photosynth demo

Photosynth has come a long way since I saw it about a year ago. This demo will make your jaw drop open in amazement. You know how when watching a sci-fi movie like Blade Runner they zoom in on an image and enlarge tiny portions of the screen? Well this demo shows this capability. Ok so we're not there quite yet in terms of being able to do that to any image because at the end of the day the resolution of an image is always a factor. If you take a picture on a mobile phone you will never be able to do much with it. But what photosynth does is postulate that of any given landmark there are enough images taken by people that are online to be able to create an interactive map of that place. So given the meta-data of images stored, say on Flickr, this application can build up a representation of that place. You can zoom in on any feature and can even fly around a virtual 3D representation of that environment.

The demo also showcased Seadragon which is a way of displaying 'vast amounts of visual data' onscreen. A really nice touch was the ability to show every page of a magazine on screen and then really quickly zoom in to a page you'd like to see with absolute clarity. Stored within corners of a page could be advertisements say of a car which again you can zoom into. But these ads can contain tiny extra images of further details so that if the person is interested they can zoom in to read that information. It's kind of like those micro dot things we used to see in old spy movies. It's a great idea and again done by Microsoft. When did Microsoft become the innovator again? Are they now the underdogs?

LFPUG

The London Flash Platform Users Group (LFPUG) is a fantastic resource for those who work in the Flash community. They meet every month at various east london bars, which is great because it means that beer is always available, and they invite guest speakers to come along and talk all things Flash. This last talk was on 3D in Flash with two sets of speakers. First up were the legends responsible for Papervision, Carlos Ulloa and Ricardo Cabello a.k.a. Mr. Doob. Carlos kicked things off by talking about how to get started with Papervision. Ok so a 3D artist is essential for most tasks and a good knowledge of a 3D package (Maya, 3ds Max etc) is helpful. But the explanation of how to think in 3D was what got me interested. The introduction of the z axis and the concept of a sky box are all crutial in thinking outside (well actually inside) the box. Check out the papervision blog and get on the mailing list. It is actually quite easy to get started with this tool, once you have your basic 3D object, and the code not too difficult (although I'm sure it does get quite involved quite quickly).

Next up were the guys over at Special Moves. This company has been around for 7 years and specialise in creating 3D for all kinds of output with Flash being a major factor for them. We learned that there are many ways to create 3D, from simply faking a parallax effect, through to isometric games, through to fully immersive 3D environments. It was great to see some GT work being showcased. Christian Aid Week was a good example for them of a 3D model that was set isometrically and the viewer had no interaction with the actual model. They admitted that this work was extremely difficult for them in terms of nailing the animation but the end result is awesome. GT is more than likely going to be working closely with Special Moves in the near future so watch this space.

Both of these talks were extremely useful for me as most of us who use Flash will touch upon 3D in some way at some point. GT have already worked with both Special Moves and Papervision in the past. Check out a rhythm of lines which is due to go live any day now for the work done by GT using Papervision... it is going to be very cool.

get the message

I am finally getting around to reviewing this awesome piece of work by Glue London for the Royal Navy entitled get the message. It's just a really nice execution and great use of flash video. So aiming itself squarely at teens and mostly boys at that, this site invites a user to create a video postcard for a friend by selecting from a preset list of 6 videos each depicting a different Royal Navy inspirational scene. Once selected you get to pick your friend's name from another set of presets (this won't work if your friend has an obscure name). And then you get to type in a message limited to a fixed character length. The video is rendered and you can see the results in the link at the bottom of this post. Even more powerful is the ability to send it to your phone. This is a really cool feature and the results incredible. I urge you to try it. What is really cool is that the audio speaks the person's name (hence the presets) and also dynamically displays the message written. The area the message is written is on a loop of video that has camera shake for added drama. The text field follows the movement of the camera shake which is really nice. I'm guessing this is done in flash but I suspect some heavy back end work is going on as well. Any ideas on how this is achieved would be greatly appreciated....


Check out my video here.

faithless + coke

Coke have teamed up with Faithless to create this exceptional Flash site to promote their new bottle design. In collaboration with Paranoid who are a group of international artists, Coke have come up with this gorgeous bottle design that is painted with special ink that glows in a dark room or night club. Alongside the bottle design is a delicious piece of surreal animation upon which the website is based (created by argonautenG2 from Germany). The site allows you to explore the bottle by creating your own visual poetry and create your own design by using your built in webcam, microphone, mouse and keyboard all to control the avatar who kindly throws your visual poetry onto the bottle. The site also allows you to download your own copy of the animation, has a link to the track on iTunes and even has a slick screensaver for you to wow your friends with. VERY impressive stuff indeed. Check it out here

someecards

someecards seems to have been doing the rounds recently by the folks in the know and yes they are cute. They follow that trend of being fairly abnoxious using ideas that you wouldn't usually see on a card. Definitely made me laugh.

"You've been distant since the sexual harassment"

"Thanks for lowering your expectations of me"

"Dad, you've always been like a father to me"

:)

webby speeches

So the Webbys have just happened which is quite a big thing in the digital industry. Well to win one is quite prestigious but those in the know really don't care about winning one. Anyway it is “The Oscars of the Internet” and the really nice thing about the award ceremony is that you are only allowed to give five word speeches. And some are classic. Here are the highlights....

Artist of the Year - Beastie Boys: Can anyone fix my computer?

Lifetime Achievement - David Bowie: I only get five words? Sh*t, that was five. Four more there. That's three. Two.

Social Networking - Facebook: I'm just here for Bowie.

Blog - Cultural/Personal - TreeHugger.com: Don't shit where you eat.

The Reggie Bush Project: Finally a Bush everyone loves.

DIYNetwork.com: Now, let's get hammered.

What Is Enlightenment?: Get enlightened, or die trying.

Nick.com: Have sex, make more kids.

Philips Norelco Bodygroom: Hairy balls got me promoted.

Mindflood Seduction: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

The Guardian: Please free Alan Johnston now.

eHealthInsurance: Don't go naked, get covered.

Yahoo! Real Estate: There's no place like home.

Wikitravel: No longer a lonely planet.

OpenSecrets: Fat cats need watch dogs.

CLEARIFICATION: Thanks mom: whoever you are.

Animator vs. Animation II: Get into our shorts.

Terra: The Nature of our world: Video Podcast: Green is the new black.

The Extreme Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment: 18,000,000 views. Still no dates.

Here is the full list of winners

london olympic logo

Well much comment and criticism has been spewed over the recent London Olympics 2012 logo design. It seems us Londoner's are a bunch of design conscious people. Having been shown our garish and boxey design, made by Wolff Olins, we are all in arms. I totally agree that this design is a disaster. The colour is horrid. The shapes are unrecognizable (I only clicked yesterday that it is supposed to spell 2012). The text looks like Comic Sans. And in general it looks like a 12 year old has designed it. Actually, that wouldn't be a bad thing. They wanted this design to appeal to the youth market so why not get their input and design ideas. Clearly this logo has suffered a design by committee with several groups vetoing other ideas. Some have said this logo looks like the Nazi swastika. Others have said it looks like Lisa Simpson performing a sex act. What is clear is that Joe Public hates this logo. A recent showing of the animated version had to be removed as it caused epilepsy in 18 people. People are so incensed that they are even sending in their own ideas and some of them are actually really good. Do you feel strongly about this logo? Have your say at the online petition.

gondry for hp

Oh I love Michel Gondry and he loves experimenting with film as is shown in this nice ad for HP photosmart printers. It reminds me of that great HP ad "out of the picture" of which I can only find the dutch version (below). It's that one with the picture frames going over the guys head. A simple effect to do in After Effects but effective none-the-less. It is kinda cool for HP to align themselves with all these trendy people as they have done for this campaign with famous singers and snow boarders also in the line up. They want to show a variety of ways their product can be used to invent. The Gondry ad just shows again how this eccentric French man thinks and dreams and how this is all realised into something tangible. Nice....

iPhone home

uuuuuggggggg mmmmmmmmmm can't make words too busy droooooling

The iPhone gets its release date today. June 29th for all those lucky enough to live in the States and can use AT&T. Presumably we will have to wait a bit here in the UK which will hopefully mean a bigger hard drive and 3G (please put in a better camera Steve). I can't wait. Ha ha

Check out the new US ads for the iPhone below...

d5 jobs & gates history

Ok uber geek alert!!! This interview is one of the rare appearances that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have made together over the years and occurred at this years D5 conference (think G8 but digital). These two, surprisingly charismatic, figures chat comfortably together. But what is really special is to discover some genuine history and how it all began in the computing world. Hi I'm a Mac and I'm a PC :)

montana meth project

This series of anti-crystal meth ads from Montana really hit home. The dichotomy between what is being said and what is being watched is really effective. Crystal meth is one of the most harmful drugs out there and is seriously ruining the lives of some young people out there. This campaign is hopefully going toward stopping some of that harm. My only real worry is that this ad is preaching to the converted. It seems that possibly this set of ads is talking to parents and kids to show them how badly drugs can mess up their lives, it is not actually talking to the kids who are currently using. However, if the message reaches just a few of those kids who may be tempted then it is a success.