Multimedia
Disc Cover
March 22, 2008 10:16 AM
By Robert Lachman
It’s my Dad’s 90th birthday this week and after spending time working on a multimedia project for the party, I burned a DVD then got out the Sharpie Permanent Marker and wrote “90th Birthday Movie” on the disc.
It’s just such a weak link in the chain. You’ve drank endless cups of coffee, cleaned up the sound, picked out the perfect transitions, chosen the music, made those still images come to life with the “Ken Burns Effect” turning it into professional looking movie.
Then it’s “Sharpie Time.” Well, now I’ve seen the light. I am going to finish what I’ve started and I’m going to finish strong. After checking out a number of products, I chose from Disc Cover 2 for my Disc Labeling. The program which was released on March 18th works with iPhoto and Aperture.
This new version of Disc Cover is simple and fun to use. This software is another example of how great the Mac developer makes things easy and so simple for the user.
When you open Disc Cover you start with the assistant which gives you a choice of numerous templates and they show up in a nice cover-flow looking window.
They ask you to choose a design from a drop down menu: Music, Photos, Files and Data, DVD, General, and Blank.
I picked the Photos which gave me a choice of about 40 templates. I picked Lady Sketch for a friend’s 40th birthday party pictures. Then I clicked on next which took me to my iPhoto library
I clicked on finish and now my photos of the birthday party appeared in the left window pane of the software.
Now I could drag over the photos individually, but I went for the collages menu. I couldn’t resist. I went for a collage called photo-cross. I dragged over the collage ungrouped it and and removed two of the photos to customize it. Now I dragged photos over from my iPhoto library to replace the placeholder photos the software put in. Now I double clicked on the photo and was able to crop and rotate as needed. The program gives you complete flexibility.
Five minutes later I’m ready to bring to my Epson R200 printer which can print directly on the DVD.
Next I wanted to make a label for my father’s 90th birthday multimedia CD.
Other very nice features in the software include: importing your song titles automatically into the project. Also can redesign each element of your work independently. There is a large clip art gallery, which also features a place where you click on the small globe and the software will search for art on the internet based on the information from your iTunes data. There's a random background generator, a good selection of layer masks which can also be applied to images, drop shadows, a variety of borders and the option to curve the text.
I give the software five out of five stars. If there was a fault with this program, I couldn’t find it. The cost is $34.95 via download at www.belightsoft.com.
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It’s my Dad’s 90th birthday this week and after spending time working on a multimedia project for the party, I burned a DVD then got out the Sharpie Permanent Marker and wrote “90th Birthday Movie” on the disc.
It’s just such a weak link in the chain. You’ve drank endless cups of coffee, cleaned up the sound, picked out the perfect transitions, chosen the music, made those still images come to life with the “Ken Burns Effect” turning it into professional looking movie.
Then it’s “Sharpie Time.” Well, now I’ve seen the light. I am going to finish what I’ve started and I’m going to finish strong. After checking out a number of products, I chose from Disc Cover 2 for my Disc Labeling. The program which was released on March 18th works with iPhoto and Aperture.
This new version of Disc Cover is simple and fun to use. This software is another example of how great the Mac developer makes things easy and so simple for the user.
When you open Disc Cover you start with the assistant which gives you a choice of numerous templates and they show up in a nice cover-flow looking window.
They ask you to choose a design from a drop down menu: Music, Photos, Files and Data, DVD, General, and Blank.
I picked the Photos which gave me a choice of about 40 templates. I picked Lady Sketch for a friend’s 40th birthday party pictures. Then I clicked on next which took me to my iPhoto library
I clicked on finish and now my photos of the birthday party appeared in the left window pane of the software.
Now I could drag over the photos individually, but I went for the collages menu. I couldn’t resist. I went for a collage called photo-cross. I dragged over the collage ungrouped it and and removed two of the photos to customize it. Now I dragged photos over from my iPhoto library to replace the placeholder photos the software put in. Now I double clicked on the photo and was able to crop and rotate as needed. The program gives you complete flexibility.
Five minutes later I’m ready to bring to my Epson R200 printer which can print directly on the DVD.
Next I wanted to make a label for my father’s 90th birthday multimedia CD.
Other very nice features in the software include: importing your song titles automatically into the project. Also can redesign each element of your work independently. There is a large clip art gallery, which also features a place where you click on the small globe and the software will search for art on the internet based on the information from your iTunes data. There's a random background generator, a good selection of layer masks which can also be applied to images, drop shadows, a variety of borders and the option to curve the text.
I give the software five out of five stars. If there was a fault with this program, I couldn’t find it. The cost is $34.95 via download at www.belightsoft.com.
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Matt Kloskowki’s new book “LAYERS”
March 08, 2008 09:40 AM
By Robert Lachman
When I was browsing through the photo books at Amazon.com, one book in particular, really jumped out at me, Matt Kloskowski’s new book, “Layers,” the complete guide to Photoshop’s most powerful features, so I clicked the buy button. That was easy. I am a sucker for any new photography book, you could say, I’m an easy sell.
Some people, I guess, want to sit by the fireplace with a good novel, but for me, it’s a computer or photography book. I really feel like I have hit the geek wall because I’m spending way too much time in front of the computer.
I guess I should be out exercising more. Tomorrow, I am going to ride my bike to the beach while listening to the new Steve Martin book from Audible.com on my iTouch. Exercise and computers, what a great combination.
OK, back to the book review. I did look forward to receiving the book and I wasn’t disappointed. “Layers” is designed for the the beginning to intermediate Photoshop or Elements user.
Matt definitely has the credentials for writing the book, he has hosted photoshop podcasts, written articles for Photoshop User and he works full-time for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.
The book is on the smaller side for a computer book, just 255 pages. Did I say 255 pages? I saw another “Layers” instructional book at the Barnes and Noble bookstore which contained over 800 pages. Yikes, that’s a little too many “Layers” for me to digest.
I’m still trying to figure out curves and the histogram.
The book is an easy read with nine chapters. Including: Basics, Blending, Adjustment Layers, Masks, Type and Shape, Enhancing Photos, Retouching Layer Styles and Smart Layers.
You can also follow along building projects with the examples which you can download from the internet.
I would consider myself an intermediate photoshop users so this book is perfect for me. Matt uses nice graphics on each page to to drive home his points and goes over the important features you will use.
In Chapter Two, he talks about Blending Layers. This is an important part because it always confuses me. Matt simplifies it by breaking it up into “The Three Most Important Blend Modes You Need.” Multiply, Screen and Softlight. Three is good, I have just enough brain cells left to remember this data. The explanations are concise and to the point.
Let’s skip ahead to chapter six, “Dodging and Burning Done Right.” I’m fired up now! I usually just use a the simple burn-and-dodge tool. It’s not really the correct non-destructive way. It’s simple, not the cool way. I’m ready to do it the right way: add a layer, make it 50-percent gray, and then use black and white brushes to paint to dodge and burn. With this technique, my Photoshop I.Q. should be through the roof.
I always enjoy learning new techniques. Photoshop gives you many ways to do the same thing.
There is really a lot to learn in the book and Matt uses nice graphics to illustrate his points. At the end of each chapter, he has a Q&A to help reinforce his points.
Other topics which are included in chapters are: combining multiple exposures, painting with light, selective sharpening, creating soft focus, creating reusable photo effects and using type with layers.
If you’re looking for a photoshop book which is easy to read and not the imposing giant computer books, I highly recommended picking up a copy of “Layers."
The price of the book is $39.95. I bought it at www.amazon.com for $26.39 US.
I’ve finished eight of the nine chapters leaving me with Smart Layers. I didn’t know layers had any intelligence. I am ready for the next chapter, “Four Reasons Why Smart Objects Rock!”
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When I was browsing through the photo books at Amazon.com, one book in particular, really jumped out at me, Matt Kloskowski’s new book, “Layers,” the complete guide to Photoshop’s most powerful features, so I clicked the buy button. That was easy. I am a sucker for any new photography book, you could say, I’m an easy sell.
Some people, I guess, want to sit by the fireplace with a good novel, but for me, it’s a computer or photography book. I really feel like I have hit the geek wall because I’m spending way too much time in front of the computer.
I guess I should be out exercising more. Tomorrow, I am going to ride my bike to the beach while listening to the new Steve Martin book from Audible.com on my iTouch. Exercise and computers, what a great combination.
OK, back to the book review. I did look forward to receiving the book and I wasn’t disappointed. “Layers” is designed for the the beginning to intermediate Photoshop or Elements user.
Matt definitely has the credentials for writing the book, he has hosted photoshop podcasts, written articles for Photoshop User and he works full-time for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.
The book is on the smaller side for a computer book, just 255 pages. Did I say 255 pages? I saw another “Layers” instructional book at the Barnes and Noble bookstore which contained over 800 pages. Yikes, that’s a little too many “Layers” for me to digest.
I’m still trying to figure out curves and the histogram.
The book is an easy read with nine chapters. Including: Basics, Blending, Adjustment Layers, Masks, Type and Shape, Enhancing Photos, Retouching Layer Styles and Smart Layers.
You can also follow along building projects with the examples which you can download from the internet.
I would consider myself an intermediate photoshop users so this book is perfect for me. Matt uses nice graphics on each page to to drive home his points and goes over the important features you will use.
In Chapter Two, he talks about Blending Layers. This is an important part because it always confuses me. Matt simplifies it by breaking it up into “The Three Most Important Blend Modes You Need.” Multiply, Screen and Softlight. Three is good, I have just enough brain cells left to remember this data. The explanations are concise and to the point.
Let’s skip ahead to chapter six, “Dodging and Burning Done Right.” I’m fired up now! I usually just use a the simple burn-and-dodge tool. It’s not really the correct non-destructive way. It’s simple, not the cool way. I’m ready to do it the right way: add a layer, make it 50-percent gray, and then use black and white brushes to paint to dodge and burn. With this technique, my Photoshop I.Q. should be through the roof.
I always enjoy learning new techniques. Photoshop gives you many ways to do the same thing.
There is really a lot to learn in the book and Matt uses nice graphics to illustrate his points. At the end of each chapter, he has a Q&A to help reinforce his points.
Other topics which are included in chapters are: combining multiple exposures, painting with light, selective sharpening, creating soft focus, creating reusable photo effects and using type with layers.
If you’re looking for a photoshop book which is easy to read and not the imposing giant computer books, I highly recommended picking up a copy of “Layers."
The price of the book is $39.95. I bought it at www.amazon.com for $26.39 US.
I’ve finished eight of the nine chapters leaving me with Smart Layers. I didn’t know layers had any intelligence. I am ready for the next chapter, “Four Reasons Why Smart Objects Rock!”
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iMovie VS Fotomagico
March 05, 2008 08:56 AM
QUESTION: You know, I simply do not see what Fotomagico has that iMovie does not. I have asked those who market the product to explain it to me, to no avail. I love iMovie except for the audio editing. Sounds like Fotomagico does not really have good audio-editing either. Might you be able to distinguish the two? Landya
ANSWER: Both iMovie and Fotomagico are fine pieces of software. iMovie for free gets the nod when you consider the price. I use them both depending on my project. I am working currently working on a video for my Dad's 90th birthday party. I am compiling the video from an interview and going to mix in old still photographs. This definitely will be an iMovie enterprise because I am going to weave the still images into the video.
Also, I still use iMovie 6 because of the audio control, even though it's not great. I'm not exactly scoring a movie or making a music video for MTV. Fotomagico excels when you need to compile lots of still photos into a multimedia endeavor including: a DVD, stand-alone show, screensaver and movies for you iPod or iPhone.
The real difference in the production area is the ease and control over the zooming across your photos (the Ken Burn's Effect). It's so easy to to with the Fotomagico two windows, plus you can rotate the photos as they zoom, which isn't a feature of iMovie. It's the program I use when I want to turn out a quick screensaver, iPhone (iPod or iTouch) movie or DVD for someone. You can leave it up to the automatic features of some of the Mac programs but the zoom cuts the photos in awkward ways making it look like you cropped them that way when you clicked the camera shutter button. - Robert Lachman
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ANSWER: Both iMovie and Fotomagico are fine pieces of software. iMovie for free gets the nod when you consider the price. I use them both depending on my project. I am working currently working on a video for my Dad's 90th birthday party. I am compiling the video from an interview and going to mix in old still photographs. This definitely will be an iMovie enterprise because I am going to weave the still images into the video.
Also, I still use iMovie 6 because of the audio control, even though it's not great. I'm not exactly scoring a movie or making a music video for MTV. Fotomagico excels when you need to compile lots of still photos into a multimedia endeavor including: a DVD, stand-alone show, screensaver and movies for you iPod or iPhone.
The real difference in the production area is the ease and control over the zooming across your photos (the Ken Burn's Effect). It's so easy to to with the Fotomagico two windows, plus you can rotate the photos as they zoom, which isn't a feature of iMovie. It's the program I use when I want to turn out a quick screensaver, iPhone (iPod or iTouch) movie or DVD for someone. You can leave it up to the automatic features of some of the Mac programs but the zoom cuts the photos in awkward ways making it look like you cropped them that way when you clicked the camera shutter button. - Robert Lachman
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Need to Make a Photo Poster
February 29, 2008 04:00 PM
By Robert Lachman
Posterino, from Zykloid Software, is another one of those programs that I seem to be the only one using and I love using, but no one else I know does. You see it mentioned on a few websites.
I don’t know anyone who really digs in and actually uses it. It’s a great way to make poster.The style of the posters is where you see lot and lots of photos on a page. If you were to try and do it in Photoshop, it’s no that easy. You would need to have advanced Photoshop knowledge, you would need to use the rulers and match everything up. There’s a lot of cutting and pasting. It can be done in your normal photo editing programs, but who has the time? Posterino, which can be found at http://zykloid.com/posterino makes it simple
I wanted to make a poster of my mom’s photos. She’s 90 years old and loves to take photos. I did a very nice book in iPhoto (which I will write about in the near future) but I wanted to try something different.You can check out the website I made for her at www.WheelsofLA.com I wanted to make an art style poster she could hang on the wall with a collage of her photos. It’s not that easy getting so many photos in so little real estate. So then I remembered, Posterino, which I had already downloaded but never tried. Now I’m hooked.
Besides multiple picture posters, it's pre-formatted for a nice single photo with a title or for a charge, they will make and send postcards or they will send them via email.
This program is very easy to use. Pick your landscape or portrait. I’m not sure why they don’t put vertical or horizontal, that always seemed sort of silly to me.
Next, pick the size of your poster or finished photographed. Sizes include: 8x10, 11x14, 12x18, 16x28 or 20x30.
The templates include large and small titles in a variety of locations or no titles plus black-and-white borders. Also the size and shape of the photos vary.
You can start from a blank page or you can customize the templates.
One of the templates has 365 openings for those of you who are over-the-top and shoot way too many digital photos. Just think a photo for every day of the year on one poster. I think that’s a little much.
Definitely for those shooting out there who have thousands and thousand of photos in their iPhoto library or squirreled away in folders in the outer reaches of your hard drive and can’t stop shooting pics.
The program has a nice interface, its very easy to use. You just start double-clicking and start moving photos around.
At this point it’s up to your creativity. Use one photo for each of the frames, change the size of your frames to add more visual interest. Consider running one photo across the entire poster. It’s up to you.
Always remember to SAVE as you go. Nothing worse than perfecting your project and then having a program freeze. I haven’t had any of those kinds of problems with this program which means I haven’t had to call technical support.
Once you've completed your masterpiece, it’s time to export. You have three choices: Send to iPhoto (this is a good place to save your photo and you can send the poster out with the Kodak print service; Save to Disk (this is the option I used) and Upload to Flickr (not sure why you would do this).
After saving the poster to disc I upload it to my Costco Photo Center account. The price was $9.99 for the 20x30 poster plus Shipping and Handling: $4.99 for Standard (UPS), $7.99 for 2-Day and $14.99 for Overnight. (All prices US)
I went with the 2-day shipping I was trying to be good. Yikes! The price of Overnight was twice as much as 2-day.
Costco sent the poster in a tube, which you could've run a truck over it and the tube would not have been crushed. It arrived in perfect condition. I do need to give Costco plenty of Kudos; the quality of poster was beautiful.
I dropped if off at my mom house a couple days later anwas she surprised. She took it to a framer the next morning. I hate to guess how much that frame will cost.
Remember, use can try single photo poster, which can be very nice.
As I mentioned earlier, the Posterino software also gives the option of making and sending postcards. You can send them by email or they will send them by mail for an addition charge. I will leave this for a post in the future, but this could be a very effective tool for realtors, or marketing your business.
I really could not find any problems making a poster with the program. Posterino is easy to use, fast and solves the problem of combining so many photos into one project. I would highly recommend it giving five out of five stars. The Posterino software costs: $24.95 (US) at http://zykloid.com/posterino.
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Think Horizontal, Not Vertical
February 16, 2008 10:29 AM
By Robert Lachman
Earlier, I wrote about the software Fotomagico by Boinx software. It reminded me that when you're shooting pics for a slide shows the rules change. You need to remember the format you shooting for. Try to think of youself as a movie director and the wide canvas you have. Think of the wide long movie screen. It's quite a departure from the way I would normally shoot photographs. The old school rules would be shoot vertical, horizontal and shoot tight.
Remember your cool new digital SLR viewfinder window gives you a much more horizontal square 4:3 format. You're not going to use any of the top and bottom of that viewfinder. All those pixel are going to waste. It a shame to waste pixels, but you can use them later when you make 8x10 or 4x6 prints. Shoot tight but now it's time to pull back and shoot again. Now get much wider and fire again, remember you can pan across photos on your new super expensive HDTV screen. You're going for the Ken Burns effect on steroids, that's OK, this isn't Major League baseball.
You need to push your creative limits.
Earlier, I wrote about the software Fotomagico by Boinx software. It reminded me that when you're shooting pics for a slide shows the rules change. You need to remember the format you shooting for. Try to think of youself as a movie director and the wide canvas you have. Think of the wide long movie screen. It's quite a departure from the way I would normally shoot photographs. The old school rules would be shoot vertical, horizontal and shoot tight.
Remember your cool new digital SLR viewfinder window gives you a much more horizontal square 4:3 format. You're not going to use any of the top and bottom of that viewfinder. All those pixel are going to waste. It a shame to waste pixels, but you can use them later when you make 8x10 or 4x6 prints. Shoot tight but now it's time to pull back and shoot again. Now get much wider and fire again, remember you can pan across photos on your new super expensive HDTV screen. You're going for the Ken Burns effect on steroids, that's OK, this isn't Major League baseball.
You need to push your creative limits.
A Quick Photo Slide Show, Think Fotomagico
February 08, 2008 08:00 AM
I'm sure most of you have shot a lot of photos over the holiday season. And I mean lots of photos, it's pretty easy to do. Maybe too easy. Who holds back with a digital camera? A one gig SD memory card I picked up at Sam's Club for my daughter cost $15. Since storage is cheap, always shoot those family snapshots at the best quality the camera will take. You can always edit later and delete photos you don't like, but you can't go back and get better quality photos. OK, it's time to step up to the plate and do something with the photos. Don't just let them sit around like the days when photos would end up in a shoebox in the closet never to be seen again. Now what program do you use? There's plenty to choose from. I'm going to talk about a few: Final Cut Pro, Final Cut Express, iMovie8 , iMovie6 and iDVD.
1. Final Cut Pro is a good choice if you already spent $1,200 to buy the new software, you have plenty of horse power. Don't bother on a G-4 unless you have a lot of free time to watch it process. Next you need to know how to use the program. And like I said, you need some time. Trying to move photos with those wire frames is a lot of work and tedious.
2. Final Cut Express is a better alternative just because of the lower price at $199. I don't want to spend a week on this project. I'm not Stephen Speilberg making a new sequel to ET. I want to get this thing done in a few hours.
3.iMovie8. Haven't tried it don't plan on it. Well maybe. It's tough to go out and buy the new iLife suite for $100 to get the new iMovie8 which has less feature the older version.
4.iMovie6. This has been my video editing program of choice for years. It's ease of operation for video and stills is great. Plus, it has two tracks of audio with decent control. You can you use the Ken Burns effect to give your photos motion. It has a much easier learning curve than Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express. One disadvantage is the photos can have motion from point to point but, must stay on their horizontal access. You can't give them any rotational motion.
5. Your can use iDVD to make your slide show but it is very rudimentary. Leaving you with no real choices for creativity.
None of these programs, have a quick way to make screen saver and stand alone slide shows that will fill an entire screen with good quality pictures. I don't know of a program which will take care of all of these features.
Choose your intended use of your slide show:
The choice is for a slide show or screen savers for the computer.
Use this one for making a DVD for use on your television.
Pick this one for computer projectors.
Probably one of the most overlooked software programs for creating a quick professional program is FOTOMAGIO by Boinx software. It would get my five star rating if I had a rating system. Easy to use, fast, great interface and provides you with either a way to make slide shows with music for screen savers, regular display on the computer or a DVD. The only problem is the audio track is very simple. If you want to use more than one song, you need to do some mixing with a program like Audacity or Garage Band and then import the track into FotoMagico. This really is a pretty easy to work around.
The speed which you can put together a professional slide show with photos is amazing. The software features a timeline where you can pick photos from iPhoto within the window or pick photos from other folders on your computer. It's easy to set the time and add a transiton between you photos. The best feature which I think set it appart from other is the ease of setting still photos into motion (the Ken Burns Effect"). Two simple window do the trick, one for the start and one for end of your motion. It tackles this easily by use two simple rotation wheels that set the size, tilt and location of the start and stop of the motion effect. It tackles this much more intuitly than iMovie or Final Cut Pro. iMovie uses very small windows and Final Cut use wireframe has a much stepper learning curve.
Next you add your much from the iTunes library. It does give you the option of automatically setting the time of you photo to match the song. If you're putting together a quick slide show for the family with a single song you are done. One weakness of the program is the sound editing. I just need a few more options here. With only one audion track you can have more than one need start the next song after the one before finishes. There is now way to fade in or out or overlap songs with the program.
My workaround is to export the slide show as a full version quicktime movie and then drag it into iMovie for the few cooler titles and the audio. Then I send it to iDVD. Another way to solve the problem would be to make your audio track fire with Audacity or Garageband and then import it to Fotomagico before you start.
This is the perfect program for someone who wants to put their kid's soccer photos to music, pics from a party or even a portfolio of photos together to display using transitions, titles and yes, the ever so popular "Ken Burns Effect." (OK not everyone knows what the Ken Burns Effect is.) That's where the photos come to life moving and zooming in and out. This program does much more with the "Effect" than iMovie does and you can compete with Final Cut Pro. That's the $900 Apple video program plus, it does more. It costs $49 for the express and $129 US for the pro version and you don't need to take a seminar or buy a big expense tutorial book at Barnes and Noble.
The program features all the basic transitions: Cut, Fade, Dissolve, Linear Wipe, Circular Wipe, Slide, Push, Twirl, Zoom, Aperture, Flip, Cude, Shuffle, and Topple.
Leaning this program is very easy. There's A very nice free tutorial that can be found at the Teachers Corner website: http://www.teachers-corner.org/visual_helpdesk/previous/lessons/lesson8.html.
The cost is $49 US for the Express version which according to the developer can export to iDVD, Toast, for the Web, Apple TV. iPhone and iTouch. Standalone players and screensavers do have a watermark. The Pro version at $129 . More information can be found at http://www.boinx.com/fotomagico/overview/.
Speed, a free tutorial, a easy learning curve, lot of great features, an affordable price for the express version and a little high priced for the pro version although I own because in the long run it is worth it. I highly recommend it. - Robert Lachman