Chroma Key Your Way to a Green Screen Dream
This is a crash course into the process of shooting video in your very own blue- or green-screen studio space. Chroma keying is a visual effects technique that will allow you to change the scenery behind any actor on the cheap. In just a few minutes, you’ll be able to start shooting all the keyed-out footage that your wild imagination can muster.
You really don’t need much to start experimenting. I recommend that you don’t spend too much money as you get started. Keep it simple. (Click through to read more)
(Photos by Joel Fernando, Wired.com)
Get Loopy With These Digital Mixing Tricks
There is pretty bad joke that begins with “Knock, knock. Who’s there?” and is followed by “Philip Glass. Philip Glass who?” Instead of the typical and expected knock-knock conclusion, however, the joke works only if the initial interlocutor then repeats her initial question, thus dooming the responder to an endless, enclosed, and dorky loop that honors the famed minimalist composer, renowned for his work with repetition. With growing frustration and waning enthusiasm, the iteration changes, evolving beyond the simple-mindedness of its own content, and becoming a sort of commentary on the incessant existence of knock-knock jokes in general.
Of course, Glass is quite recent in the long history of musical looping. Meditative, pulsating, and oftentimes trance-inducing rhythms are about as old as breathing itself. Though not necessarily novel, 20th-century composers embarked on a never-ending cycle to break the chains of the 12-tone plateau. In doing so, composers including Glass, Maurice Ravel, Erik Satie, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Brian Eno, and many others elevated the possibilities of looping towards an impossible limit. Robert Fripp invented his analog Flippertronics, a guitar and tape delay setup, in 1979, though the accessibility of digital machines has since marked looping as somewhat of a musical norm. Stuck in an antiquated Ouroboros? This how-to just might help you jump the track.
(Photo by Jeff Vogt/flickr/CC)
Use Camera Tricks to Paint Light in the Sky
If you’ve ever seen a shot in which car lights seem to leave an ethereal trail behind them, or sparklers spell out a message in midair before the holder, you’ve seen a light painting. Light painting involves leaving a camera’s shutter wide open and overexposing it to moving objects that emit light, creating a continuous capture until the shutter closes. This can be done on any kind of camera that has an adjustable exposure time (props to those of you still sporting analog equipment). And even if you don’t have access to any of these cameras, not all hope is lost — there’s an app for it!
Thinking of some bright ideas for cool pictures yet? Read on to get illuminated to the methods of DIY light painting.
(Photo from Wikimedia Commons)
How To Automatically Get Rid of Annoying Baby Pictures on Facebook
Are you reaching a stage in your life where it seems like everyone is having babies, and you can’t escape the little rascals—even when you go to check Facebook in your alone time? A new Chrome extension called Unbaby.me offers a way to expel digital infants from your newsfeed; simply install it and tell it what to look for, and it will replace any toddlers with awesome pictures from a customizable photo pool. Thanks, Internet!
Watch the Olympics Online
The 2012 Olympics in London will soon be in full swing. Many events are being broadcast either live or same-day by the major networks, but there’s even more action to be found online.
NBC is the games’ official media outlet in the United States, and the network will be providing thousands of hours of content on the web. However, the only way to truly ensure you won’t miss too many record-breaking moments is to spread yourself across the web and take advantage of the many video outlets online.
Keep Your Head Above Water While Navigating Rapids
Is there a more perfect summer pastime than bumping along some rapids in a raft? We think not. But before you throw on your life jacket and grab a paddle, there are a few things you should know. As benign as a merrily burbling river might look, it can disguise all manner of dangers. Here are some tips for anyone unwilling or unable to hire a guide.
Evade Awkward Situations With Fake Caller Apps
Thanks to technology, you can now escape the awkwardest of situations with the tap of a button. Click through for our favorite apps that are tailored to helping you avoid those uncomfortable silences.
Be a High-Tech Rock Star on the Road
To guide us through the digital world of modern touring, a cast of bands and musicians out of Burlington, Vermont (sorry, not Phish) has agreed to share their road-worn know-how. Introducing Waylon Speed, Nuda Veritas, Heloise & the Savior Faire, and Lowell Thompson. Click through for their advice on being tech-savvy on tour.
Banish Annoying Video Ads From Your Internet Experience
Few things are more annoying on the web than hitting a video site to watch a 30-second clip of something funny only to discover you’ll have to sit through a 30-second advertisement first. Click through for our guide to blocking video ads on the web.
Creased spines, yellowed paper and old penciled notes: Even the most wired among us has to admit that lying in the backyard sun with an old paperback beats sitting at a computer any day. Jump-start your brain cells, and possibly your social life, with a geek book club this summer. Click through to read more.
(Photo by Paul Bence/flickr/CC)
It’s an issue that’s plagued humans since the first wolf was domesticated back in Palaeolithic times: How do you keep your pet(s) entertained while you’re away at work? Granted that back then, they would have been along for the hunt, but since some workplaces aren’t as welcoming to furry/feathered friends as others, we’ve come up with some tips to keep your pets content while you slave away during the day. Click through to read more.
(Photo by Paul Roth/flickr/CC)
If you’ve ever spent a minute investigating anything related to creating a website (which, chances are you have, dear Wired reader whose demographic we know intimately), you’ve likely been bombarded with advertisements from companies offering to host your new site or provide you with server space to store your files on an internet database. Relax — you don’t have to sift through a storm of cloud services to figure out which is right for you. With a little education and patience, you can create your very own webserver that does whatever you want, free of charge. Click through to learn how.
(Photo by Ciprian Popescu/flickr/CC)
Summer is here, and it’s going to be a scorcher. If you find yourself anywhere near a pond, lake or well-sized water container when the thermostats rise, the impulse to jump in and bask in the crispy cool waters can easily overtake you. Left out of the typical waterfall oasis fantasy, however, is the less-fun part that can follow if you pick the wrong pool. While the thing we fear most about an aquatic adventure may be seeing a shark fin in close proximity, there are a number of other unwanted, water-dwelling visitors that can cause your leisurely swim to end in vomiting, diarrhea, or agonizing itching.
In this guide, we’ll tell you how to detect and avoid aqueous hazards so you can splish splash to your heart’s content. Click through to read more.
(Photo by Michael Dorausch/flickr/CC)
