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.
I posted this iMix
here as it relates to the video industry... if you
like this feature, be sure to check out
Raster|Vector, the computer
graphics blog.
Saturday, July 29, 2006 Filed in:
Avid | Education
Thanks to all the
great folks we met at the Avid Government Training
Symposium. It was
wonderful to catch up with so many diverse users
and see how those in the public sector are
harnessing the power of video. RHED Pixel spoke
about production issues as well as integrating
Adobe Photoshop and After Effects into the
editor's workflow.
Thanks to Future Media Concepts
and
Avid for putting on
the event and to all who attended. If you need
conference notes from our sessions, visit
the Handouts page.
Friday, July 28, 2006 Filed in:
Adobe | Education
Friday, July
28,2006 Filed in:
Adobe |
Education
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 Raster Vector site
as
well.
Friday, July 28, 2006 Filed in:
Apple
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.
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.
Sunday, July 09, 2006 Filed in:
Other
So when I first
saw Mr. & Mrs. Smith I thought it was a good
action flick with a little romance thrown in and
some pretty funny characters (in other words a
perfect Hollywood formula flick). It was filled
with well-orchestrated action scenes and neither my
wife or I regretted the $18 it cost for the two of
us to go to the movies. And that's where it ended.
Except I picked up the DVD today (perhaps it was
the well orchestrated Brangelina ploy - the stars
of this film). But the Two disc Mr. & Mrs. Smith -
Unrated contains a way
above average amount of useful DVD extras.
including some scene and storyboard
deconstructions and the film maker sharing looks
at alternative approaches and scenes. Sure
you've seen that al befor, but it is very
wel-done here and as a visual storyteller, I
actually learned a few things. Consider picking
it up, but be sure to get the two-disc edition.
Saturday, July 08, 2006 Filed in:
Other | Resources
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.
Saturday, July 08, 2006 Filed in:
Other
For those of you
who make DVDs, it’s always good to get a fresh
opinion. What do people really think of all those
‘extra’ features? Who better to comment on DVD trivia
then Ken
Jennings?
In his blog,
he recently weighed in on both DVD Extras and
access to catalog titles. Ken’s blog is funny and
insightful and surprisingly addictive (much like
his Jeopardy run).
Friday, July 07, 2006 Filed in:
Other
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:
Other | 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.
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.
Subscribe to the RSS Feed
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.
