Blog entries

Digital Content for Digital Signage - Part 3 - Tools of the Trade

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:50:46 +0100

The need to create good looking content for digital signage network is no different from the need to create for TV/Magazines/Newspapers/Posters/Billboards.. etc. Here, I am not talking about the substance of the content, but rather how good looking is the content. In order to do that you need two things:

Creative and talented people with strong background in graphic design and multimedia applications.
The software tools.

In this part I am going to write about the tools, aRead More...

Digital Content for Digital Signage - Part 2

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:05:43 +0100

Zones, frames, whatever it is called. The less you have them in your screen the better. Bloomberg TV made it famous, until they realized that the more information you cram into your screen, the less you actual absorb. Then some websites developers or owners decided that they will also try to cram even more frames to put their or customer banners in each frame. This is acceptable due to the face when you are visiting a website, you are practically less than 10 inches away from the computer&nbsRead More...

Digital Content for Digital Signage - Part 1

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:43:10 +0100

If in business cash is king, in digital signage, content is the king of all kings. So in this series of articles, I will talk about content for digital signage and all that relates to it. So the first part, is the easy part. While this topic is more specific to Scala, it is a general guideline to any tool that you use. Sol let's start.

Scala supports most file formats, but some formats are preferred more than others. Nop, color or race has nothing to do withRead More...

Goodbye Yasmin ...

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:32:25 +0100

Its almost hard to believe that Yasmin Ahmad is gone. The news was so sudden, so unexpected. I have always been and still is a great admirer of the works and productions of this talented warm person. Yasmin Ahmed will always be one of my favourite local film maker. Along with many others I mourn the demise of this great lady who has contributed so much to the local film industry with her warm, poignant inspiring and often evocative TVCs and movies. Her productions brought about a fresh breathRead More...

HP Printers... won't buy them again.

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 01:12:24 +0100

When it comes to choosing your next printer, you won't go wrong with buying a HP. After all, the name HP is so synonymous with printing that the letter P is mistakenly taken for Printing. But when things go wrong with the printer, and if out of warranty, you regret buying that brand. First HP charges you RM150 for checking the printer. Then the quote you a price to fix it, that is actually higher than if you buy a new one. The biggest problem is when HP blames the problem on using fake toners, wRead More...

Networking your Digital Signage Business

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:59:37 +0100

For many years I've come across many people who are eager to jump into the digital advertising business. If you look at the potential of DSA (Digital Signage Advertising), you will find that there is a huge potential for this business and if you do it right, the returns are big. But starting a digital signage business is not really that easy.There are many factors in building a successful business. I'm not going to dwell into all the factors but the one of the main factor is the no. of Read More...

Nifty little tool for Gmailers

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:49:30 +0100

Well, if you are using Gmail then task management has become easier. On the left hand side, at the bottom of your lable (that is if you created them), there will be a small clickable text called Task. And it does what it says. It manages your task list. Finally, a task manager that is practically following you whenever you open your email.

Say Goodbye to Microsoft Windows OS

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:03:36 +0100

Apparently Google is launching its own operating system for the PC. Yeah. If there is any company who can do this and wrestles out the dominance of Microsoft, it would be Google. After all, Google beat Microsoft for the Internet. Soon, will be the Office software.

The Click Dino , is saying Hi

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:17:57 +0100

Click Grafix. The name is enough to show , an organization that dares to be different. From the Toaster, to VT, Lightwave to Modo, and god knows what else. It will continue to make a wave, rippling across the multimedia industry with in Malaysia and the region as well.

As a former family member (i was exiled ..hahaha nah, just kidding), i will try to contribute my two cents worth about the media industry, to my best competency, hence continuing my efforts to still be part of this familRead More...

THE BEST IN COMING TO TOWN

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:06:11 +0100

No, SCALA is not coming or the release any latest version from SCALA. I mean the BEST team in Europe and most probably the world best football team. 10 more days till Manchester United will meet with the Malaysian best XI. It does not matter if Malaysia will field the best XI or the best XXII, they still do not have the chance to beat MU. BTW, rumuor says that Michael Owen might be part of the team coming. Hopes that he is able to fit into the team.

Dato_Chua

The Two Biggest Lies in the World of Computers and Internet!

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:33:41 +0100

The first is notebook batteries. If the manufacture tells you that their notebooks feature 4 hours of continues power, it usually means 1 hour or less in real life use. The formula is simple.. take what they manufacture tells you and divide by 4.

The second is ISP Internet connection speed. If they tell you that they offer 1Mb connection, take that and divided it by 5 or more, and you will get about 256Kb.

Digital signage ... a shopper's muse.

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:29:31 +0100

Since we're on the topic of signs, its interesting to note the type of digital content displayed on some of the digital signage networks in some of the shopping complexes around KL. While many are enthusiastic about hopping onto the bandwagon of new media advertising, equally many remain rather oblivious to the elements of a good digital signage content. What makes good content? MTV videos? Movie trailers? Flash designs? Sophisticated 3D animations or transitions?

As a shopper or a visiRead More...

SIGNS, SIGNS and SIGNS

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:10:37 +0100

As we all know that putting the right signage can attract potential customer. Here are few signs that will definitely make you laugh.

Signs:

"Open seven days a week. Closed Sundays." -- On the bottom of a pizza parlor's take-out menu.

"Parking for drive-through customers only." -- A sign at a McDonald's in California.

"We are Handicapped - Friendly. For example, if you are blind, we will read the menu for you." -- A notice in a restaurant.

FireFox Crashes

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:06:43 +0100

Is it me hallucinating or others are facing the same. FireFox has become IE7.0. It is getting slower and heavier. Worst, it crashes all the time. I do have some plug-ins installed, but do not tell me uninstall them, because they are the main reason I am using Firefox. I run it on 4 different machines and each one of them it crashes. Most of the time when exiting it, which is not bad. But when you are developing something or filling a form, that is not acceptable. May be it is time to trRead More...

Firefox 3.5 is officially out

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:01:17 +0100

If you like me were worried that Firefox has become as slow as IE, worry no more. Mozilla has release Firefox 3.5 which among its new features is speed and beauty. I feel sorry for Mircosoft. It released IE8 and it seems no one that I know is using it.

Installing Adobe CS4!

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 17:23:05 +0100

It was 12am, Friday, and I am beat. Too tired, all I want is to sleep. But then again, I had a brand new box from Adobe titled Adobe Creative Suite 4.0 Web Premium. So I decided to install the baby. Thinking that now everything is in 1 or 2 DVDs, it will not take too long.. may be half an hour or 1 at most. Guess what, the installation lasted almost 3 hours. And here is the worst part. I had to update the software which took another hour. Just because hardware is more powerful and we have Read More...

Michael Jackson is Dead!

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:37:17 +0100

It is a sad day, specially for me as Michael Jackson was born on the same date (not the same year though). His contribution to the world music is unparalleled. But he, more than any one else in the music industry has done more of the world of video, an industry where Click has been involved for the last 15 years. So from Click family, Rest in Peace Michael. And thank you.

Le clip qui déchire 2 : English version

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:35:52 +0100

Ok, I accidentally closed the previous blog window in the middle of writing it. Talk about a click too soon. Where was I, ah yes, another cool video on character animation. This one was done using LightWave 3D. Its quite funny, almost guaranteed to tickle your wits and side ... profanity aside that is. Enjoy!

Link

Dotbotz Take 1

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:50:40 +0100

Check out this cool test character animation done by Mckay Hawkes using modo 401. Sleek moves with cool grooves! This little fella sure can move. Amazing that this is actually Mckay's FIRST character animation.

modo sure looks good as an animation tool.

Link

Modeling with modo

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:38:11 +0100

I had my first proper lesson on using modo last week, with assistance from our modo wizard Yap. So how easy is it to use modo? For a beginner like me who probably classifies as a 3D application dummy, I'd say it wasn't too bad. The interface is pretty easy to comprehend, and the tools are quite easy to use once the basic fundamentals are grasped.

I modeled a simple plate in less than 2 hours, so how's that for a beginner? :) Any takers?