XnView - Image Editor

This is a free open-source image editor that I have used for a long time.  It works on all the major platforms (Windows, Linux and Mac) and is very light weight consuming very little resources.  XnView will not replace Painter or Photoshop but can be used for quick editing, batch editing and converting along with many other features.

XnView can be download from http://www.xnview.com/en/

In this short tutorial I cover how I use XnView, which is mainly to browse and organize my images and copy / cut thumbnails from full page scans allowing me to keep what I like.

-Steve

Blender 2.65a Released

Well evidently I have been busy enough to miss a few things.  In this case I missed the release of Blender 2.65 and just noticed the 2.65a release. One of the changes has been the addition of "Anisotropic Shader" allowing for the brushed metal look.

Here is the LINK to download Blender.

-Steve

Blender 2.6.4 Released

Blender 2.6.4 has been released and can be downloaded HERE.  List of changes and features can be found HERE.

Thank you Blender Foundation!

Digital Painting Programs ...which is the best?

The question of what application is best for digital painting comes up over and over again.  The fact is that there is no so called "best".  Which application you use is based on a variety of things. such as affordability, platform (which OS), capabilities, hardware and personal preference.  Here is the run down on the ones I would suggest.

Krita For Windows

After going through the hassle of adding a dual boot to my laptop and a virtual Linux machine with Virtual Box on my desktop just to try out Krita 2.4, I come across a Windows installer for Krita.

Blender 2.6.4 Test Builds

Blender Test Builds for 2.64 are out.  That means that 2.64 will be released soon.  Download the test builds and check out the list of new features HERE. 

-Steve

Blender 2.6.3a Update

The Blender Foundation released version 2.6.3a a few weeks back to corrected a few issues prior to the version 2.6.4 that should be out soon.  The Blender Foundation is keeping a greate pace with release dates being about every 10 weeks.  Blender can be found HERE.

-Steve

GIMP 2.8 Release

GIMP 2.8 was released recently and as usual I like to use the Partha.com builds   I haven't had a lot of time with the new build so let me know what you think.  The GIMP developers have been making good progress so I am looking forward to working with the newest release..

GIMP can be found HERE.

-Steve

Blender 2.6.3 BMesh Modeling System

Blender Foundation still working hard. They have just released version 2.6.3. The biggest update this time around is BMeshes Modeling System. Their quick overview can be found HERE and you can download Blender 2.6.3 HERE. I am very happy and proud of these guys. They have been working hard for years to rebuild Blender for 2.4 series into this modern one.

-Steve

Blender VSE and Avidemux: How To Rotate Video

  

This is part of the Blender VSE (Video Sequence Editor) series in which I demonstrate how to rotate a video clip. I also add a secondary method using Avidemux since both methods will produce varying results. If the original clip had not been a MOV file I could have used Virtual Dub Mod.

Blender can be found HERE

Avidemux can be found HERE

GIMP vs Photoshop

GIMP vs Photoshop? 

There are many reasons to use GIMP even if when we have Photoshop.  Both Photoshop and GIMP are great tools, though GIMP maybe an alternative to Photoshop. it is not an equivalent.

Blender VSE - How to Overlay an Image

Adding watermarks to your video is a great way to promote yourself or your product.  In the fourth part of the Blender Video Sequence Editor series I demonstrate the basic technique in adding an image and transforming the aspect ratio along with the placement of the image.

Blender 2.6.2 Released

Blender Foundation has released version 2.6.2.  Blender is a professional grade CG suite and has come along way since their 2.4 version.  Even Lynda.com has created tutorials on Blender HERE.  What irony ...a commercial tutorial for an Open Source application.  Blender 2.6.2 change log and download can be found HERE.

-Steve

Digital Painting instead of Traditional Painting?

Why Digital Painting instead of Traditional Painting? I get asked this question a lot.  Of course neither is better than the other but for me there were many advantages starting with digital painting.

JPEG or PNG for Print

Which image format should you use for prints ...JPEG or PNG?  This question eventually comes up when we find that our prints don't look sharp.  Or we do a painting at 300dpi, flatten it and send it off to prints.  The reason is usually that you saved it a JPEG format.  Do you know that differences between JPEG and PNG? 

How To Create A Digital Artists Blog

Every digital artist has one thing in common ...the need to display their art on the Internet.  But going about doing that can be somewhat confusing since there are many different avenues and approaches.  Here I will discuss my views and processes of displaying content on various sites, creating online portfolios, linking them together, simple workflows and the use of free and open-source applications that I use.

OpenShot Video Editor for Linux

One thing I have had issues with is doing video editing on Linux.  In Windows I use Authoring Works 4, but I could not find one that was a good alternative.  Then I came across "OpenShot Video Editor".

Blender VSE Part-3: How To Add Fade In-Out Effect

Part 3 of the Blender Video Sequence Editor (VSE) show how to animate the opacity of the image added in Part-2 to create a Fade In-Out effect.

Hope this helps,

-Steve

LINK: https://youtu.be/69KP-8Ezvao

Blender VSE Part-1: How To Edit Video

This tutorial is Part-1 of the Blender VSE (Video Sequence Editor) series.  This video covers manually setting up Blender's interface, cutting a video file and rendering out a portion of the source video.

Video Editing

There are a few video editing tools that I use.  The one I choose is the one that is most suited for the task at hand.  The three main applications are Blender, Virtual Dub Mod, and Authoring Works 4.