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Posts Tagged ‘Multimedia Software’

Make a molehill out of a mountain with Tilt Shift Focus

Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Odds and ends, Graphic Design

Got a desire to mess with some pictures you have by controlling blur or making full-sized objects look like miniatures? I’ve just played with some software called Tilt-Shift-Focus that mimics the way tilt shift lenses work. By artfully applying selective blur, you can make objects look they are part of a train set. There is another effect that duplicates the look of zoom movement in a still photo.

There are several modes that let you define where the blur and sharpness is positioned in your image. You can also use a paintbrush tool to draw sharpness onto an image that is pre-blurred.

To use the software, you manipulate control points. At first it seems very counter-intuitive, but with a little practice it starts to make sense. Of course, this software is not going to duplicate what an expensive lens can do, but I found it fun to manipulate some photos from my archives and ‘miniaturize’ parts of the photos.

One thing I noticed was that at times loading and saving JPEG images was very slow. I also wish there was some built-in help to get you started, but the developer does have some good tutorials and a helpful videos on his website.

If you are looking to do this on an iPhone check out our review here. You can also simulate this effect in Photoshop, and we have you covered there too.

The software sells for US$14.99 and requires OS X 10.5 or later. It’s worth a spin if you are interested in doing these kinds of effects.

Here are some examples I created:

TUAWMake a molehill out of a mountain with Tilt Shift Focus originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Final Cut dominant among Oscar documentary nominees

Filed under: Apple Corporate, Multimedia, Software, Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs and the iPad both appeared on TV during last night’s Academy Awards, but they weren’t the extent of Apple’s presence.

Cnet reports this morning that the majority of the “Documentary Feature” and “Documentary Short” nominees — 9 out of 10 in fact — were made using Final Cut Studio, Apple’s professional video editing package. Cnet spoke with some of the filmmakers, including Dan Wilken, online editor of “Food, Inc,” who sung the suite’s praises. “…[switching to Final Cut Studio] made the most sense economically and allowed us to do everything we needed.”

Final Cut isn’t the only professional editing software available but it is the most popular; market research firm SCRI International claim is has a near 50% market share among nonlinear editors.

With this in mind we get an even clearer picture of Steve’s motivation for showing up. Certainly to have fun and experience the show, cheer on Up and other Disney offerings and keep his company and products in the minds of a very lucrative market.

TUAWFinal Cut dominant among Oscar documentary nominees originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SlipCover helps make case icons for your media

Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Cool tools, Odds and ends, Freeware

Here’s a cool app we haven’t mentioned yet here on TUAW — SlipCover is an app that will help you put together some beautiful icons for your Mac’s media files, from DVDs to video games or anything else that needs a cool looking icon. The app itself revolves around “case” files, which are basically templates like the Blu-ray, PS3, and Xbox 360 branding on their DVD cases, to which you can then drag and drop other media on to (for example, put a Watchmen movie poster on a Blu-ray “case,” and you’ve got an icon that looks exactly like a Blu-ray version of the DVD), and then your media files on there to apply the icon automatically. No more hunting around through file names or weird previews of your media — you can just browse through a Delicious Library-style set of thumbnails to find whatever you want to watch.

Now, you may say that you just get all your media from iTunes, and that those come with thumbnails and covers already, and that’s a fair point. But for those of us who obtain media from all over the place, it’s nice to have a way to make it look all professional and purty. Slipcover is a free download over on their website.

[via Lifehacker]

TUAWSlipCover helps make case icons for your media originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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XBMC "Camelot" update brings lots of new features

Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Freeware, Open Source, Mac mini, Apple TV

Just in case the gifts you got from your family last week didn’t float your boat (no kidding, I got a Yakov Smirnoff DVD — I love my parents, but they’re not the best gift givers in the world), here’s another fun present to unwrap. The folks at XBMC released a brand new version on Christmas Eve, and it’s available as a free download right now over on their website.

XBMC is the open source app that started off as “Xbox Media Center” (designed to be run on the original Xbox hardware), but has now blossomed into a full-featured media center that is usable on your Apple TV or Mac. Thanks to an app, you can use your iPhone as a remote as well.

The new version 9.11, a.k.a. “Camelot,” has far too many new changes for us to list in their entirety here, but there’s a revamped (and good-looking) user interface with increased skinning capability, updated support for different subtitles and video formats, new movie database scrapers for picking up information, and specifically in Mac OS X, support for the very popular Logitech Harmony Universal Remote. The devs say they’re excited to get this one out the door, if only because it means they can move on to bigger and better very soon. Kudos on the release (during the holiday season!), and if you’re an XBMC fan, have at it!

[via Engadget]

TUAWXBMC “Camelot” update brings lots of new features originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FanGuide self-guided architectural tours for iPhone

Filed under: Multimedia, Software, App Store, App Review

Fans of great architecture love to take guided or self-guided tours to learn more about the buildings or homes designed by classic architects like Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Louis Sullivan. Guided tours are usually somewhat expensive and subject to the knowledge and whims of the tour guide, while self-guided tours can force architecture buffs to juggle books, maps, and MP3 players while searching for the details of a particular architect or style.

These frustrations were the impetus behind the creation of the FanGuide Tour & Audio Companion iPhone apps by Prairie Design Group. I recently had an opportunity to test the Chicago Loop Architecture Guide [US$2.99, iTunes Link], and wish that this app had been available a few years back when I was visiting the Windy City.

Featuring an elegant and easy-navigated user interface, the Chicago Loop Architecture Guide provides six tours, each with anywhere from 5 to 9 stops. The tours range in length from 30 minutes to a full hour, and stops for food, coffee, or photography can stretch out the time. Tapping on a globe icon during a tour provides a Google map view of a stop, overlaid with a photo of the building and arrows that point you to the previous or next stop. You don’t need a cellular connection to use the app; there are also self-contained offline maps that are more than sufficient to provide you with location information.Fans of great architecture love to take guided or self-guided tours to learn more about the buildings or homes designed by classic architects like Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Louis Sullivan. Guided tours are usually somewhat expensive and subject to the knowledge and whims of the tour guide, while self-guided tours can force architecture buffs to juggle books, maps, and MP3 players while searching for the details of a particular architect or style.

These frustrations were the impetus behind the creation of the FanGuide Tour & Audio Companion iPhone apps by Prairie Design Group. I recently had an opportunity to test the Chicago Loop Architecture Guide [US$2.99, iTunes Link], and wish that this app had been available a few years back when I was visiting the Windy City.

Featuring an elegant and easy-navigated user interface, the Chicago Loop Architecture Guide provides six tours, each with anywhere from 5 to 9 stops. The tours range in length from 30 minutes to a full hour, and stops for food, coffee, or photography can stretch out the time. Tapping on a globe icon during a tour provides a Google map view of a stop, overlaid with a photo of the building and arrows that point you to the previous or next stop. You don’t need a cellular connection to use the app; there are also self-contained offline maps that are more than sufficient to provide you with location information.

TUAWFanGuide self-guided architectural tours for iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Archos releases developer edition firmware for Internet Tablets

Continue reading Archos releases developer edition firmware for Internet Tablets

Archos releases developer edition firmware for Internet Tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Timeline: no-regret version control for Photoshop

Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Productivity

If you work in Photoshop, you’ve probably had designs which branched off from the original look, based on your own ideas or client feedback. This has, more than likely, resulted in multiple files with names like mockup1.psd, mockup1b.psd, mockup2.psd, etc. The solution would be what coders know as Version Control, something which allows you to “commit” any version of your project to a repository, letting you jump around from version to version, making changes without worrying about losing one of those branches you went off on as an experiment. Version control systems like Subversion and Git can do this for you, but there’s a learning curve and a certain amount of geekery required to make it work smoothly.

Timeline from PixelNovel aims to take the “geek” requirements out of using version control in Photoshop. Timeline goes beyond other options and uses a Subversion repository to store any revision of your progress while working on a Photoshop file. If you don’t know what Subversion is, that’s ok. Timeline simply shows you a row of previews of versions you’ve chosen to save, and you can jump back in time with a couple of clicks. Make a change, commit it, jump to a different version … all in a slick, minimal toolbar. You can add comments (a commit message for those already svn-savvy) to each revision, which is handy whether you’re working alone or collaborating.

Timeline offers two ways of handling the repositories necessary for it to function. The least geeky option is to use their hosted Subversion service, which provides easy-to-use collaboration options, a web interface and automatic backup. It’s available at a subscription fee, but signing up includes a copy of the plugin for free. Alternatively, you can host your own Subversion repository, which isn’t terribly difficult. This avoids both the hosting fee and (if you create a local repository on your own computer) the need to download your revisions from a host.

I spoke with the developers of Timeline about the potential for a Git version, and it’s something they’re looking into. For now, though, the Subversion plan is working quite well. If you frequently find yourself with a folder full of poorly-titled versions of a project, and flipping between them is getting to be a pain, it’s definitely something to consider. The plugin itself will cost you $60US and — if you choose the hosted route — an account runs $5US for 5GB of storage, or $20US for 25GB. TUAW readers can take advantage of a special offer, and get 20% off of either: use coupon tuaw1 for a standalone license, and tuaw2 for a 20% discount on a hosted option.

[Side note: For the Git-inclined, I've found that the previews in GitX combined with a few shell scripts can provide a decent (but less integrated and robust) versioning system for Photoshop and other graphics applications.]

TUAWTimeline: no-regret version control for Photoshop originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CNN: Our iPhone app is "not a hobby"

Filed under: Multimedia, Software, iPhone, App Store

CNN chatted with our good friends at DLS about the news network’s iPhone app (scheduled to hit an App Store near you very soon), and it actually sounds pretty premium: in-app video, breaking news live video streaming, a Coverflow-style way to browse news information, the ability to store news to read later, and social sharing through Facebook, Twitter, and the usual suspects. CNN even says they want to add more to the app in the future, including some iReport-style news delivery functions, so people with iPhones out in the world can send news in as quickly as possible.

Ok, CNN, we get it — you care about this one. It does sound like they’re making a major push in terms of making their content interactive on the iPhone, but on the other hand, maybe they’re just trying to sell you on the “premium” price: $1.99, with (we’re told) non-intrusive advertising included. Obviously, $2 is cheap, but on the other hand, especially with advertising both from the network itself and outside clients, the crankiest of App Store browsers will probably flinch at it a little bit. If you are interested, however, CNN would love to take your money: their app should be available in the App Store as soon as Apple lets it through.

TUAWCNN: Our iPhone app is “not a hobby” originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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