13th Entry

Today lecture was about images and their different specifications and formats. The lecture seemed to go into insane detail but I guess that’s what we get now we’re at uni!

Images can be basically be specified in two main areas, pixels and colours. The pixels is the images size (more pixels the bigger the image) and colour which controls how the image will look. There are of course other ways the image can be changed. There can be some external influences like monitors, for example a monitor which displays 256 colours will display all images in 256 colours at the most, no matter what format the image is in. You can also change the resolution which involves increasing or decreasing the amount of pixels viewable or the DPI dots per inch or PPI pixels per inch.

Bitmap graphics record all the pixels in that image to save and recreate the image later. This as you can imagine requires more storage space.

Vector graphics uses a mathematical description to save and recreate the shape so instead of saving the image itself it saves the image as instructions which it then uses to create the image when required. This is a lot more space efficient but also a lot more complex and can’t always be done with some complex images.

Colour models are different methods the computer can use for coding the colour in an image. They all have different variables that are combined to create the desired effect. RGB or red green blue is the most common but there is also CMYK or cyan magenta yellow and black which most printers use and HSV or hue saturation brightness.

Colours can have different depths. The greater the depth the more colours the image can use. 24 bit would refer to millions of colours while 8 bit would be 256 colours. You have to find the contrast between the image size which increases with the more bits you have and how many colours you really need.

The colour format can be in two forms, indexed and direct. Indexed colour involves bits which equals 256 colours. The 256 colours are chosen from the most commonly used colours contained within a CLUT or a colour lookup table. Direct colour can be 24 bit, millions of colours and doesn’t use a lookup table.

Images can be edited using a variety of methods. The most common methods are selections, layers, masks and pixel point processing. Selections involve selecting part of the image to edit while leaving the rest of the image untouched. Layers add another aspect on the top of an image. Multiple layers can be added to the image. Masks can be used with layers to create special effects such as a gradient. Pixel point process involves editing a curtain pixel. Different effects include brightness adjustments, colour adjustments, filters, effects, blurring, sharpening, distorting and image.

The GIF file format is mainly used for pictures that do not require a lot of colours. GIF has features such as lossless compression and transparency.

JPEG is best used for complex images such as photos. Unlike GIFs, JPGs can contain more than 256 colours.

PNG was created to replace JPG due to a copyright disagreement which meant people would have to play to use the file format. It was created to have the benefits of both the GIF and the JPG file format. The confict was however resolved and PNG never really took off.

Other file formats also use images like animations which contain many still images played at a fast rate of speed to create the impression that it is moving.

It was really interesting to find out about all the different file formats and the specifications of the image. I'm sure it will be very helpful in the future for any time I need to make an image.

For my independent reading this week I researched two articles on image formats shown below.

In today’s tutorial we learnt about creating buttons in Photoshop. To create the image we first specified the amount of pixels for the height and the width specified and the background colour. We experimented applying a block colour and a transparency. We then created different layers for both the text and the background gradient. When then applied different effects to these layers to create the completed image. Below are the buttons I created using Photoshop. It was a really interesting tutorial, I kind of feel we know the basics right now which is nice considering by ability in Photoshop was very mixed when I first started. Below are the text and the buttons I made in the tutorial.

1. Image formats overview

http://www.image-formats.com/

Last accessed 28/01/08

2. How stuff works – image formats

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question408.htm

Last accessed 28/01/08

Letters on a coloured background:

Letters on a transparent background:

Button:

A button I made myself after finishing the tutorial early:

12th Entry

Friday’s lecture was the first of 2008 and taken by Daniel. Firstly I would just like to say that for this lecture, for some reason, I didn’t take any notes and only realised that I hadn’t taken any notes at the end of the lecture and since there’s nothing on blackboard I’ve got nothing to go on but what I remember so please take this into consideration!

Now the plea’s out of the way I’ll continue with the post. The lecture was about multimedia in the world around us. In the world today we are completely surrounded from multimedia creations. As I’m writing this I can see various logos around me from my clock, from my mobile phone, from some biscuits in the corner, even on my fridge! Logos are simply everywhere around us. I’m also listening to the radio while I’m writing this (barely streaming through the hall’s sub 56K style internet connection), which is another form of multimedia. Daniel also brought up an interesting point, why is the computer not in the living room, why should it be in bedrooms or even separate rooms altogether when it is one of the most powerful and most useful multimedia device most people possess. Multimedia devices are often shared, like televisions and radios, or traditionally they were anyway. He also went on to say that there have been efforts from companies to try and bring it into the living room. With Microsoft Media Centre you can watch TV and videos through an easy to use user interface, Microsoft have even brought out a remote control for it. So in the future we could well see computers becoming a part of family live and get together time instead of an independent work tool as its often viewed as currently.

Companies wishing to use multimedia have to think about a series of questions, similar to that of usability. Firstly, how they are going to acquire it. For example if the client wanted a picture of a lion in a particular posture, you could send out a whole team to Africa but then may need to train them in photography and by the equipment necessary so then you need to think of your budget and maybe compromise and an image taken by someone else and get the licence to use it. You also have to think about your clients needs. For example if they wanted a picture of a car, there could be millions of variations of car pictures so you need to understand exactly what they need. Pictures are just one example of multimedia, they may need a video, a piece of music, or both! You can also edit any of the images you acquire, like models who get digitally airbrushed before they get printed on magazines. You could even change the colour of a car digitally and you wouldn’t be able to tell.

Well I think that’s it from that lecture. It certainly made me much more aware about all the different types of multimedia around me which would definitely give me an advantage if I ever need to design any multimedia. I’ll probably remember something really important about it just as I’m about to drift off to sleep, oh well…

Below is a link to a Wikipedia article on multimedia (1). I know Wikipedia is often frowned upon but it certainly gives the best overview of multimedia from what I’ve seen.

In the tutorial this week we created a collage of images in Photoshop. To do this we used a number of layers and performed different effects on them. I wish the tutorial notes were for CS3 though instead of Elements since we only have access to CS3 and some things are ordered differently in elements. I managed to get though with my previous experience of Photoshop but I would have struggled otherwise. That said I’m really enjoying learning more about Photoshop, it’s just one of those programs that absolutely fascinates me with its ability. I’ve included a link to a few layers tutorials I’ve found on the internet (2) which may be useful as I get more experienced with Photoshop. See you next week!

1. Wikipedia article on multimedia –

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multimedia

Last accessed – 21/01/08

2. Photoshop tutorials related to layers

http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-tutorials/Layers-and-channels/Most-popular/1/

Last accessed – 21/01/08

11th Entry

Today’s lecture was the last lecture of 2007. Unsurprisingly, being the last lecture before Christmas and having to wait 3 hours in between lectures, not many people showed up!

The lecture was about multimedia project management, a very large subject so there was a lot to get though. Geneen went though it a million miles per hour because everyone wanted to get home for Christmas. Well almost everyone, I stayed for one more day and left on Saturday so I could have one more night with my flat mates and a very insane night it was too! Luckily Geneen put the notes on Blackboard so we didn’t need to make notes as fast as she talked!

Multimedia project management involves 6 main stages – building a team, defining the project stages, concept development, pre-production, production and testing.

Before you begin the project, you need to build a team. Important members of the team include the project manager, technical lead, web developers and designs. Extended team members include the account manager, programmers, and testers and evaluators.

The general project stages include analyse, design, develop, implement and evaluate. These are key stages the project can be divided into each containing different aims, objectives and tasks to be completed before moving onto the next stage.

Concept development basically involves finding out what tasks need addressing. This stage involves writing out a project proposal and specification outlining what you need to complete the project, who the product is aimed at and what the product is designed for. You need to answer numerous questions such as what the product is designed to do, who is your target audience and what are the competitive products and services already available in the marketplace. You also need to answer what is different about your approach, why people will come back to your product and where you will get your content.

The next stage is pre production involving a heck of a lot of stages! Basically it involves designing each and every aspect of the product from the navigation to the audio. You also need to find out what you need for the product and how you are going to get it.

Next you proceed to production. In this stage you need to create everything you have outlined and to specification. During this stage you need to make sure everything is organised and monitor the project to ensure everything is going to plan. You also need to insure that potential things that could go wrong are limited as much as possible.

Next is testing, checking what you have got and ensuring it matches specification. To do this you need to use the product like a user would documenting all the bugs found and ensuring they are fixed. You need to perform both configuration testing and functionality testing. Once all this is completed the product is ready to be released to the product.

The final stage is cleanup and archiving. This involves deleting what is no longer required and archiving what is still important. You should have all you need to re-complete the project in the future.

Well that’s it. Quite a hefty subject but I’m sure it will have use in industry making the process a lot clearer and more effective. At the bottom of this post is a link to some project management sources (1) thought I might as well include it here since I might need to use it one day! See you in 2008!

Today’s tutorial, the first of 2008, was about Photoshop. Quite a nice surprise because I’ve used Photoshop before but didn’t know it was being covered in this module. Photoshop is one of those programs that’s insanely powerful and unless you’re a complete expert at Photoshop who has dedicated years to understanding it you only feel like your only scratching the surface. I’ve used Photoshop before to create and edit graphics for websites only using the core features but its nice to that it can do so much more if required. It’s fun to experiment with some of the advanced tools and features just to see what they do and how powerful they really are. In the tutorial we learnt about the features involving selecting and moving. I’ve only previously used the magic wand tool which was able to do everything I needed but it’s nice to use all the other features so you know where they are if you should need them. To perform this exercise we moved various pieces of fruit and veg onto a melon to create a face. Below is my finished result. Rather fetching don’t you think? Kind of got that serial killer look in his eyes, or maybe that’s just me! I’ve included a link at the bottom of this post (2) containing some tutorials of some text effects I’ve used.

1. Project management resources

http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/

Last accessed: 13/01/08

2. Text effect tutorials

http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/Photoshop/Text-Effects/1

Last accessed: 13/01/08