Filed under: Design, Developer, Fun, Internet, Utilities, News, Windows, Macintosh, Productivity, Freeware
DAZ up your 3D with this free studio
by Ryan Carter Nov 4th 2006
Thanks to dcgrendel for the tip!
studio posts
Thanks to dcgrendel for the tip!
Filed under: Developer, Internet, Windows, Microsoft
Microsoft .net dev tools CTP released
by Ryan Carter Sep 24th 2006
The project codenamed "Orcas" is now available for download. The developer tools release is Microsoft's September customer technology preview (CTP) for the .net framework 3.0. You must have the .net framework and September CTP software development kit (SDK), not to mention a non-express version of Visual Studio 2005 already installed to run the tools in this release. At under 4MB (not quite a whale), the development tools include XAML intellisense support, project templates for Windows Presentation Foundation and Windows Communcation Foundation. The dev tools also features the Visual Designer (codename: Cider) for Windows Presentation Foundation, but is sadly not supported by the express editions of Visual Studio 2005. If you understood anything I just said, and it interests you you will be happy to know that it is now ready to be downloaded and I suppose anything else you want to do to it.Filed under: Audio, OS Updates, Windows, Apple, Microsoft
Monaco - Microsoft's version of GarageBand?
by Victor Agreda, Jr. Apr 10th 2006
You mean Microsoft isn't
going to quit making iLife-style apps just because Macs can boot into Windows? Well, I doubt Windows Movie Maker is
going anywhere. And Max, Vista's photo application, is set to be a major
selling point to the consumers out there. So I can only think Monaco, or Vista's answer to GarageBand, will
also be at least a bullet point on the back of the box (which box remains a question).
There's a heated discussion on this topic over at ArsTecnica's M-Dollar. One comment to note:
Microsoft set out to dominate the office, which they did. Apple set out to dominate the creative studio, which they
did. Now we see each traveling to the other corner of the ring (Apple's got rack-mountable servers, a true server OS,
and iWork for what its worth), what will be the result? I can't wait to see the Monaco interface. I have been intrigued
with Max, and it'll be interesting to see what Vista technologies are leveraged by Monaco in a similar fashion. So far
not enough details have emerged about Monaco to make a call... Let the Studio battle begin!Filed under: Design, Developer, Internet, Windows, Macintosh
Toon Boom Studio version 3 released
by Victor Agreda, Jr. Jul 8th 2005
I have always hated the animation tools in Flash. Maybe it's because I cut my teeth doing animation the old-fashioned way. But ever since Adobe killed off LiveMotion my inner animator hasn't been happy.Which is why I was delighted to hear Toon Boom Studio has recently risen to the big 3.0. It appears the Mac version is now on par with the PC version (lip sync didn't work before) and there are some new features too. It's not as easy to use as Swish, but for my money much more powerful as an animator's tool.
The big deal on Toon Boom Studio? It's clearly designed with traditional animators in mind. Using GUI metaphors like lightbox and cameras, it's more attuned to the old-school world of animation. As a bonus, you can do some things in there you can't easily setup in Flash. Like how about a camera to pan, zoom, and rotate? Give the demo a try, but unless you're familiar with the animation tools of yore, be prepared for a learning curve.
With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet.
They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...
