BYOB!!!

I you need one last event to write about, check out the chaos of a BYOB (Bring Your Own Beamer) exhibition and check out some work from the advanced classes!!

Project #7: Make Great Art

DUE: December 10

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) art is an exciting medium for creating small animations on the internet or within games that play automatically and can be interactive in HTML (HyperText Markup Language) documents. Gif art allows digital artists to create dynamic art works that can be exhibited anywhere; from projecting on gallery walls, created specifically for a piece of browser art and on forums to upset trolls. For our final project, all I ask is that the final piece is a gif file posted on your blog. Throughout the semester we have had strong directions with either content or purpose in our assignments. I want to see your voice and artistic direction in this piece. What do you want to say as an artist and how do you express it?

I will be demoing how to create gifs using PhotoShop, importing video to layers in PhotoShop, and how to create glitch art by playing with an image's code. I want this piece to be Art (with a capital A) not a simple demonstration of using the technology. I feel that too many digital media artists rely on the novelty of using technology without really trying to communicate with the viewer. As artists, we are all image makers so think about what you would like to say.

To save your final work as a gif file. Remember to keep an eye on your file size!!

This is the fancy program inside PhotoShop that you can create your gif file with. You have the option to choose file format, size, amount of colors, and where to save it.

Here's how to import videos into PhotoShop. This will turn the frames into layers so you can manipulate them how you like.

Glitch Art:

Open your image file in a text editor of your choosing. Play around with the text and save. This process is purely experimental. With enough experience you will can start to predict what might happen but play, play, play. You are, in fact, destroying the image so make sure to have lots of copies. Sometimes PhotoShop won't be able to read the file so open your image in Preview or Finder or whatever, and take a selected screenshot. This will allow you to bring the file into PhotoShop.

Cute Bulldog

Glitch Dog!!!

Here is a link to the best collection of gif art on the ole' interweb. Browse it for inspiration!

Prosthetic Knowledge. Tumblr has a ga-jillion sites like this so search around.

MAKE GREAT ART!!!

11/19 - Project #7 3D/2D Space, Reading #5 Posted 

11/21 - Studio

11/26 - Discuss Reading #5, Reading #6 Posted, Studio

11/28 - Thanksgiving

12/3 - Discuss Reading #6, Studio

12/5 - Studio

12/10 - Project #7 Critique, Discuss Final Meeting

Second Life Avatar

My Second Life avatar name is "fumblerustybacon".

Last Two Readings

Here is a link to download the last two readings.

Last two readings!!!

Here's the schedule:

11/19 - Project #7 3D/2D Space, Digital Divide Posted

11/21 - Studio

11/26 - Discuss Digital Divide, Studio

11/28 - Thanksgiving

12/3 - Discuss Manovich, Studio

Second Life

                  (Digitally Beautiful or Weird Harry Potter?)

Due: December 12, 7:30-9:30

We will hold our final class meeting in Second Life!

As you all know, our final project will consist of the creation of two avatars in Second Life. Next week we will start with a tour of Second Life locations and I will be giving us a workshop on how to get things done in Second Life. The "Community Learning" idea is a theme we have followed through out the semester and will, of course, be continued in our final project. Think of the project as a mixture of the traditional self-portrait and social practice new media art. Please check out this Front Line "Digital Nation" (I believe its on Netflix too) to start thinking about the digitalization of various aspects of our lives.

Part 1: First Self

Representational Avatar/Self
If you haven't done so already, sign up for a free account and get acquainted with Second Life. Your first avatar will be representational and reflective of who your are in real (or meat) space. Look above to see mine as an example.

Follow these steps:
A) Begin by playing with the appearance interface to get accustomed to playing in Second Life. Play with eye color, body shape, etc. to build your digital self. You will need to find, create, or buy (I'll give you some SL cash called Lindens) clothing and accessories to create a realistic avatar. Think of the Second Life tools as just another medium used to create human representations.

Below is a tutorial that will help you get comfortable playing with your appearance.
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Appearance_Editor

B) Once you have created an avatar, save this as an outfit. The next step is to use Photoshop to create a "photo" realistic avatar. I've included tons of tutorials and the avatar template I used to create my beautiful self. Like everything related to Digital Media, it looks harder than it really is. You will start by taking a profile and front head shot to work with in Photoshop. Make sure these are taken together so the light is consistent. You will use these photos as source material to build your portrait with a Master Template. Remember, patience and the Clone Stamp Tool are your best friend in this project.

Here is the main tutorial page for clothing and skin tutorials:
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Clothing_Tutorials

I used this link to create my avatar. Her website is full of helpful tutorials on all sorts of fun subjects:
Robin Wood

Here are some files that I used in my process.

This is the final result using the template I downloaded from Robin Wood. Remember to hide the template layers before saving your file as a .tga.

                                                                   Mugshot!

Its easier to only work with one half of your source photo to make your portrait have symmetry.

Below is the template Joe Delappe used to create his senator candidate avatar:
http://www.annotoole.com/CMFF/ (you will need CMFF_Master_Template_Head.zip)

This is a tutorial on making and importing skin. The file format needed for Second Life is TARGA (.tga). The version of SL used is old but the tutorial gives you a good sense of how to think about the process of creating your portrait:
http://www.avatars-3d.com/tutorial-template-secondlife/273-second-life-how-to-use-a-skin-template

Though the artist is using a different program in this video, the process you can use is the same. Its helpful to watch this as it quickly gives you tips on how to successfully use your tools to create your avatar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHQKQKQROyc&feature=related

This should be fun and somewhat of a digital party. I hope it is the funnest final you have this semester. Also, remember what I told you about flexibility and patience with each other for this project. The success of the critiques will rely on us working as a community and sometimes Second Life can be poopy in how it loads, functions, whatever. Good screen shots posted to your blog are vital for this project.

 

Part 2 – Second Self

For the second part of this project, you will create a "fantasy/experimental/imaginary" avatar. Your imagination is the only limit for the second avatar. Consider the variety of ways you can express your inner-self, your interests, or any way you would like to represent yourself. One requirement of this project is that at least one of the items of clothing or objects used for your outfit are made using the building tools in Second Life.

Remember the Google Rule when tackling this project and have fun. Really use your imagination and artistic creativity with this piece.

Some Additional Links for Tutorials!

A TON of tutorials here, please note "how to embed texture onto an object" for example:

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Video_Tutorials#Official_Video_Tutorials

Clothing Tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBOiPspH6vs&feature=related

Importing Textures: Important for importing your portrait texture.

http://collaborate.extension.org/wiki/Second_Life/Building#Importing_Texture

Build stuff:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyrBXnbWjsE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c08WOhStkPg&feature=watch_response