Tuesday, October 31, 2006 Filed in:
Windows
I will be walking this
weekend to raise money for the American
Diabetes Association. If you are able to,
would you consider making a
small donation
to the cause?
Every dollar raised goes to help in the fight
against diabetes. Someone is diagnosed with
diabetes every 21 seconds, this is quickly
becoming the leading cause of death in
America. America's Walk for Diabetes is my
chance to give back (and yours as well). If
you find this blog helpful or entertaining,
please consider making a $5
donation. Thanks!
-Rich Harrington
Tuesday, October 31, 2006 Filed in:
Podcast
| Adobe
Instructor Rich
Harrington explains how to create spot color
channels and use them to accurately reproduce
your client's corporate colors.
Like the podcast?
Subscribe for FREE.
Want more training? Check out our
Books.
Saturday, October 28, 2006 Filed in:
Apple
Well, if you're
looking for a new resource to learn
Apple’s Final Cut Studio, then check
out the Final Cut Help
podcast over at iTunes.
Each week we'll have a new tutorial on all
aspects of Final Cut Studio including Final
Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Motion, and
Compressor. The high-quality video training
features Apple Certified instructors including
Abba Shapiro, Gary Adcock, Chris Phrommayon,
Mason Dixon, and Richard Harrington.
The podcast is a great way to sample our
new DVD training
titles
which are available from VASST.
Here’s the iTunes URL
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=202902941
Saturday, October 28, 2006 Filed in:
Education
| Training
Products
In need of
someone training this Fall? We've released
five new titles. Three are brand new for
Final Cut Pro users: Color
Correction,
Advanced
Trimming, and
Media
Management. These are three
areas that even the most experienced user can
gain speed and confidence.
We've also significantly updated two of our best
sellers: An Inside Look at the
HVX-200 and a guide to
working with HD Media. There are these
and several more available at
VASST.com. We hope you enjoy
them!
Saturday, October 28, 2006 Filed in:
Motion
Graphics
Continuing
their new Labs idea, Adobe has a preview release
of yet another new product. This time its
Adobe Soundbooth
which
is an audio editing tool for those who don't
need the power of Adobe Audition (or who find
all the features just a little confusing.) The
program is well suited for:
• Editing audio quickly.
• Cleaning up noisy audio.
• Visually identifying and removing
unwanted sounds.
• Recording and polishing voiceovers.
• Adding effects and filters.
Download now
before
the current Soundbooth beta expires on
February 28, 2007.
A great review of Soundbooth can be found
on Creative
Cow.
Saturday, October 28, 2006 Filed in:
Apple
| Education
Well, if you're looking
for a new resource to learn Apple’s
Final Cut Studio, then check out the
Final Cut Help
podcast over at iTunes. Each week
we'll have a new tutorial on all aspect of
Final Cut Studio including Final Cut Pro, DVD
Studio Pro, Motion, and Compressor. The
high-quality video training features Apple
Certified instructors including Abba Shapiro,
Gary Adcock, Chris Phrommayon, Mason Dixon,
and Richard Harrington.
The podcast is a great way to sample our
new
DVD
training titles which are available
from VASST.
Here’s the iTunes URL
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=202902941
Here’s the Show Page
http://www.podango.com/podcast/1204/Final_Cut_Help__Absolute_Training_for_Final_Cut_Studio
Saturday, October 28, 2006 Filed in:
Personal
| Windows
I've posted some new items
online to help spice up your projects and
make your digital life a little easier.
• Background Textures from
Digital Anarchy
• NTSC Test Image
(For use
with Photoshop's Video Actions)
• Power
Window/Vignette to enhance Film Look
• Over The Shoulder Data Sets
Template
I hope
you enjoy. If you spot any problems,
please
let me
know.
Saturday, October 28, 2006 Filed in:
Apple
| Business
In need of someone
training this Fall? We've released five new
titles. Three are brand new for Final Cut
Pro users:
Color
Correction,
Advanced
Trimming, and
Media
Management. These are three areas that
even the most experienced user can gain speed
and confidence.
We've also significantly updated two of our best
sellers: An
Inside Look at the
HVX-200 and a guide to working
with
HD
Media. There are these and
several more available at
VASST.com. We hope you enjoy them!
Friday, October 27, 2006 Filed in:
Video
| Education
I've posted
conference notes
from my sessions
at NAB New York. If you attended any of my
classes, be sure to have a look. Even if you
didn't attend, you might find the resources
useful. The two most popular classes
were Color
Correction for Final Cut Pro
and
Motion
Control 3D. If you couldn't attend (or
want to go deeper) both of these have
DVDs available from
VASST.com.
Thursday, October 26, 2006 Filed in:
Windows
While at NAB New York, I
had the chance to catch up with some
industry pros. I just found at that the New
York Final Cut Pro User Group has evolved
into a broader focus. The group is now
called
The Motion Pictures
Collective.
"The Moving Pictures
Collective fosters our professional filmmaking
community to enhance their abilities and broaden
their overall knowledge and skills to reach their
career goals. With post-production as our core
competency, we will share techniques, tools, and
best practices in all competencies including
editing, directing, writing, producing, and
shooting. We will also promote member
collaboration by sharing our work in a supportive
environment and create opportunities for our
members to
flourish.”
If you live near New York City, be sure to check
out one of their great
events.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 Filed in:
Windows
At NAB New York, I had a
chance to take a look at a new
rotoscoping
product that is
truly unique and fast! Imageneer Systems
showed off
motor, which looks to speed up
the tedious process of rotoscoping by 3 times.
The tools is designed for both video and film
work. It is a standalone product, but it can
export matted clips or mask data to other
programs. The product works using 2.5D planar
tracking technology where the user defines
basic objects or planes (like body parts). The
system then supports variable edge width and
the ability to refine edges with far fewer
keyframes. The product is currently in beta
testing (but release looks to be soon).
Tuesday, October 24, 2006 Filed in:
Podcast
| Adobe
Instructor Rich
Harrington shows you how to mathematically
separate image information and manipulate
individual color channels to create the perfect
alpha channel using Photoshop's Calculations
tool. Part 2 of 2.
Like the podcast?
Subscribe for FREE.
Want more training? Check out our
Books.
Sunday, October 22, 2006 Filed in:
Motion
Graphics
If you'll be in New York
City this week, be sure to say hi. I'll be
speaking at the NAB New York conference this
week on a variety of topics. Classes aren't
free (but the tradeshow is for advanced
registration). You can also get a
one-session free pass by stopping by
the Future Media
Concepts booth.
Here's my class schedule if you're coming to the
conference.
Monday -
October 23rd
10:00
- 1:00 Fast Start with Adobe Photoshop CS2
2:00 - 5:00 Fast Start with Adobe Photoshop CS2
for Video
Tuesday -
October 24th
9:00
- 10:15 Automating Photoshop CS2 for a Video
Workflow
12:30 - 1:30 When Multicam Shoots Go Right (and
Wrong)
Wednesday -
October 25th
1:45
- 3:00 HD Loops: Creative Looping Backgrounds
4:45 - 6:00 Interfaces in Motion – Bringing
Web Pages to Life
Thursday -
October 26th
9:00
- 10:15 Essential Color Correction Concepts
12:45 - 2:00 Motion Control 3D: How to Create
Movement within a Photo
2:15 - 3:30 Word Play: Title Design Workshop
Sunday, October 22, 2006 Filed in:
Windows
While clearing off my cell
phone camera, I came across this gem from
Photoshop World. I had intended to sit down
and watch a demo on Windows Vista (writing a
book on PowerPoint makes you do strange
things).
So I went to hear (and see the latest). But it
seems that the Microsoft rep couldn't get the
system to boot up using Windows Vista. The
audience was good natured, but still after
multiple reboots and attempts, it just wouldn't
work). So, the unaltered photos you see here are
what the audience got (at least the demo guy had
a sense of humor).
So, has Vegas started taking odds on Apple vs.
Windows as to who will get their operating system
out the door first? What are your plans about
Windows Vista?
Saturday, October 21, 2006 Filed in:
Business
Tonight,
I ended up in a K-mart (I was looking for a bin
of Tinker Toys for my son Michael). My eye was
caught by the promise of 'free high-speed
internet access' (or acceso gratuito de alta
velocidad a internet for K-mart's Spanish
speaking customers). Naturally, my curiosity got
the best of me.
1. Who exactly goes to K-mart with a laptop?
2. While they do have a snack-bar, could you
really see yourself sitting down with a big tall
ICEE (blue please) and telecommute?
3. Where did they
dig up the dinosaur 'Application Center'
terminal. This thing totally looks like a
TRS (Trash) 80... If you know what I mean...
please validate this inane post by leaving a
comment.
Well, as a podcaster, I guess I should be glad
that you can now get my latest episodes at
K-mart. Be sure to stop into your
“all-new” K-mart (now owned by Sears)
and see what joys lie in-store for you.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
This one came up
today when a client asked me about previewing
Photoshop graphics on a TV monitor. There's a
great product called
EchoFire, which lets you preview out
of Photoshop using virtually any video
hardware. But if DV is good enough for you,
then Photoshop CS2 has you covered.
1. Hook up a FireWire
device that uses the DV protocol like a deck
or Analog/Digital converter (I like ones
from Canopus).
2.
Make sure the hardwire is powered up and
connected to a monitor, then launch Photoshop.
3. Work with your current document and design as
needed.
4. Choose File > Export Video Preview...
5. Specify your Output Mode and Aspect Ratio and
click OK.
Preview away
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 Filed in:
Adobe
I was recently asked how I
could teach Photoshop and not
be a
professional photographer. It seems that
most people forget that Photoshop has a
diverse history and origin. In fact, I often
point out its strong roots in the world of
film and special effects (one half of the
development team worked at
Industrial Light and
Magic). Photoshop serves all and
this great article
by Jeff Schewe
gives you insight into its rich history.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 Filed in:
Apple
I own a few geeky Mac
shirts already. I've got my Mac Genius shirt
with the logo from Apple‘s Genius Bar
that is discontinued (this is
close). My son has two shirts that
say mini with an apple logo (back from the
days of the iPod mini). My wife also found my
favorite tech shirt that simply states
RTFM (if you aren't sure
what those letters
mean...). Fortunately there's a new
company in town. and the geeks can go even
longer without doing their laundry.
Insanely Great
Tees has a preview site up and
they look to have some good shirts when they
launch.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 Filed in:
Podcast
| Adobe
Instructor Rich
Harrington shows you how to mathematically
separate image information and manipulate
individual color channels to create the perfect
alpha channel using Photoshop's Calculations
tool. Part 1 of 2.
Like the podcast?
Subscribe for FREE.
Want more training? Check out our
Books.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
It's that
time again... we've launched our survey for
the month of October. It's time for you to
cast your vote and have your voice/click
heard.
This time we want to know which technology has
had the greatest impact on your career/hobby. To
clarify, we're talking hardware, software, or
both. If you had to pick one (and only one) which
would it be? Additionally, you have the option to
vote for the ubiquitous ‘other’ but
please be sure to identify it in the Comments
section. Feel free to offer other opinions in the
Comments feed as well.
Saturday, October 14, 2006 Filed in:
Adobe
Looking for
a cool contest with prizes better than a
shiny statue? Then don't miss
the Photoshop User
Awards sponsored by
the National Association of Photoshop
Professionals. They've got great prizes
including passes to Photoshop World and a
prize package of design tools. The Best of
Show winner gets to go ‘on
assignment’ in Rome, Italy.
The deadline for
entry is December 31, 2006 and you can find the
full rules here. There are
eleven categories to enter:
1.
General Photography (digital or traditional
scanned images manipulated or collaged in
Photoshop)
2. Illustration (original creations drawn or
created in Photoshop)
3. Artistic (artistic creations)
4. Photo Restoration (Restoring or repairing
damaged images - die: rips, scratches, tears,
faded photos, etc.)
5. Wedding and Portrait Photography (Wedding or
Portrait images enhanced using Photoshop.)
6. Landscape & Travel Photography (Outdoor
photography enhanced or corrected, or processed
in Photoshop)
7. Photo Retouching (Retouching people,
landscapes, architectural images, commercial
retouching, etc.)
8. Advertising Design (Images used in brochures,
annual report collages, advertising, logos, etc.)
9. Composites and Collaging (Collage of images).
10. Student Work (Images created or manipulated
by students. NOTE: A valid student ID is required
to enter work in this category).
11. General Photoshop Design (Images that don't
fit into one of the categories listed above:
cartoons, Photoshop graffiti art, tattoo art,
medical imagery, astronomy, etc.).
It's a great contest and open to all Photoshop
users.
Friday, October 13, 2006 Filed in:
Windows
I'm hard at work
on a new book on PowerPoint
2007. It’s
called How to Wow with
PowerPoint and I am writing it
with my friend Scott
Rekdal. We're focussing
on all of the coolest features and the
essential skills you need to make
great-looking presentations.
Here’s a preview of a useful tip on how to
insert a Flash file or YouTube video into a
PowerPoint slide.
Put Flash in a Presentation
Inserting Flash
animations into a slideshow can significantly
extend the animation abilities of PowerPoint.
However, the task is NOT easy. In order to unlock
this feature, you literally need to unlock the
software. This feature is tricky, and if you are
of the faint of heart.
1. Enable Flash Technology
There are several
preferences you must modify to enable Flash
files. You may need to adjust your security
settings to allow ActiveX to run (this is the
portal for Flash). To activate ActiveX, it is
best to view the PowerPoint help file, enter the
text “Enable ActiveX.”
Next, make sure that the Shockwave Flash plug-in
has been loaded on your system. For maximum
compatibility you should download the latest
version from www.adobe.com. You should also
install the latest version of Flash Player on
your system.
2. Enable the Developer’s
tab
The Developer’s tab contains several
advanced elements that let you customize a
presentation. Most of these are for developers,
that is those individuals who are actually using
PowerPoint as a programming environment to create
interactive programs.
To enable these tools, click the Microsoft Office
Button, and then click PowerPoint Options button.
Next, click Popular, and then under Top options
for working with PowerPoint, select the Show
Developer tab in the Ribbon check box B. To apply
the change, click OK.
3.
Add the Flash Control
On
the Developer tab, go to the Controls group, and
click More Controls. In the new dialog box,
select Shockwave Flash Object from the list of
controls B and click OK. Draw on the slide to
insert the control. Drag from the top corner to
the bottom corner (covering the entire slide). A
white box with an X should now cover the entire
slide.
4.
Locate the Movie
Unfortunately, the
Flash control does not have a browse function to
locate the movie. You have to know the actual
file path (this is a long string of text such as
C:\Documents and Settings\RHED
Pixel\Desktop\Chapter
4\Sources\Video\Flash_Title.swf). Be sure to
figure out the location of your file.
5.
Modify the Control Container
Now that you know the
location of the file, right-click the Shockwave
Flash Object on the slide and choose Properties
A. On the Alphabetic tab, click the Movie
property (this specified the file). In the value
column (the blank cell next to Movie), type or
paste the full drive path B, including the file
name or URL to the Flash file that you want to
play.
You can also set options such as looping by
modifying settings in the Properties dialog box.
6. Test it Out
Lets see if it works?
Press Shift+F5 to Preview the current slide. Did
it work? Flash animations are a quickly evolving
feature inside of PowerPoint, so keep an eye on
the built-in help menu to see if future updates
streamline embedding a Flash file. If the above
steps seem too in-depth, then be sure to check
out PFCMedia, which makes this process a few
clicks.
7.
Want YouTube?
If you’re
clever, you can get a YouTube video to work in
PowerPoint. It’s not easy (but its pretty
cool!) The trick is to harness the power of Flash
(see Put Flash in a Presentation). The only
difference is you’ll insert a web URL for
the movie you want. For example if you found a
movie like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RysNrUP5MqA
you
would view it on the page. What you need to do
is modify the web link. Instead, use
http://www.youtube.com/v/RysNrUP5MqA
to
create a direct link to just the media file
and none of the web page navigation. When you
launch your presentation, click once to start
the clip. If you click the screen again it
takes you to the YouTube website. Instead,
click the space bar to advance the slide.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 Filed in:
Apple
We found ourselves
'hardware-crunched' due to recent project
deadlines. To get by, we picked up one of
the new iMacs. For the money, these machines
are very
impressive.
Here's the features that matter to pro
designers.
Set-up
• Plugged in the power
cord and network cable, it was up an running
• In less than 5 minutes the computer was
un-boxed and running (sure.. installing the Apple
and Adobe collections took longer....
)
System Specs
• 2.16GHz Intel Core 2
Duo processor (very fast at
encoding DVDs!)
• Comes with 1GB memory (more is nice...
but this was enough to 'just go')
• A robust and fast 250GB Serial ATA
7200-rpm hard drive
• 8x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
(yes... does just about everything)
• High-speed 802.11g, Bluetooth, and
Ethernet built-in
The Display
• A HUGE 24-inch
widescreen LCD (everyone from staff to
clients stares and comments on how nice the
screen looks... everyone)
• Very bright and crisp
with a wide viewing angle
• a reasonably powered NVIDIA GeForce 7300
GT graphics processor with 128MB of GDDR3 SDRAM
using PCI Express (fast enough for Motion and
After Effects).
• Support for external display in extended
desktop
Other Nice
Things that come in handy
• Built-in iSight camera
• One FireWire 400 and one FireWire 800
port
• Three USB 2.0 ports
• Internal 24-watt speakers (not bad
sounding.... but use monitors for real audio
work)
What's really cool is the system is actually
approved for running Final Cut Studio. I highly
recommend if you are in a system crunch or need
an extra machine to check the iMac out.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 Filed in:
Apple
We found ourselves
'hardware-crunched' due to recent project
deadlines. To get by, we picked up one of
the new iMacs. For the money, these machines
are very
impressive.
Here's the features that matter to pro
designers.
Set-up
• Plugged in the power
cord and network cable, it was up an running
• In less than 5 minutes the computer was
un-boxed and running (sure.. installing the Apple
and Adobe collections took longer....
)
System Specs
- 2.16GHz Intel
Core 2 Duo processor (very fast
at encoding DVDs!)
- Comes with
1GB memory (more is nice... but this was enough
to 'just go')
- A robust and
fast 250GB Serial ATA 7200-rpm hard
drive
- 8x SuperDrive
(DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) (yes... does just about
everything)
- High-speed
802.11g, Bluetooth, and Ethernet
built-in
- A HUGE
24-inch widescreen LCD (everyone from staff to
clients stares and comments on how nice the
screen looks... everyone)
- Very bright
and crisp with a wide viewing angle
- a reasonably
powered NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics
processor with 128MB of GDDR3 SDRAM using PCI
Express (fast enough for Motion and After
Effects).
- Support for
external display in extended
desktop
- Built-in
iSight camera
- One FireWire
400 and one FireWire 800 port
- Internal
24-watt speakers (not bad sounding.... but use
monitors for real audio work)
What's really
cool is the system is actually approved for
running Final Cut Studio. I highly recommend if
you are in a system crunch or need an extra
machine to check the iMac out.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006 Filed in:
Podcast
| Adobe
Connect the dots
and create scalable vector graphics with
Photoshop's pen tool. Instructor Rich Harrington
explores how paths can be used to make accurate
selections and create customized effects.
Like the podcast?
Subscribe for FREE.
Want more training? Check out our
Books.
Monday, October 09, 2006 Filed in:
Adobe
Richard
Harrington was recently
interviewed by
Mac Edition
Radio about Photoshop
and education.
"An
interview with Peachpit
Press Author Richard Harrington
on writing a
book to help teach Photoshop. Rich brings years
of teaching experience, expertise with motion
graphics, and a longing for the perfect book to
teach Photoshop with, and wrote
“Understanding Adobe Photoshop:
Digital Image Concepts and
Techniques.”
Recorded at the
National Association of Photoshop
Professionals Photoshop
World Conference, Las Vegas, in September
2006 by Harris Fogel."
Have a listen
if you'd like.
Thursday, October 05, 2006 Filed in:
Business
| Apple
While
at the Ottawa Convention Center for the
Podcasting and Portable Media Expo, I was
quite surprised to see a large vending
machine filled
with electronics. Everything from iPods to
PlayStation Portables stocked this machine. It
was really pretty amazing. Swipe your credit
card and you could be basic things like an
iPod cable or laptop cable, to a 60GB video
iPod. Prices were the same as retail in a
store... so there was really no disadvantage
to buying (although I imagine returns or
exchanges would be tricky).
And unlike that bag of M&Ms, they product
does not fall to the ground (a robotic
arm/magic elf gently moves the package from
shelf to pickup bin).I am sure there are more
of these out there... anyone ever buy from
one?
Tuesday, October 03, 2006 Filed in:
Podcast
| Adobe
Instructor Richard
Harrington explains how you can use the quick
mask command to make a complex selection in
Photoshop. Part 2 of 2.
Like the podcast?
Subscribe for FREE.
Want more training? Check out our
Books.
Sunday, October 01, 2006 Filed in:
Windows
AOL has
launched a
free utility for
online storage called
Xdrive. They'll
give you a whopping 5 GB (which is pretty
good). The service is free (for now it
appears) as it doesn't charge you or ask for
any payment info. But the login screen does
allude that they may ask to charge in the
future (you won't be billed automatically).
“With
your 5GB of secure online storage there's plenty
of room to keep backup copies of digital photos,
all your important documents, e-mail attachments,
and other files — and still have space
leftover for your music collection. It's the best
way to keep computer crashes from becoming
disasters. Think of it as hard drive
insurance.”
In that vein, it
gets even better. When I logged in, they upped it
to 50 GB for free. They offer free software for Windows
users that lets you
mount the Xdrive as a volume on your desktop.
But Mac users can still access the service
through a slightly more clunky web interface.
Sunday, October 01, 2006 Filed in:
Apple
Have
an iDisk? They are a
useful part of a .mac account
that allow
you to store and backup files to an Internet
hard drive. If you use an iDisk with clients,
it can get a little tricky for clients to
figure out how to access your iDisk using
Apple's iDisk utility. An easier way is
through a web browser. Just have your client
type http://idisk.mac.com/your
iDisk name and they'll
be connected.
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