AU Blogspot

With their latest groundbreaking video, created from 3-D data captured by the latest in laser scanning technologies, Radiohead continues to close in on the singularity many of our childhood friends may or may not be sleeping through.  The video speaks for itself, so my story ends here.  I’ve included a link to the “making of the video” as well.  These features are usually boring, but this one is actually cool.  Check it out…  

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University 

Ruth Desseault is one of the smartest people I have ever met. I had the privilege of studying photography under her and it changed my understanding of photography and art forever. Ruth’s most well known work is her documentation of the Atlantic Steel Mill project. If you’ve lived in Atlanta for the past seven years or so you remember the enormous abandoned steel mill west of midtown. Because of the nature of the work done there, the land was polluted and could not be used for development, so the mill just sat there rusting.

Developers eventually committed to cleaning up the land and began the enormous development of the plot. Ruth was commissioned to document the land as it was transformed from a turn of the century industrial site, to the hyper trendy condos and skyscrapers that are there presently. Click on the image above to view this incredible project.

Michael R. Nelson
Graphic Design Instructor
Ashworth University

     Thanks to thinbegin for permission to use this Photo.

David Carson spent a decade building his reputation as an underground graphic designer before gaining mainstream popularity in the early 1990’s.  Some have labeled his signature style as “dirty” in the sense that it may appear unpolished, heavy, and visually dense to the common viewer.  Carson was one of the first graphic designers to mash seemingly unrelated typographical and photographic elements into one composition, a practice that is so commonplace today as to almost appear cliché, but at the time,Carson’s ability to convey what were perceived to be complex (subconscious) messages through his work was considered groundbreaking.  In the following video, Carson discusses how his design instincts have always guided his career from day one—and how important it is for young designers to develop their own intuitive style in order to consistently create substantive work.  Click on the image above to watch this video.  I think you’ll find some inspiration in the life and work of David Carson.

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

                           Image courtesy of Front Design.

The design applications provided by the latest in motion capture/rapid prototyping technologies are empowering new designers to experiment like never before.  Front is a furniture design company based out Sweden and they have pioneered the use of this amazing technology, which allows the user to take their traditional free hand sketches and translate them into 3-D digital files; the process doesn’t end there though.  These virtual design files are then transformed into actual physical models that mirror what one originally began as a free-hand sketch!  It’s quite an abstract process to describe with words, so I’ll let the following video show you what’s it all about.  Whether you’re a graphic, web, fashion, or interior designer—you should feel excited that such tools are becoming increasingly available on the market at affordable prices.  Have you had an opportunity to work with a design program of this nature?  Let us know.  

Ryan Rode
Ashworth University  

Are you in the mood for some Action? I’m talking Photoshop Actions

They are the perfect solution to handle tasks with one click. An Action is a recording of several Photoshop operations and commands. Once the Action is created, one click is all it takes and the task will be executed. It’s very powerful, can save you heaps of time and it’s actually not that hard to create. Oh and before someone asks, this tutorial is written for version CS3. Certain things might be different in previous Photoshop versions.

In my previous article I talked about how you can apply a vintage look on a photo. Someone pointed out, “Wonderful technique. I stumbled across something sort of similar a while ago but it’s too time consuming to keep on applying” Yes, good point of course. I have to confess, I have this effect recorded in an Action, but my tutorial was all about the process on how to create this effect. The surprise that people didn’t know about Actions gave me the idea for today’s tutorial: how to create an Action for this effect, or better how to record an Action. We’ll also look at a few options you can do or add to your Action and how to save it.

Creating an Action

Step 1 : Create New Action

Open a photo where you want to apply the vintage effect on. First make sure the image is on a separate layer on top of the background layer. You could use command/control + j to duplicate it in a new layer. Open up the Actions palette. If it’s not visible on your screen, go to Window > Actions. First click the folder icon Create New Set at the bottom of the palette to create your own set of Actions. Name the Set My Actions or any other name you think is better. Now click the Create New Action icon at the bottom of the palette. Name the Action Vintage Effect and hit Record.

Step 2 : Record the Action

Notice that the red record button in the Action palette is pushed or being active. Every Photoshop handling is now recorded into the Action. Now execute all handlings explained in the Phototshop Vintage Effect article. While doing this, take your time, there is no need to rush. Photoshop only records your actions and commands. The speed in how you perform this doesn’t matter. When you’re done click the Stop button in the Action palette. The Action is now stored in the palette in the ‘My Actions’ Set.

Adding a Pause to an Action

What if there is one command in the action that you’ve recorded that is different for each individual image? For instance you need to make a selection and for each image this selection is different. This is something you can add after the Action is recorded. For example if I want to add a pause for applying the Curves, then I need to toggle the dialogue function on next to the Curves ‘Make adjustement layer’ action (see picture below).

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             Thanks to Rick Prelinger for permission to use this Photo.

Photoshop TV is an excellent resource for online tips, tutorials, and best practices for new designers/developers/photographers.  Their database of instructional videos are easy to follow and rich with useful applications.  The video we’re featuring today covers some of Camera Raw’s features, neat ways to incorporate Smart Objects, as well as a few different cropping techniques.  Let us know when you start utilizing these methods in your work. 

P.S.  These guys have recently changed their approach to displaying videos, but they’re still easy to access.  To watch the aforementioned video, simply scroll down to the bottom of the screen linked above and click download.  If you have any issues, let me know in the comments section of this post… 

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

Back in October I took this photo, in front of our house. A cool scene, bright colors and a double rainbow. After seeing this picture on my Flickr page, I received an e-mail from Marco who asked me about the post process of this image. Now here is my answer…

Choose your image carefully

First of all I need to mention that some pictures are better suitable than others. It’s a good thing to experiment a lot and find out if the result is to your liking. Btw, not all settings I suggest are written in stone. Sometimes you discover the best effect by accident. How it looks good for you also boils down to personal preference. Let’s take this picture as an example and create this same effect. 

Add Contrast And Saturation 

Place the image in a separate layer.  In the Layers palette click the adjustment layers menu icon and select “Brightness/Contrast“.  Check the preview option so you see the direct result.  Set the Contrast to +20. Hit OK.  Click the adjustment layers menu icon again and select “Hue/Saturation“. Set the Saturation to +20. Hit OK.

Adjust Curves

This time choose “Curves…“. Select the Red channel and make sure the edit points icon is selected. Change the curve line a bit as show in the image above.

Select Green from the Channel dropdown menu and adjust the curve as shown in the image above.

Now select Blue from the Channel dropdown menu and adjust the curve as shown in the image above. 

Add Vignette Effect

Select the layer with your photo and go to the Filter menu and select “Convert for Smart Filters“. Doing this means you can apply filters to the photo while leaving your original in tact. First you’ll get a message that says the layer will be converted into a smart object. Click OK. With this approach you’ll be able to adjust the filters you’ve applied at any time. These Smart Filters work a bit like Adjustments layers but then with filter effects.

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Canon it’s promoting online its Eos 400D camera model with a nice site that, of course, puts photography at the center of the stage. It’s all about navigation and exploration of three different environments (playgrounds) where the camera features are embedded and explained. (more…)