| | In Google SketchUp 8 Essential Training , author George Maestri explains how to model and render 3D objects and scenes using Google SketchUp 8. The course covers the fundamentals of the application, from navigating the user interface, manipulating objects, and building basic shapes to importing objects from Google Earth, animating a scene, and modeling organic terrain using the Sandbox tools. The course also explores SketchUp Pro features, which are available as an upgrade. These include tools for creating dynamic components and adding interactivity, as well as sophisticated importing and exporting options for working with outside applications. Exercise files accompany the course. Running Time: 06h 26m In Excel 2010: Financial Functions in Depth author Curt Frye shows how to perform a wide range of financial calculations quickly and easily using the many financial functions found in Excel 2010. The course details dozens of functions for evaluating cash flows; calculating depreciation; determining rates of return, bond coupon dates, and security durations; and more. Exercise files accompany the course. Running Time: 02h 20m In WordPress 3: Developing Secure Sites, author Jeff Starr illustrates various techniques for securing self-hosted WordPress sites, including site configuration, code modification, and the use of free plug-ins. Beginning with the basics of site security, the course explains how to harden a WordPress site by configuring authentication keys, setting proper file permissions, and removing version numbers. The course shows how to implement a firewall, prevent automated spam, and control proxy access, and concludes with a series of advanced tips and site security best practices. Exercise files accompany the course. Running Time: 02h 36m Meet a truly monster graphic designer, Stefan G. Bucher. Stefan’s projects range from his Daily Monsters, to the Daily Letter on the PBS television show, The Electric Company, to CD designs for Sting and Whitney Houston, products for the Echo Park Time Travel Mart (featuring canned mammoth chunks), to writing and illustrating his latest book, You Deserve A Medal: Honors on the Path to True Love. Stefan is a prolific artist who is seemingly obsessed with finding impressive new ways to put ink on paper. Follow his journey from his first illustrations for The Donaldist (a magazine dedicated to the exploration of Donald Duck comics), through Art Center College, Portland agency Wieden+Kennedy, Madonna’s Maverick Records, and finally his own company, 344 Design. Running Time: 56m 39m  | |  | In this installment of Douglas Kirkland On Photography, Douglas Kirkland talks with his friend and colleague, Gerd Ludwig. A photojournalist best known for his work in National Geographic magazine, Gerd Ludwig has taken a special interest in Russia and the former Soviet Union—in particular, the people and stories surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
As the installment begins, Gerd is packing for this third major trip to Chernobyl. Gerd shares his techniques for choosing and packing gear for a photojournalism expedition.
Next, Douglas and Gerd sit down for a wide-ranging conversation. They discuss the changing business landscape of photography and Gerd’s approach to photojournalism. Gerd also describes how and why he works in Chernobyl and details how he financed his latest trip through the crowdfunding site Kickstarter.com.
After Gerd returns from Chernobyl, he and Douglas meet again to review some of the photographs and video that Gerd shot during his latest trip. They talk about Chernobyl today, about how video is impacting photojournalism, and about the future of Gerd’s “Long Shadow of Chernobyl” project. Running Time: 50m 05s WordPress 3: Building Child Themes shows how to create a new theme based on a prebuilt parent theme in WordPress, and change the functionality, presentation, or styling of a site. In this course, Morten Rand-Hendriksen covers importing parent themes, adding custom menus, restyling the header image, customizing the sidebar and index pages, implementing the Post Thumbnail feature, and incorporating JavaScript. The course also shows how to establish a quick and efficient theme restyling workflow, taking a design from mockup to fully functional site. Workflow techniques including modifying basic CSS by using a code editor such as Eclipse, the developer tools in the Chrome browser, and WordPress. Exercise files are included with the course. Running Time: 03h 17m Effective HTML Email and Newsletters provides in-depth, hands-on training on all aspects of email marketing, from crafting emails and setting up effective marketing campaigns to managing spam filters and evaluating delivery services. Author Tim Slavin introduces the fundamentals of email marketing, including the differences between HTML email and web pages, how to code emails that display properly on receipt, and ways to stay current with HTML email standards and capabilities. The course includes several project-oriented tutorials on creating multi-column newsletter layouts and multi-product offer emails, and also explains how to automate email creation, test emails prior to delivery, outsource campaigns, and address common coding problems. Exercise files accompany the course. Running Time: 02h 24m This course, which builds on the foundations of Dw + jQuery Projects: Creating an Interactive Homepage Marquee, enhances the marquee with an auto-play feature that automatically advances through the slide images when the page is loaded. Working in a coding environment, Chris Converse shows how to add auto play using a combination of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, plus the implementation of hover states in jQuery. This course also covers adding play/pause functionality, as well as an interaction timeout, which will restart the marquee after a specified period of idle time. Exercise files are included with the course. Running Time: 32m 35s This course, which builds on the foundations of Dw + jQuery Projects: Creating an Interactive Homepage Marquee, enhances the marquee with an auto-play feature that automatically advances through the slide images when the page is loaded. Working in a Dreamweaver environment, Chris Converse shows how to add auto play using a combination of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, plus the implementation of hover states in jQuery. This course also covers adding play/pause functionality, as well as an interaction timeout, which will restart the marquee after a specified period of idle time. Exercise files are included with the course. Running Time: 34m 14s For this installment of Photoshop for Designers, Nigel French explains the fundamentals of working with type in Photoshop, distinguishing when it is appropriate to set type in Photoshop rather than InDesign or Illustrator and what makes Photoshop unique for certain type treatments. This course demonstrates essential techniques, such as entering and editing text; interacting with type layers; and adjusting the color, transparency, character and paragraph formatting of type. Exercise files are included with the course. Running Time: 02h 37m In Access 2010: Queries in Depth, author Adam Wilbert illustrates how to create and leverage real-world queries and turn raw data into usable information. The course covers setting up queries, performing calculations, using the built-in Access functions to further refine query results, and identifying top performers or areas for improvement based on a range of criteria. Exercise files are included with the course. Running Time: 03h 02m In Excel 2007: Charts in Depth, Dennis Taylor shows how to analyze and communicate data with charts in Excel. The course starts with the foundations: what the parts of a chart are, what the different types of charts are, and which charts work best for your data. The course then shows how to create a presentation-ready chart in minutes and offers dozens of in-depth tutorials on formatting and fine-tuning charts so they represent data clearly and accurately. Exercise files are included with the course. Running Time: 03h 36m In Excel 2010: Charts in Depth, Dennis Taylor shows how to analyze and communicate data with charts in Excel. The course starts with the foundations: what the parts of a chart are, what the different types of charts are, and which charts work best for your data. The course then shows how to create a presentation-ready chart in minutes and offers dozens of in-depth tutorials on formatting and fine-tuning charts so they represent data clearly and accurately. Exercise files are included with the course. Running Time: 03h 38m In this course, professional audio engineer Scott Hirsch shows how to create an evocative sound mix for a film or video, built from basic audio collected during the shoot and transformed into a final mix using Pro Tools 9. This course shows how to set up and optimize a Pro Tools session template for projects with unique requirements, record Foley and ADR audio, layer sound effects, perform corrections such as noise reduction and pitch shifting, mix for stereo and 5.1 surround sound, and finally, how to format and deliver the finalized mix, whether destined for DVD, movie theater, broadcast, or the web. Exercise files are included with the course. Running Time: 4h 59m  Follow us on Twitter  Like us on Facebook  Share via ShareThis | |
