What I Talk About
- 3ds Max
- 3ds Max Tutorials
- Books
- Brave New Network
- Clarion Media
- Clients
- CSS
- Design
- Design 101
- Design Tutorials
- Hardware
- Internet
- Java
- Java Tutorials
- JavaScript
- JavaScript Tutorials
- Life
- Making Money
- Meta
- Movies/TV
- Music
- Networking
- OOP
- PHP
- PHP Tutorials
- Programming
- Software
- Technology
- Tutorials
- Tweets
- Video Games
- wapClix
- Web Development
- Windows 7
- XHTML
- XHTML/CSS Tutorials
When I’ve Posted
- December 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
What I’ve Posted
What I’m Doing
Creating a Website (Part 3: The Markup)
In the previous part of this series, we created a design for a travel blog in Photoshop. Now it’s time to turn that design into code. Open up your web development application (I’ll be using Dreamweaver) and open up the design in Photoshop and let’s begin (if you skipped the design segment and would like to download the PSD click here).
Creating a Website (Part 2: The Design)
In the previous part of this tutorial, we conceptualized our website, which is a travel blog, by deciding on a color scheme and structure and by brainstorming some ideas. Now it’s time for the fun part, designing! Open up Photoshop and let’s start. (more…)
Design 101: Creating a Streak of Light
This is a cool technique and really easy to do. I used it in Clarion Media’s current splash/under construction page:
Video Games, Websites, etc.
I downloaded the demo for F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin on Steam a couple weeks ago and just played through it for the first time tonight. I must say, I was pretty impressed with what I saw. I hadn’t played any of the F.E.A.R. expansions that followed the original F.E.A.R. (I lost count of how many there were), so I don’t know how this ranks among them. Regardless, the atmosphere was terrific and graphics were great. It did seem very similar to the first in the series, but I guess no surprise there. I read that the main gripes with the game were A.I. (which I did pick up on a bit through the brief demo), lack of innovation (as I mentioned), level designs, weak game ending and weak multiplayer. I probably won’t be picking it up unless it goes on sale during one of Steam’s weekend sales (Left 4 Dead is on sale for 50% off this weekend–that’s $25 savings! Too bad I already have it). Mainly due to the fact that I just don’t have much time for gaming nowadays. (more…)
Creating an Exhaust Effect
This is a quick and easy tutorial for creating a cool exhaust effect in 3ds Max. It’s great for using with jet airplanes or other vehicles with jet engines, but it has a variety of other uses as well. To do it, we’ll use a particle system called “Super Spray”. When we’re all done, this is what we’ll get:
Design 101: Installing Photoshop Brushes
Here’s a quick tutorial on installing brushes for Photoshop. There are a TON of free brushes you can download online which can be very useful when it comes to designing. My favorite place to download brushes is DeviantArt because they have a massive collection. Before we do this tutorial, we obviously need a brush to install. Brushes usually come in packs with multiple brushes in a pack. Head over to DeviantArt or anywhere else that has brushes and download some. Here is the brush pack I’ll use for this tutorial. (more…)
3ds Max Mental Ray Lighting Tutorial
This tutorial will walk you through the basics of setting up an indoor scene and properly lighting it and rendering it with Mental Ray, great for both beginners and intermediate users. Before we jump in, I’d like to note that I am using 3ds Max 2009, but I think most recent versions of the software will have the features I’m using. Here is what the result will look like after all is said and done:
Click for full-sized
Completed!
This website is now completed. I finally finished up on the “about” page and added the “work” pages. “Work” includes a portfolio of some of the websites I’ve done, some of the graphic design and print design I’ve done, and some of my articles. Go check it out! Although I have to admit I haven’t cleared up the IE6 issues yet (IE is such a headache). Also, the second part of that Java tutorial might not be going up as soon as I hoped, but my goal is to get it up by the weekend. I’m also planning a full-fledged website tutorial that will take you through the process of designing a website, coding it, etc. I’ve been thinking of doing a 3DS Max tutorial as well. Who knows when I’ll actually start working on either of those though. The past two weeks have been pretty busy for me.
Design 101: Reflection Effect
This is a great technique that gives us a nice reflection effect. It doesn’t have to be applied to text, but for the purpose of this tutorial, we’ll use text. This is another nice and short tutorial also, only seven steps! Here’s the final result of the tutorial:
Fraction Calculator in Java (Part 1)
Click here for part 2 (creating the app)
I’ve been doing some Java programming lately. My latest project was creating an application that adds, subtracts, multiples and divides fractions and reduces them to simplest form. It’s a very basic app, no GUI and simple string and integer input. The first part of this tutorial will involve creating a class for fraction objects while the second part will be building the actual application. Perfect for any beginner programmers and a good tutorial to learn some of the basic fundamentals of Java and object-oriented programming, so let’s begin! (more…)
