2011 has been the first full year in my own shop. And since christmas is the time for giving I wanted to do something nice and handmade for my clients. Many thanks to Ed at Danger Press for doing work on the shirts and and Alvin of G$P for some letterpress love. If you didn’t happen to give me money this year, here’s what you missed out on.

Margaux is a sans-serif type study that grew into a full featured font family. It is constructed on simple geometry and naive idealism. This is my first font design, so it only seems fit to release it for free in the hopes of getting helpful feedback from people a lot more typographically aware than myself. So please, download and use Margaux for whatever projects you find it useful. As you find mistakes, areas for improvement, or general advice on type design, I would love to hear from you.

Download Margaux

Type Specimen

An odd thing happens when you Dynamically Link an After Effects comp into a Premiere Pro sequence. The AE comp takes on the framerate/interlacing of the PP sequence. This is how you keep that from happening.

Or, how to force Premiere to render your animation how you designed it.

For a more in-depth look at Dynamic Link and other Premiere features check out chrisfenwick.com. He’s a smart dude.

I’m in the process of switching from FCP to Premiere Pro 5.5. One of my biggest concerns was how it handled input and output from tape. Maybe people aren’t using tape that as much these days, but I (and most of the people I know) still finish to Digibeta or HDCam SR. I couldn’t find anything online about it so I just gave it a try. And made a video. It’s HD so I recommend watching a bit larger to actually see whats going on.

I’ve never made a screencast, so there are a lot of awkward pauses and UMMMMMs. Sorry about that. I’m sure I’ll get better. I hope.

There are a few things I do repeatedly. Once I do something enough times I usually try to find a way to automate the process. By automate I mean to find a system or tool that will do the work at the same level of quality (or better) in less time.

Project folder creation can easily be automated. After all, it’s just a set of hierarchical folders named appropriately. Some people keep a folder template called ProjectFolder on their desktop that they copy to their work drive whenever they start a new project. This totally works, and if this works for you don’t let me tell you otherwise.

I created a simple Automator script to do essentially the same thing, but it only takes one click and my naming scheme remains consistent.

Why not just view by date or name whenever you need that particular view? Because I rarely switch from column view in finder. I’ve always liked seeing the folder structure for the location of files. It helps me know where I am. I also want projects to be grouped in a certain way, so I decided on my current naming scheme.

Naming: Every week I start anywhere from 1 to 10 new projects. Each project has a Network, Start Date and Name. This is how I like to organize my RAID, because it groups projects in an easily understandable fashion.

I format my dates YYYY.MM.DD (Year, Month, Day). It makes archiving projects a lot cleaner. They sort from earliest to latest and a 4 digit year doesn’t get confused as a month.

Automator: Bundled with every mac is an underused app called Automator that can be used to do a lot of really helpful repetitive tasks. Google can tell you more if you’re interested. This script is the convoluted way of telling Automator to: Make a new folder named with today’s date and copy the contents of the template project folder into it.

The prefix Ω is the last ASCII character so it is guaranteed to be at the bottom of an alphabetical list. This puts it in the root out of the way.

The first step for making this script work is to create a folder structure that works for you. This will be your project folder template. Place it somewhere safe. I keep mine in a folder called Ω_Stock where I keep files I use all the time (network toolkits, stock footage, etc). Check out Project Folders Part 1 for more on folder structure.

Start up Automator and create a new workflow.

• Get Selected Finder Items – Selects the current folder location
• Set Value of Variable – Creates a variable for this folder to be recalled later
• New Folder – Creates a new folder named _todaysDate_ (a built-in variable that calls today’s date and can be formatted to our liking) in our originally selected location
• Set Value of Variable – Creates a new variable with the location of our newly created folder
• Get Specified Finder Items – Selects each of the subfolders that live in the project folder template. This must be customized for each system as the template location will vary.
• Copy Finder Items – Copy’s these folders and all enclosed folders/files to the newly created project folder

Variables: When variables are created they live in the panel below the workflow. They can be dragged from there to almost any field in the script. We want to modify the Today’s Date variable by right clicking on it and selecting Edit. This allows us to set a Custom Format as [1999].[01].[05].

Application Accessability: Save this workflow as an Application in the same folder as the project folder template. Now the only way for this overly involved method to actually save you time is to have it be one click away. Another little known feature of OS X’s finder is that you can drag pretty much anything into its toolbar. This creates a shortcut to the file, application or folder. To remove items hold down Opt and drag from the toolbar.

Icon: Changing from the default Automator icon is totally unnecessary, but kinda helpful to remind you what the app does. Info on changing icons can be found here. To make your own check out img2icns. Theres’s a copy of my icon in the download folder.

Usage: Navigate to whatever folder/drive you work off of, and click the application shortcut. If everything is set up correctly in the script it should create a folder named 2011.06.08 (whatever the current date is).

• Press Return to rename the folder
• Press the Up arrow to go the beginning and type the abbreviated client name
• Press the Down arrow to go to the end and type the project name

All the folder structure and any included files should have populated and your project folder is created.

Consistency: Aside from the chaotic nature of the ad-hoc folder structure is its lack of consistency. If you have to jump between projects in a day or have to revisit a older project it can hard to adjust to the scattered locations of files without consistent structure. Not to mention having to pass projects to other members of a team. The important thing to remember is that every time you are forced to think about the location of a file it takes mental energy that could be used for creating something. So being a better organizer can actually make you a better designer (or at least give you time to be).

What works for me: over time I found that all my files fall into 3 main categories.

• Admin – documents that need to be referenced
• Assets – images to be used inside projects
• Projects – the files I actually do work on

Proj: I work entirely in Final Cut and After Effects, so those files live within either an AE or FCP folder inside Proj.

If you are a print designer you might consider an AI (or PSD) a project file. Do what ever works for you.

Assets: Images, quicktimes, logos, Illustrator/Photoshop files, etc. Are all assets that are used within my project files.  This is really the only folder that varies from project to project. Some jobs have stills, some have lots of footage. I just create subfolders within Assets as the need arises. But I always know elements live here.

Admin: Anything that deals with the HOW of a project goes in the Admin folder. Scripts, tapelogs, and slates are involved with every project I do. These docs get referenced while working on the creative part. I also keep tape label files in case i need to reprint quickly.

Do whatever works for your daily needs. Just pick something and stick with it. In part two we’ll talk about automating the process to make uniformity much easier.

Design is part intuition (talent) and part math. Even if you don’t have the talent you can learn the principles. Follow the rules and it will look good.

This got me thinking about grids, and how I never really figured them out. So in an effort to wrap my brain around this fundamental technique/tool, I redesigned my slate. A slate is a boring thing that no one ever notices – the funny thing is, all the clients who have seen it have noted it’s good-looking-ness. This is the nerdy stuff behind why it looks nice.

Phi: The mystical ratio of 1.618 forms a rectangle (864×1398) that sits nicely within title-safe of a 16×9 comp. This serves as the base form for the grid. The large chunk of the golden rectangle will hold the information, while the small holds the titles of that information.

Grid: Being fairly new to grids I had to play around with the values to get usable numbers that would line up close enough with my rough phi sectioning and allow for a baseline grid. I ended up with an 8×8 grid, 16px gutters for rows, 18px gutters for columns.

For more info on the Split Into Grid tool, see: Font.is

This shape gave me guides to start placing in my info. Since lines of text are the the main feature of any slate, I found it useful to first construct a baseline grid. It’s pretty ad hoc and only covers the text area. 44px lined up my baselines every other row. This gives me 44pt leading with 40pt type.

Type: The typefaces used are Sentinel and Knockout from Hoefler.

The grid comes pretty close to lining up along the “golden” area of the original shape, so I placed a rule down the center of the gutter and justified the respective text along the edges.

Next was my logo. It’s odd shape allowed me to take slight grid-breaking license. The mark hangs with no discernible grid alignment, but the bottom line of the text sits comfortably within 2 colums. I wanted to include contact info for my company and the network logo for whom the job was done. This was placed bottom right to balance out the logo and create a simple page-flow. Lastly I threw in the little Viking. No real reason. I just like collections of 3.

Further Learning: I would strongly suggest everyone become friends with Alvin, but if you can’t do that, then pick up a copy of Ordering Disorder and read up on the Golden Ratio.

Reference:For recreating anything natural the first step is to find reference. Do a quick search for stills and/or video and observe how candle acts and looks.

Shape: Start by creating a bright yellow solid (248, 240, 185). The basic flame shape is a non-sharp teardrop. The quick way is to draw a circle, and move the top point up.

The bottom of a flame has an elliptical area of transparency where it touches the wick. Draw another circle at the base. Set this mask shape to Subtract mode and bump up the feather until it feels nice.

Coloring: The top, bottom and edges have a more saturated orange color. Trusty old Photoshop Layer Styles will do the trick. Pull down Layer/Layer Styles and select Inner Glow. Nothing major will happen.

• Change the Blend Mode from Screen to Linear Burn
• Bump up Opacity to 80%
• Change the Color to a darkish Orange (192, 84, 11)
• Moving the Size up will affect how far in the Orange reaches
• Bumping up the Range to about 75% will smooth out the gradient

Expressions: Keyframing is how you actually animate and control things, but for something random like a flame, it can be better to just set it up and let it run.

Animation: While checking reference, I noticed to main moves that a candle does: * Lengthens vertically * Sways side to side

The wick is the constant point around which all the motion happens. The lengthening can be accomplished with Y-Scale adjustment, and the sway with a CC Bend It effect.

With the Pan Behind tool (shortcut: Y) move the layer’s anchor point to the bottom of the flame shape. We want to randomize just the Y scale. A wiggle expression would randomize X and Y independently. Because it’s an array… nerd talk… blah blah. To make it work right:

• Create a Slider Control
• To it’s single value add a Wiggle expression [wiggle(2, 20)]
• To the Scale of the layer add the expression: [value[0], value[1] + effect(“Slider Control”)(“Slider”)]
• Adjust the Wiggle expression to taste

The swaying back and forth is created in a similar way, but with a CC Bend It effect: * Add the effect CC Bend It to the layer  * Move the Start point to the bottom of the flame and End point to the top  * To the Bend value apply another Wiggle expression [wiggle(1.5, 20)] and tweak as needed.

Effects: To give it just a little more polish I’d suggest adding a Glow effect. The standard preset works fine to give it a blown-out look. Moving the Threshold up will preserve more of the orange edges. Maybe increase the Radius to give it more of a halo? Who am I to tell you how to do your job?

Optional: For extra points you could add in the blue/purple glow at the bottom of some flames. One way would be:

• Add a Circle effect to the layer, ABOVE the Glow so it glows the blue as well
• Position the Center near the base of the flame
• Change the Color to a Blue/Purple color
• Set the Blending Mode to Saturation
• Adjust the Feather and Opacity until it looks fancy

For the sake of being able to go above and beyond and preserve my few days at home, I wanted a way to get at my projects from home. This is why Remote Desktop was invented. But unless you are/have a networking nerd and a static IP, you’re out of luck. This brilliantly simple tip came to me from my office-mate Matt (a fantastic audio editor at Soundbyte).

iChat has an underused feature called Screen Sharing. It allows people to take control of your machine and fix things from another location. One person sends a request, you accept, they remotely control your system. If it we’re possible to rig the machine to automatically accept an invitation you could essentially remote desktop without any networking hassle.

Chax is a free iChat add-on that makes iChat a lot more useful. See the previous post on chat logging in iChat for another reason you need it.

Chax Again: Another reason to love Chax is the auto-accept features. Until now I used it to accept files sent to me while grabbing my 3rd cup of coffee. Directly below that is the Auto Accept Screen Sharing options.

Security: To properly set this up, you need a dedicated screen name that will accept screen sharing from only your screen name. This allows you (and only you) to access the machine.

Setup: Create a new screen name at AIM. The name is irrelevant since no one except you will know it. Log into iChat with the new name. Add the screen name you normally use to the buddylist (this should be the only name on it’s friend-list). Open up the iChat prefs (cmd-,) select the Chax tab. Nested way down deep in here is an Auto Accept tab. Enable the Screen Sharing option.

Next to the checkbox is an Options button. This is where you define the one screen name to accept invitations from. Select Only: and check the one name on your buddylist (your main screen name). This lets you in and keeps everyone else out.

UPS: It should go without saying that you’re running your system behind a Uninterupted Power Supply. This alleviates much need for telling your machine to restart, because it wont be affected by minor power hits. If you aren’t already running one, go buy one now. Seriously.

Staying Online: For this little hack to work, you need to stay logged into the user and this dedicated screen name needs to stay online all the time. First you need to tell iChat to automatly reconnect if the connection is lost. This is located in the Chax -> General prefs.

If the power is lost you want to tell the machine to restart and iChat to run on startup. In System Pref/Energy Saver, enable Start Up Automatically after Power Failure. Also enable Wake for Network Access.

Also in System Prefs/Accounts, define iChat as one of the login items. Meaning it will start up when the computer powers on.

Notes: It’s kind of self explanatory, but this trick will also work with as many machines as you wish to control. Just create more screen names and repeat the above steps on each system.

Maybe it’s the South, or it could just be me never having time for meetings, but the majority of my business and idea sharing happens over email or the phone. In 3rd place is IM (specifically iChat for me).

Distraction: most people (myself included) find iChat a nuisance when focusing and trying to get things done. Every little popup and bloop takes you out of what you’re doing. So if you’re in “design mode” or doing something that requires focus, just quit iChat. It’s common sense. Instant Messaging is a distraction from what you’re doing, plain and simple. Don’t worry about trying to find a “more integrated solution that runs in the menu bar and uses slight color shift of the icon to indicate a message is received” or some other productivity hack/app that will supposedly change the way you chat forever.

Productivity Tip—A quick little hack that can sometimes speed up productivity is CMD-Q. This will quit the currently running application that is acting as a distraction. What a sarcastic jerk — If you’re trying to get shit done, just close the app that’s keeping you from it. Chat, facebook, all things web, whatever.

Usefulness: iChat is a communication tool. So use it for what it’s made for. It’s quick, slightly less intrusive than a phone call, and you can easily transfer files. It’s like email, but more brief. Why email is more useful in a lot of workplaces is the paper-trail. If you archive or use folders you have an eternal record of what was said. But IM is gone once you close the window.

Chat Logging: Sure, the majority of messages sent are cat videos, and people falling down. But on occasion something useful happens. A client will send revision requests, deliverable lists, reference images, or any number of real project related material. So optimally there would be something that would track correspondence for future reference.

Chax: In the iChat prefs, there is a checkbox to Save Chat Transcripts. Problem solved right?

Sadly, logs are stored in some super secret location using unreadable text and you can’t really search for things. There are some super-hacker workarounds, buy why?

Go download chax. It’s a free iChat add-on that does includes an log viewer to interpret these cryptic conversation logs and ton of other really helpful things. You install it once and it runs on top of iChat to add additional features to it.

Nothing else needs to be done. Go to Window->Log Viewer and you have and archive of everything that’s been said since you enabled logging.

So talk all you want. Whenever someone says something useful, you can always look it up by date or search.