We've seen replicas of the popular Batman Tumbler vehicle before this, but what happens if your mode of transport is something really small, like a golf cart? If you're creative and are determined, you'll be able to get your own Tumbler too, as can be seen in the picture above. It was obviously created by a Batman fan, and you have to admit, riding this out in the golf course will do a good job of intimidating your golf buddy.

Permalink: Batman Tumbler Golf Cart from Ubergizmo | Hot: Evo 4G Review, iPad Review

This is a true artifact of gaming history. The notebook of Toru Iwatani, creator of Pac-Man, complete with sketched-out pixel art, prototype mazes, and ghost movements. My god! Remember when you could sketch out an entire game on a page of graph paper? More here.

[via 1up and Kotaku]

How about something similar for movies? Suggestions?

Peter Callesen, "Fall", 2008

You might have already read our series on food artists. B/D has decided to feature another 3-part series on cut paper artists! The art of paper-cutting evolved from the traditional Chinese craft, stretching back to the 6th century. Today, contemporary paper artists have pushed this art-form into focus once again. Armed with their X-Acto knives, (and nail scissors?), these artists have redefined the meaning of intricate. (Some actually believing they’ve only completed a day’s work once their hands shake with fatigue, waking up sore the next morning!) Though it can be frail, finicky, and prone to tearing, their choice of medium is deliberate; they’ve claimed paper as a way of using an ordinary material to express themselves in unconventional ways. Check out the three cut paper artists of the day!

Bovey Lee

Growing up in Hong Kong, Bovey Lee felt a special connection to the ancient craft of paper-cutting that was a part of her heritage. She chose to modernize it in order to elevate the craft and reflect China’s history; all the while telling stories of its current struggles and survival. Her obscenely intricate and yet effortlessly precise works are intended to engage her contemporary audience in political discourse to raise concern for the side effects of rapid urbanization.

Bovey Lee, "Spine", 2007

Bovey Lee, "Atomic Jellyfish", 2007

Bovey Lee, "Tsunami-Enmeshed", 2008

Bovey Lee, "Tsunami-Enmeshed", 2008

Bovey Lee, "The Butterfly Gown", 2010

Peter Callesen

Most recently, Peter Callesen has designated plain white A4 paper his medium of choice for its simplicity and familiarity. He makes work that relates to the average person, who, most likely, receives and shares information on those very same white sheets. His works have evolved into installations of a much larger scale, but his paper cuts in every size focus on both the image protruding from the paper, as well as the shadow space left by that image. The two parts, positive and negative, are created to foil each other, and reflect Callesen’s reoccurring themes of tragedy and romanticism.

Peter Callesen, "Transparent God", 2009

Peter Callesen, "Mirage II", 2005

Peter Callesen, "The Short Distance Between Time and Shadow", 2006

Chris Natrop

Unlike may cut paper artists, Chris Natrop employs a technique he likes to call “knife drawing.” All his cut paper works are created in a stream of consciousness style, with no pre-drawing whatesoever. Working with enormous sheets of drawing paper, most of his works are large-scale. Many comprise of room-size installations, in which he manipulates light and video projections to play up shadows, and create immersive environments.

Chris Natrop, "Lost in Space", 2007

Chris Natrop, "Black Butterfly Sparkle Bomb", 2006

Chris Natrop, "Into the Siver See-Through", 2006

Chris Natrop, "Sparkle Lump", 2010

Chris Natrop, "Great River Mash Up", 2010

3D CHARACTER ART AND ANIMATION SOFTWARE

I’ve been reviewing and using Poser for many years now and have to say that Poser 8 is one of the most significant upgrades to date. The folks at Smith Micro really raised the bar this time. Two key improvements are the new interface and the much-improved OpenGL features.

Poser 8 provides users with an improved interface with a cleaner design that’s easier on the eyes. The tool palettes are arranged to allow for a much larger preview window, and the tools feel more responsive. The OpenGL improvements have really enhanced the preview capabilities by giving users a more accurate scene preview when setting up lights, etc. These improvements alone make working in the program much more manageable and responsive.

The other key updated feature I think users will love is the expanded library. In Poser 8, there’s an abundance of content. With eight new figures that are ready to take into the Face Room, Walk Designer, and Talk Designer, you can have a fully controlled model in no time! Also, with 2.5 GB of content, you’ll have more than enough to get you started with making magic right out of the box.

There are other new features that are just as impressive, such as content management system, improved rigging, and tone mapping and exposure, but there’s not enough room to go into depth on each one. This upgrade is definitely worth it for the improvements to the interface and OpenGL alone.—Bruce Bicknell

Company: Smith Micro Software
Price: $249.99 (Upgrade: $129.99)
Web: www.smithmicro.com
Rating: 4.5

Hot: Improved interface; improved render quality; tons of content
Not: Search could be faster; a little pricey for upgrade

If you're unhappy with the latest Facebook privacy settings but don't want to kill your account completely, ReadWriteWeb has highlighted two services--both Facebook apps--that might give you back some control. They're not perfect solutions, though. The Green Safe app scrapes all your data into a stand-alone tab that only your friends can access, but it also means a third-party developer will replace Facebook as your data holder (the app will use your data to serve ads as well). The Give Me My Data app lets you export all of your Facebook content so that you don't lose anything if you disconnect your profile from Facebook's pages.

"New App Helps Keep Facebook's Hands Off Your Data" [ReadWriteWeb]
"Give Me My Data Helps Refill Blanked Facebook Profiles" [ReadWriteWeb]

In this brief demo, Photoshop PM Bryan O'Neil Hughes shows off some new selection technology that offers better edge detection and masking results in less time--even with tricky images like hair:

(You can see it in higher resolution on Facebook.)

Hopefully this helps explain why we put the Extract filter out to pasture in CS4.

[Update: See also another great mask made with Photoshop :-). (Via Steven Johnson)]

If you’re in need of a photographic creative boost, you’ve come to the right place. Enjoy the following ideas and tips that come from my latest book, Visual Poetry: A Creative Guide for Making Engaging Digital Photographs (www.visual-poet.com).

1 [WIDE-EYED WONDER]
When someone watches something with wide-eyed wonder, what exactly does that mean? There’s the childlike connotation: a sense of wonder, astonishment, and surprise. That’s exactly how I imagine the personality of my wide-angle lens. When I look through, the lens begs me to see the world with wonder and awe. A wide-angle lens allows you to quickly change perspective, bending lines or causing them to travel down the frame. And when you’re shooting a larger scene, get low and close so you have a subject in the foreground of the scene.

2 [MOVE]
One of my favorite lenses is a 50mm. I think of this lens as natural, honest, reliable, dependable, and fair. It’s an unpretentious lens with an earnest and genuine soul. It’s not overly dramatic, and it definitely doesn’t play tricks. The fixed and normal focal length lens requires that you do the work, move your feet, and engage. Regardless of what you use, approach your other lenses the same way. Rather than relying on the lens to create the shot, move up, move down, and get close and around until you find what works best.

3 [KEEP IT SIMPLE]
I agree with what Rodney Smith once said, “Composition is to photography what rhythm is to music.” If you want to create more compelling photographs, you need to keep things simple. As you move and change your perspective, look for line, shape, and form. Remember that composing a photograph isn’t only about what’s inside the four walls of a frame; rather, it’s about what’s left behind. The next time you’re shooting, remember Ralph Clevenger’s words, “Reduce and simplify!”

4 [LOOK FOR DIRECTIONAL LINES]
As a beginning drawing student, I remember learning about perspective and drawing with a vanishing point in mind. In photography, similar rules apply. When you’re out shooting, look for directional lines. These lines will direct the eye and if framed a certain way, can resolve or converge. Typically, we don’t see these very well because our minds “correct” the perspective that we see. To make great pictures, we have to unlearn what we know and follow the lines as they travel through the frame.

5 [SLOW DOWN YOUR SHUTTER SPEED]
In photography, creating motion can make even the most ordinary or over-photographed scene come alive. And learning how to work with shutter speed can make photography new and fun. When you select Time Value (sometimes called Speed), the camera prioritizes shutter speed and takes cares of the rest. In other words, you can select a shutter speed without worrying about what aperture works best. With your camera on a tripod, try choosing a slow shutter speed and the world will become a blur.

6 [PAN WITH SLOW SHUTTER SPEED]
Panning involves selecting a slow shutter speed and then panning the camera at the same speed as the subject. For example, if a car drove by, you’d focus and position the lens so that it always pointed directly at the car. As the camera was panning to follow the car’s pass, you would press the shutter and voilà, you’d have an interesting frame. Dial in the right amount of blur with the shutter speed: slower = more blur; faster = less blur.

7 [WITH PATTERNS—FILL THE FRAME]
Cameras allow us to see details in really interesting ways. Rather than seeing all the clutter of our world, we can focus on small details, patterns, and more. Fill the frame with a pattern and it will excite the eye, causing the viewer to imagine the pattern extending beyond the edges of the frame. Patterns exist all around us and change with the quality of light. Some subjects come alive with harsh noon light and others prefer more subdued or even golden light. Whatever the light, begin to look for patterns in your day-to-day life.

8 [PHOTOGRAPH ATHLETES AT THE END OF THE DAY]
Athletes and outdoor enthusiasts have incredible energy. It’s easy to spot them from a hundred yards away: Athletes look different, the way they carry themselves, the composure and confidence; and they’re typically photographed amidst the action. Don’t miss out on their moments of repose though. Relaxed and rested, the athlete’s kinetic force remains full. I’ve found that candid is best, as in this shot after a fun day of skiing: Travis and Holly were standing close by the door, I swung my camera around, they briefly looked up, and I captured the shot.

9 [CONTEXT IS KING]
Do you remember as a child seeing a favorite teacher in a store? How could she be here? In your mind, her whole world was the classroom, and that’s where she belonged. Seeing her out of context was curious, confusing, and kind of cool. The same goes for athletes and outdoor adventurers. We know where they belong. When we see them out of context, it quickens our view, as in this Ironman World Champion triathlete, in front of an old warehouse wall.

10 [CREATE A SENSE OF SCALE]
Humans have intricate sensory receptors and as a result, it’s easy to be overwhelmed. This happens to me every time I hike in the California Sierras: I want to pull my camera out and capture the scene. Yet if we’re not careful, our photographs will be lacking and dull. Many times, the remedy is to position the subject to add a sense of scale and grandeur—as in this photograph. Even more, this perspective invites the viewer to find some snowshoes and follow along.

11 [ALWAYS KEEP YOUR CAMERA CLOSE BY]
Keeping your camera close at hand ensures that you won’t miss a shot. Whenever I travel or go camping, I set my camera bag next to my pillow so I can take a picture of the first sight I see. Not only does this help you capture some interesting shots, it will awaken your senses to the quality of light and colors that you see as the new day begins. And, as the day progresses, always carrying a camera will continually open your eyes to sights that would otherwise have been lost.

12 [EYE CONTACT BRINGS YOU BACK]
Many of the most compelling photographs of all time have been of people. Portraiture has been of profound interest for thousands of years and its course has been as diverse as its subject matter. While it’s impossible to determine the root of our love and fascination with photographs of people, their value—and our interest—continues to grow. The next time you’re making a portrait, try for honest, authentic, and strong eye contact in order to create a connection and cause the viewer to look and then look again.

13 [PHOTOGRAPH FAMILY ACCOMPLISHMENTS]
Photographing what’s most important to you is key and that’s why we take so many pictures of our families. There are times when taking pictures interrupts, and other times when it ignites. Photographing family accomplishments is definitely the latter. Cameras are expected at ballet recitals, soccer games, horse shows, or the top of the mountain after a long hike. When you pull out a camera after a success, it makes people light up, hug tighter, smile bigger, and jump higher.

14 [INITIATE AND INSTIGATE]
As a kid, there’s nothing better than having a cool uncle and my Uncle Jim was the best. He made us laugh harder than anyone else and bent some of the ordinary rules. When we were with him, we wouldn’t get in trouble—my parents let things slide. And the same goes for good photographers. Believe it or not, having a camera in hand gives you a license to bend a few of the rules and act as a catalyst. This means you can ask for different types of behavior—like picking up some fall leaves and throwing them in the air.

15 [SPEND TIME WITH OTHER ARTISTS]
You need to surround yourself with people who love what they do. As with most professions, photography has its curmudgeons who feed off crushing dreams. Those types of people spread their ideas like secondhand smoke: Don’t breathe it in; even better, run the other way. Find people who are passionate and who embrace the challenges of life with grit. Let them be your source of ideas and inspiration. Like surround-sound speakers, let the message of their life stream in from all sides.

16 [DREAM BIG DREAMS]
Daydreamers know that realism isn’t effective. Goals and dreams need to have an edge of unrealistic aspiration to get us out the gate. The more unrealistic the dream, the faster we move. Such dreamers take risks. The best dreams are so risky that they’re ridiculed by everyone. When they’re accomplished, the redemption is sweet. If you want to go far, you need to begin to dream. As T.S. Eliot said, “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

17 [EDIT WITH SOMETHING IN MIND]
When editing your photos, it’s helpful to actively think what it is that you actually want; otherwise, editing hundreds of photos dulls your senses like channel-surfing satellite TV. Determine a few qualities that you want. For example, you could take inspiration from Diane Arbus, who once said, “A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know.” Decide to select the photographs that tell enough, but not too much. Create a whole list of criteria and then begin the search.

18 [PATH TO BEING A PRO]
Photography is a competitive field. And the path to becoming a pro is littered with broken dreams and ill-used expensive gear. People may say there’s no use even trying; you might as well give up. I say no way. The bigger the challenge, the better the reward. Sure, photography might be tough but that’s what makes it so much fun. If you find the idea of getting paid to make pictures irresistible, then the time to begin is now! If this article inspired you, then get outside and start taking things up a notch. Go for it!

ALL IMAGES BY CHRIS ORWIG UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

Sometimes it’s necessary to use both Illustrator and Photoshop to get a particular effect.

Sometimes it’s necessary to use both Illustrator and Photoshop to get a particular effect. There’s some feature in one application that doesn’t exist in the other. And even if it does appear in both, it might work better in one than the other. Take the Warp function for example: In Photoshop you’re limited to four points, eight handles, and three rows and three columns; on the other hand, Illustrator allows you to set the number of rows and columns you need, thus greatly enhancing the amount of distortion you’re capable of producing.

The new 3D functions added to Photoshop Extended allow you to create and alter a variety of incredible shapes but one function that’s lacking is a “lathing” tool—allowing you to create a cross section of a shape and have it revolve to form an entire shape. In Illustrator, that feature exists and it’s aptly named Revolve. For example, in Photoshop it’s quite difficult to create a simple oblong disk—like an M&M.

Cook up some M&Ms in Illustrator

Two giant billboard screens in Times Square display animations to whet onlookers’ appetites for something sweet to eat. These animations switch between little M&M characters in various situations to thousands of M&Ms swirling, flying, and falling around. In the Times Square painting I’m working on, I have an M&M character in one and a bunch of M&Ms falling in the other. Let’s take a look at how to create an avalanche of M&Ms.

Step One: In Illustrator, start by creating half the shape of one M&M with the Pen tool (P), then choose a green Stroke and Fill color in the Options Bar. This will determine the color of the object being rendered.

Step Two: To turn the shape into a piece of candy-colored chocolate, call up the 3D function (Effect>3D>Revolve). In this dialog, you can set the viewing angle of the object by spinning the cube in the Position section of the panel or entering specific degrees for the X, Y and Z axes. You can add Perspective too, but in our example, perspective will only add an unwanted distortion. Try using the settings shown here as a starting point (be sure to set the Offset: From drop-down menu to Right Edge to get the proper shape).

To set the lighting controls, click the More Options button (the button changes to Fewer Options once it’s been pressed) and you’ll be able to create, position, and modify multiple light sources to give your object the appearance you desire. We set the Surface to Plastic Shading to simulate the candy coating of the M&Ms. Click OK when you’re finished.

Step Three: To duplicate your M&M, press-and-hold Command-Option (PC: Ctrl-Alt) and then click-and drag the shape. To alter the viewing angle of each duplicate and make it appear to be an individual morsel, go to the Appearance panel and click on 3D Revolve. This brings up the 3D Revolve Options dialog where you can alter the current shape without having to re-establish the lighting.

Note: Once your shape has been turned into a 3D object, you cannot change its shape from the Effect>3D>Revolve menu, as it will override the previous effect and start from scratch.

Step Four: Choose Select>All and press Command-C (PC: Ctrl-C) to copy all of the shapes to the Clipboard. Then click on the Create New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and press Command-V (PC: Ctrl-V) to paste the shapes into the new layer. With all the shapes still selected, click on Fill and change the color of this batch of new M&Ms to blue, and then change the Stroke to blue, as well. As our M&Ms are “falling in space,” no two will be in exactly the same position, so use the Selection tool to reposition them. Then modify the viewing angle in the 3D Revolve Options dialog for each again to add more variety to your candy bits. Tip: This needs only the slightest turn of the shape within the 3D panel. Repeat this step to create a set of red M&Ms and a set of orange M&Ms, each on their own layer.

Bring each color into Photoshop

Once all the different colors have been created, it’s time to bring them into Photoshop.

Step Five: You should have four layers in Illustrator, one for each color: green, blue, red, and orange. (Note: For expediency, we’re only showing blue and green in our examples.) We want to bring each color into Photoshop separately so, in the Layer’s panel in Illustrator, click on the box (now you’ll see a little padlock) to the right of the Eye icon beside three of the layers to lock them. The layer that isn’t locked is the one we’ll copy to Photoshop. Choose Select>All, then Edit>Copy to copy the contents of the unlocked layer to the Clipboard.

Step Six: In Photoshop, make a new blank document (File>New) where you’ll assemble the falling bits of candy. Then Edit>Paste the contents of the first layer into your Photoshop document—the paste function automatically places the contents into their own layer. In the dialog that appears, choose Pixels, then press Return (PC: Enter).

Switch back to Illustrator. Lock the layer we just copied and unlock the next one to be copied. Follow the steps above (selecting, copying, and pasting) until all four layers have been copied to the Photoshop document.

Step Seven: The four layers fall in position directly over each other, so they tend to hide each other in the Photoshop document. Determine their actual positions by selecting each individual candy and positioning it within the canvas to its final place in the scene. (Note: To select an individual piece of candy, just draw a loose selection around it with the Lasso tool and then drag it with the Selection tool.) You may have to scale some (Edit>Transform>Scale) to give the appearance of being closer or further back within the mass of candy bits.

You may also want to duplicate a few here and there to add more candies. I suggest using Layer>New>Layer Via Copy, as this will send your duplicate to a new layer where it can be manipulated without disturbing the other candy bits. This is helpful when you have two overlapping same-color bits and you decide to move one slightly over the other, then you won’t damage the one below.

Adding the M

You could apply the “M” that’s stamped onto each candy as a texture map to the object. Clicking the Map Art button in the 3D Revolve Options dialog allows you to take any Illustrator element that’s been converted into a Symbol and apply it in any specified position onto the surface of the object. For my M&Ms, however, I wanted every M to look slightly different from the others because real M&Ms have slight variations to the way the letters are stamped onto the surface of the candy.

Step Eight: So, create your “M” in a separate document and add it to the candies within the Photoshop document by placing your “M” layer above the candy shape that will contain it. Then use the Warp command (Edit>Transform>Warp) to distort it into position. Finally, press Command-E (PC: Ctrl-E) to merge each “M” layer down into the layer with the candy shape.

Get the shapes a’movin’

To make the M&Ms appear as if they’re falling together, we need to add some motion blur and shadows.

Step Nine: To get the effect that this image is a moving animation, select the candy bits toward the top of the image and choose Filter>Blur>Motion Blur, choose your settings, and click OK. Use different Angles and Distances in the dialog to make the top candies appear to be falling faster than the ones below.

Step Ten: One final touch to make the M&Ms appear to be falling together is to add shading. Create a New Layer above each colored candy layer to contain “shadows.” With this layer active, select a soft black Brush (B) and apply strokes above the individual candy bits. Then add an inverted (black) Layer Mask to this layer and use a soft-edged white brush to reveal and refine the strokes. We added a Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur using different amounts to make them seem to be at different distances from the candies they’re casting the shadows onto. You can clip the shadows to the candies below by holding the Option button and clicking between the shadow layer and candy layer.

Step Eleven: For the final figure, we filled the Background layer with black (Edit>Fill, then select Use Black, and click OK) to complete the sense of depth to the image.

I hope you’ve learned a few tricks (without causing you to break your diet by downing a few bags of M&Ms). Bon appétit.

This is a really cool announcement today! Ever since the Intuos4 came out, my tablet usage has really skyrocketed (a lot had to do with the performance of the mouse – see my original post here). While I think that the tablet is now one of those must have accessories in your creative arsenal, one of the things I’ve always wondered about is whether these tablets would ever go wireless using Bluetooth technology. Now I have to wonder no more with the release of the new Intuos4 Wireless tablet. Check out some information below:

“Vancouver, WA – Feb. 1, 2010 – Today, Wacom® announces the Intuos®4 Wireless professional pen tablet, a highly-anticipated product featuring Bluetooth wireless technology. The new Intuos4 Wireless is expected to be warmly embraced by photographers, designers and artists who seek the freedom of wireless technology as well as the control and comfort benefits inherent in Wacom’s professional line of pen tablets. The liberating experience of being able to move about the room and work “unattached” from a computer also makes the Intuos4 Wireless an excellent tool for use at a collaborative work session or in a classroom setting such as an art class or photography seminar. In addition, the medium-sized Intuos4 Wireless fits easily into most computer laptop bags, making it a wonderful input solution for mobile creative professionals and students. ”

—-

I for one totally welcome the wireless tablet. We’ll be showing it off on Layers TV taping TODAY. For more information on this, please make sure to visit www.wacom.com

I have always wanted a shortcut for Flattening all layers, but there isn't one by default. This is the perfect example of when the ability to create custom keyboard shortcuts is valuable. Simply select Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts, set the "Shortcuts For" pull-down menu to Application Menus, Click the disclosure triangle for "Layers" and add your own custom shortcut.

Command (Mac) / Control (Win) + Shift + E will merge all visible layers (hidden layers will remain untouched).

The theory behind shooting portraits on a green-screen background is a good one: Give yourself a solid color that’s easy to select. The problem has always been that it isn’t easy to automate extracting subjects from the background—until now. Here’s a method to create a Photoshop action to extract your subjects and place them in a new background.

1 PREPARATION IS EVERYTHING
Your chances of success in a project like this will depend on the work you do up front. You need good, consistent lighting of the green screen, some distance between your subjects and the background to avoid shadows, and all the portraits should be framed in a similar way. Also, keep your graphic elements in a specific folder. For our example we’re going to use a series of “karate kids.”

click here to go to the tutorial