DIGITAL SANKALP

Working with Clients as a Flash Web Designer

<h1 style="font-size:20px;margin:0.25rem 0px;padding:0px 0px 0.5rem;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> </h1> Unless you're independently wealthy, you create Web sites for friends, or you play with Flash as a hobby, you need to generate a profit from your work. If you're going to survive working with clients and still keep your sanity, you need to do a few things. Don't hesitate to seek the advice of a competent attorney who can advise you on contract details. <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Create a client survey</h2> On your Web site, you likely have information about yourself, information about the services you offer, and examples of your work. Web designers can and often do get clients from distant locales. Sometimes the only way you can establish a preliminary contact and know what the client needs is to create and post a customer survey on your Web site. Customer surveys can be kind of lengthy, so think again about using a form created in Flash. Instead, rely on its butt-ugly — that's a technical term — HTML counterpart to gather information. In your questionnaire, you need to get the following information: <ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>The potential client's contact information.</li></ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"> <li>Whether or not the client has procured a domain name.</li></ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Whether or not the client will provide edited text, images, and so on for the Web site.</li> </ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>The client's expectations and why he wants a Web site. This should be a definite reason, such as promoting a product or expanding the customer base. If the client says he just wants a Web site, this should raise a red flag — the client has no earthly idea of what his expectations are.</li> </ul>The information from your client survey will help you establish a line of communication and eventually will be used to create your proposal and price quote. <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Create a static mock-up</h2> After your initial meeting with the client, you should have a pretty good idea of what he wants for the final Web site. You can easily create a mock-up of the banner and the navigation menu in less than an hour by using the powerful tools built into Macromedia Fireworks. After you have these areas laid out, you can create the area of the page where the initial content appears. Typically, this will be a combination of text and images. If you don't have an extensive portfolio or don't come highly recommended, some clients will want to see something before they sign on the dotted line. <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Get the client to sign off on the design</h2> After the client decides on the winning mock-up, get the client to sign the mock-up. In fact, you might consider having a stamp made that saysApproved By:on the first line andDate: on the second line. Stamp each of the mock-ups, and when the client swoons, whip out your pen — or felt-tipped marker if you print your mock-ups on glossy paper — and ask the client to sign. After the client signs off on the design, file it in the client's folder in case there are any questions later. <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Cover the bases</h2> When you're done with the Web site, the contract can serve as your checklist. Go through every paragraph and clause of the contract. For example, if you say you're going to submit the site to six search engines, make sure you have done so. Document that you've done everything listed in the contract. One problem that arises is documenting sundry details like submitting the site to search engines. Your client won't know the results of search engine submissions for several weeks. Take a screenshot of the site being submitted to each search engine and keep this with the client's file. If any questions arise after you've completed the site, you have all the documentation needed to prove you've done what you said you would. <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Get it in writing</h2> Never do business on a handshake; it will always come back to haunt you. Make sure your client signs and dates your original contract. If minor changes are to be made, cross out the original and then write in the revision. Both you and the client need to initial the revision. If the client requests significant changes in the contract, rewrite it — or tell the client to take a hike. Then make sure all additional client requests — with the exception of really small requests — are handled with a change order. <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Get an initial payment</h2> When you submit the contract to the client, make sure you add a payment clause. Always ask for an initial payment of at least 40 percent of the total contract price. Because this is a Flash design and you won't have anything to show the client until your initial prototype is published, 40 percent of the total price is a fair initial payment. Your contract should also include an additional 40 percent payment when the site has been published and uploaded. The final 20 percent is paid when the client signs off on the site. <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Get feedback in writing</h2> When you request feedback from a client, don't rely on a hasty telephone call where he tells you, "Yeah, it's great. Rock on." Unless you've recorded the conversation — which may or may not be legal in the state where you live — this won't hold up in court if the client pitches a hissy fit when you're done with the site. Get the client's feedback in writing. If you rely on e-mail for client feedback, after you receive the client's feedback, send an additional e-mail to the client acknowledging and thanking him for the feedback. <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Bill for extras</h2> Your contract states everything that you and the client have agreed to. Your contract should also have clauses for extra work. When you perform extra work, generate an invoice immediately and send it to the client with the invoice for the applicable incremental payment. For example, if you perform the work at the final stages of the project, send the invoices for the extra work with the request for final payment.

Working with Clients as a Flash Web Designer

Unless you're independently wealthy, you create Web sites for friends, or you play with Flash as a hobby, you need to generate a pro...

6:09 am

Working with Clients as a Flash Web Designer

Working with Clients as a Flash Web Designer

Unless you're independently wealthy, you create Web sites for friends, or you play with Flash as a hobby, you need to generate a pro...

6:09 am

Making Scanned Documents Searchable and Editable

Making Scanned Documents Searchable and Editable

When you scan a document directly into a PDF file, Acrobat captures all the text and graphics on each page as though they were all just on...

3:09 am

Making Scanned Documents Searchable and Editable

Making Scanned Documents Searchable and Editable

When you scan a document directly into a PDF file, Acrobat captures all the text and graphics on each page as though they were all just on...

3:09 am

Using Alpha Channels with Photoshop 7

<h1 style="font-size:20px;margin:0.25rem 0px;padding:0px 0px 0.5rem;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> </h1> You use alpha channels to make and store selections that you make with the selection tools, such as the Lasso or Magic Wand. You can also use alpha channels to edit selections. An alpha channel is a type of mask. Masks can be thought of as selections using some or all of the 256 available levels of gray, instead of a selection outline. Alpha channels define a selection in black, white, and varying shades of gray pixels. In other words, alpha channels store selections as 8-bit grayscale images. In alpha channels, selected pixels are white, black pixels are unselected, and anything in between is partially selected or partially unselected depending on whether you think the glass is half full or half empty. You can create a mask by duplicating a color channel and then editing the channel by using painting and editing tools and filters. Most graphics geeks refer to this as a channel mask. If you create an alpha channel from a saved selection, the channel most likely consists of just black or white pixels. If you have a feathered or even an anti-aliased selection, you may have a few gray pixels. If you create an alpha channel by duplicating and editing a color channel, your alpha channel most likely contains varying shades of gray pixels as well. <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Modifying an alpha channel's options</h2> To modify the options for an alpha channel, follow these steps: 1. Select the channel and then choose Channel Options from the palette options menu. 2. Enter a name for the alpha channel.3. Specify the color and opacity of the overlay. 4. Specify whether you want the masked area (what the overlay will cover) to include the Masked Area (the unselected area), Selected Area, or Spot Color. 5. Click OK to close the Channel Options dialog box. You can also simply double-click the channel thumbnail to bring up the Channel Options dialog box. Then follow Steps 2 through 5.<h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> Saving a selection as an alpha channel</h2>One of the great things about alpha channels is that you can save them and then retrieve them time and time again. This can be especially handy if you've taken a lot of time and effort to create the selection. Why reinvent the wheel if you want to select the element again in the future? Sure, you can create a mask using Quick Mask Mode and Color Range, but those masks are only temporary. The hardest part about creating an alpha channel is making the initial selection. After that, it's a piece of cake. Follow these steps to create an alpha channel: 1. Make a selection in your image. 2. Choose Select --> Save Selection.You can also click the Save Selection as Channel button (a circle on a square icon) at the bottom of the Channels palette. A new channel appears with the default name of Alpha 1 and bypasses Steps 3 through 6. 3. Choose a destination image in the Document pop-up menu. You can choose your current image or any other open image with the same pixel dimensions. 4. Choose a destination channel from the Channel pop-up menu. You can choose a new channel or any existing channel or layer mask. 5. If you choose New, name the channel.6. If you choose an existing channel or layer mask, select your desired combination. Replace, Add To, Subtract From, or Intersect With are the self-explanatory options. 7. Click OK. Your alpha channel is complete and appears in the Channels palette.Here are a few closing alpha channel tidbits: <ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Try showing the alpha channel along with the composite channel. That way you can see how clean your mask is.</li> </ul><ul class="Remember article-ul-indent" style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Note that when you display them both, the alpha channel appears as a semitransparent color overlay.</ul> <ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>You cannot add channels to images that are in Bitmap mode. That's because all pixels in a Bitmap mode file are either black or white. No intermediary shades are supported.</li> </ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>You can convert alpha channels to spot channels.</li></ul><h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> Loading an alpha channel</h2>No doubt if you've gone through the trouble of creating an alpha channel, it's because you want to be able to easily load, or access, the selection again and again. To load an alpha channel, use any one of these many methods: <ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Choose Select --> Load Selection. Select your document and channel. Click Invert to swap selected and unselected areas. If your image has an active selection, choose how you want to combine the selections.</li> </ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Select the alpha channel in the Channels palette, click the Load Channel as Selection button at the bottom of the palette, and then click the composite channel.</li> </ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Drag the channel to the Load Channel as Selection icon.</li></ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"> <li>Ctrl+click (Command key+click on the Mac) the alpha channel in the Channels palette.</li></ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Ctrl+Shift+click (Command key +Shift+click on the Mac) to add the alpha channel to an active selection.</li> </ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Ctrl+Alt+click (Command key +Option+click on the Mac) to subtract the alpha channel from an active selection.</li> </ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Ctrl+Alt+Shift+click (Command key +Option+Shift+click on the Mac) to intersect the alpha channel with an active selection.</li> </ul>Adding channels can start to bloat your file size, so use them, but use them judiciously. The Photoshop native format and TIFF format compress channel information and therefore are good file formats to use when working with a lot of channels. The only formats that preserve alpha channels are Photoshop, TIFF, PDF, PICT, Pixar, or Raw. A single image can have a maximum of 24 channels.

Using Alpha Channels with Photoshop 7

You use alpha channels to make and store selections that you make with the selection tools, such as the Lasso or Magic Wand. You can also ...

12:17 am

Using Alpha Channels with Photoshop 7

<h1 style="font-size:20px;margin:0.25rem 0px;padding:0px 0px 0.5rem;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> </h1> You use alpha channels to make and store selections that you make with the selection tools, such as the Lasso or Magic Wand. You can also use alpha channels to edit selections. An alpha channel is a type of mask. Masks can be thought of as selections using some or all of the 256 available levels of gray, instead of a selection outline. Alpha channels define a selection in black, white, and varying shades of gray pixels. In other words, alpha channels store selections as 8-bit grayscale images. In alpha channels, selected pixels are white, black pixels are unselected, and anything in between is partially selected or partially unselected depending on whether you think the glass is half full or half empty. You can create a mask by duplicating a color channel and then editing the channel by using painting and editing tools and filters. Most graphics geeks refer to this as a channel mask. If you create an alpha channel from a saved selection, the channel most likely consists of just black or white pixels. If you have a feathered or even an anti-aliased selection, you may have a few gray pixels. If you create an alpha channel by duplicating and editing a color channel, your alpha channel most likely contains varying shades of gray pixels as well. <h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Modifying an alpha channel's options</h2> To modify the options for an alpha channel, follow these steps: 1. Select the channel and then choose Channel Options from the palette options menu. 2. Enter a name for the alpha channel.3. Specify the color and opacity of the overlay. 4. Specify whether you want the masked area (what the overlay will cover) to include the Masked Area (the unselected area), Selected Area, or Spot Color. 5. Click OK to close the Channel Options dialog box. You can also simply double-click the channel thumbnail to bring up the Channel Options dialog box. Then follow Steps 2 through 5.<h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> Saving a selection as an alpha channel</h2>One of the great things about alpha channels is that you can save them and then retrieve them time and time again. This can be especially handy if you've taken a lot of time and effort to create the selection. Why reinvent the wheel if you want to select the element again in the future? Sure, you can create a mask using Quick Mask Mode and Color Range, but those masks are only temporary. The hardest part about creating an alpha channel is making the initial selection. After that, it's a piece of cake. Follow these steps to create an alpha channel: 1. Make a selection in your image. 2. Choose Select --> Save Selection.You can also click the Save Selection as Channel button (a circle on a square icon) at the bottom of the Channels palette. A new channel appears with the default name of Alpha 1 and bypasses Steps 3 through 6. 3. Choose a destination image in the Document pop-up menu. You can choose your current image or any other open image with the same pixel dimensions. 4. Choose a destination channel from the Channel pop-up menu. You can choose a new channel or any existing channel or layer mask. 5. If you choose New, name the channel.6. If you choose an existing channel or layer mask, select your desired combination. Replace, Add To, Subtract From, or Intersect With are the self-explanatory options. 7. Click OK. Your alpha channel is complete and appears in the Channels palette.Here are a few closing alpha channel tidbits: <ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Try showing the alpha channel along with the composite channel. That way you can see how clean your mask is.</li> </ul><ul class="Remember article-ul-indent" style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif">Note that when you display them both, the alpha channel appears as a semitransparent color overlay.</ul> <ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>You cannot add channels to images that are in Bitmap mode. That's because all pixels in a Bitmap mode file are either black or white. No intermediary shades are supported.</li> </ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>You can convert alpha channels to spot channels.</li></ul><h2 style="margin:0.25rem 0px 1.25rem;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:18px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> Loading an alpha channel</h2>No doubt if you've gone through the trouble of creating an alpha channel, it's because you want to be able to easily load, or access, the selection again and again. To load an alpha channel, use any one of these many methods: <ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Choose Select --> Load Selection. Select your document and channel. Click Invert to swap selected and unselected areas. If your image has an active selection, choose how you want to combine the selections.</li> </ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Select the alpha channel in the Channels palette, click the Load Channel as Selection button at the bottom of the palette, and then click the composite channel.</li> </ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Drag the channel to the Load Channel as Selection icon.</li></ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"> <li>Ctrl+click (Command key+click on the Mac) the alpha channel in the Channels palette.</li></ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Ctrl+Shift+click (Command key +Shift+click on the Mac) to add the alpha channel to an active selection.</li> </ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Ctrl+Alt+click (Command key +Option+click on the Mac) to subtract the alpha channel from an active selection.</li> </ul><ul style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Ctrl+Alt+Shift+click (Command key +Option+Shift+click on the Mac) to intersect the alpha channel with an active selection.</li> </ul>Adding channels can start to bloat your file size, so use them, but use them judiciously. The Photoshop native format and TIFF format compress channel information and therefore are good file formats to use when working with a lot of channels. The only formats that preserve alpha channels are Photoshop, TIFF, PDF, PICT, Pixar, or Raw. A single image can have a maximum of 24 channels.

Using Alpha Channels with Photoshop 7

You use alpha channels to make and store selections that you make with the selection tools, such as the Lasso or Magic Wand. You can also ...

12:17 am

Creating Text with Final Cut Pro HD and Adding It to a Video

<h1 style="font-size:20px;margin:0.25rem 0px;padding:0px 0px 0.5rem;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> </h1> The following steps use the Final Cut Pro HD generator called Text, which is the quickest, easiest way to get basic, static text up on the screen. However, these steps work the same way if you want to apply other text generators. If you mess up any of these steps, don't worry about it! You can always undo an action by pressing Command+Z. 1. Open the Viewer window by choosing Window --> Viewer from the main menu. You can also press Command+1 to open the Viewer. 2. Click the Effects tab in the Browser window.3. Twirl down the small triangle next to the Video Generators bin, and open the Text sub-bin, which contains the text generators. 4. Double-click the generator named Text (which looks like a small clip with some color bars on it) to open it in the Viewer. After you open the Text text generator in the Viewer, you can see white text that reads SAMPLE TEXT on the Viewer's Video tab; the Viewer window also sports a new tab titled Controls. 5. Drag the Viewer Controls tab outside the Viewer so that it opens in its own window. This new Controls tab window lets you type text and edit it, but the Video tab in the Viewer is where you see what the text actually looks like while you finesse it. By dragging the Controls tab outside the Viewer (so that it's in its own window), you can tweak the text and see it displayed in the Viewer's Video tab at the same time. 6. On the Controls tab (now in its own window), replace SAMPLE TEXT and make changes to your text. To do so, highlight SAMPLE TEXT in the Text field on the Controls tab window and replace it with your own text. For example, you may want to type The End. 7. Tweak the other settings on the Controls tab, if you want. The other settings in the Text generator Controls tab work like a basic word processor. For example, you can change the font by using the Font pop-up menu. You can also change the location where your text appears on-screen by clicking the Origins cross hair in the Controls tab. Your mouse pointer becomes a cross-hair symbol, and you can then click anywhere in the Viewer window to reposition your text at that spot. Unfortunately, the Achilles heel of the standard Final Cut Pro Text text generator is that it doesn't let you apply different settings to different parts of the text. All the text has to be the same font, size, and style. When you make changes, you should see them reflected in the Viewer Video tab. If not, click the Viewer window once, and this should wake it up so that it shows changes while you make them. Then go back to the Controls tab window and tweak away! 8. Change the duration of the generator's text. By default, all generators create a clip of text that lasts for 10 seconds (after you add the generator's text to your Timeline). To change this setting, highlight the timecode in the Duration field (located in the upper-left corner of the Viewer Video tab) and type a new duration, such as 5:00 for a duration of 5 seconds. Of course, after you place your text on the Timeline, you can also adjust the text clip's length by dragging the clip's edges, just like any other media clip. 9. Move the generator's text to the Timeline to superimpose it over an existing video clip or to make the text appear over a black background, as follows: • Superimposed over video: To superimpose the text clip over a video clip (for example, to display the name of a person who is currently on camera), first move your video clip to the Timeline, making sure that the Timeline playhead is over this clip. Next, drag the generator's text from the Viewer to the Canvas window, and then select the Superimpose option from the Edit Overlay that appears over the Canvas. The Superimpose edit places the text in a new video track, above your video clip. What's more, Final Cut Pro automatically adjusts the duration of your text to match that of the underlying video clip. Figure 1 shows a text clip superimposed in the Timeline over a video clip. <div class="figure" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:16px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><img border="0" src="http://media.wiley.com/assets/307/19/0-07645-7773-5_1303.jpg" style="vertical-align: bottom; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; max-width: 100%; height: auto !important;"></div> Figure 1: When placed on top of another clip on the Timeline, the text generator clip is superimposed on the clip beneath it on the Timeline (in this example, a plain-colored background). • Appearing over a black background:If you want the text to appear over a black background (for instance, if you're designing an opening title card), you can drag the text from the Viewer Video tab down to a video track in the Timeline. 10. If necessary, render the text and play it on the Timeline. If Final Cut Pro is set up for real-time previews of effects, you don't have to render the text to play it. If you see a thin, red bar drawn over the text generator clip in the Timeline, the text clip needs rendering. Select the text generator clip on the Timeline, and then choose Sequence --> Render --> Both from the main menu. After Final Cut Pro completes the rendering, place the playhead just before the text generator clip in the Timeline and press the spacebar to play through the text. If Final Cut Pro is set up to show real-time previews of text without rendering, the Timeline shows a thin, green bar over the text clip. The text quality you see playing from the Timeline may seem a bit soft or otherwise rough because Final Cut Pro is showing you a lower-resolution preview of the text. When you finally print the movie to tape or export it to a QuickTime digital file, Final Cut Pro renders the text. To see how clearly the text clip appears when it's rendered, select it on the Timeline and choose Sequence --> Render --> Both. 11. Make further adjustments to the text generator by double-clicking it on the Timeline. Like any clip, the generator opens in the Viewer window, and you can use its now-familiar Controls tab to make tweaks. After altering any of the text generators, you can drag the text from the Viewer Video tab back to the Browser and rename it in the same way you would rename any old clip. (This way, you have a copy of the clip to apply elsewhere in the project.) Later, you can drag this text as many times as you like into the Timeline. This approach is handy when you need to reuse the same title more than once.

Creating Text with Final Cut Pro HD and Adding It to a Video

The following steps use the Final Cut Pro HD generator called Text, which is the quickest, easiest way to get basic, static text up on the...

12:14 am

Creating Text with Final Cut Pro HD and Adding It to a Video

<h1 style="font-size:20px;margin:0.25rem 0px;padding:0px 0px 0.5rem;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> </h1> The following steps use the Final Cut Pro HD generator called Text, which is the quickest, easiest way to get basic, static text up on the screen. However, these steps work the same way if you want to apply other text generators. If you mess up any of these steps, don't worry about it! You can always undo an action by pressing Command+Z. 1. Open the Viewer window by choosing Window --> Viewer from the main menu. You can also press Command+1 to open the Viewer. 2. Click the Effects tab in the Browser window.3. Twirl down the small triangle next to the Video Generators bin, and open the Text sub-bin, which contains the text generators. 4. Double-click the generator named Text (which looks like a small clip with some color bars on it) to open it in the Viewer. After you open the Text text generator in the Viewer, you can see white text that reads SAMPLE TEXT on the Viewer's Video tab; the Viewer window also sports a new tab titled Controls. 5. Drag the Viewer Controls tab outside the Viewer so that it opens in its own window. This new Controls tab window lets you type text and edit it, but the Video tab in the Viewer is where you see what the text actually looks like while you finesse it. By dragging the Controls tab outside the Viewer (so that it's in its own window), you can tweak the text and see it displayed in the Viewer's Video tab at the same time. 6. On the Controls tab (now in its own window), replace SAMPLE TEXT and make changes to your text. To do so, highlight SAMPLE TEXT in the Text field on the Controls tab window and replace it with your own text. For example, you may want to type The End. 7. Tweak the other settings on the Controls tab, if you want. The other settings in the Text generator Controls tab work like a basic word processor. For example, you can change the font by using the Font pop-up menu. You can also change the location where your text appears on-screen by clicking the Origins cross hair in the Controls tab. Your mouse pointer becomes a cross-hair symbol, and you can then click anywhere in the Viewer window to reposition your text at that spot. Unfortunately, the Achilles heel of the standard Final Cut Pro Text text generator is that it doesn't let you apply different settings to different parts of the text. All the text has to be the same font, size, and style. When you make changes, you should see them reflected in the Viewer Video tab. If not, click the Viewer window once, and this should wake it up so that it shows changes while you make them. Then go back to the Controls tab window and tweak away! 8. Change the duration of the generator's text. By default, all generators create a clip of text that lasts for 10 seconds (after you add the generator's text to your Timeline). To change this setting, highlight the timecode in the Duration field (located in the upper-left corner of the Viewer Video tab) and type a new duration, such as 5:00 for a duration of 5 seconds. Of course, after you place your text on the Timeline, you can also adjust the text clip's length by dragging the clip's edges, just like any other media clip. 9. Move the generator's text to the Timeline to superimpose it over an existing video clip or to make the text appear over a black background, as follows: • Superimposed over video: To superimpose the text clip over a video clip (for example, to display the name of a person who is currently on camera), first move your video clip to the Timeline, making sure that the Timeline playhead is over this clip. Next, drag the generator's text from the Viewer to the Canvas window, and then select the Superimpose option from the Edit Overlay that appears over the Canvas. The Superimpose edit places the text in a new video track, above your video clip. What's more, Final Cut Pro automatically adjusts the duration of your text to match that of the underlying video clip. Figure 1 shows a text clip superimposed in the Timeline over a video clip. <div class="figure" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:16px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><img border="0" src="http://media.wiley.com/assets/307/19/0-07645-7773-5_1303.jpg" style="vertical-align: bottom; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; max-width: 100%; height: auto !important;"></div> Figure 1: When placed on top of another clip on the Timeline, the text generator clip is superimposed on the clip beneath it on the Timeline (in this example, a plain-colored background). • Appearing over a black background:If you want the text to appear over a black background (for instance, if you're designing an opening title card), you can drag the text from the Viewer Video tab down to a video track in the Timeline. 10. If necessary, render the text and play it on the Timeline. If Final Cut Pro is set up for real-time previews of effects, you don't have to render the text to play it. If you see a thin, red bar drawn over the text generator clip in the Timeline, the text clip needs rendering. Select the text generator clip on the Timeline, and then choose Sequence --> Render --> Both from the main menu. After Final Cut Pro completes the rendering, place the playhead just before the text generator clip in the Timeline and press the spacebar to play through the text. If Final Cut Pro is set up to show real-time previews of text without rendering, the Timeline shows a thin, green bar over the text clip. The text quality you see playing from the Timeline may seem a bit soft or otherwise rough because Final Cut Pro is showing you a lower-resolution preview of the text. When you finally print the movie to tape or export it to a QuickTime digital file, Final Cut Pro renders the text. To see how clearly the text clip appears when it's rendered, select it on the Timeline and choose Sequence --> Render --> Both. 11. Make further adjustments to the text generator by double-clicking it on the Timeline. Like any clip, the generator opens in the Viewer window, and you can use its now-familiar Controls tab to make tweaks. After altering any of the text generators, you can drag the text from the Viewer Video tab back to the Browser and rename it in the same way you would rename any old clip. (This way, you have a copy of the clip to apply elsewhere in the project.) Later, you can drag this text as many times as you like into the Timeline. This approach is handy when you need to reuse the same title more than once.

Creating Text with Final Cut Pro HD and Adding It to a Video

The following steps use the Final Cut Pro HD generator called Text, which is the quickest, easiest way to get basic, static text up on the...

12:14 am

Getting to Know Photoshop's JPEG File Format

<h1 style="margin:0.25rem 0px;padding:0px 0px 0.5rem;border-width:0px 0px 1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(204,204,204);color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"> </h1> Photoshop supports the JPEG (pronounced jay peg and short for Joint Photographic Experts Group) format. The JPEG format uses lossy compression. Lossy is the computer nerd's way of saying that stuff is lost during the compression process — namely, some of the data that makes up your image. The good news, however, is that you probably won't miss what's not around anymore — sort of like when you were a kid and you "lost" your little brother at the park. You may notice a slight difference in your on-screen image after you save the file using JPEG, but when the image is printed, the compression is usually undetectable. JPEG compression saves you lots of disk space. In fact, a JPEG image takes up less space on disk than a compressed TIFF file — half as much space, maybe a tenth as much, depending on your settings. Although JPEG isn't supported by as many programs as TIFF, it's becoming more and more common. JPEG compression works well with continuous tone images, such as photographs. <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"> <tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="60"><img align="left" alt="icon" src="http://media.wiley.com/assets/0/27/tip.gif" style="vertical-align: bottom; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; max-width: 100%; height: auto !important;"></td> <td valign="top">So should you use JPEG or TIFF? Here's a thought: Save in TIFF when excellent print quality is vital — for example, in high-resolution printing — or when you're editing an image. Then when you think you're finished editing and you want to conserve space, save in JPEG at the Maximum setting. You generally won't see the results of JPEG right away. But editing an image can bring out its weaknesses, and JPEG definitely weakens an image. So, going to JPEG after you finish editing is usually best. </td></tr></tbody></table> Also, if you want to distribute your image on the World Wide Web, you have to save it in either the JPEG, GIF, or the new and not yet widely supported PNG format. JPEG works well with photographic images, especially people, where there is a wide range of colors. TIFF isn't an option for Web publishing. When you choose the JPEG option in the Save As dialog box and press Enter (Return on the Mac), the dialog box shown in Figure 1 appears. Here's a rundown of the options you need to worry about for images you want to print: <table style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><tbody><tr><td><img alt="figure" class="figure" src="http://media.wiley.com/assets/2/22/fg0-7645-0704-4_0603.jpg" style="vertical-align: bottom; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; max-width: 100%; height: auto !important;"></td> </tr><tr><td>Figure 1: When saving a JPEG file, select the Maximum option or, if space is limited, select the High option.</td></tr> </tbody></table> <ul class="ul" style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>The Quality pop-up menu lets you choose the amount of compression that's applied to your image and therefore the quality of your saved image. The higher the image quality, the less the file is compressed and the more space it takes on disk.</li> </ul> <ul class="ul" style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>The Quality option box and the slider bar beneath the box give you other ways to choose your compression setting. The slider bar and option box give you access to 13 settings (0 through 12), whereas the pop-up menu gives you access to only four. But, unless you're a real control freak, you can just select one of the pop-up menu options.</li> </ul> <ul class="ul" style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>Choose the Maximum or High option from the Quality pop-up menu. The Maximum option is best because it preserves the most image data, but the High option is okay if you're really short on disk space.</li> </ul> <ul class="ul" style="padding:0px 1rem;margin:0px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li>For Format options, use the default setting of Baseline ("Standard").</li></ul> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="60"><img align="left" alt="icon" src="http://media.wiley.com/assets/0/35/warning.gif" style="vertical-align: bottom; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; max-width: 100%; height: auto !important;"></td> <td valign="top">Photoshop recompresses a JPEG image every time you save it. During a single edit session, this compression won't hurt because JPEG works from the on-screen version. But, if you close, reopen, and resave it in JPEG format, some damage, albeit small, occurs. Repeat this process over and over, however, and the damage increases each time. Some advice — apply all your necessary edits to the image, save in JPEG format, and leave well enough alone. If you need to edit an image over a longer length of time, save it in a native Photoshop format. Then save it as a JPEG only after you have completed your editing process. </td></tr></tbody></table>

Getting to Know Photoshop's JPEG File Format

Photoshop supports the JPEG (pronounced jay peg and short for Joint Photographic Experts Group) format. The JPEG format uses lossy comp...

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