FuseFX Taps Nuke For Extensive VFX on Showtime's "United States of Tara"
When Burbank-based visual effects studio FuseFX began working on the new season of Showtime's "United States of Tara," it turned to Nuke, The Foundry's powerful compositing application, to facilitate the extensive green screen effects required for a series about a woman with a multiple personality disorder.
...Read More »
Toolfarm's Professional After Effects Camera Training By Ko Maruyama
The 3D world in After Effects has always been a difficult composition space to navigate. Even if you are familiar with world navigation in a 3D application, working with the camera in After Effects may not behave the way you might expect. Like any application, there is a workflow which will make working with these tools easier to understand. Toolfarm's new training shows you how.
...Read More »
Adobe Kuler By Maltaannon
Adobe Kuler is a great website where designers from all over the world create and exchange color schemes. Kuler has several algorithms to help you create your very own color scheme, plus it allows rating and commenting on existing schemes, that can be downloaded in Adobe Swatch Exchange format.
...Read More »
PHOTOSHOP DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS By Ko Maruyama
You probably know Scott Kelby from many publications, especially as the editor of Photoshop User magazine. In his latest book, PHOTOSHOP CS4 DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS, Scott and Corey Barker walk through several of the latest design tricks and trends Photoshop users recognize in so much of the print work available today.
...Read More »
Modbook from a MacBook Pro By Ko Maruyama
A few years ago, we saw a company called Axiotron out of El Segundo California come up with a Mac tablet which integrated the Wacom tablet technology (similar to the Cintiq) and the Apple MacBook. This is a great solution for those of us who loved to work with software that really took advantage of the stylus. Before the Pro version ships, Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, and Maxon's BodyPaint 3D were among some of the tools I tried out on the current 15-inch ModBook.
...Read More »
Tips to Slim Down (your project) in 2009 By Ko Maruyama
It's time for those New Years resolutions to start piling up. You know the ones: I'm going to eat healthy food. I won't slouch at my desk. I'll spend less time on Facebook, Twitter and (insert your own). . . I'M GOING TO SLIM DOWN. Well how about some slimming tips you might actually stick to? Here are some ways to slim down your animation projects in 2009. Or even just your TIMELINE!
...Read More »
Tips to Slim Down (your project) in 2009 By Ko Maruyama
It's time for those New Years resolutions to start piling up. You know the ones: I'm going to eat healthy food. I won't slouch at my desk. I'll spend less time on Facebook, Twitter and (insert your own). . . I'M GOING TO SLIM DOWN. Well how about some slimming tips you might actually stick to? Here are some ways to slim down your After Effects projects in 2009....
...Read More »
Tips to Slim Down (your project) in 2009 By Ko Maruyama
It's time for those New Years resolutions to start piling up. You know the ones: I'm going to eat healthy food. I won't slouch at my desk. I'll spend less time on Facebook, Twitter and (insert your own)... I'M GOING TO SLIM DOWN. Well how about some slimming tips you might actually stick to? Here are some ways to slim down your animation projects in 2009....
...Read More »
SIGGRAPH ASIA: 2008 / P4 By Ko Maruyama
2008 marked the first ACM SIGGRAPH Conference in Asia. Almost two years in the making, the Asian SIGGRAPH is host to computer artists of all kinds. The expo floor showcases some of the most compelling new software for animators, including glimpses of software to come. Chaos Group has some new software coming up in 2009 that they showed off in Singapore.
...Read More »
SIGGRAPH ASIA: 2008 / P3 By Ko Maruyama
2008 marked the first ACM SIGGRAPH Conference in Asia. Almost two years in the making, the Asian SIGGRAPH is host to computer artists of all kinds. The expo floor showcases some of the most compelling new software for animators, including glimpses of software to come. StudioGPU demo'd their newest software at the ATI booth
...Read More »
Toon Boom Storyboard Pro By Ko Maruyama
Toon Boom's Storyboard Pro allows you to easily create a paperless storyboard - and even animate it if you want. There are a bunch of little tricks that you can easily pull off in Storyboard Pro, and there are several ways to export your boards when you're done. But what about when you want to IMPORT something to your panels? Here are a couple of easy Quick Tips
...Read More »
Answer to Gears By Ko Maruyama
I got a few questions about how the shape layers work, why the boolean operation does what it does in the shape layer, and specifically how to make the hole in the middle of the gear. Well, I got enough email questions about it that I figured it was worth a tutorial explanation. So here it is.
...Read More »
Manga Studio 4 and website By Ko Maruyama
It has been almost 3 years since I first tried manga studio 3.0 for the PC. At that time it had just been ported from Japan's Comic Studio. Although there were two versions offered by E. frontier, both were extremely feature rich, and required some experience. Now you can get training and online assistance at manga studio online.
...Read More »
Macworld Digital Art Gallery starts now By Ko Maruyama
Digital artists of all backgrounds are invited to submit original works of art that have been created or enhanced using Mac hardware or software tools. Submitted works will be considered for the opportunity to be selected as one of 30 final images that will be displayed to thousands of Macworld attendees.
...Read More »
Photoshop CS3e: Halloween Cross Part 3 By Ko Maruyama
If you have Adobe's Photoshop CS3 Extended, you can import 3D models from other applications. If there are 3D models in a Photoshop CS3e project, you can open up the textures and modify them to suit the project at hand. You can also apply photographic elements to surfaces of your model by changing the transfer mode or opacity. Maybe you want to add it full tilt, it's up to you.
...Read More »
Photoshop CS3e: Halloween Cross Part 2 By Ko Maruyama
If you have Adobe's Photoshop CS3 Extended, you can import 3D models from other applications. If there are 3D models in a Photoshop CS3e project, you can open up the textures and modify them to suit the project at hand. You can paint just as you would on any smart object project. All of the tools are at your disposal.
...Read More »
Photoshop CS3e: Halloween Cross Part 1 By Ko Maruyama
If you have Adobe's Photoshop CS3 Extended, you can import 3D models from other applications. If there are 3D models in a Photoshop CS3e project, you can open up the textures and modify them to suit the project at hand. The first thing you need to do is identify the mappinig areas.
...Read More »
3D in Photoshop: Simple Religious Icons Part 2 By Ko Maruyama
Manipulating the texture on a 3D object within Photoshop CS3 is really easy. If you know how to use the tools in Photoshop, there's really no limit to what you can do with a 3D material. Like a smart object, the 3D material is just an embedded Photoshop document. In Part 2, I check out other models which aren't as easy to break down as the geometry in the cross.
...Read More »
3D in Photoshop: Simple Religious Icons Part 1 By Ko Maruyama
Manipulating the texture on a 3D object within Photoshop CS3 is really easy. If you know how to use the tools in Photoshop, there's really no limit to what you can do with a 3D material. Like a smart object, the 3D material is just an embedded Photoshop document. In Part 1 I just wanted to introduce you to the idea of slapping color onto a model with some additional elements.
...Read More »
Alien Skin Blow Up 2 for Photoshop By Ko Maruyama
Alien Skin is a plugin developer that has been around for a while and it's nice to see that they're continuing to keep their product line alive with new tools that we are all looking for. The new version of Blow Up works in Photoshop and Photoshop Express, giving us the option to get clean scaling solutions even when we have to get closer than we should.
...Read More »
NO...Doesn't have a thing to do with "that" smartphone...or "that" store...or "that" tablet. It's the next generation. Kids and we mean little kids. That's what today's products are being designed for/targeted at. You happen to buy one...fine. Watch a little, little kid pick up a smartphone. He/she just uses it. They've come pre-wired and we're still trying to figure out how to IM. It's the IGen. They want it instantly. They want to use it instantly. They expect their photos, their video, their music, their stuff immediately when/where/how they want it.
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In this clip, lynda.com host Mark Abdelnour takes a look at proxy bidding. He discusses the strategy and how it works. He also discusses the maximum bid, and when to use Proxy bidding.
Read More
The blood, gore, adrenalin challenges that were unveiled at E3 and enjoyed at ComicCon are fun to look at, easy to hold but are they really the games people want to plunk down their credit cards to own or rent time with? Seems as though the investors, the players who control the controllers have a different idea of a "good" game than the kids who develop them. While mobs of people play educational, informational, stimulating games our kid huddles in his room and mumbles "The Few, The Proud, The Gamers."
Read More
FuseFX Taps Nuke For Extensive VFX on Showtime's "United States of Tara"
When Burbank-based visual effects studio FuseFX began working on the new season of Showtime's "United States of Tara," it turned to Nuke, The Foundry's powerful compositing application, to facilitate the extensive green screen effects required for a series about a woman with a multiple personality disorder.
...Read More »
Toolfarm's Professional After Effects Camera Training
The 3D world in After Effects has always been a difficult composition space to navigate. Even if you are familiar with world navigation in a 3D application, working with the camera in After Effects may not behave the way you might expect. Like any application, there is a workflow which will make working with these tools easier to understand. Toolfarm's new training shows you how.
...Read More »
Adobe Kuler
Adobe Kuler is a great website where designers from all over the world create and exchange color schemes. Kuler has several algorithms to help you create your very own color scheme, plus it allows rating and commenting on existing schemes, that can be downloaded in Adobe Swatch Exchange format.
...Read More »
PHOTOSHOP DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS
You probably know Scott Kelby from many publications, especially as the editor of Photoshop User magazine. In his latest book, PHOTOSHOP CS4 DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS, Scott and Corey Barker walk through several of the latest design tricks and trends Photoshop users recognize in so much of the print work available today.
...Read More »
Modbook from a MacBook Pro
A few years ago, we saw a company called Axiotron out of El Segundo California come up with a Mac tablet which integrated the Wacom tablet technology (similar to the Cintiq) and the Apple MacBook. This is a great solution for those of us who loved to work with software that really took advantage of the stylus. Before the Pro version ships, Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, and Maxon's BodyPaint 3D were among some of the tools I tried out on the current 15-inch ModBook.
...Read More »
Tips to Slim Down (your project) in 2009
It's time for those New Years resolutions to start piling up. You know the ones: I'm going to eat healthy food. I won't slouch at my desk. I'll spend less time on Facebook, Twitter and (insert your own). . . I'M GOING TO SLIM DOWN. Well how about some slimming tips you might actually stick to? Here are some ways to slim down your animation projects in 2009. Or even just your TIMELINE!
...Read More »
Tips to Slim Down (your project) in 2009
It's time for those New Years resolutions to start piling up. You know the ones: I'm going to eat healthy food. I won't slouch at my desk. I'll spend less time on Facebook, Twitter and (insert your own). . . I'M GOING TO SLIM DOWN. Well how about some slimming tips you might actually stick to? Here are some ways to slim down your After Effects projects in 2009....
...Read More »
Tips to Slim Down (your project) in 2009
It's time for those New Years resolutions to start piling up. You know the ones: I'm going to eat healthy food. I won't slouch at my desk. I'll spend less time on Facebook, Twitter and (insert your own)... I'M GOING TO SLIM DOWN. Well how about some slimming tips you might actually stick to? Here are some ways to slim down your animation projects in 2009....
...Read More »
SIGGRAPH ASIA: 2008 / P4
2008 marked the first ACM SIGGRAPH Conference in Asia. Almost two years in the making, the Asian SIGGRAPH is host to computer artists of all kinds. The expo floor showcases some of the most compelling new software for animators, including glimpses of software to come. Chaos Group has some new software coming up in 2009 that they showed off in Singapore.
...Read More »
SIGGRAPH ASIA: 2008 / P3
2008 marked the first ACM SIGGRAPH Conference in Asia. Almost two years in the making, the Asian SIGGRAPH is host to computer artists of all kinds. The expo floor showcases some of the most compelling new software for animators, including glimpses of software to come. StudioGPU demo'd their newest software at the ATI booth
...Read More »
Toon Boom Storyboard Pro
Toon Boom's Storyboard Pro allows you to easily create a paperless storyboard - and even animate it if you want. There are a bunch of little tricks that you can easily pull off in Storyboard Pro, and there are several ways to export your boards when you're done. But what about when you want to IMPORT something to your panels? Here are a couple of easy Quick Tips
...Read More »
Answer to Gears
I got a few questions about how the shape layers work, why the boolean operation does what it does in the shape layer, and specifically how to make the hole in the middle of the gear. Well, I got enough email questions about it that I figured it was worth a tutorial explanation. So here it is.
...Read More »
Manga Studio 4 and website
It has been almost 3 years since I first tried manga studio 3.0 for the PC. At that time it had just been ported from Japan's Comic Studio. Although there were two versions offered by E. frontier, both were extremely feature rich, and required some experience. Now you can get training and online assistance at manga studio online.
...Read More »
Macworld Digital Art Gallery starts now
Digital artists of all backgrounds are invited to submit original works of art that have been created or enhanced using Mac hardware or software tools. Submitted works will be considered for the opportunity to be selected as one of 30 final images that will be displayed to thousands of Macworld attendees.
...Read More »
Photoshop CS3e: Halloween Cross Part 3
If you have Adobe's Photoshop CS3 Extended, you can import 3D models from other applications. If there are 3D models in a Photoshop CS3e project, you can open up the textures and modify them to suit the project at hand. You can also apply photographic elements to surfaces of your model by changing the transfer mode or opacity. Maybe you want to add it full tilt, it's up to you.
...Read More »
Photoshop CS3e: Halloween Cross Part 2
If you have Adobe's Photoshop CS3 Extended, you can import 3D models from other applications. If there are 3D models in a Photoshop CS3e project, you can open up the textures and modify them to suit the project at hand. You can paint just as you would on any smart object project. All of the tools are at your disposal.
...Read More »
Photoshop CS3e: Halloween Cross Part 1
If you have Adobe's Photoshop CS3 Extended, you can import 3D models from other applications. If there are 3D models in a Photoshop CS3e project, you can open up the textures and modify them to suit the project at hand. The first thing you need to do is identify the mappinig areas.
...Read More »
3D in Photoshop: Simple Religious Icons Part 2
Manipulating the texture on a 3D object within Photoshop CS3 is really easy. If you know how to use the tools in Photoshop, there's really no limit to what you can do with a 3D material. Like a smart object, the 3D material is just an embedded Photoshop document. In Part 2, I check out other models which aren't as easy to break down as the geometry in the cross.
...Read More »
3D in Photoshop: Simple Religious Icons Part 1
Manipulating the texture on a 3D object within Photoshop CS3 is really easy. If you know how to use the tools in Photoshop, there's really no limit to what you can do with a 3D material. Like a smart object, the 3D material is just an embedded Photoshop document. In Part 1 I just wanted to introduce you to the idea of slapping color onto a model with some additional elements.
...Read More »
Alien Skin Blow Up 2 for Photoshop
Alien Skin is a plugin developer that has been around for a while and it's nice to see that they're continuing to keep their product line alive with new tools that we are all looking for. The new version of Blow Up works in Photoshop and Photoshop Express, giving us the option to get clean scaling solutions even when we have to get closer than we should.
...Read More »
