Photoshop CS6 Extended rocks!

[mearrin69]

IIRC this happened around the time they bought Macromedia. I used to use Dreamweaver (v4.5?), Fireworks (v3 or something like that), and Flash (v6 I think). Now they're just part of the CS. I don't use them anymore and only purchased CS4 with PS, Illustrator, the page layout app, etc., not the Web tools. I don't know how much improvement they see each version...but maybe a lot, with things like HTML5 coming round.
M

Edit: Looked at your demo real. It's very nice. I liked the "here's what I did" to it thing on the water drops...but had a hard time telling on some of the clips. Is this something that someone hiring you for a gig would look at and know immediately what you had done to each clip and how good that means you are? Sorry. I'm a complete know-nothing on video and VFX.

[Midgardsormr]

Thanks! Most of the time, the studios only release finished shots to us; it's pretty rare that we get to do before-and-afters. An experienced vfx artist or producer will be able to evaluate skills based on a finished clip so long as the breakdowns document clearly states what the artist did on a particular shot. Really, if you look at a shot and say, "I don't get it, where are the effects?" then it's likely that the effects are pretty darn good. The stuff from Fringe is pretty obvious, but I dare say you'd never guess that there was a big blob of paint on Lady Gaga's lip in that shot in the bathtub. And the shot with the huge crowd only actually had about 30 people in it. In order to overlap the repeated groups, I had to make masks for all of the people in the back of each group.

It's surprising how many shots have visual effects in them that you'll never see. Targeted color corrections, background replacements, and rig removals are everywhere, and if they're done well, they're completely invisible to the viewer.

It's hard to believe that my reel is over a year old now. I should probably look into updating it with some more recent work, unless my current employer decides to hang onto me after the end of the project I'm on. That'd be nice. I'm not looking forward to figuring out how to present all of the stereo work I've been doing.

[mearrin69]

I guessed on the people replication clip. You're probably right that a layman *shouldn't* be able to see what you did. I am a Walking Dead fan and they've showed a couple of the things they did...went back and I could see it wasn't natural but didn't notice first time around (extra "walkers" added to shot, etc.) I imagine someone with the "eye" would have seen it straight off.
M

[OldGuy]

Ow wow, upgrading from 7? Try this out: Right-click a layer, convert to a smart object, then apply a Gaussian blur to it.

That's pretty slick!

@others re:version, cs6 reports itself as v13.0 so I jumped six versions ahead all in one go. So much to learn! The adobe videos are helping a lot.

[kerub]

For anyone that is thinking about upgrading from CS4 or CS5: The main advantages are better 3D functionality, the awesome content sensitive cloning/filling techniques and of course better drawing tools like improved airbrushes, oil painting and erodible brushes (simulating pencil-tips that actually wear off when you draw, which is BOMBASTIC when used with a tablet!).

http://www.adobe.com/products/photos...omparison.html

[kewlpack]

Grats on the upgrade. I've been using Photoshop since '95 and it's really changed over the years. It's much more robust and has more features than you'll ever use (or probably even be aware of).

If you do go for a tablet, skip directly to the Wacom Intuos 5 Medium size tablet + the wireless adapter. It is fantastic; ultra sensitive; affordable; and is perfect for portability. It'll take a bit to get used to painting and/or photo retouching with it, but once you get the hang of it, you'll never go back. Remember to adjust the sensitivity so your natural pen pressure is just right.

Oh yeah - I'd be remiss if I didn't mention NAPP. They have tons of excellent training videos by real users and tips galore. Definitely worth it if you want to learn a lot quickly.