Well, it’s here – I went from an upgrade to the Master Collection CS5.5, in order to qualify for a free upgrade to the Master Collection CS6. It worked perfectly, although I’ve seen some irate people bashing Adobe because their email qualifying them for the upgrade did not arrive. I generally find that if I have a problem with Adobe software, I can just call their support number, get through quickly, and usually have an answer in a matter of minutes. I guess your result may vary, as usual. Read more »

I’ve been working on some new/old technologies lately, and if you take a look at this video, you’ll see a magician from the 1930’s who has something to say. The beauty of this technology, once you see what it does, is that what’s going on under the hood is simple to do. I’ve taken a still image (an historical poster which is in the public domain), done a bit of Photoshop work with it, and then simply supplied a voice track (in this case, a Velveeta radio ad from the 1940’s), and technology does the rest. Read more »

I just had an article published in Creative Cow Magazine, entitled Managing Broadcast Assets with Adobe Bridge. I wrote the article, in part, because there are many Creative Suite users who aren’t aware of Bridge, and in part because it will give existing Adobe Creative Suite users an insight into how they can manage thousands of files (whether they are broadcast assets or not) in a relatively painless way. Read more »

Two years ago, I sent a question to the Adobe Bridge forum about a problem I was having. Not all files created by Adobe products (.aep, .mov, .psd, and others) would accept XMP metadata. Now, as an animator, and television producer,  I have thousands of files, most of them coming from the Creative Suite, and I live or die on my ability to keep track of client revisions, my own revisions, and other details in fairly complex projects. Read more »

Let me start out by stating that I’ve never used FCP. I’ve edited (as a motion graphics designer) on A/B roll systems, Discreet Logic Edit* (so I know the pain of EOL announcements), AVID, and Premiere Pro CS5. I would never do an upgrade – especially when I’m in the middle of a project, so the worldwide outcry by the professional editing community has me a bit puzzled. Yes…I know Apple pulled a fast one, especially when you look at their pre-release announcements and hints as to what was coming. Read more »

There’s more to Motion Graphics Design than putting pretty pictures on a page and moving them around. It takes planning, a content expert on the client side, who can tell me whether or not my designs are accurate and the message is on target, and that the visual content matches what’s being said in the voice over. Read more »

I’ve been telling clients’ stories for well over twenty years, and I’ve come to appreciate that it’s not the amount of time you should take to tell your story that’s important, but the amount of time it must take, based on your content and message. While this sounds like a fine distinction, it’s a very important part of planning your project. Don’t get caught up in planning your project based on what someone else did. The story you tell will determine whether someone listens, or clicks away. Read more »

I spent a large part of my career in Broadcast and Cable Television. The delivery options were clear and simple, and it didn’t take much to find your audience…they were hard-wired into the system. You created your programming or spot, figured out your demographic, picked a timeslot, and boom – you were there. A little fine-tuning and you knew your message was being heard. Read more »

It may sound a bit repetitive, but the sea change in multimedia has more to do with the delivery of media than anything else. True multimedia has been a promise for many years – now it’s a reality! It shouldn’t be frightening – it should be exciting. Any time you can get more bang for your buck, it’s a good thing! Read more »