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Post by MWGallaher on Jul 24, 2017 20:14:21 GMT -5
Thanks for asking! I do indeed still work at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where I work in simulation software. We are responsible for the computer programs that "trick" all of the actual Space Launch System hardware into thinking it's really flying a mission, so that it can all be thoroughly tested. We have labs with much of the relevant hardware--sensors, flight computers, valves, actuators, electronics, hydraulics, etc.--all mounted on a huge 20' tall ring, with the same lengths of cable that will connect connect them when they are mounted on the actual vehicle, with everything hooked together, and our software driving everything, based on a complex simulation of the mission (velocity, position, vehicle flexing, weight, forces on the vehicle, winds, gravity, rotations, and on and on). The program is designed so that individual hardware components can be taken in or out of the simulation, so we have to have simulated computer models of all the hardware, as well. Here's a link to a short brochure that covers some of what our group does. I work in the team that creates the ARTEMIS software, mentioned on page 3. Fascinating. Thanks for sharing that with us. You have a very cool job.  Well, I'm impressed with "World's Finest". I'm a dedicated amateur with some experience in a live performing rock band, so seeing that made me very envious! The Kynd is going on my playlist... |
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Post by LovesGilKane on Jul 26, 2017 0:59:19 GMT -5
basically, reading comics forced a change in career choice at age 7.
not joking.
by age 6, after seeing the The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and reading Famous Monsters since age 5, I wanted to be a stop-mo and mask artist. then I learned I'd have to join the 'studio system' to do that. and scores, if not hundreds, of ppl would be involved in the genre films i'd want to work for, and learned how monster-makers were screwed by budgets ala Harryhausen being paid only enough for 5 tentacles in It Came From Beneath the Sea, etc., and lost heart.
noticing all the credits in tv on star Trek, Space 1999, the Outer Limits etc. didn't help. After being told by a 'parental unit' what those credits meant: 'All those people need to be paid, which is boring math in the way you're good at but hate, and a third of those credited names will need to be paid before you will see one dollar. I don't like it either but you get very upset if we try to sugar-coat things for you.'
(I had a wonderful parental unit. the other one could get @2!!5%%!!'d)
back to credits, what they clearly 'meant'.
none of the movie/tv/etc. stuff seemed to be akin to one guy like Gordon Lightfoot, or 4 guys like the Beatles, just smashing out the creativity and 'having a life'.
then I read X-men 106, at age 7.
and it felt lke a freaky-yummy Outer Limits mixed with Space 1999, on paper. just on paper.
and it apparently only had 6 people involved. and after investigation, it was like making sci-fi/fantasy with 90% less of the 'in the way' people involved.
bingo!
So i bought some FF. Then a bit of Avengers. Then re-read the Adams sections of the Batman Collected Edition i'd been given 2 years previous.
then 6 months later, asked for Origins and Son of Origins of Marvel Comics, then Bring on the Bad Guys instead of a bike or other toys, then read every word of Stan's forewards and chapter intros assiduously, absorbed all the art and learned how hard that would be, discovered the differences between layouts/pencils/finishes/inks, and decided at age 7.5, I was gonna be a comicbook artist. hopefully an auteur like Eisner, but in fantasy/sci-fi.
by age 8.5 i'd begun inking with brushes and nibs.
by 18 i was published in a cr- - pity arse indie, 9 months later i'd written/pencilled/inked/lettered 3 short-ish tales for a slightly less cr- - pity arse indie, then from that broke in to a company that actually paid with a short, which led to being accepted into work for decent places, including big 3 stuff (not that much, but some noteworthy characters, and on rare occasion, lovely royalties).
the magic of reading comics made my career in giving some comics-reading-magic back.
thank you, comics. i may not love the %4!!#33!!! people who control you, but I'll always love YOU.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 26, 2017 4:55:03 GMT -5
Loathesware, you achieved the dream of probably 90% of the members here.
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Post by LovesGilKane on Jul 26, 2017 5:48:41 GMT -5
only by busting my ass, never having a week-end, ignoring parties, and always going for substance over style. as in being an anti hipster.  but thank you very much, your reply is appreciated. |
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 26, 2017 5:51:41 GMT -5
You are so right. As a young man, I tried to practice drawing everyday to try to give it a shot in the industry, but I didn't have the desire nor discipline to sit in front of a drawing board for hours to perfect the craft. Hats off to you, sir.
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 26, 2017 5:57:52 GMT -5
This subject reminds me of how much hard work goes into many professions that the average person takes for granted. I remember watching Hector Camacho fight in the 80's with a few friends when one of them commented that he could probably beat him in a fight.
I told him , are you put of your mind? He would probably hit you 20 times in the face before you blinked. There are many grueling hours that go into training for a boxer , which include running at 5am, sparring countless hours , ab work, weight lifting and the " average" person wouldn't stand a chance. But many people just want the end result without sacrificing.
There I said it.
* Ding*
Oops, wrong thread....
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Post by LovesGilKane on Jul 26, 2017 6:02:35 GMT -5
thx again in my teens, i'd do 8 hours at a slog-job, practice sequential pages on my breaks, get home, eat, watch 1 hr of tv, more sequential training until 1 am, sleep, wake up at 6:30 am, start over. and do life drawing classes at 16 and 17 for 5 hrs a week, 3 months a year. thank gawd tumblr onanism wasn't around then! |
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Post by LovesGilKane on Jul 26, 2017 6:04:19 GMT -5
This subject reminds me of how much hard work goes into many professions that the average person takes for granted. I remember watching Hector Camacho fight in the 80's with a few friends when one of them commented that he could probably beat him in a fight. I told him , are you put of your mind? He would probably hit you 20 times in the face before you blinked. There are many grueling hours that go into training for a boxer , which include running at 5am, sparring countless hours , ab work, weight lifting and the " average" person wouldn't stand a chance. But many people just want the end result without sacrificing. There I said it. * Ding* Oops, wrong thread.... i taped one of his bouts, watched him in slow-mo. when his arm came in, it was the blurriest-motion blur I'd ever seen. wow. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Jul 26, 2017 6:35:47 GMT -5
I had the talent, drive and discipline to make it as a comics pro, but it turned out what I didn't have was the physical stamina, even at 22, for the job. But I think my life may have turned out better--and I ended up a better person--in the end because my dream *didn't* come true.
Cei-U!
I summon the paradox!
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 26, 2017 6:49:59 GMT -5
This subject reminds me of how much hard work goes into many professions that the average person takes for granted. I remember watching Hector Camacho fight in the 80's with a few friends when one of them commented that he could probably beat him in a fight. I told him , are you put of your mind? He would probably hit you 20 times in the face before you blinked. There are many grueling hours that go into training for a boxer , which include running at 5am, sparring countless hours , ab work, weight lifting and the " average" person wouldn't stand a chance. But many people just want the end result without sacrificing. There I said it. * Ding* Oops, wrong thread.... i taped one of his bouts, watched him in slow-mo. when his arm came in, it was the blurriest-motion blur I'd ever seen. wow. Camacho was one of my favorites of alll time. The fastest hands this side of Ali. I loved that he talked smack, too. |
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Post by LovesGilKane on Jul 26, 2017 7:16:17 GMT -5
I had the talent, drive and discipline to make it as a comics pro, but it turned out what I didn't have was the physical stamina, even at 22, for the job. But I think my life may have turned out better--and I ended up a better person--in the end because my dream *didn't* come true. Cei-U! I summon the paradox! yeah, i'm pleased. sometimes becoming the better person IS the dream fullfilled between 20-22 i had to work 15-20 hour shifts every time on the pages, get 6 hours sleep (maybe less), then start the same day, same stress. at age 29 my lumbar x-ray made the doctor wince. |
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Post by kirby101 on Jul 26, 2017 7:55:01 GMT -5
I had the talent, drive and discipline to make it as a comics pro, but it turned out what I didn't have was the physical stamina, even at 22, for the job. But I think my life may have turned out better--and I ended up a better person--in the end because my dream *didn't* come true. Cei-U! I summon the paradox! yeah, i'm pleased. sometimes becoming the better person IS the dream fullfilled between 20-22 i had to work 15-20 hour shifts every time on the pages, get 6 hours sleep (maybe less), then start the same day, same stress. at age 29 my lumbar x-ray made the doctor wince. What is your career now? Still in Art? |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2017 8:14:15 GMT -5
thx again in my teens, i'd do 8 hours at a slog-job, practice sequential pages on my breaks, get home, eat, watch 1 hr of tv, more sequential training until 1 am, sleep, wake up at 6:30 am, start over. and do life drawing classes at 16 and 17 for 5 hrs a week, 3 months a year. thank gawd tumblr onanism wasn't around then! That's dedication on your part. |
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Post by hondobrode on Jul 26, 2017 8:51:53 GMT -5
I am now and always have been in sales.
My bachelor's is in Business Management, and I was an assistant manager at a finance company out of college, but got into sales because it paid more. Since then I've sold food and drink, telecommunications, payment processing services and hardware, gas dispensers and related systems, cabinetry and countertop components, packaging, compounded medicines and medical supplies.
Much as I love comics, I can't say that they had any bearing on my career.
I wish ! If we lived in a perfect world, I'd somehow have made a career in the business. I certainly can't draw; have never done more than daydreamed about writing. Maybe I'd have been in marketing, similar to what Peter David, Carol Kalish or Bob Wayne used to do.
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Post by LovesGilKane on Jul 26, 2017 8:54:51 GMT -5
kirby101, yes, art stuff, but not comics. maybe i'll get back in if the industry business model gets sane again; right now it feels like the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.
a fab, savvy, cogent retailer explains it all perfectly here in a clip specifically about marvel, but the industry quakes when marvel breaks wind explosively, so it applies to the industry in general.
26:57 to 27:57 sums it up perfectly.
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