History of Studio Logos | Contest

Now this is interesting. I found this over at John Nack’s blog the other day. It’s short article that tells the brief history of the logos of some of the biggest Hollywood movie studios. Of course anyone who has watched a movie in the last 50 years has seen at least one of these logos. For instance, there’s a bit about the famous Dreamworks logo with the boy in the moon. It also shows evolution of the Warner Bros logo among others. It’s really interesting to learn a little more about something you’ve seen your whole life, or most of it anyway, and never know the story behind it. Here’s the link.

Also don’t forget, the next Planet tutorial contest is active now and we are receiving submissions. Better hurry, the deadline is February 18. Click here for more info.

February 11th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

To 3D or Not to 3D?

I can remember working in Photoshop CS2 a few years ago and thinking how cool it would be to be able to work with 3D inside Photoshop. Not so much with 3D objects but rather in 3D space, similar to After Effects. Then CS3 Extended came along and gave us our first 3D tools right inside Photoshop. I was, of course, intrigued and couldn’t wait to experiment. Much to my disappointment, it wasn’t entirely what I had hoped. It was very limited in its capabilities and was kinda slow. It was clearly meant for working 3D artists and the average Photoshop artist or designer.

Then came CS4 Extended with its new-and-improved 3D features. Not only did they improve what was already there, but they added even more 3D tools that almost anyone can take advantage of. With the ability to convert layers into 3D planes and even wrapping layers around primitive 3D shapes, now we were talking. Since then I have been going crazy with all kinds of 3D techniques. What I am amazed about is that it doesn’t seem to have caught on with the rest of the Photoshop community out there. Which brings us to the big question: To 3D or Not to 3D? I wanna know what you think. Please post your comments to this blog post and give me your take on 3D in Photoshop. Do you use it? What do you use it for? If not, what is stopping you? What kind of training would you like to see? Or any other thoughts you may have on this subject.

By the way, the above graphic was created entirely in Photoshop CS4 Extended using the native 3D tools.

February 9th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (27)

Photoshop World Classes & Blog

As you know, Photoshop World is creeping up on us and I am especially excited this year as I will be featuring all new courses. I have my Photoshop for Designers class and the Illustrator Down & Dirty Tricks class. I also have a new session called Planet Photoshop Live where we will examine the most popular tutorials right here on Planet Photoshop live right in the class. I am also going to be teaching a special session in the Expo called Exploring 3D with Photoshop CS4 Extended. If you have only ever been curious about the new 3D features in CS3 or CS4, this session will open your eyes to a whole new world of possibilities. Find out more about these classes and others here.

Also to keep you better informed on everything leading up to and during Photoshop World there is now the Photoshop World Blog. This site will keep you in the know with any special events, any questions, and even some fun trivia here and there. It’s a really great way of learning about what is really going on with Photoshop World both past and present. For instance there was just recently a post that showed all the theme posters for the last 10 years. Pretty cool!Check it out here.

February 6th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (4)

New Contest is Live…

Alright here we go again! A new Planet tutorial contest is now live! We had so many entries on the last contest that it only made sense to keep it going. We have selected three new tutorials for you to view and create an original piece of art work. Remember you can use one, a combination of two or even all three techniques in your piece . The piece must reflect some technique used in at least one of the selected tutorials. So go crazy and have fun. Oh, the deadline is February 18th so hurry!! The grand prize this time around is a full one year membership to the National Association of Photoshop Professionals and the Creative Suite 4 Integration dvd by Dave Cross. Click here for more info and to get started or click on that cool contest banner at the top of the page.

February 4th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (4)

Photoshop User Award Winners Announced

The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) today announced the winners of its 4th annual Photoshop® User Awards – the first and only worldwide competition for Adobe® Photoshop® users. Winners were selected from more than 700 entries in 11 categories. Finalists in each category also competed for Best of Show to win an all expense paid, five-day trip for two to Barcelona, Spain.

Winning images can be viewed here.

Award winners for 2008:
Best of Show: Ciro Marchetti – Florida – Gypsy Dancer
Advertising Design: Jose Luis Santana – Mexico – Tough Chicken
Composites/Collages: Mike Campau – Michigan – Stay Green. Go Red.
General Photography: Michael Whitson – Pennsylvania – Day in the Life
Artistic: Glenn Karlsen — Norway – Zipperhead
General Photoshop: Steve McGhee – Canada – The Big Swallow
Illustration: Nelsy Adriana Perez Jimenez – Mexico – Dragons
Landscape/Travel: Kajo Merkert – Germany – Coogee Pool
Wedding/Portrait: Paola Jofre – Canada – Strong Boy and Dog Max
Restoration: Janine Smith – Texas – General Worth
Retouching: Steven Cegelski – New York – Believe
Student Work: Romy Yamsuan – Canada – Ultra Badminton

Winners in 11 categories each receive a prize package valued at $2,500 provided by award sponsors – Adobe, NAPP, Layers magazine, Kelby Training, Peachpit, and Mpix. Plus, their winning image will be showcased in a future issue of Photoshop User magazine.

Best of Show winner Ciro Marchetti receives a dream assignment to Barcelona, Spain for him and an assistant of his choice to create a future cover for Photoshop User magazine, the official publication of NAPP. Round trip airfare, hotel accommodations, hotel transfers, and daily expenses for five days are provided by NAPP.

February 2nd, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (3)

Planet Contest Winners

Well I must say I was most impressed with what he work everyone did for the first ‘Learn It. Do It. Win It.’ contest exclusive here on Planet Photoshop. I want to thank all of you who entered and hope you will join us for future contests. Now…the envelope please? (Insert drum roll here)

The Grand Prize Winner is Lisa with the piece titled “Music“. Congratulations Lisa!!!!
The First Runner-Up is Erich Gellert for “Super Nova Surfer“.
The Second Runner-Up is Sara Lipary for “Night Rider“.

You can view all these winning entries here.

As I mentioned earlier, I was so immensely impressed with the work I saw that I picked a handful of my favorites and will be posting them on a special contest gallery right here on Planet. Be sure to check back soon to see the great work. Also check back soon as we will be starting up the next contest in the next few days.

January 29th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (6)

Book of the Week | Updates

This week’s book selection is not a new book. In fact, it has been out for quite a while but it is a gem for all versions of Photoshop. The book is titled The Photoshop Channels Book by Scott Kelby. Channels are an all too critical tool in Photoshop as any expert will tell you, and this book will help get you there quickly. It covers everything from creating special effects and color correction to masking and compositing. With so few resources on mastering channels out there, this book is a no-brainer!!! Check it out!

There are updates for Camera Raw 5.3 and Lightroom 2.3 available now over at Adobe Labs. It’s the usual drill. They have added some newly supported cameras and fixed a few bugs.

January 26th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (1)

NAPP News on iTunes | Contest Thanks!!

One of the great benefits of being a NAPP member is that you can always stay up-to-date on what going on in the industry. One of those many resources available to NAPP member is the NAPP News show hosted by NAPP Director Larry Becker. Every week Larry brings you what new. Whether it’s a new product, a new event, or maybe something so cool that he just has to tell you about it. Well, until recently the NAPP news was only available NAPP members, but now you can view it as a podcast over on iTunes. Even if you are not a NAPP member this is another good way of finding out what’s happening and what good things are going on for current NAPP members. Larry also does a little contest for NAPP members with some pretty cool prizes.

Speaking of contests, we got an overwhelming response to our first Planet tutorial contest. I want to personally thank all those who entered and really hope you found a way to expand your skills. Sometimes just getting challenged is good motivation. We are currently reviewing the submissions and will be posting the winners in a few days. We will also be posting a three newly selected tutorials for the next contest. Thanks again and good luck!!!

January 21st, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (2)

The Game Is On

What is perhaps best described as the Super Bowl of Photoshop events. Photoshop World is once again upon us. A fitting description as this years theme is football. I am very excited about this year. We have got all the great stuff you love and some new stuff as well. I am teaching all new classes this year. For instance, I have a class called Planet Photoshop Live! where I will be demonstrating some the most popular tutorials right here on Planet Photoshop live. Of course with a few surprises here and there. Go here for a list of all classes and instructors. This year we are Boston on March 25-27 for Photoshop World East and it’s going to be a blast. It’s also going to be cold. Brrrrrr!!!! Hope to see you there.

Don’t forget for those of you around the Tampa Bay area I will be teaching at the Digital Technology Center in Sarasota on January 24, 2009. This is a day long, hands on course on creating cool design effects with Photoshop. Here’s the link.

January 16th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Contest Submission Ends Today | Book of the Week

The clock is ticking! You have until midnight tonight to get those submissions in for the Learn It/Do it/Win It Design Contest exclusively here on Planet Photoshop. The big prize for this one is a full pass to Photoshop World. Plus it’s a great way to see what you and many others did with the same material. So don’t miss out! Tick tock, tick tock…

Scott Kelby just recently released his Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers. Ok, well we all knew that but did you also know that he has a special batch of limited edition spiral bound versions of this invaluable resource. Due to numerous request, these spiral bound versions are available for a very short time and in limited quantities, and is only available here. As a bonus, all spiral copies will be signed by the author himself. Check it out here.

January 15th, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)