Article of the Month:  (Top)

If you are reading this newsletter, you are definitely net-savvy. In all probability you are also quite comfortable with the use of mobiles for information transfer and learning. This growth in the use of mobiles for learning and entertainment would result in a growing demand for mobile media developers. This month’s article, “Creatively Mobile!” addresses some important characteristics of mobile media.

Click “Creatively Mobile!” to read this article.

Art Styles:  (Top)

After Mithila art, this month let's discuss Tanjore Art.

Tanjore Art:
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This month, in our quest of Indian Art Styles, we march towards the mystical South. The art style that we shall explore this month is Tanjore art. Tanjore art flourished and still flourishes in South Tamil Nadu. It has its roots in Thanjavoor or Tanjore and hence the name.

Tanjore art is unique. It is so different from any other art style that we need to see it only once to remember it forever. However, following are some of the important characteristics of Tanjore art.

• The paintings are enhanced using stones and gold. The stones, depending upon the price, could be precious, semi-precious, or even glass.
• Tanjore paintings use vibrant colors (reds, yellows, greens, blues, and black) with gold.
• The figures usually depict gods. The prominent figure takes up most of the space.
• The figures in the paintings are portrayed as plump, with almost no musculature.

Read about Tanjore Art at:
http://www.tanjoreart.com/
and at http://www.art-prints.org/tanjore/index.html

The Technological Front:  (Top)

Final Cut Pro 6
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In the August issue, we discussed Adobe Premier CS3, which has a lot of features for video editing. This month, let’s talk about Final Cut Pro 6, which is another magnificent tool in Video editing. The only limitation of this software is that it is Mac-based. Final Cut Pro comes bundled with DVD Studio Pro, Motion, SoundTrack Pro, LiveType, and Compressor. All of these programs need to be updated or rewritten if you want them to run correctly on any other platform. These software applications use certain core graphics and sound capabilities, which can be explored fully only when they are run on Mac. A decline in performance is also seen when these software applications are run on a PC.

Let’s explore some of the features of Final Cut Pro in detail.

• RT Extreme in Final Cut Pro has more than 150 filters and it provides us numerous real time effects.
• Final Cut Pro 6 uses its SmoothCam feature to stabilize shaky shots without losing standard camera moves. It also allows us to edit text in motion graphics inside Final Cut Pro with editable motion.
• Final Cut Pro support for almost every Audio/Video format enables us to edit any format and also allows us to match different formats or even different frame rates in the open Format Timeline. If you use Cinema Tools 4 you will find that it helps you to edit your movies faster than ever before.
• It also allows mixing of up to 24 channels of audio with the Mackie Control Protocol Device with Faders. or through an onscreen mixer.
• Final Cut Pro encourages its use with a number of third party softwares.
• The Conform feature in Soundtrack Pro automatically updates our audio projects to match with the video we edit in Final Cut Pro.
• It also helps shares media using a consolidated storage tool by Xsan to work in larger workgroups.

Explore Final Cut Pro further at http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/finalcutpro/

The Great Masters:  (Top)

The Masters – Caravaggio
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What is so fascinating and romantic about artists?

It is that they are passionate, impulsive, imaginative, and creative? If so, Caravaggio must’ve ruled over many hearts in the Sixteenth century Europe. He was all of the above, and more…for he was even accused of committing a murder after a drunken brawl.

Caravaggio was born Michelangelo Merisi in Caravaggio near Milan, in the year 1573. He trained under a pupil of Titian, and is known for the Chiaroscuro effect in his paintings. This effect is characterized by depiction of light from an unknown source, falling on the focal areas of the painting while the remaining objects are painted in the dark areas. Caravaggio's initial works were more erotic in nature, but as his popularity increased he began working for the Church, which led to a mellowing of his works.

He died at a very young age (in 1610) but he left behind a mesmerizing collection of paintings that continue to be a source of inspiration. To read about the life of this great artist click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caravaggio and if you want to discover what Chiaro Scuro is click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiaroscuro.

Especially captivating are his early works that bring out the intrigue of scenes through contrasting tones of Sepia and ochre and where he made light dance to the tune he set. Check out “The Musicians,” “The CardSharps,” and “The Fortuneteller.”

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/c/caravagg/index.html will take you to a chronologically arranged collection of Caravaggio's works.

Site of the Month:  (Top)

This month, the site that wears the Site of the Month crown is http://www.brandbud.com/index.htm

This is the website of a Malaysian Interactive Agency called Bud. Following are some of the wow-factors of this site.

1. The site is built around the concept of bud; the concept of blossoming...and the entire site is built around the same theme. The brands (Interactive Agencies work for brands) that they've worked for, blend seamlessly into the theme.
   
   
2. Click the link http://www.brandbud.com/index.htm, to arrive at an island, the bud island, and click ENTER. The site loads full-screen but with the top-bar visible. What loads is bud city. The city and its magnificent buildings are created in 3D. Each of these buildings becomes clickable. While you are on this page, don't forget to check out the little cars, the train, the digital billboard, the copter, and the steamer animations.
   
   
3. The Bud Headquarters is one of the great places to explore. The page loads with a line-work that displays a blossoming bud. The bud then transforms into a building of about the same shape. The 3D animation of the same building loads at the right hand side. Isn't it a subtle but interesting way of displaying one's strengths? The top of the building carries the logo of Bud.
   
   
4. Next, click the Auto city. This page displays three buildings (that "grow" from the sketches of three different buds.) Each of the building displays a logo. Can you recognize them? The Lexus and the Mercedes logos are easy to recognize. The theme is simple and catchy - the bud, blossoms into buildings (that form the bud city) and the buildings are the brands! Please explore the remaining buildings at your leisure.
   
   
5. Now let us visit some other parts of this city. Please click the "Meet the Buddies" button in the top menu. Each of buddies will load separately (Probably, its got to do with the number of separate items that Flash can load simultaneously.) Once the buddies have loaded, click each of them. Check the effect. Isn't it cool? The selected buddy moves to the front and brightens up when you rollover. When you click, the details load and the character's position changes.
   
   
6. Now click "Philosophy Garden" to check the interactive rollover effect. The garden drawing reveals the hidden colors when tickled by the mouse. Another interesting detail is the shape of the panels. They are all petal-shaped. The videos are interesting too.
   
   
7. Click the "Service Street" to view a street scene, which is logically animated. The billboards, the cyclist, the train...everything is executed in a beautiful manner.
   
   
8. We hope you enjoy learning from the excellent execution of this site.

Here's the link once again...http://www.brandbud.com/index.htm

Designer Holmes at Work:  (Top)

Media Designer: I’m working as a media designer with a Jewelry designing company. I designed a brochure for our company’s use in Corel Draw. For the background of the brochure, I used a gradient of a single color (Cherry) fading into white but in a visible number of steps. When I converted it into a PDF everything looked fine, but when I took a printout using a color laser printer, those visible steps converted into a smooth gradient of Cherry with white. Is there any way to ensure that the steps stay visible?

Designer Holmes: Yes, your gradient can be printed according to your design – as a smooth gradient or a stepped-one. Normally whenever we prepare a file for printing (whether for digital printing using a laser printer or for offset printing), we use a smooth gradient. But according to the design there can be a need of gradient with clearly defined number of steps. The following will help you arrive at the desired result.

In Corel Draw optimize Print Settings through the following steps

1. Go to Print Menu by navigating to the File Menu > Print Option.
2. Select the ‘Misc’ Tab in the Print Menu.
3. Go to the ‘Fountain Steps’ option, which is just below the ‘Output color bitmap as’ option.
4. Modify the Fountain Steps according to your requirement. By default the number is 256 to give you the smoothest effect of gradient. Reduce the number to achieve the required number of steps.

If you have different gradients in your documents, you may face another issue. For example, if you had used a smooth gradient in combination with a stepped gradient, then the Fountain steps option will not help. Then you will have to use the Blend tool. Use this tool to create the gradient effect by using two objects of the two colors between which you want to create the gradient. You can then adjust the number of steps. This method will help you achieve the desired output with as many customized gradients, as you would like to have in your creation.

Be Inspired:  (Top)

Fengming Ding has an amazing talent for capturing still life on canvas! The following links connect to images that she’s captured not through the camera but with her brush and her colors.

http://www.rmichelson.com/Artist_Pages/Ding/Pages/bellflowers.htm
http://www.rmichelson.com/Artist_Pages/Ding/Pages/pomegranates.htm
http://www.robertpaulgalleries.com/products/full/2187.jpg
http://www.robertpaulgalleries.com/products/full/2633.jpg
http://www.robertpaulgalleries.com/products/full/2188.jpg
http://www.callofafrica.com/index.cfm?objectid=3742587B-FFD9-85ED-F1AB4FBD6699667B
Be inspired…and stay inspired!

The Laughter Palette!  (Top)

Have you ever given a thought to what may happen if life in ancient Egypt was the same as life in the modern world?

Click http://www.egyptartsite.com/warp.html to view the works of Richard Deurer in the Time Wrap gallery.

Also click the following links to find out what’s keeping the cats and dogs busy.
http://www.wayodd.com/one-mean-cat/v/4951/
http://www.wayodd.com/the-lazy-american/v/5030/
http://www.wayodd.com/climbing-dog/v/4551/
http://www.wayodd.com/chippy-the-attack-gopher/v/5107/

Media Quiz:  (Top)
Here’s your monthly media quiz. Every month, Wavelength brings you a media quiz that will help you hone your knowledge of graphic design concepts and technology.

Take Monthly Media Quiz - September 2007 (Episode - 6)