On 2013 January 19, almost three years ago, Dim Sum's journey started. Today, I finished the last set that includes #365.
First, I want to thank everyone we've met on this journey:
- Who chose to follow us on Flickr and Google+.
- Who clicked the stars or +1 to fave images or blog posts.
- Who encouraged me with their compliments and other comments.
- Who played along and searched for Dim Sum in the images.
- Who crafted awesome (and often witty!) 6-word captions.
- Who patiently sat so I could include them in the picture.
- Who graciously allowed photographers and machinimatographers in their beautiful sims.
- Who invited images to Flickr groups or added them to galleries.
And everyone else who have been involved in this project, in any way.
Many many many thanks!
A long time ago, Avon sponsored the 3Day Breast Cancer Walks. To join the walk, you had to raise about US$1,000. Then you had to train so that you could walk 60 miles in three days. Sixty miles is very long. Twenty miles a day is very long. Training for almost a year to build up muscles to be able to walk 20 miles a day is very long. But at the end of the 60 miles, you have such a high that you pledge to do it again the following year. You get a heady sense of achievement, of strength, of a new realization of what you can do, what you can endure. And you realize you are stronger than you thought you were.
This 365 project is like that.
Challenges stretch your self-concept and break down your self-imposed barriers. In a sense, Dim Sum's journey has done the same for me.
There have been times when I had to choose between Dim Sum and much needed sleep. There have been times when I've actually hated Dim Sum because I really didn't want to do this anymore. There have been times when I regretted having to push back old and new projects because I needed to finish this first.
However, there have also been numerous times when I missed Dim Sum, when I feel a vague homesickness for a "place". It's not as simple as yearning for a specific sim. It's a yearning for an ambiance. An ambiance that's created by windlight and shadows and DoF. It is that yearning that kept me logging Dim Sum in.
Is this the end of Dim Sum? No. First, I will always feel that yearning, that homesickness, so I will continue to explore sims. Second, like the characters of a novel, Dim Sum has become "real," not just to me but to many people.
Time is a scarcer resource now than ever before, due to RL commitments and requirements. I have also neglected other projects (stereoscopy, machinima), I have more product ideas I'd like to implement and sell, and I started a new service provider directory that I need to build up and promote.
I strove for realism and depth in Dim Sum's images. I learned how to use windlight, shadows, and DoF to achieve that without post-processing. That skill would help me create better machinima. But I think I've hit the boundary of what's possible with 2D images without post-processing. Or I've already done the best I could, given the no-processing restriction.
When we get new capabilities and new features that drastically improve realism, I'll do more experiments. For now, it's time to go back to stereoscopy and machinima. And you'll likely see the white cat in those too. :)
