Darris Dobbs, a well known and respected 3D/CGI writer and artist, died
peacefully at home on November 24, 1999, never having recovered from a
respiratory virus. He was 37. Darris contributed to Visual Magic Magazine
on a number of occasions, as well as writing a number of books for Charles
River Media Publishing (including ANIMATING FACIAL FEATURES AND
EXPRESSIONS, and the recently published TRUESPACE 3 & 4 CREATURE
CREATIONS). He also founded his own business -- HieroglyFX Design -- a
graphics company that grew through Darris' overwhelming knowledge of
technology and the animal world, his artistic talent, and his passion for
the computer graphics world. As he was to so many computer graphics artists
and enthusiasts, Darris was also an inspiration to his 11-year-old daughter
Amanda, to whom he devoted much of his time. Darris' family have set up a
trust fund for Amanda's education -- anyone wishing to do so can make
donations at www.darrisdobbs.com. Below is a selection of articles Darris
wrote for Visual Magic Magazine. His commentary and coverage of the
computer graphics and film industry will be greatly missed.
* Squeaky Clean Digital Effects An interview with Mary Lynn Machado, CG Supervisor for Rhythm & Hues, about
her work on Mousehunt.
* A Conversation with Eric Merritt from Zygote, the small 3D modeling
company with the big reputation.
* A Conversation with Peter Ryce, Alias|Wavefront's Maya product manager,
discussing the development of Maya.
* Size Does Matter -- But So Does Teamwork An interview with Volker Engel, Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor of
Independence Day and Godzilla.
* Viewpoint Tackles a Monster of a Modeling Challenge An interview with Walter Noot, who is Vice President of Production at
Viewpoint, concentrating on the models built for Godzilla.
* The Armageddon Story An interview with more than 8 visual effects houses and personnel that
worked on Armageddon.
* PDI: Antz in Their Pantz PDI tell us about their experiences creating Antz.
* The Computer Games Developers Conference Darris Dobbs reflects on the happening's of the Computer Games Developers
Conference.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
