USER STORY • SEPTEMBER 5, 2001
All-Purpose Animation
Mixing broadcast and Web media: then and now

In the summer of 2000 I was hired by David E. Kelley Productions to produce character animations for the Fox series Boston Public. The animations would be photographed practically while playing back on a computer screen as part of a fictitious Web site. Read More

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OPINION • AUGUST 27, 2001
Talkin' Smack: At It Again
Microsoft takes a subtle but decisive step toward Web domination

In some ways, it's reassuring to know that some things don't change. Even if it's a lame thing. Take Microsoft, for example.

Long-time Mac users should remember what it was like when Microsoft began its descent to domination of the OS market. The rallying cry was, "The Macintosh is incompatible." Remember that? Remember how your Mac, which was still to dominate the market for years to come, both in terms of software and hardware, suddenly became "incompatible?" Read More

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REVIEW • AUGUST 1, 2001
Macromedia Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio
Multimedia authoring suite for CD-ROM and the Web

So here we have the granddaddy of multimedia authoring. I can remember playing with early versions of Director and liking it all right, but not being in love with it and not really caring for what was being produced with it. Last year, I got a hold of Macromedia Director 8.0, and all of that changed. With version 8, Macromedia did a serious revision of this hulking suite of authoring tools, tightened it up, brought in some usability features that almost made me cry and overhauled the workflow to make it about as easy to use as a graphics program, but retaining and expanding the robustness that gives the program its real power. Read More

TUTORIAL • JULY 10, 2001
Gimme Some Skin
How to use GoLive to create QuickTime skins

When QuickTime 5 was released, everyone was excited about many of the new features, including the ability to play MPEG-1 and improved QuickTime VR. Of the many new features, the one that seems to have been overlooked the most is the ability to create media skins to enhance your streaming media. Unlike media skins for other players, which can be troublesome, and even a headache at times, creating a skin for use with QuickTime is very easy. Read More

TUTORIAL • MAY 22, 2001
Video Tutorial: The Secret of Good Gamma in Photoshop
Designing for cross-platform viewers

Cross-platform computer users have probably noticed how different the same image can look when viewed on a Mac or PC screen. This lesson from Total Photoshop 6 is of especial interest to Macintosh web designers; instructor Deke McClelland shows how to use the Levels controls to approximate-and correct for-the gamma differences inherent in the two platforms. Let Deke help you to see your onscreen images the way "the rest of the world" sees them! Read More

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REVIEW • MAY 15 , 2001
Curious Labs Poser Pro Pack
Advanced 3D character animation expansion module with Flash export

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TUTORIAL • APRIL 24 , 2001
How To Create Web Markers in Premiere 6
Using timeline markers to create interactivity