Derek Lerner : Blog

GREED

Lerner — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:53:26 +0000

2009-08-16 aggregation

Lerner — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:00:51 +0000

fontcapture.com
no software to download and install, all you need is a printer and a scanner
THE MOST NOTORIOUS COUNTERFEITER
"There are few criminals pursued with more vigor than those who make their own money. Counterfeiting is considered such a threat to the fabric of the United States that it is—with treason—one of only two criminal offenses named in the Constitution. "… "Albert Talton says he did not have any grand plan in mind when he started his operation. It was just an experiment, "to see if I could do it," he tells me in a letter from prison, a few months after our initial conversation."
Obama’s FCC to enforce ‘net neutrality’
Julius Genachowski, the FCC chairman, told The Hill that his agency will support “net neutrality” and go after anyone who violates its tenets.
The CandyFab 6000
BANKSY interviewed by Shepard Fairey

Apple Snow Leopard 10.6 Build 10A432 QuickTime X color & contrast inconsistency

Lerner — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:18:43 +0000

Over the holiday, I ran some tests upon realizing that QuickTime on Snow Leopard was presenting all of its content washed out with less overall contrast. Below are the steps I followed while preparing documentation of this issue to submit to a QuickTime product specialist at Apple.

I discovered that QuickTime X on Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard (Version 10.6 Build 10A432) has significant color and contrast inconsistency across multiple applications.

Could this inconsistency be due to the change in the Mac default system gamma value from 1.8 to 2.2 with Snow Leopard?

The following images are best viewed at original size by clicking on each image to read text. Alternatively view the slideshow here.

Side note: All of the screenshots were taken using Command-Shift-4. I normally use Snapz Pro X to take screenshots which creates files with the sRGB color profile embedded. Because of this, I was unaware that using the OS’s default Command-Shift-4 for screenshots results in a PNG which has an embedded color profile that is defined by the current System Preferences’ Display Color settings. The confusing thing is that, when creating a PNG from Photoshop, the option for embedding the color profile is not a selectable option. However, the System Preferences’ Display Color settings are shown as if they are being included in the file but there is no option to disable it at this point. The user has to first convert the file manually from within Photoshop to the desired color profile, then save the file as a PNG in order to modify the default embedded color profile that is included in PNGs when using Command-Shift-4, if it is needed. This is why there can be little consistency between screenshots taken on multiple computers unless care is taken to make sure that all systems are set up using the exact same color profile or post color profile conversions will need to be carried out.

For all of my tests I set the display color settings in System Preferences to sRGB IEC61966-2.1.

IMAGE #1

IMAGE #1 is the original PSD file (CandyMountainLane.psd) I started out with. It was set to 16bits/Channel but due to the default screenshot PNGs being created at 8bit I changed the PSD to 8bits/Channel for these comparisons. There are no noticeable differences between viewing this image in 8bit or 16bit.

I imported the original PSD (IMAGE #1) into After Effects then exported it as a QuickTime movie (ColorTest07Animation.mov) using the settings seen in IMAGE #2.

IMAGE #2

IMAGE #3 is a screenshot of ColorTest07Animation.mov viewed in QuickTime X.

IMAGE #3

IMAGE #4 is screenshot of ColorTest07Animation.mov viewed in QuickTime 7.

IMAGE #4

There are no noticeable difference between the QuickTime X (IMAGE #3) and QuickTime 7 (IMAGE #4) players running on OS X 10.6 Build 10A432. They look the same.

Noticeable differences can be seen between the QuickTime screenshots (IMAGE #3 and IMAGE #4) and the original PSD (IMAGE #1). IMAGE #3 and IMAGE #4 are lighter with less overall saturation and contrast than IMAGE #1.

IMAGE #5 is a Movie Clipping made from ColorTest07Animation.mov and drag-and-dropping a frame from QT 7 to Finder and then opening in Photoshop.

IMAGE #5

For some reason, the Movie Clipping opened in Photoshop (IMAGE #5) is accurate when compared to the original source PSD file (IMAGE #1). When viewing the Movie Clipping in QuickTime it looks different than opening this same Movie Clipping in Photoshop (working color profile is set to sRGB). Viewing the Movie Clipping inside of QuickTime looks the same as the movie it was saved from. So it seems as if the way QuickTime is presenting video content system wide is washed out with less contrast and inaccurate when compared to the original image. It does not seems as if QuickTime is presenting the movie that was saved with sRGB color profile as it should be.

IMAGE #6 is a side by side comparison on Snow Leopard of CandyMountainLane.psd (IMAGE #1) & a screen shot of ColorTest07Animation.mov viewed in QuickTime X. Noticeable color & contrast differences between the two can be seen.

IMAGE #6

IMAGE #7 is a screenshot of viewing CandyMountainLane.psd (IMAGE #1) imported into Final Cut Pro version 6.0.6. This is only the PSD presented in Final Cut Pro and is not yet a video.

IMAGE #7

IMAGE #8 is a screenshot of the Final Cut Pro Sequence Preset Editor and Compression Settings I used to export the QuickTime movie file (ColorTest07AnimationFromFC.mov) from Final Cut Pro.

IMAGE #8

IMAGE #9 is a screenshot of the resulting QuickTime movie file (ColorTest07AnimationFromFC.mov) exported from Final Cut Pro using the settings shown in IMAGE #8.

IMAGE #9

IMAGE #10 is a screenshot of the resulting QuickTime movie file (ColorTest07AnimationFromFC.mov) exported from Final Cut Pro using the settings shown in IMAGE #9.

When exporting QT movies from both Final Cut Pro and After Effects, noticeable color and contrast differences can be seen when comparing the resulting files that have been compressed using the Apple Animation Codec to the original PSD (IMAGE #1) when viewing it in Preview, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, & After Effects. The exported movies are lighter with less overall saturation and contrast than the original source material.

IMAGE #10

IMAGE #11 is the results from outputting one frame as a PSD from After Effects with its output profile set to the projects working space of sRGB IEC61966-2.1.

IMAGE #11

Noticeable color & contrast differences can be seen when comparing this output frame to the same image (IMAGE #1) output as a QuickTime movie compressed using the Apple Animation Codec from both FCP (IMAGE #10) & After Effects (IMAGE #3).

IMAGE #12 is the original scaled down version of CandyMountainLane.psd (IMAGE #1) shown in lower left for comparison to how ColorTest07Animation.mov (IMAGE #3) looks.

IMAGE #12

IMAGE #13 is the original scaled down version of CandyMountainLane.psd (IMAGE #1) shown in lower left for comparison to how the same file looks in Preview.

IMAGE #13

IMAGE #14 is viewing CandyMountainLane.psd in Preview, PS, & QuickTime 7.

QuickTime presents the same file washed out and with less contrast over all.

IMAGE #14

IMAGE #15 is a screenshot of ColorTest07Animation.mov viewed in QuickTime 7 on OS X 10.5.8 Build 9L30 with display color settings in System Preferences set to sRGB IEC61966-2.1.

IMAGE #15

No noticeable differences can be seen between this screenshot (IMAGE #15) and the original PSD (IMAGE #1).

Unlike Apple’s intermediate codecs as well as H.264, Apple Animation is not affected by the QuickTime 7 ‚”Enable Final Cut Studio color compatibility” preference setting.

IMAGE #16

IMAGE #16 is a side by side comparison on Leopard of CandyMountainLane.psd (IMAGE #1) & a screen shot of ColorTest07Animation.mov viewed in QuickTime 7. Unlike viewing the same files compared on Snow Leopard (IMAGE #6) there is no difference when viewing on Leopard.

My conclusion is that it is now impossible to perform video color correction on Snow Leopard due to QuickTime not being able to maintain color, brightness, or luminance when compared to the original source material if it is, say for instance, a numbered sequence of RGB frames.

On OS 10.5, when avoiding Apple’s intermediate codecs, color and contrast are consistent between multiple applications if care is taken. So needless to say, pros should not upgrade their main workstations to 10.6 until Apple corrects this.

UPDATE: 2009-09-10
I have not yet had the chance to try the workaround of calibrating Snow Leopard to use a gamma value of 1.8 as described in this Apple support article. If this workaround does work, I would not consider this the solution because H.264 and the Apple Intermediate codecs are notoriously known to be difficult to deal with when attempting to maintain color and brightness consistency from high quality source materials to compressed videos for web delivery. X.264 and gamma tag strippers have been many users’, including myself, solutions for this. I was hopeful that the update to OS X 10.6 would be the solution for these long standing issues but it’s not the case at this point.

UPDATE: 2009-09-11
Calibrating Snow Leopard to use a gamma value of 1.8 as described in this Apple support article does not solve these issues.

“Are you human?” Object and Urban intervention 2009 by Aram Bartholl

Lerner — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:53:37 +0000

Crossposted from 12ozProphet

“Are you human?” – Urban intervention, Series of hand cut CAPTCHA tags, 60 x 25 cm, 5 mm foam board, spray paint

“Captcha codes are omnipresent on the web since a while and I loved them from the beginning. In a certain way they tell a lot about our relation to the machine world. And btw, I am waiting for the day when they will be extinct.”

CAPTCHA codes are publicly available, and each is uniquely generated by a computer program which “knows” the correct response. Although current software is unable to accurately read and understand the codes most humans can. Getting up with CAPTCHA cracks me up. I’ve heard of graff writers flipping tags in reverse to add some confusion to the game, but bombing with a challenge-response test is a new one for sure. Abstract conceptual public art? I also find the reCAPTCHA project very interesting.

Aram Bartholl has been working in Berlin since 1995. In his art work he thematizes the relationships between net data space and every day life. “In which form does the network data world manifest itself in our everyday life? What returns from cyberspace into physical space? How do digital innovations influence our everyday actions?”

2009-07-09 aggregation

Lerner — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:56:21 +0000

Facebook has acquired FriendFeed
OS X Process Management: Guide to Activity Monitor
Manuel Lima at TEDGlobal 2009: Running notes from Session 5
Apple Files Patent for Mobile Augmented Reality
LOVELAND
one million square inches of land in Detroit, Michigan that can be purchased and controlled by people around the world for $1 an inch
Verizon FiOS TV Integrates Facebook and Twitter
Intel outlines the next-generation ‘reality web’
Intel is working on what it terms an ‘immersive connective experience’ (ICE) where devices will increasingly overlay the digital world onto the real one.
The Cartier Foundation: Graffiti Taxonomy
Evan Roth photographed more than 2,400 graffiti tags in Paris and then cataloged the images by letter. The site holds a selection of tags each containing one of the ten most used letters to illustrate the wide range of styles. The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain is presents Born in the Streets—Graffiti, on view from July 7 to November 29, 2009.
DERI Pipes: Open Source, Extendable, Embeddable Web Data Mashups
Inspired by Yahoo’s Pipes, DERI Pipes is an engine and graphical environment for general Web Data transformations and Mashup. Pull in information using RDF, XML, Microformats, JSON or a binary stream and then output it in XML, RDF or JSON. Can publish as a stand-alone site, or be embedded it into an existing application.
MiLi Pro – iPhone, iPod Portable Video Projector
The Economist: Thinking Space

“I am personally vigorously, passionately and fundamentally AGAINST designers being asked to do work on spec and neither I nor my firm will ever participate in speculative work. I have said it before and I will say it again: Speculative work denigrates both the agencies and the designers that participate. If we give away our work for free, if we give away our talent and our expertise, we give away more than the work. We give away our souls.”

Lerner — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:23:47 +0000

- AIGA President Debbie Millman, 2009

Public art? spoted in the EV NYC

Lerner — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 21:56:59 +0000

fruit stand hand done signs

Lerner — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:49:04 +0000

PARKS

Lerner — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:47:40 +0000

This mark has caught my eye so many times. Such a strong minimal logo.

5 Twitter Art Projects

Lerner — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:14:29 +0000

[...] Whether they are driven by empathy or pure interest in group behavior, Twitter is becoming a true reflection of our joint digital projections of ourselves (reaffirming our identity in a landscape of rapid change – Manuel Castelis). Whilst honesty and truthfulness is valued one can not ignore that it is the rationale and in many cases very calculated usage of twitter that attracts followers.

If art is a reflection of ones time, driven by social, economic or cultural momentum, Twitter is a resource where our group behavior can be analyzed, reflected upon and critiqued.[...] via CreativeApplications.Net

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