Aviary Blog

Updates from around the nest

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:40:48 EST

We're finally starting to pick our heads up and prepare to emerge from private beta with new applications, a new polished site with some incredible innovations and completion of our first dedicated Aviary tutorial book, by our very own Meowza! But in the mean time, some quick news updates:

Welcome to our newest staff members Amiee Jacobsen and Mo Boehm!

Amiee is joining us as our community manager - she previously headed up Splice Music in that role, where she caught our eye based on the fantastic job she did cheerleading that community. She also has a strong presence in Flickr and Second Life, and will be helping us plan the design of our 3D modeling tool to make it easy for Second Lifers to use. If you need anything at all on the site, don't be shy to message her (username: thaumata).

Mo is actually a long-time friend and colleague, having previously worked with Iz and me during the initial development of Worth1000 in 2001. He's a master DBA and systems architect and will help scale out our system so it can optimally handle heavy loads. Aviary has some very unique requirements, database-wise, due to the recursive way that file permissions need to be tracked and inherited through generations. If anyone can master scaling on a system like ours, it's him.

Both will update on our idea blog, so you'll have a chance to get to know them. Mo already has begun making the rest of us look bad, here.

Aviary in the New Yorker

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to engage in a witty riposte with the infamous New Yorker magazine. Barak Obama may hate us now, but at least my mom is proud.

Aviary toolbar

If you'd like to help alpha test the new Aviary Firefox extension that opens up a whole range of functionality into the Aviary suite that isn't available by default in Flash, please indicate so in the comments below (or private message to Thaumata).

We're adding:

- screenshot grabbing (full and partial)
- right-click image copying and editing from any website
- access to the binary data on your computer clipboard
- quick searching Aviary and stock photo databases
- tablet pressure sensitivity
- quick launching applications
- and more!

Aviary at SXSW in Texas

Michael Galpert, Mario Klingemann and myself (Avi Muchnick) have the opportunity to speak about Aviary at panels in the upcoming SXSW conference. The only catch is that we have to be nominated by visitors to the SXSW website. So, Please vote for us!

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Aviary introduces browser-based terrain generation

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:25:39 EST

Peacock underwent some exciting updates over the last few weeks and I wanted to highlight one of the most exciting ones here: terrain generation. That's right: you can now render 3D natural scenes in your browser using Flash.

We'll be discussing all the changes over the next few blog posts.

The terrain generator node gives you control over everything from the shadow and light intensity, angle and height of the light source, and even the 3D angle the terrain is viewed from. In short, Peacock just got a hell of a lot more powerful!

Here is a quick tutorial file showing how terrain can be generated in Peacock (just open the file in Peacock to view the tutorial).

Tip: To pan through the document, hold down spacebar and mouse button at the same time, as you move your mouse.

The terrain generator is very simple: You pass in a black and white height texture map and a skin texture map that overlays the 3D terrain. The white areas in the height map represent peaks, the dark areas represent valleys. By adjusting the height map, you can make all different types of 3D terrain (and even non-terrain objects).

Because the computer does all the work for you in the background, you can create very realistic effects just by adjusting options as in the randomized terrain shown above. You can personally replicate this effect by adjusting the random seed option of the top Perlin Noise node in this tutorial file.

Here are some example images showing the terrain generator put to great use: Click on the images, then open them up in the Peacock editor to get a sense for how they were made!

Icebergs under the Aurora by a handsome devil

Simulated micro-photography of trees in the fall by Mpeutz

Windows XP inspired wallpaper by Robotguy4, bassp and yours truly.

Abstract 3D boxes using the terrain generator and new autopainter node (more on that later) by Mpeutz

Landscape with clouds by Mpeutz

Space Invaders by Mpeutz and Mario

Alien Fossil by davidjensen

Folded Fabric by Redstar

Repeating waves patterns by Mario

Earth-like land mass generator by Mpeutz

Between the Sheets by Mario

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Massive upgrades to Phoenix

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:14:35 EST

It's been a very busy past few weeks for us. In addition to the new team addition, we've also been furiously working on improving all currently released tools AND gearing up for the alpha release of 2 new birds (Some users are already seeing access to them in their accounts, but more on those later).

Let's start this off with some new feature enhancements to our image editor, Phoenix! In our next post we'll touch on some of the amazing new features added to Peacock, our visual laboratory (for creating complex patterns and filters).

Right-Clicking on the canvas to choose a specific layer

Now you can find and select any layer automatically by rightclicking anywhere on the canvas. A list of the layers directly below your mouse will appear. Clicking on the name in that list will select the corresponding layer in the Layers panel on the right hand side and allow you to immediately begin working on it.

Layer can be converted to a selection

If you have a layer with transparencies in it, you can now automatically trace the solid areas and turn it into a selection. To use this feature just go to the menu bar at the top and choose Select > Selection from Layer.

Rulers and Guides!

One of the most requested features to date is the addition of rulers and guides. Now users can get pixel-level accuracy as they draw. To create a new guide, just click and hold on the ruler (horizontal or vertical) and drag onto the canvas. A guide will automatically appear. To move a guide once it's created, click on the Move/Transform tool, then click and drag the guide to the desired location.

As you work with the selection and move tools, your cursor will snap to the guides (see the picture below). We'll be adding more support for other tools in upcoming releases.

Dodge and Burn tool

Another highly requested feature. We've added a Dodge/Burn tool which allows you to selectively lighten and darken different areas of a picture. We'll be splitting these into two separate tools in a future release, but for now they are available as functions within the same tool.

Saving now includes tags, permissions and description

Now you can automatically save your changes directly from within the interface. Previously you needed to first save your work, then adjust your permissions, tags and description on the website. You can still use the website to adjust your changes in these areas as well.

Brushes and fonts are now larger

This was an easy, but important one. Brushes can now be up to 300 pixels in size (from 100). Fonts can be up to 288 pixels in size (from 72).

Input level control over zoom

You can now type in the zoom level you'd like to go to. Spacebar control over panning is coming in the next release.

New & improved Color Picker panel

The colorpicker is now reorganized and a lot quicker. The same interface is also available in all Aviary applications (including Toucan and Peacock). Additionally, you can now adjust alpha transparency directly in the interface. In upcoming releases we'll be adding additional color settings (like CMYK) which are currently only available in Toucan.

Gradient improvements

Gradient now has some new methods (pad, reflect and repeat), which lead to greater control over what types of patterns the tool can be used to create.

Access to Flickr, Picasa and Facebook images

You can now access your Flickr, Picasa and Facebook images from within the Resource Browser (within all tools). One note is that this currently doesn't work if you have a Popup blocker installed (which is used when authenticating at these sites. We'll be addressing that problem and adding additional sites in upcoming releases.

Every single bug is now fixed and the software is flawless

Just kidding. But we've made pretty good headway. We have solved countless bugs, too numerous to list. Thank you so much to all our beta testers for helping us to make our tools that much better by reporting every thing.

Are there any features you'd like to see in Phoenix? Please comment below. Highest on my wishlist? Paths.

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Welcome to Aviary's newest family member!

Wed, 28 May 2008 02:27:53 EST

A few hours ago, my wife and I welcomed a new beautiful baby boy into the world. He's 7 lb 12 oz with a full head of curly blonde hair and blue eyes (subject to change). His feathers haven't grown in yet.

I'll get some pics up as soon as I get a spare second. Please forgive any lack of responsiveness on my part over the next few days as we get mommy and baby settled in.

Any name suggestions?

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Emma Watson gets a sex change in Aviary

Thu, 8 May 2008 12:14:36 EST

Great method actors like Emma Watson (of Harry Potter fame) will embed themselves so deeply in a role that they will look, dress and act in part non-stop for the duration of filming, even when the cameras aren't rolling.

Now as Emma Watson prepares for her most challenging role to date, 57-year-old male truck driver Roscuro in the upcoming film, The Tale of Despereaux, she asked Aviary's resident plastic surgeon Meowza to perform the emergency sexandectomy.

View the sources and full layered file

It's every Harry Potter fan fic writers dream come true! Here's a video of the operation:

This work made heavy use of distorting, blend modes and smoothing.

Sources:

Kudos to Aerosmith for providing the background vocals!

Standard disclaimer: For those of you new to this blog, this was not created in Photoshop. It was created in Aviary, a suite of online web applications. You can sign up for the current beta at http://a.viary.com.

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Aviary joins the Deck

Fri, 2 May 2008 01:15:13 EST

We have joined the Deck, the premiere advertising network for reaching creative, web and design professionals.

The Deck advertisements only appear on Aviary's blog sections (both product blog and idea blog), not within the Aviary website (or applications as you work).

We are not a big fan of relying on advertising as a business model in the current economy. However, we do view partnering with the Deck as a wonderful synergy: We really like the network of 29 sites and blogs that are a part of the Deck, the ideology behind how they run ads and who they partner with.

The rules are: they only run ads from products that they personally use; 1 inobtrusive ad per page at a time; advertisers pay Cost Per Influence, instead of for page views or clicks. (meaning, if you advertise on The Deck but for the perceived influence the networks' viewers have), and they are very selective about which publishers can join.

Other sites in the Deck are:

37signals
A Brief Message
Airbag
A List Apart
Clusterflock
Colour Lovers
Computerlove
Coudal
Daring Fireball
Design Observer
ffffound
Fortuitous
Fray
Good Is Dead
Helvetica: The Film
IconBuffet
Kottke.org
The Morning News
SimpleBits
swissmiss
Textism
Twitterrific
Veerle's Blog
Vitamin
Waxy.org
YayHooray!
Ze Frank
Zeldman

Editor's note: Our next blog post will be a product update. :)

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iStockPhoto.com co-founder joins Aviary advisor board

Thu, 1 May 2008 18:29:59 EST

We've been extremely fortunate to surround ourselves with team members, advisers and partners of the highest caliber in terms of their experience, reputation and accomplishments. Our new adviser, Patrick Lor is no different, having been the first employee at the very successful iStockPhoto.com in 2001, where he served as EVP and director until its sale in 2006. Together with founder Bruce Livingstone, he turned a community of photographers into an innovative and disruptive business model where the community could profit together with the company.

And a successful model it is. In 2006, iStockPhoto sold to Getty Images for $50 million. Last year, iStockPhoto had $72 million in revenue, sharing $20.9 million of that with its community. Amazing. It's exactly that kind of cooperative partnership with the artistic community that we're attracted to.

Oh and in case you are wondering: Patrick is the caricature circled in red from our About page:

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2008 Webware 100 Awards winner!

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 01:26:08 EST

We're super excited to announce that we are winners in CNet's 2008 Webware 100 Awards in the Publishing and Photography category!

I've got to admit that the idea of bragging about winning an intangible award makes us feel a little weird, especially as I'm not normally a fan of online awards sites (and no, the irony of my founding Worth1000 isn't lost on me). But we really respect the way that Rafe and everyone at CNet run the entire process. Sites don't have to pay to be included in the nomination process, there is some professional editorial preselection and the rest is up to the Internet. Very Cool.

Here's a partial snippet of the email we received from CNet that explains how we were chosen:

The 2008 Webware 100 Awards recognize the best Web 2.0 sites, services, and applications on the Web today. After receiving more than 5,000 nominations for inclusion in the Webware 100, our editors selected 300 finalists. But the Web's users decided the final cut, voting nearly two million times to select the 100 top products--10 each in of 10 categories--from our list of 300 finalists.

So we really have our awesome user base at Aviary and Worth1000 to thank for helping us go all the way!

Congratulations to all the finalists and winners - we were in amazingly good company.

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16 awesome Aviary tutorials

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:23:56 EST

One of the most fantastic things about building a suite of tools around a community, instead of the other way around, is that users are always willing to pitch in and help out others with tutorials and forum assistance. It's our plan to build our applications with a very deep set of community tools, built around forums, wiki-documentation, chat, user-made tutorials and sharable workspaces.

Aviary super star Meowza has already begun paving the way with more than a dozen "photo-phixing" tutorials for other users of Phoenix. Got a specific question on how to make a technique in Phoenix? Ask and ye shall receive.

Unzipping a Kitty

View the full tutorial | Full layered file

Chocolatizing a Statue

View the full tutorial | Full layered file

Cyborg Frog

View the full tutorial | Full layered file

Smoking Woman

View the full tutorial | Full layered file

Alien Overlords

View the full tutorial | Full layered file

Correct Shadow Perspective

View the full tutorial | Full layered file

Aging a Photograph

View the full tutorial | Full layered file

Making a Snow Storm

View the full tutorial | Full layered file

Popping Elements with Dodge and Burn

View the full tutorial | Full layered file

Aging a Boy (or How we Faked Dodo)

View the full tutorial | Full layered file

Genetic Cross-Breeding

View the full tutorial | Full layered file

How to Precision Select Custom Shapes

View the full tutorial | Full layered file

Another tutorial on the same topic

Masking fur by Ziaphra

View the full tutorial | Full layered file

Using Blend Modes; Having Fun with Liquify and Mating Celebrities

Read the full 3-in-one tutorial!

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Dodo: Web-based time machine!

Tue, 1 Apr 2008 10:36:34 EST

Aviary is excited to announce the launch of its newest application, Dodo, the web-based time machine.

We've been working feverishly around the clock on this new tool which will allow you to age and de-age people, places and things from any browser with Flash 9 enabled.

Here's a video of Dodo in action:

Dodo is incredibly simple to use: Just upload an input picture, choose between different settings that might affect the aging process (i.e. amounts of alcohol and tobacco consumed), set a year and hit generate. Obviously results will vary, but under strenuous laboratory analysis we have found a margin of error of only +-11% (unprecedented performance for time machines in general, let alone web-apps).

Dodo automatically detects the subject matter (noting the difference between people places and things) and chooses how to age it, using the Astley-Zonday time displacement theorem with accurate results.

Dodo can also be used on scenery. For example, Dodo changed this scene from an ordinary spring landscape to winter, using Dodo's built-in database of geographically accurate weather history.

Additionally, Dodo is not limited to animate objects, and scenes; It works equally well on inanimate objects, predicting what they might look like at specified dates in the past (and future).

We see market opportunity for Dodo across several mediums, not just graphic design. We imagine it will be useful in everything from tracking down long missing children, to determining if a girlfriend will end up looking like her mother, to deceiving potential dates in the personals section of Craigslist.

To access Dodo, sign up for an Aviary account at http://a.viary.com. If you already have an account, please log out and back in to see it appear in your tool list.

Update April 2nd, 2008: This was an April Fools joke. Dodo doesn't exist. Now can you please stop e-mailing us asking for access to it? :)

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