The Pixel Blog

Class Files

2011-12-15T13:12:00.002-05:00

Download the files for the Final Exam here.

Check out ThickBox 3.1

2011-12-09T17:22:00.001-05:00

From the site:
"ThickBox is a webpage UI dialog widget written in JavaScript on top of the jQuery library. Its function is to show a single image, multiple images, inline content, iframed content, or content served through AJAX in a hybrid modal."

http://jquery.com/demo/thickbox/

The 960 Grid System for Web Design

2011-11-29T13:17:00.003-05:00

This is a site that talks about the 960 grid system that can be used to help provide structure for web pages:
http://960.gs/
Keep in mind that any grid system simply provides a visual guide system to start your design from. It is a visual organizational tool for those who are comfortable designing against a grid.

Free Javascript/JQuery/AJAX gallery and Image viewers

2011-11-18T17:46:00.002-05:00

This link is to a posting about a variety of free Image galleries and/or slideshows using JQuery, AJAX or generic Javascript:
http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/css/57-free-image-gallery-slideshow-and-lightbox-solutions/

Free Social Media Icon Sets

2011-11-18T17:42:00.002-05:00

This site has a nice post that links to a variety of free social media icon sets. Some of them are really great and best of all they are free.
http://www.ezuca.com/55-cool-free-social-media-network-icon-packs/

Creativity vs Activity

2011-11-17T12:57:00.001-05:00

One should not mistake activity for creativity.

Lightbox2 Javascript Image Gallery

2011-10-15T10:22:00.002-04:00

This is a link to the Lightbox 2 Javascript image gallery:
http://lokeshdhakar.com/projects/lightbox2/
You have probably seen this gallery used in a lot of web sites, it allows you to create an image overlay on your current page by clicking on a link. It can be used either for individual images or groups of images.

CSS Reset file

2011-10-14T21:24:00.004-04:00

This is a link to the website where you can download the excellent Meyers CSS reset file.
http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/css/reset/
It is a common practice to use a CSS reset files to eliminate inconsistencies in the appearance of your code due to the ways that different browsers render elements such as Headings (h1-h6), lists (ul, ol, li) and paragraphs (p).

What is Photoshop to you?

2011-04-20T15:30:00.000-04:00

What is Photoshop to me?
I studied photography as a part of my undergraduate degree in Fine Arts but I was never a great photographer. I also studied painting at the same time, but once again was never the greatest. At the time they seemed lacking, I believe now that both mediums were limited (at least in my point of view) because they are based on the very real and rigid physical system. And a true mixed or multi-media experience is difficult, perhaps impossible to crate with them because of that.
And then there is Photoshop. What is Photoshop to me? It means that I can use and simulate photography and yet not be bound by the limitations of physical light. It means that I can paint and draw without being constrained by the rules that govern how pigments and medium react to my canvas or how graphite is affected by paper. It means that I get to choose, I have a tool that I can use to work within those physical limitations to create a work that mimics reality or if I prefer, I can go beyond them, to create artwork that could never possibly exist in a real world governed by physical laws.
It's my choice and that is what Photoshop is to me; It is my tool, my ability to choose to make a decision about my art. And that ability to choose is the most personal power that anyone can have.

Syllabus-TEVE 760-Editing I-Spring 2011

2011-01-25T12:27:00.001-05:00

TEVE 760 Video Editing

Instructor’s information:

Name: Jerron Smith

Office location: N/A

Telephone: N/A

E-mail: thepixelsmith@gmail.com

Website: www.thepixelsmith.com

Office hours: N/A

Course information

Term and date: Spring 2011

Course name: Video Editing 1

Course number and section: TEVE 760 Credits: 3

Meeting times: Thursday 06:00PM - 09:30PM

Building and room number: MA / MC61 - 927

Prerequisites and co-requisites: None

Required texts (including ISBN numbers)

A textbook is not required for this course.

Materials and supplies

1: A portable hard drive is necessary for storing classwork and assignments that will be used throughout this course. Additionally, I tend to give student access to a wide variety of media and graphics libraries that I have collected over the years. To meet professional video editing standards you will need a firewire (400 or 800) hard drive of at least 120GB.

2: Headphones (they don’t have to be great but they do need to be long enough to reach the computer’s headphone jack.)

Course description (from catalog)

In this laboratory course, the process of video editing will be explored. Videotape formats,
the recording process and elements of post-production management as they apply to the
video editing environment will be studied. Familiarization with the operations of equipment
in the edit suite, such as the edit controller, videotape recorder and waveform monitor will
be included. Equipment varies at each location. Each student will receive hands-on training
on an editing system.

Course goals and introduction (from the instructor)

Media and technology are inherently linked. New media is created and pushed by the advent of new technologies and advancing technologies allow for the creation of new media. Projects are designed to give students an introduction to industry standard video editing software. Editing is redirecting. It is an expression of the concept of montage. Editing is the process of taking a series of seemingly unconnected video sequences and reworking them into an understandable narrative. This class will cover the history of editing, the technical (how to use the editing systems) skills of editing and the aesthetics (what looks good and when to cut), because without an understanding of all three you aren’t an editor. Not am employable one anyway.

Learning outcomes and instruments of assessment

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of the aesthetics and principles of editing as well as an understanding of the historical factors that have impacted the craft.
Analyze project needs and incorporate current technological trends and concepts in the field of editing to make appropriate choices in relationship to technology.
Demonstrate problem solving skills in the use of video editing technology
Demonstrate a level of knowledge in the use of Final Cut Pro appropriate to an entry level junior editor.

Methods of Assessment will include:

Technical skill: shows how well you have mastered the techniques we are using. Because yes, while it isn’t the end all and be all of being an Editor you do have to know which buttons to push to be employable, or to even be useful for that matter.
Originally: reflects the originality and innovative quality of your idea. The craft of editing is all about creative problem solving. Have you chosen a creative route to solve the editing problem in front of you, (because yes, editing is all about solving problems) or did you play it safe and work within an already established routine(in other words are you boring)?
Execution: exhibits how well your idea comes through overall. In reality anyone can come up with an idea that seems good in their head, but fewer individuals can actually make their dreams (or is often the case in this field the dream of the client) into reality. This is real life, if your ideas are impractical they won't do you or your client any good.

Additional Grading Criteria: participation in class critiques, turning in work on time, pushing your own limits during the semester, and demonstration of mastery of techniques and concepts covered in class.

Grading formula

Grade	Quality Points Per Credit	Meaning of Grade
A (Excellent)	4.0	Represents exempleary work. Work consistently exceeds expectations of professional craft and quality.
B+	3.5
B (Good)	3.0	Work meets expectations of professional craft and quality.
C+	2.5
C (Satisfactory)	2.0	Work does not meet professional expectations of craft and quality.
D (Unsatisfactory)	1.0

Grading Criteria
Homework/Out of Class Assignments: 25%
Presentation 01: 10%
Midterm Project: 20%
Presentation 02: 10
Class Participation: 10%
Final Project: 25%

Description of assignments

1 - What is Editing?

What is Editing is the fundamental question of this course. Using an open media form, students will attempt to answer this question. This is not an easy question to answer or even one that can have a single answer or interrpretation so student will work through out the term to refine their project as their own understanding regarding the craft or editing increases.

2 - Travelogue

The travellogue is a type of documentary style project that tells of a journey to a new area. With footage provided by the instructor (or their own), students will edit a short form travel documentary. This travelogue will serve as a blended project being completed after work both in and outside of class.

3 - Oral Presentation 01

Students will research and present an oral presentation to their classmates on a cinematic or television sequence that they fell was either very well edited or very poorly edited. The presenter should discuss why the edit is strong or weak, what they believe the editor was attempting to convey and how the editing choices that were made either move the project's narrative forward or retard it.

4 - Mid-term Project
The mid-term project is the completion of the edit of a short dramatic or action sequence . Footage will be provided by the instructor.

5 - Presentation 02

Students will research and present an oral presentation to their classmates on a topic related to the history or craft of Editing.

Possible Topics Include:

6 - Final Project
The final project will be the completion of a short form dramatic, documentary, or music video project. Footage will be provided by the instructor.

The Reality of Studio Classes
• Plan on working on your projects outside of class time. The studio part of class time is not adequate for you to create good projects.
• It is highly unlikely that you will get an A grade in this class if any work is turned in late or is just plain missing or incomplete.

Policy for make-up exams and missed or late assignments

Any projects not turned in or incomplete projects that are turned in will be deducted from the final grade. Projects or partial project will not be accepted after the last day of class. No late final Exams will be given or late final projects accepted.

Attendance policy

On-time class attendance is required, 3 credit hours is the maximum absence allowed per semester. This allows absences of one class before your final grade can be penalized. If you are late three times, it will be considered one absence. Attendance will be taken by the professor at each session.

Withdrawal policy

A student may withdraw from a course without penalty through the end of the 8th week of class during a 14- or 15-week semester and through the 8th meeting during an 8week course cycle. After this, the student must be doing passing work in order to receive a W grade. Students who are not passing after the 8th week or equivalent will be assigned the grade of WF.

It is the student’s responsibility to inform the instructor of his/her intention to withdraw from a course. If a student has stopped attending class without completing all assignments and/or examinations, failing grades for the missing work may be factored into the final grade calculation and the instructor for the course may assign the grade of WF. The grade of F is used for students who have completed the course but whose quality of work is below the standard for passing.

Withdrawal forms are available in departmental offices and once completed must be filed with the registrar. Students should be reminded that a W notation could negatively impact their eligibility for financial aid and/or V.A. benefits, as it may change the student’s enrollment status (full-time, part-time, less than part-time). International students may also jeopardize their visa status if they fail to maintain full-time status.

Academic integrity and plagiarism policies

Each student enrolled in a course at NYIT agrees that, by taking such course, he or she consents to the submission of all required papers for textual similarity review to any commercial service engaged by NYIT to detect plagiarism. Each student also agrees that all papers submitted to any such service may be included as source documents in the service’s database, solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers.

Plagiarism is the appropriation of all or part of someone else’s works (such as but not limited to writing, coding, programs, images, etc.) and offering it as one’s own. Cheating is using false pretenses, tricks, devices, artifices or deception to obtain credit on an examination or in a college course. If a faculty member determines that a student has committed academic dishonesty by plagiarism, cheating or in any other manner, the faculty has the academic right to 1) fail the student for the paper, assignment, project and/or exam, and/or 2) fail the student for the course and/or 3) bring the student up on disciplinary charges, pursuant to Article VI, Academic Conduct Proceedings, of the Student Code of Conduct.

Library Resources

All students can access the NYIT virtual library from both on and off campus at www.nyit.edu/library. The same login you use to access NYIT e-mail and NYITConnect will also give you access to the library’s resources from off campus.

On the left side of the library’s home page, you will find the “Library Catalog” and the “Find Journals” sections. In the middle of the home page you will find “Research Guides;” select “Video Tutorials” to find information on using the library’s resources and doing research.

Should you have any questions, please look under “Library Services” to submit a web-based “Ask-A-Librarian” form.

Support for students with disabilities

NYIT adheres to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504. The Office of Disability Services actively supports students in the pursuit of their academic and career goals. Identification of oneself as an individual with disability is voluntary and confidential. Students wishing to receive accommodations, referrals and other services are encouraged to contact the Office of Disability Services as early in the semester as possible although requests can be made throughout the academic year.

Schedule of Dates

Date

Tentative Topics

Readings or Other Assignments

Jan. 27

Introduction • Syllabus Review • What is Editing? • The Kuleshov Experiment • Continuity • Timing & Pacing

Feb. 3

Introduction to Digital Video/DV Basics • HD/HDTV • Frame Rate • TimeCode • Audio Sampling Rate • Tape vs Tapeless formats

My Kuleshov Experiment

Feb. 10

Logging and Capturing tape • Importing footage • Media Management

Feb. 17

Working with Sequences & Clips • Editing the Travelogue Pt 1

What is Editing? (first draft)

Feb. 24

Editing the Travelogue Pt 2

Mar. 3

Lab Time

Travelogue Due at End of Class

Mar. 10

Presentation01

Mar. 17

Lab Time

Midterm Project Due at End of Class

Mar. 24

Spring Recess (No Classes Scheduled)

March 31

Understanding Narrative Structure

April 7

Creating Titles & Text

April 14

Working with Audio

April 21

Lab Time

April 28

Lab Time

What is Editing? (final draft due)

May 5

Presentation 02

May 12

Lab Time

May 19

Lab Time

Final Project Due at End of Class

Playing and Muting an Audio File in Flash with Actionscript 3.0

2010-08-12T22:46:00.002-04:00

var audioLink01:URLRequest = new URLRequest("DanceOfTheMist.mp3");
var sound01:Sound = new Sound();
var soundChannel01:SoundChannel;
var soundPausedPos:int;
var soundIsPlaying:Boolean;

this.loaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, init);

function init(e:Event) {
//trace("The init function has run");
sound01.load(audioLink01);
mute_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, muteSounds);
play_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, playSounds);

}

function playSounds(e:MouseEvent) {
if(soundIsPlaying == true) {

}else{
soundChannel01 = sound01.play(soundPausedPos);
soundIsPlaying = true;
soundChannel01.addEventListener(Event.SOUND_COMPLETE, updateSoundStatus);
}
}

function muteSounds(e:MouseEvent) {
soundPausedPos = soundChannel01.position;
soundChannel01.stop();
soundIsPlaying = false;
}
function updateSoundStatus(e:Event) {
soundIsPlaying = false;
}

Observe–Understand–Innovate

2010-07-30T19:11:00.002-04:00

Observe–Understand–Innovate
This is my method of approaching any learning situation. Far to many people are content to merely copy and replicate what they see around them but to truly be creative you must actually strive to improve what we work on.

Cool After Effects Tip

2010-07-24T19:06:00.001-04:00

The beginning and end of the work area bar can be moved either with the cursor by clicking and dragging the and markers or using the keyboard. Pressing the “b” key on the keyboard moves the beginning of the work area bar to the current position of the playhead while pressing the “n” key on the keyboard moves the end of the bar to the playhead's current position.

3D rotation based on Mouse Position

2010-04-22T00:17:00.000-04:00

var defRot:Number = 35;

stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_MOVE, updateRot);

function updateRot(myEvent:MouseEvent):void {
if(mouseX > 300){
if(imageGallery_mc.rotationY >= defRot){
imageGallery_mc.rotationY = defRot;
}else{
imageGallery_mc.rotationY+= .5;
}
}
if(mouseX < 300){
if(imageGallery_mc.rotationY <= -defRot){
imageGallery_mc.rotationY = -defRot;
}else{
imageGallery_mc.rotationY-= .5;
}
}
if(mouseY > 240){
if(imageGallery_mc.rotationX >= defRot){
imageGallery_mc.rotationX = defRot;
}else{
imageGallery_mc.rotationX+= .5;
}
}
if(mouseY < 240){
if(imageGallery_mc.rotationX <= -defRot){
imageGallery_mc.rotationX = -defRot;
}else{
imageGallery_mc.rotationX-= .5;
}
}
}

To Be Creative Successfully

2009-12-16T20:57:00.002-05:00

No matter how brilliant you may be, in order to be successfully creative you must first be capable of mastering your tool or tools of choice.

The Best Things in Life are Free

2009-12-16T20:56:00.002-05:00

The Best Things in Life are Free...But when you think of it the best things in life are not things at all.

Creating an Image Slider Portfolio

2009-12-13T12:44:00.001-05:00

import fl.transitions.Tween;
import fl.transitions.easing.*;
import fl.transitions.TweenEvent;

stop();

//This is where I put my variables
var xPos:Tween;
var duration:Number = 2;
var ease:Function = None.easeInOut;

//This is where I put the buttonMode declarations.
nav01_mc.buttonMode = true;
nav02_mc.buttonMode = true;
nav03_mc.buttonMode = true;
nav04_mc.buttonMode = true;
nav05_mc.buttonMode = true;
nav06_mc.buttonMode = true;
nav07_mc.buttonMode = true;
nav08_mc.buttonMode = true;
nav09_mc.buttonMode = true;
nav10_mc.buttonMode = true;

/*This is where I put the event LIsteners
EventListeners allow me to have objects on my stage respond
to the users actions. The example below is responding to a
MouseClick.
*/
nav01_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoPic01);
nav02_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoPic02);
nav03_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoPic03);
nav04_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoPic04);
nav05_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoPic05);
nav06_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoPic06);
nav07_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoPic07);
nav08_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoPic08);
nav09_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoPic09);
nav10_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoPic10);

//This is where I put the functions. Remember that you have to add the myEvent variable so that the functions will respond to the listeners above.
function gotoPic01(myEvent:MouseEvent) {
xPos = new Tween(imageSlider01_mc, "x", ease, imageSlider01_mc.x, 55, duration, true);
}

function gotoPic02(myEvent:MouseEvent) {
xPos = new Tween(imageSlider01_mc, "x", ease, imageSlider01_mc.x, -315, duration, true);
}

function gotoPic03(myEvent:MouseEvent) {
xPos = new Tween(imageSlider01_mc, "x", ease, imageSlider01_mc.x, -725, duration, true);
}

function gotoPic04(myEvent:MouseEvent) {
xPos = new Tween(imageSlider01_mc, "x", ease, imageSlider01_mc.x, -1075, duration, true);
}

function gotoPic05(myEvent:MouseEvent) {
xPos = new Tween(imageSlider01_mc, "x", ease, imageSlider01_mc.x, -1455, duration, true);
}

function gotoPic06(myEvent:MouseEvent) {
xPos = new Tween(imageSlider01_mc, "x", ease, imageSlider01_mc.x, -1915, duration, true);
}

function gotoPic07(myEvent:MouseEvent) {
xPos = new Tween(imageSlider01_mc, "x", ease, imageSlider01_mc.x, -2325, duration, true);
}

function gotoPic08(myEvent:MouseEvent) {
xPos = new Tween(imageSlider01_mc, "x", ease, imageSlider01_mc.x, -2775, duration, true);
}

function gotoPic09(myEvent:MouseEvent) {
xPos = new Tween(imageSlider01_mc, "x", ease, imageSlider01_mc.x, -3135, duration, true);
}

function gotoPic10(myEvent:MouseEvent) {
xPos = new Tween(imageSlider01_mc, "x", ease, imageSlider01_mc.x, -3515, duration, true);
}

Navigating the TimeLine

2009-12-11T19:20:00.026-05:00

There are many different ways to use Flash. This flexibility is one of the greatest assets of both the application and of Flash as a platform for multimedia design.
While flash in itself is not a webpage in the strictest sense it can be used to simulate the same functionality that you would fine there. Additionally, since Flash is an excellent multimedia platform it can not only copy the capabilities of a standard html/css web site. It can surpass them with it's ability to add and control not only still images and text but also audio and video files.

This tutorial assumes that you are already familiar with creating content on the Flash timeline and can create things like simple buttons with sound, and will instead focus on the code necessary to make the timeline simulate the page based nature of a website.

For this tutorial a very good designer friend of mine, Eric Rowse built a simple little holiday card minisite. Please note how the timeline is set up.The three layers for the different page elements is more of a precaution and organizational tool than anything else. While at the moment this timeline does not contain any animation, the fact is that you may want to add some in the future, and for this I would require separate layers for each thing I wanted to animate. While the different layers may not actually be necessary for this demonstration what is important is the fact that each page element only exists on stage for one frame each at three distinct frames. The distance between the frames is completely arbitrary but for this example each "page" is separated by 30 frames.
The buttons layer contains the navigational buttons that you will I will use in this demonstration. Note that they are all on the same layer and that this layer contains only one keyframe. The end of the layer has a frame to hold the buttons on stage for the entire duration of the timeline. Each button has been assigned an instance name so that they can have code control them and in this example they are called page01_btn, page02_btn, page03_btn. The instance names of your buttons just like the text labels that appear on the buttons themselves is entirely up to you as long as you follow the required naming conventions in Flash.

Instance names cannot contain spaces
Instance names cannot begin with a numerical value
Instance names cannot be words that are reserved for use in Actionscript

The "_btn" suffix is used to denote that this is a button symbol. It is helpful to do this because it will allow the Actions panel to recognize the symbol type when you type the name into the code window. This will allow the Actions panel to provide you with code hints for the button object.

This is the code that we are going to use:

stop();

page01_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoPage01);
page02_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoPage02);
page03_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoPage03);

function gotoPage01(myEvent:MouseEvent) {
gotoAndStop(30);
}

function gotoPage02(myEvent:MouseEvent) {
gotoAndStop(60);
}

function gotoPage03(myEvent:MouseEvent) {
gotoAndStop(90);
}

If you want to go no further you can just copy and paste the code above into your actions window and change the instance names that are in front of each addEventListener() command (called a method) and change the targeted frame for each gotoAndStop() method to the frames where you stored your page content. But if you want to understand what the code does I will explain it here.

Step 1: Click on the first (and in this case only) frame of the actions layer and open the Actions panel (Window>Actions). It is an accepted convention that all code be entered into the frame on a layer named Actions. It just makes it easier to find your code if you need to come back and edit it later. On the first line of your Actions panel add a stop function to the program.

stop();

The stop function has a very specific use in Flash. It causes the flash movie to pause during playback. This is extremely important in a situation like this where we don't want the timeline to play like an animation but instead want to control the timeline with a navigational menu.

Step 2: On the next line add an Event Listener for the first button.

page01_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoPage01);

Buttons and Movie Clips do not automatically know when you are interacting with them. In order to make them interactive you must add an event listener to each instance on the stage. The addEventListener method requires two parameters the first is the type of event and the second is the function to run when the event occurs. There are a limited number of event in Flash and their names are very specific, but the function name is a unique user generated (you make it up) names that should follow the same naming rules as the instance names.

Step 3: On the next line declare the function. Remember the one you named in the previous step, well now you have to actually declare what it is going to do.

function gotoPage01(myEvent:MouseEvent) {
gotoAndStop(30);
}

Functions are the heavy lifters of Actionscript code. They are the commands that actually do things in the Flash language, they are like verbs in that they are active. All functions begin with the keyword function, basically this tells flash that you are going to declare a function. Every function name is always followed by a pair of parentheses. Inside the parenthesis you place what is called an argument. Basically, the listener method sends a bit of information to the function that it triggers. When this information (about the MouseEvent) is received by the function it stores it as a variable named "myEvent". A variable is just a container, it is a holder for information, similar to the way a bottle can hold water so that you can carry it around with you. The variable name here is completely arbitrary, you could call it "bob" is you wanted to, though it should follow the same naming conventions as functions and instance names.
The actual body of the function (the stuff it's going to do when you click on the button) is stored between the function's braces, those are the curly brackets you see after the parentheses end), they look like this: {}.
This function only has one command (called a statement), it is gotoAndStop(enter frame number). The gotoAndStop method commands the playhead (the little pink bar at the top of your timeline, the one you can drag to see different parts of it) to go to the specified frame number (the one between the methods parentheses) and then stop.
An alternative command would be to gotoAndPlay(enter frame number), which moves the playhead to the specified frame and then continues to play forward.

The line that adds the Event Listener to the button instance can be copied and pasted ( I usually place them right below one another) and the instance names changed to your next button's name and the function name changed to whatever you want the new function to be called. Remember that each function name and each instance name must be unique. Trying to reuse the same name, or forgetting to change a copied name in your code will produce an error.
The function can also be copied and pasted. Just remember to change the function name and the specified frame for the gotoAndStop() method.

Good Luck and Happy Coding.
thepixelsmith

Controlling the Stacking Order in Flash

2009-08-22T01:23:00.002-04:00

Sometimes you may want to dynamically change the stacking order (The order that determines which objects are in front of each other on the stage).

In AS3.0 you would use the addChildAt() method.

1: This is an example of the AS3.0 solution. In this code example there are four MovieClips on the stage (box01_mc - box04_mc).

2: Each MovieClip has two event listeners assigned to it. The first listener is triggered on the RollOver (called MOUSE_OVER in AS3.0) and runs the function called enlargeMC. The second listener listens for the RollOut (called MOUSE_OUT in AS3.0) and triggers a function called shrinkMC.

3: The enlargeMC function contains code for making the movieClip that is rolled over enlarge (notice that in AS3.0 the scale value uses the values 0-1, with .5 here being a 50% increase in size)

4: In addition to the code that changes the scale property, an addChildAt method is used to move whichever movieClip is rolled over to the top of the display stack.

box01_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER, enlargeMC);
box01_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, shrinkMC);
box02_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER, enlargeMC);
box02_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, shrinkMC);
box03_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER, enlargeMC);
box03_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, shrinkMC);
box04_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OVER, enlargeMC);
box04_mc.addEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_OUT, shrinkMC);

function enlargeMC(myEvent:MouseEvent):void {
myEvent.target.scaleX += .5;
myEvent.target.scaleY += .5;
addChildAt(DisplayObject(myEvent.target), numChildren-1);
}

function shrinkMC(myEvent:MouseEvent):void {
myEvent.target.scaleX -= .5;
myEvent.target.scaleY -= .5;
}

Actionscript 3.0 Primer

2009-07-19T00:35:00.002-04:00

I wrote a short primer on creating functions, event listeners and variables in ActionScript 3.0. Basically it gives you a foundation for understanding the core principles in coding in Flash.
download the primer here

Making a weblink with Actionscript 3.0 in Adobe Flash

2009-06-29T12:20:00.004-04:00

The previous code tutorial explains how to make a flash movie
automatically jump to a web page when it reaches a specific frame in
your timeline. Here I will show you have to make a button that will
allow the user to jump to a webpage when they choose to. This is the
kind of interaction that you would build into a banner add, or any
other time you would like to create a user initiated action.

The complete code block looks like this:

stop();

var myWebSite01:URLRequest = new URLRequest("insert URL here");

myWebLink01_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoWebLink01);

function gotoWebLink01(myEvent:MouseEvent) {

navigateToURL(myWebSite01);

}

To make this code work all you would have to do is insert your URL into the "insert URL here" space and change the myWebLink01_btn text to reflect your button's instance name.

The specifics of each bit of code are explained below:

/*The following stop function is used to stop the playhead from advancing and therefore repeating the movie.

Depending on the type of project you are creating you may want it to repeat and can therefore just skip this line of code.
*/

stop();

/*
1: As with any external link you have to create a URLRequest
variable to store the URL that you will want to navigate to later. As
with all variable declarations the left side of the equation states the
name of the variable (here the name myWebSite01 is used) and the type
of data (or data type) the variable will hold. The right side of the
equation instanciates the new variable and sets its value (the URL it
holds). You would have to create a separate URLRequest variable for
each web address you want to use.
*/

var myWebSite01:URLRequest = new URLRequest("http://www.agitraining.com/eval");

/*
2:
In order for an object on the stage to respond to the user you have to
attach an event Listener to it. An event listener will wait for a
specific event to occur and then it triggers a function.
Note: A
LIstener is similar in concept to the reciever on a cell phone, it is
completely passive until someone calls you, then it triggers the ringer.
3:
The addEventListener method is added to the instance of a movieClip or
Button on your stage. Every object on yoru stage has methods and
properties, a method is something that an object can do while a
property is something that it possesses.
Note: If an object on the
stage can be compared to a human being then out ability to jump up and
down would be a method while our height and weight would be properties.
4:
The addEventListener method takes two parameters the irst is the type
of event that it listenes for (in this case the click MouseEvent) and
secondly the name of the function that it is going to fire off when the
Event is found to be true. The Function name in this case is
gotoWebLink01, this is a completely arbitrary name and this function
will be declared in teh next step.
*/

myWebLink01_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, gotoWebLink01);

/*
5: Functions are declared using the function keyword followed
by the name of the custom function that you want to create. A function
that is going to be triggered by an eventListener must be prepared to
receive information about the event that triggered it from this
listener. This is the information that is placed inside of the
parenthesis after the function name. In this case myEvent is an
internal variable that is used ot hold this information once it is
passed from the listener to the function.
6: Once the function is
triggered whatever commands are located between the braces are
initiated. In this case that is the navigateToURL function.
*/
function gotoWebLink01(myEvent:MouseEvent) {
navigateToURL(myWebSite01);
}

Technorati Tags: Adobe Flash, Actionscript 3.0, Actionscript, Flash

_______________________

Automatically Jump to a webpage using Actionscript 3.0 in Adobe Flash

2009-06-29T11:33:00.002-04:00

With the creation of Actionscript 3.0 many things changed. Once familiar code is now long gone, and old concepts have been completely revamped. The once familiar web link is now a thing of the past replaced by new commands and methodology. The tutorial below is useful for created a Flash movie that will automatically jump to a web page as often occurs at the end of an animated intro or presentation.
All of the code here should be placed in the last frame of your timeline. It is standard practice to place all code on it's own layer called actions. This makes it easier to find and edit the code in your project when you come back to it at a later date.
The full code block looks like this:

stop();
var myLink:URLRequest = new URLRequest("insert URL here");
navigateToURL(myLink);

//First you will want to stop the timeline to prevent the animation from looping. If you don't do this the animation will repeat as will the command to open a new web page. I once crashed a computer because I forget about this fact and it ended opening p hundreds of web page windows, one after the other.

stop();

/*
1: All links to external content must be stored in a variable before they can be used. This is true if you want to import data from an external file like a text (.txt) or html (.html) file or as we do here to navigate to an external website.
2: The var keyword is used to declare a variable. Here the arbitrary name myLink is used as the variable name. All variables should be datatyped, that is the type of data that they are going to contain needs to be explicitly stated. As seen in the code below datatypes are connected to the variable names via a colon.
3: On the right side of the variable declaration the new keyword is used to instantiate the myLink variable. This establishes it as an instance of the URLRequest class. If you aren't familiar with them classes are the many different types of objects that you have access to in Flash. Other examples of classes would be SimpleButtons and MovieClips. The actual URL you would like this varaible to hold are placed inside the parenthesis on the right side of the equattion.
*/

var myLink:URLRequest = new URLRequest("insert URL here");

/*
1: Once the myLink variable has been declared it can be used. The code here is the function that actually navigates to the web page. Since this code is written all alone in the keyframe it will execute the moment that playhead encounters it instead of in response to some user initiated event like a button click. Note that the URLRequest variable that was declared about is placed inside the parenthesie of the navigateToURL function here.
*/

navigateToURL(myLink);

Technorati Tags: flash, Actionscript 3.0, actionscript, weblink, Adobe Flash

FreeSound.org

2009-05-16T13:29:00.001-04:00

One of my friends recommends this site for finding free sound effects. Basically all you have to do is register and then you can use the archives. They apparently use a Creative commons license to release the work.

http://www.freesound.org/

Ten Rules for Video Editing

2009-04-27T15:54:00.002-04:00

10 Rules for Video Editors

This list is based on a similar series of concepts that I picked up from Gretchen Siegchrist in an article on Video Editing on About.com. I first compiled my variation when I started teaching video editing at the New York Institute of Technology several years ago. I compiled it because I felt my students needed somewhere to start their understanding from. Most of them had never even attempted to think critically about what they see on the screen in front of them and I thought this might help in that regard. Anyway, just a couple of idea follow.

Stay Motivated

Every cut should have a motivation. There should be a reason that you want to switch from one shot or camera angle to another. Sometimes that motivation is a simple as, the camera shook, or someone walked in front of the camera.

Ideally, though, your motivations for cutting should be to advance the narrative storytelling of your video. One of the most obvious signs of amateur editing are cuts and transitions that have no motivation behind them. Adding a cube spin transition may look cool to you but ask yourself, "does this advance the narrative or is it merely distracting".

Match the Scene

The beauty of editing is that you can take footage shot out of order or at separate times, and cut it together so that it appears as one continuous scene. To do this effectively, though, the elements in the shots should match up. For example, a subject who exits frame right should enter the next shot frame left. Otherwise, it appears they turned around and are walking in the other direction. Or, if the subject is holding something in one shot, don’t cut directly to a shot of them empty-handed. If you don’t have the right shots to make matched edits, insert some b-roll in between.

Cut on Motion

Motion distracts the eye from noticing editing cuts and is the most common way of achieving the much sought after match cut. Cutting on motion helps to establish a motivation for the cut. So, when cutting from one image to another, always try to do it when the subject is in motion. If you have a shot of your subject turning, then cutting to a shot of a door opening (or someone approaching, etc.) at the height of the subjects motion provides motivation for the previous action and makes the cut seem natural and seamless.

B-Roll is your friend

A-roll is your main footage, your main subject or the main elements of your narrative, while B-roll is everything else. B-roll refers to video footage that sets the scene, reveals details, or helps illustrate or enhance the narrative. For example, if you are editing an event like a show opening you can use footage of the building exterior, or the attendees arriving. These clips can be used to cover any rough cuts, or smooth transitions from one scene to another.

De Plane boss, De Plane

For this one to work it requires that when the footage is being planned and shot you keep the rule in mind. Imagine that there is a horizontal line between you and your subjects. Now, stay on your side of the line. By observing this 180-degree plane, you keep a perspective that is more natural for the audience. Changes in perspective that break this 180 degree plane can be jarring for the audience because they make it impossible for the audience to establish their positional relationship to the scene.

Whatever you do don’t Jump, unless you really need to of course

Usually, editors strive for match cuts, seamless changes from one scene or camera angle to the next, editing that is completely transparent to the viewer. A jump cut occurs when you have two consecutive shots with dramatic differences. These differences can be based on movement, screen position, etc. Jumps cuts can occur in any type of project. Often when editing interviews you will want to cut out some words or phrases that the subject says. When the remaining clips are placed side-by-side, the slight repositioning of the subject will be very jarring to the audience. Cutting to b-roll can cover this jump.

By definition, Jump cuts are not seamless, they create a disconnect for the audience, it makes the cut very obvious and makes them take notice. Sometimes this is in fact the intention though. Films such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and Goddard’s Breathless purposely use jump cuts to create a dynamic uncomfortable experience for the viewer.

45 Degrees

When editing scenes shot with multiple cameras, always try to use shots that are looking at the subject from at least a difference of 45 degrees. Otherwise, the shots may be too similar and appear like a jump cut to the audience. If your shots are within that 45 degree arc you may still be able to make use of them if the camera had two different levels. A close-up can usually be cut to a long shot without worry.

Change your Level

This requires multiple cameras to achieve but is often worth the effort. When you have multiple shots of the same subject, it’s easy to cut between them without creating a jarring experience for the audience. So, when shooting an interview, or a lengthy event such as a wedding, it’s a good idea to occasionally change focal lengths. A wide shot and a medium close up can be cut together, allowing you to edit parts out and change the order of shots without obvious jump cuts.

Look for Similarity

This principle is the key to the much sought after match cut. There’s a cut in Apocalypse Now from a rotating ceiling fan to the blades of a helicopter. There is a similar cut at the beginning of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which a scene of a bone spinning in the air is cut to a scene of a space station in orbit around Earth. The scenes change dramatically, but the visually similar elements make for a smooth, creative cut.

You can do the same thing in your videos. Cut from a flower on a wedding cake to the groom’s boutonniere, or tilt up to the blue sky from one scene and then down from the sky to a different scene.

Wipe, Wipe, Wipe

There are three transitions you will see with regularity; the cut, the cross dissolve and the wipe. At weddings, I love it when people walk in front of the camera. They are apologetic, but unless it happened during the vows or the first dance, I am grateful for the wipe they gave me to use during editing. When the frame fills up with one element (such as the back of a black suit jacket), it makes it easy to cut to a completely different scene without jarring the audience. You can set wipes up yourself during shooting, or just take advantage when they happen naturally.

Free Explosion Footage

2009-04-25T22:51:00.003-04:00

There is a company called Detonation Films that sells libraries of explosions, smoke and other pyro effects. They offer some of this footage as free samples. You can check it out here:
detonationfilms.com

Enjoy!

Cool Sound FX sites

2009-04-25T22:41:00.002-04:00

Here are links to a couple of free sound FX libraries:

http://www.wyomingwebdesign.com/files/pages/free_sound_files.html

http://www.pacdv.com/sounds/index.html

Enjoy!

Creating a preloader in ActionScript 3.0

2009-03-07T01:53:00.001-05:00

One of the major advantages of Flash over a standard html/css page is the ability to add a preloading animation to the beginning of the swf file to keep your audience entertained while they wait for the movie to load. There are many different strategies that you can adopt when building a preloader. Some people will create a custom document class and use that for all of their new flash documents, while others might create a quick animation in the first few frames of there movie and then use script to loop them until the movie loads. The approach taken here is to add code to the first frame of the flash file the creates a preloading animation and once it detects that the movie has completed loading it moves on to the next frame.

This is the code that is placed in the first frame of the Actions Layer:

stop();

this.loaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE,movieLoaded);
this.loaderInfo.addEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS,onProgress);

var myTextField:TextField = new TextField;
addChild(myTextField);
myTextField.width = 200;

myTextField.height = 20;

myTextField.x = stage.stageWidth/2;
myTextField.y = stage.stageHeight/2;

function onProgress(myEvent:ProgressEvent) {
    myTextField.text = "Your download is " + Math.round(myEvent.bytesLoaded/myEvent.bytesTotal*100) + "% Complete";
}

function movieLoaded(myEvent:Event) {
    removeChild(myTextField);
    gotoAndStop(2);
}

Lets take a look at what each part of the code actually does:

Step 1: Stop the Playhead
The first line is very simple it stops the playhead from moving onto the second keyframe.
stop();

Step 2: Create the Event Listeners
The next block of code is what creates the two event listeners that the preloader needs to function. When you are dealing with events and functions triggered by events there are two parts of the equation. The event listener waits for an event to occur and then calls an event handler. If you aren't familiar with them, event listeners are used to wait or listen for a specific event (that event can be user triggered such as a click event or as it is here by a loading event) and then triggers a function (the event handler). Here are two listeners, the first is declared as a generic event and is triggered by the complete state of the movie clip loading while the second is a progress event that is triggered by the progress of the loading event.
this.loaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, movieLoaded);
this.loaderInfo.addEventListener(ProgressEvent.PROGRESS, onProgress);

Understanding the eventListener:
The "this" keyword is used to target the main movie. The event listener can't be attached directly to the movie so you have to attach it to the loaderInfo property of the swf. The listener waits for the complete event of the movie clip before it fires off the function named movieLoaded (this function will be declared later in the code).
this.loaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, movieLoaded);

Step 3: Create the display object
For a preloader to be of any use you have to create some type of visual representation of the act of loading. Here in this example I will use a text field that updates to show the loading progress. For greater control I am going to create this text field dynamically with the next block of code. The first line is an object request and uses the var keyword to declare a new object named "myTextField" the phrase TextField after the colon sets the data type of this new object. Data typing is important because it declares waht type of object this is an therefore what type of information it holds. The object is instantiated by the text on the right side of the equal sign using the new keyword and again stating the data type. The addChild() command is used to add the new text field (myTextField) to the display stack. So the first line creates the new text fied object and the second line makes it show up on the stage. The third line begins the code that will control the position of the object named myTextField. For the x and y position of the text field are set to use the stage width and height instead of a static number. This is helpful because if I change the size of the stage the text field wil still be in teh same relative position.
var myTextField:TextField = new TextField;

addChild(myTextField);

myTextField.width = 200;
myTextField.height = 20;
myTextField.x = stage.stageWidth/2;
myTextField.y = stage.stageHeight/2;

Step 4: Create the onProgress event handler
Event handlers are functions that are triggered by event listeners. They are like your cellphone, when it recieves a call it rings, this is how the handler works when it is triggered by the listener it runs the commands located between the braces. The first event handler that I create here is the onProgress function. Like all functions it begins with the function keyword and then the name of the new function. Inside of the parentheses of the new function the event that triggers it is passed from the listener to the handler. This is how the functions knows what should trigger it, without this line the function would fail. The work myEvent is used as the name of the event inside of this function and is completely arbitrary while the type of event is taken from the listener that triggers this function. Think of it as an internal variable, that exists only inside this function and only exists for the duration of the event. The result of the function is that the text property of the myTextField object is set to display everything on the right side of the equal sign. The text (called a string) is placed inside of quotes and a mathematical formula that displays the amount of the movie that has downloaded as a number (the .round makes sure the number is rounded off) is added to it using the plus signs.
function onProgress(myEvent:ProgressEvent):void {
    myTextField.text = "Your download is " + Math.round(myEvent.bytesLoaded/myEvent.bytesTotal*100) + "% Complete";

}

Step 5: Create the movieLoaded event handler
The second function created here is triggered by the event handler tied to the completion of the movies loading event. It does two thing, the first is to remove the myTextField object using the removeChild command and the second is to move the playhead to the second frame of the swf file. The target frame could easily be changed by replacing the two in the parenthesis with the number of your destination frame.
function movieLoaded(myEvent:Event) {

    removeChild(myTextField);

    gotoAndStop(2);

}

Special Thanks to my good friend Fred Gerantabee. Check out his blog at: http://flashthismofo.blogspot.com/

Technorati Tags: flash, preloader, actionscript, action script 3.0, thepixelsmith

flashThisMoFo

2008-08-28T08:10:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to help publicize a great blog by a friend of mine, Fred Gerantabee.

Flashthismofo.blogspot.com

Fred was the lead author of Dynamic Learning Flash CS3, a book I was a contributing author for. This guy is absolutely brillant at flash and multiple-media design.

thepixelsmith

Posted on 28 Aug 2008 at 12:09 UTC

2008-08-28T08:09:00.001-04:00

Posted on 11 Aug 2008 at 01:26 UTC

2008-08-10T21:26:00.001-04:00

My wife bought me an I-phone G3 for our 10th wedding anniversary. It really is as great as everyone says it is.

2008-03-04T23:32:00.000-05:00

VideoMaker Magazine
Advanced Editing Workshop

Video Editing Technique
Video Capture and Asset Management

Scene Detect
Log and Capture
Storyboarding

Working with Clips and Sub-Clips

Creating sub-clips

Extracting Audio
Audio Channel Mapping

Cuts, Transitions and Wipes

Cuts only Editing
Dissolves
Wipes (Batman Bat Symbol, StarWars Push)

Adding Video Effects

Understanding Effects
Animating Effects
Keyframe Interpoloation

Enhancing Color

Coloring
Color Removal
Color Correction

Compositing Techniques

Alpha Channels
Keying
Matte Effects

Video Editing Concepts
Editing: Beyond the Basics

The 900 rule

10 Editing Rules

Working with the Rules
Going Beyond the Rules
Understanding the role of the Thinking Editor

What is the Goal of the Project?
Building a Project Brief

Shooting to Edit

Advanced Planning

StoryBoarding

Relationship between camera work and editing
Shooting for FX

Crafting the Illusion

Willful Suspension of Disbelief

Building a Mood
Developing Story Flow
Lip Syncing
Breaking the Mood

Understanding the Meaning of your Cuts

Match Cut
Subliminal Cut
Jump Cut
Cross Cut
Cut Zooms

Creating Meaningful Transitions and Effects

Consider the implications of any transitions

Push
Dissolve
Split Screen
Focus transitions
Over/Under Exposure transition

Compositing

SuperImpositions
Chroma Keying
Working with Mattes

Understanding the Importance of Sound

Leading with Sound
The Effects of Sound
The Power of silence

Adobe Contribute

2007-05-23T20:58:00.001-04:00

I just downloaded Adobe Contribute. It is intended to be used as an application to edit web pages and blogs. I am using it now to update my blog. It will work with Blogger (Obviously) and a variety of other blog hosts. It seems pretty useful if you have a variety of blogs or sites to keep track of and update on a regular basis.

Pirates of the Burning Sea

2007-04-29T19:22:00.001-04:00

MFC Studios produces The Comic Book Novice, a comic book themed multi-media experience. We have a radio show, blogs, and video interviews. This is an interview with Jess LeBow, the content manager of the upcoming MMO "Pirates of the Burning Sea" from Flying Lab Software, that was shot at the 2007 New York Comic Con.

Tech Ed 2007

2007-03-28T22:01:00.001-04:00

Hello out there in Internet land.

I am at Tech Ed 2007 in Ontario, California at the moment. I have spent the last several days giving hands on demos to primary, secondary and post secondary educators. I have taught demos on Production Studio, Macromedia Studio, The Elements Twins (Photoshop Premiere), CS2 and InDesign. This may be the last time I get to demo the CS2 suite as Adobe announced yesterday the launch of CS3. I have been working with the betas for a while now and can honestly say that the programs are better than ever.

CS3 ROCKS!

Jerron

MotorStorm

2007-03-06T21:31:00.001-05:00

This is a demo/making of video of the game MotorStorm for the Playstation3. It looks amazingly cool.

clipped from www.us.playstation.com

Flash Got is cool

2007-03-04T18:31:00.001-05:00

I ran into another cool add-on for FireFox geared towards making blogging easier and more efficient. FlashGot allows me to sample and clip parts of a page and sent them to a variety of locations like this blog.

clipped from www.flashgot.net

FlashGot turns every supported download manager in a download manager for Firefox!

Is your preferred download manager not listed above? CLICK HERE

Get Performancing

2007-03-02T14:23:00.001-05:00

With all the cool and fancy tech in the world today it's hard to figure out what to stick with. I have switched on all my computers from IE as my browser to Firefox, and couldn't be happier. The tabbed browsing that IE just added has beeen in Firefox for years and the add-ons for FF are pretty sweet. I just got performancing a good blog editor that sits right inside my browser to enhance my functionality.

http://www.performancing.com

I just went to the Firefox add-ons page and added it.

3d is hard & we don't teach it right

2005-12-18T12:37:00.000-05:00

“3d is hard…and it is getting harder”, this statement was made by one of the Discreet demo artists when I was at the 3DMax8 launch party here in NY. I love it because the statement is absolutely true, and also something I try to impart to my students every class. Shrinking budgets, tighter deadlines, and staff burnout all contribute to fewer people being asked to do more and better work in less time than ever before. I suppose that this may not be felt as much at larger effects and animation houses but how many of us can work for them? It’s not the best possible environment for a creative pro to find them selves in. The problem is that this consolidation, this compression is also evident at the higher education level that I have been teaching 3d at for the last several years. Unless you are at a specialized 3d school the classes that you find being taught are conglomerations/aggregates of the 3d design experience. For best effect the varying aspects of the 3d creation process and the skill sets that go with them should be introduced at first in isolation and then as students gain experience and proficiency they should be introduced to how these skills all come together in and a production pipeline to form a completed piece. One of the major problems that students face, and to be honest it is the same problem that everyone faces including myself is that 3D work (as with everything else worth doing) requires time and practice to become proficient in. It requires time to absorb the basic lessons of the medium and assimilate them into your understanding. When students are bombarded with to many different skills and concepts at once they don’t have time to assimilate each one and therefore cannot build the necessary bridges between the knowledge bits that are necessary for the higher level cognition that is essential for success in 3d.

Long Live Skype

2005-11-04T16:33:00.000-05:00

This is the coolest thing that I have ever seen. It is a VOIP program called SKYPE (www.skype.com). Now voice over internet internet protocols (VOIP) hs been around for quite some time but it has never been this cool. Skype is free to download and use, and if the person you want to talk to is also using skype then it is completely free. If you want to call just about any phone number in the world you have ot sign up for what is called SkypeOut, which is pretty simple. You buy SkypeOut credits and when you make calls the per-minute rate is subtracted from your credit total. You can keep track of your total either on the skype interface or at the website. The company appears to be in Europe so the default monetary amount is in Euros, but you can change that setting pretty easily. So far today I used about an hour of time, calling Boston, various cell-phones and my mom and it cost me about 65 cents or so. They also have a premium service called SkypeIn that lets you pay a charge starting in 3 month intervals to have a phone number that people outside of Skype can use to call into you, it even comes with a voicemail feature. The program will run on PC, MAC, LINUX and even the pocket PC platform (if you are running Windows CE).

3d Max 8

2005-09-19T12:14:00.000-04:00

I went to the 3DMax 8 Demo last Thursday and it was great. The demo artist showed a combination of new features and some of the lesser known cool things that 3dmax can do and it was awesome. Pelt mapping is very impressive, and should speed up the uv mapping process considerably. The second demo artist there was from the orphanage (that’s the effects studio that worked on “That Yellow Bastard” for Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City), they had been working with a beta of Max 8, and he said that it cut the uv mapping time in half. You can create the seems for the different maping regions right on the model in the max viewport and then have the mapper unwrap it for you. No more pulling them apart yourself for hours to get it right. It seems very cool, I can’t wait to try ti myself. There are other upgrades of course to the way character studio bipeds work to make them more effective and usable for instance and well as better access to real world measurement units for those doing visualization.

Excerpt from Look @ Me! Look @ Me!

2005-09-14T22:29:00.000-04:00

(This is an excerpt from another book project of mine.  This one deals with the problems of creating and marketing your portfolio or demo reel.  I decided to work on this project because of all the questions I get from students.  It seems to me that there are always a lot of questions and concerns with what should be in your book/reel and what should not.)
Organization and Reasoning of this book
     I wrote this book because, well...I want to be famous.  No, really I did.  It may be a selfish reason, but you know, I can live with that.  I mean isn’t that why you bought the book.  Because you want people to look at you and your work and go “WOW”.  The point of this book is really to teach you how to get your work seen by as many people as possible and how to organize it and arrange it so that you really impress the hell out of them.  I mean come on, deep down don’t  we all want to be admired by our peers, and held in awe by the common man.  Or maybe it’s just me?
     This book is arranged into two major parts.  Part one entitled “Creating a Portfolio”, covers pretty much what it sounds like,  the nuts and bolt of putting your work together in a way so that you get the most “bang for you buck”.  In this section I will discuss not only how you can organize your portfolio and gear it to the specific industries you are interested in, but also how to go about physically building one when you are ready to do so.
Part1: Creating a Portfolio
     Why do I have to create a portfolio?  Well oh, uh…so that you can get a job?  While a good portfolio doesn’t guarantee that you’ll get the job you want, a bad one will most certainly guarantee that you won‘t.  A portfolio is a sampling of your work, and it is the standard method by which you demonstrate your skill as a creative professional to prospective clients.  Whether the portfolio is a good old fashioned presentation book, a web site or a digital display is irrelevant at this point (we discuss the physical forms the portfolio can take in chapter 4), what I am trying to get across at this stage is that there are certain qualities that all good portfolios regardless of the specific profession should have in common.
     At this stage, my goal is to get to you to start actively thinking about your portfolio.  What can it do for you?  What do you want it to do for you?  How much work do you have ready to go into your portfolio?  How much of what you have shouldn’t you put in?  These are the questions you should ask yourself at this stage.
     When creating your portfolio you should always keep in the front of your mind the purpose of this portfolio.  The same principle holds true for when you design the individual pieces that will comprise your portfolio.  Don’t allow yourself to become distracted by extraneous things.
     A: A few rules for everyone
     Regardless of what specific type of job you are going for, there are certain guidelines that all creative professionals would do well to remember.
     1: Gear your portfolio to the specific industry you are going for.
     It doesn’t do you much good to show cd cover designs to a corporate art director who is looking for someone to work on his annual report.  Likewise, the last thing a busy senior animator wants to look at is your flying logo, or a gig poster for your favorite punk band.  You should only show the types of work that shows you have the skill sets that match the current job a prospective employer is looking to fill.  If you have a wide range of skills and wish to demonstrate them all, more power to you, but in that case you should create multiple portfolios each geared towards a different  industry.  Remember, the people who are going to evaluate your book are busy, don’t make them think they are wasting their time.
     2: Always lead off your portfolio with your strangest work.
     3: Always, Always show the complimentary material.
     Employers are not only interested in seeing finished work but they also want to see if your have the conceptual skills to really market yourself as a creative pro.  To this end, lets say you have a DVD cover in your portfolio, not only should you include the finished, printed cover, but you should also include: The design brief, the thumbnails, and the comps.  To further enhance this piece you could also include the DVD booklet and back cover, you could also add further promotional materials, brochures, flyers, and even perhaps a point of purchase display.  This is the kind of thing that Art directors want to see because it shows that not only can you put a pretty picture together but that you also have a brain in that head of yours and that you can understand and handle a wider range of responsibilities.

The Pinocchio Syndrome

2005-09-14T22:24:00.000-04:00

(This is an excerpt from a book and documentary project I am working on that deals with the depiction of robots and other artificial intelligences in film)
The Pinocchio Syndrome
     As it’s name implies the “Pinocchio Syndrome” is based on the depiction of the main character in the classic story of the wooden boy Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.   In this work the phrase “Pinocchio Syndrome” is used to describe any attempt on the part of a robot, android, or other artificial entity to become human, or otherwise grow beyond it’s programmed or created limits.  Typically, artificial entities that have the qualities of a Pinocchio can do so in both benevolent or malevolent ways.  Another historical reference for the “Pinocchio syndrome” and especially for the malevolent depictions would be Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein.  In addition to creating one of the first portrayals of the scientist as a dangerous figure in society, Shelly’s depiction of an intelligent, feeling creature that is created through artificial means and then rejected by it’s creator and an unsympathetic world, would set the stage for latter day depictions of artificial entities as objects worthy of  respect and sympathy.
     Star Trek: The Motion Picture’s (1979) portrayal of V’Ger also adds credence to the premise of the “Pinocchio Syndrome“.  V’Ger is in fact a Voyager probe, that in the course of it’s mission to explore the galaxy crash lands on an alien world populated by sentient machines.  The machines improve upon the simplistic Voyager probe, bestowing upon it sentience and incredible power.  The probe then continues on it’s mission, to explore and catalog the galaxy.  Centuries later with this task complete Voyager, now called V’Ger makes it’s way towards Earth to complete it’s mission and deliver the date it has accumulated.  But over the centuries V’ger has changed, thanks to the sentience that was bestowed upon it, V’ger senses that it has reached the limits of what it can become.  Having amassed boundless information the probes sense of self demands that it question what is the nature of it‘s own existence, and ask, can I be more?  To this end V’ger contrives a plan to burn out one of it’s control circuits to force it’s creator (whom over the centuries V’ger has come to equate with God), to come to V’ger and complete the download in person.  It is V’ger’s goal to fuse to, to “join with” his creator and by doing so grow beyond his current limitations.
     The android character of Lt. Commander Data was first introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series, and in fact was purposely created to be a futuristic representation of the Pinocchio character.  According to actor Brent Spiner who has portrayed the golden skinned android for over a decade, “it was an established journey that his character was going to be on from the very beginning.  The point of departure was the word ‘Pinocchio‘, which was in the pilot, and was Gene Roddenberry’s concept.  After discussions with him, I agreed completely that the character would evolve through the years towards the humanity he seeks” (quoted in McDonnell, pp.28).  It was in fact in the Star Trek: The Next Generation films (Generations [1994], First Contact [1996], Insurrection [1998], Nemesis [2002]) that the portrayal of Data reaches it’s highest point.  While the series did indeed portray as a Pinocchio like character, an artificial boy who wanted to be human, the films allowed Data to continue and eventually complete his journey towards humanity.  In Star Trek: Generations, Data gains feelings by way of an emotion chip, and like a real person these new, often contradictory feelings almost overwhelm him.  As the Data character progresses through the four films we see a steady evolution towards the humanity he seeks.  Data’s journey towards this humanity comes to an end in the latest and perhaps last Star Trek film, Nemesis(2002).  Here, after a climatic battle against evil forces bent on wiping out the Earth and crippling the Federation, Data evidences the essential quality not only of a human being but of the hero, the capacity for self-sacrifice.  Data gives his own life to protect the Federation, his ship and his friends, and in doing so proves that humanity can be a far more complex concept than simply being born human.
     Another less common aspect of this theme can be seen in films such as Cherry 2000(1987), The Stepford Wives(1975), and Metropolis(1927) where it is the creators or owners of the robots (instead of the robots themselves) who want humanity bestowed upon their automatons, or as with the latter two films they desire to create machines that are as close to the human ideal of perfection as possible.  These portrayals specifically are demonstrative of another aspect of depiction of human looking machines in films.  It represents the attempt on the part of the creators (usually but not always men), to create the perfect mate and companion.  Other films that have used this thematic approach to the depiction of artificial entities with varying degrees of success are Stephen Spielberg’s A.I.(2001), D.A.R.Y.L.(1985), and Ridley Scott’s film noir masterpiece Blade Runner(1982).

Follow your Bliss

2005-09-14T22:03:00.000-04:00

A couple of days ago I was talking to my 3D class about why I have the "hard ass" approach to teaching computer graphics that I am known for. While I may come off as an inconsiderate "prick", in fact I consider at least part of my job to help people figure out if they realy want to work in Computer graphics or not. CG is a realy hard business to survive in and if anything that I could ever say could possibly dissuade you from pursuing it as a career you won't survie in it. Somebody famous once said someting exactly like that but I forget who it was. Art Directors/Creative directors/Effect & Animation supes will ride you, colleagues will try to stab you in the back to get ahead, and the hours suck. Especialy when you are just starting out, you will have times when you come desperately close to not making your rent, and others when you just won't be able to make it period. The price of being a pixel pusher can often be measured in sleepless nights, cold ramen noodle dinners, and lost free time. Often you are always on the move, jumping from contract to contract trying to work our way up the ladder, and by there way make sure you plan for your old age, because this carer usually doesn't come with a pension plan. All that being said, if you can deal with the cost, it can be a great ride.There was once a man named Joseph Campbell, he was an author and expert on comparitive mythology. In a remarkable series of interviews for the production of "Joseph Campbell and the Powr of Myth", he talks about a concept he learned from studying myth that he calls "following your bliss". Basically, a person needs to figure out what makes them happy and follow it. Just do it! When one finds an occupation, career, vocation, etc. that truly makes them happy they can't help but excel at it, and that excellence will bring them success, and fame, and admiration and the other accolades they are looking for. Campbell himself admits that most people never really take the time to figure out who they are and who they are really meant to be. And to be quite honest this is not the kind of self-exploration that modern society expects of us or the kind that we usually expect from ouselves. In general we follow the roles that we are expected to follow. We work our (9-5, 8-6, etc) job, to make money to support our selves and be a good little consumer in society, becoming just another cog in the great machine of life. But do we ever really stop to ask ourselves why we are doing it, if it isn't making us happy, or satisfied, or more than we are now. According to Campbell, when you figure out what it is that really makes you happy, when you are "following your bliss" you are being true to yourself and your nature, and everything else can be worked out from there.This is the way it is with Cg work and 3D work specifically. Lot of people see movies like "The Incredibles" and "Sky Captain" or play games like "Halo" and "Half-Life" and want to be in the industry. Now, don't get me wrong, that great, I mean we haveall been inspired by someting, for some of us it was seeing "Star Wars" that first time or maybe those "Stop Motion" monsters you saw in the old movies, ("Jason and the Argonaughts" is a classic). But what most people don't understand and what those movies don't tell you is that to create a work of CG art (especialy someting groundbreaking like "Sky Captain") is alot of really hard work and sacrifice. And the problem is that our modern society has taught us to expect quick rewards and instant gratification, not the dificulty to the process, nor the discipline of the craft. That is when the it becomes even more important to make sure that this is realy what you want to do, that you are "following your bliss". That is the only thing that will help you through the tough times and the long dark hours.