06.29.09
The Penguin Mask
posted by Tim Frick at 2:32 pm
An animated exhibit for the Shedd Aquarium offers some unique production challenges. We recently created a twelve-minute animated 3D penguin habitat scene for the John G. Shedd Aquarium as part of the Oceanarium Reimagined, a significant overhaul to that portion of the museum. At twenty-five feet wide by fifteen feet tall and spanning across three HD projectors, the animation provided many opportunities for us to roll our sleeves up and put on our technical problem solving caps, not the least of which was the fact that it needed to nestle snugly into the organic crevices of a man-made rock formation. Our hope for a seamless and pixel-perfect blend of rock and animation was to project a still frame onto the wall…Read more »
04.07.09
Host with the Most II: The Reckoning
posted by Travis Chandler at 8:27 am
“Yahoo?! Don’t get me started on Yahoo” Whit says with a roll of his eyes. We’re discussing hosting providers again, and this one’s obviously wronged him in the past. I comment that Yahoo’s page always looks kind of crappy too, and Whit agrees, noting that it’s probably a result of their addiction to adding features. “When you keep adding features like that, you’re likely to become spread too thin” he says, and I concur. We both nod grimly at this major company’s crappiness. On to the next one. Go Daddy meets with similar dismissal, but with a saving grace. In Whit’s words, “They’re a great domain registrar. I use them myself. But they over-reached when they decided to become a hosting…Read more »
04.01.09
Good-Looking Web Typography: A Few Principles
posted by Joy Burke at 10:50 am
Having a strong background in print design has served to ease my transition into the so-called “real world,” while it has also presented various hurdles I’ve been learning (and plan to keep on learning) to overcome. At first, I was very hesitant and stubborn to even think about straying away from the wonderful world of print. Then I started working for Mightybytes (one of the internet’s best friends), and I was quickly convinced otherwise. I soon learned that I could apply standard typographical rules to the work we do at Mightybytes on the web, and get satisfying, beautiful design work not only in print design, but on the internet too! Applying great typography to the web can be narrowed down to…Read more »
04.01.09
Alphabet Soup: The Brothy Murk of Video Formats
posted by Travis Chandler at 9:44 am
My love of Final Cut runs deep. In school, when there was a choice between focusing on Avid and Final Cut, it was a no-brainer for me. I’m a Mac guy, for one thing, and Final Cut is sooooo Macintosh. It also just felt right, and I found the vast majority of the program to be powerful and intuitive. There was only one stage of the Final Cut process that I found disturbingly complicated: the insane amount of options offered to you when you’re trying to export. You just finished your project, and you’re excited as all get-out to show some folks. You planned ahead, and know exactly what format you’re going to be delivering in because you read how…Read more »
04.01.09
Host with the Most: What to Look for in Hosting Providers
posted by Tim Frick at 9:30 am
Defining hosting options is something that’s important to do as early on in the production process as possible, should they be relevant for your project. When searching for a provider to host your content, look for someone who offers a variety of easy-to-use services and is eager to become your ally when developing Web projects. Sure, cost-effectiveness is important, but available tech support and a wide array of easy-to-configure utilities and server enhancements go a long way in making your job as a developer much easier. A difficult or unresponsive hosting provider can be one of the quickest ways to ruin a relationship between you and your client. If something goes wrong on the server and you don’t…Read more »
03.13.09
Video Encoding Tools a Go-Go
posted by Travis Chandler at 2:01 pm
One of the most common problems I run into as a producer of online video is exporting issues. In a perfect world, clients would ask for (and pay for) all of the formats they would ever need up front on every project. Of course, that’s not the way it usually plays out. It seems like every other day, I’m converting a QuickTime to an FLV or vice-versa. Compress the heck out of it for quick loading on a website, then export the largest file you can for projection at a stadium. Okay, maybe not a stadium, maybe a board room. But you get the idea. The importance of pre-planning can’t be overstated. Knowing what your final deliverable is going to…Read more »
03.01.09
Website Optimization Review
posted by Tim Frick at 11:15 am
If you're at all involved in website creation or content, you should definitely check this book out. Website Optimization by Andrew B. King is a comprehensive resource that can help web designers and developers build better and speedier sites that engage users and drive traffic. That's the simple truth. How it accomplishes this lofty feat is through a detailed and multidisciplinary approach to CSS, JavaScript, design, content writing, marketing, advertising, SEO, conversion ratio optimization, and about a gajillion other topics. This multidisciplinary approach means that just about anyone, from newcomers to seasoned professionals, can find useful content in its pages, making it a valuable resource for those looking to boost site traffic or better serve customers online. It will also help…Read more »
01.21.09
2008: The Year in Review
posted by Tim Frick at 3:17 pm
Last year was one of monumental ups and downs, historic transitions and achievements in design and technology that will have long-lasting effects on the way creative companies like Mightybytes serve our clients. Despite general economic woes, design and communication technology still forged ahead and we all reaped the benefits. We polled each other around the office and came up with the following list of things that significantly changed not only the way we do things at Mightybytes but had an impact on the industry at large. They are in no particular order.
01.21.09
Best of ‘08: Dashboard Widgets
posted by Tim Frick at 3:06 pm
Tai uses widgets like Symbol Caddy, SuperRule, CSS Typography Calculator, and the Lorem Ipsum Widget on a daily basis for many web projects. These mini-apps help streamline the development process by putting common tasks like adding greek text and adjusting font size on web pages at his fingertips.
01.21.09
Best of ‘08: Flash Catalyst Pre-Release
posted by Tim Frick at 2:55 pm
Though it’s still many months from a final release, Flash Catalyst promises to change designer/developer workflows for Flash apps. Sporting a GUI with familiar design tools, Catalyst allows designers to build interfaces with interactivity but without having to know a lot of code. What’s revolutionary about this application is that it writes files that developers can open in Flex without altering their structure. Thus, designers and developers can bounce files back and forth during development, making iterative tweaks to interface and functionality without having to retool each other’s work. Check out a longer review of Catalyst in Tim’s entry on The Best of Adobe MAX 2008.
01.21.09
Best of ‘08: Sony PMW-EX1
posted by Tim Frick at 2:46 pm
Tapeless cameras have been around for a while now, but Travis is pretty sure that our HD Sony PMW-EX1 is camera nirvana. The vast number of professional features, the quality of HD footage it shoots, and the ease with which we can now shoot and edit onsite if necessary has made this camera the cornerstone of our production environment. Check out Tim’s blog entry on the camera for a full review of its strengths and features.
01.21.09
Best of ‘08: Mino HD
posted by Tim Frick at 2:40 pm
Tim and Travis both agree that Flip Video’s Mino HD camera is industry-changing. HD footage that is pristine in quality from a device about the size of an iPod Nano with a price tag under $300.00 is just astounding. This really is the iPod of HD cameras: quick to learn, easy to use, nice design, and stunning quality. The only drawback we can see is that unless you put it on some sort of tripod, the digital zoom feature is jerky at best and seizure-inducing at worst.
Categories
Recent Posts
- The Penguin Mask »
- Host with the Most II: The Reckoning »
- Good-Looking Web Typography: A Few Principles »
- Alphabet Soup: The Brothy Murk of Video Formats »
- Host with the Most: What to Look for in Hosting Providers »
- Video Encoding Tools a Go-Go »
- Website Optimization Review »
- 2008: The Year in Review »
- Best of ‘08: Dashboard Widgets »
- Best of ‘08: Flash Catalyst Pre-Release »
- Best of ‘08: Sony PMW-EX1 »
- Best of ‘08: Mino HD »
- Best of ‘08: CMS/Blog Apps »
- Best of ‘08: jQuery »
- Best of ‘08: Arkaos Grand VJ »
- Best of ‘08: Blacktree’s Quicksilver »
- Best of ‘08: Website Grader »
- Best of ‘08: iPhone 3G and App Store »
- Best of ‘08: Lovely Lovely Lynda »
- Best of ‘08: Adobe Creative Suite 4 »
- Radio Free Mightybytes »
- Adobe MAX Roundup »
- Best of Adobe MAX #5: 3D Integration in Photoshop and After Effects »
- Best of Adobe MAX #4: Sound Synthesis in Flash »
- Best of Adobe MAX #3: Speech-to-Text in Premiere »
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