BLOGS
web Flex > from InsideRIA

WebDU 2009: that geeky rock concert

By Justin J. Moses
May 23, 2009 | Comments: 11
It may surprise you to know that the Pacific region has its fair share of web talent. Having just been surrounded by most of them for the past couple of days, I can attest to the fact. This year was my first WebDU, and I'm still tingling.
web Web > from O'Reilly Radar

Four short links: 22 May 2009

By Nat Torkington
May 22, 2009 | Comments: 0
Hiding Dirty Deeds: "Encrypted" Client-Side Code -- obfuscated Javascript from a Facebook phishing site, deconstructed and reconstructed, parsed and glossed for understanding. It reminds me of the best obfuscated Perl: Latin, string substitution, runtime and compile-time semantics ... a work of evil art. (via waxy) Kickstarter -- artistic commercial version of PledgeBank. You say "I want to do [X]...
photographyPhotography > from O'Reilly Radar

Time Lapse of Galactic Center of Milky Way rising over Texas Star Party

By Jesse Robbins
May 21, 2009 | Comments: 11
According to William Castleman: "The time-lapse sequence was taken with the simplest equipment that I brought to the star party. I put the Canon EOS-5D (AA screen modified to record hydrogen alpha at 656 nm) with an EF 15mm f/2.8 lens on a weighted tripod. Exposures were 20 seconds at f/2.8 ISO 1600 followed by 40 second interval. Exposures were controlled by an interval timer shutter release (Canon TC80N3). Power was provided by a Hutech EOS203 12v power adapter run off a 12v deep cycle battery. Large jpg files shot in custom white balance were batch processed in Photoshop (levels, curves, contrast, Noise Ninja noise reduction, resize) and assembled in Quicktime Pro. Editing/assembly was with Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9."
web Flex > from InsideRIA

Flex 4 & Custom Layouts

By Andrew Trice
May 20, 2009 | Comments: 6
circularLayout.pngIf you haven't been keeping up with the latest on Flex 4, this is something that you will certainly want to look into. One of the new features of the Flex 4/Spark component architecture is that you can customize the layout of a container without altering the container itself. All you need to do is define a custom layout. Read more to see how...

 

FEATURES
Digital Media DesignDesign > Features
Deke McClelland

dekePod 016: Photoshopping the Great Masters

By Deke McClelland
May 14, 2009
dekePod 016: Photoshopping the Great Masters

They say you can’t be too rich or too thin. So how about getting rich by making others thin? Plenty of experienced retouchers make small but enviable fortunes shaving body fat off already lithe models. But rather than showing you a present-day example--honestly, how many underfed waifs do we need to see made skinnier?--Deke takes us back to a time when ideas of beauty were very different: the High Renaissance. In those times of mean circumstances and manual labor, body fat was a thing to be envied. How best to take a well-fed model rendered by the likes of Raphael and make her look like a modern work of art?

tags: adobe, creativity, photoshop, podcast

Digital Media CreativityCreativity > Features
Deke McClelland

dekePod 015: Photoshop and the Lost Undersea Channel

By Deke McClelland
April 30, 2009
dekePod 015: Photoshop and the Lost Undersea Channel

The ocean is a different world. Where else can you cavort with colorful animals a thousand feet or more above the Earth’s surface? But the romance of the sea comes at a price. Just as the watery depths rob our lungs of air, they rob our eyes of color. It’s not uncommon for an underwater photo to lack any information in the Red channel. Which is where coral, clown fish, and our very own skin tones live. Fortunately, Deke knows how to summon a Red channel back from the dead. Watch this dekePod and learn how to create underwater images that will satisfy your inner Jacques Cousteau.

tags: photo editing, photo production, photoshop, podcast

Digital Media PhotographyPhotography > Features
Deke McClelland

dekePod 014: Photoshop vs. Adobe Bridge—Beware the Cache, the Cache Must Die!

By Deke McClelland
April 16, 2009
dekePod 014: Photoshop vs. Adobe Bridge—Beware the Cache, the Cache Must Die!

If you use Photoshop, then you probably browse your images with Adobe’s Bridge, which shows you thumbnails of your files. Good news: The Bridge lets you preview images without going to the trouble of opening them. Bad news: Those previews result in large cache files that eat up your hard drive. Worse yet, they permit others to track what you’ve been looking at. Even if you’ve long since destroyed the original file, the thumbnail persists! Learn how to protect yourself—and maybe even save your job.

tags: adobe, photo organizing, photoshop, podcast

Digital Media CreativityCreativity > Features
Deke McClelland

dekePod Episode 013: The Mating Habits of the Pen Tool

By Deke McClelland
April 02, 2009
dekePod Episode 013: The Mating Habits of the Pen Tool

Adobe's landmark pen tool defined an industry. But to the uninitiated, its reliance on anchor points and control handles makes it as approachable as first-year algebra. Until you see it's nothing more than a mating ritual: The points are boys and the handles are girls. Once you get that, it all falls into place.

tags: illustrator, image editing, photoshop, podcast

Digital Media CreativityCreativity > Features
Deke McClelland

dekePod Episode 012: The Droplet Song (A Love Song to a Lost Feature in Photoshop)

By Deke McClelland
March 19, 2009
dekePod Episode 012: The Droplet Song (A Love Song to a Lost Feature in Photoshop)

How best to encourage people to use an obscure but super-useful Photoshop feature? Rhyme, rhythm, and romance. Hence a music video that will make all your automation dreams come true. Give Deke five minutes of your time and he’ll set your world on fire.

tags: image editing, photo editing, photoshop, podcast

Digital Media PhotographyPhotography > Features
Colleen Wheeler

Deke McClelland's Video Tour of the Channels Palette

By Colleen Wheeler
January 15, 2009
Deke McClelland's Video Tour of the Channels Palette

Photoshop masking isn't easy, in fact, the elusive alpha channel has been described as the least understood feature in Photoshop's enormous arsenal. In this video from Lesson 1 of Photoshop CS4 Channels & Mask One-on-One, Photoshop Guru Deke McClelland gives you a tour of the Channels palette in Photoshop. This handy palette is truly Command Central for your Photoshop masking operations.

tags: photo editing, photoshop, how-to