Good morning!
We’ve fixed the dates for the next batch of User Group meetings now, so put these in your diary:
Then we’re back in 2010 on January 21st for the first ever Premiere User Group meeting, followed by Feb 26, Mar 25, Apr 22, May 19 and June 23.
Hey, the betas are public now, go forth and download:
There is a ton of new content on Adobe Labs about these products. Here’s a few links to get started:
Dreamweaver and Flash Oxford User Groups
Next meeting – 7.30pm Friday 5th June 2009
This month we are planning an informal social meetup and providing pizza and drinks. So do come along and meet other tormented web designers, illustrators, digital artists, games developers, video jockeys and other geeks who love (or loathe) Adobe software. This is a good chance to find out a bit more about what we all do during the day.
We will have a copy of Flash Catalyst and there will be a chance to get hands on and see if it really is as easy as Andrew Shorten made it look last month.
There should be lots of Catalyst and Flex related freebies, the Adobe Dreamweaver Classroom-in-a-book to give away, as well as the most popular $2100 free software bundle.
For further information about Dreamweaver Oxford see the official Adobe Group site at http://groups.adobe.com/groups/6c54b074f9/summary
Send us your pizza order by reply, and please do bring along your own drink/snacks if you feel generous or just want to stand clutching your own favourite brew to yourself.
This is the last meeting before we take a two month summer break.
Last night’s session was our most popular yet, with Andrew Shorten from Adobe speaking for over an hour on the forthcoming Catalyst and Flex releases.
There are definitely some interesting times ahead for designers seeking to use Flash. It’s always been a bit of a headache for designers to get their heads around interactive interfaces using Flash Pro.
Here’s a quick list of some of the links Andrew talked about :
For some of these tools, you’ll need a free Adobe ID. Once you’ve got one of those, don’t forget to access our Group page too on Adobe, to subscribe to updates, RSVP to our events etc.
Thanks to everyone for making it a great night, and many congratulations again to Dan Govender for winning the $2,000 of Adobe software. Commiserations to everyone else.
Next month’s meeting is June 5th, a Friday for a change. There is talk of making this an out and out social, with food! What do you think?
Andrew Shorten works for Adobe as a Platform Evangelist and has offered to talk about Flex, Flash and AIR and the opportunities these technologies present to enrich web and desktop experiences. He will be presenting an update on the Flash Platform, showing an early build of Flash Catalyst and demo-ing some of the new features in Flex Builder Gumbo. You can find out more about Andrew at his web-site http://ashorten.com .
Venue: OFVM – Film Oxford, 54 Catherine St, Oxford, OX4 3AH
Starts at 7.30pm
Location: http://tiny.cc/ghNTd
This month is mostly given by our sister Adobe User group: www.flashoxford.com
For more information on Away3d check out Rob’s blog at http://www.infiniteturtles.co.uk.
Venue: OFVM – Film Oxford, 54 Catherine St, Oxford, OX4 3AH
Starts at 7.30pm
Location: http://tiny.cc/ghNTd
Many many thanks to Paul Forsey for a great talk on panoramic photography and for bringing all that great kit.
Paul’s web site is at www.stepintothepicture.co.uk
You can see some of his panoramas here.
Paul talked us through the complete process, from building your own tripod head to taking the photos, to using RealViz Stitcher Pro (Mac or PC).
I think Autodesk (makers of 3DSMax) have taken over the software, and seem to sell it as Stitcher Unlimited online for £300.
Paul did mention Adobe Photoshop‘s built in Photomerge option, but in CS3 it’s doesn’t give brilliant results. However, the upgraded CS4 Photoshop has been partly promoted on the back of enhancements to its built-in stitching app, so somebody should give it a try! Here’s the help, so get stitching if you’ve got CS4 and let us know how you get on. We can post results here.
As an extra incentive, if you do send us a panoramic photo, whether created in Flash, Stitcher, or CS4 alone, you’ll get an extra credit towards the next software raffle.
John (from Flash Oxford, hello!) then talked us through a couple of add-on apps for Flash which could achieve similar results. Paul’s panoramas require Quick Time to display, and apparently fewer people on PC have QT installed than the Flash Player. And I’m not paid to say that either.
Next month’s meeting is on Tuesday March 24th, so note the change of weekday. It’ll involve a talk about 3d Flash, so again, check here or the Flash Oxford web site for more details soon.
Alun
Paul Forsey will provide a brief overview of taking and making 360 degree panoramic photographs using a digital still camera, Adobe Photoshop and Realviz panoramic software. This will include an introduction to field technique, organizing your workspace and the kind of equipment required for successful hardcopy and online applications. Paul Forsey is an artist/designer based in West Berkshire.
Following this theme, John Twycross from Live Pictures will take a look at how to use panoramic photographs in Flash. He will conduct a review of both the “360g Flash Panorama” and “FlashPanos” open source engines for Flash. There will also be a brief round up of commercial flash extensions that are available.
Venue: OFVM – Film Oxford, 54 Catherine St, Oxford, OX4 3AH
Location: http://tiny.cc/ghNTd
Come along, it’s always free! 7.30pm at OFVM.
Adobe User Groups – January 7th 2009
Venue: OFVM – Film Oxford, 54 Catherine St, Oxford, OX4 3AH
Flash User Group
Julian Scott, Games Producer at Long Animal Games talks about monetizing. How to generate income form your online content. This session should be of interest to internet and online game developers as well as producers of online video content
(see http://flashoxford.com for more information)
Dreamweaver User Group
Google Maps. Alun Ward will run through some sample implementations of Google Maps on web sites: how, what, where and why.
Also this month:
Exhibition invite: Alun Ward, manager of the Dreamweaver User Group, will be performing his art work Transporter Mix at the OVADA gallery in Oxford from January 7th to 10th 2009. Some Adobe products were harmed during the creation of this piece. Come along to the evening event on Thursday 8th (6 – 8pm). www.transportermix.com
The last session of 2008 was a fun social, with software giveaway, Adobe swag handout, drinks, and show-and-tell from quite a few members.
John showed us one of his favourite sites: www.bestflashanimation.com which highlighted the great Flash www.cigaretteisdead.com site.
Alun talked about his installation/performance piece Transporter Mix coming to the Ovada Gallery, Oxford in January. Apart from shameless self-promotion, he also showed us kuler – the free Adobe site and downloadable AIR package that allows you to create colour harmonies and export swatches, as well as share these with other users.
Mark showed us his video in an Intel online video competition – go and vote for it (until the end of next week) at http://blog.digitaldragrace.com/articles/2008/12/09/user-battle-1-about-begin/
Glenn showed us one of his favourite Flash sites at www.gotmilk.com, and the Adobe Edge newsletter – with links to a Volkswagen anniversary website, created in Flash by the company Achtun
Julian showed us one of his own Flash games, at his site http://www.longanimalsgames.com/
He’ll be talking more about his Flash game creation experience at the January meeting.
Blayze showed us a game he developed for company Altitude24 www.altitude24.co.uk
Stephen had been to Adobe Max in Milan, so talked us through what happens at one of those events. You’ve missed Milan now of course, but if you’re travelling east, you can still catch Max Tokyo http://jp.max.adobe.com/
Lesley won the Flash User Group software raffle – congratulations – spend the dosh wisely!
Gary from OFVM talked about the MIDAS production awards. They’re being expanded this year to include new media work. This might include games and web site projects as well as the more traditional time based media. If you think you could benefit from free access to OFVM’s resources (cameras, kit, expertise, connections), get in touch with Gary at OFVM – production@ofvm.org and read more at http://www.ofvm.org/
All this plus general chit chat, eating of doritos, popcorn, drinking of beer and wine, and our biggest attendance yet.
Thanks to all who came along, and see you on January 7th for the first meeting of 2009.
Alun
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