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Posts Tagged ‘Deck’

Photography Deck is a camera-themed deck of playing cards to help teach photo basics

02 Jul

There are many ways to learn the basics of photography, such as classes, tutorials and simply capturing more images. However, there’s a neat new method using playing cards, Photography Deck.

Launched on Kickstarter, the campaign far exceeded its funding goal during its first day. At the time of writing, over 600 backers had contributed more than $ 20,000 USD, compared to the goal of just $ 1,122.

The unique and attractive deck of cards are designed to appeal to shutterbugs and photography newcomers alike. Each suit covers a different topic: Clubs cover technical details, diamonds showcase shooting styles, hearts offer composition tips and finally, spades teach camera basics.

The 3 of spades card features the exposure triangle. Image credit: Photography Deck on Kickstarter

The technical details on the clubs cards include manual shooting, white balance, color theory and more. For example, the 6 of clubs teaches the viewer about the histogram. The shooting style-themed diamonds cards illustrate styles of photography including flash photography, macro, portrait photography among others. The hearts cards feature composition topics such as negative space, symmetry, patterns, leading lines, the rule of thirds and more. Adorned with basic camera information, the spades cards illustrate camera topics such as aperture, shutter speed, focal length, depth of field and more. The 3 of spades illustrates the exposure triangle of shutter speed, ISO and aperture.

Via the Kickstarter page, creator Eric Bohring states that each card ‘illustrates the most important rules and techniques about photography’ while featuring unique camera artwork. ‘Think of them as pocket-sized cheat sheets that you can bring wherever you travel,’ the campaign continues. The product is designed as a unique gift for photography enthusiasts and as a useful and artistic addition to your own camera bag.

The deck of cards is a standard playing deck with 52 cards and a pair of jokers. Each card features a micro-linen texture and is a standard playing card size: 3.5 x 2.5 inches (89 x 64mm).

If you’d like to make a pledge to the Photography Deck project, it’s about $ 14 USD to receive a standard Photography Deck, with shipping expected in August. For about $ 17, you can receive a limited edition green deck. If you’d like both decks you can receive a standard and limited edition deck for $ 29.


Disclaimer: Remember to do your research with any crowdfunding project. DPReview does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate and come from reliable creators, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Elgato announces Stream Deck XL and Stream Deck Mobile

29 May

Elgato, now a subsidiary of Corsair, has announced Stream Deck XL and Stream Deck Mobile. Stream Deck XL is a new, larger version of its original Stream Deck, while Stream Deck Mobile is an iOS app that emulates the Stream Deck experience on your iPhone or iPad.

Stream Deck XL

The Stream Deck XL features 32 keys (8×4), more than double that of the 15 keys (5×3) the original Stream Deck had. Like the original Stream Deck though, the Stream Deck XL features the same functionality, with the ability to almost infinitely customize various shortcuts and macros needed to streamline your video or photo editing workflow, thanks to built-in support for various post-production applications including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere and more.

The unit measures 182cm x 112cm x 34cm (7.17in x 4.41in x 1.34in) and fixes two of the biggest complaints we had in our review of the original Stream Deck: it now has a much more sturdy stand and it features a detachable USB-A to USB-C braided cable that measures 1.5m (60in). Not only is the 45-degree stand more robust, it’s also magnetic, making it an easy snap-on, snap-off for when you want to move it around and lay it flat on a desk.

The Stream Deck XL is available to purchase for $ 249.95.

Stream Deck software update

Elgato has also announced an update to its Stream Deck software (version 4.3) for macOS and Windows. The update now adds support for new programs, additional customizability options and overall addresses various bugs. It can be downloaded directly from Elgato’s download page.

Stream Deck Mobile

If you don’t want to purchase a physical Stream Deck, you can now have similar functionality using your iOS device. Elgato has taken the custom shortcut experience and brought it to iOS via a new app called Stream Deck Mobile. As its name suggests, the app effectively brings the Stream Deck experience to your smartphone by creating a collection of shortcuts that can be accessed and triggered via your iOS device.

There’s no word on whether or not Elgato plans on making an Android version, but on iOS, the app can be downloaded and used for free as a three-day trial. After the trial, you can opt to pay either $ 2.99 per month or $ 25 per year for the full experience.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Review: The Elgato Stream Deck is a customizable hardware control for post-processing

06 Apr

Elgato Stream Deck
$ 149 | elgato.com

The Elgato Stream Deck is a small, customizable keypad primarily targeted at gamers who stream live content. I’m not a prolific gamer, but it occurred to me that the Stream Deck might also be a useful tool in my daily post processing work, cutting down on mouse clicks and keyboard shortcuts, and speeding up my workflow.

In my case that means a non-linear editor, or NLE, for video editing. However, the Stream Deck isn’t limited to NLEs; it can be used with just about any editing software such as Photoshop, Lightroom, or Premiere Pro.

Key features:

  • 15 customizable keys, each with its own LCD screen
  • 210 actions* available by using folders
  • Macros** can be assigned to each key
  • Different profiles and key sets can be created for different applications

The power of the Stream Deck is that each of the keys contains an individual LCD screen behind a concave plastic window. You may remember the Optimus Maximus OLED keyboard which, when launched in 2007, had a full qwerty keyboard with an OLED display on each key. The Stream Deck takes this idea and makes it more accessible at a price of $ 149.

Design

The Stream Deck’s fascia is aluminum while the body is plastic, with dimensions of 118 x 84 x 21mm (4.6 x 3.3 x 0.80 in) and it connects via a captive USB cable approximately 1.5m long. Included in the box is a lightweight plastic stand which allows the Stream Deck to sit at multiple angles, and it includes rubber feet on the bottom to stop it from sliding across your desk when you push a button.

The Stream Deck’s stand. It does the job, but as I discuss below there’s room for improvement.

Setup

Out of the box, the Stream Deck does nothing, so the first step is to download the Stream Deck software from Elgato’s website, which allows you to completely tailor each key. It’s already loaded with several shortcuts for popular streaming software like Twitch, OBS, YouTube, etc. and these can just be mapped to the keys on the device.

However, my reason for buying the Stream Deck was to use it with Davinci Resolve, my NLE of choice, though it can be used just as easily with tools like Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro X, or Lightroom. However, doing so requires a more involved setup process as there are no pre-configured shortcuts available for these applications.

To do this, I set up a new Davinci Resolve profile in the Elgato software that auto-loads when I run Resolve. This can be done for any software that’s being used, and therefore you can have multiple sets of shortcuts (210) for each program. It’s completely feasible to have different set ups for Resolve, Premiere Pro and Lightroom for example.

Configuring keys with the Elgato software.

I created keys for common tasks, some of which were duplicates of already available keyboard shortcuts, but with larger dedicated icons I didn’t have to remember the shortcuts for some of the lesser used key commands. It also meant that some actions that used a three-key combination for something like ‘freeze frame’ could now be achieved with a single button.

There’s also a certain satisfaction in quickly navigating pages of shortcuts with a single button press. Trust me – you have to try it to appreciate it.

Customizing Keys

For the functionality that I wanted I needed to register the required Resolve keyboard shortcuts in the Elgato software. I also created icons for the buttons. Some of this was achieved with the Elgato Key Creator, which is web based, but quite a few of my keys were also constructed with Photoshop. Any image editing software will work as you only need to create a 288 x 288 pixel PNG file for each button.

There’s a certain satisfaction in quickly navigating pages of shortcuts with a single button press.

Like anything worthwhile, setup and customization took some time. At first it seemed a little involved, but effort spent configuring at the start saved more time later. I spent a lot of time making the icons for the buttons and assigning functions, but also some thought into where to place them and how far down into the sub pages to go.

But, I hear you cry, fifteen buttons is not enough! Well, in that case you can actually use one of the buttons to access up to fourteen more sub pages of buttons, each with another fourteen buttons on them (one is reserved for going back a page). In this case you can see the appeal of the screens providing labels and icons representing their function. I certainly couldn’t remember what each one did without them.

One example of a bespoke key set on the Stream Deck.

However, the ability to customize the Stream Deck doesn’t stop there. With the help of software like Auto Hot Key for Windows or similar scripting software for Mac, scripts can be written and assigned to any button. This means if there isn’t an exact shortcut available in the software you want to use it with then you can record something like a simple mouse click on an on-screen button and assign it to a stream deck key. Although I haven’t used this yet, It might be something I look at doing in the future as my workflow evolves.

Workflow improvements

After working with the Stream Deck for a couple of weeks I’ve found it very useful, though not without making some adjustments. First, getting used to having the device placed to the left of my usual keyboard was a bit unusual (of course it can be placed anywhere). This, combined with the fact that I had to think and stop myself using the regular on screen buttons, also slowed me down initially.

After about half a day I found that my usual edit process had sped up, probably on the order of 20-30%.

After about half a day, however, I found that my usual edit process had sped up, probably on the order of 20-30%. Persistence pays off, and sometimes it’s all too easy to forget and go back to the old ways of working, but when I did I found that I slowed down again. After about a week or so of using it I needed to reorganize the button layout a bit, something I think will be an ongoing process.

Opportunities for improvement

Overall the Stream Deck works well and I’m impressed with the feel of the keys, however there are some improvements I’d like to see. First, I’d like the option for a detachable cable rather than a captive one. What happens if the cable get’s damaged? There have also been reports from some users of screen burn in on early units, but this seems to have been addressed in later ones and Elgato have been swapping out units with this issue.

The Stream Deck attaches to your computer using a captive cable. I’d prefer a detachable cable in case it gets damaged.

The Stream Deck’s stand is just OK, and I’d like to see a way of making the unit fit more securely into it. The way it adjusts for different inclinations could be improved as well, such as having a much more positive lock into position. I would also like to see a more ergonomic version of the Stream Deck; three rows of five keys works, but it’s a bit cramped and the spacing could be better. The way my hand lies it would be better if it was wider, and I’d like to see they keys placed more naturally.

Elgato also makes the Stream Deck Mini with six keys. Perhaps there could be an option for a Stream Deck Max with 30 keys? I know this would probably take it out of the realm of being a pure streaming tool, but it opens up possibilities for other markets. If Elgato really wanted to they could compete with other control devices by adding knobs and sliders, but I guess this might be a little outside their key user base.

It is for you?

Considering it’s a product aimed at online gamers, the Stream Deck is a tool that can be easily adapted for use by photo and video editors to streamline and speed up everyday workflows. It can take time to set it up properly and develop the muscle memory required to use it, and will probably require some ongoing tweaks to get the most out of it, but the time invested up front will be saved in use.

Its usefulness will very much come down to the individual and their workflow. The more time you invest in getting things working correctly for you the more benefits you’ll see. I’ve yet to really use it to it’s full potential and I’ve already seen the benefit.

What we like

  • Ease of use
  • Customization options
  • Cost
  • Tactile feel

What we don’t like

  • Stand design; positioning and adjustment could feel more positive
  • Captive cable

*An action may be any function assigned to a key on the Stream Deck, such as a keyboard shortcut or combination of keys pressed simultaneously.
**If you use macros to create automated scripts on your computer it’s possible to map an entire macro to a single button.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Tiny Apartment’s Rooftop Terrace Features Flat-Folding Deck Chairs

14 Jun

[ By SA Rogers in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

deck-chairs

A cramped, stale and long-neglected 400-square-foot studio apartment in Hong Kong feels downright luxurious with the addition of a rooftop terrace and some pretty cool space-saving features. Design firm Liquid Interiors maximized the space, which is essentially one big room with a combination bedroom/living room, by hiding many features behind sliding doors to keep clutter to a minimum. But their smartest innovation is upstairs, where a pair of wooden deck chairs fold flat into the floor when not in use.

rooftop apartment 2

rooftop apartment 3

The terrace serves ash an outdoor exercise and meditation space, complete with a full-sized canony bed on a wooden platform, a minimalist stone table and a projector screen for watching movies outdoors when the weather is cooperative. The deck chairs pop up when the residents want to lounge in the sun, and blend into the wooden decking when more floor space is desired. A green wall adds a splash of color and helps capture some of the heat. Two iron safes used as bedside tables match the iron door that leads back into the apartment.

rooftop apartment 4

rooftop apartment 5

The architects wanted to “create a sanctuary right in the middle of Central” for the owner, who’s a pilot and and often sleeps at odd hours. With the need to block out daylight in mind, they integrated double-glazed, sound-insulating windows, 100% blackout blinds and a smart circadian lighting system for minimal disruption to the biological sleep cycle.

rooftop apartment 6

rooftop apartment 7

In the kitchen, the skin, refrigerator and all tableware and implements are hidden behind stainless steel cabinet doors, while the table in the center packs in multiple functions including cooktop, dining table and workstation. A television and beanbag seats can be pulled out from similar cabinets in the bedroom when the residents just want to hang out.

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[ By SA Rogers in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

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Expand on Demand: Secret Deck Spaces for Small Dwellings

19 Feb

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

balcony unfolding design

When it comes to tall apartment and condo buildings, the idea of adding more space is almost always out of the question – but what if you could push a balcony outward on demand, rather than adding an entire deck or patio? Here are three designs to expand outdoor space in creative ways.

balcony extension electronic system

The Bloomframe is a Dutch architect-designed system that turns a simple set of windows into a spacious exterior extension that can be electronically deployed and retracted – like a convertible top, you can experience the outdoors during nice weather, take out the grill, then close the unit as desired.

space extension juliet balcony

An alternative from Fakro works with existing frame sizes on angled roofs, and provides you both a way to lean out (a form of Juliet balcony, with window frame doubling as front rail) as well as overhead shelter from the rain. This system is also simpler and entirely mechanical, so deploying it is as easy as opening a normal glass window.

space saving deck furniture

And for those who already have a deck, but not enough room to put any furniture on it, this space-saving furniture solution (Spaceless) by Sandy Lam is a great source of inspiration: her designs for a table and seat set that fold up for use and hide, camouflaged amid wood decking, when tucked back away.

space small balcony pictures

From the designer: “the average price of residential buildings in downtown Vancouver BC has reached $ 800 per square foot. Many people have to give up their garden living and move into concrete buildings because of this increase in housing prices. Even though living space is expensive, there is one space rarely used in condo buildings—the balcony. The goal of having “Spaceless” is to use the condo balcony to maximize living space and to improve the building environment by enhancing the functionality of the balcony space.”

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Expand on Demand: Secret Deck Spaces for Small Dwellings

15 Feb

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

balcony unfolding design

When it comes to tall apartment and condo buildings, the idea of adding more space is almost always out of the question – but what if you could push a balcony outward on demand, rather than adding an entire deck or patio? Here are three designs to expand outdoor space in creative ways.

balcony extension electronic system

The Bloomframe is a Dutch architect-designed system that turns a simple set of windows into a spacious exterior extension that can be electronically deployed and retracted – like a convertible top, you can experience the outdoors during nice weather, take out the grill, then close the unit as desired.

space extension juliet balcony

An alternative from Fakro works with existing frame sizes on angled roofs, and provides you both a way to lean out (a form of Juliet balcony, with window frame doubling as front rail) as well as overhead shelter from the rain. This system is also simpler and entirely mechanical, so deploying it is as easy as opening a normal glass window.

space saving deck furniture

And for those who already have a deck, but not enough room to put any furniture on it, this space-saving furniture solution (Spaceless) by Sandy Lam is a great source of inspiration: her designs for a table and seat set that fold up for use and hide, camouflaged amid wood decking, when tucked back away.

space small balcony pictures

From the designer: “the average price of residential buildings in downtown Vancouver BC has reached $ 800 per square foot. Many people have to give up their garden living and move into concrete buildings because of this increase in housing prices. Even though living space is expensive, there is one space rarely used in condo buildings—the balcony. The goal of having “Spaceless” is to use the condo balcony to maximize living space and to improve the building environment by enhancing the functionality of the balcony space.”

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Carlson School of Management Flash Mob, Deck the Halls

22 Dec

The Carlson School of Management received a surprise visit from a saxophonist…and nearly 300 of his friends from the University of Minnesota’s School of Music this November. “Deck the Halls” arr. Francisco J. Núñez and Jim Papoulis from “Coolside of Yuletide” Special Thanks To: Greg Wrenn (saxophone), Campus Singers Maroon, Gold, and Mosaic; Men’s Chorus, Women’s Chorus, University Singers, Kathy S. Romey (coordinator), Judy Sagen and Kelley Sundin (choreography), Phillip O’Toole (audio), Boosey & Hawkes, Northern Lights Video, Michael Teachout, Bryan Koop (director of photography), Steve Rudolph (producer) For more information on the Carlson School of Management visit www.CarlsonSchool.umn.edu
Video Rating: 4 / 5