This time around, you'll see me and Karl Soule talk about the making (and re-making) of Johnny Encore's classic number, Chroma Key You. I'll take you through the process of re-recording a 60s classic, and adding the touches to bring a circa 2008 recording back to the sweet sound of the Summer of Love. BTW - do those background vocals sound familiar to you? ;)

Of course, this is part 1 of 2, so stay tuned for the next episode, coming soon.

Don't forget, you can also access all AdobeTV programs from within Adobe Media Player. If you haven't downloaded AMP yet, do so HERE.

And in case you just don't feel like surfing away from the blog, here's the episode:

Well, that's all for now, my friends. I'll be gearing up for the seminars in Holland and Belgium next week, but I'll be sure to keep you up-to-date as to what's happening 'on the road'.

Until next time...

Blog on.

Allergies. Blech!!! I have been sneezing my head off for weeks...and I'm literally going out of my mind. I mean, it's bad enough that the weather is so wacky everywhere, but on top of all that, the air quality is, well, not great either. As a result, I've got a runny nose, puffy eyes, and a constantly rotating supply of Visine, tissues, and Alavert added to my usual regimen of travel goodies (oh...and Twizzlers as well).

In any event, despite the allergy-hell that I'm in, there's a WHOLE BUNCH of cool stuff happening around CS3, upcoming events, and some *other* stuff that I just can't talk about (heheehehee). I'm so giddy about all the upcoming events, however, that I was actually full-on smiles yesterday. Want proof? Here's some pics...

Puffy-eyed and smiling...

The *usual* look, which my friend Daniel refers to as 'the Levine'

So, here's what I can tell you so far...Three events coming up in the Netherlands--Correction (puffy eyes to blame, and thanks Jeroen for catching my mistake!)...1 Event in the Netherlands over two days; 1 event in Belgium:

AV Manifestation, Hilversum. 21-22 May.

Multimania! Kortrijk, Belgium. 23 May.

Masters Tour (w/Greg & Rufus) Zurich. 29 May.
Masters Tour (w/Greg & Rufus) Stuttgart. 2 June.
Masters Tour (w/Greg & Rufus) Berlin. 3 June.
Masters Tour (w/Greg & Rufus) Graz. 4 June.

Alrighty, well, that's all the time I have for, as I'm about to hop a plane. I'll keep you posted, and keep sending all the great comments. ;)

Until next time, mes amis...

Blog on.

Red Shirt, Big Red Adobe DVD Case (I think I've had it since 2003!)

Yes, we've now posted a whole series of videos from different presentations conducted at NAB. The best way to check them out is to simply go to the Adobe TV Site (or, access AdobeTV through the Adobe Media Player). Either way, you'll see a whole bunch of videos from myself, Greg Rewis, Karl Miller and more.

So, here are a few 'selections' from the show...

Production Premium for After Effects Users (stay tuned to the end...and for those who were asking about "that Puppet Tool" video...check it HERE!!

Flash for Production Premium Users with Mr. Rewis

Here's an overview of Audition 3's new features (sadly, they didn't record the restoration demonstrations that I did on days 3 & 4

And there you have it. There's lots more to see from NAB, so be sure to check out the Adobe Presentations @ NAB on AdobeTV...NOW!

And before I end this blog post, I just wanted to let you know that Greg, Rufus & I are getting back on the road shortly, reprising our CS3 Master Collection tour. We'll be starting in Zurich (around the 29th, May), then onto Stuttgart, Berlin and ending in Graz, Austria (home of several of my dear friends, and the birthplace of Video2Brain)

We've also got a series of events in the Netherlands *prior* to hitting the road for the Master Collection Tour; and then...
...a month in Asia!! We'll be showcasing Master Collection Workflow in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and India (just to name a few!). Details will soon follow (along with dates and reg info) so stay tuned!!

So, until next time...

Blog on.

In short, our four days at NAB proved nothing short of spectacular. Interest in CS3 continued to fill the seats in our theatre presentations, and with new products like Adobe Media Player and AdobeTV being centre stage (not to mention, the 'couch' experience), attendees were genuinely blown away (re: gaping mouths, in awe) by the technology, the workflow, and the overall story of the Adobe Message...Powering the Future of Entertainment.

Another 'mouth open' moment was the preview of the Reel by Paul & Christina Graff and Robert Stromberg. As mentioned earlier, these three produced a demo (compiled from footage of some of their recent triumphs, including HBO's John Adams) and literally left people in complete disbelief...for when you see that nearly EVERY SHOT in the aforementioned and subsequent films was in fact 'composited together' in After Effects CS3, well, it's just a sight to behold. Unfortunately, I'm not able to post a clip (or I would)...so all I can say is...see it for yourself. If you can check out John Adams, the Golden Compass, 3:10 to Yuma (or just IMDB search their names for more) you'll see what I mean. But seriously...John Adams? It's fricken incredible. I've now seen the reel (and the show) multiple times..and the fact remains, as John Lennon once said, "Nothing is real." The Power of Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended and After Effects CS3.

So, a real short update, but just wanted to end on a positive note. Thanks to all of our customers and freelancers for presenting on stage (alongside me, Greg Rewis, Kevin Towes, Karl Miller, Bob Donlon and others) and we look forward to seeing you again, sometime, somewhere, on the road.

Until next time...

Blog on.

PS - Many people were asking when I'd be doing an Audition 3 training series. For the moment, there's nothing scheduled...but if you want to learn about workflow (and see some really cool techniques for producing, mastering, and finishing audio) check out my Adobe TV series starring yours truly, Johnny Encore & Karl Soule entitled "Short & Suite". And if that's not enough, you can still purchase my Audition 2.0 training video from Total Training.

What was also extremely cool about today was that I was able to connect with some of the 'readers' of my blog from all parts of the world, and share some additional stories, shoot the breeze, and get to meet some of the 'faces behind the comments'. Thanks to all of you for coming up and introducing yourselves.

Post show, clad in Adobe-gear, and spreading the message...

And that brings me to the button that you see above. This year, we've got this new tag-line for NAB...Adobe's Got My Back. We've got four days to spread these buttons like wildfire! So if you don't have one, come up to the booth and get some! We'll have 'em on hand (cause after all, we've got your back!)

I should also point out that i had a lot of questions (and really great comments) related to my new show on Adobe TV with my colleague Karl Soule, featuring Johnny Encore & the Acrobats. Many have stated that they've been waiting for me to do another training series on Audition (3). Well, timing is definitely an issue...but in the interim, check out our show Short & Suite. There are some great tips on mixing, mastering and noise reduction in these first two episodes (not to mention, all of the incredible techniques Karl used for assembling the video, literally shot in one short session) and, well, the music (and the stories around it) are just hilarious. It's all about Johnny Encore...and he'll rock your world. ;) (oh...and you can scrub through the content; so even if you don't watch the whole show in one sitting, you can always scrub back to the point where you left off.

And on that note, I'm off to prep some materials for my class @ the Post Production Conference tomorrow (run by FMC). It's a class on getting Great Results with Soundbooth CS3, and will feature some workflows between Premiere Pro & Soundbooth. All of the FMC sessions are in the NORTH HALL (complete opposite end of where our booth is) and these are register-only (ie, not free)...but, there may still be open spots and I look forward to chatting up Soundbooth and talking about restoration, effects, and music creation with Soundbooth Scores.

So, until next time...

Blog on.

On the main stage, you'll get a chance to see yours truly, along with many of my fellow Adobe colleagues. We'll also be featuring some Adobe Trade Show regulars like Jacob Rosenberg (Filmmaker, Premiere Pro Master), Steve Holmes (After Effects wizard), Rich Harrington (Photoshop & Video Guru) and more. Also, we'll have some really cool customer presentations, showcasing real-world workflows of Adobe products, in every facet of the industry (from commercials, to film, to broadcast TV). Check it out!!

So, in an effort to 'visually' demonstrate what you're NOT hearing when you compress (using a variety of popular formats), I decided to pick a few cuts from one of my more recent FAME outings in Amsterdam...

The subject in question...Coltrane, with Elvin Jones/Jimmy Cobb on drums, 1959/1960

Now, many may ask why I chose this particular record. Well, the benefits of well-recorded (and for that matter, remastered) Jazz albums is that you tend to have a lot of stuff going on in the 'high end'...and in this case, you've got some nice, present hi-hats and sizzle cymbals. Sizzle Cymbals are the ones that have the little rivets drilled into them. Used like a ride, they literally 'sizzle' as you strike them. This provides a really 'atmospheric' kind of sound, but also one that tends to resonate for a long, long time (and has a really nice decay). As such, it also occupies a lot of that high-frequency space.

So, let's take a look at what the upper register (approx 16k-22k) of this recording looks like UNCOMPRESSED. Sorry that these darned images are so small (limitations of my blog...anyone offering to help me 'pimp' my blog's CSS?? Greg is probably furious with me right now! lol) but if I get requests, I'll post larger frame size versions directly on my Photobucket page. Just comment me and let me know. This CD was ripped directly into Audition 3. We're looking at the Spectral Frequency Display in the Edit View, with 16k-22k zoomed in.

Coltrane Uncompressed, 16-bit Stereo, 44.1kHz

As you can see, there is a good deal info above 16,000Hz. And, more importantly, you can truly SEE how strong (and present) that foot-closed hi-hat is (on the right channel, ie, the bottom of the image; top of the image represents left channel). There's plenty of that sizzle-y 'atmosphere' as well, as represented by the reddish-purple color. It's not high-amplitude...but it's THERE...and it's that very presence that gives the recording it's ambience (an essential factor for good jazz recordings from this era).

So, now that you know what you'll get from CD, let's now take a look at the NEW 256Kbps AAC that you can get from iTunes (these are the newer iTunes Plus files-- you can also rip directly into this format via iTunes).

AAC 256kbps, iTunes Plus

Now, this is pretty difficult to see in these images, but what you've got is audio information that actually extends *nearly* to 19k on the average (best viewed on the left channel) with transient material (the initial attacks of the hi-hat) extended to approximately 20k (on the right channel). This, I must say, is pretty darn good, and for most ears you probably won't be missing much. Granted, this is *not* lossless...and speaking as a mastering engineer, I can tell you that in certain passages, you do get some weird artifacting and aliasing (largely because of those difficult sizzle cymbals; you are, after all, sacrificing sizzle and ambience for smaller file sizes)...but on the whole, it's a pretty sweet type of compression. As mentioned, I *only* started buying iTunes albums when iTunes Plus became available (and you'll see why in just a moment). Still, it's NOT replacing CDs for me

So, I'll give AAC 256 a B+/A- grade. Let's see the popular MP3 format...

MP3 @ 192Kbps (slightly higher than most internet audio encodes)

Now, here's the deal with everything above 128Kbps in MP3. You basically get a flat-top, razor-edge at 16k...*but*, above 128 you *do* get transient materials that extend nearly up to 20.5KHz. So what does that mean? Well, it means that your ears hear the initial 'attack' of the hi-hat (in it's hi-end glory) but any decay of said instrument is truncated, and all the high ambience is compressed away. What you will also notice (if you listen carefully, with phones, assuming no hearing loss or damage) is that you *will* begin to hear some swishy, phasey-type sounds in the high register, again, all because of the compression. I used to use 192 for reference files (back when broadband was still a luxury)...but now, I *never* use anything less than 224, and generally I'll do 256Kbps if I'm sending someone an MP3.

But...the *best* (not) is yet to come. Again, I know so many people who've ripped and done away with their CD collections...and they ripped everything into the the native AAC format in iTunes. Well, check it out...

Old-school..AAC 128 (standard iTunes downloads)

Sad, sad times, eh? What do you get? Well, for one thing, you'll notice (aside from the channels inadvertently being swapped when I ripped this! Bizarre) that now you have your 'ambience' resonating no higher than approximately 17k, with your transient attacks only extending to around 18.1k. Period. Nothing above that. WHA?? I mean, come on people!! You will also hear (very clearly) lots of swishy/swirleys in the upper register...but that's only half of the devastation of 128 AAC. ;( In short, if you've ripped your library in this format, you've thrown away more than just the sizzley-hissy high end. You've also lost a great deal of the 'meat' in the middle (the mid frequencies, where the primary fundamentals of everything live)... I'm crying tears right now!

And what exactly is AdobeTV, well, you can check it out for yourselves here, but in a nutshell, you'll be able to 'tune in' to a variety of shows, all hosted by Adobe Experts and associates alike (including, of course, *all* of the evangelists!) and learn about cool new ways to use Adobe products.

For my series entitled Short & Suite (co-shared with fellow evangelist and compadre Karl Soule) we'll step you through an entire workflow of creating the 30-second masterworks of recording artist and industry icon, Johnny Encore. The first song we recorded for the series was his latest hit entitled, "I Used Photoshop Today".

You can watch Episode One right here, beginning with Karl:

And here's Episode Two, where I start :

Now, I should also mention...though a lot of what I'm talking about deals with Stereo Processing, unfortunately (as you may see, appearing briefly when I begin) these episodes are being broadcast in MONO. ;( This was not a limitation on our broadcast end, and future episodes will definitely be broadcast in true stereo. But hey...that doesn't really matter, as you can still learn about the methods and techniques that I used, and really begin to understand the beauty of working in Audition 3.

So there you have it...Johnny Encore & the Acrobats, in the flesh (so to speak). The coolest thing about all this? We'll be posting new episodes every month with new videos, new songs, and new techniques, all using CS3, Audition 3 and more!

You can also check out videos by my fellow colleagues Greg Rewis, Rufus Deuchler & Tim Cole, Julieanne Kost, Russel Brown and more!

I've got some AdobeTV watching to do (after all, I *do* need to see how I looked on camera!) so until next time...

Blog on.

So, as I've mentioned before (and even blogged about), I love this store called 'FAME'. It's probably the last great record store around, anywhere. For years, I've been going there (and dropping mucho Euros!) and they've ALWAYS come thru. Every bizarre, esoteric thing I've ever looked for, I've found (at least 9/10 times)...but my last two visits did NOT reflect this average. What *is* happening??

The weird thing was...the selections I was looking for weren't even terribly 'bizarre'...these were some fairly standard things by some pretty common artists...and they just hadn't re-stocked their catalogs. ;( This is sad, and more sadly, probably a preview of things to come. I mean, let's face it: the record store concept is old and tired...and dying slowly. This saddens me to no end -- but that's just the way it is. That being said, I *did* manage to pick up a couple of re-issues that I've been waiting on for sometime (all Jazz, all MCA/Impulse or Atlantic Jazz remasters, including John Coltrane, Coltrane Jazz - incredible remaster, had the old version and it was STILL great!, Ellington & Coltrane, another classic, and one that I knew (and owned on Vinyl) in the Berklee days, Billy Cobham's Spectrum (another fusion classic, with the late Tommy Bolin on axe), and a few more.) All in all by no means a depressing experience (and FAME once again redeems itself!) ...but again, things have changed.

Reminiscing about a fab week in the Netherlands....

I spent the first two days conducting presentations with Greg Rewis to some of our Valued Added ReSellers for the region. What was unique about this particular group of VARs was that they were primarily non-Adobe (in terms of what the sell on the 'Production' side) and these sessions were an opportunity to showcase to them the workflows and integration in CS3. For this, naturally Greg and I tapped our resources from the recent 'Master Collection' tour and showcased all the coolest, real-world workflows for ingesting/authoring, producing and deploying content. Needless to say, these sessions were FAB - great interest, great 'Wow'-factor, and it looks like we've definitely 'inspired' many of them to take a taste of (and begin selling) CS3 ;)

Now, upon arriving in Amsterdam, it was snowing like crazy. Bizarre, for sure. So much so, in fact, that this has been documented as the coldest 'Easter Holiday' in more than 100 years!

I *should have* photographed the landscape, taking the train in from Schiphol to the city (as it was early in the morning, and just blankets of white snow! I swear, it looked like Bergen, Norway, or something like that!). However, I was a bit too tired (and too 'post-plane') and just didn't manage to snap any pics. I *did*, however, snap a bunch on the next day @ the Adobe Amsterdam office...

From the entryway of the Adobe office in Amsterdam. Wickedly snowing!

Evangelists in the snow...in late March?

Ok...but what's this Blog Title all about? As many of you know (as I believe I've mentioned it before)...I have HORRIBLE motion sickness. Horrible motion sickness. Which is ironic, considering that I spend more than 65%-75% of my life on planes!! But yes, it's true. I hate boats (even imagining the 'smell' of the water, or the 'smell' of diesel fuel *whilst* on the water can make me hurl!), I don't do cruises, I don't do rides @ Disneyland or any amusement park, and taxis (particularly in New York) can often make me go *green* in a matter of seconds. I hate the backseat of a car, and again, even thinking about a fully-populated sedan (with 2 in the front and 3 or 4 in the back) can really make me physically ill...JUST THINKING ABOUT IT!

But, it's never really a problem (at least, the plane and taxi thing) as I always take an over-the-counter medication called 'Dramamine' (note: I *still* won't do boats though; even with the pills!). So you can imagine my surprise today (when flying from the desert to Dulles) when I awoke about 15 minutes before the plane landed and found myself, well, NAUSEATED! Ick. Back of my neck got all sweaty, I had to turn the little airvent DIRECTLY on my face, my heart was racing, and a quick glance at myself (in my phone screen's reflection) revealed that my normal color had turned formally, uh, green...

...and this all got me thinking..., "Was my 'stash' of Dramamine a little out-dated?". I literally stock-up every few months or so; but with so much flying (and going thru box after box) I kinda lost track of the 'newest ones', and even found myself hitting my 'reserve packs' (which I had buried deep in my laptop bag/suitcase thing). Which further caused me to investigate the packaging...and that's when I noticed it...EXPIRES MARCH 2008.

Well, they weren't kidding were they? LOL. Damn. I mean... my last flight from NYC was *also* mildly pukey...but I really hadn't thought much about it (as it was SERIOUSLY turbulent). But this...well, let's just say, "Thank goodness I read the packaging."

The good news? NO...I *did not* vomit (only once in my life, actually) and the moment I got off the plane, I immediately bought NEW Dramamine, and then followed that by guzzling a Quad-Venti Latte from Starbucks (I know...what the heck is wrong with me? Not only does coffee seem to 'soothe' my stomach, but I can also fall immediately asleep after drinking four shots of Espresso...the Evangelist life, my friends!

So, that's the exciting news on this Easter Sunday!! LOL. Read your labels, people. And remember...even Dramamine can go bad. LOL. But here I am, Happy Again, @ the lounge in Dulles...

Knowing that NEW Dramamine is ready and waiting for me...

So, now feeling a little less-green, and way more happy to be flying again...

...until next time...

Blog on.

Joining me here at CMA was my colleague John Schuman, who focused his demo on producing rich, interactive Flash content for the Web, and other Web workflows. I hadn't seen John in a while (last time was Max Barcelona, and then briefly in San Jose, back in December) so it was really great to catch up and share some recent 'tales of the road'.

So, I'm due to present in about 8 minutes, which means...this will be the end of the post!

Until next time (and off to the Netherlands in a few days)...

Stay tuned for more, and as always...

Blog on.

As I expected, the students were engaged, interested, and hungry for all things CS3; but more specifically, engrossed in the concepts of cross-media workflows. Presenting a combination of Production Premium workflow (a 4-hour session), as well as breakout sessions on Photoshop CS3 Extended, After Effects/Premiere Pro, and Audition 3, this gave the attendees a really nice overview of 'what's new', but also with a nod towards the future of Media and 'Publishing 3.0'.

And that's why I simply LOVE this particular convention. In talking to students, both during the Q&A and after the sessions, it's always enlightening to hear their 'curiosities' about 'what really gets you a good job' these days, and 'how do you make yourself truly valuable' in the highly competitive world of Media, Publishing and Broadcast. By sharing stories with them about my own experiences, as well as those acquired in my recent dealings with customers and VIPs (at events in the Nordics & Germany), this gave them a real sense that they're moving (and proceeding) in the right direction (and if they're not at present, what they need to do to get there); and more importantly, that diversification of knowledge (in both applications, workflow *and* classic techniques) is truly what makes them a hot commodity. Again, being able to share that, first hand, and really see their reactions is quite simply worth it's weight in gold. Being able to personally provide that level of inspiration? Priceless.

So, as many of the students had taken some photos at the show, I mentioned that if any of them sent them to me that I would be happy to post them...

Jase with NBS members, Lane & Angie

Thanks to Lane J. for sending me the pic.

I also wanted to take a moment to thank the organizers of NBS-AERho, and a special thanks to Dr. Bruce Mims. Bruce and I met many years ago at NAB, and we've been in touch ever since (his specialty is in audio production; needless to say, we've had *many* longform chats about all things audio!). Anyhow, it was he who first brought NBS to my attention, and I just wanted to express my gratitude.

In any event, I'm 'grounded' for the moment, but tomorrow afternoon I'll be off to New York to present at the CMA/CBI Spring Convention. Prepare yourselves for the power of CS3...

Until next time,

Blog on.

It's a very special time for me, as I get to re-visit some of my good friends at the NBS-AERho Convention, this year held in Anaheim, CA.

The National Broadcasting Society caters to both faculty and students alike, and I'll be doing a series of presentations on Production Premium workflow (a 3.5 hour session), point product demos and web-to-video workflow, and a few highlight sessions on Photoshop CS3 Extended (for Video) and Audition 3. I'm hoping to shoot a little blog video from there, so stay tuned!

Folllowing NBS, I'll be heading off to the 'other' coast, where I'll conduct a series of presentations for the CMA/CBI Convention. You may remember the 'big' CBI convention held earlier this year in October; well, this is it's 'baby brother', so to speak (College Media Advisors/College Broadcasters Inc. holds two conventions a year, giving people twice the opportunity to attend). At this event, I'll once again be covering production workflows (as it relates to broadcast journalism, as well as the tools/workflows needed for real-world broadcast applications). There are also several features on Production Premium, Photoshop, After Effects, Flash and Audition 3.

I hope to see many of you there! Again, it's always such a pleasure doing these College broadcast conferences; I truly look forward to some great, heavy Q&A with the attendees! Bring your questions, and be prepared to feel the power of CS3 in production!

So, until next time...

Blog on.

That being said, there are couple of cool things that have cropped up over the last two days. First, the CREATE or DIE interview has been posted! It's a long one, but very informative, and quite funny. You'll get to see the three of us playing off of one another (albeit, at 9:30am!) and it's definitely worth a watch (if you've got the time). Bring popcorn...

CREATE or DIE - The Adobe Evangelist Interview

Also, another video cropped up on YT, taken of yours truly during our seminar in Hamburg. Hair model? What *was* I thinking...LOL (works every time!)

Why oh why was I having such trouble with my microphone that day? These things just happen. That's what I get for wearing the hair down, I suppose. Back to my Euro-bun!

Ok, well, that's about all the time I have for now. Just a quick 'Auf Weidersehen' to all our friends, colleagues, admirers, and fellow Adobe-philes. We'll see you soon, and stay tuned to the blog for upcoming events in the US, Netherlands, Germany & Austria!

Until next time, meine Freunde...

Blog on.