Friday, June 29, 2007 Filed in:
Apple
| Windows
| Education
It was a proud day
at RHED Pixel (my office). One of our new
podcasts made the front page of iTunes.
On Software
focusses on how
software is developed, and features interviews
with the creative folks who design and program
the tools we all love.
(It's not every day that you're grouped with a
presidential candidate, CNN, and PBS)
OnSoftware—Each
week, we will talk to some of the software
industry's leading developers about a wide
range of programming and development issues.
Our interviews include talks with Java
Puzzlers author Josh Bloch, C++ Inventor
author Bjarne Stroustrup, and Java
Concurrency in Practice author Brian Goetz
to name just three. With discussions on
topics ranging from the future of C++ and
Concurrency and value driven software
development to Design Patterns, Agile
Estimating and Planning, Iterative
Development, Generics, and language
compatibility, we have something for
technical professionals working in every
part of the industry.
Is it technical... yup. But I still think you'll
find it interesting.
Friday, June 29, 2007 Filed in:
Windows
| Adobe
| Education
| Training
Products
I've
gotten a few letters lately asking about new
books... there are three updates and a new one in
development (more later).
But I did write a new book and thoroughly revise
another.
For your reading enjoyment and personal
education.
Photoshop
for Video 3rd Edition (previously titled
Photoshop for Nonlinear Editors)
• Major updates with tons of new content
and more than 75 new pages of material
• Over 2.5 hours of training videos
• Expanded coverage of DVD and Motion
Graphics
• In-depth look at HD graphics and workflow
• Full coverage of Photoshop CS3
Download the free
chapter here.
You can order the book here.
Here's
a free chapter from my new book
How to Wow with PowerPoint. This is the intro
to the book and focusses on best practices for
designing graphics for the screen (so even if
you aren't a PowerPoint fan, you'll find some
wholesome goodness on here). I hope you all
enjoy it, If you'd like to order the book
click here.
Unrated
Monday, June 25, 2007 Filed in:
Adobe
| Motion
Graphics
Looking for some
After Effects training? One of my favorite
resources is The Anvel
run by Dean
Velez. Besides a bunch of cool
freebies and
templates, Dean has a great
subscription package
of After Effects
tutorials. Dean is a very experiences designer
with a few Emmys under his belt.
He generously shares this knowledge with others.
Dean's discs are great for ideas and I float them
amongst the RHED Pixel staff so they can try out
some new techniques.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007 Filed in:
Adobe
When a
Macintosh application is installed, it tends
to install several language localization
files on your drive. If you have a robust
Applications folder, these files can quickly
add up to gigabytes of space. On a laptop,
this can be particularly bad. Instead of
manually performing a 'seek-and-dstroy'
mission, you can harness the power of
DeLocalizer. This useful piece of freeware
will remove all non-American English
localization resource files that you
specify. This useful program lets you
customize which languages to remove and can
save you a lot of space on your drive.
For more information click here.
Friday, June 15, 2007 Filed in:
Apple
| Windows
In
case you missed it... Apple released a public
beta of Safari 3.0
for
both Mac
AND WINDOWS! To be honest, I never
saw that one coming... With great new features,
its a worthy upgrade for both platforms. I've
seen an occasional hang-up, but the program is
faster and adds some great features.
Inline find – Search
within a web page by pressing Cmd+F (Ctrl+F)
Resizable Text Fields – More room when working
online
Improved Security – Shoo!
Pick up the tabs – Rearrange tabs with
drag and drop ease
PDFs Control – Zoom, Save, or Send to
a PDF app
Get the free download here.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007 Filed in:
Apple
While it’s useful
that you can import layered PSD files into
Final Cut Pro, it’s unfortunate that
not all features carry over. On the other
hand, when you need to change a graphic
(such as a spelling mistake) it’s very
useful to have those layers...Have your cake
and eat it too—hmm.
Okay, this is easy. In Photoshop, save your files
as LAYERED TIFFs. Final Cut Pro will read it in
as a flattened file, but you can make changes.
Better yet, if you use the Open in Editor
shortcut, you can open and modify the file. In
fact you can add, delete, move, and rename layers
with no ill effects (try that with a PSD file
you’ve imported and watch what craziness
breaks loose).
Like this
tip? It comes from the book
Final Cut Studio On the
Spot from Focal
Press.
Monday, June 11, 2007 Filed in:
Personal
If
you’ve wondered why things have been a
little quiet... it’s because my life is
anything but! Welcome to Colleen Ann Harrington.
She was born 5 weeks early (and no... we weren't
ready). What started as an evening of Thai Food
and a Movie Date (to see Knocked Up
of
course), turned into an early delivery.
Born – June 2, 2007
21 Inches – 6 Pounds 11 ounces
Mother and Child are both doing well.
Thanks for the kind words and well wishes.
Friday, June 08, 2007 Filed in:
Apple
| Windows
I just had a need to pull
out TRANSTYPE
SE.
This useful utility comes in handy when
working on a design project and getting
client-provided materials? Oftentimes fonts
come over (which is great), except they are
for the wrong platform (which isn't so great).
Instead of rushing out to buy the font again,
you can usually convert it.
This shareware application converts Mac fonts to
PC fonts, or vice versa. Simple in concept, clean
in execution--this tool has been a lifesaver that
has kept many a motion graphics project on
track.
Thursday, June 07, 2007 Filed in:
Personal
Here's
my latest iMix, a collection of songs posted to
the iTunes music store for others to enjoy. Just
click this link to visit the iTunes
music store and you can here a little part of
the soundtrack of my life. Girl Power – Songs for my
Daughter is a collection
songs that I'd like my daughter to hear. I
think these artists offer a lot to think about
and some good advice. Visit iTunes to listen
to the tracks, pick up the ones you want, and
vote for the iMix in the rankings.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007 Filed in:
Motion
Graphics | Adobe
| Conferences
If you'll be at
the Podcast and New Media Expo show this
weekend, consider checking out these free
classes on the show floor. Podango is
offering an “Unconference,”
a
featured program of the Podcast and New Media
Expo (PNME) taking place September 28-30, at
the Ontario Convention Center.
Podango, the online video and audio network that
enables publishers and advertisers to “get
heard” by today’s hard-to-reach,
niche audiences, is heralding a wide range of
topics and speakers. They include: new media
pioneer Scott Bourne, host of The Apple Phone
Show; Paige Heninger and Gretchen Vogelzang,
hosts of MommyCast; as well as Jason Van Orden,
David Lawrence and others. Speakers will share
ideas for building and monetizing audiences in
today’s niche-oriented, interest-driven new
media marketplace. Read
More...
Monday, June 04, 2007 Filed in:
Apple
| Motion
Graphics
I
present a slightly old (but still relevant)
article on Apple Motion. Here are
Ten things you should know
about Apple Motion (thanks to DV.com).
For example:
DIRTY ALPHA
Not happy with the
alpha channel you get when you cut a Motion
project into a Final Cut Pro timeline? Well, your
alpha may be off. Final Cut Pro sometimes
misinterprets the alpha channel data, expecting
you to have a straight alpha channel, when in
fact you may have a premultiplied alpha.
1. Select the Imported Motion project file in
your Browser.
2. Choose Modify > Alpha Type Black.
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