Mattias Malmer
I've never understood the 3D graphics world - one bit.
I took linear algebra, and kept saying - why?
most people in 3D have math backgrounds,
but also this deep-drive to videogames, or FX, or .. something-else.
- which is cool enough -
but his actual thing is space exploration,
and this talent-interest combo, along with his cool-attitude,
makes for incredible, completely unequalled work.
Mattias calculates 3D models from stereoscopic, and time-lapse images
using raw space data, and documents his process.
then he renders them in Houdini:
it kills me how most space-imagery is so treated, and dishonest.
NASA-itself shares images that are effectively photoshop.
space-documentaries always quick-cut between footage and straight-up drawings.
i just love that he does
real work, from data.
and not sci-fi.
he does GIS, basically.
he's
@3dmattias. He should be given a prestigious award.
Scott Reinhard
dropped jaws everywhere and got him a job at the nytimes.
but along with his
(very-talented) wife, he does all this high-end art-gallery stuff,
movie-credit rolls, lighting displays, new-york/boutique concept stuff.
he makes things that people need on their coffee-tables and magazines.
what i'm saying, sheepishly, is that it's just...
... rare that such a high-level programmer can be ... very, very cool too?
is that wrong to say?
he just has that gift of not getting lost as a programmer, on the nonsense.
Like most prolific people, i looked at his source, and he uses jQuery everywhere.
this is the flaw I see most-distinctly in myself,
and a gift i truly lack.
i think he's maybe particularly good at webGL, shaders, Blender...
i really don't know.
his work specifically hits my jealousy-nerve, and I'm rarely like that.
Devine Lu Linvega
i don't know. Some people take some time, and are worth it.
I remember seeing his website in 2015.
I had no idea what was going on.
i just closed it.
which felt like the first application I've enjoyed in years.
Devine is a personal-analytics person, and a LISP(!) developer.
he's done a bunch of thinking on
personal-wikis / life-logging / memex-scifi subjects.
his website, to his credit, makes more sense, after a bit.
His work has such a unique feel,
and is such a well-needed departure from california-monoculture.
These days they seem fully-unstoppable,
and are working on a
graphics tool with some really novel interactions.
he is one of the most influential developers in the world right now.
I'm excited that he's getting into programmable hardware, and Unix interfaces.
David Li
David Li is a programmer and animator from London.
he's pioneered a weird interactive-fabric web-feel,
which makes his work immediately recognizable.
he's one of those people that does not exist anywhere online.
web technologies can sit idle until someone makes them fun.
SVG was used really lightly before D3 took off.
he's doing the legwork for non-lame 3D interaction on the web.
I just really appreciate his work,
and am glad he shares it.
