Third Quarter Continues...

The Third Quarter will be over March 27th, right before our Easter Break. Like I mentioned on the previous entry, the biggest grade is the Alumnae Reunion Movie; but you also have to complete at least six Photoshop Exercises. Look at the blackboard to work on some of the Second Quarter Exercises you didn't do, or go to the Server (iLife06 - Photoshop - Third Quarter Folder) and do some of those exercises.

Mrs. Feld will show you some new Photoshop techniques after the iMovie is done. You will learn to create your own brushes in Photoshop and create some cool Digital Art work. Since the Art Exhibit is taking place May 21st, at need you to have at least six good pieces for the Digital Art Exhibit. You will print your own work, to help me, since I have to mat all your work.

Also, you can create your own Photoshop work! Look for ideas in the "Photoshop Ideas" folder inside PHOTOSHOP, in iLife06. There's another folder called PhotoshopIdeas2013 that you can check. See the samples below. I created a Photoshop imitation of Megan Aroon Duncanson. You can check more ideas in www.art.com. Also check the work of Minrong Wu and Natasha Wescoat. Have fun and get creative!

Megan Aroon Duncanson's "Boxed In"

My version in Photoshop:

Any questions? Please ask Mrs. Feld.

Third Quarter (Second Semester)

One of the most important projects we have to complete in our Digital Applications Class is the "Alumnae Reunion Movie." This year the reunion is scheduled for March 2nd (Saturday). Which means that the whole project has to be ready before February 28, 2013. We have to take in consideration that we're having our "Winter Break" in February (No Classes from 2/14/13 - 2/18/13). I need your cooperation to make this happen! Sister Lydia has entrusted us with this assignment and we cannot let her down, nor let down the Alumnae and Sisters of Saint Basil attending the reunion. This iMovie will count as two Test grades.

The idea is to create a short movie (3 - 4 minutes long) with the scanned pictures of the years you were assigned. The "Title Slide" will be the first slide in your movie - make sure it's at least 8 seconds long (you can trim it down later). You will add a title (moving title of your choice), e.g. "The 70's." Then add the pictures you scanned and change the Ken Burns effect on every other picture. Pay attention to the timings, you don't want the slides to move too fast or too slow. Also add transitions between the slides and make sure they don't move too fast (try 2 seconds or more). If you have any questions, please feel free to ask Mrs. Feld. You will also add music of your choice, corresponding to the years you were assigned (music of the 80's for the 80's movie, etc.).This year the Alumnae Reunion is for Alumnae that graduated in the years ending in "3" and "8," e.g. 1983 and 1988. We will scan pictures of former SBA students from the following years: 1953, 1958, 1963, 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2008. I already divided the class in groups of two and you will create this iMovie with the scanned pictures (and other pictures from yearbooks and originals Mrs. Bilotta gave us). When completed, the group movies will be converted to Full Quality QuickTime movies (best quality) and I will put all of them together to create the final project. This is why I need your cooperation in completing this project quickly.

I need you to be very organized when you scan these pictures. Please create folders for each year and add the exact year to each photo/picture you scan. Also, you may have to fix or enhance some of these photos in Photoshop (ask Mrs. Feld if you have any questions). These pictures have to be available for everyone in your group, in case some of you are absent. After scanning them, I need you to put them in the Digital Applications Folders so that I can move them to the iLife06 folder in the Server. To save time in your movies you may also want to create a few collages with 4 or 6 pictures.

You are creating a "Title Slide" in Photoshop for your movie with important events, things and images that represent your group's year(s). When completed please convert into a JPEG (if not it will look all red in your iMovie). Save it as both a PSD file and a JPEG and put these titles slides in your DA-3rd Quarter Folder in the Server. Then, organize the pictures in iMovie to your liking and insert transitions and visual effects. Add first all the pictures of the year that ends in "3" and then the ones that end in "8." You could insert a black or other color before each set. The pictures should move fast (but not extremely fast). Same with transitions, you don't want them to go too fast!

You should also add some titles and a few quotes from the yearbooks of your years in your iMovies. Please add pictures of the Sisters too. Get creative!

Advise: Look at last year's movie (in iLifeO6 under Alumnae Reunion 2012). Some images moved too fast, as well as some of the transitions.

This project will be the biggest grade during this Third Quarter. Instead of giving you Tests and Quizzes, I will take in consideration the work you do for this project, your interest, your dedication and care. You should delegate responsibilities carefully between group members and accept responsibility for your final product. Thanks for your understanding!

Also, the Photoshop exercises for the Third Quarter will be included in the Third Quarter Grade. If you didn't do the Second Quarter Magazine Cover Exercise or others you can complete them this quarter (if you want a better grade). You should also do the Photoshop Exercise "Like Magritte." It is a very creative exercise. I'm hoping that you get inspired to create at least two of these "Magritte Exercises." The idea is to look at some of Rene Magritte's paintings and try to imitate one of them - your own version. Any questions? Please ask Mrs. Feld.

Remember: Look in the PHOTOSHOP Folder in iLife06 - 3rdQ Exercises. You can also put in your folder any of the exercises we did in class. Make sure you have a "Best Digital Art" folder in your Digital Applications folder in the Server - the work we will print for the Digital Art exhibit. I appreciate your cooperation!

The Digital Art Exhibit will take place May 1st, 2013, after the Honors Convocation.

Midterm & File Formats Information

You will be having your Midterm on Wednesday, January 23rd from 10 to 11:10 am. Please review the following information:

1. What is Digital? What is a digital system? What are binary numbers? What are Bits? Bytes? Kilobytes? Megabytes? Gigabytes? Terabytes? Check the PowerPoint in iLife06 (Server) under Midterm. Review/study your quiz and handouts.
2. What is iLife? iPhoto? iMovie? What is the Ken Burns Effect? Handout on the iLife Suite of Products.
3. What are Digital Cameras? Main parts of the digital camera. What is resolution? What is a pixel? Megapixel? Multimegapixel? Image sensor? LCD Screen? What does the term pixelated mean? What are bitmaps? Review the puzzles Mrs. Feld gave you. Review your last Quiz. Check the PowerPoint in iLife06 under Midterm.
4. What is Photoshop? Filters? Layers? Free-Transform (Command-T)? Desaturate? How do you change the colors of an image in Photoshop? How do you improve images? How do you add a Filter? How do you add Blending Options? How do you select images in Photoshop? Which tools can you use to select images? Commands: Deselect (Command-D), Create a Layer (Command-J), Change Colors (Command-U), Desaturate (Command-Shift-U).
5. New material: File Formats. You will see this presentation on Wednesday, January 16th. Copy and paste the information below in a Word Document and print it for yourselves (you can print this whole blog entry if you wish but make sure you copy it and paste it in Word - don't print directly from the website or you'll print like 30 pages or more). What is a JPEG? Which is the most popular format? What is compression? Which is the file format mostly used in the Publishing and Printing industry? Which file format is used for small picture animation?
6. There will be a Photoshop exercise. Mrs. Feld will explain later.

Storing the images as picture files – is an important step, and a number of file formats have been devised to store digital information as efficiently as possible.

There are different file formats for different applications (you don't have to memorize what the abbreviations mean, but do remember these abbreviations):  

JPEG (pronounced “jay-peg”) – is the most popular format for images taken with digital cameras. JPEG is an acronym that stands for the Joint Photographic Expert Group (from the International Standards Organization), which created the format and devised it specifically for digital photographs. Also known as JPG. Check the file extensions on your images. Example: IMG.jpg.

The JPEG is an extremely efficient compression* format and is frequently used for images on the World Wide Web. The supreme advantage of the JPEG is that it only stores data for pixels that have color – white pixels require no data. Compression* is high, resulting in small picture files. Some of the image data is discarded in order to reduce the file size, which results in reduced image quality.

GIF: The other major picture file format and certainly the most widespread on the Web is the GIF (Graphics Interchange Format). Generally used for relatively low-resolution images intended for the Web (those you want to post on a website). Compression* is very high and generally, the same picture rendered as a GIF will be far smaller than in any other format.

PNG: The PNG (Portable Network Group) file format is a Web-oriented format designed to retain picture integrity and produce small files. PNG is a bitmap image (digital image) format. PNG has become the third most common image format on the web.

Other file formats are: The TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), which is widely used in professional publishing. The BMP or DIB (device-independent bitmap), which is a bitmapped graphics format used internally by Microsoft Windows (like when you paste an image in the Paint application and save it). And the QuickTime format, which can act as a container for many different types of multimedia (which you already used when you converted your iMovies into QuickTime format.

*  Compression: The squeezing of image data that results in smaller picture files.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask Mrs. Feld.

Second Quarter continues...

This Second Quarter you will be working on many Photoshop Exercises, please check the blackboard. By Thursday, December 20th you must have completed six of these exercises. Some of the exercises for this quarter are:

1. Like MAD (checking the artwork of Megan Aroon Duncanson and trying to duplicate it using your creativity) - check previous entry. You can do two of these.
2. Feathered Vignette - learning how to use this technique in Photoshop, to create a feathered oval on an image, check the instructions in the Server, in the iLife06 folder > PHOTOSHOP > 2nd Quarter Exercises. 
3. Old Photo - to create an image similar to the old photos from the beginning of the 1900's. 
4. Painted Frame - follow the instructions to create an interesting effect on a picture of a big city.
5. Like Dali - to create a surrealist digital artwork, using the "liquify" filter in Photoshop. 
6. Collage - you can create a collage of your choice using any topic. 
7. Magazine Cover - you can create a magazine cover with one of your own pictures or a picture of one of your favorite actors, actresses or singers (or other). Check the instructions in the Server under "3rd Quarter Exercises."
8. Image on another image - to teach you and remind you how to place an image on top of another one. You can add different filters, change the opacity, change the colors, etc.
9. Image of yourself on a background of your choice (selecting another country, a nature scene, or other).
10. Practice selecting two or three images (photos) and place one on top of another. Change the opacity of both, to lighten the images and see what happens. You can create some very interesting effects this way.
11. Like Stephanie Meyer's book covers. Try to imitate one of her covers; look at samples online and create your own. Follow the instructions.
12. Check other exercises in the 2nd Quarter folder, complete them, and get creative!

Pay attention to the instructions, if you have any questions, feel free to ask Mrs. Feld. Also, your "Story of My Life" movie must be in the Server, in your Digital Applications folder, under Second Quarter exercises. This project was moved to this quarter and it will be a Second Quarter grade. All of you did very well, the only issues in some were that the transitions moved too fast, and/or the text moved too fast, the rubric wasn't followed properly and some required text was missing, and/or the images didn't remain on screen long enough.

Next week, Wednesday, December 19 you will have a Quiz on Digital Cameras, the PowerPoint presentation Mrs. Feld showed in class. Review the Review Puzzle and download the slideshow from the Server, under iLife06 - MIDTERM - DigitalCameras2012.

Second Quarter

This second quarter you will complete your iMovie Project "The Story of my Life" - which you will convert into a QuickTime Movie and save in the server for Mrs. Feld. Please make sure that you have a folder for this second quarter (DA Second Quarter). There you will put the movies and Photoshop exercises you will create this quarter, from now to January 28th, 2013. Time will go pretty fast, November and December are short months.

Please do the exercises in the folder 2nd Quarter Exercises (PHOTOSHOP folder in iLife06 in the server). You will learn to create Feathered Vignettes and use other Photoshop Tools. Also take some time to organize your desktop and create a folder for your desktop for this Second Quarter too.

One of the exercises that I would like you to do, I'll explain in class, is to look at Megan Aroon Duncanson's artwork and get ideas to create your own digital artwork from scratch. You will create a background using different brushes and colors, using different layers,add some shapes, add blending options, and create your own "digital painting." You can add a couple of black drawings that you can download from the internet, like the trees you see in this example that Mrs. Feld created, above. Be creative! Have fun!

October 2012 - Photoshop & iMovie Project

Adobe Photoshop CS5 is an image-editing program that allows you to create and modify digital images. CS stands for “creative suite.” You can create original artwork, or edit existing images, adding filters, changing colors, adding images or shapes, retouching photographs, etc.

A digital image is a picture in electronic form. Photoshop includes many tools that you can use to manipulate digital images and text. You can also add text (font of choice) and format it. You can add "Blending Options" - like we already practiced in class (to add shadows, inner or outer glows, patterns, embossing and many other options). You double-click on the right side of a layer to get the Layer Style window. You also learned to duplicate layers and organize layers.

How do you open or import an image (picture) in Photoshop? There are several ways to do this:

1. You can open the Photoshop (Adobe Photoshop CS5) application by going to Applications (Finder Window) and double-clicking the Photoshop icon. Then go to File - Open and find the image (wherever you have it – on the desktop, or in My Pictures, etc.) You can also click Command-O to Open and find the image.

2. By clicking the Photoshop icon on the dock (if you already have it there). Then go to File - Open and find the image (wherever you have it – on the desktop, or in My Pictures, etc.)

3. By dragging the image directly onto the Photoshop icon on the dock.

4. By launching the Mini Bridge on the Photoshop Toolbar and finding the image. While not as powerful as the Bridge, the Mini Bridge can be used to easily filter, sort, locate, and open files from within Photoshop. (Click the launch Mini Bridge button on the application toolbar).

5. By launching the Bridge on the Photoshop Toolbar and finding the image. The Bridge allows you to see all your images and can be used to rate, sort and label your images. There are four views in Bridge (Essentials, Filmstrip, Metadata, and Output).

First tools to learn: 

Move Tool 

Magnetic Lasso Tool 

Magic Wand Tool

Crop Tool 

Brush Tool 

Paint Bucket Tool 

Rectangular Marquee Tool 

Eraser Tool 

Eye Dropper Tool 

First Keyboard-Shortcuts to learn:

Command-O (open a document)

Command-N (create a new document)

Command-J (create a layer)

Command-S (save)

Command-Z (undo)

Command-T (Free-Transform, to resize objects)

Command-D (deselect - after making a selection with the magnetic lasso tool or the Rectangular or Elliptical Marquee tools)

Command-U (Hue/Saturation window, to change colors, saturation and lightness)

Command-Shift-U (desaturate - to change a picture or layer to black and white)

You already started to learn the "basics" of the Adobe Photoshop CS5 application. You created several exercises, learning how to import an image in Photoshop, how to duplicate layers, add filters, change the color of images, use the Magnetic Lasso Tool, use the Magic Wand Tool, change the sizes of images, etc. I must be able to find in the Server, in the Digital Applications Folder and under your name a DA First Quarter folder with at least three JPEGs of the exercises we did in class. You already learned how to create JPEGs from a Photoshop document (File - Save As - select JPEG under Format). The next exercise is the "Magical World" exercise. By now you should have: two flower exercises, with flower layers and 'black and white' background (with filter); and one with the flower or flowers and an extra image (i.e. fairy). One Coloring Page exercise, where you selected a coloring page and learned to use the Paint Bucket tool. One exercise with a background of your choice, an image (flower or other) and text. A total of at least 5 photoshop exercises. Check the folder in the Server to make sure you have all of them. You should also have there the PDF of the iPhoto Book you created in class, the iMovie of your choice you created in class and converted into a QuickTime movie and the Sgraffito Technique iMovie (also converted to QuickTime).

Mrs. Feld will give you the instructions of the Magical World exercise. You can get very creative with it! You can pick your choice of background (magical forest or other), change the color, add filters, and later add at least six images into your background (placing them wherever you want). Use the Magnetic Lasso Tool to select the images (if you want, you can change the "feathering" - look on the Toolbar, and before you make the selection with the Magnetic Lasso Tool, change the 0 to 1 or 2, then select the image and move it to your background with the Move Tool, the edges will be a little lighter). Look at some of the samples under Students Work in the 2nd Quarter Exercises' folder (last year the students created this exercise during the Second Quarter), or look online for some interesting images, and check the following site for inspiration: surreal (click on this word for the link). Some of the instructions in this tutorial are too advanced, but you can start getting some good ideas of the interesting work you can create using Photoshop. You can also check: tutorial (click on the this word for the link). When completed save the Photoshop (psd) document in the Server and 3 or 4 JPEGs with different colored backgrounds too, like I explained in class. Any questions? Ask Mrs. Feld. Get creative and have fun!

DON'T FORGET TO PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR LAYERS - CHECK WHICH LAYER IS SELECTED BEFORE YOU MAKE ANY CHANGES.

iMovie Project: "The Story of My Life"

This week (October 8th) you can start working on "The Story of My Life" Movie. Mrs. Feld will give you the instructions. The idea is to create a fun iMovie with pictures of yourself when you were growing up (Baby Pictures and Others, ages 0 - 17 or 18), and hopefully to make you reflect on your life, your story (to date) and the story you want to create for yourself (what strengths, talents, weaknesses and dreams do you have?). I believe that all of us have the potential to create our own lives with our thoughts, our dreams, our intentions, our behavior, our motivations, our desires and our attitudes. Hopefully, you will always embrace a positive outlook on life and believe in your dreams (I really hope so...) It's up to you to create a wonderful life for yourself! No matter what! And self-knowledge is a person's most valuable asset - to live a full life.

So, ideally, you should have at least 15 slides (clips) in your iMovie (including black or color screen with text). If you  check the Rubric, you can have a better idea about what information goes on each slide. The first slide should be a Title Slide with your name on it ('The Story of My Life" and your name). You can put a picture of yourself on your Title Slide if you want or one of your Photoshop creations. You can also create collages with your pictures and use your pictures more than once (it's easy to create a collage using PowerPoint and then you can use the Command-Shift-No. 4 keyboard shortcut to take a picture of your collage-slide - the picture will be created on your desktop) or a collage created in Photoshop. Just get creative! The pictures in iMovie must be JPEGs; if you download a Photoshop image (extension ".psd" into iMovie) the image will be red.

The final movie must look very professional. Add music of your choice and convert into a QuickTime movie when completed - like you did before with the other iMovie exercises. Trim the music and ask for help if you need it! Your classmates can help you too.

Also, please be careful with your timings. Make sure you have enough time to read the text and to see your photos. Also pay attention to your transitions, they shouldn't move too fast!

Ask Mrs. Feld any questions you have and also ask her how to scan your pictures. There are two different type of scanners in the Mac Lab and they work differently. The project is due Friday, October 26, 2012 (hopefully!).

Welcome Class!

We will have a very successful year! Please review the goals and classroom policies carefully.

First you will learn generalities about Digital Technology (What is Digital?) and the iLife Suite of products (iLife applications):
iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand. You will learn to download, organize, edit, and share digital photos using iPhoto; while creating albums, books, and slide shows - you will use the iLife 06 Textbook. You will also learn: What are pixels? What are file formats? How to use the iLife applications to manipulate digital media. What can you do with these programs? Be patient! You have to learn the essentials. The faster you learn the faster we can work on interesting projects and fun hands-on activities.

Then, you will start working with each iLife application more extensively, following exercises and learning how each one works and how we can integrate all of them when we are creating digital media projects.

The first program that you will learn is iPhoto. iPhoto is the photo software (I will give you an iLife handout). iPhoto makes it easy to download, organize, edit, and share digital photos; allowing you to create your own Albums, Books, Slide Shows, Web pages and Movies. You can store and organize photos for use in your digital movies. iPhoto is organized much like iTunes (I know you're familiar with iTunes!); on the left side of the screen (window) are the "sources" - a Photo Library and a bunch of Albums.

With iPhoto you can automatically import content from your digital camera - which is copied onto your hard disk and organized in your Library - and you can print photos. You can select music from iTunes to accompany a slide show (the program connects automatically to your playlist in iTunes.) iPhoto can play one song or an entire iTunes playlist to accompany a slide show. You can also add motion to your still photos in iPhoto using the "Ken Burns Effect." The Ken Burns effect is a type of panning and zooming effect used in video production from still imagery.

Read the iLife handout - you will have to study this information and your notes on "What is Digital?" for quiz September 20th. Also study the handout on iLife (the iLife Suite of products). You must understand what these applications are. Example: iPhoto - is the photo software; you can download and organize images in iPhoto. You can enhance, crop, fix red eyes and make some adjustments in your photos. You can also create albums, slideshows and books.

You will learn to download, organize, edit, and share digital photos; you will be able to create your own albums, books, slide shows, web pages and movies. You can also store and organize photos for use in your  digital movies (using iMovie). You will also learn to select music from iTunes to accompany a slide show and to create special sound and visual effects.

You will download the entire folder called L2.Student roll 1 (from the Server - iLife06 - iLifeLesson2) into your open iPhoto window (or just drag it into the iPhoto icon on the dock). iPhoto will automatically start importing the folder of photos. After this folder is downloaded you will also download L3.Biz roll 1, L3.Biz roll 2, L3.Biz roll 3 and L3.Dad roll 1. Be patient, it may take a while! Check page 74, the rolls of film should look like the ones on this page (newer versions will look a little different). Click the triangle to close or collapse each roll into a single line (page 75).

Copy the following questions and answers in your notes:

1. How do you import pictures into iPhoto from a folder on your computer? Just dragging the folder into the main iPhoto window.

2. Name two things you should do right after you import photos: Delete bad images and rotate the remaining images so they're properly oriented.

1) Change the name of the L2.Student roll 1 to Student roll 1. Delete the images that you think are really bad. Go to page 66 and keep the images you see there, for the Student roll 1. 

2) Rotate the picture of the vase and any others that need to be rotated (pictures that are sideways). If you need help with this, ask Mrs. Feld to help you.

[Tip: when shooting photos the rule of thumb for locating your main light source and taking better pictures is to keep the sun at your back or keep the light behind you. But bear in mind that this can cause subjects with eyes to squint.]

3) You will create four albums using the pictures you downloaded. It's a good idea to organize your photos into albums. You can click the plus (+) sign at the bottom of the iPhoto window to create an album or a slideshow. Please follow the following instructions:

• Name the album "Birthday Party". Drag the entire roll of film called L3.Dad roll 1 from your library onto the Birthday Party album icon in the source list (around 29 pictures).
• Click the album name to see the shots you moved (page 77).
• Make three more albums: Company Press, Sgraffito and Ceramic Process. 
• Find the shots on page 78 and move into the Sgraffito album (11 photos). You can move one photo at a time, or move the whole roll to the album. To delete pictures you don't want just press the Delete key.
• Open the L3.Biz roll 2 and the L3.Biz roll 3 and select the images on page 79 and move them to the Company Press album. Also check L3.Biz roll 1, some of the shots may be there. Tip: if you want to select a group of contiguous shots, you can select the first, Shift-select the last, and then drag the entire batch to the appropriate album.
• You can reorder the pictures in an album (not in a roll of film). Open the Ceramic Process album and move the shot of the finished ceramic piece, the vase, from the beginning of the album to the end. Just drag it to the new position. 
• Organize the rest of the shots so they tell a story. Check page 81. You should have the pictures you see on this page (at least most of them). If you don't find some of them, you can go back to the Server - iLife06 and find them and download them in iPhoto.
• Find the picture of the alien (page 95) and crop it.
• Find the picture of the fish and enhance it.
• Find the picture of the girl (page 104) and fix the red eyes. There's a Red-Eye Tool. Newer versions: go to Edit.
• Straighten crooked photos (page 105).
• Lastly, organize your sources into folders. Go to File - New Folder and create the following folders: Biz Owner, Dad, and Student. Check page 108 to see how they should look in your Source Column in iPhoto. The Biz Owner folder should contain the Sgraffito and Company Press albums. The Dad folder should contain the Birthday Party album. The Student folder must contain the Ceramic Process album.
• You won't have a Cool Pieces Smart Album - I eliminated this step. 
• You will create slideshows for all the albums and placed them in their respective folders.

When done, Mrs. Feld will grade your work.

Feel free to ask questions to Mrs. Feld, some of our computers have newer versions of the iLife Suite of products and some things are done a little differently than older versions.

Vocabulary:
Digital, Digital System, Digitize, Binary Numbers (or Binary Digits), Bit(s), Byte(s), Kilobyte(s), Megabyte(s), Gigabyte(s), iLife, iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, Ken Burns Effect.