I got my first Apple computer five years ago, and for about the first three hours I was really frustrated trying to figure out the new operating system. Once I learned I needed to look on the LEFT side of a window to close the screen, and that both the up and down scroll arrows were at the bottom of the scroll bar, I quickly became a fan of Apple and vowed never to return to the land of PCs.  Because of my deep love for Apple I have been patiently waiting for the iPhone to come to Verizon.  Unfortunately due to circumstances out of my control (i.e. losing my phone during a shopping adventure) I was forced to jump into the world of smart phones with an Android phone rather than continuing my wait for the iPhone.

I was expecting to disappointed by my Samsung Fascinate, simply because it was not an Apple product, however I have been pleasantly surprised.  The Fascinate uses Samsung technology currently being implemented in their television and computer screens.  The phone has an AMOLED screen, which enhances the colors, brightness, and resolution creating a HD screen unlike anything else currently on the market.  The 4 inch, high quality screen, makes viewing videos and pictures just as enjoyable as viewing them on a computer.

The more I use the phone the more I like it.  The Android operating system offers opportunity for customization that greatly enhances user experience.  I can rotate through 7 different home screens, add edit and change apps both to the home screen as well as through out the app market, and I have access to an expandable status bar so I am always aware of software updates, new messages, and can easily connect to Wi-Fi. But perhaps the thing I have been most impressed by is the talk to text feature.  By simply speaking a command I am able to answer text messages, search the web, or navigate through my phone by simply speaking what I want.  Unlike past experience with speech recognition software this one is extremely accurate.

Best of all my Fascinate is part of the Verizon network, no matter how much I love Apple there was no way I was leaving Verizon for AT&T.  Verizon offers an unlimited data plan for only $30 a month where AT&T doesn’t even offer an unlimited data plan.  This means my cell phone bill caps out at 42 dollars a month while people using their iPhones with AT&T could be paying $100 or more a month.  While I understand wanting to wait for the iPhone, there are plenty of options currently on the market such as the Samsung Fascinate, which may actually be superior to the iphone.

also been talking with friends who have other android phones and all of them are extremelypleasewith their phones.  I even talked to a guy who had the Iphone for several months and then switched back to his Droid because he missed the ease and customization options of the Droid.  While it pains me to say anything negative about Apple, it looks like they maybe loosing the smart phone war when compared with all the android options currently on the market.

If you are a digital artist, can you imagine doing your job without a Wacom tablet?  Sure, traditional art is still great and always will be, but for the digital age, once you use a Wacom tablet there is no turning back.  It has been so long now that I have forgotten what the old ways were actually like!  I began my digital art experience with the smallest tablet Wacom produced, back when I had just entered high school.  The drawing surface was about 3 inches by 2 inches, and I am not sure pressure was even taken into account.  Before the tablet, you had to draw with the computer mouse, which at the time seemed revolutionary.  Nowadays, it seems like every company has work stations setup with a Wacom tablet for their artists, and schools are making them available for students to rent.

About two years ago I was introduced to the Cintiq monitor by Wacom and it has changed my art life forever.  If you are unfamiliar with a Cintiq, it is a 21 inch, adjustable screen that you draw directly on. This gorgeous piece of equipment sits on your desk, and is connected to your computer. It acts as a primary monitor, or dual monitor if preferred.  Unlike Wacom’s drawing tablets, where you draw on the pad, but are looking at your computer screen; a Cintiq allows you to draw directly on the screen, giving you the utmost accuracy digital artists have available to them today.  Students to professionals are using this technology for projects ranging from 2D animation, graphic design, 3D animation, etc. Once you experience drawing on a Cintiq monitor, going back to a regular old bamboo drawing tablet seems archaic, and if you are like me, nearly impossible.

The Wacom Cintiq includes some software, the fully adjustable stand (enabling you to rotate left and right, as well as adjust the angle making it stand up straight, or lean completely flat), the cables, and of course the pen (and pen stand).  The pen reacts to pressure for each brush stroke. The Cintiq offers quality craftsmanship, not like some of the imitators who have developed “all in one” touch screen computers.  So, if you are lucky enough to have already used Wacom’s Cintiq then you know what I am talking about, and if not, trust me you have not experienced digital art until you use one.

Check out our shark-themed skateboards! When Discovery’s Shark Week sponsored the X Games, they were looking for one-of-a-kind boards to auction off to benefit Oceana, the oceans advocacy organization. It’s a great cause… and who turns down a chance to design skateboards?

Alex, Mike and Jesse showing off their handiwork:

Designing and constructing an urban environment is one of the biggest endeavors a designer can take on. Recently a standalone 3d application has been made available. The application is called CityEngine and is made by Procedural Inc. Although the software is expensive, ranging from $1695 to $4950, it can save both time and money, which most projects never have enough of.

Cityengine works by creating a network of bezier curves which serve as a guide for streets, sidewalks, streetlights and buildings to be placed. As a creative, the best aspect is that the program allows you to determine the level of involvement you want. You can customize every detail down to the building materials of a sidewalk, or use the City Wizard and make a generic city in about 5 minutes. Recently, I used Cityengine to build a small city for a promo for the CBS Television Distribution series, “Numbers”. After constructing the city to my liking in Cityengine, I exported the geometry out and did some further texturing and animating in Cinema4d. Oh yeah, did I mention that all of the geometry can be exported and imported into your favorite 3D program? Cityengine can be purchased at http://www.procedural.com.

Working in the advertising industry, we’re always striving for better quality, quicker turnaround and greater cost savings to pass on to our clients. I suppose one could [insert industry here] and still have an accurate statement.

Faster and cheaper, however, are not always better.  For example…

During a recent and first visit to Manhattan, I looked up from the double-decker tour bus (yes, had to, it was my first visit) and noticed two men hundreds of feet up on a swaying platform. They weren’t washing windows. They weren’t performing a stunt. They were painting. Hand-painting an ad on the side of an old red brick building.

I couldn’t see any printed references, how were they managing scale with their faces so close to the wall? What about the colors? And maneuvering across such a rough and uneven ‘canvas’ with such precision?

We’re so accustomed to ads printed on massive vinyl banners, and the more recent evolution from vinyl to giant LED monitors perched over bridges and highways, that perhaps many of us do not realize or appreciate this dying art form. These men (and presumably women) dedicate their lives to this craft, working for years under a mentor perfecting their skills until finally, the torch…or paint brush… is passed.

This short documentary Up There shares a beautiful glimpse of the artistry of ghost signs.

So the next time you look up and see these patient and meticulous artists, give them applause. And artists…take a careful bow.

I have been a huge fan of graffiti art for as long as I can remember. Urban style art has had a big influence on my style as an artist. I have always been drawn to the organic quality of using spray paint and other actual paints in my projects. When the eye catches a single paint drip or inconsistency in the texturing it makes it that much more real feeling.

When I started to draw and create graffiti art it was never to “mark my territory” but always as a way to express myself. Doing research and learning about the culture behind the style has opened my eyes to really two different types of graffiti artist. One is the gang / territorial type — which is really where graffiti started. And the other is a pure art form for expressing one’s style. It is really interesting to look back on some of the early styles of graffiti and the ways in which it has evolved. It has now taken over clothing styles and moved into characters and actual objects.

Graffiti to me isn’t just writing on a wall or tagging a train, it’s a style that can be represented in the way a certain line curves on a shirt or an edge of a letter. I have been a huge fan for about 15 years now and my love continues to grow and evolve with the artists that are making this new and innovative art.

Sure most days are just like the last, but come weekends, vacations and bright, sunny days life doesn’t get any better than being out on my bike.  On these days its not about molded carbon fiber and deep section wheels, it’s not about getting your heart rate as high as you can or fending off the lactic acid as long as possible, and I don’t think its about the spandex either.  On these days its about enjoying yourself, enjoying life, and enjoying the synergy between two of the most efficient machines on earth.  So lets skip codecs and frame rates and check out blue sky and back roads from some of my favorite rides and races this past year.

With out a doubt my favorite place to ride is Maine, specifically my soon-to-be annual ride from Boston to St. George via Kittery.  These pictures from last September’s ride include some odd Americana, Hamilton’s homemade mac and cheese pizza (uber-carbo-load), my second favorite Arbys (exit 6 off 295 in Portland), and some of my favorite views of mid-coast Maine, the Camden State Park and Mt Battie, a pretty tough climb with a small, but creepy, tower at the top and view that more than makes up for the 15 minutes of suffering it takes to get there (note: you can always drive to the top).

Below and left is a shot from the 2009 TD Bank Mayors Cup, a crit style race around and around Government Center here in downtown Boston.  It features blistering speeds, one of the biggest purses and most of the biggest names in US pro cycling.  The 2010 Mayors Cup is Sunday September 26 and I highly recommend checking it out!  You have no idea how excited I am for this and how badly I want to qualify for it in 2011.

The other two don’t look very cool but they are, trust me.  First is a snowy Juniper Swamp Rd in Shushan, NY.  It’s a 300 meter dirt road climb averaging about 15% grade and it’s the first climb that separates the men from the boys in the Tour of the Battenkill, a gorgeous race around the Battenkill river in April.  This coming weekend is the Tour of Catskills, just south of Battenkill, which features the Assault on Devil’s Kitchen.  This is well over a mile of 15-20% grade and after climbing it this past Memorial Day I realized that biking can actually be a miserable activity, a la 20 minutes with your heart rate at about 185-190 bpm, but the rest of the Catskills are so beautiful it makes up for it so I’m including it here anyway.  There is also a fantastic gas station/deli/bakery called Angela’s on route 23 in Acra… I highly recommend the apple pie, they weigh about 15 pounds.

Next is a horrible photo of a pair of cool arch suspension bridges along the Hudson Mowhawk bike path in Albany, maybe the best bike path in the northeast.  After that is single rainbow which I saw on June 5 after racing around Lake Auburn in Maine… definitely a pot o’ gold at the end of that one., and by pot o’ gold I mean a barbacoa plate at Loco Cocos in Kittery.

And now we head to Connecticut.  First you will see a Doogies two foot long hot dog with the works which I annihilated after racing in East Hartford.  It was incredible, Hartford not so much.  Also incredible was this cumulus cloud I saw the same day on the way home.  It was pure white and gold and was amazing with the blue sky behind it.  In film and photography they call this the golden or magic hour.  Stamford on the other hand is a great little city I was able to visit for some biking three weeks ago.  Among its numerous attractions is this totally groovy disco ball/5 foot tall cat.  Not worth going just to see it but say your going for dinner at Tarry Lodge and want to stop nine miles north to check it out I’d say, “Do it up!”

The marsh below is located in Dover, the next town over from where Viewpoint Creative is located and where I grew up, on my favorite road to ride on in New England.  From July to September you can see the purple loosestrife in bloom.  Despite being a non-native and invasive species, the rich, concentrated color is always something to look forward too.

And last but not least is my favorite llama.  He lives on Old Sudbury Rd in Wayland, which happens to be an amazing road to ride on around 6:30AM just as the sun is coming over the trees.  He’s always just sitting there soakin’ it in, livin’ the dream.

Oh the places I’ve been this year thanks to my bike.  It wasn’t all about hi tech materials and fancy gear, maybe it really was about the spandex, but mostly it was about being outside in the sunshine or snow, enjoying life and seeing the unique sights and treats New England has to offer.

Foley.  Axel Foley.  The hero of the “48 Hours” movie franchise.  Played by Eddie Murphy.  He is not the topic of this discussion.  Sorry to disappoint, but before you turn off your computer or close this page, hear me out about the real Mr. Foley, and his contribution to modern cinema and the sound track of your favorite film.

Most people in our business have heard of the term Foley, or the expression “to Foley something.”  The term Foley can best be described as “the art of matching live sound effects to the action of the motion picture,” and is named for Jack Foley who was a sound effects editor at Universal Pictures in the 1950’s.  Footsteps are the most common Foley effects and I’ll list a few more to satisfy your curiosity.

Galloping horses: Banging empty coconut shells together

Punching someone: Thumping watermelons

High heels: Artist walks in high heels on wooden platform

Bone-breaking blow: Breaking celery or twisting a head of romaine

Footsteps in snow: Squeezing a box of corn starch

Thunder: Flapping an aluminum sheet

Bird flapping its wings: Flapping a pair of gloves

Grass or leaves crunching: Balling up audio tape

Some of these recording techniques are common sense: such as walking on a wooden platform, whereas footsteps in snow may come as a bit of a surprise.  My first job out of college, I was an assistant engineer at a now defunct recording studio in New York City.  On one of my first projects, I was able to do some Foley for a Showtime promo.  The next week I did some more Foley for National Geographic.  I had seen my destiny, I was to be a world class Foley Artist in LA, and rule the world!  Needless to say that didn’t happen, as I realized that a lot of the sound effects I wanted to make where available on CD and now computer audio file – which is a beautiful thing and one of the most important tools to a sound designer.  Foley is not dead, it’s just more refined and specific: clothing rustle, writing with a pencil, the shake of a horse’s saddle etc.  It also gives your production a level of uniqueness and character.  Check out the two videos:  one shows how Foley is still used today, and the second shows how a modern sound effects library is developed.  Enjoy!

Vegetable Violence from tim prebble on Vimeo.

I’ve noticed over the years that what I thought was the norm for Customer Service is anything but.

In the good old days, we were taught that simply answering the telephone was done with a smile on your face and that that smile was felt on the other end. Now I’m finding that I can’t even get a smile when standing in front of someone that is about to take my money.

Another thing that was emphasized: treating the people with whom we work that same level of Customer Service that was delivered to our customers. We even tried to carry it into our personal relationships. (that wasn’t quite as easy). But when you think about it, don’t they deserve that courtesy as much?

My present position places me at the front door (literally) of Viewpoint Creative. I love being the greeter, it’s like I’m entertaining in my home, love that too.

The challenges are few but can be fun. When someone is trying to sell products or services, but wants to circumvent me, the gatekeeper.

There is that stern “Put me thru to ……”

Or when asked what company they represent “it’s a personal call”

Knowing that they are just trying to make a living like everyone else, I try to gently extricate what they are trying to accomplish. It’s like playing Oprah.

I believe that it all comes down to being considerate of your clients, vendors, co-workers, family, friends – how about everybody, even those you don’t know.

About those drivers that don’t use their directional signals… Maybe they aren’t standard in the newer cars, or it is just too hard to talk on their cell phones and push that little lever that may warn the person behind them that they are about to make a turn… I can’t imagine that these same people are in positions of Customer Service – oops maybe they are the same people that took my money without a thank you or a smile.

With the invention of the technology age where everything is needed quickly and can be delivered yesterday, I miss the romance & suspense of shooting on film.

My first job in this business was at a film company that was producing a comedy short for HBO. From paying the “fishermen” on the Niagara River on the seedy shores of Buffalo, NY for their sad looking fish to use as props, to walking the seawall to obtain other props and storing them for 3 days in my parents garage, I fell head over heels in love with the process and subsequently the industry. I mean, who wouldn’t?… especially when my mother opened our garage door and caught a whiff of my new found, stumbled into career.

After standing in the river for 2 days of filming and getting to do every job on the set other than starring in the piece, I was given the task to splice the film, number & bin the scenes. I painstakingly spliced the film apart and hung the strips in the can, all neatly arranged, ready for the editor to begin the cut the next day. I arrived extra early that next morning eager to start. I opened the door shocked to find the film was gone. The building’s cleaning people had thrown the film out thinking it was garbage (maybe a commentary on the content!). Why was I upset and the editor seemed so nonplussed?. Who knew that print wasn’t the only copy of the film? I was so shocked that people would think we actually numbered our garbage. But what I remember most was a feeling of a strange sadness that the film was just plain gone.

I had caught the infectious bug of this business that summer and had fallen completely for the allure of film – organic, grainy, sensitive, flaky – a lot like real life. There was an aura around shooting film: the texture, the feel and protocol on the set or by the Steenbeck; being a part of a huge collaboration and hearing the set call to roll sound… roll film… mark it…and ACTION is still quite an experience.

While celluloid was the industry standard forever, many feet of film later in my career, it is no longer so as video and then HD has taken the business by storm. Progress? Maybe. But by shooting on digitbeta, you missed out on the exquisite anticipation of waiting a week for your footage to return from its’ trip to be developed, wondering what it was that you actually shot.

You don’t get a call from the film lab that your film has been stolen out of the courier’s car for the spot you had to edit that weekend when you shoot on P2 cards. You don’t get to put that film up on the telecine and figure out how you will edit around the buckshot scratches when you shoot on DVC Pro.

Those may all sound like reasons to run far away from the spools and cores. But you may also miss those pure serendipitous moments. How did that magic hour sunset looked more stunning in the film room than on that beach? Or, how in your memory that shot was so crappy on the set, but magically became the money shot? How the river glistening took our breath away when we were shooting, but shocked you in the film room when you saw how stunning the Charles River looked?

The film camera company Arriflex has developed HD cameras that use all the lenses from their illustrious film cameras. A page from the “If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em” book. HD and tapeless digital platforms have and will continue to revolutionize the way we shoot, edit and tell stories. With film, the big breaking news was when Kodak introduced a new stock. Now we will have 3-D television.

I knew I was hooked from the first minute- just like those ridiculous fish on my first job. Technology has made our business easier, and yet harder at the same time. Email, posting, ftp the final product- how’d we ever do it before?

I will continue to miss the tactile side of the business exemplified to me by film. Our current electronic revolution is exciting- but there isn’t a substitution for the tangible human interaction/collaboration- the warmth, the colors, the physical quality.

Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful, appreciative and in awe of the technology. Truth be told, just because the work can be done faster, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take that extra moment for a second, third or even fourth “take”. You never know when there’ll be a hair in the gate.