Get a first hand look at how Jon Landau used Adobe Creative Suite Products in the Production and Marketing of Avatar.
iPhone App of the Week – The Best App Site
I'm very pleased to announced that my iPhone App of the Week reviews have become so popular that starting today I'm launching a NEW dedicated site for them called BestAppSite.com
Why a new site?
When I started the iPhone App of the Week feature a year ago no one imagined that the App Store would take off like it did. As a result my weekly feature has become very popular and is drawing the attention of the App Developer community. I'm getting requests to review apps left and right. Even if I just wanted to review my favorite apps, I've got over 100 on my iPhone and at one app a week it would take 2 years just to do those! Now that the App Store has over 100,000 apps there is no way I would even cover a small fraction of them doing only one a week.
While I could just do more on my regular Tech Blog, quite honestly it just doesn't fit. There are many readers of my blog that DON'T own iPhones or iPod touches and would probably get turned off with increased coverage. So I thought it best to setup a new site dedicated to DAILY reviews of Apps. This way I can not only cover my favorite apps whenever I want, but also major updates to the apps that I've reviewed in the past. Currently, there just isn't enough room on my tech blog to cover new apps AND updates. So again, why not have a dedicated site just for iPhone app reviews, news, updates and accessories?
The Site Design
Knowing that I wanted to create a great site that would not only be functional but well designed, I once again enlisted the talent of the legendary web guru Erik Berskiold of XLD Studios in Sweden. I wanted the Best App Site to really be The Best App Site, so I went to one of the best to get it done and once again Erik has come through for me. This guy is amazing and great to work with! If you have a web project in mind you should definitely check him out. You'll also see an occasional App Review on the new site from Erik. 🙂
What about the content – News, Reviews and Updates?
I've already populated the new site with a year's worth of reviews that I've already done. So there's lots to check out there already.
Also with the new site design you'll be able to easily look for apps in a particular category, ones that work with the iPod touch and Free vs. Paid apps. Like most "hobbies", this will have to be done in my spare time. However, I will do my best to have at least one review (gulping as I write this) per day.
Of course it also looks good on your iPhone or iPod touch too
The Bottom Line
If you're an iPhone or iPod touch user and you want to learn more about the over 100,000 apps out there, this site is the one you'll want to go to. Head over to BestAppSite.com to see today's review. Thanks for your continued support!
Carry Sensitive Data on an IronKey
Although I have what seems like a mountain of thumb/flash drives lying around, I've never had one as cool as the one my friend Mary just gave me. It's called the IronKey. While it looks like an ordinary thumb drive in a cool aluminum casing, it's actually a lot more.
For the Security Conscious
As computer users we're taught not to leave a list of our passwords next to our computer right? Some will take it a step further and put that list on their computers in a text filed called something less obvious like "Johnson Rod Repair Manual". However, sensitive data should really be encrypted! While there is no shortage of encryption apps for Mac and PC's, I don't run across hardware solutions as often. Sure, most portable drives will offer something, but in that case it's usually very platform specific and requires the software to actually be "installed" to use it. The IronKey takes a simpler more straight forward approach.
Set it up
When you first plug in the USB thumb drive, you can launch the app for your platform right off the device itself. They have the documentation there as well. Give it a name and your secure password (please remember it!). You can also enable the Device Reset feature at this point so that if your device is lost/stolen and someone keys in the wrong password too many times it will automatically and securely erase or destroy the device.
At this point your IronKey is ready to use
Just key in your password and it will unlock and mount the drive
TomTom Navigation Apps for iPhone on Sale through 12/28/09
As you know I reviewed the TomTom app when it first hit the App Store scene (see my review and video here). One of my original complaints has been addressed and that complaint was about the price! Competition is stiff in the iPhone Navigation App market and although TomTom's first release was less than stellar they have followed up with an update AND some sale pricing. TomTom has also added some of the missing features that I mentioned: they added Lane guidance, Text-to-speech and a Help Me! emergency menu.
So if you're a TomTom interface fan, now's your chance to get the app at a more reasonable price! Also TomTom has released a USA ONLY version for less as well (on sale).
TomTom USA Map ONLY for $49.99 here:
TomTom USA and Canada for $69.99 here:
I always felt that these apps should be in the $50 range (or less), so I'm glad that competition has put some pressure on TomTom.
Westcott Chromakey Blue/Green Screen Popup Illuminator
You might remember my video review of the F.J. Westcott uLight Green Screen Lighting Kit. Well this time I'm here to review another Westcott Green Screen solution. It's their Green/Blue Screen Popup Illuminator. The difference between this background and the uLite kit is that it's more portable. Like the other Illuminator backgrounds that I love so much, this one folds down (into a circle) and fits into a handy carrying case. Combine it with their popup Illuminator background stand you've got a Green Screen or Blue Screen background that sets up in about 2 minutes. This one also doesn't take as much room to setup and use.
It's Holiday Greeting Card Time
Many of you are putting your Christmas or other Holiday cards together as we speak. It's great when you can setup the perfect setting and take the picture. However, sometimes you just don't have the perfect setting, so you need to improvise. That's where shooting on Green Screen really comes in handy.
Here's a quick test shot that I took just to see what I would get with minimal effort. I basically setup the background in my basement right under one of the flourescent lights in the ceiling. I aimed a Westcott Spiderlite TD5 with a small softbox right at my subject. I could have used a bigger softbox and the brighter daylight bulbs, but again this was just a test and the light was already there from another project that I had just done.
I was worried at first that the ceiling light was too bright, but in fact it did a great job killing the shadows on the background. I fired this shot using my Nikon D700, 28-70mm lens at f/4.5, in Aperture Priority mode at 400 ISO. Yes, in RAW of course.
Next I brought the shot into Adobe Photoshop CS4 and ran an Action that I learned how to setup from Dave Cross to AUTOMATICALLY extract her from the background
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Sennheiser Evolution G2 100 Wireless Mic for Video Review
I have been doing still photography and motion video/graphics for years now. Although I feel pretty comfortable making hardware selections when it comes to DSLRs and HD Cameras, I know very little about Audio equipment. I know the importance of good audio. As a matter of fact (rule) you can't have good video without good audio. People are forgiving when it comes to marginal video quality, but if the audio quality is bad people will stop watching. Since it was time for me to invest in a decent wireless mic system for doing video work, I turned to my buddy Bruce Mandel of Mandel Video for some recommendations. After I got the links that he sent me I quickly learned that you can spend a little or a lot for audio equipment just like you can for camera gear. I already had a low end $100 system that I wasn't really happy with. I also knew that I didn't want to spend a ton of money either. So I guess I was looking for something in the middle of the range. After looking at my options, I decided to go with Sennheiser Evolution G2 100 Wireless System. I knew that basically I was buying the older model since the Evolution G3 was out. However, since the G2 was going for about $300 less, I went for it.
Getting Started with the Sennheiser Evolution G2 100 Series
When the box arrived, I was able to get it setup without ever touching the instruction manual. Again, I'm not an audio expert, but it was pretty easy to figure out the setup for the transmitter and receiver. I put the supplied camera mount on the receiver, put the batteries in both units and attached the supplied lavalier mic. After turning on both units I could see the level indicator moving on the receiver indicating that it was picking up sound from the mic. Cool! Next I plugged the mic into my Sony VX2000 DV camera and recorded a short clip. I walked around and spoke at different levels to see what the sound quality would be like. I was pleasantly surprised by the pickup that it had from the mic being located relatively center of my chest.
Continue reading “Sennheiser Evolution G2 100 Wireless Mic for Video Review”
iPhone App of the Week – Photographer Assistants
It's 2 for 1 iPhone App of the Week Reviews today. I thought I would cover two apps this week that I've come across to assist photographers. If you are lucky enough to have a photographer's assistant, then you know how nice it is to just concentrate on the shoot. That's because your assistant has packed all the necessary gear that you're going to need and he/she has setup your lighting. All you have to do is walk in and pick up your camera and start shooting. How cool is that? Alas, I'm not so fortunate. Since photography is not my full-time gig, I can't really justify a full-time assistant. So it's all on me. However, these two iPhone/iPod touch apps help me with the details:
PhotoAssist
PhotoAssist is an app that is geared to help you remember all the gear that you need to take on a particular shoot. It seems like I'm always forgetting something when I do location shoots. So this app is very much appreciated.
The easiest way to start off is to spend some time entering all of your gear into the "Inventory List."
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My interview on MacVoices
My interview with Chuck Joiner about my New "Learn the Adobe Creative Suite with Terry White" iPhone App is now live on the MacVoices site. Check it out here. Hear my insights on iPhone App development, blogging and producing content.
Photoshop.com Mobile Makes Time’s Top 10 for 2009
Being an iPhone user AND an Adobe employee, I'm especially thrilled to see Photoshop.com Mobile make Time's Top 10 List of iPhone apps for 2009. In honor of this honor, I've recorded a full blown tutorial on how to use this FREE App. Download Photoshop.com Mobile from the App Store here:
…then watch my tutorial below:
Kindle 2 eBook Reader Review
If you know me, you're probably surprised that I would be writing anything about an eBook reader. Why? Because I'm not an avid book reader. However, my daughter is and the one thing she wanted for her graduation present from high school was a Kindle. Being a straight A student (yes, I'm bragging. It's my daughter), I had no problem with this request. Selfishly I also knew I'd get a chance to play with it, um, I mean set it up for her.
When the Kindle arrived…
I went through the standard unboxing and setup. Everything was pretty straightforward. I set it up on her existing Amazon.com account and with a gift card she was able to buy some books and download them. The first cool thing I noticed here is that the downloading is over the air via 3G technology. So you don't have to worry about having a WiFi connection, nor do you pay any monthly costs for the data connection. That's right! It's all included in the price. I guess Amazon figures that if they make it "easy" to get the content to your device, you'll probably buy more of it.
What I liked…
I really liked how thin the device was. The LCD was certainly easy on the eyes and the size of it seemed about right. Not too big and not too small. Battery life so far (it's been since May 2009) has also been good. The Kindle 2 is also very light weight. Navigating the menus works OK, but it's all with buttons as there is no mouse or trackpad. The Kindle charges with a stand USB charging connection and of course comes with a nice compact travel charger.