Fine Art + Multimedia

When most think of a multimedia/digital and art conjunction; digital animation, graphic design, typography, and digital photography usually come into mind. Well fine artists can make good use of the equipment at the Student Multimedia Design Center all the same!

Some available items of interest for fine artists include:

• Basic Lighting Kits
• Advanced Lighting Kits
• Basic/Intermediate/Advance DV Tape Video Cameras
• Intermediate Flash Memory Video Cameras
• Digital Still Cameras
• Canon Rebel EOS and Pentax K-T DSLR cameras
• Video and Still Camera tripods
• Bamboo Fun Writing Tablet

The studios are also very useful for art projects and include a video transfer deck for DVD <-> VHS, Importing DV tape footage, and a Samson microphone for recording audio. All video editing can be completed right in the studio with Premiere CS5, Final Cut 7, or iMovie 2011 on the Mac, or Premiere CS5 on the Windows machines.

The equipment at the Student Multimedia Design Center is useful for documentation, shooting final pieces, and creating stop-motion animations.

I recently completed a documentation video of my recent installation in the Studio Arts Building, using equipment from the Center. I used the Canon HF S20 digital video camera to shoot some time-lapse of the installation and shoot video of the final product. After the video was shot I did some simple editing in one of the studios using iMovie 2011. LINK

Reaper Provides an Upgrade from Audacity Without the Hefty Price Tag

For those of us that do editing outside of the media center, without the access to high-end software such as Logic Studio, Audacity may not quite cut it. So for users looking to own audio-editing software without breaking the bank, Reaper is an excellent option. Reaper does multi-track editing and recording in the style of Cubase or Ableton, albeit a bit more simply. Its major draw comes from its pricing: A full single-user license is only $225, and that's if you're a commercial user making over $20,000 using it. For educational, non-profit, personal, or even commercial use under 20k, it's only $60 per user. In comparison, a single seat of the educational edition of Cubase starts at $270. On top of that, the trial for Reaper is completely open. No timeouts, no save-disabling, only a menu that reminds you to buy a license after 30 days. Have a look.

Reaper is available at Reaper.fm.

Joseph Maruca

Joseph Maruca is a graphic artist based in New York (I know, very original). I first caught eye of his work when he did a typography-based video to sync with one of my favorite songs from Kanye West and Jay-Z's recent collaborative album, Watch The Throne. Typography seems to be Maruca's strong suit, but I found that I have seen some of his other work in print ads. Because Joseph lives in New York and graduated from Pratt, urban landscapes seem to be a "thing" of his. I'm finding that there is a broad range of work for graphic design, and that it really helps to know some forms of media. Check the link for the near-seizure-inducing visual (it's really bright).

Spotify Launches in the US

The long-awaited music service Spotify has come to the United States after being a huge success in Europe. Spotify requires you to download a program, but once you do, you get instant access to it's 15 million song music catalog. It also offers integration with your iTunes library, as well as many radio stations to listen to. Another huge feature Spotify offers is integration with Facebook. You can see what songs your friends listen to, and even send suggested music to people.

Spotify offers three services: free, which allows you to listen to the entire music catalog, but with advertisements (a la Pandora); premium, which allows you to listen to it ad-free for $5 a month; and a mobile premium, which allows you to access the Spotify library on mobile platforms such as Android and iPhone.

Myself, I downloaded Spotify about a week ago and it is fantastic. I'm always looking for new ways to go around paying for music, such as Pandora and Grooveshark. Spotify allows that, as well as social networking integration and even support for iPods and iPhones. The free service is definitely worth it, and as long as you have an internet connection, any song you want is available at your fingertips. However, time will tell as far as accessibility. Will it be available free forever? Will it be bought out by another media giant?

Taking time-lapse photography

One great way to make a video is to take a series of still photographs over time and then assemble them into a movie project.  This technique is used to show some long-term process (such as the growth of a seed or the sun's travel across the sky) in a short period of time.  The results are often quite dramatic. 

This web site gives some basic guidance on getting started with this type of photographic technique:

http://www.untamedscience.com/film/time-lapse-photography-guide

Is UD biased toward Apple?

The Review thinks the new Apple store in the UD bookstore shows a bias towards Macs. "By connecting with Apple, the university is alienating those who prefer PCs, and especially those who require them." (click title to read entire editorial). What do you think? Should there be a Dell (or other Windows) store on campus too?
Rich

New Databases on trial feature video

Education in Video is comprised of streaming video developed specifically for training and developing teachers. This release now provides 195 video titles, equaling approximately 114 hours. This resource is available until November 26, 2011.

NBC Learn Higher Ed is a database of primary source videos, newsreels, documents, and images. This database is available until December 15, 2011.

Check them out and give feedback (if you have any)!

Sometimes Newer Isn't Always Better

Growing up, my Windows ME running desktop computer (old fashion stuff nowadays) was the only means of connection to the information highway. I would rush home, check out the game websites, read a few emails, but ultimately I was excited to join my other friends in AOL Instant Messaging. It was the greatest thing since sliced bread to me at the time and I'd spend more time there than I did in my own bed (haha). My only problem was my little brother was the typical little brother who wanted to do everything I did and would eventually delete AIM from my computer. I spent 3 weeks without the program because their updated version was not compatible with my computer's operating system. I even resorted to PLAYING OUTSIDE (dun dun DUN!). That was until I discovered OldVersion.com. This website was full of old programs that I had dubbed dead and gone due to the operating system I was working with. To this day I still use Old Version and recommend it to anyone looking for any old major program for the following catergories:

• File Sharing
• Communication (AOL Instant Messaging, yahoo Messenger, etc)
• Graphics (Paint Shop Pro, Image Converters, etc)
• Multimedia (Windows Media Player, QuickTime, RealPlayer, etc)
• Internet (Mozilla Firefox, Safari, IE, etc)
• Office (Acrobat Reader, etc)
• Security (Norton Antivirus, Spybot, etc)
• Drivers
• Networking
• Development

P.s I also have found that Download.com can also come in handy when looking for programs via the internet...hope this works for you as much as it has for me

Lighting the Chroma Key

This how-to article has some good tips on working with lighting the green screen.

Google Doodle Honors Jim Henson

Today marks what would have been Jim Henson's 75th Birthday. Henson was a puppeteer best known for creating The Muppets. He founded the Jim Henson Company which still exists today and collaborated with Google to create this interactive doodle for the site. The following video explains the collaboration and gives some insight into Henson's creative process: 

The interactive doodle is really meant to allow anyone to become a puppeteer and has inspired a plethora of youtube videos of the monsters singing karaoke. Check them out singing some Black Eyed Peas below (& if you have some extra time create your own video!):

Historic Microfilm in the News!

It's not everyday one sees microfilm in the news. This story is about the sale of a famous microfilm copy of the Bible that was taken to the moon. In 1971, Apollo astronauts took microfilm copies the size of a postage stamp! I guess technically it would be a really small microfiche. Click the title to read more.
See the attached image... we have some old microfiche with "NCR" on it too.

Rich

Rolltop

Hey all! Nadine mentioned tonight that they are developing this new lap top that actually rolls out. You have to watch this video. So cool... I will of course be purchasing it once its out, when I have tons of money obviously!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H0K1k54t6A

Pocket-Sized Contest

Win a pocket-sized Pentax Q from Instructable.com. Contest closes November 7, 2011
http://www.instructables.com/contest/pocketsize/?show=PRIZES

Check out this Library Video for some great techniques!

Grand Army

Hey Guys!

So here is something interesting i found the other day. A few students who graduated from UD four years ago with degrees in visual communications (my major). These UD alumni have started a company known as GrandArmy, a advertising agency made famous by their NASCAR and X-GAMES commercials. The GrandArmy was just recently announced as the winners of the Young Guns Competition in NY, an honor coveted by many artists.

I hope you all enjoy!

Do you remember the 3.5 inch floppy disk?

Nick Gentry does.... read about his artistic vision here

Facebook's New Multimedia Platform

According to the New York Times today, Facebook is about to unveil a new platform that could change the face of multimedia sharing worldwide.

Though details are sparse until a developer's conference on Thursday, Facebook's new multimedia features will supposedly "allow people to easily share their favorite music, television shows and movies, effectively making the basic profile page a primary entertainment hub".

Music sharing seems to be a big part of the new Facebook experience, so online music hubs are expected to have to make big changes in order to compete with the new platform. Sites such as Rhapsody and Spotify are expected to be merging with the Facebook community in order to provide free music listening and sharing.

More details to follow on this story as they are released!

Device Protection

So you were at the Library and had to run to get something from your car. Rather than clean up all of your things you decided to leave your bag, books, and laptop sitting at a table. When you returned, to your utter dismay, you discovered that the laptop was no longer there.

While you might think that this could never occur in the library, it has actually happened many times. First, of course, never leave your things unattended. Second, what if your phone or laptop were taken from a secure place, how would you get them back?

There are a number of programs out there that can help. Here are two of them. . . one for Mac and the other for PC:

Prey (Mac). Prey is a software program that can run in the background on your device. If your phone or laptop gets taken, you can access Prey through a browser, which will activate the software on your computer through a wired Internet connection or will search for an open wireless connection. Data can then be collected to identify the whereabouts of your property, including activating the iSight camera to take a photo.

http://preyproject.com/

LockItTight (PC). Like Prey, LockItTight is a software program that can run in the background and collect important information such as key logging, webcam capture, screen capture, etc. to aid authorities in getting your property back.

http://www.lockittight.com/

Autodesk

Being a student it can be hard to buy all the software you'd like to have. Some 3D programs can reach upwards of $3,000! Autodesk has been offering free education trials that last for 3 years so that students and teachers have access to amazing software. Autodesk is the company that produces/has licensing rights to many popular design software suites like AutoCAD, Maya and 3Ds MAX.

To sign up, you need to register on the Autodesk student page with your .edu e-mail. LINK

Follow the instructions found in the e-mail to complete registration and check out the list of available software to download. Not all the Autodesk products/suites are available for free trials but most the available items are very popular and useful if interested in architecture or design.

Have fun!

Links:

Autodesk Homepage

Product Support Page

Autodesk Students

New 'jelly' batteries could provide cheap, safe power for small electronics

Laptops are constantly getting thinner, lighter, and faster. MacBook Air, anyone? But soon we may be seeing laptops become even lighter - with the help of new polymer gel technology.

According to CNN, a physics research professor from the UK has developed a new polymer gel battery that may replace bulky, not to mention potentially dangerous, lithium batteries most commonly found in today's laptops.

...The new polymer gel can be formed into a thin, flexible film through a low-cost process. This film, which would lie between a battery's electrodes, would eliminate one need of traditional lithium batteries — to have multiple cells kept apart by a porous polymer film separator.

In addition to reducing weight and size, these new batteries could be made at about 10 percent of the cost of creating current batteries.

A lighter-weight, cheaper-to-make battery for my laptop that doesn't run the risk of spontaneously combustion? Count me in.

The product has been licensed to an American company that is currently conducting trials in order to commercialize the product for future use in consumer electronics.

The Colour Clock

The Colour Clock

Here is a great project that combines art and technology. The Colour Clock was created by London based digital designer Jack Hughes. It represents time as a hexadecimal color value and the background shifts to the coordinating color based on the time. Sometimes the clock moves subtlety between shades of colors, or will suddenly shift to an unexpected portion of the spectrum.

For those who are unfamiliar, a hexadecimal color value is a set of 6 numbers and letters based on a 16 numbering system used to define colors on Web pages. A hex number is written from 0-9 and then A-F.

Web colors are written as three sets of hex pairs. The first set represents the red hue, the second the green hue, and the third the blue. White is written as ff ff ff or #ffffff while black is 00 00 00 or #000000.

Mac OS X users can even download the clock as a screensaver. 

Technology and Seniors

Video that will make you smile.
http://youtu.be/M95CAeiOPtE

Free E-Books through UD

UD has a collection of thousands of downloadable e-books available to students, faculty, and staff.
This collection encompasses many various subjects, including:

-Area, Ethnic, and Gender Studies
-Arts & Humanities
-Business & Economics
-Engineering & Physical Sciences
-Government, Law, & Politics
-Life & Health Sciences
-Reference & Statistics
-Social Sciences
& more!

http://www2.lib.udel.edu/eresources/etexts.html

WVUD Power Increase!

Congratulations to WVUD 91.3 FM "the Voice of the University of Delaware" our campus radio station has increased power from 1,000 to 6,800 watts! Click on the headline to read UDaily article. This has taken several years from planning to implementation today and involved many more steps than most people realize. While already reaching much of New Castle County as well as some of Pa. and Md., the power increase should enable the station to be picked up north of Wilmington and south to Middletown. (6,800 watts doesn't actually make it 6.8 times further... but it will go further and be stronger in some areas.) There is some interaction between us and WVUD, for example this morning a class was here who will be using digital voice recorders to record interviews for broadcast on WVUD. The station uses Audacity for recording promotional ads and shows too, so it's possible station members could do some recording here if the WVUD studio is booked. Two of us, Matt Wolfson and myself, are involved in the station. By the way, students are always welcome to become a part of WVUD, as it's a student organization, even though there are also non-students involved, ask me if you're interested. For more info. see www.wvud.org.
Rich

The Future of Books

The SMDC is uniquely positioned as a digital center in a very old world of "analog" books. This short article covers the changing of the book industry:

Next month IKEA will introduce a new, deeper version of its ubiquitous “BILLY” bookcase. The flat-pack furniture giant is already promoting glass doors for its bookshelves. The firm reckons customers will increasingly use them for ornaments, tchotchkes and the odd coffee-table tome—anything, that is, except books that are actually read. In the first five months of this year sales of consumer e-books in America overtook those from adult hardback books. Just a year earlier hardbacks had been worth more than three times as much as e-books, according to the Association of American Publishers. Amazon now sells more copies of e-books than paper books. The drift to digits will speed up as bookshops close. Borders, once a retail behemoth, is liquidating all of its American stores.

It's really interesting to watch as the digital ease-of-use revolutionizes an industry that has existed for hundred of years. It may not be too long before students are able to rent Kindle-like devices and read any book the library has.

Mac OSX vs. Windows 8

In the past week, both Microsoft and Apple laid out their visions of the future of computing, and the message is clear: it's all mobile, all the time. First Microsoft revealed it's new Windows 8, borrowing heavily from Windows Phone to be friendly to tablets and touch interfaces. Then yesterday Apple took the stage to show off its Mac OSX Lion system software, which owes a lot to its mobile platform, iOS.

Whose vision is more compelling? You be the judge.

Do-it-yourself-er

If you are a do-it-yourself-er when it comes to technology (an other things), then this site might give you the inspiration and ideas that you need for your next project:

http://www.instructables.com/tag/type-id/category-technology/

"Cassette Tape" is removed from the consise Oxford English Dictionary

First it was the phonograph, then the gramaphone, open reel to reel, 8 track, and vinyl (and a few more in between). All cutting edge advances in audio technology, only to be pushed into the attic when the next newest invention came along. When CDs and then mp3s came along, cassette tapes were stashed away, probably dusted off once in a while, but most likely long forgotten.

Although I hate to say it, it's come to the point where cassette tapes have become a relic of the past-- to the extent that the Concise Oxford English Dictionary has decided to remove it from its pages (don't worry though-- it's still in the twenty volume set of the unabridged Oxford English Dictionary).

And for those of you who are too young to remember what cassette tapes are, here's an instructional video that can help shed some light on the topic:

LED light bulbs can make a super fast internet connection

Are you tired of your cable modem? Do you have a bunch of unused Christmas lights lying around? Some German scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications have found a solution in red, blue, green, and white LED light bulbs.

Using LED lights the scientists were able to create an 800Mbps-capable network. With coverage of about 10 square meters, the LEDs were placed along the ceiling and would blink in rapid succession to transmit the information in a series of ones and zeroes. The light blinks so quickly that the human can’t detect it and in doing so can send massive streams of data.

A laptop within range would be outfitted a photo diode which acts as a receiver. The diode absorbs the light which is then translated into signals the computer can understand.

What still camera is right for you?

Looking to buy a camera or looking for a good site with reviews of all the lastest camera equipment? Look no further than www.dpreview.com. As a camera salesman back at an old job of mine, I used this site to expand my knowledge and stay current on a variety of camera issues.

360 Degree Reverse Photography

Ever wonder how deep the rabbit hole goes? You can create your own depth with 360 degree reverse photography. All you need is a tripod, DSLR camera and stitching software (Photoshop).

Interested? Here are a few links to get you started:

1). inspirefirst.com
2). How to shoot pictures for 360 degree photography
3). What is 360 degree panoramic photo?

911 Memorial App

Magnify Media LLC has a free app available for download through iTunes that contains photos and videos related to 911. The 911 Memorial: Past, Present, and Future.:

iTunes Preview, see http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-911-memorial-past-present/id454906377

For mor information, see www.911MemorialApp.com

Portable Thunderbird

Do you use Thunderbird on your computer and wish that you could separate your email, account settings and address book from the computer and take it with you? Well, you can. Give Portable Thunderbird a try:

Windows

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/thunderbird_portable

Mac

http://www.freesmug.org/portableapps:thunderbird/

iCADE - What everyone with an iPad needs!

the iCADE from ThinkGeek.com

Saw this cute little thing at thinkgeek.com and thought everyone should have one -- that is, as long as you already have an iPad.  After all, what else are these expensive tablets useful for other than playing games?  And this makes it totally awesome -- no "touch pad" controls -- real controls the way video games should be.  Just slide your iPad into the case, link up via bluetooth, and get your game on!  It's only $99.99...

http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/retro-gaming/e762/

I found a few neat apps for the SMDC to consider for macs

These are both interesting applications I found over the summer.


This is a great open source Power PC emulator that we could use for backwards compatibility, if someone brings in a file of some sort. Personally, I've used it for oregon trail, Age of Empires 1, Starcraft Broodwar's Map Editor, and a couple of other ancient games.
http://sheepshaver.cebix.net/
Chubby Bunny is a pre-configured OS9 version that I can't seem to find online, but I have set up presently on my macbook pro.

http://www.volitans-software.com/smart_utility.php
We could use this to check on our hard drives; it's pretty straightforward, and I think it would be a decent addition to the SMDC.

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/14067/soundflower
This was a way for me to record sound on my laptop; I already had a screen monitor, but this makes a perfect MP3 (or whatever type of sound file you want) out of every noise that your computer makes.

Closed computing sites.

FYI

According to the Review, Harrington and Christiana Commons are closed.

To Pay

On this blog we have posted links to sites that offer "free" images, videos, and music. What about those people who actually have money and want to purchase excellent quality "royalty free" images, videos, and music? Here are some sites that will appeal to them (Note: some of these sites offer all three):

Images

iStockphoto http://www.istockphoto.com/
Getty Images http://www.gettyimages.com/
shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com/
bigstock http://www.bigstockphoto.com/

Music

SmartSound http://www.smartsound.com/
Stock Music http://www.stockmusic.net/

Videos

Pond5 http://www.pond5.com/
BBC Motion Gallery http://www.bbcmotiongallery.com/

Pinterest

In case you haven't heard, there is a website called Pinterest that is a virtual pinboard for collecting "the things you love." It is a great visual approach to sharing, keeping and discovering the web.

http://pinterest.com/

An Atlernative to Digital Tablets

Digital tablets like the Wacom Bamboo and Intous series might be great peripherals for digitizing hand movements and sketching, but it is still different than using a real pen on real paper. The Wacom Cintiq comes close allowing you to use the pen directly on the screen but it is still an electronic stylus instead of an ink pen.

Wacom and E FUN have recently announced similar products that allow the user to write on any pad of paper with a special ink pen and receiver that tracks the pens movements. This way you can naturally draw or write while creating a digital image.

Wacom Inkling

The Inkling uses a pressure sensitive ink pen and receiver that clips to the top of a pad of paper. The data can be exported to Adobe Photoshop as a raster file or Adobe Illustrator as a line-and-node vector file (CS3 or newer). The Inkling can also export to Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 2011, as well as Wacom's own Sketch Manager that includes a few feature to manipulate your drawing. The Inkling has over 2,000 pressure points something that sizes up to the pressure sensitivity of Wacom's other popular tablet styluses.

The Inkling should be available to purchase later on this month.

E FUN APEN

E FUN's APEN is similar to the Inkling in the way it works. There is an ink pen that sends the information to a receiver that you place on the top of a pad or piece of paper. The APEN does not, however, have a pressure sensitive pen like the Inkling. The APEN does have the option of using Bluetooth to send pen strokes to a compatible. cell phone or the data can be stored to transfer through USB to a computer.


Links:
Wacom Inkling on Gizmag.com
Inkling Official Product Page

E FUN APEN on Gizmag.com
APEN Official Product Page

Fetch 5.6 "Your best friend for file transfer"

Do you need to create a website for a class project? Want to create a webpage for your student organization, club or even Greek house? Are you a graphics or video student and need some extra room for your work? Well, Fetch 5.6 is created for individuals like you!

Fetch 5.6 is a program exclusively for Apple Macintosh users, and if you don't have your own Mac, you can use ours at the Student Multimedia Design Center! SMDC computers are per-programmed with the Fetch program ready for you to use.

Now what is Fetch 5.6? According to fetchsoftworks.com, "Fetch is a full-featured file transfer client for the Apple Macintosh whose user interface emphasizes simplicity and ease of use. Fetch supports the most popular file transfer protocols on the Internet for compatibility with thousands of Internet service providers, web hosting companies, publishers, pre-press companies, and more."

Find out more information at fetchsoftworks.com


Zbigniew Twardowski for openphoto.net CC:Attribution-ShareAlike