Probably my fave photo of the day. The spine is suspended using a series of metal cords and elastic bungie tendons which hold the alert posture of the neck in place without the need for excessive mounting frames. We're experimenting with novel materials and building methods.

Dr Matt Dempsey@sketchy-raptor.bsky.social · 22h ago

Today I'm building life sized mecha Megalosaurus in the Future Fossils workshop - a mixture of 3D prints of my digital designs, carved foam, and machine parts, all produced under the direction of Jay Jay Burridge. More photos to come! And debuting at Blenheim Palace next week...

Today I'm building life sized mecha Megalosaurus in the Future Fossils workshop - a mixture of 3D prints of my digital designs, carved foam, and machine parts, all produced under the direction of Jay Jay Burridge. More photos to come! And debuting at Blenheim Palace next week...

Star Fox on Switch 2 plays like a dream, and looks amazing. But man, what is up with the boss voice direction, especially their final lines? Glorious death lines from the original like "YOU'LL NEVER DEFEAT ANDROOSSSS" and "I CAN'T STOOOP IIIIT" are read like incidental ambient dialogue this time.

A present to myself following the success of my stall at DinoCon...

I've caught wind of a genAI service called "SciFig" marketing itself to academics as a way of creating figures for assignments, dissertations, papers, etc. I urge my peers to avoid it, and for those with power to influence departmental policy to seek pathways towards banning it.

For about a year, I've been working as vizdev artist, science guy, & 3D CAD designer on an awesome project - Future Fossils. Directed by Jay Jay Burridge, Future Fossils is manufacturing a pack of life sized Megalosaurus skeletons, stylised as living machines. A thread (1/6) 🧵

Decompressing after #DinoConUK 2026:

For about a year, I've been working as vizdev artist, science guy, & 3D CAD designer on an awesome project - Future Fossils. Directed by Jay Jay Burridge, Future Fossils is manufacturing a pack of life sized Megalosaurus skeletons, stylised as living machines. A thread (1/6) 🧵

#DinoConUK

DINOSAURS! I'm at @dinoconuk.bsky.social #dinoconUk with @creatureconsultant.bsky.social and it's kicking off strong! Wonderful talk by Matt Dempsey @sketchy-raptor.bsky.social and now hitting the vendors room meeting incredible artists, like Steve White! More pics to come! 🦖❤️

We are set up in the vendor hall (table 14) at #DinoConUk (@dinoconuk), and we have a lot of stuff to offer! I will be absent from the stall from between 10:00 and 11:00, as I'm presenting the first main talk of the day! But we're here all weekend. Come and say hello! 🦖🦕🦴

Behold, a man.

Packing for @dinoconuk.bsky.social...

Recent movie opinions: Backrooms: Really impressively directed, but loses my interest in the final act. The Odyssey: Hell yeah. Pretty great, some minor caveats. Toy Story 5: Okay, but the weakest in the series. Evil Dead Burn: Unworthy. Hated it. What were they thinking?

The opening slide of my @dinoconuk.bsky.social talk... I'm on immediately after the opening ceremony in the King's Suite on the Saturday, so hopefully I can start everyone's weekend in a fun way. We'll be investigating the idea of dinosaurs as living machines, size, muscularity, and more!

Between The Dark Knight Rises and The Odyssey, I think we now know that what Christopher Nolan *really* sees as the ultimate form of existence is to live in exile with Anne Hathaway. Relatable.

And the tracking version. I'm happy enought with how this looks in motion and how the rig functions that I should stop milking walk cycles and start doing some gestural tests and actual scene blocking...

Dr Matt Dempsey@sketchy-raptor.bsky.social · 2w ago

A second walk cycle attempt of my "Crooked Rex" Tyrannosaur character model, with a look at the inner workings of the rig. It features a partial muscle and skin simulation using the native cloth physics in Blender, influencing the main mesh via surface deform modifiers.

A second walk cycle attempt of my "Crooked Rex" Tyrannosaur character model, with a look at the inner workings of the rig. It features a partial muscle and skin simulation using the native cloth physics in Blender, influencing the main mesh via surface deform modifiers.

With @dinoconuk.bsky.social just around the corner, I'm taking the opportunity to capture a few shots of the models I'll be bringing to my stall in the summer evening light.

I want to add some elaboration to this statement - more often than not, the guilty parties are part of in-house venue marketing teams with little to no communication with the actual creatives behind the exhibitions being marketed. You may not realise this, but... (1/3, cont'd)🧵

Dr Matt Dempsey@sketchy-raptor.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Some thoughts relating to the gradual but very apparent normalisation of genAI image use in the public display sector:

Some thoughts relating to the gradual but very apparent normalisation of genAI image use in the public display sector:

And now, the same task again... But really really small. Eyes and claws to be painted tomorrow!

Dr Matt Dempsey@sketchy-raptor.bsky.social · last mo.

My model of this little guy has now been produced in life size by the @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social crew. I visited the museum to help them paint it in preparation for a starring role in @profaliceroberts.bsky.social's & David Stevens' award winning show garden at the BBC Gardener's World Live expo.

From the earliest WIPs, to the official press renders for Nature, to the raw 3D prints, to the handpainted miniature (debuting at @dinoconuk.bsky.social), my Spicomellus has certainly been a process.

Some more views of my painted Spicomellus. The model is about 30cm long, making it around 1/20 scale in a very approximate sense (the full body dimensions of the real animal are ambiguous).

Spicomellus, almost ready for @dinoconuk.bsky.social (just needs varnishing). This was not easy to paint for obvious reasons, but I'm super happy with the results.

Probably about 60-70% of the way there...

Dr Matt Dempsey@sketchy-raptor.bsky.social · 4w ago

Another preview from the workshop...

Another preview from the workshop...

I'd actually *really* like to see the animated topology of certain CGI examples that fall into this trope as they switch from open to closed wings, but I suspect that in many cases, it's not an actual dynamic mesh, but instead a hidden asset switch.

Dr Matt Dempsey@sketchy-raptor.bsky.social · last mo.

I also struggle to rationalise the basic mechanics of the way the shrinking is often depicted, independently of size. Even if the actinofibrils stack tightly against the wing finger, it's unclear where a lot of the more proximal vanishsing area (especially across the wrist) is supposed to be going.

I'm once again expressing my scepticism for the trope of wing membranes in large pterosaurs shrinking to near-invisibility when grounded instead of being allowed to fold or buckle, even a little bit.

Wild to think that my Stegosaurus muscle reconstruction (which was my first properly rigorous 3D-guided effort) is coming up on 6 years old! I still stand by almost all of the choices I made here. Any tweaks would be niche stuff that wouldn't meaningfully change the layout/forms.