Through the LCD clearly

Once again time passes,

Trent Reznor has put up a guide for new artists in the face of new technology.

How to create depth of field in Photoshop. I may try a 3 way shootout between a lens adapter, After Effects, and Photoshop for Depth of field manipulation. Depending on the results I may put some effort into improving my Letus or just sell the thing.

50 ways to improve your writing skills.

I may have posted this before but MIT has some of its courses in free online format.

I’m slinging still cameras and accessories at the moment and trying to find a D mount to C mount converter for 16mm lenses. If anyone has a spare (or several) lying around let me know.

I spent a fair amount of time with the Shiny Propaganda Machine yesterday tooling around in Adobe encore and trying to optimize a project for flash streaming. Will be doing that and some writing for the next few weeks, otherwise no new news.

These are some of the topics I want to expand upon, once I can dig up the now lost supplemental material.

If memory serves (and it has been occasion known not to..) 500 or so Wal-Mart stores will be testing a new rental kiosk. Several in my area are already sporting Red-Box stations, as I understand it those will remain in place. What is news though is that they’ve taken the inevitable step of renting out BluRay and video game titles at absurdly low prices as well. This should a red flag for traditional rental outlets, if not a Broadside.

As should their announcement that they (along with their primary electronics competitor Best Buy) will begin accepting used games for trade in. I don’t know the specifics of this yet but surmise that it entails credit applied to a credit or debit card, the discs being processed/inspected/repaired at a fulfillment center and then shipped out to the necessary markets. [Additional documentations, links, and quotes to come]

I believe in a recent issue of Wired magazine, Benecia Del Toro predicted the future of entertainment. To paraphrase Immersive storytelling engine. He spoke, correctly mind you, of the eventuality of entertainment mediums merging together for a more compelling experience. That pronouncement and a personal enjoyment of the medium will have me expanding this site’s charter to cover gaming.

One of the areas with the most interactivity in this field is modding, allowing users to modify their titles propelled Never Winter Nights, and the Elder Scroll series into adoration. The ability to adapt an engine; to a more responsive and tailored purpose has allowed games to radiate into new territory and built a solid community. One of the more popular modding sites www.moddb.com has a feature on a Left for Dead mod, Deadlock. I’ll expand more on it in future as one its primary creators is a close friend of mine but their development website should be of great interest to those who are interested in gaming.

J. Ewan Van Dijkhorst

Many of these links or topics will be expanded upon when time allows.

There has been much controversy lately about up scaling of lower resolution prints, or projection sizes in relation to the IMAX format. I’m not here to pronounce opinion (a rare and notable occasion) but digg, Slashfilm, and the other usual suspects have all covered it to death. Gizmodo in recent days has been a treasure trove and have a tour of…

IMAX cameras, their inner workings, and! a repair workshop!

Gizmodo also has a post via Nikon/MTV of the set up of a “Bullet Time” shot of a dancer. The technique and result are a bit old hat but it’s still fun watching the behind the scenes.

As hinted at in an earlier post.. The new Zune has been revealed. I don’t recall where I first heard of the latest revelations but Penny Arcade covers the optimism nicely. An application with touch a keyboard for typing and I’m sold. Some additional information on input/ removable storage connection options would have been nice.

It’s been well over a month since last posted, I’ve saved some drafts but not published them. Partially due to other now defunct commitments, a massive hard drive failure (the 2nd such Seagate mechanical failure), and engagement in more fruitful activities. I have however been researching and compiling links. Those that survived the reformatting will be posted shortly.

Avid support for Vista 64 bit leaves something to be desired. Perhaps they’re preparing for Windows 7 but in the meanwhile I’m left trying to decide if I want to stay the course or try Vegas and Premiere again.

Google always ahead of the curve is partnering with Universal to form a new Music video site.

Jared of Red Glory, has released a compressed but still gorgeous piece of Scarlet Footage.

One of my favorite sites/magazines Make has ventured into the realm of TV, broadcasting online and through PBS stations.  If you’re into DIY, technology, or interesting projects give Make TV a look.

I want to delve into Blip.tv and also take a look at the online stock footage market.

I’m in the process of buying and upgrading a PC to handle 3k workflow and play catch up when it comes to editing. Hyperthreading on quad core processors, tri channel ddr3, and dual video cards will be a marked improvement from the desktop I’ve been hay wiring along for the last seven years.

I’m not keen to leave xp behind in favor of the drm friendly Vista. Avid Media Composer can still be a bit touchy but the extra power is sorely needed.

The long promised lens tutorial will have to wait a little while, had some problems with casting new cases and have diverted my attention to planning a documentary/roadtrip in August. I have a script to give a friend feedback on that I’d like to have finished by this evening.

For prudence sake I won’t divulge why I’m talking a great deal about rental and delivery methods. Gizmodo has two related posts.

Amazon offering HD VOD ? If they do offer at three dollars per movie, they’ll be undercutting the price of a certain brick and mortar store by about three dollars and still keep their operating costs lower.

Netflix expanding to the PS3 and WII. I’ve heard that Netflix will be offering streaming only subscription plans and this would be a logical step do promote that.

As for mobile content, Lifehacker has a posting comparing the 3G I-phone with Android’s Cupcake.

Is Advertising on the Internet Failing? , An professor believes so. I’m not sure how I feel about some of the points. Worth a read over though.

Via Digg:

The New York Times has an article about the Broadband Gap we experience here in the U.S

Five people who broke the rules of social media and succeeded.

Some color photos from the FSA photo projects during the Great Depression are well worth taking a look at.

Computer world has a decent post on Why global is the new local.

Wired has an article on the future of the Video Store, something I’ve been thinking about a great deal in the last week.