Category: Art

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Platform

Platform

Just for fun, the motion graphics fans out there might enjoy the stop action magic of Platform from motiongrapher.com.

“Smith & Foulkes used a Canon Digital SLR camera linked up to a laptop allowing them to capture frames and play them back checking the shots as they went along. By shooting digitally Smith & Foulkes ended up with a much larger image size to work with when compared with the normal 35mm motion picture frame. These frames were then taken into After Effects and Photoshop for a clean-up where people and rigs from shots were removed. A final grade was then added in Flame.”

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TED Talk by Blaise Aguera y Arcas

What you are about to watch is truly remarkable, and it just gets better as it goes.

Using photos of oft-snapped subjects (like Notre Dame) scraped from [Flickr], Photosynth (based on Seadragon technology) creates breathtaking multidimensional spaces with zoom and navigation features that outstrip all expectation. Its architect, Blaise Aguera y Arcas, shows it off in this standing-ovation demo.

See more on Seadragon and Photosynth.

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Typographics

Ryan Uhrich, an artist living in Edmonton, AB has created a wonderful motion graphics piece called Typographics (19mb Quicktime).

Typography Motion Graphics

I love watching this kind of thing and wish I was more experienced with compositing.

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Conan at LucasFilm

YodaWhen I took a stroll around the presidio while in San Francisco last January, I stumbled upon the LucasFilm compound—the place where they make so many of the world’s great special effects.

Today I came across a humorous Conan O’brien clip in which Conan visits the studio, checks out some of the movie memorabilia and he even gets suited up in mo-cap gear. His tour was a lot more extensive than mine.

It was interesting to see him interacting in some of the places I had photos, like these ones of Darth Vader and Boba Fett. I also got one outside with a similar background of the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts.

Update Nov. 2009: The YouTube video was pulled.

Update: March 2026: It’s back up on Conan’s Official YouTube channel.

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Karleb Homes Ltd Website

Karleb Homes Ltd. LogoI just finished putting together a site for a small construction company in Drayton Valley, Alberta, Karleb Homes Ltd.

Using cascading style sheets (CSS) I was able to keep the “content” of the site separate from the design. I also used Douglas Bowman’s sliding door technique for the navigation tabs which allows greater accessibility for larger fonts and screen readers than say just using regular, old-fashioned rollover images.

The footer is actually a repeat of the top menu, placed at the bottom of the screen because that’s really where the user needs it most—ie. at the end of the page ready for when he or she is done reading. For the spacing of the fonts, I relied on Richard Rutter and Mark Boulton’s SxSW talk, Typography for the Web.

I took the photos inside Karleb Homes’ newest project. I used my sister’s brand new Canon 5D as well as two of her Alien Bees lighting kits. The yard in the photo used for the header hasn’t been landscaped yet, but will be replaced when the landscaping matches the quality of the house.

I’m very pleased with the outcome of the site and I look forward to the making the next one—I love creating nice, friendly, and accessible websites and I’m currently looking for more opportunities, so if you are in need, let me know.

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Flash Photography Tip

I just rediscovered a great photography tip. It involves setting the flash to fire at either the beginning or end of a long exposure.

But only when I read this article was I reminded that the rear flash on a long exposure can be a great way to expose those fun low light party situations.

For Nikon DSLR users, like myself:

“Press and hold the flash pop-up button, then rotate the thumbwheel. Try having the camera in the “M”, “A” “S” and “P” modes to see the different flash sync options in different modes.”

Instructions for other cameras are given in their comments.

This is something I learned some time ago but somehow neglected to put into actual use. Now that I’ve been reminded of it, it will change the way I use my on-camera flash; it will tide me over until I get that off-camera flash that I’ve been dreaming about.

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Gothamitis: Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Gopnik in Conversation

Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Gopnik in Conversation

The Design Trust Council held their inaugural event last Wednesday in the Founders Room at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Blink) was joined by fellow New Yorker magazine writer Adam Gopnik(Through the Children’s Gate, Paris to the Moon), in an entertaining and provocative conversation titled “Gothamitis.”

Gladwell and Gopnik, both keen observers of New York civic life, each relate different perspectives on “Gothamitis” what current development trends mean for the soul of New York City.

Listen to the entire conversation (116.5mb mp3), along with audience questions via Design Trust’s blog, I ♥ Public Space.

Email me if you’d like a copy of the mp3, I still have a copy on my old hard drive

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Disneyland Resort Paris Freebies

The Disneyland Resort Paris music site is offering used to offer free downloads of music from the park. The songs are available for two weeks and then rotated.

I’ll be interested if they offer any music from the attractions themselves or just area music. A while ago I started searching for some Pirates of the Caribbean music, but so far my search has been unsuccessful. Hopefully I’ll be able to find it here. (Yup, I got them)

Remember that you’ll have to unzip the files and enter the password they give you (archived: www.dlrpmusic.com) but the downloads are free. You can also find more downloads in the bonus section.

Oh, and a word of warning, they have background music that plays automatically, ala webdesign 1996, but at least there is a stop button to turn it off.

(Leave me a comment if you’re looking for these files, I might still have a copy somewhere)

YouTube also has the albums.