The folks over at PhotoshopTalent.com and TutCast.com show how to use distort and displace in Photoshop to add realistic texture to an image. In this case, the demonstration uses a flat flag image, and adds a nice dynamic flowing look.
For as long as Adobe Photoshop has existed, and visual artists have had the skill to sculpt images to their will, there has been a moral dilemma of changing the public’s view of what is real and what is altered. France’s parliament is now kicking around the idea that any advertisement, press photo, art photograph, or piece of product packaging containing a digitally manipulated picture of a person would have to carry a disclaimer reading, “Photograph retouched to modify the physical appearance of a person.” Failure to include the disclaimer would result in a $50,000-plus fine or up to half the cost of the ad campaign, potentially a huge threat.
More on this in the following Yahoo! Tech article.
Also, see this 2 part video by Diet.com about the “Photoshop Effect”
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP31r70_QNM
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovpd5O6M8tQ
Tags: Airbrushing, France, French Photoshop Law, Photoshop Effect, Photoshop Warning Label
FotoTV has been invited to visit the Fotolia Workshop “SPEND A DAY WITH YURI ARCURS. LEARN TO SHOOT WHAT SELLS” on the 6th of December 2008 in Berlin (Germany). The result is an amazing movie about Yuri Arcurs the most successful Microstock photographer worldwide. The clip contains very interesting statements in regards to Microstock photography and Yuris know-how, his way of working with models and workshop participants and provides impressions of the entire Fotolia workshop.
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8XmMmSceK4
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkN5icUfxW0
Yuri Arcurs from Crestock has produced some wonderful videos that show behind the scenes of his studio at Aarhus in Denmark. These videos show a lot of great insight to how he’s using his studio and his photography work flow, specifically in relation to his stock photography. Thanks to Yuri for sharing with the world!
The videos include:
Tags: Photography Tutorials, stock photography, Studio Photography
David Appleyard of AppStorm has rounded up his favorite 50 Mac applications for digital photographers. The list includes a range from free open source applications, up through some fairly expensive industry standard apps. If you are looking to explore more post production with your images, this is a great place to start exploring available applications.
Tags: Applications, digital photography, Free, HDR, NEF, open source, Programs, RAW, roundup
Formed in 2007 in Lyon, France, the Toast Concept design group looks more like a fun-seeking and fun-loving collective than an actual company. Officially a graphic design and motion graphics firm, Toast Concept made a big splash in the industry when they formed, taking on Sony Music, Land Rover, and Nike as their first clients. The majority of their work is still, however, not part of their professional portfolio. They have developed their brand through art, entering graphic design and motion graphics contests from Paris to Melbourne, spreading their non-professional work around, getting their name out there, and even designing a few toys - everywhere Toast Concept turns up, their signature of a toaster in a thought bubble follows. Toast Concept, now only in its second year of life, is truly the next design firm to watch.
Written by Pat Ortali, Multimedia Consultant III at Washington College’s Multimedia Production Center
Sporting one of Nikon’s famous NIKKOR lenses (18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR AF-S DX) and a 12.3 megapixel sensor, the Nikon D5000 steps beyond the realm of your average DSLR camera. It has everything you would hope for from a Nikon - nearly two dozen auto-exposure modes, startlingly accurate auto-focus, tracking, and light metering, the ability to shoot four frames per second, and in-camera image editing - but it holds a new surprise too - the capacity to shoot 720p HD movies. Now, this isn’t something new to the DSLR world, Canon released a comparable camera right after the Nikon D90 was released. This is Nikon’s hard-hitting response, and at around 1000 bucks, it’s a steal too.
Written by Pat Ortali, Multimedia Consultant III at Washington College’s Multimedia Production Center
Beginning the week of January 26th, Instructional Technology will be offering professional support for campus technologies, multimedia and more via Open FLEX Lab Hours in both the Beck Instructional Lab and the MultimediaProduction Center. Beck’s Open Lab Hours (FLEX Lab) will remain the same and the MPC will be opening its doors for the campus community. If you need help with a computer related task or project, stop by to receive one-on-one help from the Instructional Technology staff of experts.
Open Lab Hours for Spring 2009 will be:
Beck:
Mondays 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
MPC:
Tuesdays 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Wednesdays 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
If you have questions about any of the Open FLEX Lab Hours, please contact Nancy Cross, Brian Palmer or Nick Smerker. To find out who will be available during which hours, visit: mellon.washcoll.edu/staffprofiles.html
Tags: Help, JIT Training, Just-in-time, live support, MPC lab
Do you utilize YouTube to host videos you create and want to share with the world at the best quality? Has someone else created a YouTube video, but you are only interested in a portion of it for your blog or website? Here are 2 tips that help ensure your audience has a better YouTube expereince:
Tip 1. Forcing the browser to use the High Quality version of the video
You may notice just under the lower right coner of the video window, some videos have an option to “Watch In High Quality”. By default, these videos will play as a 320×240 FLV file at 320Kb/s. Check out this sample:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBGeNeofk0A
The user could click on this link to “Watch in High Quality” which will reload the video and play the MP4 version , which is 480×360 at 512Kb/s. By adding &fmt=18 to the end of the URL, you’ll make the URL you share with others bring them right to the high quality version. Here’s the same video in the High Quality view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBGeNeofk0A&fmt=18
What else are you gaining besides increased video resolution? The video is compressed with H.264 compression, so you get better video even at the same data rate. You also go from a low fidelity mono audio feed to stereo @ 44.1Khz sample rate.
&fmt=6 increases the resolution from 320×240 to 448×336, Flash 7 video @ 900Kbps; audio @ 44.1KHz 96Kbps Mono CBR.
&fmt=18 increases the resolution to 480×360, H.264 video @ 512Kbps; audio @ 44.1KHz 128Kbps Stereo. Note, the bandwidth may be lower, but it’s utilizing a more efficient compression codec.
UPDATE: &fmt=22 increaes the resolution to 720p HD video if the source was uploaded at a high enough resolution.
Tip 2. Advancing the video to a specific playback point.
If you evern wanted to link to a video in YouTube that was lengthy, but had a very interesting part partway through, there is a hack to allow you to begin playback at a precise time. You can specify the minutes and seconds of the start time like this:
add #t=53s to the end of the URL to start at 53 seconds into it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBGeNeofk0A#t=53s
add #t=1m57s to the end of the video URL to start playback at 1 minute 57 seconds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBGeNeofk0A#t=1m57s
Think of this as bookmarking your video clips! Now you can link to a video, and have an index of the segments included, which link right to that precise moment!
Tags: 720p, high quality, tips & tricks, video bookmarking, video tutorial, YouTube Hacks
