02.28.07
VoIP, EVDO and Project Management
While I have not written much in the past weeks, things have been very busy over here. Aside from the 17 month old puking her guts out for five days, I have managed to find some new toys to play with and spent more time with my Photoshop tutorials.
The biggest toy is the addition of a new Epson 4990 flatbed scanner to aid me in my quest to scan all my dad’s old pictures and restore them to a iPhoto book (or other book). Unlike Windows, the scanner just worked when plugged into the iMac via firewire. It does have USB but in this case, I wanted firewire since a USB hub will slow to the slowest USB device. The scanner comes with ICE software and some decent Epson software but I bought Vuescan for it for the ability to save the scans as RAW output. A interesting sidebar on this topic is that Adobe LIghtroom reads the RAW files but Apple’s Aperture does not. I have Aperture but it’s things like this that keep me from using with any consistency. How can Apple developers not support one of the biggest and most popular scanner packages for the Mac? Where the hell is the logic in that? Idiots..
I have run some test scans through the scanner and it is very impressive to what it can capture. The biggest scans I did came in at 900meg but that was me fiddling with the controls and pressing the envelope on scanning a 3×3 picture 
The scanner is pretty quiet for what it does, a but bulky since it has a separate film scanner in the cover. DId I mention it will scan film up to an 8×10 neg? Slides, no problem, medium format? no problem, color film like C41? no problem, this baby does it all and then some. It has a nice Cylon looking strip across the top that glows blue and tracks the scanner head as it moves so it’s very easy to see where you are in the scanning process. It has a nice well built heft to the unit which is a welcomed change from my HP scanners which felt a bit flimsy.
I also bought the new book called “Scanning Negatives and Slides: Digitizing Your Photographic Archives” and I really like it aside from some publishing faux-pas. I got mine at Amazon at something like 30 percent off so shop around. The ISBN number is 1-933952-01-6. The authors cover scanning in great detail and cover some of the more arcane items and techniques. I have not seen this much solid info in one place and as well presented. It’s very readable and concise with excellent pictures throughout the book. The book itself is very high quality stock with a good coating to give a nice finish to the pages.
I just got the newest ExpressFlash EVDO cards from Sprint and I plan to test them on the MBP once I get the things activated on a #@*@( WIndows machine. Sprint STILL does not officially support OSX unlike Verizon and things like this drive me nuts.
I also just set up my toy-like VoIP phone from Vonage. It’s not Mac specific but it works well with the Airport and my Monowall firewall. The phone is based on 802.11 but only hold five SSIDs. Dumb idea and dumber is the orange screen. Ugh.. nasty ugly looking but then the phone does in fact work and with a good connection, has a quality like a average cell call. Not clear but not too garbled either. Vonage also sends a WAV file when you get a voice mail message and since they stuck with WAV, it plays fine on the Mac. None of the Windows Media Player crap, probably due to the licensing costs, not any feelings toward the Mac. Call anywhere in the US and parts of Europe for twenty bucks a month. Not a bad deal for being able to carry a working phone in the bunkers we call offices here.
I finally broke down and bought my copy of ProjectX after my last beta died. I had hoped from some kind of thank you discount for the beta testers but nothing doing. Full price will do yah just fine. But work paid for it this time so it was a minor detail. I tried almost all of the available PM tools for OSX and this was really the best. I had one company call me to beg me to buy theirs and when I mentioned I was testing ProjectX, they just kind of sighed and hung up on me The drag and drop magic is really something to behold for knocking out a quick project map.
02.15.07
Exercise your brain
Posted in Blogroll, Commentary, OSX Software at 8:46 pm by hackamac
One of the best things about the digital revolution and the internet is all the new ways to get training resources. I have personally made several tutorials using different tools on the PC like Camtasia, Robohelp and others. They worked pretty well but my experience with video and DVD editing on the PC was sorely lacking. In fact, making DVDs and movies was one of the primary reasons for moving to the Mac as my main workstation.
Since those days, I have become much more interested in Photoshop, Video making and making custom DVDs. And I have taken a few classes on Photoshop but then tend to be very expensive. Of course, this leads to an interest in sound and apps such as Audio Highjack and others. I have been searching for self help/Tutorial videos and books to help me learn these applications without spending a small fortune. I have decided to share a few opinions of what I have found so far. Right now my current tutorial is from Software Cinema which has a range of DVD products. The tutorial is for Photoshop and is called “Image Restoration, Repair and Enhancement”. I bought a second one called “The Best of Dean Collins on Lighting” which is four DVDs. I bought these DVDs blind, I had not read any reviews but I had a need for the restoration DVD and lighting has always attracted me for setting moods with my pictures. I did have some experience with one of their instructors, Jack Davis, from my Geek Cruise where Jack taught some Photoshop classes and some of the shorebased photo sessions. So I had a decent reason to blindly trust that the videos would be worth the money, Jack had put on some great classes and I strongly recommend his DVD called “How to WOW”.
I started with Image Restoration and I was pleasantly surprised. While Katrin Eismann (the narrator and the teacher) is not as polished as some, she is effective and has a nice, informal way of presenting information. Here is a couple of the topics included on the DVDs.
Session 05 : Removing and Repairing Stains In this session you will learn how to make quick work of image oxidation, staining, and strong color shifts. In addition, you’ll learn to inspect the image channels to identify where the damage is the worst and where there is hidden image information you can take advantage of.
Session 06 : Extreme Color Correction In this session you will learn how to conquer the strongest colorcasts and contaminations. In addition, you’ll learn the value of neutral and how to share adjustment layers to make quick work of correcting numerous images.
Session 07 : Rebuilding Color In this session you will learn how to repair extreme damage caused by light leaks and color decomposition. In addition, you’ll work with the Apply Image command and learn the basics of hand coloring images.
There are 15 sessions on the DVD and they cover a wide assortment of training on how to restore your precious images. My need came from a pile of pictures from my dad who had been ready to toss them out as unimportant. This small project gives me the motivation to really play with Photoshop in depth and right now, I’m working with the CS3 beta for Intel Macs. The good news is that the differences between CS2 and the CS3 beta are small so I can use this DVD with CS3. I did find an interesting feature of the DVD is that if you run CS while you run the DVD, when you watch the DVD and then click to bring CS up front, the DVD pauses. This is a great feature and I dont know if it is intentional or accidental but I like it alot
A favorite book right now (and I have several) is called the Photoshop CS2 HELP DESK BOOK
by Dave Cross. This is nicely finished book with high quality coated paper, glossy images and print. The book is filled with questions and answers written in a clear and concise answers. The question is in black and the answer is in red which is a bit distracting on the bright white paper but still usable.
• Where to start when things don’t work: from tool settings to re-installing Photoshop
• The most common warning dialogs: why they appears, how to fix them, and how to avoid them
• The Photoshop CS2 Checklist: what to check when things go wrong, or before you start working, to help avoid problems
• Solutions to typical problems when using the Adobe Creative Suite
• How to avoid problems by creating flexible documents (adjustment layers, layer masks, groups, smart object, layer comps, and more)
• Frequently asked questions—and their answers—in all key areas of Photoshop CS2:
• general operations (palettes, workspaces, menus, etc.)
• color (CMYK, color management, spot color, choosing color, etc.)
• type
• selections
• making adjustments
• layers
• preferences and settings
• image capture (resolution, Camera Raw, file size)
• sizing (canvas size, image size, copping)
• automation (actions, batch, built-in automation commands)
• common image problems (exposure, focus, noise, color cast, etc.)
• painting (brushes, choosing color)
• output (web, PDF, video, printing)
• special effects (filters, layer styles)
• tools (that don’t fit into any other category)
• How to customize Photoshop CS2 to work the way you want it to (actions, menus, workspaces, shortcuts, preferences)
• How to make your own brushes, swatches, shapes, styles, and patterns
This is an excellent ready reference book to have right next to you while you work with CS2 and CS3 to a great extent.
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