Category Archives: Computers

ZBrush by Pixologic

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I mentioned ZBrush earlier this week as some pretty cool software for 3d work especially if you invest in the Wacom Cintiq tablet monitors. I pulled some cool demo shots from the gallery that shows what you can do with Zbrush. I did this because I found I could not see Flash on my iPhone, something I just realized. Heh, another reason for not using Flash on the web. I am saving up for a copy of this software. It complements Maya really well, which is another program I am interested in getting. Amazon has books on Maya  Zbrush and Flash if you need some.

 

ZBrush by Pixologic image ZBrush by Pixologic image

 

System spec for Z-brush:

ZBRUSH 3.1 – WINDOWS
Recommended:
OS: Windows XP/Vista
CPU: Fast P4 or newer (or equivalent such as AMD) with optional multithreading or hyperthreading capabilities
RAM: 1024MB (2048MB for working with multi-million-poly meshes)
Monitor: 1280×1024 monitor resolution or higher (32 bits)

Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows 2000
CPU: PIII
RAM: 512MB (1024 MB recommended)**
Monitor: 1024×768 monitor resolution (32 bits)
ZBRUSH 3.1 – macintosh
Recommended:

OS: Mac OSX 10.4 or newer.
CPU: Intel Macintosh
RAM: 1024MB (2048MB recommended for working with multi-million-polys)**
Monitor: 1024×768 monitor resolution set to Millions of Colors

ZBrush by Pixologic image ZBrush by Pixologic image

ZBRUSH 2 – macintosh
Recommended:

OS: Mac OSX 10.4 or newer. Macintosh users can use ZBrush 3.1 via PC virtualization software such as “Parallels”, or Apple’s “Bootcamp”.
CPU: Power PC or Intel Macintosh
RAM: 1024MB (2048MB recommended for working with multi-million-polys and when using Parallels)**
Monitor: 1024×768 monitor resolution set to Millions of Colors

ZBrush by Pixologic image ZBrush by Pixologic image

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Photoshop CS3 and Wacom Cintiq

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I have been using Adobe Photoshop since 1994. I remember first using Photoshop 3.0 on a Windows 3.1 machine, then 4.0 on Windows 95. I remember the long laborious ride of growing pains as Photoshop and Windows grew more capable. If I recall right, once Photoshop got above version 5.5 and Windows went to its 2000 version things finally settled out. John C Russ developed plugins for Photoshop that made it useful to the scientist. His Image Processing Tool Kit in conjunction with his books, in particular The Image Processing Handbook comes to mind as one of the best resources for the beginning researcher.

As for Drawing Tablets:

Almost immediately after investing in Photoshop 6.0 I bought a graphics tablet and found it to be quite useful for fine control once my eye and hands got coordinated to looking at the monitor and moving the curser/brush with the tablet. Recently, Wacom developed the Cintiq monitor which you can draw right on to. I have access to a 21in one, and man, is it cool to be able to draw naturally instead of semi disembodied.

Bad news is that Fovea Pro is not working with Photoshop CS3 yet, but with Photoshop CS3 extended edition you can get some limited image analysis capability. Fovea Pro is the comercial version of the plugins developed by Reindeer Graphics.

Cintiq 21UX Graphics Tablet

The Cintiq is great for:
3D artists 2D animators architects, engineers, & designers. Digital Audio, to control audio mixing software
Wacom Offers:
CINTIQ 21UX This is the pro version $2,500.00 Buy from Amazon.com
CINTIQ 20WSX Enough room for 3d and digital audio $2,100.00 Buy from Amazon.com
CINTIQ 12WX Great for Artists and Hobbyists $999.00 Buy from Amazon.com

A spare pen is also useful since they tend to disappear just when you need them the most.

Cool Photoshop tutorials 5.5 site

Try the Cintiq with ZBrush 3 intro book Amazn did not have the software but ZBrush is an awsome complement tool to Maya.

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Adobe Flash Player Uninstaller

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We posted a couple links that went to websites that have Flash 9 content (Vaja and Bio-Rad). We were unable to just download and install the most recent update to Flash. Normally going to: http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer would auto-update flash on Windows systems and you would be done. The most recent version of FlashPlayer does not behave this way (Version: 9,0,115,0 Date Posted: 12/3/2007). You need to got to: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=tn_14157&sliceId=2 Read the tech note and download the appropriate unistaller to get Flash content to work on websites. Make sure all web browsers are closed and any other programs that may access FlashPlayer before you unistall. Every once in a while Macromedia/Adobe makes a change that causes a little growing pain this is one of those changes.

 I noticed that in Regedit in Windows, that “FlashPlayer\SafeVersions” was not updated to show version 9.0 after following the default link on websites with Flash content. After downloading and running uninstall_flash_player for Windows, I rebooted my computer and went to http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer and installed Flash, when I checked ”SafeVersions” in: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Macromedia\
FlashPlayer\SafeVersions

There was an entry for 9.0.

Flash works again so I am happy again. This was one of those things that did not affect our house Mac Leopard systems.

We here at Graffitimasters think Adobe Flash CS3 Professional is great software for developing multimedia web content, but due to little glitches like this one, we usually look to Java for filling web multimedia content. Sorry Adobe

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Microsoft Office Updated for the Mac

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Finally there is an update to Office for Mac users: Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac. In the world of PCs Microsoft Office is the industry standard for business, over the years it has been updated and improved keeping pace with its ever growing base users and their demands. On the Mac side it stagnated with no real changes since Office 2004 for Mac until this year –Yeah?

Office 2008 for Mac Home and Student Edition(for the average consumer)
Word 2008, Excel® 2008, PowerPoint® 2008, Entourage® 2008, Messenger for Mac and Open XML File Formats (Office 2007 Compatible) Universal for Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs

Office 2008 for Mac (mid grade useful on Microsoft Exchange Networks)
Word 2008, Excel® 2008, PowerPoint® 2008, Entourage® 2008 
Messenger for Mac, Open XML File Formats
(Office 2007 Compatible), Universal for Intel- and PowerPC-
based Macs, Microsoft Exchange Server Support and Automator Actions for Workflows in Microsoft Office

Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition (for “Special” Mac People)
Word 2008, Excel® 2008, PowerPoint® 2008, Entourage® 2008 
Messenger for Mac, Open XML File Formats
(Office 2007 Compatible), Universal for Intel- and PowerPC-
based Macs, Microsoft Exchange Server Support, Automator Actions for Workflows in Microsoft Office and Microsoft® Expression® Media

They claim that Office 2008 for Mac and the Windows-based 2007 Office System will share the Open XML file formats, the Office Art graphics engine, and many other features that will “result in compatibility and file fidelity”. That means less time trying to figure out why the Windows people don’t see the same thing the Mac people do. I have always been annoyed by Mac people because they have this cavalier attitude “well it looks fine on my Mac so it must be something wrong with windows.. Yet they are usually clueless on why it works on their Mac.  Most compatibility problems I saw came from not adding a 3 letter file extension at the end of a file created on a Mac. If you created a file called “service letter” in Office for Mac 2004 and hit save, it would be saved as “service letter” if you emailed it to a windows user, they would get the file and be unable to open it because it required the file extension that would identify the file as Word file (*.doc). Adding “.doc” to “service letter” gives you “service letter.doc” and Word on Windows will now open the file without issue.

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Portable Raid 6 Storage

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ABERDEEN XDAS MINI PORTABLE RAID STORAGE ABERDEEN XDAS MINI PORTABLE RAID STORAGE system

I have been looking for a way to simplify my home network and still keep my files safe; this little box is one possible solution. It works off eSATA connection or Firewire 800 or USB 2.0 so I could move from home to work with large files quite easily. It uses a web browser interface so it will work with all the major operating systems out there. Since it can be RAID 6, I could lose two drives and still have all my data.

Raid 6 

Key Points of RAID 6
Allows for two simultaneous drive failures without downtime or data loss.
Higher fault tolerance than RAID 1, 3 or 5.
Ideal for applications requiring large logical drives.
Lower implementation cost than Mirroring.

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SATA II Connection Issues

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SATA II with latchesSATA II no latches

If you plan to run Windows XP or Linux on two (or more) striped RAID SATA II disks make sure you use cables with metal latches. Fan and other vibrations can loosen the SATA connection from motherboard or controller card, and if you striped (RAID level 0) the drives that also contain your operation system then the loss of one drive due to a bad connection will cause the disk to drop out of the array and you will get the no OS is recognized by the system error message on reboot or startup.

Test by opening your box after getting the No OS error message:

  1. Turn OFF computer
  2. Open case
  3. Reset SATA cables at Motherboard or controller and at Hard Disks
  4. Turn On computer
  5. If OS boots then you have loose cables; replace with cables with latches

SATA II with Right angle at both ends

If you installed Windows XP or greater, or Linux to a striped (RAID 0) array, you need all disks functioning or the array will fail and you will get the No OS error message. If you did the above test and still get the message try reseating the drive controller card (if you have one) or check the mother board bios to see if raid was turned on. Many motherboard raid setups allow you to change raid settings by prompting a key sequence during boot if you have curious key pushers with access to you computer there is a chance that they could have accidentally reset your raid settings.

Also when choosing cables, If you have more than one SATA device to connect, make sure to get straight to straight connectors, or straight to right angle but not both ends at right angles. You can get cables in 10”, 12”, 18”, 24” and 36”sizes. 10” is usually too short for most systems.

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Kindle Wireless Reading Device

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Kindle Wireless Reading Device

Kindle Wireless Reading DeviceKindle Wireless Reading DeviceKindle Wireless Reading Device with Book Cover

Here is a neat gadget I see it useful for those who travel for extended periods and lack room to carry all the books you would normally read during that time period. It does not let you read PDFs (Adobe Acrobat Reader files). It is far less bulky than your typical laptop and will not heat up your legs the way laptops do as you read.

  • Revolutionary electronic-paper display provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper.
  • Simple to use: no computer, no cables, no syncing.
  • Wireless connectivity enables you to shop the Kindle Store directly from your Kindle—whether you’re in the back of a taxi, at the airport, or in bed.
  • Buy a book and it is auto-delivered wirelessly in less than one minute.
  • More than 88,000 books available, including 100 of 112 current New York Times® Best Sellers.
  • New York Times® Best Sellers and all New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise.
  • Free book samples. Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy.
  • Top U.S. newspapers including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post; top magazines including TIME, Atlantic Monthly, and Forbes—all auto-delivered wirelessly.
  • Top international newspapers from France, Germany, and Ireland; Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine, and The Irish Times—all auto-delivered wirelessly.
  • More than 250 top blogs from the worlds of business, technology, sports, entertainment, and politics, including BoingBoing, Slashdot, TechCrunch, ESPN’s Bill Simmons, The Onion, Michelle Malkin, and The Huffington Post—all updated wirelessly throughout the day.
  • Lighter and thinner than a typical paperback; weighs only 10.3 ounces.
  • Holds over 200 titles.
  • Long battery life. Leave wireless on and recharge approximately every other day. Turn wireless off and read for a week or more before recharging. Fully recharges in 2 hours.
  • Unlike WiFi, Kindle utilizes the same high-speed data network (EVDO) as advanced cell phones—so you never have to locate a hotspot.
  • No monthly wireless bills, service plans, or commitments—we take care of the wireless delivery so you can simply click, buy, and read.
  • Includes free wireless access to the planet’s most exhaustive and up-to-date encyclopedia—Wikipedia.org.
  • Email your Word documents and pictures (.JPG, .GIF, .BMP, .PNG) to Kindle for easy on-the-go viewing.
  • USB cable included.
  • Power adaptor included.
  • Book cover included.

 Kindle Wireless Reading Device BatteryKindle Wireless Reading Device USB cordKindle Wireless Reading Device Power cordKindle Wireless Reading Device Book Cover

Of course Project Gutenberg also offers free books for download to Palm organizers or smart phones but the view screens are not as nice and the selection of books is a lot fewer.

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