DreamColor for DreamWorks

A few weeks ago, Chris Main of Layers Magazine and I went out to Los Angeles to attend a Hewlett-Packard event where they were going to reveal a new product. Only a select few were invited to the event and I somehow convinced him to let me go. The reason was that the event was being held at the DreamWorks Animation studio in Glendale, CA. The product was HP’s new DreamColor display which was developed in collaboration with DreamWorks. Hewlett-Packard has been a long time technology partner with DreamWorks and DreamWorks animators were still working on CRT monitors. This is because the black level and color contrast looked much better than even the newest LCD’s. So HP developed the DreamColor display to remedy this problem. Now despite visiting one of the coolest studios anywhere, Chris and I had the chance to play around with these displays first-hand and I must say I was blown away. The interesting thing is that the display contains built-in color spaces for animation, video editing, photography, graphic design, etc. You can also load up your own custom spaces as well. The display also has a tri-color LED backlight which produces deeper, richer colors with a color gamut 46% greater than standard LCD displays. Throw in a 30-bit color accuracy and a 1000:1 contrast ratio and I can honestly say that it is a sweet display. The cool part is that this display will be available to the pro-sumer market at a suggested retail of around $3500. Read the full press release here.

Oh, by the way, while we were out at DreamWorks, we got a special pre-screening of Kung Fu Panda. It was a really cool movie!!!

June 10th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (1)

Cool Scripts from the Doctor

Here’s your Monday morning dose from the Doc. Russell Brown, Creative Director over at Adobe has a really cool site hosted by his alter ego. The vivacious Dr. Brown. If you haven’t seen Dr. Brown in action then prepare yourself. His zany and unorthodox style make his tutorials both entertaining and informative. In addition, Dr. Brown has also put together a powerful collection of free scripts for Photoshop. These scripts are specific to Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended. They are true time-savers and I use them all the time especially the Extended scripts. Go and download them now and try yourself. Dr. Brown even provides tutorials on using the scripts creatively. Here’s the link.

June 9th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Photoshop Book of the Week

This week I have to call attention to The Creative Digital Darkroom by Katrin Eismann and Sean Duggan. This book brings the techniques and the vernacular of the traditional darkroom into the digital realm. While it’s not necessarily a Photoshop book in the traditional sense, this book focuses on only the photographic aspects of Photoshop, taking the fluff out of using superfluous tools and getting right into making your photos the best they can be. This book is intended for the intermediate to advanced user and will appeal to the artist and photographers alike. Incidentally, Katrin has just released a new course on Kelby Training called Creative Panoramic Photography where she teaches all aspects of creative awesome panoramic photos.

June 5th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Wednesday Inspiration

You really must check out Scott Kelby’s blog today. On Wednesdays he has a guest blogger and so far he has had Vincent Versace and Joe McNally. Well, this week I am thrilled to see that the guest blogger is John Paul Caponigro. John Paul is, without a doubt, one of my favorite photographers and Photoshop gurus. I had the chance to actually chat with him at the last Photoshop World in Orlando and what a treat it was. He is really a great guy and an awesome Photoshop teacher. I love his lectures because he talks from a deeply emotional and philosophical standpoint. This is evident in his guest post, which is titled: Making the Visual Verbal. It’s an interesting read on verbalizing your images through words, both written and spoken. If you are a writer, or aspiring to write, don’t miss this post. Check it out here.

June 4th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (1)

Training, Training and even more Training!

Lately I have been inundated with questions on where people can get more training in Photoshop. I can think of only one other place: KelbyTraining.com. This site is your one-stop shop for the best training by the best people. Check this out, there is an awesome online training library featuring some of the biggest names in Photoshop. Names like Scott Kelby, Katrin Eisman, Bert Monroy, and….Corey Barker. (Ok, so it’s shameless plug.) Anyway this site doesn’t just offer online training. There is also a DVD store with a wide selection of unmatched training material. In fact, Scott Kelby’s newest DVD: Photoshop CS3 for Digital Photographers just became available this past week. The site also features a bookstore where you can find the latest books on Photoshop such as Matt Kloskowski’s new Layers Book. In fact, if you order from this site you can get a signed copy. If you are in to live training then check out the seminars section to see if there’s gonna be a Photoshop seminar in your town. Whew!! I don’t think there is much more I can say, just check it out and enjoy.

June 2nd, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (2)

New Tryouts at Adobe Labs

For you web developers out there, Adobe has just recently made betas available for Dreamweaver CS4, Fireworks CS4, and Soundbooth CS4. These can be downloaded over at Adobe Labs. Just remember, they are beta so there is always the chance of mishaps here and there. At any rate, it’s a great way to get to know the program and perhaps provide some feedback so they can make the program better for your needs. Also if you have never been to the Adobe Labs site before, you really ought to look around. All the newest stuff that Adobe develops is on this site. You never know what you might find. Check it out and have fun.

May 30th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (4)

Joe McNally on Scott’s Blog

If you remember last week Scott started having guest bloggers every Wednesday on his blog. Vincent Versace kicked it off with a very insightful entry. This week Scott has renowned photographer Joe McNally as his guest blogger. Joe is one amazing photographer. Not only are his images simply stunning, he always has a really good story behind each one. This is the essence of his new book: The Moment It Clicks. It’s a collection of memorable images and the stories behind them. It truly is an inspirational book. Anyway, click here to check out this new insightful post. Also here is the link to Joe’s own blog so you can see what he has been up to.

May 28th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Illustrator Tutorials

I know this is a Photoshop site but some have been asking me where they might be able to see some of my Illustrator tutorials. Well, I do have an Illustrator Down & Dirty class on the Kelby Online Training site, but if you want to see some free Illustrator tutorials they can be found on the Layers Magazine website. Here is the link to my tutorials and click here for other great Illustrator tutorials also on the Layers site. While you are there, in case you haven’t seen it yet, check out the current episode of Layers TV. We had special guest Christy Winter come on and break down how she went about creating the Blazing Hot Tips cover design. She briefly touches on the early concept drawing of the idea and bringing it from sketch to screen. Really cool stuff. Here’s the link.

May 27th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (5)

Guest Blogger on Scott Kelby’s Blog

Recently Scott started having what he called “No Blog Wednesdays” to give himself a little mid-week break from filling our minds with industry info. Well instead of having no blogging at all, he just recently started having guest bloggers on Wednesdays and yesterday he kicked it off by having the very person that suggested the idea as his first guest. My friend and fellow Photoshop World instructor Vincent Versace. Vincent also authored the book Welcome to Oz: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop.If you haven’t checked this book out is awesome. Anyway Vincent posted a rather insightful article called Believing is Seeing. That’s all I am going to say you really must read it. Here’s the link.

May 22nd, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (3)

Book Pick of the Week

Of course I usually highlight a Photoshop book, but every so often there are other books that are worth mentioning. This week I want to call attention to Scott Kelby’s new Mac OSX Leopard Book. If you have the previous versions of these, you know as well as I do, these are gold mines for quick tips. I guarantee this book will show you things you probably had no idea your Mac could do. Useful things too. Scott doesn’t just explain how something works, he explains the scenario in which you may find it useful. This title is due for release in early June. Find out more and pre-order yours today here.

May 21st, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)