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Adobe CS5 Launch

Editorial, Photography, Technology 3 Responses »

Apr 122010

Today was Adobe’s official launch of the new Creative Suite 5, otherwise known as CS5. The product has been out in beta for awhile now and was officially launched in an online webcast(first 37 minutes). Having been briefed last month, where we were given a sneak peak into some of the new features, I can say that I’m impressed with the new features. My favorite new photography improvements are Content Aware Fill, Puppet Warp, improved RAW processing and Black and White conversion. Despite all of this marketing, a few questions remain;

When will the product be available? Right now, they say the expected ship date will be mid-May.
Should this have been simply an upgrade to CS4?
When should we expect the new version of Lightroom 3 which is now currently in beta?

These and more detailed specific questions shall be answered in a detailed review of the product. In the meantime, here are some of today’s highlights;

Overall Key Improvements/Enhancements

Time savings workflows and features
Collaborative features
GPU Acceleration Optimization
64-Bit Native Processing
New Mercury Playback and Rendering Engine
Content Aware Fill

After Effects

Roto Scoping – New Roto Brush saves a lot of time and effort by allowing you to move foreground objects from their backgrounds automatically creating transparency around the foreground object.

Dreamweaver

Discover within Dreamweaver can take a page from a website and determine/show all other pages necessary to render the page, in Live View within Dreamweaver. Helps you work with different CMS’ such as WordPress, Drupal and Joomla.

Flash Catalyst

Create flash content using native Photoshop and Illustrator files without coding

Flash Professional

Integration with Flash Builder and packager for iPhone which will package product as a native iPhone application ready for the iApp Store.

Illustrator

Variable Width Stroke allows you to modify line width for some cool effects

InDesign

Create flash content from within InDesign without coding
Can preview and change flash content from within InDesign

Photoshop

Natural and customizable paintbrushes – Can change a photo into a painting or add artistic effects using the new Mixer Brush. This brush allows for color blending and different bristle tips which produce lifelike brush strokes.
Repousse – Create 3D logos and objects from any layer, selection, path or layer mask. You can twist
Mini Bridge – Navigate and access files within Photoshop
HDR Pro – new version allows for more creative changes with new controls, save presets and remove ghosting and pull replacement content from whichever exposure you’d like.
De-mosaic and sharpening and noise reduction improvements
post crop vignetting – ability to darken or lighten image as if you were dodging or burning in traditional darkroom processing.
Automate lense correction based on camera model – corrects distortion, aberration and vignetting.
Content Aware Fill – AMAZING – can remove objects from photo and Photoshop will intelligently fill in space automatically to make it look like it was never there.
Natural Media Bristle Tips – allow you to make paintings from photo or scratch. Bristle quality, length, stiffness of brush are all controllable
Mixer brush tool allows to realistically blend colors.
Puppet Warp – ULTRA COOL – Drop pins on object in photo then can make natural distortions
Camera RAW 6 – Inoise reduction, better sharpening, more vignetting options and the ability to add grain to a photo are some of the highlighted features.
Refine Edge feature – The new Smart Radius option will automatically detect the type of edge being outlined and can also detect and remove color fringing.
Automatic lense correction – PS5 will read the Exif data and make corrections based on camera body and lense combinations. Corrections include chromatic aberration, vignetting and geometric distortion. You will also be able to create your own profiles and share them online.

Script to Screen workflow

Adobe Story – On Location – Premier Pro – Allows for full control over the process from editing of scripts from multiple sources to passing/using meta data throughout the lifecycle.

CS Live

BrowserLab – Determine how something will look in many different browser/platform combinations and compare. Has onion skin view which helps user determine minute differences between browser looks.
Site Catalyst Net Averages – Give user device and operating system data early on in creative process to help optimize design decisions for largest audience.
Adobe Story – Bring in scripts from a number of sources where you can edit and carry metadata through out the production process.
CS Review – works with Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Allow user to share work to get feedback from others online, even if they don’t have CS products.
Using Acrobat.com a shared screen and collaborate in real-time.
Complementary use for a limited time.

Flash Player 10.1

New version will allow flash content to work on wider range of devices – netbooks, smartbooks, smartphones, tablets and televisions.

Business Catalyst Online Business Platform for Web Designers

Set of solutions for designers to build online businesses without coding.

There is so much more to cover depending on which angle you’re coming from. Adobe.com and tv.adobe.com both have numerous resources explaining all of the new features and enhancements. Check it out…I’d be interested to hear from you to see what you think of the product.

Brief Review of Canon S90

Photography 3 Responses »

Apr 122010

Canon’s s90 is designed to be an avid photographer’s travelling companion. The S Series was last produced in 2005 and historically was meant to fit in between the Powershot Elph series and the G series. The size, features and build were in-between that of the Elph and G series. The s90, introduced in August, 2009 reintroduces us to the S Series and breaks the size mold. The s90 is fairly compact in terms of length, but is a bit wider than most of the Elph series. This is due to one of its control rings mounted on front around the lense. Despite the size, the camera has a solid build feel.

As with most other photographers, the first thing I tested was its performance in low light situations. This little camera performed remarkably well turning out great looking photos. In more brightly lit scenes, such as the outdoors, the resulting picture had rich color, great detail and low sensor noise.

Another use for this camera is its macro capabilities. The f2 lense seemed quite adept at taking great food shots with little effort.

The main competitor to this camera is the Panasonic LX3. A review can be found at dpreview.com.

Basic Specifications
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Good:
good set of controls for manual and semi-manual shooting
great wide angle (28mm) with f/2 shooting
great low-light shooting
reasonable speed on processor for continous focus and dynamic histogram
allows for shallow depth of field shooting, RAW or RAW+JPG capture
relatively large sensor – 1/1.7″, .43 cm2
Dual anti-noise systems (High sensitivity and anti-noise control)
same sensor 10 megapixel sensor as the G11
fast 2.0 lense, though 2.8 is only available on wide angle shots.

Bad:
smooth finish attracts fingerprints while being slippery
no HD Video (shoots 640×480 at 30fps)
zoom only goes to 105mm

Overall Rating: Recommended, 4 stars

Sample Shots

Apple iPhone OS4

Editorial, Technology Comments Off

Apr 082010

Today, Apple announced the iPhone OS4. This new operating system for will bring over 100 new features. It will ship with the iPhone and iPod Touch starting this summer and later in the fall with the iPad. For developers, the new software development kit (SDK) will offer over 1,500 new APIs. The developer API beta is now available.

The major upgrades include mutitasking, folder organization, improved eMail (including support for multiple exchange acocunts) iBooks functionality and more secure enterprise support. The new OS4 will be compatible with iPhone 3G, 3GS, second and third generation iPod Touch and the iPad in the fall.

This announcement adds fuel to the fire around speculation of a new iPhone to possibly be released this summer, perhaps for Verizon. Of course, lets not forget the multitasking capabilities already available in Android phones.

Wild Mustard Season

Photography, Travel 3 Responses »

Mar 162010

Mustard plants grow wild in northern california during the months from January to Marh, depending on weather and rainfall. As the hills turn green, mustard starts growing wild. Hues of green and yellow(from the wild mustard plants) define the hills and fields during this season.

In Napa Valley, one of culinary meccas of California, the annual mustard festival is held. This year, it runs from January 30 to March 27. Amongst the events, the feastival holds four contests;

Worldwide Mustard Contest
Mustard Recipe Contest
Art Contest
Photography Contest

This is a wonderful time of the ear to get out and explore the local landscape. The green and yellow hues change with the light and add definition to the local lanscape, especially the hills. Soon after this season, as the weather becomes warmer, the familiar brown hues return to the local landscape until the following year.

XAMPP – Local Web Development Environment

Web Design 1 Response »

Mar 112010

XAMPP is a localized web development environment that allows you to install everything needed to start designing and developing web sites and applications locally. XAMPP is an easy to install Apache distribution containing MySQL, PHP and Perl from Apache Friends. There are currently four distributions; Linux (tested for SuSE, RedHat, Mandrake and debian), Windows (for 200, 2003, XP and Vista), Mac OS X and Solaris (tested for Solaris 8 and 9). The distribution is free of charge under the GNU General Public License.

Downloads can be found at:
ApacheFriends: http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html
Sourceforge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/xampp/

Here at C Chin Studios, we’ve tested the Windows and Mac installations and found it to be simple and stratight forward. Add-ons, such as WordPress, can be installed into this environment to allow use locally. When you don’t have access to the internet, or its inconvenient, XAMPP is an excellent alternative to keep you going. Keep in mind that many features have been intentionally disabled to make things easy. Features such as security settings have been left off. One should be cogizant of these settings so when one moves work to an internet enabled site, they are correctly set.

There are a variety of other localized development distributions including MAMP, JAMP, PAMPA, Z:WAMP, VertrigoServ, EasyPHP, Repos Server, WAMP Server and WLMP.

In addition to the how-to install article on Apache Friends, there have been numerous article written by other on how to best install XAMPP. Some of our favorites include;

Debian Help: http://www.debianhelp.co.uk/xampp.htm
Drupal.org: http://drupal.org/node/161975
Six Revisions: http://sixrevisions.com/tutorials/web-development-tutorials/using-xampp-for-local-wordpress-theme-development/
WordPress.Tv: http://wordpress.tv/2009/11/12/installing-wordpress-locally-using-wampserver/

Having a localized development environment allows you easy, full control to design, develop and test web sites and applications. Just remember that XAMPP is intended only for localized develoment, though it can be switched to a production mode environment with modifications.

America’s Cup in San Francisco?

Editorial 3 Responses »

Feb 212010

Sailing in the Bay

The BMW Oracle Racing Team, with their revolutionary wing sail powered trimaran, has won the 33rd America’s Cup off Valencia Spain by beating out the Swiss defending team, Alinghi. The Swiss team, who first won the cup in New Zealand in 2000 and then successfully defended it against Emirates Team New Zealand in 2007, was beaten in race 2 by a margin of 5 minutes and 26 seconds. This is the first time in 15 years that the trophy has been in the US and will make the Golden Gate Yacht Club the 28th american defender of the cup. The sponsoring club, the Golden Gate Yacht Club, traditionally would host the trophy and next race. However, with the local politics and logistics, the race could end up in San Diego or even Rhode Island.

Logistically, the question would be where could a sailing village be setup for competitors to stage their racing operations. This village would also have to be somewhere that competiting teams could get to despite the traffic in the bay. The event could bring in a lot of revenue for the city of San Francisco. Discussions between Ellison and Mayor Newsom have begun. Now the policitcs and special intrests will all come to the table should they decide to draw up initial plans and do a feasibility study.

As one who has sailed on the bay, I think this would be an excellent location to hold such a race…lets just hope that the various interests and politics don’t get in th way.

Yosemite Horsetail Falls

Photography 14 Responses »

Feb 192010

For a few days each year, usually in February when the conditions all align, one can witness one of nature’s magical shows, that of “fire water” coming off of Yosemite’s Horsetail Falls. This year, I had a chance to finally witness (and photograph) this amazing phenomenom.

The phenomenom of water coming off of Horsetails Falls looking like fire is a result of several conditions all aligning so nature can put on a show. The primary requirements are:

Sunshine
Sufficient water flow resulting from melting snow or rain
Alignment of Sun and Earth
Being at the right viewpoint at the right time of day

To estimate the timing of this event, which usually occurs for a few days during late winter/early spring, one can use a landscape photographer’s Adobe Air application , The Photographer’s Ephemeris (TPE) by Stephen Trainor. This wonderful application overlays the solar/lunar paths on top of Google Maps satellite images to help one estimate when the sun/moon will rise/set over any given location. This year, a photographer named Michael Frye, estimated this would occur on February 18th, hence the timing of the trip to capture this event.

This phenomenom was orginally photographed by Ansel Adams in black and white, then in color by Galen Rowell. It was Galen Rowell’s photograph that made this a popular photo op to capture. This is evidenced by the numerous tripods at both of the popular spots in Yosemite to photograph this event. You can find these and other images of Yosemite at cchinstudios.zenfolio.com/yosemite.

Videoblogging

Web Design 5 Responses »

Feb 162010

In today’s “New Media” world, it seems people love streaming video and the like. We’ve all heard that a successful website, or one that draws a lot of attention, is one that has video content. Last night, I went to see a presentation by The Bui Brothers who advocated this, after all, its how they make their living(videos that is).

With the proliferation of free video hosting, such as YouTube, everyone is becoming a filmmaker. After all, its a quick, direct way to communicate or to get a message across. Most people who are part of the “New Media” age have at least one device that can take a video; an iPhone, a point and shoot camera, a DLSR, a video camcorder, a netbook, a notebook, a PC with a videocam, etc…

In terms of video editing, there’s lots of low cost or free programs. For example, if you have a Mac, it comes with iMovie and Garage Band. The combination of these two programs allows you to make some decent edits and compose a custom music score to go with your video. For something a little more robust, there’s Final Cut Pro on the Apple. In the PC world, the’s Premiere Elements, Premiere, Sony Vegas and a host of other programs for video editing and sound editing.

So what’s the bottom line? If you have video on your website, it’ll likely help attract the traffic you want to your website. For those of you who don’t like writing, what better way is there to get content for your website? Look out or my first video blog entry coming soon.

MacWorld 2010 – Day at the Expo

Technology Comments Off

Feb 132010

MacWorld 2010 sign

Recession? Despite Apple, Adobe and other vendors not being present and having only about half of the vendors (230 instead of 430)of the previous year, Macworld this year was fairly crowded (est attendance 26,000). Held in the North Hall of Moscone, the expo took noticably less display space. Marquee speakers included Guy Kawasaki, Leo Laporte and David Pogue (whose Missing Manual series I recommend).

MacWorld 2010 Main Stage

So what was hot this year? Surprisingly, not much. In one word, accessories, seemed to be the predominant focus. With the hype of the soon to be released iPad, though there were none on display anywhere, there were lines of accessories available already. For other Apple products, protective skins, touch gloves, speakers, cases and external batteries seemed like they were everywhere. The expo, without the buzz of the Apple presence, seemed to be missing its soul. Let’s see how this expo survives in the coming years.

Here’s a few walk-by shots taken with a point and shoot…

Skimble Girls

Clixtr Girl

MS's Steve Job's Look

Maverick’s Surfing Competition

Photography 3 Responses »

Feb 112010

The wait is over. This afternoon, the organizers of the Maverick’s Surf Competition announced that they’ll be holding the competition this Saturday, February 13th. Last year, mother nature provided a no show, but this year, its looking very promising. Waves on the western shores have been pretty large with all of the storm actuivity that we’ve recently been having. For those of us who have been waiting for a chance to photograph this event, Saturday is one of the worst possible days in terms of crowds. So what is Mavericks and whats the big deal?

Maverick’s is a big wave surf competition held at Mavericks located about one-half mile from the shore of Pilar Point Harbor just north of Half Moon Bay at the village of Princeton-By-The-Sea. Waves originate from the Gulf of Alaska and crest from 25 feet to over 50+ feet due to winter storms. The break is caused by an underwater rock formation located off the coast. The first big wave competition held at Mavericks was in 1999 when Darryl Virostko(“Flea”) won first place. Earlier in th 90s, a film entitled Waves of Adventure in the Red Triangle wa sproduced by filmmaker Gary Mederios.

Mavericks today is a by invitation only competition in which 24 of the worlds best big wave surfers are invited. The 24 invitees decided collectively on whether or not to call the competition once an appropriate swell is on the horizon. The waiting period, or period of time during which it is determined that the competition can be held, was extended this year to start earlier since in 2009, no contest was held. This years waiting period started on November 1, 2009 and was scheduled to end March 31, 2010.

This year, the organizers of the committee have provided four venues from which to view the competition.

Live Webcast
Flo TV
AT&T Park
Chartered boat tour

Of course, for those of you who are local, you can try to get to Pillar Point to view the contest from shore (bring binoculars or a long zoom lense). Unfortunately, this year, I will not be able to attend the competition…

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