DIG 2030c - MeStory Project

Here is the project I submitted today for my Digital Video class. It might undergo some tweaks before the final submission, but it's basically done. (I compressed this version for an easier upload. I hope to get the higher-quality version up too.)

MeStory

11/9/10

NOTE: Sorry it took me so long to post this. I had some issues compressing and uploading the video...

Band on the Run Covers Competition Winners

http://www.paulmccartney.com/news.php#/2054/2010-11

"We are pleased to announce that the winners of the Band on the Run Covers competition are:

Double Decker Band AND Sweet Banana.

The Double Decker Band managed to get a huge amount of votes on the group competition page, and Sweet Banana had 108 likes on their own video page. Well done to both!

A massive THANK YOU to everyone who entered this competition and also to the people who voted for a winner."

Thank you so much to everyone who voted for me!!!

Less than One Week Left to Vote for My Video!!!

Hey, everyone!

There's less than one week left in the "Band on the Run" covers competition and it's starting to get intense. If you haven't liked my video yet… go ahead and do it now. It's so easy, if you have a YouTube account, all you have to do is go to my video and click the "LIKE" button! To get to my video, just go to my YouTube channel at youtube.com/user/SweetBananaDigital and my video will be right there.

Now, for those of you that have already liked my video, I cannot thank you enough! Currently my video has the most "likes" in the competition! But unfortunately, there's a bit of a problem. See, to enter the video in the contest, you have to submit it to a YouTube group for the contest, and that group has its own internal ratings system on its page. The official competition rules seem to suggest that the video with the most "likes" will win, but every other entry in the competition seems to be trying to get this other kind of votes. I've tried to ask for clarification but no one's been able to help me so far, so I've decided I'm going to hedge my bets and ask you to vote for me this second way, as well. I know some of you have already voted for me both ways, so thank you all very much! BUT if you have liked my video but haven't voted for it yet, please do it by following these instructions:

If you are signed in to your YouTube account, go to youtube.com/group/coverbandontherun. Once there, click "Join Group" and the page will refresh. Now look at the right-hand panel on the page, where the video player is. Below that is the "Top Rated" list. Find my video (at this point you'll probably have to scroll down a bit to find it). You'll recognize mine from the green kaleidoscope pattern in the thumbnail. Click the name of my video and it will start to play in the player above. When it starts playing, click the "I love it" link which appears under the player. And that's it! Also, with this method it seems you can vote every so often, I think it might be once or twice a day, so vote often!

Thank you so much, everyone! The winner is supposed to be announced on Monday, November 8th, so I'll let everyone know the results then!

Peace, love, and vote for me! =)

DIG 2109c - Project 2 Final Prints

I finished my final prints for my second project. I may do some last-minute tweaking before I submit it to the class server, but this is how they will look when I present them in the lab tomorrow:

Project 2A

10/26/10

Project 2B

10/26/10

Project 2C

10/26/10

"Band on the Run" Covers Competition - Keep the LIKEs Coming!

Hey, everyone! This is just a reminder that the "Band on the Run" covers competition ends on Nov. 5th, so please get in your votes before then. To vote for me, please go to my video below and click the thumbs up to LIKE it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em6NlsvFB7M

Thank you!

Please Help Me Win a Contest - Vote for My Video

For those of you who don't already know, I've been working on a an entry for a "Band on the Run" cover contest to be posted on YouTube, and the video with the most votes gets the Deluxe Edition of the "Band on the Run" album remasters!

Well... IT'S TIME!!! Time to vote, everyone! I'm a *little* confused with how the voting works, so to be safe I'd like to ask for you to vote two ways.


FIRST: Go to the contest page: http://www.youtube.com/group/coverbandontherun?topic=yO5XmVHypR_c and click "Join Group". Go to my topic ("Band on the Run" Cover Contest Entry, user name SweetBananaDigital), and click on my video, then click "I Love It"!


SECOND: Go directly to my video's url: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em6NlsvFB7M and click "LIKE".

I'm sorry to ask you to do both, but I'm not sure which one actually counts because the rules weren't 100% clear. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Finally Done!

I just finished my video for the "Band on the Run" cover contest (at about 2am)! I haven't uploaded it to YouTube yet (I have school-related things to do first), but in case anyone is up I'll quickly post it here for you to see. Once I have it uploaded to YouTube I'll let everyone know... because I need your votes, please!

The video is a little strange... That's basically a result of: (a) working with a deadline, (b) lack of resources in terms of staging and lighting, etc., and (c) experimenting with a bunch of different filters in Final Cut. So it seems a little trippy... but I guess that's appropriate enough in this case.

"Band on the Run" cover (video)

10/20/10

P.S. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THIS VIDEO TAKES TOO LONG TO LOAD. If so, I wand to upload a more compressed video to YouTube so it will be easier for viewers to watch. Thank you!

DIG 2109c - Project 2C In-Progress

Here's my third composition. I'm not sure how satisfied I am with it, but I think it's sufficient enough for my critiques tomorrow. If you have any input or suggestions, I'm more than happy to hear them. Specifically, I think I'd like suggestions on the big ball--maybe it should be a different color and/or have some sort of design on it?

Project 2C (in progress)

10/19/10

DIG 2109c - Project 2B In-Progress

So I just realized this morning that the due date for this project was moved up a week, and I have to get my prints done by Wednesday. Needless to say I've been scrambling to get my other two compositions done. Here's what I've managed so far, my second composition:

Project 2B (in progress)

10/18/10



If there were one thing I'd like to fix at first glance, it would be to make the acrobats brighter in color so that they would advance and stand out more. But so far nothing I've tried has worked, so if anyone knows enough about Photoshop to give me some suggestions I'd greatly appreciate it!

Band on the Run Cover Contest - Updated Audio

Okay, so I think I finally have some pretty satisfactory audio now. Many many thanks to Matt Fontaine for providing a real lead guitar to the song! Also, I fixed the harmonies and adjusted some of the main vocals, and added some more rhythm and percussion. The only thing I might still want to change are some of the volume levels, but I'll let you wonderful Internet users decide for yourselves!

"Band on the Run" cover (updated audio)

10/17/10

Band on the Run Cover Contest - Audio Preview

Okay, you might know that I'm going to enter PaulMcCartney.com's "Band on the Run" cover contest. I've finished the audio of the song, so while I work on the video, here's a preview. After hearing the compressed version, it seems like the vocals might be a little too loud, at least in spots. Let me know if I should fix that, and also what you think overall, please. Thank you!

Band on the Run cover (audio only)

DIG 2109c - Project 2A In-Progress

I just got through with my Digital Imaging class today and did more work on my project. I think I've just about "finished" my first composition, save for a few tweaks and whatever critiques I may receive. Here's what it looks like right now:

Project 2A (in-progress)

10/13/10

DIG 2109c - Project 2 Update

Here, finally, is the background I mentioned earlier that I made for one of my compositions for this project. It's still bare right now, but it's only the background.

Project 2A (background)

10/1/10

Also, I've finally finished the sketch for my third composition. Again, the color of the scan is not true to the actual sketch and I plan on making the actual composition much brighter. Aside from the color, though, I would like some feedback on the content of the composition itself, i.e. the figures and their placement, and if it needs more, especially in the background.

Project 2C (sketch)

10/10/10

Garage Band Projects - "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" and "Let Me Roll It"

In the first few weeks of August, when I first got my Mac, I did a lot of playing around with Garage Band, which is amazing software considering it comes standard on every Mac. In a few weeks' time I created two cover versions of songs from the "Band on the Run" album by Paul McCartney & Wings (I *ahem* "cleverly" decided to title my version of the album "Banana on the Run"). The two songs are "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" and "Let Me Roll It". I tried to imitate the original recordings to the best of my ability, but software limitations as well as my own musical limitations are evident here. Anyway, although everything in these two recordings was created from scratch through Garage Band, in no way do I claim ownership of these two songs. These were simply meant as exercises to get comfortable using Garage Band, and of course to have fun as well!

 "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five"

"Let Me Roll It"

 

DIG 2109c Project 2 First Sketches

I've started work on my second Digital Imaging project. This one has to be based on a multilayered musical piece of our choosing. The full criteria is listed here: http://sulley.dm.ucf.edu/~dig2109c/DIG2109C_ProjectSheets_Fall10/Adams_DIG2109C_Fall10proj2.pdf.

Right now this is my song selection (but it could be subject to change):
"Jeux d'Enfants" from Cirque du Soleil's "Alegría".

It's pretty hard for me to ignore the circus theme that comes to mind here. Just like with the last project, I have to create three compositions that all fit this unifying theme. So far I have made colored sketches of my first two ideas (the color is a little dull because these are scans):

Project 2A (sketch)

9/30/10

 Project 2B (sketch)

10/6/10

I have a skeletal thumbnail sketch of my third composition, which at the moment consists of three jugglers balancing on a large circus ball.

I've come up with the background for composition 2A in Photoshop. It's simple so far, but I'm pleased that I was able to manage textures. I will post this one later on as my current link to it is broken. But if you look at the sketch again, my idea is to have the bottom tan part be like part of a poster advertising the circus, but the brown edge at the top will double as a tightrope, with a tightrope-walker balancing on it, with the red and white as the tent in the background. I also wanted to experiment with different lighting effects. I want to try making parts of the picture kind of dark and then illuminate other parts as if with a spotlight.

My idea with this project as a whole that even though the images are cartoony and flat, I might be able to give some illusion of depth with lighting and shadow also play with the viewer's sense of scale a little--for example, by having the poster double as a tightrope in 2A. It all sounds really good in my head, it's just a matter of proper execution. So, of course, any comments or criticism are more than welcome!

One More Just-for-Fun Project

OK, here's one more project I made for fun in Photoshop. I made it as a gift for my dad's birthday earlier this month.

9/30/10

Some Just-for-Fun Projects

On a lighter note, I thought I'd share a few of the projects I've made for fun and to allow me to experiment with Photoshop without the pressure of grades or deadlines.

This one was a study in applying digital makeup and hair coloring, and creating tattoos. Why did I choose Lady Gaga? Hers was the first name that came up when looking for a photo of a celebrity without makeup.

9/3/10

In the following version I made the original photo grayscale so my changes would be visible.

9/3/10

This next one is my favorite ever, and if you know me you'll understand why!

9/16/10

Finally, some animated gif files I made from video clips...

9/27/10

9/27/10

DIG 2109c - Exercise 2

Exercise 2 for my Digital Imaging class was to take our image from Exercise 1 and apply color in a way that produces depth of field. I kind of felt like I was winging it, but my professor said she really liked it, so I won't complain...

9/29/10

DIG 2109c - Project 1

This was my first Digital Imaging project that I turned in a couple of weeks ago. The assignment in a nutshell was to create three compositions all based on a common theme. This was the full criteria: http://sulley.dm.ucf.edu/~dig2109c/DIG2109C_ProjectSheets_Fall10/Adams_DIG2109C_Fall10proj1.pdf. My theme was music. Here is what I submitted:

Project 1A

9/22/10

Project 1B

9/22/10

Project 1C

9/22/10

DIG 2109c - Exercise 1

This was the first assignment in my Digital Imaging class. The goal was to experiment with some of the basics of Photoshop using a circle, square, and triangle. Here was my product:

8/26/10

Well, Hello There...

Perhaps you are wondering what this blog is all about. Well, yes, it's technically about me, but that sounds too narcissistic. It's really about my development in digital art and design. I am a Digital Media major at the University of Central Florida, planning on pursuing the Game Design track. I'm not sure yet how I'll specialize further, but I'm interested in production, so I will have to be fairly well-rounded between art and programming. This is the source of my dilemma. While I believe I have some natural artistic ability, I have absolutely no formal training or practice beyond the middle school. So by posting my assignments and other random projects here, I hope that I can get some constructive criticism and become a better artist and designer.

Here we go!