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Anson Vogt (Phong.com)03/03/02 @670 |
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This is an interview with Anson Vogt from Phong.com. The interview was done by Matteo and can also be found at Matteo's site, WastedYouth.org.
The Interview
Matteo - When was your first encounter with the graphic arts? How long have you been doing web design?
Anson - I started designing websites in 1996. Back then I would go to my friend pod's house, and we'd screw around on his computer with a pirated copy of Frontpage, ripping off other people's content (not cool), and making interfaces that looked like the Windows 95 GUI. I first became graphically conscious when I got a hold of Photoshop, and the Eye candy Filters. *shudder* That was a dark age in graphics.
Matteo - What motivated you to start phong.com?
Anson - When I started my website a few years ago, I crowned it the hideous name of 'Astro Phong'. It was 2MB, and hosted by my local ISP. At first it was just a showcase for some of my POV-Ray and Photoshop art, and my hits were in the 30-60-hits/day realm- where they stayed for months. Then I realized how stupid the 'Astro' part sounded, and I dropped it. All I was left with was the name 'phong', which sounded awkward at first, but I got used to it. Since I became greedy for more hits, I created a whole new *colorful* image for the site, and started making some Photoshop tutorials. I knew a lot of people wanted to learn the program, and I liked teaching stuff. Phong didn't just start the site with the goals I have today. It just evolved.
Matteo - What are your plans for the site?
Anson - Most of the stuff coming out of the phong Labs is top secret, but I will tell you that I plan to make some really cool Flash tutorials, and add tons of sweet features to the phong Start Page (home.phong.com), so more people will actually use it. My friend is programming me an awesome new forum in PHP, as well, so that will be coming up soon.
Matteo - Besides photoshop, do you use any other programs?
Anson - 3D Studio MAX, Corel Draw, Homesite, and Flash 4 are standard weapons in the phong arsenal.
Matteo - Besides your tutorials :P, how would you advise a "newbie" to go about learning photoshop?
Anson - There is no particular way for everybody to learn Photoshop; otherwise I'd have a patent on it. Each person learns differently, but it's important to have a friend who is learning it with you, at the same time, or who already knows the program quite well. This way you can learn about the program's capabilities a hell of a lot faster, by sharing with each other new tips, tricks and techniques that you discover. Occasionally, I still find some features that I didn't know about, just by exploring Photoshop. Most of them involve holding down Alt, and clicking in certain places. Fortunately, I have lot of friends involved in graphics who can show me new stuff all the time, when I don't have the figure it out myself.
Matteo - Is there a specific motivation in your life to keep doing this?
Anson - Phong has evolved into what it is today because helping people to learn new things is fun! This is the main motivation. In addition to this, I find it stimulating to observe how my techniques improve, and influence the graphics community. I can usually spot somebody who has used my tutorials on their own creations, and I think that's cool. Being able to see whom I've helped is satisfying. Also, since I have banner ads up on phong.com, I am getting a bit of a cash flow. That motivates me to draw in new visitors, and to keep the site updated. I was doing it, and still would do it without the money, but now I'm a little more serious about making everything to the best of my ability. I'm not just screwing around anymore!
Matteo - What would be your ideal outcome of phong.com?
Anson - A website which can pay for my lifestyle, so I can spend all day working on it, and responding to all of my emails, like a job. without the clients.
Matteo - What are the stats on your machine?
Anson - Right now I'm on a 366MHz Intel Celery (heh), with 192MB RAM, 16MB Riva TNT, 19" Sony Multiscan 400PS Display, and Windows 2000. I should be getting a new system soon though, probably something in the realm of a 750MHz AMD Athlon. The Athlon 0wns.
Matteo - What are your hobbies?
Anson - Is Quake 3: Arena a hobby?
Matteo - What message would you like to send to those reading this interview?
Anson - If your not having fun, don't do it. 'It' being whatever you are doing
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TheNeverman
JordanRoots
Kiken
01/05/03 @379
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12/05/07 @853
Bùi Tuong Phong.
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Bui Tuong Phong
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bui_Tuong_Phong
Bui Tuong Phong (Vietnamese: Bùi Tường Phong, 1942–1975) was a Vietnamese-born computer graphics researcher and pioneer. His works are most often indexed under his family name, Bùi, which comes before his given name by Vietnamese name convention. But his inventions are remembered under his given name Phong, since it is conventional to address Vietnamese persons by their given name.
Life
He was born December 14, 1942 in Hanoi, Vietnam. After attending the Lycee Albert Sarraut there, he moved with his family to Saigon in 1954, where he attended the Lycee Jean Jacques Rousseau. He went to France in 1964 and was admitted to the Ecole d’Ingenieur de Grenoble (ENSEHRMAG). He receive his Licence es Science from Grenoble in 1966 and his Diplome d’Ingenieur from the ENSEEIHT[citation needed], Toulouse, in 1968. He joined the Institut de Recherche d’Ingenieur et d’Automatique (IRIA) in 1968 as a Researcher in Computer Science. He was working in the development of operating systems for digital computers. He came to the University of Utah in September 1971 as a Research Assistant in Computer Science.
The tragic element for Phong is that he knew that he was fatally ill while he was a student. After University of Utah, Phong went on to Stanford as a professor, and he died in a short time after finishing his dissertation (1975) because of cancer (Leukemia).
Mr. Bui Tuong Phong was married to Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc Bich from Nha Trang, Vietnam, in 1969 in Paris, France. He and his wife had one daughter.
According to Professor Ivan Sutherland and Phong's friends, Phong was a very smart, nice and modest person. This is what he said about his work in computer generated images: "We do not expect to be able to display the object exactly as it would appear in reality, with texture, overcast shadows, etc. We hope only to display an image that approximates the real object closely enough to provide a certain degree of realism."
Work on computer graphics
Dr. Phong was the inventor of the Phong reflection model and the Phong shading interpolation method, techniques widely used in computer graphics. Bui Tuong published the description of the algorithms in his 1973 PhD dissertation[1] and a 1975 paper[2]. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 1973 [3].
He developed the first algorithm for simulating specular phenomenon. When working on his doctorate, he was very focused on selecting a topic and completing his dissertation very fast. Professor David C. Evans very enthusiastically supported him in this project. Professor Ivan Sutherland worked with him for improving the previous Mach banding problems, and on using normals for shading. His fellow students also supported him very much, as James H. Clark, Franklin C. Crow, George Randall, Dennis Ting and John Riley. He finished his dissertation much faster than other students of the time did.
Phong, McDermott, Jim Clark and Raphael Rom had created a very first computer graphics generated picture looks like its physical model: the VW bug. As a computer graphics icon, it still crops up in highly respected journals and animated features
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Liem Tran
Seattle, USA