Two New Lab Consultants

Please welcome the two newest members of the Vitale Digital Media Lab Family:

Alex Meyer is an Economics major from the Philadelphia area.

Keith McKnight is a junior Digital Media Design major, also from Philadelphia.

You'll be seeing a lot of them around the lab, so come in and say hi.

Fixing the computers

Since we opened last April, some of the computers in here have gotten a little...quirky, and not all of them work as well as they should. This sort of thing just happens over time, and there's not much we can do to prevent it. So now we're in the process of reimaging all of the Macs in the lab. This basically means we're erasing everything on them and replacing it with a fresh copy of all of the software, which should make things run much more smoothly again.

As always, be sure you're not saving your files on the local computers when you leave, because there's no guarantee they'll be there when you return. If you're working on a project in the lab that you can't finish in one session, you can burn it to a CD or DVD, save it to your own portable hard drive, USB flash drive, or laptop, or we can save it for you temporarily on our network storage drive. Just ask the lab consultant on duty if you need help.

Nick's Portrait Photography project

Nick Salvatore, one of our more notorious lab consultants, worked on a project here in the Vitale Digital Media Lab for his photography course. He's graciously agreed to let us share it with you all.

I'll let him describe it in his own words:

This is my final project from Portrait Photography (FNAR 274) taught by Brent Wahl.

For this piece, I asked each of my subjects to choose an action to perform, and then I photographed them in the act. My intention was togive them a shot at wrestling control away from me and "taking over" the images. But I didn't feel like playing fair, so I made them do it blindfolded.

All of these pictures were edited and printed in the Digital Media Lab. The black and white images were shot on film and then converted to digital files using the film scanner. The color images were shot digitally and then imported onto one of the computers. I edited all of the images in Adobe Photoshop, then printed them using the poster printer. The resources at the lab were incredibly helpful, and I was able to get all of this work done in one day.

[editor's note: there is one current and one former lab consultant in the photos below. Can u pick them out?]



Want us to showcase a project you worked on in the lab? Email us at medialab@pobox.upenn.edu

Paper Cutter

Announcing... the long awaited... the inspirational... the celebrational, the muppetational... (drum roll, please)

Rotatrim M54 Paper Cutter! (ta da!)

Every time someone prints a poster in the lab, they always ask, "Do you have a paper cutter?" to which we always answer, "No, but we have a pair of scissors." But a pair of scissors just won't cut it sometimes (no pun intended, I swear.) We considered getting a yardstick and an xacto knife, but our paper is 42" wide, and a yardstick is only 36", so we decided to go all out and buy the real deal for you guys. It can handle paper up to 54 inches wide. We'll either be keeping it on the empty computer table, or stowed away behind the poster printer, so if you need it but you don't see it, just ask and we'll get it out for you. Heck, we'll even let you cut things you didn't print in the lab. No need to thank us. It's what we do.

School Daze

Get it? "Daze" instead of "days"? Isn't that cute? Because all the students are still in a "daze" after returning from vacation? Huh? Huh? Anyway...

Our hours this week are truncated while we gear up for the Spring semester. We'll be open this week M-F, 10am-5pm, and closed this Saturday and Sunday, 1/13 and 1/14. We plan to be open with our regular hours starting next Monday, 1/15.

Photoshop CS3 Beta

By now you've heard the exciting news that Adobe has released a beta version of Photoshop CS3. There are some great new features in the software (non-destructive filters, a complete revamp of the magic wand/selection tool, auto-align and blend of layers, Vanishing Point with multiple adjustable angle perspective planes, and more). It also marks a new (and significantly improved, IMHO) beta version of Adobe Camera Raw, and of Adobe Bridge. Not surprisingly, we've received a few questions about when we'll be upgrading the software in the lab to this version.

Adobe has set the date for the production release of CS3 as "Spring 2007," so we don't have a good sense of exactly when the software will even be available for purchase. We try not to install new versions of software in the middle of a semester, in order to minimize interruptions for anyone who has alreaday begun a project with one version. But we do try to keep the lab up-to-date with the most recent software available. Most likely, we will install Photoshop CS3 (and any other CS3 applications that have been released by that time) after the end of the Spring semester, and almost certainly before classes start again in the Fall. Our lab manager is currently working on making the beta version available on at least one of the Macs in the lab for those who want to try it out.

If you're interested in seeing some of the new CS3 features in action, the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) has put some short video tutorials online. Check them out.

Out with the Old: Brand New Robot

Despite some protest (and reluctance), we're retiring the robot we've been using on our "hours" sign on the door of the lab. We'll be replacing him soon with another creation from our robot-artist-in-residence, Jesse, perhaps with more of a Spring theme (since it's Spring Semester, even though it's still cold and rainy and yucky out). Stay tuned and keep checking the door of the lab for updates.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year. 2007 marks the beginning of the 2nd full semester of the Vitale Digital Media Lab. We're working over winter break to update the software in the lab and to spruce things up a bit for when you all return. You'll also be seeing a new face or two working in the lab, so stop in and say hello.

Dolphin Olympics Tournament Results

The lab consultants had an informal Dolphin Olympics tournament during their free time at the end of the semester. Michael was the clear winner with 19,506,379. I still don't know how he managed it, but he printed out a screenshot as proof. The final scores:

Michael: 19,506,379
Dave: 1,449,856
Neal: 659,327
Jesse: 3,148,724
Steve: 2,289,053
Nick: 755,824
Chris: 83,664
Mel and Jeff didn't play.

Have a good one!

Ah... the semester is over. A whole week of much-deserved and much-needed vacation coming up for everyone! We're open til 9 tonite, (our usual hours), and then thursday and friday we'll only be open 10-5. After that, you won't see us again until the new year.

We hope you found the lab useful this semester. If you haven't yet availed yourself of the resources we make available, please stop by in the Spring semester and check us out.

Lost and Found

See this stuff? It's our Lost-and-Found box. Yes, that's a pair of shoes. No, none of us here at the lab are sure how someone could accidentally walk off and leave their shoes behind. But you know those wacky Penn students.

It's the end of the semester, so I'm taking the box down to the Reserve Desk (ie. Rosengarten: ground floor, Van Pelt Library) to add to the main lost-and-found collection, so if anything in the photo looks familiar, stop by Rosengarten to get it.

No Red Ink

Update: Ok, we're back in business. Magenta (not red. my bad.) ink is loaded and in plentiful supply.

We ran out of red ink on the poster printer tonite. Sorry! (Thanks, Neal, for checking in and letting me know about the problem.) There's been an onslaught of poster printing in the last week the likes of which we've never seen, and our printing supplies dwindled much faster than expected. If it's any consolation (and I know it's not), we have enough glossy paper now to last us well into next year. I'm pretty sure we do have more ink down in the supply closet, but we won't have access to it until Monday, so the poster printer will be out of commission until then. If you're in dire straits and can't wait that long, check out Kinkos or Campus Copy. They both charge a lot more than we do, but then they probably have red ink, too. (note: this applies only to the poster printer. The normal color printer should be working fine.)

Holiday hours

For those of you who plan to stay on campus over break for some reason, the lab's going to be closed between December 23rd and New Year's Day. We'll open with limited hours in January, and then ramp up to our regular hours when classes start again. Our hours are available for your perusal online.

Glossy Paper

The lab ran out of glossy paper for the poster printer on Friday. But we're back in stock today, so we have both glossy and matte papers for all your poster printing needs.

Final Cut upgrade to version 5.1

[update, 1/18/2007: we've erased everything on the computers and installed fresh copies of all the software, including the FCP upgrade to version 5.1. We expect this to solve all of the problems users were encountering, but please let us know if you're still having trouble!]

We've heard concerns from students this semester that they'd created a Final Cut Pro project elsewhere using version 5.1, but that it wasn't 100% compatible with version 5.0.4, which is what we've been running in the lab. To solve this problem, we've purchased version 5.1 and we'll be installing it over winter break, so it should be available by the first day of classes in January.

Nick's Geometric Thing

Nick Salvatore is one of the lab consultants you've seen working here at the Vitale Digital Media Lab. He's probably even helped you on one of your projects. In this picture, Nick is holding a 3D geometrical object he created with the help of the Adobe Illustator CS2 software in the lab. He was able to take the computer file of his design and use it to program a special cutting laser (made available to School of Design students) to cut the pieces out of 1/4"-thick plastic, which he then assembled by hand.



Want us to showcase a project you worked on in the lab? Email us at medialab@pobox.upenn.edu

Say Farewell to Michael and Mel (rhyme not intended)

Michael Highland and Melissa Miller are leaving the lab at the end of this semester to spend some time abroad in Hong Kong. Michael and Mel have been a valuable part of the lab, and we'll miss them both. If you see them, be sure to say good-bye and wish them bon voyage.

New Director of the Weigle Information Commons

We are pleased to announce that Anu Vedantham has accepted the position of Director of the David B. Weigle Information Commons. She will begin work on January 15th 12th.

Anu comes to us from Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, where she serves as the Director of Instructional Technology. She is also currently a student in Penn's Graduate School of Education, pursuing her Ed.D. in the Higher Education Management program. Anu will be assuming a leadership role in the Information Commons, maintaining responsibility for the operation of both the Commons and--with David Toccafondi--the Vitale Digital Media Lab, planning technology systems to keep pace with student needs, and developing outreach programs to support teaching and learning. Welcome, Anu!

Nintendo Wii Launch! T minus five hours and counting...

Ok, so I'm still not so excited about the name, but the Nintendo Wii launches tonite at midnight! Given that people have already been waiting in lines outside for *days*, and the fact that the weather isn't that pleasant anyway, I've decided to wake up at 3am (ugh!) and try to snatch one from Amazon when they go on sale at midnite, *west coast time*. Why should you care, you ask? Well if I get one, I'll bring it--and the new Zelda game (which has become my primary reason for living)--to the lab for people to try out.


[update: apparently Amazon sold out in less than a minute. So fast, in fact, that most of the people trying to get one weren't even aware they'd even been made available, and they stayed up for hours waiting for Amazon to put them online. Oh well. In the meantime, I'll be doing my best to get one of these things, but it seems unlikely before Christmas. Unless one of our many generous lab users wants to donate one to the lab. Hey, we're a non-profit, so it's tax-deductable, after all... If you want to see the happy faces of the lucky people who did manage to snag a Wii, here's Engadget's coverage of the launch.]

New Book: Switching to the Mac

We've noticed that most of the users of the Digital Media Lab are using Macintosh computers for the first time. If you're new to Macs, too, then we've got just the book for you.

Switching to the Mac, Tiger Edition, by David Pogue.
2nd Revised Edition, October 2005. ISBN 0596006608

Editorial Review from Amazon.com:

"Covering the latest in Mac OS X v.10.4 "Tiger," Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition explains the hundreds of innovative new features to the Mac OS and how you can understand and make the very most of each."

"Whether you're a novice or a power user, Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition, teaches you how to smoothly and seamlessly replace (or supplement) your Windows machine--in a refreshingly funny and down-to-earth style--with a mighty Mac."