#GamesMix | #Bloodborne

#GamesMix | #IndianaJonesandtheGreatCircle

WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERITThe jury appreciated the architects structural, spatial, and compositional commitment to an organizing grid. This design approach can be relentless or unremarkable when handled without variation. This projects strategy yields a range of nuanced spaces with different light conditions, offering an alternative to overglazed public spaces. DArcy Jones, jurorThe reciprocal frame creates a waffle-slab-like grid of wood ceilings, visible throughout the interior.LOCATION Mont Laurier, QuebecNestled in the heart of the Hautes-Laurentides region, at the gate to northwestern Quebec, Mont Laurier is a municipality of 15,000 surrounded by forests and mountains. The regions growth was historically driven by the provinces developing forestry industryan industry celebrated in Mont Laurier Librarys innovative use of wood.ScreenshotThe design features local engineered wood in an exposed reciprocal waffle frame, the first of its kind for a cultural building in Canada. The reciprocal framing system is a repetitive assembly of short glulam beams of identical eight-foot (2440 mm) lengths. These members, which are tied together by simple connections, cross and support each other in a balancing act that is then delicately placed on round, pin-like columns.ScreenshotThe bi-directional structural pattern of wood is organized in a rigorous four-foot (1220 mm) grid. This measurement is the width of the standard sheets of plywood used as the architectural decking of the system. Overall, the system is designed to minimize waste and maximize the use of the primary resource of local engineered product. The criss-cross woven wood beams are fully visible on the library ceiling, appearing like a pixelated quilt.The buildings cladding includes steel fins that emphasize the interior structural frameworks four-foot grid.The gridded framing system architecturally integrates services including lighting, fire protection, acoustics, and IT. It is mirrored by the use of a raised floor system, which includes a displacement ventilation and air-conditioning system, optimizing thermal comfort for occupants. Through the design process, meticulous attention was paid to the efficiency of the programmatic layout, and its alignments with the grids of the both the structure and floor.The wood ceiling grid integrates acoustics, lighting, fire protection, and other services. A courtyard brings natural light and vegetation deep into the floorplate of the library.This reciprocal framing concept is conceived as a full-scale prototype for a fully reproducible, factory-prefabricated system. The proposed structural system allows for the complete deconstruction of the framework and reuse of the glulam modular framing elements. The research and design of these mass timber components is being followed by Quebecs Ministry of Forests, Fauna and Parks. The concept is part of a vision to reduce the production of GHGs in the construction industry through designing for disassembly, stimulating reflection on the lifecycle of building components and on the potential for the decarbonization of our industry.CLIENTVille de Mont-Laurier | ARCHITECT TEAM Stephan Chevalier (MIRAC), Sergio Morales (MIRAC), ve Beaumont-Cousineau, Alexandre Mass, Julien Daly, Harvey Samuel, Olivier Brasseur-Trottier | STRUCTURAL Latral | MECHANICAL/ELECTRICAL Pageau Morel | AREA 1,325 m2 | BUDGET $10.9 M | STATUS Under construction | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION 2025GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS INTENSITY (GHGI) 218 kg CO2e/m2ScreenshotAs appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazineSee all the 2024 Awards of Excellence winnersYou can read ourjurys full comments here.The post Bibliothque de Mont-Laurier appeared first on Canadian Architect.

WINNER OF A 2024 CANADIAN ARCHITECT AWARD OF MERITIn an era of increased need for housing, particularly the missing middle, the Annex House project prioritizes hidden density in an established neighbourhood. The project is designed with a unique character that minimizes visual impact from the street while prioritizing access to natural light for all the units, including the lower level. While the proposal to split the project into five units may be challenging, the increase from a single-family home to three unique suites begins to address the need for this housing typology in an ever-growing city. Matthew Hickey, jurorThe Annex House offers a model for the gentle densification of existing Toronto neighbourhoods.LOCATION Toronto, OntarioSome of the major challenges with gentle density are related to access. Multiplexes on narrow lots often forfeit a significant portion of the main elevation to establish a shared entrance. The default alternative is to impose a hierarchical, tradesmans entrance condition on the occupants of the rear dwelling, who must enter their home from the backdoor. Narrow lots are the norm in Torontos central, well-established Annex neighbourhood, and recent changes to the citys bylaws have simplified permitting for laneway houses, garden suites and multiplexes. Annex House resolves the equal-access issue by placing the entrances for each unit along a shared pathway set within its side-yard setback, granting a pleasant entry experience for all residents, whether they arrive on foot from the main street or by car from the laneway garage.WAO implemented four strategies to allow three distinct units to co-exist on the narrow Annex lotall with privacy and surprisingly generous access to natural light. One: all primary living spaces in the main houses two interlocking units and in the laneway unit face onto the shared courtyard. The more private orientation makes it possible for extra-large glazing units which maximize daylight and views. Two: a masonry perimeter wall wraps around the pathway that provides access to all three residences; this reinforces the semi-private character of the exterior common spaces and brings the two buildings together to form a unified architectural experience. Three: taking cues from the mansard roofs and dormer windows of the historic Annex homes, the entire upper volume of the main house reads as one vertically-stretched, dormer-set mansard on the street elevation. The mansard overhang provides shading for the large floor-to-ceiling windows and a canopy condition above all three entrance points. On the courtyard-facing elevations, balconies are carved into the sloping roofs of the main house and laneway suite; providing private exterior spaces for each unit. Four: working within building code restrictions that limit openings on the side facades, Annex House augments access to natural light by introducing an 8-metre-long skylight above a triple-height space, with openings on the adjacent rooms to maximize light penetration. Similarly, lightwells at both ends of the lower unit draw daylight into the basement-level spaces.A laneway suite occupies the rear portion of the lot.The cladding combines conventional brick on the lower levels with cover brick on the sloped upper storeys. Although the cover brick and the regular brick were produced from the same clay, the unit shape of the upper-storey cladding creates a similar effect to timber siding, making it appear lightermore roof-likethan the masonry base below.The design is crafted to bring daylight to all of the units, including the basement dwelling.Annex House is now in construction and scheduled for summer 2025 completion. The submission notes that with minor modifications to the main houses floor plan, the projects current three-unit configuration could be converted into four or five units.The ground floor of the laneway unit includes an office with views to the shared courtyard.CLIENT Withheld | ARCHITECT TEAM Harry MX Wei | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Contact & Continuity Inc. | STRUCTURAL Kieffer Structural Engineering | MECHANICAL Zaab Consulting | PLANNING Galbraith & Associates | AREA 300 m2 | BUDGET Withheld | STATUS Under construction | ANTICIPATED COMPLETION Spring 2025As appeared in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Architect magazineSee all the 2024 Awards of Excellence winnersYou can read ourjurys full comments here.The post Annex House appeared first on Canadian Architect.

Secret Level Clip - Keanu Reeves Enters The MechAdult animated series of original short stories which are set within the worlds of beloved video games. Each episode serves as a gateway to a new adventure, unlocking exciting worlds from beloved gaming classics and highly anticipated new titles.https://adapt.one/editorial/link/264/Secret+Level+Clip+-+Keanu+Reeves+Enters+The+Mech/

Arnold is here! Stuart CounterOne of our new member just posted this mind-blowing render of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the menacing T-800. Like the terminator himself, nothing can stop Stuart Counter!https://adapt.one/editorial/link/257/Arnold+is+here%21+Stuart+Counter/

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Otoy has released the first public beta of OctaneRender 2025.1, the next major version of the GPU production renderer.Key features in the release include a new decal system, support for rest attributes for better texture projection onto animated meshes, and a new camera node mimicking real-world lenses.The update also introduces a new Octane Server node for rendering elements of a scene on remote instances, and integration of Otoys Render Network inside the software.Many of the new features were previously scheduled for OctaneRender 2024.2, while other features previously announced have now been moved to OctaneRender 2026.1.https://www.cgchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/241203_OctaneRender20251_RestAttributes.mp4New decal system and support for rest attributes for texture projectionKey changes in OctaneRender 2025.1 include support for rest attributes to reduce distortion when projecting textures onto animated meshes that do not have existing UVs.When rest attributes are enabled, OctaneRender uses rest vertex positions and normals to calculate UV co-ordinates.The update also introduces a native decal system, for projecting textures onto mesh geometries within a scene, particularly to add surface patterns, or to add dirt and damage effects.Use texture-based displacement on Vectron primitives and volumesOther new features in OctaneRender 2025.1 include the Vectron displacement node.It makes it possible to use texture maps to displace Vectron primitives and volumes created using the Volume SDF node.It works in real time, at any scale, and is compatible with complex SDF trees or the Mesh Volume node.New realistic lens camera node recreates real-world lens effectsOther new features include the realistic lens camera node, which mimics the optical properties of real-world camera lenses.In the current build, it mimics 16 lens types you can find a list in the online release notes including Canon, Cooke Optics, Minolta, Nikon and Zeiss lenses.The new node reproduces real-world lens effects including Bokeh, vignetting, chromatic aberration, and barrel distortion.New Octane Server node and access to the Render Network from within OctaneRenderFor rendering, a new Octane Server node makes it possible to render another scene on a remote instance and use the result as an AOV or texture in your current scene.It is a highly experimental feature, and currently works in the Standalone edition of the software, and only on Windows.The remote instance can be another instance of the Standalone edition of OctaneRender, or a separate Octane Server app.In addition, the release makes the Render Network, Otoys distributed online GPU rendering service, available directly within OctaneRender.Users can upload scenes and check the progress of render jobs from inside the software.Updates to existing featuresThe release also includes updates to existing features, including the Chaos Texture node, which scatters a texture randomly across a surface.It is now possible to use a texture map or procedural noise to distort the scattering pattern, and to use texture projection types other than the mesh UVs.There are also 11 new blend modes for output AOV layers, including Hue, Saturation, Color, Luminosity, Hard Mix, Linear Light, Vivid Light and Pin Light.Better performance on M3 and M4 chips in Octane XMac users also get improved performance in Octane X, the Metal-native edition of the software.The update improves hardware acceleration on current Apple M3 and M4 chips, adding support for non-triangle primitives, including hair, particles and analytic lights.The test scene shown in the release thread on the Otoy forum shows a 1.5x increase in render speed over OctaneRender 2024.1 on a top-of-the-range M4 Pro chip, although Otoy says that the speed boost is smaller on less complex scenes.Features that havent made it into OctaneRender 2025.1Most of the key features in OctaneRender 2025.1 were previously scheduled for OctaneRender 2024.2, which now seems to have morphed into the current release.The only feature announced for 2024.2 not to be included is the Neural Filters system, intended to make it possible to use neural filters from Stability AI and other providers directly in [a] scene.It has now been moved to a separate experimental build of the software, OctaneRender 2026.1, along with other previously announced and, in some cases, much-delayed features including meshlet streaming, native support for MaterialX, and rendering of 3D Gaussian Splats.Price, system requirements and release dateOctaneRender 2025.1 is currently in public beta. Otoy hasnt announced a release date, but in the past, it has typically taken three to six months to get from the first beta to a stable release.OctaneRender is compatible with Windows 10+ and Linux, and requires a CUDA 10-capable NVIDIA GPU.Octane X is compatible with macOS 14.0+ on Macs with Apple M1 and later processors, and with iPadOS 17.0+ on devices with A12 Bionic and later chips.The software is rental-only, via Otoys Studio+ subscriptions, which cost 23.95/month, and which include integration plugins for 21 DCC applications, plus a range of third-party software.Otoy also provides free Prime editions of both OctaneRender and Octane X, which are limited to rendering on a single GPU, and which come with a smaller set of DCC integration plugins.Read a full list of new features in OctaneRender 2025.1 on Otoys forumHave your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). 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Jim Sichko, aCatholic priest from Lexington, Kentucky, visited Pope Francis in May and asked him to sign two bottles of bourbon for charity. Jim SichkoWhenever Catholic priest Jim Sichko visits the Vatican, he always brings a gift for the pope. Since Sichko is from Lexington, Kentucky, bourbon is usually his go-to. (Hemade headlines a few years ago for giving the pope a rare 23-year-old Pappy Van Winkle.)During a trip in May, Sichko presented Pope Francis with two bottles of bourbonbut this time, he didnt let the religious leader keep them. He asked Pope Francis to autograph the spirits and then give them back, so that he could auction them off for charity, per theCatholic News Agencys Daniel Payne. Pope Francis happily obligedbut not without cracking a joke first.Which one is mine? he asked Sichko.On December 7, thesigned bottles will be sold at a live auction at Sothebys in New York. Each bottle is expected to go for between $1,000 and $10,000, though predicting their final sale price is more of an art than a science.These estimates have a wide range, as we expect that Pope Francis name and signature holds incredible value around the world, says Zev Glesta, assistant vice president and whiskey specialist for Sothebys, toWhisky Advocates Sean Evans. Plus, those few lucky buyers can truly say they have a blessed whiskey shelf.The proceeds will be donated to several nonprofits, including an animal shelter and the Maxwell Street Legal Clinic, which provides legal assistance to immigrants in Kentucky. Sichko selected those causes because of their connection to the pope. Pope Francis is named after St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals; he has alsoadvocated for the compassionate treatment of migrants. Jim Sichko is known for bringing bourbon as a gift when he visits the Vatican. Jim SichkoBoth bottles are filled with bourbon made at Willett Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. Theyre barrel picks, meaning that Sichko visited the distillery and selected a specific barrel of whiskey to be bottled. Sichkodonated most of both barrels to charity. But he saved the first bottle from each one to be signed by the pope and auctioned off.One bottle commemorates Pope Francis tenth anniversary as pope and features the papal Coat of Arms. The bourbon inside was made from Willetts original recipe and aged for ten years.The other honors the 2025 Jubileea 12-month period in which Catholics can ask for the forgiveness of sins for themselves or deceased loved ones. (Jubilees typically only take place every 25 years, and this years theme is Pilgrims of Hope.) Also aged for ten years, the bottle features the official jubilee sticker.Why has Sichko gone to such great lengths to raise money for charity? In 2016, Pope Francis selected Sichko to be a papalmissionary of mercy, a small group of priests who can pardon certain sins. More broadly, theyre also tasked with spreading a message of hope and kindness through acts of compassion, writes Tom Wilmes forGarden & Gun magazine.Sichko has taken that mission to heart. He often performs random acts of kindness, like donating10,000 N-95 masks during the pandemic and helping aflooded grocery store rebuild. Hes paid forfunerals andburial expenses, supportedlaid-off miners and made large donations tofood pantries.One of the things that Pope Francis has said to us missionaries is that weve got to smell like our sheep, Sichko toldEsquires Dave Holmes in 2018. Weve got to get dirty. Weve got to get in the trenches.The bourbon auction is just his latest projecteven though he doesnt drink much himself.Kindness costs nothing, Sichko tellsWLEX-TVs Drew Amman. It costs nothing to be kind.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Alcohol, Animals, Auctions, Food, Immigrants, Liquor, Religion

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