Learn about important changes to the Photoshop CS4 user interface. - Refined workspaces – Freely rotatable canvas – Greater zoom levels - Enhanced controls with panels - Tabbed documents
The first in a series of new channels we’re launching.
We’re very proud of the line-up of users and experts we have writing for PVC. However, not all potential writers have the time to fill an entire channel of their own. Therefore, in the coming weeks we’ll be launching a series of “themed” channels, each containing a rotating cast of several additional writers.
The first such new channel is Motion Graphics & Visual Effects. Among the writers we have slated to share their expertise are:
All of these guys are well-known users in the community, and as witnessed by the above sites, have already been sharing information with others. We’re happy to have them sharing information with you up here on PVC.
Additional channels we have planned include Editing & Post Production, Cameras, Lights, Action, and Web Video & Beyond.
If you are interested in writing for PVC, please contact me at cmeyer @ this site’s domain. Tell me your expertise, what you’re interested in writing about, and show me a few examples of your writing. If you’re accepted, you’ll share in the ad revenue generated by PVC based on your traffic. Help us make PVC an even better resource for all who visit.
Golan Levin uses his software skills to create improvised audio-visual performances.
The annual TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) conference is a place where Big Thinkers gather annually to inspire and be inspired. I’ve been going through their online archive of talks for my own amusement and education, and sharing with you ones I found to be particularly interesting.
Back in June, I highlighted Jakob Trollback’s talk on Rethinking the Music Video. This time around, I want to highlight a “music video” that’s considerably in the more abstract domain. In this presentation, Golan Levin discusses the custom performance software he writes which allows him to improvise music with accompanying visuals. We’re strictly in the experimental realm here (the soundtrack is 60s-era avant-garde electronic music - listen with your speakers on to annoy your cubemates), but sometimes, great inspiration comes from the very fringes of an art. Note: The visuals are initially very simplistic (the piece is titled “Scribble”), but become much more complex about 4:40 into the video.
Aside from Levin’s TED Talk, I strongly recommend you check out the Flong Interactive Art site (pictured above) which contains a number of interesting audiovisual works by Levin and his friends - there’s lots of cool interactive visual pieces on there.
Things your mother didn’t tell you about creating nice text.
Every month, we write a Tips N Tricks article for our friends at Artbeats.com. This month we wrote a basic introduction to using text - including a few simple rules of typography that many miss, plus a more subjective discussion about choosing the right fonts for a job. (This is obviously a companion for the piece on Font Resources that we just posted here on PVC.)
Want to find out everything new in Adobe Creative Suite 4? Trust me… there’s some really cool things coming. Adobe has an invitation out to view their Web broadcast on September 23rd. But you do need to go to the sign-up page at www.adobe.com/go/somethingbrilliant.
By the way… I am going to be releasing something very special on the 23rd as well as a “thank you” to all my viewers. Be sure to stick around and keep an eye out.
A compendium of resources for finding, buying, using, and being inspired by fonts.
We love fonts. We rank font selection right up there with choice of music and color scheme when it comes time to design a spot. Therefore, we’ve amassed quite a large font library over the years. Which then begs the obvious questions:
Where do you get your fonts?
How do you keep them organized?
What are some good design resources to inspire the use of fonts?
We’d like to share with you a few tools, links and lists we’ve found to be handy over the years.
Ross Lovegrove shares his passion for designing objects inspired by the simplicity and complexity of nature.
The annual TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) conference is a place where Big Thinkers gather annually to inspire and be inspired. I’ve been going through their online archive of talks for my own amusement and education, and sharing with you ones I found to be particularly interesting and relevant.
This week I’d like to share a talk by “Captain Organic” Ross Lovegrove of Studio X in Notting Hill, England. He is the celebrated designer of objects such as the iMac, Ty Nant water bottle, and Go chair. Ross is a proponent of what he calls “fat free” design that draws inspiration from natural forms - not just organic blobs in the name of nature, but shapes, processes, and sensibilities derived from the inner logic of natural objects. Although this talk is focused primarily on industrial design, those who are designing logos, 3D objects, or who just want to be inspired about someone deeply passionate about his field should enjoy it.
This talk is part of TED’s series Design Like You Give A Damn. Some who commented on the talk found Ross to be impractical at best and arrogant at worst; I found his laser-like focus on his ideals to be energizing.
Edit and Optimize 2D Stereo Pairs from a 3D Video Camera or Twin Cameras with a Modified Stereo 3D Rig in After Effects CS5.5
Adobe included a 1-step option to create a 3D Stereo Camera Rig in After Effects CS5.5, to everyone’s enthusiasm for a simpler workflow in 3D space. Great if you are working in 3D space in After Effects, but what about an easy option for 3D Stereo pairs captured by a 3D camera or twin cameras on a rig? In this tutorial I’ll show you how to quickly modify the Stereo 3D Rig in After Effects to quickly mux your L&R video files and adjust the convergence for anaglyph, interlaced or stereo pairs output.
A contracted article, sponsored by Datavideo Corporation.
Our friends at Datavideo recently asked me to write an article called How to get the “24p” look for your live-switched multicam shoot. The article covers many factors involved in accomplishing that goal, including framerate, aperture, shutter speed, depth of field, and menu settings in Datavideo’s digital HD video mixers (“switchers”) and recorders, and also the menu settings in several pro cameras from Canon, Panasonic, and Sony. The included chart explains which of the cameras have a direct HD-SDI output, and which require an optional converter to go from HDMI to HD-SDI to connect to the Datavideo digital HD video mixer. As you’ll see in the article, the approach is quite different from the workflows I normally cover, which are more appropriate when programs are to be edited, as opposed to when they are shot —and potentially broadcast— live. The graphics for this article were done by Victory Elliot of Datavideo Corporation.
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