Instructor Richard Harrington explains how to make contact sheets in Photoshop so you can easily view multiple images.

My last home before Washington, DC was Des Moines, IA. A lot of friends and colleagues have been affected by devastating floods that most have overlooked. The short version, floods worse than Hurrican Katrina have been battering the Midwest... few have noticed.

One of my favorite bands, the Nadas, has an online album to raise awareness and funds.

River Songs - Authentic Records' Flood Relief Benefit Bootleg

Contribute to United Way of Central Iowa's flood relief fund while reliving some of your favorite moments from Authentic Records Authentic Records' Flood Relief Benefit on Sunday, June 22. Please pay what you can for this exclusive download. All proceeds benefit United Way of Central Iowa.
1. Barkers Beauty - Fat Andy
2. Come Lay Down - She Swings, She Sways
3. Promise - Benjamin Wagner
4. The Friday Night Fight - Brother Trucker
5. Angels & Devils - Tony Bohnenkamp
6. Feel Like Home - The Nadas
7. Templeton Rye - The Nadas
8. The River - The Nadas

The download is free, but donations matter. Do what you can.

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Here are a few of my favorite resources for Photoshop Actions. These save time and make you look good.

Tools for Television – Want to automate standard video graphics production tasks? Then check out Tools for Television’s Photoshop Toolbox for video-friendly actions at http://www.toolsfortelevision.com.

Action FX – For complex text and special effects, check out the excellent site http://www.actionfx.com. There are several free actions as well as some to purchase.

Photoshop Video Actions – Upgraded to CS2 or CS3? Then be sure to check out the built in Video Actions that I authored with
Dan Brown for some timesaving automation tools.

PanosFX – A newer site that is really becoming one to watch is PanosFX (http://www.panosfx.com). This site has some incredible free actions as well as some very affordable and powerful tools for sale.

Adobe Exchange – If you’re not in a position to purchase add-ons to your system, there’s one incredible free resource worth mentioning. With the release of Photoshop 5.5, Adobe launched a Web site originally called Action Xchange where users could share their actions; see http://www.adobe.com/exchange.

Instructor Richard Harrington shows you how to batch process a whole folder of images by using actions & droplets.

I recently got a chance to co-host Layers TV with Corey Barker. The show is a great podcast that comes out each week on all things Adobe. They do a really great job with it and they had me on as a guest host to cover Adobe Production Premium.

“Corey is joined by guest co-host Richard Harrington to discuss working with video in Photoshop Extended, Premiere, and After Effects.

• When working in Premiere, don't forget about the search menu that you can use to locate the effects you want
• Change Color is a useful effect that you can use to target and adjust one color region of your video clip
• There are also Shadow/Highlight adjustment options in Premiere
• You can bring your video clips into Photoshop Extended and apply Photoshop effects to them
• Make video clips into smart objects so that Photoshop will treat them as a single layer
• After you have finished editing the video clip in Photoshop, go under the Export command and render the finished video
• Get more information from Richard at Photoshop For Video.com
• Use After Effects to make speed changes to your video clips. Remember, time is just another keyframe
• If you want further video training from Richard, you can watch his classes at Kelby Training.com, or see him live at Photoshop World this September in Las Vegas”

DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE – WATCH ONLINE

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Layers Magazine just released my tutorial on DVD Menus with Photoshop CS3 Extended. Love the intro they give (hah!).
“Now up is the incomparable Richard Harrington. Richard has a tutorial for making a DVD menu in Photoshop CS3 Extended that will have you creating great DVD design with little fuss. Richard will also be doing stuff in Layers TV very soon, so be sure that you check that out as well. Click on the link below to get to the tutorial.”
Richard Harrington - DVD design using Photoshop CS3 Extended

Watch each week as “The Photoshop Guys” (Dave Cross, Matt Kloskowski, and Scott Kelby) from the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) share the hottest Adobe Photoshop tutorials, the latest insider tricks, and the coolest timesaving, job-saving shortcuts to make your time in Photoshop more productive, more efficient, and more fun.

Be sure to check out this week’s epsiode of Photoshop User TV. Scott Kelby had me on the show for an interview and a couple of quick tips.

Watch Episode Online
Download Episode 138

Instructor Richard Harrington shares some techniques on how to age a photograph in Photoshop.

Seems like a lot of folks have forgotten (or never learned) how to scan photos. With this is mind, I offer some practical scanning advice. Several problems can be introduced by those using antiquated scanners with a distinct lack of skill. To get the best results, try the following:

• Before scanning an image, ensure you have the latest software needed by your scanner. You can always check their websites or use Version Tracker. Having problems with a lack of support on the OSX side for older scanners. I recommend checking out VueScan from Hamrick Software.

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Instructor Richard Harrington shares some techniques on how to age a photograph in Photoshop.

There’s been a lot of ho-hum reviews on the Apple TV… too much of this, not enough of that… but these have all been focussed on the consumer space and the living room.  What I’m here to tell you is why video pros should care about the Apple TV (and why we swear by it in my shop).  Here are a few reasons we use Apple TV at my shop, RHED Pixel.

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In the category of so new the paint is still drying.... I present to you the Aperture 2: Quick Tip podcast. You can find the first two episodes online now (as well as embedded here for streaming).

To see the show online and subscribe in a web browser:
HD Web – http://www.podango.com/podcast/3044/Aperture_2_Quick_Tip__HD
HD iTunes – http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=282371228
iPod Web – http://www.podango.com/podcast/3043/Aperture_Quick_Tips__iPod
iPod iTunes – http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=282371245

“Looking to learn all about Aperture 2, Apple's powerful image-editing and organization software? Whether you are new to Aperture or an experienced pro, there's a lot to learn. Aperture 2 is a major update, adding over 100 new features as well as support for a wide- range of digital SLR cameras. This podcast is based on the best selling book, Apple Pro Training Series: Aperture 2 and features co- author RIchard Harrington. Join us each week for a concise, but detailed look at the useful tools and workflows used by imaging professionals. Aperture 2's new features are completely covered, including a new RAW-image processing engine, a streamlined interface, powerful new adjustment tools, and added integration with Mac OS X and other Apple products for instant web publishing and one-click portfolio syncing. You'll learn time- saving techniques for sorting, ranking, and organizing images, effective methods for correcting and enhancing images, plus efficient ways to display images for client review, apply metadata, update your online portfolio automatically, and much more. Real-world exercises feature professional photography from a variety of genres, including photo-journalism, sports, wedding, commercial, and portraiture. To learn more on the software, be sure to check out the Apple Pro Training Series: Aperture 2 book.”

One of my favorite sites that I like to check out on a regular basis is Photoshop Disasters. The site is a freakshow gallery of Photoshop gone wrong. The site is driven by user submission and acts as both entertainment and education. There mission:

“Have you seen a truly awful piece of Photoshop work? Clumsy manipulation, senseless comping, lazy cloning and thoughtless retouching are our bread and butter. And yes, deep down, we love Photoshop.”

Be sure to check the site out, it’ll make you look at things a little differently.

In case you’ve neverr had a chance to go, here’s a quick look at all things Photoshop World. The event is a ton of fun and a chance to get some of the best instruction available.

I recently had a chacne to visit my friends at Kelby Training down in Florida. While there we taped several things that will soon see the light of day. One of the things to keep an eye on is a special episode all about Adobe Production Premium CS3. Be sure to check out their website, and you’ll see about 8 new tutorials coming out for After Effects, Photoshop Extended, and Premiere Pro over the next several weeks.

Instructor Richard Harrington explains how to use the color detail in an image to quickly make a great alpha channel.

I often find I have too much information to remember (and for some reason people expect me to be able to spout pixel aspect ratio numbers like a multiplication table). Fortunately the fine folks over at Digital Rebellion has solved this (and for free). They offer several video widgets that do important math, these run on a web browser or iPhone (and a couple can run offline as well).


Video Footage Calculator – Calculates how much storage you'll need for your footage type and duration.
Web – iPhone version – Offline version

Film Rate Calculator – Determines how much film you need for a particular scenario.
Web – iPhone version – Offline version

Aspect Ratio Calculator – Determines the aspect ratio for different footage formats.
Web – iPhone version

Depth of Field Calculator – Calculates depth of field for many camera sensors.
Web – iPhone version

Pixel Aspect Ratio Calculator – Determines relationship of Pixels for many digital formats.
Web – iPhone version

Lens Angle Calculator – Helps calculate the lens angle for a given sensor size and focal length.
Web – iPhone version

Power Load Calculator – Calculates the load on a circuit to see if it is excessive. You can also calculate the minimum circuit breaker size for the given load.
Web – iPhone version

These tools are cool, free, and useful.... three points that make them a must have for my iPhone.

Looking for a useful application to tell you more about your video files? Mac users should check out the free (and still in pre-release) Video Spec software tool. The tool is a little rough around the edges (it has one major bug which is the aspect ratio of DV and HDV is not reported accurately) but it is still truly useful.

• The latest version has been tested on Mac OS X Tiger and Leopard.
• It is compatible with PowerPC and Intel Mac (Universal Binary).
• This version is localized in english and french.

For the second year in a row, I'll be coming back to Europe to offer training. I'll be speaking at the NAB European Post-Production Conference on a variety of topics.

Sunday 26 October 2008

• Producing Video Podcasts: Key Lessons Learned

Monday 27 October 2008

• Creating a Graphic Identity for Your New Media Projects
• Compressing Audio and Video for Web Delivery
• Getting it Live: Multicam Techniques

Tuesday 28 October 2008

• A Sense of Perspective with Vanishing Point
• Seeing a New Light: Final Cut Pro Color Correction

Wednesday 29 October 2008

• Creating Graphics for Avid Editing Systems
• Get the Most from After Effects CS3

If you're based in Europe, I hope you can come by.