Blender Foundation's "Sintel" - An Achievement for Open Source 3D Animation

Here is a moving and heart-wrenching animated short story that was created with a free and open source program called Blender! The point of the video's publication is to showcase what the program can do.

"Sintel" is an independently produced short film, initiated by the Blender Foundation as a means to further improve and validate the free/open source 3D creation suite Blender. With initial funding provided by 1000s of donations via the internet community, it has again proven to be a viable development model for both open 3D technology as for independent animation film.

This 15 minute film has been realized in the studio of the Amsterdam Blender Institute, by an international team of artists and developers. In addition to that, several crucial technical and creative targets have been realized online, by developers and artists and teams all over the world.

Check out Blender and download the latest version.

Photoshop World 2010 "Big Light Small Flashes"

"Big Light Small Flashes" was an eye-opener for me as Joe McNally made some fantastic pix using only one flash unit. If you (like me) thought you needed a studio full of lighting equipment to make a good portrait, then this session alone was worth the entry fee.

Photoshop World 2010 Opening Show

Sent from my Teletype model 19

Begin forwarded message:

Date: September 1, 2010 6:37:49 PM
Subject: Re: Photoshop World 2010

Each year, Photoshop World launches with a different theme and this year was no exception.  "Rock Concert" was part of the entry passes, posters, decorations and even the keynote.  An authentic rock concert launched the 3-day conference in grand style.  Scott Kelby and the Pixel Benders performed a 2 song set to a backdrop of strobes, smoke, spotlights, and huge amps and speakers.  KISS-like costumes and makeup completed the parody as they belted out "I Wanna Photoshop All Night and Retouch Every Day" while a packed house went wild.

I'll talk about today's sessions in a later post.

...and the photo.

Photoshop World Conference & Expo

Papa Colorburst is in Las Vegas for Photoshop World 2010. He posted directly from the conference floor two years ago and I'm looking forward to more news this time around. Read more about Photoshop World.

Are Physical Photographs Dead?

I've been thinking something about paper photographs for a long time that I wasn't sure how to articulate. I like digital photographs better than physical ones. Unless I have an empty frame and a spot on the wall already picked out, I don't see a need for paper. For a long time, I've been alone in this, but this is starting to become more popular. Deane at Gadgetopia.com wrote a pretty detailed description of the differences between the way the general user thought of digital photos when they first came out and how we are all starting to think of them. Read the full post on Gadgetopia and decide for yourself if paper is truly dead.