Dell Precision M6500 mobile workstation By John Virata
The big horsepower CPUs and graphics chips form the core of a workstation class notebook computer. A large screen, built in color calibration profiles, RAID capabilities, and a bevy of connectivity options also contribute. The Dell Precision M6500 in here for review combines the latest in mobile workstation graphics, the 1GB NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800M, with a Quad Core Intel Core i7 x920 2GHz CPU with 8 processor cores, 4GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM (16GB maximum), 17" Wide Screen WUXGA RGB LED LCD Panel with integrated camera and mic, and a Hitachi 250GB hard disk drive.
...Read More »
Lenovo D20 media workstation By John Virata
Lenovo's D20 is the company's top of the line ThinkStation workstation. This particular model shipped with dual Intel E5540 2.53GHz Xeon processors (four processor cores), 12GB RAM, and Windows 7 Professional. Graphics was powered by an NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 graphics card. This is your classic media workstation, configured to run the latest creative applications from Adobe Systems, Autodesk, Sony Creative Software, as well as CAD tools such as AutoCAD, Pro Engineer, and others.
...Read More »
HP Z400 workstation By John Virata
The Hewlett-Packard HP Z400 is the company's entry level workstation. While it doesn't have the whiz bang design features of the HP Z800 reviewed in March, it still does not disappoint as the benchmark numbers will surprise you.
...Read More »
MAXON CINEMA 4D R11.5 By Ko Maruyama
MAXON Computer released their newest version of CINEMA 4D, the 3D application that has quickly become the favorite of broadcast designers and animators. The name of the newest version, R 11.5 gives the illusion that the update is a minor upgrade from previous R11.2 version. However, the multitude of new features in R11.5 makes the upgrade feel like a integer release.
...Read More »
Coremelt Complete V2 By Kevin McAuliffe
You can never have enough plug-ins. Trust me, as an editor/graphic designer you always have clients that want something "cool," but have really no idea what they are looking for, so you end up finding yourself going through the plug-ins on your system to try and put something together to really "wow" them, your plug-in collection needs to have three traits.
...Read More »
Toolfarm's Professional After Effects Camera Training By Ko Maruyama
The 3D world in After Effects has always been a difficult composition space to navigate. Even if you are familiar with world navigation in a 3D application, working with the camera in After Effects may not behave the way you might expect. Like any application, there is a workflow which will make working with these tools easier to understand. Toolfarm's new training shows you how.
...Read More »
Autodesk's Mudbox 2009 By Kevin McAuliffe
The world of 3D design and animation has always had a "what came first, the chicken or the egg" mentality. What I mean by that is when it comes to someone getting into the world of 3D animation, normally (not all the time), they are either strong at the computer/technical aspect, or strong in (classical) animation, and they end up having to bulk up on either one or the other.
...Read More »
e-on`s Vue 7.5 Xstream By Jon Carroll
One thing still challenging to 3D animators and visual effects artists is the creation of realistic landscapes and integrating objects created in their animation software into those environments. There have been over time several different pieces of 3D software that were specifically intended for the creation of 3D environments, and they have used various means to incorporate their landscapes into the rendered images.
...Read More »
I'm a Juicer By John Haley
Whether you are someone who is running errands all day, or have a business which requires you to be away from the office, or even a student who loves music or a avid gammer - this is for you. Not many of us are stationary long enough to to recharge our all in one mobile computer, or at least that is how some think of their iPhones!
...Read More »
Lenovo ThinkStation S20 workstation By John Virata
The Lenovo ThinkStation S20 is the company's mid range workstation that works well in a variety of creative environments, be it video and special effects creation to CAD and animation. Configured with the right graphics card, the unit will fit well in any creative environment. The S20 is larger than most mid-tower cases, and sports ample room inside for user upgrades.
...Read More »
Mercury On-The-Go By Ko Maruyama
There are tons of reasons to check out this lightweight drive. The OWC Mercury On-The-Go drive is a little powerhouse in your pocket. If you're going to run out an purchase an external drive for your Mac laptop, you already know what you want in a drive: FW 800, USB 2.0 for those other connections you may need to make, and bus powered (no external power supply).
...Read More »
PHOTOSHOP DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS By Ko Maruyama
You probably know Scott Kelby from many publications, especially as the editor of Photoshop User magazine. In his latest book, PHOTOSHOP CS4 DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS, Scott and Corey Barker walk through several of the latest design tricks and trends Photoshop users recognize in so much of the print work available today.
...Read More »
FreeForm AE for Adobe After Effects By Kevin McAuliffe
These days, 3D in Adobe's After Effects is a no brainer, and most people don't even give it a second thought. I've been an After Effects user since version 3.5 of the software, and when the 3D feature came along (version 5), it was a huge step forward, except for one problem.
...Read More »
The Archive Titanium Edition from Digimation By Kevin McAuliffe
I like being a "one-man-show." I not only edit, but I do motion graphics, sound mixing and a variety of other jobs that give my clients a "one stop shop" for all their post production needs. These days I'm moving more and more into 3D design (using Cinema 4D), as it is another service I can offer my clients. There is one problem though, and that is that I can't model to save my life.
...Read More »
Modbook from a MacBook Pro By Ko Maruyama
A few years ago, we saw a company called Axiotron out of El Segundo California come up with a Mac tablet which integrated the Wacom tablet technology (similar to the Cintiq) and the Apple MacBook. This is a great solution for those of us who loved to work with software that really took advantage of the stylus. Before the Pro version ships, Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, and Maxon's BodyPaint 3D were among some of the tools I tried out on the current 15-inch ModBook.
...Read More »
Flip video delivers new Flip UltraHD By Ko Maruyama
The Ultra HD in many ways is like it's predecessor, the flip. The small camera easily fits into a shirt pocket, or purse, it shoots a HD video image HD -- 1287 20x720, and has an easy to use button interface on the back of the upright camera. However, there are many features that set this camera apart from its previous version, and any of the other competitors' offerings.
...Read More »
Lenovo W700ds mobile workstation By John Virata
Lenovo has long been known for innovative notebook computers harking back to the days when it (IBM) came out with the ThinkPad notebook computer. This machine served notice that it was at the top of the heap when it came to design and functionality. The current crop of ThinkPad workstations maintain that innovation as well as some features that could be called obscure, such as the one with the W700ds that I'm reviewing here.
...Read More »
Zaxwerks Serpentine By Ko Maruyama
While you may know Zaxwerks previous offerings, the latest plug-in for Adobe's After Effects is the evolution of some of the best parts from its predecessors. Although the company's other plug-ins offer interesting options for 3D designers, Serpentine gives After Effects artists need ability to create those 3D animations that are most frequently requested in motion graphics.
...Read More »
Review: HP Z800 workstation By John Virata
Hewlett Packard, one of the most widely respected company's in the history of computing, and a true technology innovator (versus marketer), has blown the whole notion of computer design wide open with the latest version of its Z 800 workstations. The system is unique in that not only does it sport the latest Intel technology; the engineers have created a workstation that is both highly functional yet elegant in its form, inside and out.
...Read More »
LightWave 9.6: NewTek's latest update to its flagship 3D product By Jon Carroll
NewTek's LightWave 3D 9.6 update offers some new functions and bug fixes over 9.5, which shipped around SIGGRAPH 2008. I'll admit I'm a long-time user of LightWave, having worked as a freelance LightWave artist for 10 years in various capacities. Some of the new features are easier for me to understand, while to others they may be obscure.
...Read More »
In Hollywood, there is little doubt that MAXON's CINEMA 4D is the 3D motion graphics artist's best friend. For years, I've been telling you about how easy it is to use, what brilliantly stunning images it produces, how quickly it renders through projects, it's offering of dynamic animation, and, most recently, about its increasingly powerful set of motion graphics tools which fit neatly into production pipelines. So, what could possibly be better than all that has come before? Plenty.
Read More
NO...Doesn't have a thing to do with "that" smartphone...or "that" store...or "that" tablet. It's the next generation. Kids and we mean little kids. That's what today's products are being designed for/targeted at. You happen to buy one...fine. Watch a little, little kid pick up a smartphone. He/she just uses it. They've come pre-wired and we're still trying to figure out how to IM. It's the IGen. They want it instantly. They want to use it instantly. They expect their photos, their video, their music, their stuff immediately when/where/how they want it.
Read More
In this clip, lynda.com host Mark Abdelnour takes a look at proxy bidding. He discusses the strategy and how it works. He also discusses the maximum bid, and when to use Proxy bidding.
Read More
The blood, gore, adrenalin challenges that were unveiled at E3 and enjoyed at ComicCon are fun to look at, easy to hold but are they really the games people want to plunk down their credit cards to own or rent time with? Seems as though the investors, the players who control the controllers have a different idea of a "good" game than the kids who develop them. While mobs of people play educational, informational, stimulating games our kid huddles in his room and mumbles "The Few, The Proud, The Gamers."
Read More
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Rights Reserved
Dell Precision M6500 mobile workstation
The big horsepower CPUs and graphics chips form the core of a workstation class notebook computer. A large screen, built in color calibration profiles, RAID capabilities, and a bevy of connectivity options also contribute. The Dell Precision M6500 in here for review combines the latest in mobile workstation graphics, the 1GB NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800M, with a Quad Core Intel Core i7 x920 2GHz CPU with 8 processor cores, 4GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM (16GB maximum), 17" Wide Screen WUXGA RGB LED LCD Panel with integrated camera and mic, and a Hitachi 250GB hard disk drive.
...Read More »
Lenovo D20 media workstation
Lenovo's D20 is the company's top of the line ThinkStation workstation. This particular model shipped with dual Intel E5540 2.53GHz Xeon processors (four processor cores), 12GB RAM, and Windows 7 Professional. Graphics was powered by an NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 graphics card. This is your classic media workstation, configured to run the latest creative applications from Adobe Systems, Autodesk, Sony Creative Software, as well as CAD tools such as AutoCAD, Pro Engineer, and others.
...Read More »
HP Z400 workstation
The Hewlett-Packard HP Z400 is the company's entry level workstation. While it doesn't have the whiz bang design features of the HP Z800 reviewed in March, it still does not disappoint as the benchmark numbers will surprise you.
...Read More »
MAXON CINEMA 4D R11.5
MAXON Computer released their newest version of CINEMA 4D, the 3D application that has quickly become the favorite of broadcast designers and animators. The name of the newest version, R 11.5 gives the illusion that the update is a minor upgrade from previous R11.2 version. However, the multitude of new features in R11.5 makes the upgrade feel like a integer release.
...Read More »
Coremelt Complete V2
You can never have enough plug-ins. Trust me, as an editor/graphic designer you always have clients that want something "cool," but have really no idea what they are looking for, so you end up finding yourself going through the plug-ins on your system to try and put something together to really "wow" them, your plug-in collection needs to have three traits.
...Read More »
Toolfarm's Professional After Effects Camera Training
The 3D world in After Effects has always been a difficult composition space to navigate. Even if you are familiar with world navigation in a 3D application, working with the camera in After Effects may not behave the way you might expect. Like any application, there is a workflow which will make working with these tools easier to understand. Toolfarm's new training shows you how.
...Read More »
Autodesk's Mudbox 2009
The world of 3D design and animation has always had a "what came first, the chicken or the egg" mentality. What I mean by that is when it comes to someone getting into the world of 3D animation, normally (not all the time), they are either strong at the computer/technical aspect, or strong in (classical) animation, and they end up having to bulk up on either one or the other.
...Read More »
e-on`s Vue 7.5 Xstream
One thing still challenging to 3D animators and visual effects artists is the creation of realistic landscapes and integrating objects created in their animation software into those environments. There have been over time several different pieces of 3D software that were specifically intended for the creation of 3D environments, and they have used various means to incorporate their landscapes into the rendered images.
...Read More »
I'm a Juicer
Whether you are someone who is running errands all day, or have a business which requires you to be away from the office, or even a student who loves music or a avid gammer - this is for you. Not many of us are stationary long enough to to recharge our all in one mobile computer, or at least that is how some think of their iPhones!
...Read More »
Lenovo ThinkStation S20 workstation
The Lenovo ThinkStation S20 is the company's mid range workstation that works well in a variety of creative environments, be it video and special effects creation to CAD and animation. Configured with the right graphics card, the unit will fit well in any creative environment. The S20 is larger than most mid-tower cases, and sports ample room inside for user upgrades.
...Read More »
Mercury On-The-Go
There are tons of reasons to check out this lightweight drive. The OWC Mercury On-The-Go drive is a little powerhouse in your pocket. If you're going to run out an purchase an external drive for your Mac laptop, you already know what you want in a drive: FW 800, USB 2.0 for those other connections you may need to make, and bus powered (no external power supply).
...Read More »
PHOTOSHOP DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS
You probably know Scott Kelby from many publications, especially as the editor of Photoshop User magazine. In his latest book, PHOTOSHOP CS4 DOWN & DIRTY TRICKS, Scott and Corey Barker walk through several of the latest design tricks and trends Photoshop users recognize in so much of the print work available today.
...Read More »
FreeForm AE for Adobe After Effects
These days, 3D in Adobe's After Effects is a no brainer, and most people don't even give it a second thought. I've been an After Effects user since version 3.5 of the software, and when the 3D feature came along (version 5), it was a huge step forward, except for one problem.
...Read More »
The Archive Titanium Edition from Digimation
I like being a "one-man-show." I not only edit, but I do motion graphics, sound mixing and a variety of other jobs that give my clients a "one stop shop" for all their post production needs. These days I'm moving more and more into 3D design (using Cinema 4D), as it is another service I can offer my clients. There is one problem though, and that is that I can't model to save my life.
...Read More »
Modbook from a MacBook Pro
A few years ago, we saw a company called Axiotron out of El Segundo California come up with a Mac tablet which integrated the Wacom tablet technology (similar to the Cintiq) and the Apple MacBook. This is a great solution for those of us who loved to work with software that really took advantage of the stylus. Before the Pro version ships, Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, and Maxon's BodyPaint 3D were among some of the tools I tried out on the current 15-inch ModBook.
...Read More »
Flip video delivers new Flip UltraHD
The Ultra HD in many ways is like it's predecessor, the flip. The small camera easily fits into a shirt pocket, or purse, it shoots a HD video image HD -- 1287 20x720, and has an easy to use button interface on the back of the upright camera. However, there are many features that set this camera apart from its previous version, and any of the other competitors' offerings.
...Read More »
Lenovo W700ds mobile workstation
Lenovo has long been known for innovative notebook computers harking back to the days when it (IBM) came out with the ThinkPad notebook computer. This machine served notice that it was at the top of the heap when it came to design and functionality. The current crop of ThinkPad workstations maintain that innovation as well as some features that could be called obscure, such as the one with the W700ds that I'm reviewing here.
...Read More »
Zaxwerks Serpentine
While you may know Zaxwerks previous offerings, the latest plug-in for Adobe's After Effects is the evolution of some of the best parts from its predecessors. Although the company's other plug-ins offer interesting options for 3D designers, Serpentine gives After Effects artists need ability to create those 3D animations that are most frequently requested in motion graphics.
...Read More »
Review: HP Z800 workstation
Hewlett Packard, one of the most widely respected company's in the history of computing, and a true technology innovator (versus marketer), has blown the whole notion of computer design wide open with the latest version of its Z 800 workstations. The system is unique in that not only does it sport the latest Intel technology; the engineers have created a workstation that is both highly functional yet elegant in its form, inside and out.
...Read More »
LightWave 9.6: NewTek's latest update to its flagship 3D product
NewTek's LightWave 3D 9.6 update offers some new functions and bug fixes over 9.5, which shipped around SIGGRAPH 2008. I'll admit I'm a long-time user of LightWave, having worked as a freelance LightWave artist for 10 years in various capacities. Some of the new features are easier for me to understand, while to others they may be obscure.
...Read More »
