Thanks to Siva for the alert. I’ve never used Roxio’s ‘Toast’, so I don’t know it compares to this open source alternative called ‘Burn‘. See: burn-osx.sourceforge.net
The other day I used it to copy photos of my Beijing vacation to CDs, and Burn (version: 1.62u) proved easy to use and worked without a hitch. I like how it shows how much disk space would be taken up for the files selected for burning. There’s also a drop-down list to let me choose the formats (Mac or PC).
I haven’t tried out the burning process for Audio and video files. Not sure how different is that. Also haven’t figured it it allows a “CD to CD” burn (has anyone tried that?)
What I’ve confirmed is that the software doesn’t support Multi-session burns. Disk Utility is still needed for that purpose if you want to perform multiple burns to a CD (note: Disk Utility multi-session burn doesn’t work for DVDs).
Like Otterman, I experienced some problems in connecting my Macbook Pro to my home wireless router. I followed the workarounds he posted at his blog. Problem solved. Thanks Dude!
This worked for me:
Delete all “Preferred Network” listings then re-establish. One surprisingly effective AirPort Base station-specific fix for an inability to connect to wireless networks involves deleting all stored preferred networks, then re-establishing any used listings. Here’s the process:
1. Open System Preferences and select the “Network” pane
2. Select “AirPort” and click “Configure”
3. In the “By default, join:” pull-down menu, select “Preferred networks”
4. Delete the network(s) you regularly use from the list
5. Launch the “Keychain Access” application located in Applications/Utilities.
6. Click on the “Kind” filter at the top, and look for “AirPort network password” entries. Delete them.
7. Restart, or log out then back in.
8. Repeat steps 1-3, this time re-adding your regularly used AirPort networks to the list using the “+” button.
9. Restart or log out then back in.
Much thanks to friends who gave comments and suggestions on the earlier version of “Walking on Air“. They were spot-on with regards to the areas that could be improved. On the whole, most people liked the first version but agreed that it was bit “draggy” as it went on.
Jljl said the beginning and the end was nice, but the middle was a bit wanting, or something to that effect (no offense taken, ‘cos I understand perfectly what he’s saying). Lekowala suggest that I tone down the chorus effect, place the rhythms farther into the background and give them a higher tone, and bring up the solos more.
I listened to the earlier version a few more times, and finally decided to do the following:
Trimmed the song to 4 minutes
Adjusted the track volumes (realised the lead guitars were really too far back, so raised the volume to make them more prominent)
Panned the 7th and 8th guitar layers (if you listen to the track with earphones, I hope you can hear the left and right tracks merging with the lead solo coming in the middle)
Added vocals near the end to give it greater variation
Next, the music video! I’ve selected photos from Flickr (CC licensed) and will attempt to fit them to this version.
He shows how one could go from the planning stage, to sketching, the something called “blocking”, then painting (the concept of digital techniques aren’t that different traditional art like water-colouring), Detailing, and Line Grabbing.
Bob’s explanation of visual art theory is clear and concise. I like this one on creating a focal point for the drawing (it’s something I intuitively do but knowing the theory helps as well).
If you’ve attempted to do a digital painting before, Bob’s tutorial is a great reinforcement. If not, it’s a great way to get started by having an overview of how one could approach the whole digital painting process from start to finish.
No Comments » | 
Mac Stuff, Software & Gizmos | 
Permalink
Posted by Ivan Chew
