Star Tunes

I have no qualms about the fact that I am a self-confessed geek!

I'd rather read graphic novels, draw, Photoshop, pore over lines of XML and HTML code, write about Apple Inc, and I adore the genres of science fiction, horror and urban gothic (amongst others). If there was ever a bona fide candidate for that dubious, and exploitative, television series Beauty & the Geek, that would be me (See my photo - aged 11 outside Doctor Who's Tardis at Longleat. Frankly I was in heaven).

The latest (and last for the moment) member of the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek Enterprise, is now available in the iTunes Store (USA). Presently only the first season is available, but further seasons will arrive in due course.

Episodes are priced at the standard $1.99 and you can get the entire season for $48.99, which is quite competitive considering the DVD box set of the first season is going for $112 on Amazon (though, to be fair the DVD set includes some special features, higher quality picture and 5.1 audio).

Here's hoping Deep Space 9, Voyager and The Next Generation show up on iTunes in the near future. Of course none of these shows could hold a candle against Babylon 5!

Stop The Cavalry

Where has the year gone? Wasn't it only yesterday that I posted this?

Read on for the first part of my Review of the Year. And the prizes go to:

*E-Commerce - aStore by Amazon. Amazon's new aStore format has impressed me (as has your willingness to purchase from the links) and I hope that this store concept is developed further. An urgent request to Amazon's Associates team - please add RSS as soon as practicable. Runners up: ReviewMe and PayPerPost.

*Web - MySpace. Now that the dust is settling around RSS, I'm hard-pressed to recommend any significant web-based product this year! That's my tenuous excuse out of the way. Social networking websites (and bookmarking) are all the rage, and it would be churlish to ignore their profound dominance. Runners up: RSS and Facebook.

*Buzz Word - Wi-Fi. Wires are so passé. No logo, no go. Runners up: RSS and VoiP.

*Application - Adobe Photoshop CS3 Beta. Why? Well, the all-new UI has to be seen to be believed and the significant speed gains can't be ignored (even on my ageing LCD iMac G4). Runners up: Firefox 2 and iTunes 7.

*Gadget (formerly Console) - Wii. It's garnered acreages of coverage both here and elsewhere. Nintendo has delivered a revolution with Wii and the only flies in the ointment are product availability and the replacement remote strap fiasco. Both will be addressed in the New Year. Runners up: Nintendo DS Lite and iPod Shuffle.

*Video Game - The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess (Wii). Hyrule rendered in lush panoramic 16:9. Runners up: Rayman Raving Rabbids (Wii) and Killzone Liberation (PSP).

Stay tuned for Best Album, DVD, Movie, Television series and much more.

Mayo meets Woz

Things have been a little quiet around here! Aside from very flakey iDisk and BlogSpot servers precluding updates. I've been busy creating new banners for a client, Forbidden Planet International (see Marvel Legends) whilst, simultaneously, cutting my teeth on Adobe Photoshop CS2!

Thursday's edition of The Daily Mayo, broadcast on BBC Radio Five Live will be of interest not only to Apple Computer fans, but anyone with a modicum of interest in video game and PC history.

Simon Mayo was at London's Science Museum today sneaking a peek at the Game On exhibition opening on Saturday, and spoke to the inimitable Steve Wozniak or "Woz", the designer of the first Apple PC.

Steve Wozniak is currently promoting his new book, iWoz, which is available now from all good online and bricks and mortar stores.

Tron Scherzo

The release of PIXAR's Cars has prompted me to reprint an article that I wrote, for my online portfolio, a few years ago.

An interest and appreciation of CGI began, like many of my contemporaries, with watching the movies 'Tron' (1982), 'The Last Starfighter' (1984) and playing video games at arcades and on consoles - from the Atari VCS CX2600 to Sega Genesis/Mega Drive - in the 1980s.

In the summer of 2000 I began reading 3Dworld. The inclusion of Bryce, a 3-D landscape generation application, reignited further self development within this flourishing arena.

Off-the-shelf software, such as the Academy Award®-winning Maya and Shake, had developed to the point where many of the DTP (Desk Top Publishing) skills for fine art and graphic design can now be successfully transferred to a 3D context without exhaustingly steep learning curves! The artist can now focus on issues of composition - colour, movement through the frame et al - without trying to reconcile with an alienating UI (User Interface).

Alias' decision to provide Personal Learning Editions (PLE) of Maya and now MotionBuilder (from its purchase of Kaydara) is fostering consumer loyalty. Using their free FBX Converter I'm now able to import older projects into Alias applications for future enhancement. The FBX SDK will be worth investigating.

This is a sample collection of original 3-Dimensional images created using Bryce, Corel Photo-Paint, Maya 6 PLE, Painter and Poser (and retouched in Photoshop).

Now you can add Google SketchUp to the Mac OS X application honor roll!

Creating Fireworks

A couple of months ago I wrote a post that documented the chronology of my web designing adventures to date. To recap. My workflow includes (but is not limited to) Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Photoshop, BBEdit and, on the very rare occasion that Dreamweaver outwits me, GoLive CS.

Until recently Photoshop has been my preferred end-to-end image editor. However, Ryan referred me to Fireworks! Never one to ignore his good advice, I took a closer look and am hooked on its balanced compression. So much so that eagle-eyed readers will have noticed the bespoke Forbidden Planet animated GIF above my first post! Adobe would be unwise to retire Fireworks.

Off topic. Please be sure to visit Cloister Bell for my latest musings on Doctor Who, Lost and cool collectibles.

For Arts Sake

A friend suggested that I add an image link to my portfolio site! So, today marks its world premiere. The illustration is based on Batman and features Oscar-winning actress Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny and The Guru).

This morning Adobe announced the release of Photoshop Elements 4.0 for Mac (OS X 10.3 and above). New tools include the Magic Selection Brush, Skin Tone Adjustment, Magic Extractor and Auto Red Eye Removal. However, the application isn't a Universal binary, meaning it runs on Intel Macs using Apple's Rosetta emulation layer.

Existing registered users of Photoshop Elements and PLE can order a discounted upgrade directly from Adobe's store. Don't forget to enter the free postage offer code 7EUND (works in the UK store).

Not to be out done by Adobe. Corel has released a substantial free update to Painter IX. IX 9.5. Although this is not yet a Universal application, Painter now offers support for Rosetta running on Intel-based Macs, including support for the Wacom Intuos 3 and the 6D Art Pen. The software also introduces new features, including new Photo Painting Palettes. Corel should be applauded for avoiding Quark's infamous point update charge.

3D Combat Evolved

One of my most enduring memories as an undergraduate (and losing valuable book time), was playing the original award-winning Worms (1995) on the Sony PlayStation! Team 17's turn-based opus relied on the player's ability to correctly judge the trajectory and the power necessary to inflict devastating damage (on a par with shock and awe) against the clock (usually around 30 seconds, but this could be adjusted higher or lower). All the while trying to achieve mastery over the wind. You see, the wind can be unforgiving and weapons that are vulnerable to air current can be rendered impotent.

After 9 previous iterations including Worms Pinball and Blast, the basic premise remains intact (and relatively unspoilt) as the franchise inevitably segues to luxurious 3D in 2004! And the impish dialogue and black humour (motifs of the franchise) still remains cuttingly humorous. Friends' star Matthew Perry would be pretty proud of that achievement!

Porting progress
Feral Interactive is never merely content to publish key titles ‘per se’ on the Mac platform! Whenever working with UK porting house Zonic, it is always the partnerships intention to provide Mac gamers with compelling "added value" as a reward for our patience. This release is no exception to that golden rule.

In the case of Worms 3D (alongside the development of XIII), a rare opportunity to improve the graphics arose. It was noticed that whilst playing Worms 3D that at high (or low) resolution the interface was blurred! The original Adobe Photoshop files, used during development, were leveraged to replace all the interface graphics and weapons that Feral had been given assets for. And to avoid alienating the Mac gaming community, the PC keyboard was appropriately replaced by a Mac version!

Carnage candy
Worms 3D inspires obvious graphical comparison with Pangea's Bugdom series! And possesses looks that would make even Earthworm Jim blush with envy! Everything has an organic Play-Doh look and feel, which would delight the artists at PIXAR. The textures are simpler than Unreal Tournament or Halo, but then that's wholly appropriate given the context, and the game runs smoothly under Mac OS X 10.3.4. Support for Full Screen Anti-Aliasing (FSAA) is available for those equipped with a compatible graphics card. Is it time for an animated television series from Warner Bros. and attendant merchandise such as action figures, I wonder?

Existing Worms fans will be delighted to learn that bazookas, grenades, dynamite, air strikes and sheep made it safely from 2D, with the addition of brand new weapons to take advantage of the more expansive 3D landscape.

Customised combat
The single player (SP) mode still rotates predominantly around randomly generated battlefields against computer-controlled teams (the level of difficulty can be adjusted).

Alongside the obligatory Tutorial and Campaign modes, Team 17 have introduced the new Challenge mode, an offering where players can participate in various objectives such as firing-off a shotgun at as many targets as possible before time runs out to unlock bonuses such as medals and secrets.

Players can pass levels with Gold Silver or Bronze. As an incentive, getting Gold and finding secret areas (in SP) unlocks more hidden weapons and levels for the multiplayer mode.

The Challenge mode is somewhat repetitive, but completionists will no doubt find it a noteworthy addition all the same. Also the code system that was used to generate levels in the original is included in Worms 3D. And the codes for the PC version work on the Mac. It's worth searching the web for sites dedicated to collecting these cross platform codes!

Ultimately multiplayer (MP) mode is the signature element of the Worms franchise and here 2-4 teams can compete against each other in highly addictive sorties. The landscape of war can be edited; players can select to play in Lunar, War, England, Horror, Pirate or Arctic (in day, evening or night)! Or alternatively choose a randomly-generated landscape, or one that you've unlocked in the Campaign mode. In the mood for a chat, taunt or want to privately discuss tactics (with fellow team members and allies)? That's here too!

Worms 3D is compatible with GameRanger. Therefore, I urge you to 'fire-up' GameRanger as the MP mode is far more engaging than the SP experience because of human interaction - watching an enemy worm sink into the icy depths, underscored by a suitable quip, is a very satisfying accomplishment. Worms 3D MP is a luxurious treat and may close the deal for gamers unmoved by the series anaemic SP mode.

Blasted Bug
Subsequent to the GM release. MP games work on a LAN, but there is a bug in the network detection check which will cause all network games to be disabled if the Internet cannot be reached.

Zonic are working on a fix for this and it will be included in the first patch. In the mean time, if you can get your LAN connected to the Internet, you should be able to play locally.

Got Worms?
The transition to what could be construed as a more liberating 3D context, has introduced new challenges and complications that can confuse! You can toggle the camera between 3rd person (default), 1st person and blimp views. However, at times I found orientation difficult - the 3D terrain is more problematic to gauge than in 2D. And it requires greater effort (not necessarily a negative) to accurately judge how far to shoot a missile in order to target it anywhere near an enemy. This can lead to frustration, which often detracts from the pleasure of playing.

And now for the conclusion
Worms 3D is a solid port and clearly the product of stringent QA (Quality Assurance). Kudos to Feral and Zonic. With spruced-up graphics, a multitude of tactics available, coupled with the ever-changing, randomly-generated landscapes, Worms 3D is a pleasant antidote to the glut of FPS releases.

However, I was left with a yearning for the 2D side scrolling pleasures of old and the absence of an engaging soundtrack was remiss! The score of Worms 3D isn’t as impressive as the sound effects. Whilst I'm not looking for a John Williams orchestration, the music didn't serve the action and was turned down in favour of the amusing dialogue and spot effects.

As I completed this review Team 17 officially announced 'Worms Forts Under Siege'! The Worms saga continues...

Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 9
Sound: 7
Value: 8

Overall: 8 (out of 10)

Industrial Light & Magic

Timing is everything. And Adobe, breaking with its recent Windows-first agenda, today released Lightroom Beta 1 for Mac. "With its modular, task-based and streamlined environment, Lightroom's goal is to deliver a complete photography workflow," notes the company. At face value this is a welcome software salvo in response to Apple Computer's Aperture. However, Lightroom's inception dates from 2002!



Lightroom currently sports an attractive GUI that shares more than a passing resemblance to Apple's pro applications. I'll be importing photos (available from my Flickr photostream) and posting the results. The target price point is unknown, but expect to pay somewhere between Photoshop Elements and CS! I'm sold. Lightroom requires Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later.

Push The Button

Still suffering from flu-like symptoms, which is most likely related to exhaustion and the arrival of Autumn/The Fall. This hasn't deterred me from watching the conclusion of Lost (written review to follow). The introduction of Michelle Rodriguez, in Exodus Part 1, as new cast regular Ana-Lucia Cortez was a surprise! And recording this short audio blog sans script (gradually gaining more confidence).

The Xbox 360 Premium Pack pre-order has been cancelled in favor of a replacement GameCube (Resident Evil 4 Limited Edition Pak) and Resident Evil 0! Halloween is only a month or so away and the Resident Evil franchise is one to be savored (or endured) by survival horror genre fans.

Dreamcast's CODE: Veronica remains the only game to leave me scared sheetless (to quote Tim Burton on the set of Beetlejuice) and I have it on good authority that Resident Evil 4 is set to steal that corrupted crown. I miss my Dreamcast. Sega's NAOMI-based console was a proven product. Why did I sell it in 2002?

Have you seen Nintendo's Game Boy Advance Micro? There's a Famicom anniversary edition exclusive to the Japanese market. A must for console collectors.

Adobe has announced Photoshop Elements 4 for Windows! Where's the Mac version? Well, lets wait and see. Elements is my bread and butter, and 3 is working just fine thank you.

You can read my review of Desperate Housewives over at MovieTyme.

Wired

Now that the FeedBurner code has been up and running since Friday afternoon, there's no time like the present to test the new podcast facility. This QuickTime video was created using Bryce, Photoshop and iMovie.

iPodderX is a popular application that handles audio, video and image feeds. Windows users please download jPodder.

Added a Bloglines subscription feed to the Syndication sidebar.

Andy Warhol

Last night I had a bit of free time and whipped-up a possible cover (based on iTunes recommended specifications - 170 x 170 pixels square at 72 dpi) for a podcast demo (taken from my video major December Duet, 1996).



The original December Duet video cover wasn't archived as a photoshop file (and, if so, it was deleted long ago), therefore I traced the original Frankenstein font (from Corel) and approximated the color.

To facilitate future podcasts, I've added FeedBurner and new content aggregators to the blog. On May 14 2004 my FeedBurner account was created and there was no impetus to incorporate the feature until now. OK, I was a blog newbie and the code was outside my comfort zone.

Thanks to those friends who submitted browser display feedback. Safari 1.3 (and later) leverages new WebCore frameworks, and this is causing cosmetic problems with the Syndication sidebar. I've sent a bug report to Apple. Please use Firefox.

Do you Yahoo! 360°?

GIF of the gab

Here's my new animated GIF banner. Subject to change.



This is the first animated GIF that I've created in Photoshop. Photoshop's GIF authoring tools are intuitive whether specifying transparency or frame delay in browsers (0.7 seconds). Isn't it great to be spoilt?

Web design is not ideally suited to hot summer evenings. But inspiration knows no such limitation and I've started tweaking my site (4 years old last Wednesday). This is to improve search engine optimization (SEO), safe in the knowledge that I didn't pay a consultant to add a few lines of meta code at a rate of $100 per character!

Making the World Smile

Revenge of the Sith merchandise is now flooding retail aisles across the globe! Anakin's Jedi Starfighter arrived yesterday and I've already ordered (from Toys "R" Us*) assorted LEGO pieces, BARC Speeder, Grievous' Wheel Bike, ARC-170 Fighter, AT-RT, Monopoly, Risk and Star Wars Trivial Pursuit DVD. Movie Market is now selling gorgeous prints. Not to mention that Battlegrounds debuts on the Mac very soon. Collectors can stay up-to-date here.

In the UK Palitoy distributed Kenner's Star Wars action figures and accessories. When I wasn't playing with toys I drew new ones and sent them to the company's Coalville HQ in Leicester. Although Palitoy could not accept my unsolicited submissions, I was always rewarded with posters and action figures.

Hasbro purchased Kenner in 1991 (the brand has all but disappeared) and I was interviewed for a Mac-based product packaging designer post (within their interactive division) in 1999. Hasbro's UK office, located in Stockley Park (near to Apple Computer), is plush. I never got beyond the first interview stage (sans Photoshop test), but Hasbro paid my traveling expenses and, believe me, that's rare. In 2001 Hasbro Interactive was purchased by Infogrames (Atari).

[*In the 1980s a Toys "R" Us opened in Bristol (off Junction 17). My first purchase was a copy of Atari's Star Raiders (the pack-in included a Video Touch Pad for the VCS 2600). For some obscure reason my recollection of playing Star Raiders, reading DC Comics and watching Hart to Hart at my Granmother's house are inseparable!]

Cold Lazarus

The second episode of the new Doctor Who series, The End Of The World, has cemented my enjoyment. From Michael Jackson and Britney Spears to the 'Photoshop theatre' of the Star Wars prequels, the producers greedily excavate popular culture. The iPod reference was exquisite.

Billie Piper (Rose) continues to be a revelation and Christopher Eccleston captures the dramatis personae inherent in being a cosmic orphan (a knowing wink to Batman?). The look and feel of the series owes much to the Dennis Potter mini series Cold Lazarus (1996) and Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. The latter literary luminary worked on Doctor Who and penned City of Death (1979) as David Agnew. The complete series one DVD box set can't come fast enough! And here's a sneak peek (credit: Play).

Pass the Popcorn

iLife '05 is, arguably, the definitive prosumer video authoring suite for Mac Users. However, I recently discovered a variety of useful applications that can augment and compliment your iLife video tool box.

MPEG2 Works 4. This is a powerful MPEG1/MPEG2 and VCD/SVCD/DVD encoding application. As an experiment, I transferred several episodes of a popular franchise from AVI format to PAL 16:9 DVD to see how it handles compression and the results were superlative. Well worth the inexpensive $25 admission charge. I'm promoting it here and please tell the author who sent you. Thanks in advance.

BitrateCalc is a handy free utility, which works in tandem with MPEG2 Works 4, and gives you the optimum bitrate for encoding video and audio for making DVD and DivX video discs.

Want to backup your DVD collection in the event that the originals are lost, destroyed or stolen? Then you'll need Roxio's Popcorn! Popcorn is a DVD duplication application that “helps you easily make high quality copies of your DVD movies.” Not only that, but Popcorn’s “powerful compression technology gives you the flexibility to copy even the largest movies to a single DVD disc” - meaning you can compress an entire 9GB dual-layer DVD to a standard 4.7GB DVD disc and maintain high video quality and full audio fidelity. Popcorn cannot extract data directly from a DVD, so you will need a ripper to transfer the data to a VIDEO_TS folder. I'm loath to discuss the implications of copy protection and intellectual property as I always buy movies from established retail outlets.

Once the disc has been burned. Don't forget to launch Photoshop and create a beautiful amaray/jewel case cover.

Tool Time

With the advent of Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar, Apple heralded Inkwell a proprietary handwriting recognition application built on Apple’s Recognition Engine. Given the initial fanfare, Inkwell has taken a backseat over the past two years. During this time PIXAR developed Sketch Review tool for The Incredibles (2004). Will Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger showcase an improved Inkwell based on PIXAR R&D?

Although iWork '05 has yet to arrive, I've started toying with iLife '05. Apple's killer application suite is now squarely aimed at the prosumer and I’m enamoured! iPhoto 5 is shaping up to be a Photoshop Elements beater as it supports RAW! Whether or not this will affect Adobe's future decision regarding Mac OS support is debatable - allegedly when iPhoto 1 was shown to developers Adobe threatened to cease development of Photoshop and Apple scaled down its feature set. However, I'd argue that iPhoto and Photoshop Elements are complimentary. Here's Adobe's workflow tip. Photoshop remains the de facto standard for icon design.

Mac OS X 10.3.8 was released last evening ahead of expectations.

Fun and imagination

After receiving a refund from Amazon UK (the listed price had dropped prior to dispatch) iLife '05 has finally arrived. The box is compact and bijou. This evening I'll install the updated suite.

Adobe has released free gizmos galore for both Photoshop CS and Elements 3.

Mac OS X 10.4 may bow in March. It has been suggested that the delay was to provide third party developers with plenty of time to upgrade existing applications to coincide with the retail release. Incidentally, Pages allegedly contains code specific to 10.4 - Core Image provides a plug-in style architecture for accessing filters, transitions and effects packages called Image Units. This might suggest that Pages' full publishing power will be unveiled soon.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

At this time of year consumers are besieged by an avalanche of advertisements. From print to television media. Here's an example of a press advertisement that I recently worked on.



Drawing on educational experience attained whilst studying Graphic Design at College, I was asked to soft proof and edit the art departments initial proposal. Making suggestions for layout changes and correcting typos (all done in Photoshop). The advertisement appeared in the Cornwall Guardian. Mis-en-scene is something I never tire of no matter the medium.

The Bonfire of the Vanities

It's Bonfire Night in the UK. A celebration of Guy Fawkes' abortive Gunpowder Plot, which would have culminated in the destruction of the Houses of Parliament. This morning, somewhat aptly, I've had the opportunity to view THAT teaser trailer...



Last evening’s online debut of the Episode III teaser teaser lead to Lucasfilm’s servers overloading and their licensing division issuing cease and desist orders left, right and centre to sites posting images and links to the trailer (only available to paying Hyperspace and AOL members at time of writing).

Clearly a work in progress, as evinced by incomplete CGI shots, the trailer inspires obvious elemental comparison with The Return of the King (yet fails to evoke the same sense of scope). Much has now been made of the ANH/TPM/AOTC montage at the start (32 seconds) and Obi Wan’s voice over. From a subjective standpoint it reinforces the patchiness of the Star Wars saga since the prequels were unleashed from the hallowed halls of Skywalker Ranch (the current DVD release typifies this and lacks the cohesiveness of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings).



Highlights include Darth Vader’s awakening a la Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a screaming Darth Sidious (genuinely unnerving) and an enraged Anakin Skywalker. The attendant space battles are incumbered by too many elements on screen at once - ROTJ Death Star battle magnified to the extreme.



Overall the teaser affords insight into the dark core of the story and coupled with John Williams’ score, so long as Lucas’ incessant tinkering is minimised, Revenge may yet stand alongside Empire as a darling of both critics and fans.

As a footnote. The Episode III banner was composited in Photoshop Elements 3.0 and the screen grabs were captured in QuickTime 6.x Pro (with a light dusting of Photoshop magic).

Fort Knox

The NSA has released a public paper concerning security settings for Mac OS X 10.3.x. Although the majority of Mac Users have little need to run a fortress as it were, it is at least worth a casual perusal and you may learn something too. At the end of the day no computer, irrespective of the defense level (virus scanner, firewall and on the fly encryption), is 100% impregnable on a network. And we need to keep some perspective as moral panics* need to be put into context.

As Apple continues to seed developer builds for 10.3.6, I've bitten the bullet and performed a clean install. Most of my applications are now reinstalled and Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 is fantastic.

[*‘An episode, condition, person or group of persons’ that have in recent times, been ‘defined as a threat to societal values and interests’ generally fueled by the dominant mass media - what Stanley Cohen has termed ‘The Moral Panic’ (Cohen 1972).]