Using SlideShare.net
Sunday, February 07 ,2010 Filed in: Business
Are you looking for an easy way to share presentations online? Then check out SlideShare.net. With it you can embed slideshows into your own blog or website. You can also sync audio to your slides and make shows public or private.
Here's how:
Here's how:
- Uploading Your Presentation – It can be a PowerPoint, OpenOffice, Keynote, or PDF file. Your presentation file should not be password protected and be sure to remove any macros. Not all fonts supported (but you can convert to PDF). Be sure the file is less than 100MB.
- Converting Your Presentation – The second step is converting the file to SlideShare’s sharing format. Once uploaded, the file is placed in the conversion queue (this might take a while). You can leave the page and come back later... If there was an error you will need to go to the
“My Slidespace/Edit All” to find the files that were not successfully converted. - Creating a Slidecast– Slidecasting is a multimedia format from SlideShare. Any slide deck can be synced with an audio file.
- Put it all Together – Use the synchronization tools to mix audio and slides.
- Publish the presentation.
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New Canon Final Cut Pro plug-in to be released
Saturday, February 06 ,2010 Filed in: DSLR Video | Video
(February 5, 2010) Canon's EOS E1 video plug-in for Apple's Final Cut Pro was released today. This new plug-in allows simple and easy transfer of video content from Canon’s EOS DSLR cameras directly into Final Cut Pro.
The EOS E1 video plug-in takes advantage of Final Cut Pro’s powerful Log and Transfer feature, which allows users to select and mark the video directly while it is still on the camera, add custom metadata and ingest the clips in the background so the editing can begin immediately.
The EOS E1 video plug-in is a free download available at http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/finalcutstudio/. The plug-in is compatible with Final Cut Pro 6 or higher and currently supports Canon EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 7D and EOS 1D Mark IV cameras.
How to Film the Impossible
Friday, February 05 ,2010 Filed in: Video | Motion Graphics
I found a great series on YouTube... an old show called Horizon from the BBC. This episode is entitled "How to Film the Impossible" and features an in-depth look at Industrial Light and Magic.
Here is part one
The other parts are after the jump
Read More...
Here is part one
The other parts are after the jump
Read More...
Media Placeholder in Apple Pages
Richard Harrington shows Alex Lindsay how to streamline document updates with a customized media placeholder in Pages '09.
Using Video in a Keynote Presentation
Wednesday, February 03 ,2010 Filed in: Apple
Adding video elements to a presentation is an easy way to make a good presentation a great one. In this video, we add a video to an Apple Keynote presentation and go through all the options of using video in it.
Continuum Cartoon Look
Tuesday, February 02 ,2010 Filed in: Motion Graphics | Adobe
Everywhere you turn, you’ll spot the “look”: video footage transformed to look like a cartoon. In a traditional workflow, the process involves rotoscoping. An artist literally traces animation frame by frame over the original source. The technique was invented by Max Fleischer around 1915, and has been used by animators on classic films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Cinderella, as well as modern movies such as Titan A.E. and Waking Life.
The process is very tedious, however, so many video pros and motion graphics artists have been on a quest for an easier solution. These days you’ll find several products on the market to transform your video footage to look like it’s a cartoon. Early options such as Studio Artist ($379; www.synthetik.com) and market leaders like ToonIt ($399; www.redgiantsoftware.com) have all seen heavy use.
While they’re not new to the plug-in market, Boris FX has released their own take on cartoon filters. The Boris Continuum Unit: Cartoon Look breaks out four filters from the larger plug-in package Continuum Complete. The set is only $199 (significantly less than competitors) and runs in several host applications including Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro, as well as Apple Final Cut Pro and Motion. The four filters for stylizing your footage include:
Read More...
Using Premiere Pro to Organize Video for After Effects
- Create a new Premiere Pro project and match its settings to your primary footage format.
2 Import a folder of QuickTime movies into a Premiere Pro project. You can even import a Final Cut Pro XML file to bring a sequence in without needed to do anymore media management. - Edit the clips as needed into sequences.
- After your clips are edited, just select them and press Command+C to copy them to your clipboard.
5 Switch to an open After Effects project and press Command+V to paste the clips using Dynamic Link. The clips (with handles) will move from Premiere Pro to After Effects.
For more tips like this, check out the book Video Made on a Mac.
Shooting JPEG vs. Raw
Sunday, January 31 ,2010 Filed in: Photography | Video
When digital cameras became commercially available, the memory cards used to store pictures were very expensive. Photographers could not afford multiple or high-capacity cards, so they wanted more images to fit on a single, smaller card. Smaller file sizes would also enable consumers who lacked an understanding of digital imaging to attach photos to email with minimum technical headaches.
With these two scenarios in place, manufacturers turned to an Internet-friendly format, JPEG. It was a proven technology, and one that was familiar to many users. A JPEG file looks for areas where pixel detail is repeated, such as the color white on every key of your computer keyboard. The file then discards repeated information and tells the computer to repeat certain color values or data to re-create the image. The drawback is that a JPEG file is lossy, so every time you modify it and re-save, additional compression is applied to the image.
Newer digital cameras, generally the pro models, offer newer formats, usually called raw. These raw (or native) formats have several benefits over shooting to JPEG. The images are usually captured at a higher bit depth, which means that the pixels contain more information about the color values in the image. Most raw files have a depth of 10, 12, or even 16-bits per channel instead of the 8 used by JPEG. This raw format also has a greater tonal range, resulting in better exposure for shadows and highlights.
The image on the left is how the camera captured a JPEG. Making adjustments to the image is possible, but will lead to more degradation in image quality. The image on the right is a properly developed raw file. Working with raw files gives you access to greater control over an image.
The raw file captures the unprocessed data from the camera’s image sensor. While your camera may contain settings for sharpness, exposure, or lighting conditions, the raw file stores that info as modifiable information and captures the original (unmodified) data that came through your camera’s sensors. Each manufacturer treats the format differently, using a proprietary format. Fortunately, Photoshop and Aperture frequently update their raw technology to support the newest cameras on the market.
Because the raw data is unprocessed, you must essentially “develop” the image data within Photoshop or Aperture. You can choose to adjust several options related to the image, as well as the lens and lighting conditions. You can “tweak” the image after shooting it (as opposed to JPEG, which is limited to the settings you had when shooting).
For more tips like this, check out the book Video Made on a Mac.
With these two scenarios in place, manufacturers turned to an Internet-friendly format, JPEG. It was a proven technology, and one that was familiar to many users. A JPEG file looks for areas where pixel detail is repeated, such as the color white on every key of your computer keyboard. The file then discards repeated information and tells the computer to repeat certain color values or data to re-create the image. The drawback is that a JPEG file is lossy, so every time you modify it and re-save, additional compression is applied to the image.
Newer digital cameras, generally the pro models, offer newer formats, usually called raw. These raw (or native) formats have several benefits over shooting to JPEG. The images are usually captured at a higher bit depth, which means that the pixels contain more information about the color values in the image. Most raw files have a depth of 10, 12, or even 16-bits per channel instead of the 8 used by JPEG. This raw format also has a greater tonal range, resulting in better exposure for shadows and highlights.
The image on the left is how the camera captured a JPEG. Making adjustments to the image is possible, but will lead to more degradation in image quality. The image on the right is a properly developed raw file. Working with raw files gives you access to greater control over an image.
The raw file captures the unprocessed data from the camera’s image sensor. While your camera may contain settings for sharpness, exposure, or lighting conditions, the raw file stores that info as modifiable information and captures the original (unmodified) data that came through your camera’s sensors. Each manufacturer treats the format differently, using a proprietary format. Fortunately, Photoshop and Aperture frequently update their raw technology to support the newest cameras on the market.
Because the raw data is unprocessed, you must essentially “develop” the image data within Photoshop or Aperture. You can choose to adjust several options related to the image, as well as the lens and lighting conditions. You can “tweak” the image after shooting it (as opposed to JPEG, which is limited to the settings you had when shooting).
For more tips like this, check out the book Video Made on a Mac.
Creating Lower-Third Graphics with Data Sets in Photoshop
Saturday, January 30 ,2010 Filed in: Adobe | Motion Graphics
By harnessing the power of data sets, you can dramatically speed up the production of repetitive graphics. In fact, by feeding in a text file, hundreds of lower-third graphics can be generated in a few clicks. The advantage of this method is that a producer or production assistant can gather all of the needed names and titles into a single text file (easily created with any word processor). This file can then be loaded to generate as many graphics as needed. While the process is a little tricky at first, it’s pretty easy to get the hang of.
Read the complete article over at Layer Magazine for free...
Gotta Love Free Fonts
Friday, January 29 ,2010 Filed in: Resources
"Designers love to have a lot of quality fonts available to them, and fortunately there are some very good free fonts out there. In this post we’ll feature some of the best free fonts that can be used in your commercial designs."
Here are the fonts.
If you’re looking for more, check out these other sites:
Tips for Creating Better Photoshop Actions
Thursday, January 28 ,2010 Filed in: Adobe
- Brush strokes, cloning, and most manual tools from the toolbox do not record properly with actions. Instead, use an alternative, such as a Gradient Fill layer (Layer > New Fill Layer > Gradient) instead of the Gradient tool.
• To play a single step of an action, double-click it.
• If you make a mistake in an action, click Stop. Delete the incorrect steps by dragging them into the Actions panel’s trashcan. Choose Edit > Step Backward as many times as needed. Then click Record and start again from the last good point.
• Button mode lets you launch actions quickly—just click an action and it runs. You can access the command from the Actions panel submenu. You’ll need to disable Button mode to access recording and editing features.
• Choose Playback Options from the Actions panel submenu. Specify that you want the actions to play back an action accelerated. Photoshop can process faster than it can redraw the screen.
• Be sure to back up your custom actions to two locations: the default location and a secondary backup location. This way, a reinstall or upgrade won’t blow away your custom actions.
• To create an action that will work better on all files, set the rulers set to measure using percentage.
• Use File > Automate > Fit Image to resize an image for a specific height or width.
DPI vs. Resolution
Wednesday, January 27 ,2010 Filed in: Video | Motion Graphics
One misperception we hear time and time again is about resolution. For the record, video graphics are not 72 dpi. First off, dpi stands for dots per inch (as in printing). Photoshop measures graphics using pixels per inch (ppi).
The resolution of this photo has been reassigned from 300 ppi to 72 ppi. The Document Size (in inches) has changed for printed output. The pixel dimensions and file size remain unchanged at 1920 x 1080 pixels (for a 1080 HD video project).
When dealing with video graphics, resolution doesn't matter. The same HD video file can play back on a laptop, a television, or on a digital projector, and the total number of pixels won't change. To see this clearly, stand really close to a big-screen HD TV; the picture looks soft. Now find a smaller display with an HD signal; the picture looks clearer. This is because HD is HD; the bigger the screen the larger each pixel is displayed, but again resolution doesn't change.
Figure 9.2 The enlarged area shows the individual pixels that make up the butterfly image.
Setting Photoshop to Measure in Pixels
Out of the box, Photoshop is set up for a print workflow (biased isn't it?). This is easy to fix with a simple preference change. You can set rulers and other tools to measure using pixels by default (which will make designing for the video screen easy).
The resolution of this photo has been reassigned from 300 ppi to 72 ppi. The Document Size (in inches) has changed for printed output. The pixel dimensions and file size remain unchanged at 1920 x 1080 pixels (for a 1080 HD video project).
When dealing with video graphics, resolution doesn't matter. The same HD video file can play back on a laptop, a television, or on a digital projector, and the total number of pixels won't change. To see this clearly, stand really close to a big-screen HD TV; the picture looks soft. Now find a smaller display with an HD signal; the picture looks clearer. This is because HD is HD; the bigger the screen the larger each pixel is displayed, but again resolution doesn't change.
Figure 9.2 The enlarged area shows the individual pixels that make up the butterfly image.
Setting Photoshop to Measure in Pixels
Out of the box, Photoshop is set up for a print workflow (biased isn't it?). This is easy to fix with a simple preference change. You can set rulers and other tools to measure using pixels by default (which will make designing for the video screen easy).
- Launch Adobe Photoshop.
- Press Command+K to call up your Photoshop preferences.
- Click the Units & Rulers preference tab.
- Click the Rulers menu and set it to pixels.
Five Uses for Adobe Bridge
Tuesday, January 26 ,2010 Filed in: Adobe
Adobe Bridge has lots of uses; this video looks at five of its best: Contact Sheets, Web Galleries, Ranking, Reviewing, and Browsing Animation Presets. You can also visit the website www.peachpit.com/videomac in order to download sample files.
Great Profile of Stop Animator
Monday, January 25 ,2010 Filed in: DSLR Video | Motion Graphics
A fascinating documentary on Ray Harryhausen who is a prolific stop motion animator. Some of his work you may have seen includes The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts, and Clash of the Titans.
Read More to see parts 2–6
Read More...
Read More to see parts 2–6
Read More...
Eco-Comedy Video Competition
Monday, January 25 ,2010 Filed in: Video | DSLR Video
They are running a contest for filmmakers to create a short, funny video for YouTube which communicates a clear message that strongly motivates a specific behavior change (for example, driving a fuel efficient car, turning down thermostats, or donating to a conservation cause).
Submissions must:
- Be humorous!
- Address a critical environmental issue
- Be an original production
- Reach a broad audience beyond just environmentalists
- Be less than 4 minutes
Submissions are due by March 1, 2010. The winner will be announced at American University on Tuesday, March 23 at the DC Environmental Film Festival.
For more information regarding submission guidelines and contest rules, visit: http://www.environmentalfilm.org.