Photoshop tutorial on removing objects.

This tutorial is pretty nice.  It shows you how to remove some of the unwanted items in a picture.  I’m pretty sure it’s only for Photoshop CS2 or CS3.

TMNT Studio Visit.

Comingsoon.net got to sit down with writer/director Kevin Munroe and producer Tom Gray.  It’s a pretty long and in depth interview.  I was a big fan of the cartoon as a kid, not so much the early movies though.  And, I can’t help but think this new one is being made for just the wrong reasons.  How about this, from the article.

"CS/SHH!: Why remake this film?

Tom Gray: CG is the easy answer. (A little later)  We didn’t have the
money to make a $140 million picture. I guess that’s the real
motivation to do it and we felt that there was enough interest out
there that we could come back and keep it going."

So, they’re not making it because they finally got a kick ass script, or they just had a passion for the franchise.  No, they’re going to make it because it’s cheap now, and they can milk it for some more money.  Also, they’re not even really making the movie they want to make it.  Again, from the article.

"CS/SHH!: You said it’s rated PG, but pushing PG-13?

Gray: Well contractually we have to deliver a PG. (A little later)  If we had our way,
we’d probably be making R or PG-13, but the forces that be in the
market place tell you that you’ve got to push it a little bit because
times are different, but you can’t cross that line into PG-13. We
pulled back."

Sounds to me like they wanted to make a big action movie that tailored to adults, but they’re marketing to the 7 to 11 age bracket, as well as the 18 to 25 age bracket.  How successful is that going to be?  I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

Adobe Lightroom pricing & availability.

Ars Technica has a small article on the pricing and availability of Adobe Lightroom.  Essentially it will cost $299, but you can pre-order it for $199 until April 30th.  Here is a link directly to the official Adobe Lightroom page.

Mudbox

Mudbox has been out for a little while now, but since I didn’t have a reference to it here, I figured I would put it up.  It has a really simple interface that will allow you to dive right into sculpting in 3D.  I have used Zbrush in the past, and there is something about it’s interface that was really restricting to me.  I’m not sure what it was, but something always just felt off.  Mudbox is really simple and definitely worth a look for anyone just starting out.

Q & A with Michel Kripalani

Gamasutra has a nice interview with Michel Kripalani, the senior games industry manager for Autodesk.  He talks about MAX and Maya, where they’re heading in the future, etc.  Relatively short article, but good content in my opinion.

Craigslist rant.

There was a rant on Craigslist a couple of days ago from a graphic designer.  It’s spreading around the web pretty quick because it really does nail what designers/artists have to go through quite often.  As an aspiring Illustrator, I can relate and hope everyone reads this to get a small dose of reality.  Here it is in full since it has since been flagged and removed from Craigslist.

Post from CraigsList

Every day, there are more and more Craigs List posts seeking
“artists” for everything from auto graphics to comic books to corporate
logo designs. More people are finding themselves in need of some form
of illustrative service.

But what they’re NOT doing, unfortunately, is realizing how rare someone with these particular talents can be.

To those who are “seeking artists”, let me ask you; How many people
do you know, personally, with the talent and skill to perform the
services you need? A dozen? Five? One? …none?

More than likely, you don’t know any. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be posting on craigslist to find them.

And this is not really a surprise.

In this country, there are almost twice as many neurosurgeons as
there are professional illustrators. There are eleven times as many
certified mechanics. There are SEVENTY times as many people in the IT
field.

So, given that they are less rare, and therefore less in demand,
would it make sense to ask your mechanic to work on your car for free?
Would you look him in the eye, with a straight face, and tell him that
his compensation would be the ability to have his work shown to others
as you drive down the street?

Would you offer a neurosurgeon the “opportunity” to add your name to
his resume as payment for removing that pesky tumor? (Maybe you could
offer him “a few bucks” for “materials”. What a deal!)

Would you be able to seriously even CONSIDER offering your web
hosting service the chance to have people see their work, by viewing
your website, as their payment for hosting you?

If you answered “yes” to ANY of the above, you’re obviously insane.
If you answered “no”, then kudos to you for living in the real world.

But then tell me… why would you think it is okay to live out the
same, delusional, ridiculous fantasy when seeking someone whose
abilities are even less in supply than these folks?

Graphic artists, illustrators, painters, etc., are skilled
tradesmen. As such, to consider them as, or deal with them as, anything
less than professionals fully deserving of your respect is both
insulting and a bad reflection on you as a sane, reasonable person. In
short, it makes you look like a twit.

A few things you need to know;

1. It is not a “great opportunity” for an artist to have his work
seen on your car/’zine/website/bedroom wall, etc. It IS a “great
opportunity” for YOU to have their work there.

2. It is not clever to seek a “student” or “beginner” in an attempt
to get work for free. It’s ignorant and insulting. They may be
“students”, but that does not mean they don’t deserve to be paid for
their hard work. You were a “student” once, too. Would you have taken
that job at McDonalds with no pay, because you were learning essential
job skills for the real world? Yes, your proposition it JUST as stupid.

3. The chance to have their name on something that is going to be
seen by other people, whether it’s one or one million, is NOT a valid
enticement. Neither is the right to add that work to their “portfolio”.
They get to do those things ANYWAY, after being paid as they should.
It’s not compensation. It’s their right, and it’s a given.

4. Stop thinking that you’re giving them some great chance to work.
Once they skip over your silly ad, as they should, the next ad is
usually for someone who lives in the real world, and as such, will pay
them. There are far more jobs needing these skills than there are
people who possess these skills.

5. Students DO need “experience”. But they do NOT need to get it by
giving their work away. In fact, this does not even offer them the
experience they need. Anyone who will not/can not pay them is obviously
the type of person or business they should be ashamed to have on their
resume anyway. Do you think professional contractors list the
“experience” they got while nailing down a loose step at their
grandmother’s house when they were seventeen?

If you your company or gig was worth listing as desired experience,
it would be able to pay for the services it received. The only
experience they will get doing free work for you is a lesson learned in
what kinds of scrubs they should not lower themselves to deal with.

6. (This one is FOR the artists out there, please pay attention.)
Some will ask you to “submit work for consideration”. They may even be
posing as some sort of “contest”. These are almost always scams. They
will take the work submitted by many artists seeking to win the
“contest”, or be “chosen” for the gig, and find what they like most.
They will then usually have someone who works for them, or someone who
works incredibly cheap because they have no originality or talent of
their own, reproduce that same work, or even just make slight
modifications to it, and claim it as their own. You will NOT be paid,
you will NOT win the contest. The only people who win, here, are the
underhanded folks who run these ads. This is speculative, or “spec”,
work. It’s risky at best, and a complete scam at worst. I urge you to
avoid it, completely. For more information on this subject, please
visit www.no-spec.com.

So to artists/designers/illustrators looking for work, do everyone a
favor, ESPECIALLY yourselves, and avoid people who do not intend to pay
you. Whether they are “spec” gigs, or just some guy who wants a free
mural on his living room walls. They need you. You do NOT need them.

And for those who are looking for someone to do work for free…
please wake up and join the real world. The only thing you’re
accomplishing is to insult those with the skills you need. Get a clue.

Google – Build Your Campus in 3D Competition

Google started a 3D modeling competition today. Using SketchUP and Google Earth, individual students, as well as teams are invited to construct their own school. The winners will win a 3 day, all expenses paid trip to Google to meet some of the individuals involved in the project. As well as a class on using the software. The contest ends on June 1st, so there is plenty of time to enter, good luck to anyone that’s going to give it a try.

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Funny Comic.

Penny arcade has a funny comic strip about WoW addiction.  For those that don’t know what WoW is, it’s a Massively Multi-player On-line Role Playing game or MMORPG created by Blizzard.  It’s HUGE as far as players go, roughly 8 million accounts.  Star Wars Galaxies was my first trek into a MMO but I did play WoW for a while.  It can definitely be addictive.  Read the comic for a good, quick laugh if you have played before.

Interesting article on game play design.

I ran across THIS article on Gamasutra.  It’s a very interesting read if you like game design concepts.  I love games myself, so anything that has to do with the design of them is interesting.  Whether it’s concept art, AI design/pathing, physics, etc., I find it fascinating.

New Semester.

The first week of the new semester is now over.  I’m taking "Lettering and Typography" and "The History of Modern Art".  Both of my instructors seem really nice.  Ron Larson, who teaches the Lettering and Typography class has a lot of real world industry experience, so I’m happy about that.  Having an instructor that has "been there, done that" in an industry that is close to what you are doing is a great benefit.  I’m looking forward to leaching as much knowledge out of him as possible.

History isn’t one of my strong points, so the History of Modern Art is going to be a challenge for me.  The instructor seems fun and lighthearted, but to me, the material is really difficult to stay interested in.  She lectured about a painting for roughly 20 minutes last night.  The size, the background, foreground, middle ground, colors, lighting, etc.  I understand it’s important to know what has been done in the past, and the foundations of art itself, but this material is so dry to me.  But, it’s necessary for my major so I will plug away at it for roughly the next 15 weeks.