Tag: Adobe

Posted on

I might need to hit lotto

2013_mac_pro

Apple finally got around to offering pricing and purchasing options for the new MacPro on their web site. Unfortunately the listing is just before the Christmas holiday and a tiny bit too late for me to ask Santa, or my wife, to put one of them under the tree for me this year. This is probably a good thing since the fully maxed out version of the MacPro with a 12 core Intel Xeon E5 processor, 64 GB of ram, Dual AMD FirePro D700 GPUs,  and a 1 TB internal flash base hard drive clocks in at Continue reading “I might need to hit lotto”

Posted on

Finally, new Mac Pros

2013_mac_pro

Apple finally is going to release an update to the Mac Pro desktop, and for the first time since they started producing these top of the line towers, I am NOT planning on getting one. This is because I have migrated away from Final Cut Pro to Adobe Premiere Pro, thus eliminating the one reason why I would need a mac this powerful. So without a specific mac application to drive a purchase of this magnitude, I cannot see dropping this much money on the new system.

All of my other software, primarily the Adobe Suite, is cross platform and can run quite well on cheaper PC based equipment. Plus Premiere Pro already integrates much better with After Effects and Photoshop than Final Cut. And according to my research I am not alone in this belief either. It seems that many professional videographers have made the switch away from Final Cut to other platforms because of the debacle that was the initial release of Final Cut X.

All of the other mac specific applications that I use now, like xCode and iBook, can be easily be handled by lower end systems like my Mac Mini and my aging mac laptops. And while I will concede that the cylindrical design of the new Mac Pro looks cool as hell, the price, good gracious, the price is going to be astronomical. As a person more than willing to spend money on cool stuff, I just don’t see a single mac application that would necessitate getting this system. However the challenge for those intrepid people that do decide to get one will be in figuring a way of keeping this monster under 6 or 7 grand if they go with an 8 or 12 core option.

Posted on

The new baby

I just got the new Acer Aspire V3-771G-9875 17.3-Inch laptop I ordered as an early birthday present to myself. I bought it online from Amazon for a great price. My 2009 17 inch Macbook Pro was starting to show it’s age with the old Intel Core 2 Duo processor powering it. I was starting to worry that my Macbook  was going to have problems dealing with the new Adobe CS6 software suite, especially the video based applications like After Effects and Premiere Pro. So I put on my big boy pants and finally pulled the trigger on a new Acer system.

 

Now for the record I am not happy that I have switched from Macs back to the darkside, but this laptop was too good to pass up. I love my macs but the new systems are priced too high when compared to some Windows systems. The desktop system that I built a few months back had made me more comfortable about switching to Continue reading “The new baby”

Posted on

Visual Effects Course Development

On April 3, the New York City Investment Fund invited a group of educators and business people from the visual effects industry to a conference on changes within the entertainment sector. Over the past year the LaGuardia Media and Technology programs have been participating in discussions with the New York City Investment Fund (NYCIF) to develop a Visual Effects program. NYCIF has been working with local visual effects firms to help them to meet the current demand for VFX artists in New York City.  All of the firms have cited the shortage of skilled labor as a key restriction to growth and are interested in working with CUNY on developing training and internships opportunities for the next generation of NYC visual effects artists. It is my intention to research this opportunity to see if a viable VFX program at LaGuardia is possible. In order to make that determination there are key questions that will need to be answered  concerning funding, software/hardware, the structure of the program or option, and how to either attract or develop faculty to teach such highly specialized classes. We will see how this all plays out. But just in case I have been getting reacquainted with After Effects.

The audio recording from the meeting can be found below in mp3 format.

Posted on

Coldfusion User Group Meeting

Coldfusion User Group Meetings

Those of you that have been paying attention to my recent post might have noticed that I have been spending alot of time focusing on my digital audio and video chops. As I result I have been getting nervous that I been letting my web design/development skills start to slip. So to make sure that I didn’t let that happen, I needed to get motivated. The quickest way for me to get motivated is to spend time around other Continue reading “Coldfusion User Group Meeting”

Posted on

3rd Annual New Media Conference: Coldfusion Guru confirmed

Coldfusion Guru: Michael DinowitzMichael Dinowitz, head of the NYC Coldfusion Users Group and owner of the House of Fusion (http://www.houseoffusion.com) will be presenting at the LaGuardia 3rd Annual New Media Conference. Outside of Abobe, there are few evangelists as dedicated as Michael to the spread of the Coldfusion language and the strengthening of the community. Michael has co-authored many of the best selling CF web application construction kits and videos. Continue reading “3rd Annual New Media Conference: Coldfusion Guru confirmed”

Posted on

3rd Annual New Media Conference: Adobe is coming

Ali Hanyaloglu, Adobe Sr. Solutions Engineer discusses CS3

The planning for the 3rd Annual LaGuardia Community College New Media Technology conference is underway and Adobe has confirmed their attendance. The team from Adobe presented last year at our conference to a packed house and we are excited to have them back again. Adobe has agreed to present at both the morning and afternoon sessions. The morning session is going to focus on the creative and design applications in CS3 while the afternoon session is going to highlight the new CS3 video apps. Continue reading “3rd Annual New Media Conference: Adobe is coming”

Posted on

Interns are a good thing!

The Interns

The Fall II semester is underway and I am already swamped. In addition to the two courses that I am teaching, and planning for the LaGuardia New Media conference in the spring, I also have to redesign the web sites for the New Media program and the CIS Department. Both sites need a serious update and there was no way that I could have completed the job by myself. Luckily I was able to get an intrepid band of interns to volunteer in assisting me to plan, design, and implement the new sites. Continue reading “Interns are a good thing!”