multi-ME-dia

Magazine Printing

2009-12-15T06:47:00.000-08:00

Magazine Printing Tems
Binding

Saddle-Stitched is a method of creating a booklet by creating a double page sheet and stitching the pages together through the center fold;. Saddle stitching allows the booklet to open flat but can only be done through a maximum thickness. When the booklet is too thick for saddle stitching, a different stitch must be used. Saddle stitching is done with binding wire (or "saddle" wire).

Many Booklets, Magazines, Directories, Training Manuals, calendars, Reports, Coloring Books, Service Manuals, Instruction Sheets, and Catalogs are saddled-stitched for a more professional and finished look (versus a single or two staple method on the top of a stack of paper). Saddle Stitch presents a more professional look.

Perfect Binding involves binding a book or magazine with adhesive. Pages are collated into a stack, the cover is then wraped around the stack and glued to the page spine. Used mainly for paperbacks, its durability lies often in the quality and amount of adhesive used.

Perfect Binding is often used to present a quality image. Used also with high page counts. Often preferred when binding print for Magazines, Journals, Paperbacks, Product Catalogs and Gift Books.

LOGO DESIGN INSPIRATION

2009-11-26T05:56:00.000-08:00

http://logofaves.com/

http://www.logolounge.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=680

http://pelfusion.com/inspiration/top-15-logo-design-inspiration-galleries/

Photoshop Tutorials

2009-10-26T13:34:00.000-07:00

JUST HAVE TO LOOK AT THESE
PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS

http://photoshoptutorials.ws/photoshop-tutorials/photo-effects/urban-ink-photo-effect.html

http://photoshoptutorials.ws/photoshop-downloads/photoshop-brushes/lucky-bamboo-photoshop-brushes.html

http://photoshoptutorials.ws/photoshop-tutorials/photo-manipulation/design-a-contemporary-poster.html

http://photoshoptutorials.ws/photoshop-tutorials/photo-manipulation/dazzling-dance-photo-manipulation.html

http://photoshoptutorials.ws/photoshop-tutorials/photo-manipulation/street-dance-illustration.html

JAVASCRIPT SLIDESHOW

2009-10-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

CREATING A CUSTOM SLIDESHOW USING JAVASCRIPT

SCRIPTOCEAN.COM has a pretty good application for creating custom java slideshows with ease
try it here

PRINTING ISSUES

2009-09-24T07:33:00.000-07:00

PRINTING ISSUES

NEWSPAPER PRINTING ISSUES

What the heck do they mean by 100% Black?!
When printing for the press, they will normally ask you to adhere to the following in your designs:

Make the file in CMYK mode
Make the resolution 200dpi or higher
Make all black fonts 100% black

Now, you would probably think to yourself... how black does black have to be to be called 100% black?!

Here's how you change your blacks to 100% black:

Double click on your colour swatch
On the right-hand corner where the CMYK numbers are, change them so that C=o, M=0, Y=0 and K=100

...and that's it! What you did was remove all Cayan (C), Magenta (M), and Yellow (Y) colours, and have only Black(K) - 100% BLACK!

Sometimes, you have to send PMS (Pantone Matching System) COLOURS with your design...
[this problem occured for me when I had to send some designs for printing on a shirt]
PMS stands for Pantone Matching System and was developed for color identification. The system assists clients, designers and printers in the communication process for color specification on printing orders. Each PMS color has a unique number and formula for ink mixing. PMS colors are also referred to as "spot" colors. (123stickers.com)

Finding PMS Colours (Manually)

Go to the swatches palette
Click the pull down button at the top right
Select Open Swatch Library>Pantone Solid (you will have to ask your printer what kind of Pantone solid colours you will need -coated or uncoated)
Go through the palette and select the colors that closely match your image

HTML TUTORIAL - IFRAMES

2009-08-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

HTML IFRAME TUTORIAL

from htmlcodetutorial.com

Phtotoshop Text Tutorials

2009-08-24T11:52:00.000-07:00

PHOTOSHOP TEXT TUTORIALS
by PhotoshopRoadMap
by SixRevisions
by SmashingMagazine

CHROME TEXT TUTORIAL
this tutorial by slick tutorials

GOLD TEXT TUTORIAL
by PSDtutesPlus

RETRO FLYER INSPIRATION

2009-08-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

GREAT INSPIRATION FROM

Keeping Tabs on Website Stats

2009-08-11T15:08:00.001-07:00

There are many free online applications you can sign up with which allow you to keep tabs on your web stats. The one I have found my preference is EASY COUNTER...

EASY COUNTER

Select from a list of counter designs, the counter you wish to use on your site
Generates the code for you to place the counter wherever you want on your site
Check your stats by month, day, country, year, and even by browser

YAY 4 EASY COUNTER!

Standard Sizes for Banner Ads

2009-08-11T09:41:00.000-07:00

According to simplygraphix.com, the standard banner sizes are as follows:

FULL BANNER: 468 x 60 px
FULL BANNER(with nav bar): 392 x 72 px
VERTICAL BANNER: 120 x 240 px
VERTICAL TOWER: 160 x 600 px
HALF BANNER: 234 x 60 px
SQUARE BUTTON: 125 x 125 px
BUTTON1: 120 x 90 px
BUTTON2: 120 x 60 px
MICRO BUTTON: 88 x 31 px

Tables & Divs, Tables & Divs

2009-07-26T14:01:00.000-07:00

Standard Table Format:
Note: the '<' symbol has been replaced with the '[' symbol to allow for showing code.

[table]
[tr]
Row info
[td]
column info
[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

CSS for Divs

POSITION

The position set for each div makes designing web pages so much easier!

Positions can be either absolute, relative, fixed, inherit, and static. This tutorial goes through all the available positions and how to combine them to create the style you want.

AR3X0: PUBLISHING THE FLASH SITE...FOR FREE

2009-05-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

PUBLISHING A FLASH SITE FOR FREE

NOTE: This information is specific to Jamaican users (using a *.com.jm address)

STEP ONE: FIND THE WEBSITE

Think of a few appropriate website names and make a list of them with your favorite name listed as number one.

My list looked like this:

www.multimedius.com.jm
www.multimediacareers.com.jm
www.multimedia.com.jm

Check the availability of the websites by entering the web addresses into your browser

Luckily, my first option was available... :)

STEP TWO: CREATE YOUR ZONEEDIT ACCOUNT

Go to ZoneEdit and create an account for your website. It might be best to have a special email address created for the website. Use this email address in the sign up process.

STEP THREE: REQUEST ACTIVATION OF THE DOMAIN NAME

To get the domain name you selected activated, you will need to send an email request to the Domain Master (DOMAINMASTER@ns.jm) by filling out a given form.

In the field that asks you to state the Primary and Secondary server information, copy and paste the information from your ZoneEdit account.

You will then have to wait for a reply from the Domain Master stating that your site has been activated.

STEP FOUR: SET UP YOUR FREE WEB HOSTING ACCOUNT

The web hosting account I used is weebly. I also found that devhub is also a nice free web hosting site.

Sign up with your free web hosting site and make sure to select the option that allows you to publish to a named website. When you do this, it will give you an IP Address for zoneEdit to point to when the site is published. Copy and paste this IP address into the appropriate fields in your zoneEdit account.

STEP FIVE: UPLOAD YOUR FLASH FILE

Using a free flash hosting website, upload the *.swf version of the website.

I found a number of sites that allows you to host flash files. From this list, I decided to use FHQhosting.

When you have uploaded your *.swf file, make a note of the direct link to the file (or just keep the window open).

STEP SIX: EMBED THE FLASH CODE INTO THE WEBSITE

By opening the published html version of your flash file in a text editing program, you are able to access the embedding code which looks something like this...

All you have to do, after copying and pasting this code into the custom html code within the weebly website, is a bit of very simple editing...

Change the name of the flash file (in my example, it's called Page.swf) to the web address of the swf file you uploaded earlier. Note that you will have to do this more than once...

STEP 7: PUBLISH THE SITE

Click the magic word - "PUBLISH" and check your website (yourwebsite.com.jm) for the finished publication!

Soundtrack to Video

2009-05-11T06:26:00.000-07:00

FINAL PROJECT
Soundtrack to Video

00:00 - 00:12
Video of various shots character in contemplation

00:13-00:14
Camera moves into character's mind

00:15-00:20
Lines Drawing 'Redemption" abstractly

00:21-00:27
Poem Title - "Redemption - deliverance from my damnation"

00:28-00:33
As smoke fades out, move into first mind shot fading in and coming closer to center
Play incarcerate/emancipate scene
Script: "incarcerate. emancipate"

00:36-00:41
Play Box scene
Script: "you alone seal your fate"

00:42-0:55
Inside Fate

00:56-01:03
Play preparation scene pt.1
Script: "preparation, contemplation, meditation, dedication"

01:04-01:09
Play preparation scene pt. 2
Script: "focus. feel the vibration"

01:10-01:23
Climax scene

01:24-01:30
Script: "expand"

01:31- 01:39
Script: "release. Defeat defeat(01:35)"

01:40- 01:45
fade to blank

01:46-01:52
Script: "peace"

01:53 - 01:58
Script: "perfection. Remove life's deception(01:55)"

1:59-2:12
[gap!]

2:13-2:19
Script: "ignite, ablaze

2:20-2:33
Script: "reborn again"

2:34-2:44
Script: "my mind is mine. third eye divine(02:38)"

Motion Tracking

2009-04-28T10:50:00.000-07:00

FINAL PROJECT EFFECTS

Motion Tracking

We're trying to solve the problem of trying to include text in a shaky video clip.

Insert video clip on composition
insert text over video clip on the composition
Create a new null object (Layer > New > Null Object)
Ensure the tracker controls window is visible. If you don't see it, check by going to Window > Tracker Controls
With the shaky footage layer selected, click "Track Motion" in the tracker controls window
When the tracking box pops up, move it to a point with a high contrast
Select 'rotation' in the tracker controls to allow another tracking box to appear and move it to another high contrast area further away from the first tracking box
press the play icon in the tracker controls window for After Effects to track the video
under motion target in the tracker controls window, select "edit target" and select the null object created at the beginning of this motion tracking journey. hit "OK"
select "Apply" and hit "ok" for the X and Y values window
Parent the text to the tracker null object

Useful tracking tutorials:

The Train

Final Project: Applying a Smoke Effect

2009-04-24T10:38:00.000-07:00

FINAL PROJECT EFFECTS

Applying a Smoke Effects using the Particle Playground Effect

Open a new composition and title it "smokeParticles"
Create a new solid layer in smokeParticles and make it comp size
Apply the Particle Playground effect to the solid layer
Alter the Gravity for particles to travel upward
Alter other modes at discretion
Open new composition and title it "smokeComp"
Place the smokeParticles layer on the smokeComp timeline
Apply a Fast Blur to smokeParticles
Alter by discretion
Use the smokeComp layer where you wish to have smoke effects in other compositions

FINAL PROJECT STORYBOARD

2009-03-24T07:06:00.000-07:00

REDEMPTION - STORYBOARD

START

Video: black screen and fades into scene with main character on bed in room

Audio: voices of persons giving advice fade out as bedroom scene fades in

Script: "I don't think you should go along that road"... "If you do that who knows what will happen"... "When your old enough you'll be able to make that decision on your own" ... "I'm your mother. I know what's best for you" ... "...wouldn't that be disappointing" ... "I don't think you should" ... "I think you should"

Comments:

Only the voices of other characters will be heard, as the main focus is one one person throughout this video.
The main character is an adolescent female (approaching adulthood).

BEDROOM THINKING

Video: various shots of character in worried contemplation (in bed)... graphic strokes go around character...leading to camera zooming into the character's thinking face and into mind

Audio: voice of main character in contemplation

Script: "maybe" ... "maybe i shouldn't" ... "i don't know" ... "i know i do"

Comments: I'm contemplating animating a change in colour or some other graphic effect to the eyes...

INTRODUCE POEM TITLE

Video: Animated text of video title

Audio: character citing title

Script: "Redemption - deliverance from my damnation"

Comments: contemplating integrating animated strokes

HAND AND FACE ACTION

Video: palm facing upward comes down to cover and eliminate "damnation"; palm stands with thumb vertical and other palm coming down to meet in a similar fashion, forming a box-like look; face fades in behind palms; hands move vertically to have thumbs pointing horizontally as the hands cover one half of the face and elbows meet; camera view changes to side profile

Audio: sound track begins

Script: "incarcerate"

EMANCIPATE

Video: hands continue to extend in an outward motion rotating from elbows as head tilts backward slightly; camera moves away from character in the upward motion she is looking at and continues to an image of the emancipation statue; image of the statue is captured and shown in the character's hands as she moves them toward her chest

Audio

Script: "emancipate"

FATE

Video: hands close and reopen to show small box; box opens and graphic streaks (etc) exit box to fill screen; multiple colours turn to four colours in vertical boxes
Script: "you alone seal your fate"

PREPARATION...

Video: words and cut outs of a video shot of the character's face appear on individual rectangles

Audio: drums/ bass kick in at/after "vibration"

Script: "preparation, contemplation, meditation, dedication. Focus- feel the vibration"

EXPAND RELEASE

Video: arm with hand in fist extending to appear as if stretching across the moving background and stops to open fist where "defeat" falls from it to crush another version of "defeat" below

Script: "expand, release. defeat defeat"

PEACE PERFECTION

Video: peace sign seen lying after crushed "defeat" and raises to stand vertically. Peace sign animates. Ends with audience seeing through 'perfected' glasses.

Script: "peace, perfection. remove life's deception"

IGNITE ABLAZE

Video: scene burns like burning paper moving down vertically to introduce a scene with something 'new'...

Script: "ignite, ablaze. reborn again"

Script: My mind is mine. Third eye divine

THE FINAL PROJECT - FINAL IDEA (Brief)

2009-03-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

FINAL PROJECT

FINAL IDEA- BRIEF

Aim: The original aim of this project is to promote the use of art as a means of expressing one's feelings. This project will be focusing on the art form of poetry.

Overview: For the project, I will be creating life to a poem with the use of film and visual effects to make a 2 minute video piece. The poem expresses the thoughts of a poet as she is battling with herself and come to accept the positive method of thinking and relaxation.

The Poem

Redemption – deliverance from my damnation

Incarcerate; emancipate

You alone seal your fate

Preparation, contemplation, meditation, dedication

Focus. Feel the vibration

Expand, release

Defeat defeat

Peace, perfection

Remove life's deception

Ignite, ablaze

Reborn again

My mind is mine

Third eye divine

Execution:
The video will be done with the use of After Effects and Final Cut Pro.

The Story

... starts with the main character sitting on a bed as she thinks about the decisions she has to make in her life.
she closes her eyes as the poem begins...
poem is animated through text and visual effects which are integrated with footage of the main character filmed on a green screen.

FINAL PROJECT IDEA EXPANSION

2009-02-28T08:19:00.000-08:00

FINAL PROJECT IDEA EXPANSION

The Story

START

Camera walking through artist's 'layer' starting from the opened door
or start with audio of artist humming while painting.
Camera enters the room or focuses on different parts of the room
in between shows flashes of images of this character in happy moment

THE ARTIST

Expands to include artist painting on canvas
quick focus on canvas
paint strokes animate (as they are "drawn")
The main graphic is drawn
a lever is drawn beside the graphic
the graphic looks at the lever and continues to pull it
the scene with the dancer procedes to come in (from right to left)
Transition: the scene with the dancer moves over as the scene with the dancer moves into the main picture.

THE DANCER

the dancer is seen walking in the studio while thinking
the graphic sticks it's head in the scene (bottom left hand corner)
the graphic sends the magic stroke to the dancer who begins to dance
the graphic and the dancer dance in sync
Transition: the graphic jumps with the dancer and continues it's upward flight as the dancer's scene moves down and the musicians scene comes in

THE MUSICIAN

the graphic lands at the bottom of the musician's scene (right hand side)
the musician is running their fingers over the keyboard, not making any sound
the graphic sends the magic stroke and it travels around the musician and into a single key as the muscian begins to play
musical graphics bounce from the instruments/machines being used.
this is where the full soundtrack should begin and the animated box effect will take place.

END

the final set of boxes int he box effect will be three boxes representing each form of art. The ending text will come in on the beats - A.R.T express yourself.

The Display

The Box Effect
One of the themes for the display would be the use of boxes. There would be three main boxes to be used - one for each area of art. The boxes and items in the boxes will interact with each other as one main story

Colour Themes

Each scene will begin in black and white
the magic stroke's colour will vary in each scene depending on the mood of the character

The colour for each character was determined based on the explanations found on Maria Claudia Cortes' website.

THE ARTIST is calm, tranquill, and content - PURPLE
THE DANCER is sad - BLUE
THE MUSICIAN is angry, frustrated, but determined - RED

TO DO LIST

Develop detailed story board
Learn how to key out colours in motion video - see Sin City post
Learn how to animate drawing
Develop detailed script
Learn about animation
Formulate sound track
Find effective actors
Find effective locations
Learn about filming
Organize filming schedule
Organize filming requirements

After Effects: Sin City Solo

2009-02-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

The Sin City Effect

(keying out one color)

using this tutorial

Place video on composition
Duplicate the layer (Ctrl/Command + D)
Apply a black and white effect to the bottom layer (Effect --> Color Correction --> Tint)
Apply the Leave Color Effect to the top layer (Effect --> Color Correction --> Leave Layer)
Adjusting the Leave Color Effect

- use the eye dropper tool to select the color you wish to remain in the video

- change the value of the 'Amount to Decolor' to 100%

- adjust the tolerance to your liking

- change the Match Colors method to 'Using Hue'

FINAL PROJECT IDEA

2009-02-06T13:55:00.001-08:00

IDEA #1 - 2 minute video promotion for art

Scene in classroom setting with teacher demonstrating music noted on a board in front of a class of students
Camera skims through the class of students and stops at one student who is writing in these notes in his notebook. The notes come alive and off the paper as the audience enters into his imagination
In the imagination we see a graphical representation of the student in his world of music
We are then introduced to another student in their world of drawing
The final world we are introduced to is the student’s world of fashion
The three world are displayed side by side via a split screen
The video ends with the letters ‘A’ ‘R’ and ‘T’ displayed in either partitions. Under the word “ART” reads “open the door to your imagination.”

FLASH LESSON: Importing and Using a Transparent Video

2009-02-03T13:43:00.000-08:00

IMPORTING AND USING A TRANSPARENT VIDEO

FIRST In Final Cut Pro...

Open video with green/blue solid background

Add video to the timeline

Export the video using quick time conversion

In options and video settings, select: Animation; millions of colors + (the '+' means alpha, and will keep the transparency); give an appropriate name and location; select save

THEN In Flash...

Import Video

Under the Advanced settings, make sure to select the checkbox that reads 'encode alpha channel'; skin - 'none'

NOTES:

If you want to be able to put an action on the movie, you would have to select a different skin under the advanced settings you come across when importing the video. Selecting 'none' does not allow for actions. Each channel allow for different actions etc..

MULTIMEDIA ROAD MAP

2009-01-27T13:51:00.000-08:00

In today's class, we got more informed on the possible careers, as well as the skills and tools needed in the world of multimedia.

Mr. Bain started us off with this multimedia road map thing he did...

THE ASSIGNMENT

Developing the Idea

The assignment was to present a multimedia road map using one or some of the tools that we've learnt so far.

Before I actually decide on the tools (etc), I have to decide on how I'm going to present it. So... here's the idea:

Recalling on my previous statement, I decided to go along the lines of a multimedia "world" rather than a multimedia "road" map. It might be a bit much to do the whole world thing, so I've narrowed it down to either a multimedia world or a multimedia universe.

Analysing the information in the current multimedia road map, I realized that yesterday I was only thinking about the job roles in multimedia. However, there are quite a few things I have to consider, such as the skills, supplementary skills, and equipment. So, I have to find a way to integrate all these things in my multimedia road map.

THE IDEA - A Multimedia Map

The idea to be implemented is a replica of a map of the world, only, this world is the world of multimedia. The multimedia world has 8 continents which represent the 8 job roles presented above. These continents are surrounded by a sole ocean which represents the skills and supplementary skills of a multimedia professional.

The Multimedia Map will be based on a scroll map theme. There will be a scroll background with the continents drawn on them. The ocean will be a blue background with the list of skills strategically placed within the blue ocean.

Depending on the software being used, the end result will be either:

A video of the multimedia map in motion
A flash presentation on the multimedia map

Implementing the Idea

Steps of Implementation

Used Google to find an image of a scroll
Edited the image in Adobe Photoshop to suit the requirements of the map
Used Adobe Illustrator to create the continents; background for the ocean; and compass
Used Adobe After Effects to create the animation of the scroll opening and closing and rendered as two Quick Time movies
Created a new composition in Adobe After Effects to make the text move in the multimedia ocean and rendered it as a Quick Time movie
Imported the movies and graphics to a new composition in Adobe After Effects and continued to use the program to add motion to the multimedia map

The Script - 50 seconds

Don’t know what to do as a multimedia professional? Let’s take a look at the multimedia world map…

Multimedia professionals have a host of skills and supplementary skills. No matter what kind of multimedia professional you are, you are bound to have at least some of the skills found in the oceans of the multimedia world.

There are many jobs available in the multimedia world. Among these jobs we have:
The Web Designer;
The Graphic Designer;
The Junior Sound Engineer;
The Graphic Artist;
The Video Editor;
The Content Management Professional;
The Entrepreneur;
And The Freelancer

You may now use this map of the multimedia world to assist you in deciding what to do as a multimedia professional

2008-11-14T07:17:00.000-08:00

How to mask in Final Cut Pro:

http://www.lafcpug.org/tutorials/basic_mattes_masks.html

THE FINAL PROJECT - INICIATION

2008-11-11T10:33:00.000-08:00

Final Project

Expectations and Requirements

Creating a place to promote the product/ service inspired from this Ted Talk

aim is to get the main idea of the product/ service at "first glance"

Information on piracy from Jamaica Intellectual Property Organization website etc.

Also note Jamaica's Copyright Act

When the information is generated, the method will be formulated.

The idea must be shown through video
Video will be embedded in website

The Decided Product

will allow for the target audience (song writers) to prove their music was created and copyrighted on a certain date
The method: song writers will enter their written music and lyrics in required fields or upload them as documents from their computer and be supplied with an electronic receipt with their transaction number, and the option of sending a copy through the postal service.
The end result: the poor man's copyright is performed

The Introductory Video

Cimimon.com is all about copyrighting your music. Here, you can learn about copyright law in Jamaica. Cimimon.com also has the unique service which allows you to upload your music and lyrics, save it to your account, and send a copy of your work through the post so you are able to show and prove your copyright.

Welcome to cimimon.com!

The video then follows...

People saying "cimimon," and the word appears to come out of their mouths accompanied by music notes.
The last "cimimon" spoken begins traveling as it enters itself in the space of a web address
It is then taken through the internet (like in the matrix)
It is closed in a safe
The safe is closed by the character
The character then holds an envelope and releases it into space
The envelope is stamped
A person opens the mailbox to find the mail addressed to them in an envelope with the cimimon logo

When the video is complete, it will allow the user to choose an option to continue

Creating the Introductory Video:

Formulate a script
Generate the character
Generate the theme of the website in terms of colour, concept, and presentation

The first video requires:

Writing text on a shape's path

The Theme of The Website

I would like the website beign created to represent the following characteristics (in no specific order):

security; comfort; and peace-of-mind
finance
business
music
Jamaica/ Caribbean

It is believed that these characteristics may be represented through the presentation of the website. It is therefore important to allow the colours being used and the design of the website be done in a way that would reflect these characteristics.

Selecting the Colour

RESEARCH

Research was done on the various meanings and feelings associated with various colours. About.com described cool colours such as green, blue, white, and silver to have a more calming effect.

The initial desire was to use some elements of green in the presentation of the website. About.com gave some information about the colour green and the meaning of it when put together with certain colours. One of the "good greens" was "Greenback," which stood for money. Colour-wheel-pro.com specifies that it is a darker shade of green that gives the monetary definition.

"Orange has very high visibility, so you can use it to catch attention and highlight the most important elements of your design."

The following colours are associated with the desired characteristics:

Green for finance
Brown for stability
Orange for success and tropics
Gold for illumination, wisdom, and success
Purple for wisdom and wealth
White for a successful beginning

COLOUR SCHEMES

Colour schemes with the selected were researched. You can generate colour schemes using the following websites:

Green Schemes

GOLD SCHEMES

PURPLE SCHEMES

BROWN SCHEMES

The Character/Mascot of the Website

The character/mascot is a made up character. It can either be an animal or a personified inanimate object. Whatever the mascot turns out to be, it must represent the aforementioned desired characteristics of the website.

The decided character will be a simple man which will be created in Blender.

CREATING THE CHARACTER

Using this blender tutorial website as a guide...

In the interest of time, I have decided to create my character using After Effects. I will, however, port another blog later on relating to creating a character in Blender. So, here we go...

The Character's characteristics:

THE LOOK: the character will be created using basic shapes: circles, elipses, rectangles, etc. It would be as simple, or more simple than the characteris in these Creative Commons videos I found on youtube.

The character will be a male wearing a hat and will always be singing. He will be a shade of green, outlined in black, and his mouth, eyes, hair, etc, will be black. In essence, he will be a green and black character.

THE COLOURS: will be basic, and will follow the selected colour scheme

Green screen tutorial video

LAYOUT SKETCHES

Cimimon Sketch 1

Cimimon Sketch 2

Cimimon Sketch3

AfterEffects

2008-10-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

THE TIMEWARP

The timewarp effect in Adobe AfterEffects 7.0 and higher allows for the editing of videos to either speed up or slow down footage.

NB: If you are slowing down a movie clip, remember to lengthen the composition.

APPLYING THE TIMEWARP EFFECT

Effect > Time > Timewarp: opens the Timewarp effect window
Select either Whole Frames; Pixel Motion, or Frame Mix from the Method selections

Methods:

Whole Frames: duplicates the last frame shown
Frame Mix: Creates a new frame by blending frames
Pixel Motion: Creates a new frame by analyzinf the pixel movement in nearby frames and creating motion vectors

AfterEffects

2008-10-28T10:44:00.000-07:00

Opening the render queue panel: Window > Render Queue

Creating Render Settings Template

Templates in the render settings offer as presets you are able to choose when rendering.

TEMPLATE FOR FULL RESOLUTION

Edit > Template > Render Settings: opens the render settings template
When the Render Settings box opens select Best under the Quality drop-down menu
Select Full under the Resolution drop-down menu
In the Time Sampling box, select On for Checked Layers under Frame Blending and Motion Blur
Select Length of Comp under the Time Span
For the Frame Rate select Use Comp's Frame Rate

Type the name for your customized render settings template in the box provided
To change your default settings, make your selection from the Movie Proxy Default drop down menu
To make any changes to this template, select Edit instead of New in the Render Settings Template dialogue box

Rendering a Test Version of a Compression

Rendering a Web Version of the Final Animation

Bono!

2008-10-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

LATERAL THINKING...

Edward deBono

Lateral Thinking
thinking is a skill
the traditional way of solving a problem is "vertical"
"vertical thinking is selective, lateral is generated... rightness is what matters in vertical thinking; richness is what matters in lateral thinking"
think of ideas s shapes and do not restrict them to something lineal (vertical)
a problem is the difference between what one has and what one wants

Types of problems:

The solution for this problem requires more information or a better technique to interpret information.
This problem requires no new information, but a rearrangement of the information; this is an "inside restructuring"
This is the problem of no problem, where one is blocked by the adequacy of the present arrangement

6HATS

The human brain thinks in a number of identifiable ways:

Blue - process control; thinking about thinking
Green - creativity; alternatives
Yellow - positive judgement
Red - emotion
White - neutral; facts; hard information
Black - negative judgement; barriers; hazards

individuals change from state to state in a designing process

Blender

2008-09-25T21:43:00.000-07:00

Materials & Textures

Always add a material before adding a texture

Changing the colour of a mesh

Add mesh
Select the Shading and Materials buttons
Adjust the colour (RGB) scale for appropriate colour

Add mesh
Select the Shading and Materials buttons
Use the colour picker (click the rectangle to the left of the "Col" option

Creating a night sky effect (Monique's Way)

Add a cube mesh
Switch to edit mode and subdivide vertices (W > Subdivide)
Select the shading and materials button
Change the colour to a pale yellow
Select the Halo button
Render to see result

2008-09-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

Roving Keyframes

STEP 1: Window > Motion Sketch
This opens up the Motion Sketch pane (on the right-hand side)

STEP 2: Clock Start Capture
This starts the stop watch for the custom motion

STEP 3: Drag the object through your custom path
Remember to keep the left mouse button down while dragging object

After TEXT Effects1

2008-09-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

After Effects

TEXT ANIMATION

Basic Text Animation Procedures

The following steps should be taken when doing basic animation to text

Add motionless text to the composition
Select the text layer
Choose Animation --> Browse Presets*
Open the Text/Organic Folder**
Select an animation
Close Adobe Bridge

*this opens Adobe Bridge, where you are able to choose from a number of animation options
** select a thumbnail in this folder by clicking once, and you will be able to preview the animation options

The Shortcut does not allow for the user to see a preview:

Add motionless text to the composition
Select the Text Layer
In the Effects & Presets Panel select Animation Presets--> Text and double click on the animation

Render Blender!

2008-09-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

From Mr. Bain's Tutorial:

Ensure you're in the scene context before you start the rendering process

Creating ZoZo

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...and now for today's class: Friday, September 19, 2008

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Blender automatically renders all 250 (default) frames. In order to change the amount of frames to be rendered, you can change the start (labeled 'Sta') and end (labeled 'End') presets.

Always know where you're rendering to. On the left hand side of the properties in the scene mode, there is an output tab. Under the output tab, there is a icon that allows you to browse to the location at which you want the render to be found.

Cameras

1st note: A camera is a special object

Align active camera to view: View --> Align View --> Align active camera to view

allows you to quickly place the camera to the view you are currently at

Camera Lens

Textures vs. Materials

textures are the building blocks for textures
"a material is a mixture of colours, textures, and specularity" - Davd Bain

After Effects - The Initiation

2008-09-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

Flash & After Effects happen to have some similarities:

Project Window - this is where you bring in your elements and organize them. It's like the Library Window in Flash
Whatever you see in the Composition Window is what you will see in your actual work. It can be compared to the Stage in Flash

Moving an image in after effects:

Import an image to the project window (Ctrl+I)
Place the image on the composition window by dragging it from the project window
Select the arrow to the left of the image title on the layer pane
select Transform on the drop down menu
Select the Stopwatch to the left of the Position
Move the time line indicator to the time you want to motion to end
move the image to the position you want it to be at the afforementioned time
Press the Spacebar to play

Blending - like coconut juice

2008-09-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

When you first start up blender you will see these three items:

Lamp
Cube
Camera

Using the number pad to use different views
7 - Top View
3 - Side View
1- Front View

2&8 Rotate around x-axis
4&6 Rotate around y-axis

0 - Camera View

Shortcut Keys
G- Grab
R- Rotate
S- Scale

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Welcome to today's class - September 12, 2008

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Making a Simple Animation (yay, we're about to use this program)

1. You have to tell the object that it is "keyframeable"

- every object (including the camera and lamp) is keyframeable

2. Press "I" and select Loc

3. Go to another frame

4. Move the object to another location

5. Loc the object at that location

INTERMISSION!!!
I found this video tutorial on starting blender: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CjPSwZUcsg&feature=related

..and back to our regular broadcast :)

Editing a Model

1. Select the object

2. Go into edit mode

3. Right click to select a point on the mesh and drag to move the point

4. Left click to allow the point to remain at the new position

FACE SELECT MODE: allows you to move the entire "face" of an object

MODIFIERS

Bain Dictionary

KEYFRAMEABLE (adj.) being able to have key frames

Guest Lecturer? Guest Lecturer!

2008-09-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

By the title of this blog, it might be best to note that our guest lecturer's name is: Grayson Alert. He's teaching our Creative Methodologies class.

CREATIVE METHODOLOGIES

Designing

Designers bring things to life.
"Designers make the invisible visible"
each designer has a strong internal creative process, but each designer's process is different because of the differences in knowledge and perspective

Art vs. Commercial Art

When doing commercial art, you do not design for yourself!

Making designs for other persons, it's important to find out what they want from their mouths; perform research; do the design; explain to the client where their answers are in the design.

The REAL title of this lesson:

DESIGN AS PROBLEM SOLVING

1. DEFINE the design

- Set out the objective

- Find the target market: the design is for them, they have the information

- Know the requirements of the client

2. RESEARCH

- for inspiration

- for practical knowledge

3. NARROW RESEARCH

4. BRAINSTORM

5. EVALUATE and EXPERIMENT

Random Stuff

I've decided to start looking at more websites for inspiration... adobe has a website for the day everyday. This is their website for today.
motionographer has some really interesting videos done using motion graphics

...it all started here...

2008-09-09T11:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, so our Advanced Multimedia class started on Friday. Here's an overview of what we went through:

COURSE OUTLINE
LESSON - BLENDER BASICS

So, there was a lot of talking in this class. But that's normally how a first class goes. The information, nitty gritty, and all that jazz will come after this...