Sunday, July 30, 2006 Filed in:
Personal
Continuing
my mixtape habit.... I invite you to listen to an
iMix (a collection of songs arranged around a topic).
Just click this
link
to visit the iTunes music store and you can here a
little part of the soundtrack of my life.
Radio & TV
features some songs for those who work in the
film/video/broadcast industry. A little satire, a few
good beats, and some nice instrumentals. Seems that
all my iMixes run with a theme... but I guess all
good mix tapes do.
Friday, July 28, 2006 Filed in:
Windows
Mac users
can now access Windows Media files... for free.
Telestream has updated Flip4Mac, so it
works with the new Intel-based Macs. Telestream
has a series of QuickTime components that enables
Mac OS X users to play, import and export Windows
Media files using QuickTime-based applications.
Mac users can access the free player from
Microsoft's
website, while
those creating pro vide will want to check out the
different options at Telestream's
site.
Thursday, July 27, 2006 Filed in:
Motion
Graphics
A
brand new tutorial on building graphics for multiple
video formats just went online. You'll find it on DV
Magazines website in both online and print
formats. Learn how to
work in HD, but also create for multimedia, DVD, and
Podcast distribution. This is useful in you need to
generate multiple animations on a budget or deadline.
The tutorial uses Adobe After Effects, and is not
version specific. If you'd like some extra resources,
visit the Magazine section
as
well.
UPDATE: For PC users looking
for a 10-bit codec... you can either download
the Blackmagic codecs or check
out SheerVideo.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 Filed in:
Podcast
| Adobe
Camera raw has several
advantages over other file formats. Instructor
Richard Harrington shows you how to open and develop
a camera raw image in Photoshop. Part 2 of 2.
Like the podcast?
Subscribe for FREE.
Want more training? Check out our Books.
Monday, July 24, 2006 Filed in:
Business
If
you are having a bad creative day working on your
clients latest ad... be sure to try out the
online
Advertising Slogan
Generator.
You type in a word and it spits out your latest
soda catch phrase. Don't like the first result..
click again. It's a good way to waste some time
and still feel like you're working.
Okay its silly.... but I like
surreal items.
They make me think and smile. Be sure to check it
out, then explore the site for other fun/useful
items.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006 Filed in:
Podcast
| Adobe
Camera raw has several
advantages over other file formats. Instructor
Richard Harrington shows you how to open and develop
a camera raw image in Photoshop. Part 1 of 2.
Like the podcast?
Subscribe for FREE.
Want more training? Check out our Books.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006 Filed in:
Conferences
For
those of who work in Sports media (or if you live
near Las Vegas), you should attend the
C4-Sports
conference.
The event is billed as an explosive vision of
sport. The conference is aimed towards those
working for professional and collegiate sports
teams, sports media experts in production,
editing, content creation, and distribution, and
IT and communication professionals from sporting
arenas, stadiums, and facilities. They will
explore state-of-the-art media technology
solutions designed to improve performance, create
revenue-generating opportunities, and increase
profits
Richard Harrington will be teaching three conference
sessions as well as two free classes on the trade
show floor.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006 Filed in:
Adobe | Training
Products
Are
you an intermediate to advanced After Effects user?
If so, the coolest book ever is about to ship. I
recently edited a book called
After Effects @
Work.
It features top designers like Trish & Chris
Meyer, Mark Coleran, Ken Locsmandi, Rachel Max and
Dave Phillips. Join eleven well -known AE
designers and teachers as they teach you
real-world secrets. You'll get an inside glimpse
at 11 projects and see what an expert can do using
just the tools that come on the After Effects
CD-Rom and a budget of $10,000 or less. This book
is a hybrid of case studies, tutorials, and
inspiration. It's like eleven internships in a
box. I'm really proud of this one and excited that
it is to ship the week of July 16. To order,
go
visit Amazon for the lowest
price.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006 Filed in:
Podcast
| Adobe
Instructor Richard
Harrington shows you how to use the navigator palette
to keep perspective of the entire image while zooming
in to work on a small section of it.
Like the podcast?
Subscribe for FREE.
Want more training? Check out our Books.
Saturday, July 08, 2006 Filed in:
Apple
I
often find when I am browsing the Net to select text
and drag it to the Desktop. I often use these
clippings as a way to gather a few notes. The only
problem with this system is that you can’t
modify the clipping. If you open the clipping in the
Finder you can read it, copy the text to your
clipboard, but that’s about it. But don’t
worry, there’s a great piece of freeware to
make tweaks.
Everyday Software has released ClipEdit so you can
modify both text and image clippings. The program is
free and very useful if you collect bits of
knowledge/trivia. For best results try the following.
1. Right-click (Control-click) on a clipping file and
choose Get Info.
2. Change the Open with: drop down menu to ClipEdit
3. Click Change All…
ClipEdit is now set as the default editor for all
clippings… much more useful and all it’ll
cost you is a visit to
Everyday
Software.
Saturday, July 08, 2006 Filed in:
Personal
Continuing
my mixtape habit.... I invite you to listen to an
iMix (a collection of songs arranged around a topic).
Just click this
link
to visit the iTunes music store and you can here a
little part of the soundtrack of my life.
"1980's Rewind"
features Some songs that pulled me through the
1980's. Some alternative and pop classics as well as
a few 'guilty pleasures.' These are the songs that
don't embarass the decade.
Saturday, July 08, 2006 Filed in:
Personal
Looking to expand
your typographical toolbox? Then be sure to visit
Dinc Type at the unique URL
www.GirlsWhoWearGlasses.com.
The site
is sassy and filled with great fonts. The unique
thing is that while fonts are free, the selection
frequently changes and fonts appear then disappear.
Its like an incredible import shop where
everything’s free, but the inventory keeps
changing. Bookmark and keep checking back as their
fonts are absolutely fantastic.
Friday, July 07, 2006 Filed in:
Business
Apple launched
Aperture, then Adobe announced Lightroom. Leave it to
Microsoft to get in on the fray.
iView Multimedia
is
now part of Microsoft. Micrsoft has picked up
three products:
View MediaPro,
iView Media,
iView Catalog
Reader. As people
gather more and more photos, movies, and other
digital files, keeping track of them all gets even
harder. Yan Calotychos,
has written a
letter about the
Microsoft deal which you can read
here.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006 Filed in:
Apple
So,
making a book using iPhoto is still the best. I sat
down and was going to use Aperture, but it didn't
have the theme I wanted (although both use the same
engine and printer service). If you've never made a
book, the process is a snap.
1.
Select the photos you want in the browser (pick more
than you think you'll need)
2. Click the Book icon in the Toolbar
3. Flip from page to page (choosing layout options
from the Toolbar)
4. Drag photos in and scale and position using
intuitive controls.
Mini books start at $4 and larger books range between
$20 -$30 depending on soft or hard covers. It really
makes a nice keepsake for friends or even a new way
to build a portfolio. But what about 'proofing?' Well
you can share the book before you print it.
1. In iPhoto, choose File > Print.
2. In the Print Window, choose Save as PDF.
3. Pick a destination, then name the file and click
OK.
4. Send the PDF to those who need to review it.
The mini books make great leave behinds for clients
or potential employers.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006 Filed in:
Motion
Graphics | Education
How good are your
eyes? Sure in the good old days you could spot the
fake dinosaurs and Spiderman was a stunt man in a
suit for every shot, These days we are inundated with
photorealistic CGI on TV and in cinema. Just how good
are your senses? Head over to Autodesk (makers of 3D
Studio Max and Maya) to take this quiz. I got 8 out of
10 on my first try... take a look and stretch your
brain for two minutes. Thanks to
Scott Simmons
for
the story.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006 Filed in:
Adobe
From Germany comes
a very useful site on After Effects and several 3D
animation tools. The site is named for its creator
Mylenium, who is an animator as well as a forum host
over at Creative Cow. Be sure to check out his
useful site for a ton of free resources (as
well as a few affordably priced ones as well).
I've personally around downloaded some of his easy
to use 'Looks' to stylize footage in Adobe After
Effects.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006 Filed in:
Adobe
The resource
site Photoshop For Video
has ben redesigned
and restocked with fresh content. This site serves
as a one-stop shop for training on Photoshop for
Video. You'll find all of my conference handouts
as well as extra articles and free training
movies. There's a little bit of overlap with
Raster|Vector content, but each site is for a
distinct audience. It appears that I've been
renewed with excitement for the Web (I actually
hand-coded HTML last night). If you work in the
video industry, be sure to check out this
informative site (there are over 150 free
downloads).
Tuesday, July 04, 2006 Filed in:
Podcast
| Adobe
Your image's individual
color data is represented in the channels. Instructor
Richard Harrington explains how to read and use the
channels palette.
Like the podcast?
Subscribe for FREE.
Want more training? Check out our Books.
Monday, July 03, 2006 Filed in:
Business
Narrator:
“Raster|Vector:
website. A blog barely alive.”
Adam Kranitz:
“Gentlemen,
we can rebuild him. We have the
technology.
We have the capability to make the polls more
responsive and interactive. Raster|Vector will be
that site. Better than it was before.
Better…stronger…faster.”
Okay, so if you voted before, you'll need to revoice
your opinion. I've opened up both polls (just scroll
down). Let your voice be heard... or at least make a
really loud click.
Monday, July 03, 2006 Filed in:
Apple
Okay...
this might seem trivial... but hopefully it will help
some of you. I frequently fly or train with two
things, a laptop and an iPod. Invariably, I forget to
charge my iPod before the trip. No problem, right?
Just plug it into your laptop... except then it goes
into 'sync mode' and you can't access controls. Sure
you could just launch iTunes and listen, but then you
are tying up your laptop screen (you see my traveling
companion/son often watches
Dora and
Little Einstein's
on
the video iPod). The solution, use a FireWire
cable.
Old iPods used FireWire to both charge and sync the
iPod. Then came the Windows users and Apple gave into
USB2. Now, in the latest iPods and Nanos, they took
the FireWire chipset out all together to make the
iPod thinner/cheaper. Plugging in a FireWire cable
only passes power through (no data). As such, you can
charge your iPod, while still having access to the
controls. If you don't have any of the old cables
lying around, try out this
one (or
one like it). A retractable cable that is
affordable and easily fits into your laptop bag.
Monday, July 03, 2006 Filed in:
Windows
I've
caught up on my sleep and appear to be a glutton for
punishment again. I have been asked to co-author a
new book on PowerPoint (more details soon).
Essentially, I will be putting together a new book on
design principles and techniques for effective screen
graphics. The book is going to focus on all versions
of PowerPoint, including the recently announced
PowerPoint 2007. I am starting to wade into this
latest version (its a public beta). If you are a
cutting-edge, risk taking technocrat, feel free to
join me. You can download the beta (legally) from
Microsoft by clicking
here.
It's a Windows only program (though its running
just fine on both my MacBook and MacBook Pro). I
welcome your
comments as
I work on the new book. Requests and suggestions
are welcome.
Monday, July 03, 2006 Filed in:
Business
After
catching Pixar's latest triumph, Cars, I felt the
desire to poke around the web for some behind the
scenes info. While there's lots out there, I found a
great blog that goes in depth on the people and
technology behind the films. If you enjoy Pixar's
animation, be sure to check out
Luxo (named
after the lamp in the logo and in this
great short).
The blog features a ton of stories of its own, as
well as video clips and a wealth of external
links. Whether your into the films or the business
side of computer graphics, you should check
this
one out.
Sunday, July 02, 2006 Filed in:
Apple
I
got a chance to appear on the July 1 edition of
Inside Mac Radio. I was on to promote the new
book on iWork ’06 and to offer some tips
on using iWork and iLife. It was a quick
interview, but I think we got some good
information out for the loyal listeners. If
you'd like to hear the episode (it's free), just
click
here.
Inside Mac Radio offers both a daily version
that's a short news blast on all things Mac and a
two-hour Saturday program that airs live in some
markets and is ready to download in others.
Sunday, July 02, 2006 Filed in:
Apple
A
lot of new laptops (such as those from Apple and
Dell) are shipping with the newer ExpressCard port.
The good news is that the port is very fast and
allows for much better performance than the older PC
card slots. The bad news is that the peripheral
manufacturers are more than a bit behind. When I
switched laptops to a MacBook Pro, I had to give up
on my wireless
EVDO card that
allowed me to access a broadband connection from
almost anywhere. Well it looks like the drought is
almost over. According to EVDOinfo.com, Verizon is
in the process of sending Novatel XV620
ExpressCards to their warehouses. This means
customers will be able to start placing orders
soon.
To
sign up for an email notification click
here.
• MacBook Pro and
EVDO
• ExpressCard/34 &
ExpressCard/54 For EVDO
Sunday, July 02, 2006 Filed in:
Business
It's
that time again... we've launched our survey for
July. This time its all about hardware. For your next
computer purchase will it be Mac or PC? Desktop or
Laptop? Be sure to vote for your next credit card
bill... inquiring minds want to know.
Saturday, July 01, 2006 Filed in:
Personal
OK,
I used to make mix tapes all the time for friends....
If you're on this site you're at least an
acquaintance. I invite you to listen to an iMix (a
collection of songs arranged around a topic). Just
click this
link to
visit the iTunes music store and you can here a
little part of the soundtrack of my life.
"Socially Aware"
is
a collection of newer songs that remind me that
music with a message can motivate and move you at
the same time. Visit iTunes to listen to the
tracks, pick up the ones you want, and vote for
the iMix in the rankings.
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