Building the Web With 14Four and Seven2 Interactive
Character Animation in After Effects
On 16, May 2012 | No Comments | In Animation, Motion Graphics | By Mitch Davis
Now, we all know that After Effects is cool. So, if you don’t want to keep hearing it, you should probably stop reading. Otherwise, read on my friend…
On 16, May 2012 | No Comments | In Uncategorized | By Eric Smith
There are tons of good resources online for stock textures. For a truly unique,
uncanned look – create your own!
STEP 1 - Find a Texture
Look around and find something that you think would make a nice texture. Some ideas include old paper, a chunk of wood, fabric, JP’s new boot, etc. The more creative the better.
Read more…
Mobile Design & Usability
On 02, May 2012 | No Comments | In Graphic Design, Mobile | By Jesse Pierpoint
We’ve been working with a client to on a site that requires a separate mobile experience that has the same overall functionality. In doing so, we’ve taken the original site we designed and developed, and applied some mobile guidelines to the content to make sure it is a good user experience. Working with their mobile styleguide, I researched some other tools and topics as a way to learn more about best practices around mobile design.
Beta Testing iOS Apps the Easy Way: TestFlight, Unity, & AutoPilot
On 02, May 2012 | No Comments | In Game Development, Mobile, Process Tools | By Nate Chatellier
Learning how to see an app you’ve created run on an actual iOS device… sucks. Discovering the intricacies of provisioning, certificates, app IDs, & code signing can be a confusing process. Thankfully, Apple now has a series of How-To’s to help you along.
Once you finally get everything setup for your own device, there are plenty of additional steps to get everything setup for your testers’ devices. In-short, this process entails:
- Acquiring the Device ID for each of your testers (this app helps)
- Adding unique Device IDs to the Apple provisioning portal (step-by-step guide)
- Create the App ID (or use a wildcard App ID)
- Ensuring you have a non-expired Distribution Certificate installed in your Keychain (step-by-step video)
- Create an Ad Hoc Provisioning Profile (step-by-step video)
- Create & send your testers a Distribution Provisioning Profile
- Teach your testers how to add the provisioning profile
- Create a special Distribution Build
- Send the .ipa to your testers via ftp, Dropbox, etc.
- Teach your testers how to install the ipa on their device via iTunes
- Alternatively, consider setting up OTA (Over the AIR) distribution through your own web server (step-by-step video)
If that sounds like a lot, it’s because it is! Thankfully: TestFlight to the rescue!
Making More Effective Developers
On 28, Apr 2012 | No Comments | In Uncategorized | By Adam Van Ornum
Developing computer applications is a difficult job, especially for the web. It’s a mix of science, art, and magic to make the machine function in the way you want, especially across multiple browsers and under tight deadlines. On top of everything, the technology is changing so fast it feels like a full time job just trying to keep on top of the latest developments.
One thing that is easy to forget amidst all of the attention that must be paid to specific technologies is that there is a lot of personal development that needs to continually happen in order to become and remain effective developers. Fortunately, there are quite a few smart people out there with significant experience who can analyze and communicate the lessons they have learned through their careers, and one of the computer industry’s most recommended sources is the book “The Pragmatic Programmer”.
The Camera and Your Emotions
On 25, Apr 2012 | No Comments | In Animation, Motion Graphics | By Nick Tibbetts
How we use our camera (whether in a digital environment or in the real world) is important, each shot either conveys emotion or creates some information for your audience. The camera is the only way of letting the audience into our world and making sure they see, feel, and understand everything we are wanting them to. Here’s just a few things to remember when planning your shots. These are more guidelines and of course there are exceptions to the rules but these things bewilder me and make me dizzy, so i try not to think of them.
Forcing Lossy on PNG-32 (RGBA) Images
On 25, Apr 2012 | No Comments | In Graphic Design, Web Development | By Bradley Baysinger
For transparency, PNG format gives you two options. One option, (PNG-8) limits how much information can be saved into an image. The other option (PNG-32) provides almost no control over information reduction, as it is always lossless. But, with a few tricks, we can bridge the gap slightly between the two versions.
Fireworks provides some control over alpha channels in PNG-8, but overall, the format is still far too limiting for images with photographic elements, colors and alpha channels. The result is that we often end up using PNG-32 images, even though file size can be enormous.
Complexity in any image can bloat file size. Reducing complexity in a PNG-32 involves any number of the following: reducing total number of colors, reducing total levels of alpha, and reducing graininess. Adobe provides us with no control over these things in the export options, but when file size is critical, there are some tricks we can use. This can be slightly involved depending on the image, but I’ve created a Photoshop action:
…that starts you out with a lot to work with.
Here is the original example image we are going to work with. It is 270k exported from the Export for Web panel. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but that seems huge for such a small image. We’re going to try to reduce it down to under 130k.
Wonderful World of Motion Graphics
On 25, Apr 2012 | 4 Comments | In Motion Graphics | By Mitch Davis
Click here to watch the video that went along with this presentation: Motion Graphics Demonstration
In the advertising industry, Motion Graphics is an incredible driving force. Here at Seven2, our Motion Graphics and Film work has increased like crazy in the past year. We can only assume that the same is happening to studios and agencies in NYC and LA. Looking to make a move into Motion Graphics? Could be a smart move! Here are some things to help you decide…
Isometric Quick Tips: Extrude & Bevel in Illustrator
On 18, Apr 2012 | No Comments | In Game Development, Graphic Design, Process Tools | By Justin Baldwin
Isometric game design can be a little time consuming when it comes to getting your perspective looking right. I discovered a quick way to use Extrude and Bevel in Illustrator to help you set up decent work flow to designing for an isometric view.
Lets start by drawing a simple box, I usually use a 2pt stroke and hold shift to draw a even square. Duplicate those to make a even grid for yourself.
Digital Sketching in Photoshop
On 18, Apr 2012 | No Comments | In Uncategorized | By Randall Schleufer
Most of our projects at Seven2 start with a sketch. Depending on the artists particular style, these sketches can be executed in a variety of ways. Some designers prefer to use illustrator for sketches, with hard solid vector lines. Others prefer a more painterly style with bold brush strokes to render a scene. I fall into a group of sketch artists that outlines rough shapes in Photoshop.
Digital sketching has always been something I try to improve, whether it is quality, speed or both. At Seven2, I get a lot of practice and the particular challenges of sketching makes it one of my favorite tasks. For this article, I’ve decided to share a few of my favorite techniques. This is in not intended to be an exhaustive list because… well that would be boring.
Collaborators
