Archive for the ‘Creative Suite’ Category

POTD: Eiffel Tower in Paris, France

Saturday, June 27th, 2015

Photo of the Day: The Eiffel Tower is an iron lattice tower designed and built by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel in 1889 – as the entrance arch to the World’s Fair in that year.

Eiffel Tower as seen from the Pont d'Iéna. Taken with a Canon EOS 7D Mark II with EF-S 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM kit lens. Sepia tint added using Adobe Photoshop CC 2015. Photo credit: John Tan.

Eiffel Tower as seen from the Pont d’Iéna. Taken with a Canon EOS 7D Mark II with EF-S 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM kit lens. Sepia tint added using Adobe Photoshop CC 2015. Photo credit: John Tan.

At 324m tall, the Eiffel Tower is the tallest structure in Paris, and was the tallest in the world for 41 years from 1889 to 1930.

It was surpassed in 1930 by the Chrysler Building in New York City.

Roughly 80 stories high, the base is square with 125m on each side.

There are three levels that visitors can visit.

I like the lace-like design in the metalwork of the Eiffel Tower. Taken with a Canon EOS 7D Mark II with EF-S 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM kit lens. Photo credit: John Tan.

I like the lace-like design in the metalwork of the Eiffel Tower. Taken with a Canon EOS 7D Mark II with EF-S 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM kit lens. Photo credit: John Tan.

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Adobe adds Photoshop Lightroom CC to Creative Cloud Photography

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015

Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan – with Photoshop CC and the new Photoshop Lightroom CC – is now available across desktop and mobile for S$13 per month.

All existing Photography and Creative Cloud complete plan members are able to access the new version of Lightroom CC today – at no extra charge.

All existing Photography and Creative Cloud complete plan members are able to access the new version of Lightroom CC today – at no extra charge.

The new Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC promises fast performance and new tools to edit, enhance, organise and showcase photos.

With Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC, Adobe Creative Cloud Photography includes mobile capabilities – automatically syncing photos with Lightroom CC on the desktop, while Lightroom on mobile devices lets users access and edit their entire catalog of photos on iPad, iPhone as well as Android smartphones and tablets.

Creative Cloud Photography is making the transition for digital photography from a traditional desktop-based process to a more mobile, connected workflow for digital images.

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N.E.mation! 9: Production wrap up for wasd (#NE9C10)

Wednesday, December 10th, 2014

When we visited wasd in their final week of production, we discovered that they were very much ahead of schedule – and it looked like they’re going to finish with much time to spare! Erin reports.

Team wasd (Niger is just outside this snapshot) busy finishing up their animation clip.

Team wasd (Niger is just outside this snapshot) busy finishing up their animation clip.

On the second last day of the 3-week production, we visited Commonwealth Secondary School’s wasd at Nanyang Polytechnic.

There was a rather relaxed ambience in their cubicle, as they were close to completion and were simply doing rendering and touching up on the finer details.

All set for rendering.

All set for rendering.

They chose to do rendering in layers, instead of everything at one go.

Rendering in layers is to render different objects in the scene separately, in different layers, so that for each layer of objects, a different image is rendered.

The ticking clock that commences the day for the non-sleeping SAF.

The ticking clock that commences the day for the non-sleeping SAF.

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N.E.mation! 9: Final Production week for Elemonators (#NE9CO5)

Tuesday, December 9th, 2014

We visited Team Elemonators in the third and final week of their 3-week production. The girls were going at completing their 1-minute animation by the end of the week. Erin reports.

The team Elemonators, with their two fluffy mascot bears, courtesy of Leanne.

The team Elemonators, with their two fluffy mascot bears, courtesy of Leanne.

It’s the third week and team Elemonators are speeding ahead hurriedly, close to the completion of their task!

The tools of the trade which occupy Esther's workspace. To the right, near the NEWater bottle, is a Wacom Intuos Graphics Tablet, and a Lenovo computer.

The tools of the trade which occupy Esther’s workspace. To the right, near the NEWater bottle, is a Wacom Intuos Graphics Tablet, and a Lenovo computer.

The clock is ticking away for CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School’s Elemonators as they finish up their animation, already three-quarters through.

All they had to do was to finish animating the last few scenes of their animated piece, and then render it.

When we dropped by, the team was focused on the rotoscoping segment of their animation journey.

What is rotoscoping?

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N.E.mation! 9: Mid-production spotlight on wasd (#NE9C10)

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014

This week, Commonwealth Secondary School’s wasd powers full-steam ahead in the production of their SAF-themed animation masterpiece. Erin Tan was on site to get to know the team members and to get the latest updates on their progress.

The team, wasd, with their mascot - Penguin the penguin.

The team, wasd, with their mascot – Penguin the penguin.

Last Friday, we visited N.E.mation! team wasd, working studiously away in their cubicle in Nanyang Polytechnic.

They have been keeping very strictly to their schedule, as created for them by their mentor, and have made much progress in the making of their animation piece.

Niger and Zhi Qing talking enthusiastically about their progress of the previous week.

Niger and Zhi Qing talking enthusiastically about their progress of the previous week.

So far, the team has been able to finish most of the animation sequence, and were able to show us a fully-coloured, fully-animated sample of the final animation.

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N.E.mation! 9: Production Week 2 for Elemonators (#NE9CO5)

Monday, December 1st, 2014

CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School team Elemonators are working away diligently at creating their animation piece. Erin reports.

Leanne and Esther of the Elemonators hard at work!

Leanne and Esther of the Elemonators hard at work!

Last Friday, we visited Elemonators in their cubicle in Nanyang Polytechnic.

Their mascot bears, courtesy of Leanne. They accompany and motivate the team on this difficult journey towards animation stardom!

Their mascot bears, courtesy of Leanne. They accompany and motivate the team on this difficult journey towards animation stardom!

This being the middle of the 3-week production phase, the Elemonators are going at full gear with their animation.

Notes jotted down about 'pegging' - placed on the wall of Elemonators' cubicle for easy reference.

Notes jotted down about ‘pegging’.

It’s not all work and no play though, as the team had lots of fun, socialising with the rest of the participants and teams in NEmation, especially the team (Millennium Dragons, also from St Nicholas Girls’ School) in the cubicle next to theirs.

A common pastime was taking group photos in their workspace, with the assistance of members from other teams.

It appears that NEmation has been a great platform for them to socialise with people from other schools and standards, and gain new friends!

The team is creating a digital 2D animation sequence using Toom Boom Studio, based on the premise of four people performing acts of kindness for people around them, and in doing so, inspiring others to be kind too.

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N.E.mation! 9: Introduction to the Elemonators (#NE9CO5)

Sunday, November 23rd, 2014

The Elemonators is one of three teams from CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girls’ School that made it into the Top 10 Teams in this year’s installment of the N.E.mation! competition. The storyline for their animation is both heartwarming and inspiring.

“We are the Elemonators! We eliminate the sourness and bring sweetness to your day!”

The Elemonators registered for N.E.mation! 9 back in August and have not looked back since.

Comprising four sprightly young ladies in the second year of CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School, the Elemonators were among a staggering 11 teams from the school that made it into the Top 100.

Team leader Melissa Anne Lim performed the mesh-up during the pitching stages with her guitar and sang in the final recording as well.

Team leader Melissa Anne Lim performed the mesh-up during the pitching stages with her guitar and sang in the final recording as well.

For those familiar with N.E.mation!, you may be aware that CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School is a powerhouse in the series of competitions, regularly boasting multiple teams that make it to the Top 10 and frequently represented in the eventual Top 3 winners.

While some schools field teams from their IT clubs/CCA, CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School opens the participation to all students in the school.

Which was how Melissa, Esther, Leanne and Sabrina came to form the Elemonators.

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N.E.mation! 9: Introduction to wasd (#NE9C10)

Saturday, November 22nd, 2014

wasd is the team from Commonwealth Secondary School that never expected to make it to the Top 10. But made it they did and they’ve got an exciting animation story idea to vie for the top prize.

wasd is one of two teams from Commonwealth Secondary School that entered this year’s installment of the N.E.mation! competition, and the lucky one to make it to the Top 10.

wasd is one of two teams from Commonwealth Secondary School that entered this year’s installment of the N.E.mation! competition, and the lucky one to make it to the Top 10. The fourth member, Niger Lim is not in this photo as he was not present during the visit.

The N.E.mation! competition is a yearly inter-school animation competition for students from secondary schools, junior colleges and centralised institutes to express their thoughts on Total Defence.

Lim Xun Yi from wasd. The team's motto is

Lim Xun Yi from wasd. The team’s motto is “Expect the unexpected”.

This year’s competition is the ninth iteration since the inauguration of the series in 2007.

More than 11,500 students have participated in N.E.mation! thus far with participants comprising mostly secondary school students aged between 13 to 16 years old.

These students form teams of 3-4 members and have to go through multiple rounds of pitching and selection to beat hundreds of teams from other schools to make it into the Top 10.

wasd registered for N.E.mation! 9 some three months ago in August and it has been an incredible journey for them ever since.

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Adobe takes creativity mobile at MAX 2014

Tuesday, October 7th, 2014

Adobe’s latest Creative Cloud Release drives deep connections between new family of mobile apps and enhanced CC desktop tools via all-new Creative Profile. 

Adobe President and Chief Executive Officer Shantanu Narayen, (right) and Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella take the stage at Adobe MAX 2014.

Adobe President and Chief Executive Officer Shantanu Narayen, (right) and Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella take the stage at Adobe MAX 2014.

At Adobe MAX 2014, Adobe today announced it is shipping a milestone release of Creative Cloud that transforms how creatives work across desktops and devices.

This major release includes significant feature updates to 13 essential CC desktop tools that link to a new family of integrated mobile apps.

In addition, the latest versions of Photoshop CC and Illustrator CC include breakthroughs in Touch support for Microsoft Windows 8 and Surface Pro 3.

Central to this release is an all-new Creative Profile that drives deep connections between CC desktop tools and 9 new mobile apps that extend the power of the Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator and Premiere franchises onto mobile devices.

The Creative Profile is a subscriber’s creative Identity within Creative Cloud.

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New arrivals: Leica T (Typ 701) mirrorless system camera

Friday, April 25th, 2014

Created in collaboration with Audi Design, the Leica T will be launched with two lenses available: Leica Vario-Elmar-T 18–56 mm f/3.5–5.6 ASPH and Leica Summicron-T 23mm f/2 ASPH.

SRP:

  • Body + 18-56mm lens: S$4,950
  • Body + 23mm lens: S$5,250

Update (29 April, 2014):

The Leica T was officially launched in Singapore today. The camera will be available in Singapore from 26 May 2014 at Leica Stores located at Raffles Hotel Arcade, Mandarin Gallery and ION Orchard.

The Leica T will be available in either a natural aluminum finish, or anodized black.

The Leica T will be available in either a natural aluminum finish, or anodized black.

Two additional lenses are also scheduled to appear in time for presentation at Photokina 2014 on 21 September.

  • Super-Vario-Elmar-T 11–23 mm f/3.5–4.5 ASPH wide-angle zoom
  • Vario-Elmar-T 55–135 mm f/3.5–4.5 ASPH. telephoto zoom

The mirrorless interchangeable lens Leica T camera features a 16-megapixel APS-C-format, CMOS sensor.

It is the first system camera from Leica to feature an integrated Wi-Fi module.

Pictures and videos can be wirelessly transmitted straight from the camera to a smartphone, tablet or computer, and can then be shared by email, or on Facebook or other social media.

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