Wacom Intuos5 touch

After getting the iPad so recently, it was a huge surprise when I received a Wacom tablet as gift. I had an old tiny one that bit the dust a few months ago. I never like using it but I know many artists who can't live without one. I figured I just was having a hard time getting a grip on how to use one. One of the reasons for iPad was to use it as a sketchpad so I was not prepared to make such a step up so soon.

The intuos5 I have now has completely changed my attitude on using a tablet. Having a great tool really makes a difference. The first day I produced 6 illustrations for a book in a pen and ink style. I've never even tried to do anything in color or like a real painting on the computer before but I've always wanted to try. So using a photo I took a long while back as reference I did this bee painting (above) in about an hour. It might not be a great work of art, but I am very happy with the results.

I have the medium sized model and I reccomend this size as it makes navigating the pen across the screen much easier than a smaller tablet. The multitude of programmable buttons I have only started to explore the uses of, but I imagine I will find them all very useful.

The tablet works with most software, as a pen or brush, a mouse or as better way to control and construct cgi animations. Sketchbook Express comes as a free download and it is an amazing program for drawing. I do find photoshop, with it's hundreds of options harder to draw with but more useful overall. In the end I am sure I will be using both as you can edit PSD files in both.

review: iPad 2

After having no interest in buying a tablet the last two years, I suddenly found myself finding that the compact size and long battery life of these devices were something I could use more and more. With release of the new iPad, the iPad 2 was dropped in price 100$ and was a little more affordable. While 16 gigs are not a lot by today's standards, it does allow enough space for light usage.

My iPod had 64 gigs of storage so I had decided before I bought the iPad to not put music on it and only video I would be using immediately. The 16 gig restriction is a little annoying, I would have liked the chance for a 32 gig, but apple isn't offering anything larger unless it's the new iPad.

After a week of using the device, it is easy to see why it has become such a popular device. It is much faster than a phone or iPod using the wifi, playing games and anything else a small portable device is used for. I don't find typing on it particularly difficult as I had been lead to believe in many reviews I had read. Even more surprising was how useful it is for drawing and sketching using the sketch-up app and a Wacom stylus. It is not super precise, but considering a Wacom tablet with built in screen starts at 1000$, it is a pretty impressive tool to have at this price.

I am not a big gamer, but I do like adventure games and I was eager to see Riven on the iPad. It played great and the enlarged images are ok but the video is fairly pixelated. So when possible I would recommend getting HD games made for the device over iPhone versions when price isn't a barrier.

The 2 cameras, as with the iPod touch, are horrible. Video chat on Skype is not bad, I don't want or expect film quality there, but even as portable camera the images are too grainy. Using an iPad as a camera or video recorder is awkward to say the least. I would rather see more storage space, larger battery or lower price in place of the rear camera.

brume de village gai

plus à flickr

book trailer

For Danny. :)
He likes it so I'll share it here as well. I am mostly happy with it. If it were fro a TV show opening or something I think I would rework the model textures, there are some overlapping ones that cause strobing which makes me crazy.

Cocaine

More on my Flickr page.

Slowly advancing

My H.P. Lovecraft animation project is slowly advancing into a stage I can start to think about animating now. I've decided to make and rig one character at a time and the sets and lighting decisions are pretty much made. learning to use Bodypaint for more advanced textures and I'm about to use Cactus Dan's C4D rigging plugins as the principle solution for the first time. Here is the old musician character with some simple facial expressions. The scar on his head (and another one) are from photos I took of my dad's table saw accident. You never know what images will come in handy some day!

Newbury Fine Arts

I just completed the new site for Newbury Fine Arts, a gallery on Newbury Street in Boston MA (USA). The site, as all y site, is very simply set up. HTML with spry databases as the only "advanced" feature to make keeping incoming updates in order more easily. The original version this replaces was 775 megabytes large and the update is under 50 megabytes. Since the client wants to eventually make updated themselves, I feel that a simple file structure with easily understood names of files and dossiers is essential. Esthetically, it follows a clean, white/grey pallet that doesn't compete with the artwork.

Computer Competence

You wouldn’t get into a car for the first time without instruction on how to use it or even bake a cake from scratch without looking in a cookbook and learning what you need to get started. A project involving a computer is no different. You don’t need to know how the car works to drive somewhere, but you do need to get directions when you drive somewhere new. A new project is like driving somewhere new. Getting the basics, like getting directions, is part of your job getting there efficiently.

Certain things are, I feel, a requirement to doing your job in today’s workplace. There is no excuse for not knowing how to use email or a word processor and the fundamentals of a spreadsheet. Beyond that, know your individual needs. If you are in need of a website, find out what that entails. Mastering many programs takes years of training and a talent for applying that training. I am not saying you need to become an expert, but the basic concepts are essential to getting your task done right.

But how?

It’s very simple these days. Instead of «googling» yourself, try simply asking for the solution to your question. At this point in time, you are not going to be the first to ask «How do I prepare to have a website made?». Youtube and other video hosts have literally tons of tutorials on just about anything. Buy a book or take a class. Apple, for example, offers free classes all the time on how to use the computer’s basic functions. The point is to do this before you hire someone, so you have a good idea what you are asking for and what it entails. If you need to send an ad to, let’s say, a magazine, find out what you need to provide and in what format to your designer or printer. You can find out from the magazine what the prices are for each size ad and decide what you can afford. Making 3 ads is going to cost more than the five minutes it takes to find out in advance what you need to start off. You will soon be able to convey your ideas to the professionals you hire to carry them out much more easily.

In the long and short run, you will not only know more about what you asking to be done, but also know how to do it efficiently and more affordably with a lot less aggravation and stress.

Now that Apple is no longer "pro"

After years of producing some really great and now essential software for video pros, Apple has abandoned them in favor of robust, but far from professional versions aimed more at consumers who need more professional features but lack the experience and training using those features entail.

The Final Cut Pro suite is of course what I’m talking about. Now basically dead, Final Cut X the much needed and anticipated FCP update wasn’t what anyone was looking for and won’t be... ever. Some cool ideas does not a professional software make. Soundtrack Pro is gone leaving Garage band and Motion was never all it was cracked to be, but a solid software (and still is) but solidly in the less than professional arena for many tasks.

This is water under the bridge and Apple has the right to do whatever it wants in term of what direction it develops it's software. The question for those of us who depended on using it is now... where to go?

Frankly.. Avid has always been a complicated and buggy pain in the ass for me. On the MAC end of things anyway. The only other affordable alternative seems to be Adobe’s suite of video products.. which in anticipation of Apple’s change of heart, seems have been upping it’s game in recent years and is ready to take on the challenge. I’ve used Premiere Pro more and more and there’s no replacement for After Effects. Integration with Photoshop and Illustrator seals the deal really. Encore is miles above Apple’s always lame DVD pro and produces really nice DVDs, in my opinion. The music software is good for fixing problems but not for producing music.. Sound track Pro still is better at that..but not really that much better as time goes on.

So off to Adobe for my next feature documentary I’m thinking. Sort of scary and not a little bit annoying... but it’s not like there’s a lot of choices in this area!

Watson

Had to post something NOT in graveyard for once!