So Photoshop CS5 and 5.5 had some video editing features; I never used them, since I mostly work in Premiere Pro and After Effects. Video in PS was an afterthought to me. So now along comes CS6, and both the  Extended and Standard editions will have video editing capabilities, the best part of which just might be Photoshop’s filter set. Yes…there are a few transitions available, and adjustment layers, and keyframing, and multiple tracks (with the magnetic timeline – you listening, Apple?), standard video editing toolset – hey! This is sounding pretty good – especially to photographers who are now using their DSLRs as the powerful video tools they’ve become. 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 »

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 »

In the realm of “It’s a New World”, who would have thought the day would come when you could subscribe to Adobe software? Sure, it’s always been kind of that case with software that has a licensing dongle, such as in the CAD and 3D worlds, and my license of 3D Studio Max 2011 does offer a subscription that adds some very useful bells and whistles, albeit at a price too steep for my wallet. 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 »

About five days ago, I had only heard of WordPress – I didn’t own it, I hadn’t installed it, but I had heard it was very cool if you wanted to set up a website which was a hybrid blog/CMS (content management system – read…web page). I’m still hacking away at this, but it’s very user friendly, and you don’t have to spend a lot of time in the PHP side of things, which looks a lot like HTML.

I still have a ton of work to do here, but the WordPress Control Panel, not to mention the one which comes with the template, is very easy to figure out. Granted, I’m an advanced user on the graphic design side, and know my way around a lot of complex software, but software isn’t programming websites. I’m pleased with the way its’ going, and look forward to discussions to come on Graphic Design, DSLRs, and the changing face of the delivery model for media production.

Joe Bourke