In high-end visual effects firms, applications using what’s called Nodal Compositing are used to do things like to add greenscreen elements to new backgrounds. The real advantage of nodal compositing is that it’s not limited to layers (what if you want to use a layer in more than one place?) and it’s very logical…by definition…it’s really just a logic tree that defines what operations happen next.

Conduit is a plug-in for Photoshop that actually lets you do this in the application. You add it like any other plug-in but then you can begin to noodle with the image in ways never possible in a layer environment. For real tech heads…this is a much deeper place to really do some real image surgery.

dvgarage.com

Conduit for Photoshop
dvGarage, Inc.

pixelcorps.com

Go! Go! Break Steady
Creating a game with unique art style to differential itself.

Developing a Xbox 360 game; in your basement. Just about all the things a large studio needs to do in developing a multi-million dollar title we also had to do to develop Go! Go! Break Steady albeit at a smaller scale. We had to deal with building a relationship with Microsoft, building technology, staffing, art, audio, music, testing, outsourcing work, all the while trying to design a game that will be fun to play. Also we had a new born baby daughter join our team mid project.

Creating the unique art for the game. When we started one of our goals was to make a game that had a very unique and distinct look. We decided to go with a 2D classical animation style.

1) Talk about developing Go! Go! Break Steady, a Xbox 360 arcade game in your home?
- limited resources and finding creative solutions
- just like the large studios that create multi-million dollar games we have many of the same issues.
- tech, art, staffing, audio, testing…and of course making a fun compelling game.
- Also have to meet all the same quality requirements that a full game has to have.

2) Looking at Go! Go! Break Steady
- When we first started development one of our goals was to make a game that had a unique and fresh visual look.
- We wanted a look that would be really fun and appealing to everyone.
- We also needed to do something that we could achieve as small developers.
- What we chose to do was animate each character using traditional 2D animation techniques.
- It is this traditional animation that you see in the old classics like bugs bunny with exaggerated motion, and the characters bodies squash and stretch to emphasize the motion.
- The downside about 2D animation is that it very labour intensive.
- So our artist had to hand draw thousands of drawings.

3) Let’s take a look at Go! Go! Break Steady. How do you play?
- Ok, GGBS is game that combines music and puzzle play.
- We also have multiplayer modes where you can either play cooperatively with someone or against them on the same Xbox or online.

littleboygames.com

A Case for MacBook Pro Hard Shells
We’re all familiar with laptop bags and laptop sleeves. These are the handled devices designed to help you tote your laptop around in relative safety. But what protects your laptop when it gets where it’s going? Most often, the answer is, “You do.” I’d like to introduce you to a few MacBook Pro shells and suggest that there may be a strong arguement for another layer of protection for your valuable portable.

Speck See-Thru

The Speck See-Thru, available for 15″ and 17″ MacBook Pros and 13″ MacBooks, is a hard plastic case that, as the name suggests, lets your notebook show through. They clip securely to your laptop and provide prorection against scratches and minor dings while allow for access to all controls and ports. The See-Thru is available in a wide variety of colors depending on which Mac you are interested in protecting and the bottom of the shell features grippy little feet to replace the four it covers on your notebook.

In addition to providing a barrier between your electronic investment and the abrasive world around us, the See-Thrus also give users an opportunity to customize their laptops without making any permenant alterations. Stick decals to your lid with reckless abandon while you attend your next tech conference. Run a colorful design out on your inkjet printer and sandwich it between your MacBook Pro and a clear See-Thru. Heck, you could even paint the See-Thru with a silver flake auto paint and take it hot-rodding.

Protection and creative expression in one.

The Speck See-Thrus sell for USD$49.95. And, since there is a top and a bottom shell to each one, you could buy two See-Thrus and put a different color on the top than on the bottom for a two-tone look.

Case-mate Signature Suit

If you’re okay with the idea of animal skins, Case-mate Signature Suit might be the shell for you. It’s covered in leather and makes your notebook Mac look somewhat like a small attache case. Like the See-Thru, it allows easy access to all the laptop’s ports and controls. Unlike the See-Thru, it doesn’t attach as securely. The top is held on by 2 semi-elastic, clear plastic straps and the bottom is held on by friction and not much else.

The Signature Suit looks pretty slick. It would look even better, I think, if Case-mate had foregone the hole in the lid that allows the MacBook Pro’s Apple logo to shine through. I’m as much a Mac fanboy as the next guy, but I think anyone who would be alright with hiding a MacBook Pro’s aluminum case wouldn’t mind hiding the logo on the lid.

The Case-mate Signature Suit sells for about USD$150 and is available for 17″ and 15″ MacBook Pros and 13″ MacBooks. There are various designs and colors available as well.

RELATED WEBSITE LINKS
Speck See-Thru http://www.speckproducts.com/products/seethru
Case-mate Signature Suit http://www.case-mate.com/laptop/13suits