[Tom J]

To me, it would depend really on whether or not you are going to work for yourself or for a boutique. The one discussion I can add to your list of things is Branding, as it is a little off topic it could prove to be quite useful in your work, more on that below. I quickly read the article and one thing that totally stands out is topic #2!!! Without a doubt true!

I agree here with Andrew about using Flame (very specific and very involved by itself). I would add that it may be a lucrative turn out for you in some cases, but in the long run “working as” a jack of all trades could come back and bite you. Most facilities will by-pass you if you advertise yourself as a “jack-of-all-trades”. So produce a few different reels that focus on specific skillsets and use them accordingly when applying for a gig.

If your skillset is diverse then silently use that to your advantage in various projects by implementing or utilizing cross platform techniques and help yourself produce a better end result.

I think you have a good focus on some industry trades already. If you want to produce Network Id’s or bumps then I would suggest focusing on that, it’s alot of fun and the benefits alone to some can be quite rewarding. IMHO, some gigs like compositing or tracking can become very tedious or harmful in the sense that your creativity may lose focus over time so it could take a while to bounce back (especially with today’s advancement in technology).

Don’t get me wrong, if you love compositing and tracking go for it, just keep up with your creative side by working other gigs (scheduling permitted). Other approaches could be 3D character work, 3D pre-visual work, game level design, etc.

I know it is a little off topic but to add to your mix, I would personally add this. If you end up working for yourself developing ideas and producing projects for a client, you should always remember that it’s not always about advertising or showing off some grand animation and cool fancy effects or graphics. In the beginning it’s really about P.R. and Branding. Delivering a focused message into the common marketplace about a service or product that defines it as being introduced “first”.

PR and Branding 1st then advertising to sustain a competitive edge.

When you think or hear about the following, what single word or message comes to mind?
Volvo – ?
FedEx – ? (besides for the nickname brought on by customers)
Colgate – ?
CBS – ?

There’s my .02, hope that helps.

Tom

[Tom J]

I just found some rather interesting info over at the Adobe Photshop forum about CS 2 performance. I know I am using CS 1 but that thread is definitely a earfull of great information. At least it was for me.

I found info regarding a plugin for PS CS1 that improved performance in my mind about 50-60 percent. Still not as fast as my older system with PS 6 but definitely a huge improvement.

You should check out this recent thread over there “WARNING: Photoshop CS2 Big Disappointment”, and for grins, I decided to load CS onto my rendering system for this test and then posted some of my own test results at the end of the thread.

If anyone is curious about the plugin from Adobe, here is a link for both Windows and Mac

Windows:
https://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=2552

Mac:
https://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=2551

I’m sure there is going to be more to this issue about memory performance and saving file compatibility.

Tom

[Tom J]

Another way you can attempt this is to use Fractal noise in an adjustment layer above your target image.

Quite some time ago I worked on this idea and this is how I stacked my layers:

1. Polaroid frame (white border mask created in PS w/ alpha, saved as a tif and I applied “Bevel Alpha” to give it some shape in AE)

2. Mask to isolate the emulsion or photo area (I used a light gray layer color 225 rgb)

3. Adjustment layer w/ Fractal noise applied (set to “Cloudy”, Noise Type: Soft Linear, Complexity set to 9.0 and Transfer mode set to “screen”)

4. Source image to be exposed

I then animated over time to taste the following fractal noise settings:
Under Sub Settings:
Sub Influence
Sub Offset

Then I animated
Evolution and Opacity

Give it a shot, mine turned out pretty convincing from what I recall. If you work on the adj. layer or perhaps the source layer and try other filters you may be able to create a more defined edge as the source is exposed.

Hope that helps.

Tom Juliano
Visual Separation