendered in photoshop something I have not done for many years but like riding a bike you never really forget…

Over the next 2 weeks we draw and begin to assemble the pieces for presentation. Scanning our hand sketches and painting them up much like we all did years ago. Overall the team was having a good time together. Doug and Chris entertaining us with impromptu musical numbers. Thankfully they both have good voices. Once; when Jake was back in town the guy travels a lot, He came to me and Danilo at our desks and asked to be told what about our current design for the enchanted castle was unique and special…

The two of us being somewhat old hands at this ” read jaded ” were taken somewhat by surprise.  In truth  a lot of these concepts are derivatives of other things and sometimes not really all that original. This is especially true for a Themed space as everything in it must meet the requirements of guest experience. You can’t go so wild with the design that it will cause issues for safety or be so extreme that some people will find it upsetting.

That being said our design for the icon was very unique, being a naturally grown structure created from the pure magic of the enchanted realm, grown out of the forest itself.

But I was in no condition mentally or physically to say that to Jake. Danilo was no better off and we both looked at him with the expression of dogs being shown a card trick. Out of left field Doug swoops in and begins to explain in vivid detail how this icon was not only unique in its design style but totally unique in the theme park world as it was not only a visual center of the park but a multi function attraction onto itself. even its theme was clearly different from any other park in the world!..” cue the music ” as he talked I became emotionally invested in the concept again and from the look on Jake’s face I know I wasn’t alone…

That’s the beauty of a truly creative pitch man, he can transfer his own enthusiasm through his words and actions making everyone feel that not only is this thing good but that it is real and tangible… This is one of the main reasons I love working on themed entertainment projects, you really start to feel an emotional bond to the concepts… that is true of almost any creative endeavor but I find its particularly strong with something  people will interact with in such a complete way, not only seeing it as on a screen but existing in it, engaging all the senses…

By the time we are ready for presentation I have developed a number of drawings and povs, they are somewhat looser then I am used too but overall I am happy with the results. Danilo has created a Great birdseye of the park incorporating much of my designs along with a high angle pov and elevation of the castle. The korean team has produced a few povs of their water park and a really nice master plan illustration and powerpoint presentation…

On the day of, we gather all together in Lian Bangs main presentation room. Kathreen will direct the powerpoint with Brian helping to time the transitions to Doug’s verbal presentation. Jake and Chris are both present the only missing team member being Danilo who has already headed back to Changsha and his own project… The room holds a huge long table with around 20 seats. We run through the presentation twice while preparing a good hour before showtime. As the time approaches Lian Bang executives begin to filter in but so far no chairman li. We have only met the man behind our client company a few times in meetings but from all we have heard  the man is quite a character… I have even been told he is a retired general from the Chinese army which might explain all the pseudo military trappings on Lian Bang’s security force. There are a lot of them wearing fatigues marching around the site every day.

Chairman Li makes his entrance around 10 minutes late, he is a decent looking older man tallish for a chinese  at right around my height. I am pretty  skeptical of his supposed military rank due to his youthful appearance and prima donna style, the guy can’t seem to pass a reflective surface without checking his hair…

Barely into the introductions there is a loud disturbance in the hallways outside. It starts with a few shouts but quickly grows in volume to the angry rumbling of a mob. We are told to stay put and the chairman exits with his security staff to deal with it. Over the next few minutes the noise becomes quite alarming even including the sound of a women screaming and I am told laying on the ground crying…

we later see the chairman walk by the glass walls amidst a large group of yelling people. He is surrounded but seems well in control. In the next room he stands in the center of the crowd and listens to whatever it is they are upset with. Eventually the crowd disperses and he returns to us unscathed.  We are later told by Sarah these are the local village folk whose homes were taken to build this project. I guess they were unhappy with the settlement received…

The show must go on and so with little time lost Doug heads right into the presentation. It seems to be going over quite well with the chairman only interrupting  once (Something of a miracle we later find out). At the end there is a lively question and answer period followed by a “loooooooonnnnnng” speech from Chairman Li hurriedly translated by Sarah. In essence  Li loves what we have done and with some changes looks forward to our finalized development presentation…

This first presentation over we now begin the development process where we can take these rough ideas to a more complete stage. The goal being a completed concept package ready to head into design development, schematic phase…

The work

I wish I had kept the order of things clear in my head at this firsts stage but I am pretty sure these are the designs presented to the Chairman…

At this stage we have no real understanding of the space so these sketches are just rough ideas of things that can be further developed down the road…

A rough POV of the Enchanted Castle by Danilo, the idea is that the structure is grown from natural materials by pure magic…

Castle POV – DM

Dragon Zone – Various designs for themed rides within the zone

Dragons Flight – Flume Ride – DG

Dragon Mountain – DG

Baby Dragon Bumper cars – DG

Dragon Zone Kiosk – DG

Space Zone – There were more of these but I cannot locate them now…

Space Zone POV – DG

The Chairman really loved this ride Sky Venture, it’s basically an indoor wind tunnel that you sky dive inside of…

Sky Venture – DG

Cyber Land –  young adult and teen themed area, much of this zone will actually be user the 5m height ceiling which brings its own unique challenges.

Cyber Land – DG

Water Park – At tho stage of the project fully half of the available space is occupied by a water park. We are not asked to contribute anything towards it as the DPI team have a lot of experience here. I don’t know who produced this work but I have a strong feeling it was not necessarily for this project…

Water Park – DPI

Water Park 2 – DPI

Birdseye Illustration by Danilo

Birdseye View – DM

Enchanted Garden Family Roller Coaster

Enchanted Garden, Roller Coaster – DG

17 m Pillar Design – Later on we will joke that the real title of this park should be the “Happy Pillar Park” ™ as they are quite literally everywhere… I must have produced well over a hundred designs for these things.

17m Pillar design – DG

 

The team felt very strongly that we must deal with them in a creative and effective way or else they will dominate every aspect of the park. We did so many designs because we could never get our concepts past the Chairman, my guess is he knew deep down inside he could not afford to do much with them. I would also think that might have been something to address while designing the actual building, but we can only deal with what we have, not what we would like to have.

Another area of particular challenge would be the surrounding walls of the 17 m spaces. Our concept called for them to be fully themed to the zones the encircled. This is an early sketch done by an unknown DPI artist back in Korea, not bad actually…

17m Facades – DPI

I hope you enjoyed this account of our experience. Next up the final presentation of this first concept and our first taste of Crazy Chairman…

Cast of characters so far

*Doug mays  – Executive Producer / Creative Director / Ring Leader, Harry Ziegler from Moulin Rouge…
*Chris Stuart – VP of DPI, Operations specialist, Singer of songs, patriarch of gigantic family and all around good guy !
*Jake Park    –  Owner of DPI, consummate salesman, means well, reason we are all here…
*Danilo Montejo  – El Primo, Senior Designer / Master Illustrator / reason I am here…
*Brian Ong    –  Good Designer / English Translator AKA ” The Great Communicator ” Korean team manager
*Dr park        – Not really a DR. Old School Engineer / Slide Rule Operator / Favor expression ” Big Problems ” / Independent contractor
*Kathreen      – DPI Chinese Korean English Translator / Scan Master / apparently writes DPI contracts…
*Sarah Shang        – Lian Bang’s English translator / Chairman Li’s assistant / AKA ” Mary Poppins ”
*James “Eskelletons™” man  –  Lian Bang’s Themepark? Manager / Jake’s ex employee / used car salesman…
*Smiling korean man  –  Jet lag stole his name from me / only guy at Lian Bang with Theme Park experience…
*Mr Yang  –  Lian Bang manager of construction / Monk on vacation / you couldn’t pay me enough to take his job…
*Mr Liu   –  Chairman Li’s second in command / aka “Charles not in charge” / nice guy in impossible position

*Chairman Li –  Owner of Lian Bang / Typical old school Chinese business tycoon / definitely connected  both above and below / Charismatic ” Alpha Dog ” possible Sociopath…

*Me – Senior Designer / Davido / Writer of this blog

Leo’s Kingdom 5 First Time On Site

Off for our first site visit…

Donning hard hats we pile into trucks to be driven across the street to the site. James our Themepark Operations manager accompanies us decked out in some kind of webbing vest thing, adorned with many pockets and a military grade laser pointer. We later find out these are a favorite of Chairman Li,  often we can figure out where he is by the little green dots flying around.

Doggie

Immediately onsite I am reminded of how differently things are done here then in the states. Everywhere you look materials and tools are piled and or dumped. The ground is a literal mine field of wood, steel and concrete pieces. Jagged edges, holes in the floor and exposed piping make this a place you best watch your footing else an unscheduled trip to the hospital… Its a massive concrete structure soaring off in all directions with cranes and work vehicles buzzing around. The workers are a miss mash of types many wearing military style garb and others in suits. I always get a kick out of a guy in a suit laying bricks.

For now it is almost impossible for me to reconcile this site with the plans we were shown just a half hour ago, about the only thing that makes perfect sense is the the two central dome areas which are even now in the process of being covered with their steel and glass roofs…

Domes In Process

Top Side3

Doug On deck

Doug in the Lake

Primo On Deck

Our first stop is on the ground level of the structure where there will eventually be a giant lake as illustrated here in the model…

Thas A Big Model 6

We are told its depth will  be between 14 cm and 3 M.

Seems to me that would be something we should already know for certain as whatever water is placed here will be on the roof of our theme park. I am sure the ” architect ” has already considered this…

Top Side1

Top Side2

From up here you can actually see just how far down the structure has been dug out. Ground level of our park will actually be around 5 stories below this point sure hope they thought of drainage.

Long Way Down

Gurlz Work Too

For the first part of our walkthrough we are treated to a constant barrage of loud proclamations from James, translated of course. He is very proud of what he keeps referring to as the Esskelletons we later realize he means escalators. Apparently there will be a lot of them and James wants us to know where each one is… My impression so far is this may be the only thing he knows…

After about 20 mins of this we are treated to what will later be known as a ” WTF ™ ” moment when Doug politely but firmly ask Sarah to tell James he doesn’t care where the F*%(*&ing Eskelletons are, can we please see the Themepark! I know for a fact now we are going to have fun here!

We head down into the structure. As you can see from the pics this place is only partially complete, a lot of work to be done…

Debris For All

Obviously no real lighting as yet so it feels quite cave like. From the temporary structures we see, I assume whole groups of workers must be living down here while the build…

Dark Down Here

We enter through the 5M area walking towards the central space where the Theme Park will live. I am glad to know we will not be doing much with this area as its pretty claustrophobic. At 5M height it is much better suited to a retail environment then a Theme Park.

Nice Perspective

Coming out from the 5M space the scale of things starts to become more apparent.

Dark Down Here

Dark Down Here

There is no floor as yet, and as you can see the ceiling is a bare concrete structure as well, going to be challenge to make that work.

Watch Your Step

As you can see the space is truly massive, but even as large as it is, all these columns are going to be an issue.

Under the Domes4

We dub this view Main Street as it seems to be a natural flow point. Later we will realize its not going to be that simple. This structure is odd, there are almost no natural design flow / force lines. Major structures don’t line up and even things like the domes are not equidistant or symetrical. Would really like to talk to that Architect.

Main Street

Watch Your Step2

This picture is funny to me as it turns out the Asian man, smiling in the white shirt there ” cannot remember his name ” is the only one on Lian Bang’s team that actually had experience in the Theme Park industry. He will of course disappear shortly after this site visit, I believe he made the mistake of telling the Chairman he couldn’t do something…

from left to right, Doug, Chris, Danilo, Brian, ?, and James. I of course am behind the camera.

Where are we again?

There really is a lot of debris down here.

Watch Your Step4

from below you can see how complex these roof structures are, periodically the workers above will demonstrate why we wear hard hats by dropping things…

Roof Structure

Seems Complicated

More views from below the Domes, these areas will be the most important in my mind as only here will we be able to build anything with significant height.

Under the Domes1

Under the Domes2

Under the Domes3

The site tour winds down as we begin to fall out from Jet Lag. Its off to our hotel to drop off luggage and move on to the next event of this first day in Shijiazhuang, the infamous ” Client Dinner “.

More to follow…

Leo’s Kingdom 4 An Introduction to the Scene…

I realize in looking at my earlier post about the project in Shijiazhuang, its obvious I am not really sure how to organize this. No mystery as to why, these event occurred over a period of 2 years and to say that a lot went on is a gross understatement. I will do my best to help it make sense, I can’t put exact dates as honestly I would be lying to claim I knew them :P,  just not how my mind works… My aim is to tell this story as best I can. Who knows maybe some of the others will chime in and help as I am sure to miss things along the way.

I am thinking to add a cast of characters at the end of each post to help keep it organized, feel free to check it out if you like..

Back To It…

Train Station

Upon arrival in Shijiazhuang we are met at the train station by 2 member’s of Jake’s staff, Brian Ong and Cathrene. Both are Korean but have some english. Brian is the Korean team’s manager and lead designer, Cathrene is their translator for Chinese and English as she is actually ethnic Korean from the north-east area of China. They both seem very nice and help us get our luggage into taxis.

The first impression you get of Shijiazhuang is that its loud, densely populated and extremely dusty. We arrived in June so the air quality was actually quite good for this city, actual blue skies and clouds. Shijiazhuang is a second tier city, this has many meanings but one of the more noticeable to foreigners is that we are truly alien here. It’s very common in China to be stared at by the locals but outside the big cities its much more pronounced. It’s quite possible for a person to be looking at you with wide eyes and mouth slightly ajar because they have in fact never seen  ” anyone ” like you in person in their lives. I have yet to spend much time in the rural areas of China where I assume the ” Polar Bear effect ” will be even more pronounced…

Streets of Shijiazhuang

Streets of Shijiazhuang

Like many places in China almost everywhere you look there are buildings either being put up or torn down. Even the roads are under heavy construction as they are in the process of installing a Metro system. The drivers and pedestrians here are some of the craziest I have yet to experience in China. I have it on authority that it’s nothing compared to India but I have yet to go there… The taxi is an old VW ” Bora , Magotan, Sagitar  also known as a Jetta… ” and quite dirty. Unlike in the first tier cities the driver is separated from the passengers by a full bar cage assembly, I assume to keep us from throttling him…

For the car people out there here is very interesting read on the way  VW names its cars in China.

The driver is quite aggressive and drives with fast seemingly random lane changes and  liberal use of the horn, rules of the road and traffic signals are obviously more a suggestion than anything else. There are people everywhere, walking running, riding bikes, electric scooters and “Moa Di” 3 wheeled carts, many of which seem to be carrying the type of load we at home would put in a Uhaul truck. Busses and larger trucks drive with jungle rules, meaning they go where they want, when they want and you had best get out of the way. The overall effect is an amazing assault on the senses, unfortunately its something you have to experience to really understand, the pictures never quite get it. Amazing to think that I used to consider Shenzhen drivers bad, I suppose everything is relative.

Shortly we come upon a large 4 lane roundabout. It’s under a freeway which is notable as here the traffic intensifies even more despite the efforts of several cute female traffic cops standing on small pedestals in the road. Having already spent years in China and traveled around a bit  I actually kind of enjoy this type of thing. I am a bit crazy after all. Doug is less appreciative and I can hear him mumbling instructions to the driver or possibly prayers for deliverence…

On the other side of the freeway up ahead lies our destination at the end of the road. Lian Bang’s project is massive even for China, there are the standard giant residential towers stretching far into the air, large tower buildings in various stages of construction and a huge half built  “coliseum ” looking thing in front. Later we will find that this is where our Theme park will live. The whole place is covered in dust, workers and vehicles going every conceivable direction. We pull into a gated parking lot across from the Coliseum and are greeted by young men in what appear to be army uniforms. They wave us through when they see it’s the Koreans.

We are met at the door by some Lian Bang employee’s, I can’t actually remember who all it was now other than Sarah Shang who will be serving as translator and special assistant to Chairman Li the owner of Lian Bang and our client. Sarah strikes me as interesting right away as she has excellent english skills and a charming English accent to go with it. As we enter the building one of the first things you see is a giant cylindrical fish tank which occupies the center of the huge reception area.

Small Fish Big Tank

It has a lot of colorful fish and what appears to be real coral growing inside it. In the picture you can just see the fish tank cleaning guy, he was there every day taking care of Chairman Li’s Fish. There are dozens of young men and women running around wearing what seems to be the uniform for their profession here in China, Black dress pants and white  button down shirts. Up ahead is a giant scale model lit up like a christmas tree ” also a standard for the real estate game in China ” and a giant LED screen up above.  I will let the pics tell this part.

Big Model

Thas A Big Model 1

Thas A Big Model 2

Thas A Big Model 3

Thas A Big Model 4

Thas A Big Model 5

Thas A Big Model 6

This model reminds me of my very first freelance job while still in school. I and 4 other guys built a scale model of Manhattan Island for the observation deck of the World Trade Center, Twin Towers in New York. I never got to see it in place and it obviously no longer exist…

Godzilla Me

These pics are probably all thats left of that piece…

All Thats Left…

Upstairs we are brought to an office to wait for the remaining member of our little team. Danilo is coming in from his project in Changsha by train to help us get a kick start. It turns out that we are actually already behind schedule as the client wants to see our first pass in two weeks. I am glad to hear that El Primo is coming as I know together we can accomplish something good. As for the rest of the group here not so sure, there are 4 or 5 Koreans here, only one of which; Brian, is a designer. 2 girls Cathrene being the only one I can remember at this time and an older man introduced as Dr Park. They have been on site for 3 months now and from what I can see there has been very little done…  I suppose this kind of thing really shouldn’t surprise me anymore, but I am always amazed at how little seems to be accomplished by employees versus consultants. Maybe that is a topic for another time…

Once Danilo arrives we are met by another Lian Bang employee, James. He is in the position of Themepark Operations ” or so we are told ” and will take us on a tour of the site after a brief discussion of the project needs and a quick look at that big ass model in the lobby. James is actually Korean and speaks almost no English so Sarah translates for him as he discusses the current scope and their progress. The site is 245,000 square meters, all indoor with the ground level actually dug down about a story. The central area is enclosed  in a roof which rest at 17 meters, with 2 huge domes which have a maximum height of 25 meters. These domes will be the only source of sunlight for our park. All around this 17 meter area is a huge swath of area which only  has 5 meters of clearance. This area will hold a Venetian style canal that circles around the site and  be made up of shops, restaurants and other assorted venues. Our focus for now is the central 17 M Zone and the 5 M area up to the canal. We are told by Jake and Chris that this is a sticking point with the client as there is some disagreement as to who is responsible for what…

Master Plan

We are all shown a pretty typical video presentation extolling the wonders of the project. In true Chinese fashion is it full of ripped off design content from just about every major western studio and lots of smiling Chinese shoppers and children doing ” Stuff “. Interestingly there also seems to be a lot of images of some other attempts at designing this space. It turns out that we are the 3rd group brought in to design the Park, following The Goddard Group and some Canadian company I cannot recall the name of. In truth I am getting a bit nervous as I can see that not only is the scope of this thing about twice what was described but our team is really too small for the task.

Park overview is pretty impressive, as I told you before the size is gigantic. This will be the largest indoor Themed Entertainment venue in the world. with over 300 shops and restaurants in the surrounding buildings and what is proudly proclaimed as the largest parking garage in China. As per the current design the idea of the park is to be split into 2 separate experiences a Water Park and a Theme Park. This seems a good idea as DPI ” our employers ” are specialist in Water Parks, something Doug, Danilo and I have no experience with at all. After the question and answer period which held such highlights as…

Q. Can we see the Feasibility Study?

A. Whats a Feasibility Study?

Q. Can we see the as built CAD drawings or 3D model of the construction?

A. No because they don’t exist…

With all those questions resolved its time to go check out the model and then off to the site. Not much to be said about this except its big and illustrates another interesting challenge to our project. The entire roof of the building will be comprised of a lake. What could possibly go wrong…

To be continued…

 

The Fun Begins – Leo’s Kingdom 3

After 20+ hours of travel fun I arrive in China. The flight to Beijing is actually much shorter than my flights to Hong Kong at only 12 hours. Because in the US, I don’t live near a major hub I actually spend almost as much time flying in the States as to China.

Clouds

Everybody has their own way to cope with these flights. My only advice would be to bring good reading material, “I keep mine in a Samsung tablet”, some good music and pain killers…

Over Siberia

Once on the ground I start looking around for my new co-worker, Douglas K May. We have never met but I do have his number and eventually I notice a tall distinguished gent looking around as well.

Right off I know we will get along. We talk about the flight and spend some time good-naturedly complaining about the state of the world and airport security. Its getting late but the airport is still crowded. After getting through customs and grabbing out luggage its off to the taxi area as we must now make our way to Beijing Xie ” west ” train station where we are to meet up with Jake Park our new employer…

Upon exiting the station we are greeted by a really long line at the taxi station, this is not good since time is already tight. Immediately we are approached by a Black Car driver or as called in Taiwan a” Wild Chicken”. This is an unregistered taxi, they are everywhere in China and sometimes may be your only real choice for a ride.

Just Kidding

Generally speaking it’s not advisable, there is the real danger of being stolen from abandoned somewhere or even hurt.  Almost always you will pay more than a real cab will charge unless you have a native along to barter. I know better, but its late and we have to get to the train and there isn’t much chance of somebody trying to get fresh with me and Doug.

The guy has a van it’s actually pretty nice inside and except for this driver being the only one in Beijing that believes in the speed limit, we are on our way. The trouble is you have no recourse with these unregistered guys, when we arrive at the train we are about 30 min late, and the guy wants 600 RMB, that’s about 5 times what it should cost but truth is we don’t have time to f$%k around so we pay the thief and we have arrived.

We find Jake near the entrance to the train station with him is another westerner,  Chris Stuart, Vice President of DPI. Chris and Jake are both friendly if a bit harried as we really are late now and must attempt to get the last train tonight or its a stay in Beijing for the night. We rush inside and make our way towards window 16 which sports the most appreciated ” English Speaking ” sign above it. This is my first trip to the Beijing train station and its massive,  crowded even at 10pm. Chris pushes his way to the window while we watch our bags, it seems there may be an issue as it appears the ticket lady is yelling ” LISTEN TO ME!!! “. A smiling Chris later explains she was refusing to sell us tickets for the last train as in her opinion we could not have made it to the train in the 20 min we had till departure.

Looks like we are here for the night so we decide to get a room at the nearest hotel and grab a bite for dinner. Jake get’ s us checked in at a hotel right next door. By this time I am seriously fading so my recollection of the rest of the night is pretty much a blur. I know we ate, I don’t know what it was, I know I slept but I don’t remember even going back to the room. Jet lag is funny, I have had it most times I come here in various amounts but this trip was special. The feeling is really disconcerting as you simply begin to crash and there is no way ” without chemicals ” to stop it, one min you are up then next you are down…

Morning rolls around and we make our way to the station to try again. Luckily the high speed rail is very efficient here and a train heads for our destination on the hour.

Beijing Xie1

Beijing Xie2

High Speed Train

We purchase business class tickets, definitely worth the money, especially if you are carrying any luggage and the price is still reasonable. I believe our tickets are around $60 USD and as you can see from the pics the accommodation is very nice.

Getting Acquainted

Nice Seating

Cool Pod Seats

300 KPH smooth as glass

Por moi?

So far I am feeling pretty good about this gig, Doug who will be heading the team as Creative Director is really cool, I realize while sitting in the train next to him that with my eyes closed he sounds just like the guy who appears in all the Mens Warehouse commercials back in the States.

Not Doug

It turns out he actually was an actor for television and even did some modeling in his early days.

I Guarantee It!

Jake is nice his english is good if a bit hesitant, I can see why Danilo likes him and he is right around my age I figure we will get along just fine.

Chris is fun, within 20 min of meeting him I know quite a bit about him and can tell he is a genuinely fine human being, he is around Doug’s age but seems much older, maybe it’s the 8 children and 30 something grand kids :). Interestingly Chris speaks fluent Korean which would make sense as DPI is a Korean company.

Next stop Shijiazhuang…

 

Saga of “Leo’s Kingdom” – Packing for China, The Journey Begins

I hope this doesn’t bore too much but I like it when I get actual info I can use from an online source, and my particular experience might come in handy for someone so…

I will be going not just to explore China but also to work and will not be with Fanny in our apartment in Shenzhen. I need to bring whatever tools and equipment needed, with me as I know from experience, finding things in China is not always easy. Pretty funny when you consider that almost everything we buy is made there but its the truth nonetheless…

I know from Danilo and Jake that the client would like me to work by hand for at least a portion of this project, ” This is being requested more often recently, maybe the pendulum is swinging back…” That means I will need those tools as well as my regular digital gear.  I pack 2 big cases one for clothes and personal and one full of art supplies and computer gear. This is ok since on international flights you have a larger weight limit but it will be a pain for maneuvering. In addition to the carry ons I have a great rolling computer bag and good backpack. I always carry my most valuable stuff in these as at least if something happens to them I will know what and why… There are specific things you never place in checked baggage, Money ” obviously ” important documents and for me  my laptop and hard drives.

I will be adding my new traveling cintiq to the mix since it is much smaller and lighter than my old full size one.

This is what we imagine it will be

12 WX

This is the reality when it comes time to pack…

Cables Galore

 

I am also taking my new macpro laptop and my basic analog drawing tools.  Basic set for me is 2 boxes each Prismacolor and Verithin colored pencils in Indigo Blue, Sharpie markers in black thick and extra thin tips, electric pencil sharpener and kneaded and electric draftsman’s eraser and assorted sweeps and curves. I even bring 2 pads of 18 X 24 Vincent Vellum to work on. For those who know this is the ” Good Stuff “they don’t even make it anymore but thanks to my days of doing it all by hand I still have a stash…

Tolls of the Trade

All This adds considerable weight to my packing but I am going for work and this first contract is for 3 months so its well worth the trouble…

A general note for artist going to  work in China whatever electronic gear you have except for computers and their peripherals will not work in China. Well technically they will work one time and then possibly blow up, so its worth your time to invest in a power converter before hand. The chinese use a different voltage (220V) I forgot one time and fried my brand new super fancy alarm clock so… While the computers will operate I would suggest the converter for them as well just to be safe but they do seem to handle it without much issue.

A word on luggage. It’s absolutely essential you bring good luggage, not only to protect your gear but also to make it easy to transport. I brought cheaper luggage the first trip to China one bag per flight as the luggage was unusable after its journey…

If you have never been to mainland China you may not understand this fully; but trust me, you need bags that can roll over rough terrain and cushion your gear. this is just as true in a major city as it is in the countryside.

This is a bit extreme but you get the idea 😛

Rough Road

I have a good Samsonite hard case and a great bag we picked up in Taiwan. Both of these are full size with expansion space and have the 4 caster rollers. This is crucial the bags that only have 2 castors will make your trip that much more difficult. Trust me its going to be challenging no matter what you do so take care of what you can control…

Good Luggage

Good Luggage2

Good luggage

As I travel with a good deal of computer gear I know from experience you must prepare it to get past the security types at the airports. I try and package all of my considerable cables and peripherals into neat packages usually inside gallon size ziplock bags.

Have cables will travel…

The security agents will still be very curious but much less likely to take you bag apart and it makes it easier to put back together when they do. If you carry external hard drives put them in your carry on, for some reason the powers that be lose their mind if you pack it in checked luggage. My project manager friend turned me onto a great little product for wrapping cords its worth it…

Bobino

Every trip I get a little bit better at the logistics but its a process. My next luggage will probably be even more rugged as even my Taiwan bags are getting worse for wear. maybe something like these.

Future Gear

Thats enough for now more to come…

 

 

 

The Saga of Leo’s Kingdom ” or continuation of what I did last Summer “

This is going to be really difficult as so much happened. Way back in 2014; in fact its the only post of 2014, I spoke of the project I was currently on. Since that time the project has gone through 2 more complete concept designs, the beginnings of Design Development, much internal shuffling including but not limited to a change of ownership after the disappearance of our Chairman and now an indeterminent waiting period to see if it will even continue.

Needless to say I am pretty disappointed at the current status. With much; blood, sweat and tears our tiny little team has designed a really kick ass park. At 245,000 square meters it is one of the largest indoor Themeparks in the world. With 64 Rides and attractions and 4 distinct Lands “Leo’s Kingdom” would / could be a truly world class experience. Maybe not up to Disney or Universal Studio’s level but hey, there were only a hand full of us…

For now I will simply try to put down here the experiences I had, I will not do it justice as this was one of the most intense projects I have ever worked on and there is no way to fully relate it through my words alone. Maybe Doug will write that book he keeps threatening…

 

It all starts back in 2013, around april if  I remember correctly, I was back in the states working from my home studio in Baton Rouge. One of my best friends Danilo Montejo calls me up very excited as he would soon be leaving for China to design a theme park. Danilo and I have been great friends since we met working for BRC in Burbank CA, he is an amazing illustrator and designer and a true friend. You can check out his work here.

http://www.danilostudio.com/index.html

3 or 4 years ago Fanny and I built him this site for his portfolio. I should say fanny built it I just designed it… This used to be a way for us to make extra money. We even considered a service providing custom websites for artist but with the availability of cheap templates no one seems to want it anymore. Was fun however and its nice to see it still working for him.

Danilo2

Danilo3

Danilo4

Danilo is also a graduate of the Art Center for Illustration. His career began in advertising back in the days before digital art was even possible. Thankfully his transition to digital hasn’t removed any of his artistic brilliance.

Primo Danilo

 

He wants to touch base and get some info from me as I have been living in China off and on since 2008. I was working on a commercial for Toyota at the time but as my career actually started in Themed Entertainment I am really curious to hear whats up. Doing set design for film and TV is very lucrative but it doesnt often feed the artist inside.

I got him the best info I had and set him up with direct contact for Fanny as she was already back in China and nothing beats a friendly voice while traveling especially for a westerner in China. I of course put it out there that I am interested if they need more people.

A few weeks later Danilo calls again while I am working on another commercial. Why is it that people always call about work while you are working?

He is now in country and really having a blast on his project in Changsha, turns out his client has multiple projects and needs someone else for another one. The client is a south Korean water park company called DPI, Danilo is very positive about it and so I tell him of course I am interested. I won’t be working directly with ” Primo ” but in another city he calls “CheechaChong”. Over the next few days I talk more with him and another american Peter Blouestein who is also working in Changsha.

Eventually I speak to Jake Park the owner of DPI that I now know is Dream Park International. Jake seems a nice enough guy with pretty good english and we begin to rough out the details of what is needed.

Over a few days Jake and I agree to terms, Pay is quite nice with half a months up front before I even leave the States. I strongly suggest anyone thinking to work on a chinese project to insist on getting money up front, its not say you cannot trust the Chinese but things just are a bit crazy over here… This is doubly true when working with new people again just words to the wise.

The timing is a bit last min for me. I like to plan my asian trips well in advance but I agree and await the contract. A few days go by, then a week I begin to wonder if this will be a no go and decide to take some more commercial work. half way through the second week I receive emails from Jake with a contract to be signed and request for info to purchase flights, I had by this time written it off as no joy but I go ahead after another lengthy talk with Danilo and sign the contract.

I will be leaving in 5 days for “Shishchatchewan”. My task is to be senior designer on an indoor theme park / waterpark. There will be a Korean team already in place which I am told has all the information I have been requesting like a project brief etc… I had hoped to have copies of this before I leave in order to wrap my head around the project but this isn’t possible for now.

GOING TO SHIJIAZHUANG…

Where is Shijiazhuang

 

WTF is a Shijiazhuang.  OK the Chinese language is extremely challenging for the western mind especially one like me not inclined to language. But this name is special even for China. I turn to Fanny my source for all knowledge of China, first off she knows exactly where I am going and by the way has relatives living there… more on that later…

Shijiazhuang is the capital of Hebei Province, of which Beijing is a part, Yes it gets complicated. Beijing is the capital of the country and the seat of power for the central government but it somehow is not the capital of the province.

Provinces of China

Hebei map

 

I had this explained to me many times over the last 2 years and I am still unsure what this really means, in my experience of it Beijing pretty much rules the place but whatever makes ya happy…

Here is what Wiki has to say

Shijiazhuang is a modernizing and ever growing city. It experienced dramatic growth after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The population of the metropolitan area has more than quadrupled in only 30 years as a result of fast industrialization and major infrastructural developments.

Here are some pics I found online before going.

Beautiful Shizz2

Beautiful Shizz

street scene 2

street scene

Mountain Temple

Spynx2

Those pics I am sorry to say are a bit misleading. Shijiazhuang suffers from extreme pollution, pretty much the worst in China so it actually looks a lot more like this.

More like it

Shijiazhuang or the ” Shizz ” as we came to know her is a 2nd tier city rapidly being developed into a 1st tier. This has more to do with population  then anything else as I understand it but it means its going to be an interesting mix of the old and the new. Its also a center for industry which means its environment is under stress. Being second tier doesnt make it small either, the Shizz boast a population of right around 5 million people and growing, so its freakin huge by western standards.

It is also has the honor of being where Mao led the communist during their ” Long march ” of the Chinese Civil War and served as the headquarters of the PLA. It also; from its name, was at some point the ” Stone Family Village ” as thats what the name means in Chinese…

Next post The Journey Begins…