tutorial

Explosion Tutorial

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:58:04 PST

Hello! In this tutorial you will learn how to make a very simple explosion using Adobe Photoshop™.

To get started, open up Adobe Photoshop, and create a new document. I made mine 500 by 500 pixels, but it really can be any size you want.

After your new canvas opens, look at the toolbar on the left, and select the Lasso Tool (or you can just hit the L key, and the lasso will become selected).

After you have the Lasso Tool out, draw a very rough circle on the canvas, like this one.

Tip: Don't try to draw a perfect circle, it makes the explosion better when it has a rough base, it would look too perfect.

Next, go to Select, and then Feather (or just press Alt+Ctrl+D).

After you press Feather (or use the keyboard shortcut), a dialog box will pop up, asking for the Feather Radius. Type 80 in the textbox, and press OK.

Now, a more even circle should appear. Also, keep experimenting with different Radius', who knows, you might find out something cool.

Next, go to Filter, Render, Clouds.

You should see a big fluffy cloud appear in the middle of the canvas, where the circle was, like this.

Now go to Image, Mode, Indexed Color…

After you clicked Indexed Color, go to Image, Mode, Color Table.

After you click on Color table, click on the dropdown menu and select Black Body, then press OK. This changes all of the colors in the piece, and you are left with something that looks like this. You get something different every time! Experiment with different color tables, different Feather Radii, and different circular figures.

How to Make a Funny Picture

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:28:23 PST

Start with a clever photo.

Image Source

Either take a new photo or find one you have already taken that is not a typical shot. These different photos lend themselves more to creativity. Use your own photographs. This is because there are so many problems with copyright laws. Yes, even photographs can be protected by copyright laws and could be in a lot of trouble for using somebody's work without their written permission. Plus it is far more professional to use your own photos. I am going to start with this photo of a bunny, in this case my daughters pet Marissa. She is in an unusual pose, actually grooming herself, but it looks like she could be doing one of many things, looking in her purse, covering her mouth as she sneezes, drinking, or even holding a gun, lining up for a shot. Come up with several ideas and pick the best.
Add you own art.

Image Source

I do not have Photoshop, but use a similar program called Corel Photo Paint. It was a painstaking process for me with out all the fancy tools, I relied only on my mouse to add my ideas artistically. I decided she looked like she was holding a gun. So I looked for photos of guns, At first I was thinking of a handgun, or rifle, but then settled on an AK-47. I drew the outline of the gun first, and added the detail inside. Detail is very important, especially be sure to add shadow when you are drawing objects on top of a photograph. Save your work often. Not everyone is good at drawing, this is okay, it is easier to draw on paper first, what you want on your computer, so you know what you are doing. Now the bunny looks like she is holding a gun. Terrific, save your final work.
Add a caption.

Image Source

All the hard work is done, now you just need to think of a funny caption if you did not already have one in mind. Place the caption on your photo so it does not cover up your work, make sure the colors and font lend themselves to the overall picture. The caption should be short, simple, and make the picture complete. This is my finished work.
More ideas

Image Source

Sometimes a picture lends itself to more than one possibility, as such I did another work with the original photo. I thought Marissa would look cute holding a cup of tea.

I feel this picture is fine without a caption, but if I come up with something clever I have the original saved so can add it at any time.

As an added note, Marissa was a wonderful pet, a bunny my daughter had purchased at an unusual livestock auction, she was a registered fuzzy lop. Sadly she passed away this summer, due to a horrid problem called "Fly Strike". If you have pet bunnies who live outdoors at all, please read up about this problem. Yes, flies can kill bunnies.

HTML for Beginners

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:24:36 PST

Have you ever wanted to design a help site for your favourite games, or would you like to design a blog. Well after reading this simple tutorial you will be able to do these things

Getting Started

OK then, to start you need a word application. I would recommend Notepad for Windows or any simple text program. When this is open make sure you're CAPS lock isn't on as sometimes the HTML is a bit unforgiving and may cause an error if it's on, also make sure you know where the ‘<' and the ‘>' are, usually they are by the , and . buttons.

First Taste of HTML

For your first bit of HTML all you need to put in is
<html>
<head>
<title> My first Web Page </title>
</head>
</html>
This is an invisible bit of text, except for the title.
<html> and </html> show that this is a HTML document.
<head> and </head> this is part of the header, your title goes in here.
<title> and </title> this show the name of the web page on the very top bar.

As you can see there are some parts which have a </> in this means the end of that expression. The things that go in between are part of that particular part. For example things between <head> parts of the header </head>. Now you have done that part, now time to move onto the next section

Body Section

<html>
<head>
<title> Your Web Title </title>
</head>
<body>
 Your first bit of text 

 Your first bit of bold text

your first bit of italic text
This is a few very simple examples of different styles in the body text. Included is:
 new paragraph 
Break 
 Bold text 
 italic text 
This is what this web page would look like:

Saving Your Work

To save simply press save, and then type into the box ‘wanted title'.htm/html eg.Webpage.htm Webpage.html

Thank-You for reading this tutorial. This is a basics only tutorial. Unless I get requests I won't be making an advanced version.

For now good-bye and enjoy your web creations.

Basic Java

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:10:07 PST

The “Instincts” of Java

Methods are the commands or objectives that are associated with classes or objects. They're a bunch of statements stringed together with a given name that execute/ perform an action when you call upon it. Methods are used mainly for to provide a way to access the private data stored in a class or object. An example of this is stated down below.

public class Example

{

public void Attack

{

//method here

int life

int hit=10

life= 100-hit

}

The “Genetic” Makeup of an Object

Member data or instance data as it's sometimes called give an object its variables creating the type of space it can be; in such as a flashlight has a bulb. The more dictionary-like term is data encapsulated within a class or object. It retains a unique value for each instance variable in the class. These gives an object or class its “genetic” values such as if the subject you're working on is cars, you will have member data relating to cars and not cards. An example of a member data is a monster's HP for it is a unique part of all monster games.

The Life Machine

A constructor in a class is basically a group/block of statements called upon when an object is declared. A constructor is similar to class methods but not quite they don't have a return type and have different rules for modifiers. They are used when an object is being created and also usually have the same name as the declaring class. The job that constructors do is to pre-define the object's member data and to establish an unchanging condition of the class. It's like having a manufacturing machine with specific instructions on what to do. Below is an example of a constructor. As you see it names off member data and helps set up values for them. When an object is made the data in the constructor is used as a base.

Note this is only part of the program not including the first statements to initialize a file.

public class Degrees

{

public Degrees

{

int room temp=80

int hot temp= 105

int cold= 0

int ok= 70

how= new String (“How hot is outside”)

//ect…

}

Creating an Object

To create an object you must use the new keyword. Using this word will use the constructor you have set up (hopefully). In the parameters you should give a value for your member data in listing order as your constructor or leave it blank if your values are set and won't change. Example is shown below: the 1st card gives the statement what type of object you are creating. The three is just a name for the card you created. Last inside the parameter is the #9; giving the card value face of 9 (pretend in my constructor I had a member data showing what # the card is.

Card three= new Card( 9);

Photoshop CS Three Tutorial

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:45:49 PST

On the left hand side there is a tool bar. Note that some of the tools, you can right click on them and choose another tool instead. For example:

The Eraser Tool -> Background Eraser Tool -> Magic Eraser Tool

Some of the other tools are rarely used like the smudge and the dodge tool but when used correctly, they result in a very beautiful effect.

The First tool is the Move Tool (V). That (V) is the shortcut key, so instead of clicking on it you can just press V on your keyboard and boom.....there it is. This tool is used to move layers around in the canvas.

The Marquee tool is just right under it. It's good to create shapes, columns and rows. I personally use it mostly in web designing but that's not the only use.

The Lasso Tool is in 3rd place and is one of the most important tool in photoshop. For example, you've got an image and it consists of 3 people sitting in the country side waving. Now you decided you want to cut one of them and put it on another image but only him no background or else. All you got to do is go around him with the lasso tool, the trick here is to be calm, really calm, then when ready you connect the lasso tool with the very first box marker.

Hint: You can zoom in the image to be more accurate. Once you have started the lasso you can't stop and continue later you need to finish it !

Right at the 4th place there is the Qucik selection tool or Magic Wand. They have roughly the same job, instead of using the lasso if an image is very clear with high definition it can go around it alone, just by clicking on the item.

At 5th place, The Crop tool. It is used frequently, mostly at resizing parts of an image. You need to create a square around the text or image you want to copy to another canvas so that you can work easily there and then right click and crop.

At the last of this section of tools there is the Slice Tool used in web designing to slice the web template.

Hint: Do not use this instead of the crop, they don't have anything to do with each other's uses.

That's all for this tutorial, I will explain some of the rest tools in my next tutorial. See ya and just try to experiment with your photoshop, the more you use it, the more comfortable you get with it.

Thanks

Flash Cs3 Tutorial, Sound

Tue, 20 May 2008 01:39:39 PST

In this Flash CS3 Tutorial I am going to go over Using Sound, after all what Flash game would be complete with out the great sound effects. In Flash CS3, there are basically three ways to play a sound:

Import the sound into the library, then add the sound to a key frame in the time line.
Import the sound into the library and then use ActionScript to dynamically control the sound.
Use ActionScript to dynamically load and play the sound.

This Flash CS3 Tutorial is not really going to cover the first way to play a sound. You should know how to import an image into your library, you import a sound the same way. And just as you would drag an instance of an image onto the stage, you can also drag a sound onto the stage. The sound will simply play every time the key frame plays. Let work on the second way of playing a sound.

A sound file has already been imported into the library. However, if you wish to use your own audio file you can do so by going to File - Import - Import to Library, and select an audio file . Flash CS3 by default will allow you to import, AIF, WAV and MP3 files. There are additional plug ins that enable more files types. Right Click the audio file called Ring.wav. Select Linkage, Check export for ActionScript, leave the base class alone, but you may change the Class to any name you can remember. This CS3 Tutorial is simply going to delete the .wav from the Class name, thus calling the sound Ring. CS3 Linkage Panel

Now, something needs to be done to call the sound. As normal select the first key frame on the actions layer and press F9 to open the actions panel. In Flash CS3 using ActionScript you need to create a new instance of just bout anything you want to work with. So, create a new instance of the sound by creating a new variable and setting it to the sound. In the example code the variable phoneRing was created, set as equal to a new instance of Ring. The next line of code actually tells flash to play the sound. After typing, or copying and pasting the code to your file, you may test it.

var phoneRing:Ring = new Ring() phoneRing.play()

Press Control-Enter to hear your sound play once..

The last method of playing a sound is to load the sound dynamically. The advantage to dynamically load sounds is that the sounds will not increase the size of your .swf, thereby keeping the download times lower. Copy the code from the example and paste it in the actions panel below the code that makes the phone ring. URLRquest is a new method introduced in ActionScript 3.0. The getURL method no longer exists, therefore you may want to get familiar with URLRequest, but not in this CS3 Tutorial. In the example code you are simply telling Flash to go get the file listed in between the quotation marks. You can use http:// if the file is not located next to the .swf. Next in the example code, the variable Music is created and defined as a sound. Lastly, the variable music is loaded with the file from the URLRequest. At this point the sound is loaded but nothing is being done with it. Lets do something with it.

var yourRequest:URLRequest = new URLRequest ("SideOfABullet.mp3") var Music:Sound = new Sound() Music.load(yourRequest)

You should have noticed the stop and play button located in the start01.flv file. The final part of this Flash CS3 tutorial will be using those buttons. Before, ActionsScript can control the sound it needs to have a soundChannel defined. The example code creates a variable called controlMusic and data types it as a sound channel. You can then control the sound by simple calling on the variable controlMusic.

var controlMusic:SoundChannel

Add the final example code to the actions panel. You should be familiar with most of this code. You are simple adding event listeners to the stop and play buttons that were created for you. It is the code inside the events that should be new. First when the play button is clicked the sound channel you created earlier is set a Music.play(). remember you earlier defined Music as being equal to the audio file loaded when the .swf is called. So, the code associated with the play button is simple telling the music to play. It would stand to reason that the code associated with the stop button would then simply tell the music to stop. Just, remember that you have to control the sound channel, and not the sound directly.

play_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, playMusic) function playMusic(event:MouseEvent):void{ controlMusic= Music.play() }; stop_btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, stopMusic) function stopMusic(event:MouseEvent):void{ controlMusic.stop() };

Press Control-Enter and test the file.

Congratulations, you should now be able to add sound to your website, note that you do not need to make the buttons play music, you have the basic code to make your navigation play a chime when clicked.

Photoshop Image Cube Tutorial

Wed, 14 May 2008 06:14:24 PST

Alright, at this tutorial, I will teach you on how to make Image Cube using Adobe Photoshop. So, let's start!

First, create a new file of 400x400 pixels in the RGB mode
Take the Polygonal Lasso Tool and create a new shape, just like below
Make a new layer and fill the selection with this color coding, #404040
With the help of Polygonal Lasso Tool, again, create a new shape just like below
Make a new layer and fill the selection with this color coding, #D0D0D0
Again, with the help of Polygonal Lasso Tool, create another shape just like blow
Make a new layer and fill the selection with this color coding, #D0D0D0
And again, create another shape using Polygonal Lasso Tool, just like below
Make a new layer and fill the selection with this color coding, #D0D0D0
Open an image that you would like to put in your cube and put it above all other layers in the layers pallete
Now go to Edit > Free Transform. Using Ctrl key on your keyboard, you will be able to drag the individual corners so they are just outside the previous shape which will give it a nice clean edge.

Go to Blending Options and select the inner shadow and use the following settings:

Your image will look like this:
Repeat steps # 10, 11, and 12 to put your images to the other faces of the cube
And that's it your done! So, your final should look like this:

How to Make an HDR Image in Adobe Photoshop Cs3

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:19:11 PST

What is an HDR image?

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and allows you to merge several images together to create an incredible range of tones and detail, that simulates what the human eye sees.

They are especially useful in low light situations or areas where you have two subjects lit differently, such as a bright window or a night time scene, but they can enhance many photographs by allowing you to manipulate more information in the highlights, midtones and shadows.

Step 1: Taking the Picture

For my HDR image I decided to take a night time photo of some steps. I used a tripod so my image would remain consistent for all three shots. Because we are placing photos on top of each other, any movement would create a ghost effect where the images are different. If you have a remote shutter, you can use that to further help keep the camera steady, especially when using long exposures like in the case of this night time scene.

Keep the f-stop the same, changing only the shutter speed for each image. This process is known as bracketing and you'll need to put your camera into manual mode to do it.

You may take as many exposures as you like, but I am keeping mine simple with just 3:

It was a windy night and my tripods not very sturdy, so the focus on these is going to be a little soft.

My first shot is underexposed, with at F13 for 2 seconds

My second shot is more accurately exposed at f13 for 4 seconds

My final shot is very bright, shot at f13 for 10 seconds Now I'm ready to start merging my photos.

Step 2: Merging your photos using Photoshop's HDR tool

For this process, you may want to use either Photoshop CS3 or Bridge, which comes with Photoshop.

To use Photoshop:

Go to > File > Automate > Merge to HDR…

At this point, a box will open that allows you to either select open files or browse for files on your computer. If you use select open files make sure you don't have anything extra opened. If you are using RAW images I recommend browsing for files so you don't have to covert these before you merge them.

Once you click OK Photoshop will begin open this window you. Don't worry if the image doesn't look very good at this point. Change the file to 16 bits/Channel and select OK. Photoshop will merge the images.

Select Local Adaptation and Click on the Arrow by Toning Curve and Histogram

By adding points to this curve and adjusting it into a simple S curve, I can create contrast without losing too much information. Just play with the curves until you get an image that you looks the best. If you accidently create a point you don't want, simply click it and hit delete.

At this point, my image looks something like this:

Now this image has a very smokey quality to it.

This can be helped by going into Image AdjustmentsHue/Saturation or by clicking Ctrl + U ( Command + U for you Mac users) and pushing the saturation up just slightly.

I also thought the midtones turned out a little washed, so I went into ImageAdjustments Levels and slid the middle slider to the right to darken those.

As a final step go to ImageMode 8 bits/Channel - Here is my image.

HDR image Middle Exposure

Looking back on these images, I should have taken more bright exposures, to get my full range of shadows.

Either way-I hope your HDR images come out looking great!

Feel free to send me some examples of your own (and hopefully better looking) HDR images.

Exporting PDF From Openoffice.org

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:05:11 PST

At first, you should check and get all the tools for porting PDF. In this tutorial, exporting will be done using OpenOffice.org 2 Writer on Ubuntu Linux. This tutorial can work on different platforms with different products and I don't give any kind of warranty at least to this platform I'm used when I have made this tutorial.

Getting OpenOffice.org

If you're running Ubuntu (desktop installation), you don't need to do anything to get OpenOffice.org. It's already behind Applications > Office menu.

If you're not running, you can find OpenOffice.org for your platform at OpenOffice.org. Different Linux distributions often provide OpenOffice.org either by default or it can be easily downloaded from their repository.

Starting OpenOffice.org

We will use OpenOffice.org 2 Writer but other OpenOffice.org 2 products work about the same way.

If you just downloaded and installed OpenOffice.org, you might get a dialog asking your personal details allowing you to insert them or just skip. It's up to you if you want to register yourself as OpenOffice.org user.

Open OpenOffice.org 2 Writer by selecting Applications > Office > OpenOffice.org Writer

OpenOffice.org 2 Writer will start. It may take a while.

You can now open a document or write your own. It doesn't matter what you write. You can include rich text (bold, italic, underline, different fonts and colours), pictures... etc. After you are done your document, follow this tutorial to export is as PDF.

Exporting document as PDF

This is the easiest step. If you want it to be easy, it will be easy. If you want experimental settings, you get them too.

The easy way:

Click the icon next to printer (left side). There's some red and white color (colors from Adobe's logo) and text "PDF".

Then you get a dialog:

Select the place you want your document will be exported. Then click Save

The experimental way:

Go to File > Export as PDF

You get a dialog with few settings you can change. I think you figure your way out there.

How Do I Change my Background Image in Ubuntu

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 04:31:21 PST

This tutorial has made and tested using Ubuntu 8.04 that was in beta stage, when this article has been written. I don't give any warranty for this tutorial. This should work on your computer in any distribution if you're running Gnome but I can't give any kind of promises.

This way requires two-button mouse and keyboard. You should be logged in to your Gnome to use this tutorial.

Clicking means always a hit of primary (1st or left) mouse button when the cursor is in the requested target. Usage of secondary (2nd or right) mouse button will be declared when it is required.

The Basic Tutorial

Click your current background using the secondary (2nd or right) mouse button. You will get a menu
Click the entry called ”Change Desktop Background”. ”Appearance Preferences” window with “Background” tab on. Now it's up to you, what you want to do. If you want to use the backgrounds installed with your system:
Click the thumbnail you want to see on your desktop. You will see the preview on your desktop, behind the window.
If you want to keep it, click “Close” button. If it is not that you want, you can go back to the step 3 (a or b) and choose again. If you want to use your own image file as your desktop background (experimental):
Click “Add..” button.
Select the background image you want to use
You will see that image previewed on your desktop. 6..If you want to keep it, click “Close” button. If it is not that you want, you can go back to the step 3 (a or b) and choose again. I know, this article can be useless but someone can sort out something or find easier way to change the background image (=wallpaper).