Have you ever see the masses of photographers at red carpet events and the hundreds of flashes going off when a star walks by? In this tutorial you can find out out to make bright Paparazzi Flashes in After Effects for use in a logo reveal. I will show you how to the flash element and use a particle system to create the appearance of flashes.

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Tutorial

Step 1

Create a new comp at your desired resolution. I’m making mine 1920×1080 at 25 fps.

Step 2

Create a Black Solid and make sure its comp size, name it Particles.

Step 3

Go to Effect, Trapcode, Particular and add it to the black solid.

Step 4

Change the Emitter Type to Box and then change the emitter size to your comp resolution; mine is 1920×1080. Set your Emitter Size Z to 0.

Step 5

Set all the velocity numbers to 0

Step 6

In the Particle drop-down menu, set the Life to 0.1.

Step 7

You should have a comp that looks like this.

Step 8

Create another Black Solid and name it Flare.

Step 9

Go to Effect, Videocopilot, Optical Flares and put it on the Flare solid you just made.

Step 10

Click on Options and delete all the layers under Global Perameters.

Step 11

Then click on Lens Objects on the left side of the screen and add two glow layers and two shimmer layers. Set the brightness and scale of the first glow to 125 and 14. The second glow layer to 125, 17. The first shimmer layer to 728, 12 and the second shimmer layer to 159, 39.

Step 12

Then change the global colour to R: 132 G: 184 B: 243 or HTML: 84B8F3.

Step 13

Click OK and you should end up with something like this.

Step 14

Pre Compose the Flare solid and check Move All Atribures, name it Sprite.

Step 15

In the Sprite comp, center the flare to the middle of the comp by dragging the target.

Step 16

Go to Composition, Composition Settings and resize your comp to 2500×1406 or what ever your computer can handle.

Step 17

Then go to Layer, Solid Settings and click Make Comp Size.

Step 18

Then alter the Brightness and Scale in the Optical Flares Effect menu so the glow does NOT touch the edges of the comp. I set it to 60 brightness and 50 scale. You may want to add a circular mask just to be safe.

Step 19

Also, set the Render Mode to On Transparent.

Step 20

Now, go back to your main comp and ALT click on the 8bpc till it reaches 32bpc. This reduces that horrible banding you get with gradients. Note this may slow down RAM preview time so I recomend setting it to 32bpc when you are redy to do your final render.

Step 21

In the Particular Menu, go to the Particle drop-down menu and change the Particle Type to Sprite. Then open the Texture drop-down menu and set the Layer to the Sprite comp.

Step 22

You may get this warning saying that the layer is too big, just click ok.

Step 23

Now, turn off the Sprite layer as we do not need to see it. If you can only see tiny dots insted of flashes, increase the scale of the particle to your desired size. It should look something like this.

Step 24

In the Particle drop-down menu, go to Opacity over Life and select this ramp.

Step 25

Thats your basic flashes done. Now to make it into a logo reveal import our desired logo, text or image into the comp and position it in the center.

Step 26

Animate the Paricles/sec to 3000 on the first frame then 100 at one second. You can press F9 to smooth out the keyframes.

Step 27

Then select your Logo and animate the scale so it is a bit larger on the first frame then one second in it is back at 100% scale.

Step 28

And there you go. I have added a bit of a glow to the logo for good measure. I hope you enjoyed this tutoral.

Additional Aetuts+ Resources

• This Logo Will Self Destruct In 5 Seconds
• Create An Astonishing Butterfly Animation – AE Premium
• Freeze Your Logo With A Snowy Transition
• Writing with Colored Sand
• Form a Unique Transition

In the following tutorial you will learn how to create a nice looking puzzle effect. Using 3D Extrude, Bevel and Map Art options you will learn how to hand craft the individual pieces of the puzzle and arrange it into a dynamic layout.

Continue reading “How to Create a Dynamic 3D Puzzle Effect in Adobe Illustrator”

How do you weed through all the tips and tutorials and decide which one you should follow for your mix? Some advice given isn’t necessarily what you need, since a specific tutorial or trick doesn’t give you the context in which it works.

If you don’t know that a lush 2.3 s hall reverb should be used for slow vocals and decide to try it out for your bass guitar part you are instantly rewarded with a horrible sounding and muddy mix. Not at all what you wanted nor intended when you decided to follow said advice.

That said, here are some of the worst mixing advice you can get. Be sure to not do any of these things and you’ll instantly have a better mix on your hands.

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1. Make Your Mix Uneven

All that panning is great isn’t it? You can pan all your drums to one side and they just come out of one speaker all lopsided and groovy. Be sure to have your mix uneven and unbalanced in your left and right master so that you feel like you’re tipping on one side. It’s a great feeling, especially when you’re listening in headphones.

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2. Constantly Add More Volume

Add more and more volume to the tracks so that they’re hot and heavy and overloading the master fader. Ending up with a hot mix like this is sure to give your mastering engineer a run for his money as he tries to manage the crazy mix that you’ve made for him.

If your drums start drowning when you’ve added in the other instruments, just push them up and give ‘em more gain! I bet you it’s going to make your clients real happy to listen to a smokin’ hot mix such as this!

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3. Use Your Effects to the Extreme

Who doesn’t want extreme effects on every channel. Pile on the chorus, flanger and phaser to make your tracks sound even more interesting.

Better yet, make sure you both add them as inserts and sends so that you can be sure to overload your boring tracks with some cool modulation, wobble and phase. The more effects you got, the better the song must become right?

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4. When in Doubt, Add More Lower Mids!

You gotta have a fat mix! In order to compete in the modern mixing world you better start compensating by adding some lower mids to your mixes. Who wants even frequency distribution anyway?!

The best way to find out which mid to add is to scan the 150 – 250 Hz area with a big broad boost until your woofer start vibrating to the extreme. Back off the volume of the speakers a little bit, but be sure to keep your mid boosts as is because that will definitely rock out the dance floor of whatever club you’re bringing your mix to.

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Conclusion

So you got these four mixing tips printed out and glued to the wall above your monitor? Because I’m sure, if you follow these tips then your mixes will not only sound insane to everybody who hears them, you might even gain notoriety for breaking the mold and going your own way. And that’s what’s important in the music industry, making waves and doing your own thing!

While it is possible to get a great track just by starting and seeing what happens, it can also be helpful to begin with an idea. With a goal in mind, it’s easier to create a cohesive track where the pieces of the puzzle come together to make a unified image. An idea, even if completely abandoned later on or altered beyond recognition, can serve as a great starting point and as a simple sketch to refer to when the painting gets complicated. This article is about coming up with ideas that start tracks, some places to find ideas, and how to be prepared for it when inspiration strikes.

Songs Outside

One way to get inspired is to take advantage of the rhythms and notes we encounter in everyday life. For example, you might find that while jogging through a neighborhood, your footsteps and the sounds of a sprinkler together create the basis for an interesting percussion pattern, while a bird adds a melodic riff to your composition. Turning the themes you hear in everyday life into a song can be a fun challenge to get you started on a track; for this illustration, maybe the footsteps would become a kick drum while the sprinkler becomes gated white noise or a hi-hat, and the bird could become a synth or wind instrument.

Whether you live in the city or countryside, there are plenty of songs waiting to be taken from your environment. A great example of this is in a scene of the film August Rush where the rhythms of wheels and the notes of car horns literally come together and turn into a song. If you’re at your desk in your studio and you’re having trouble getting inspired, consider going for a walk. You may be surprised what audible song ideas can come from changing your surroundings.

Rhythm and Melody in Language

Another place to find the basis for a song is in one or two words. It is not uncommon to hear dance tracks that base a song around a single word, sometimes using a sample of the word somewhere in the song. Producers sometimes pick a word or two, and make a song that reflects some aspect of the words, such as the rhythm, notes, or mood that the words invoke. For instance, a composer for the video game “God of War” used this technique. He said in an interview for a public television piece about the Video Games Live concerts, that the main theme from the soundtrack was based on the rhythm of the Greek words for revenge and redemption, which plays into the story and setting of the game.

While the percussive pattern inside a word can be a source of inspiration, words can also have melodic characteristics depending on how they are spoken. This is especially true for some languages, like Chinese, Vietnamese and others, where the pitch bends, or lack thereof, in a word can change what the word is. But even in English speech notes make a subtle appearance; the presence of notes in everyday speech has been exaggerated, exploited, and edited in autotune parodies on the Internet.

In a presentation given at the 09 World Science Festival, research suggested that certain intervals – that is, the musical note distance traveled – in a word or phrase can communicate emotions like sadness (a descending minor third) and anger (one raised semitone). It is not hard to imagine that other speech intervals exist, for example if you find a group of people realizing something at the same time, you might discover that they all say something like ‘oh I understand’ in a similar rhythm with matching pitch changes like a choir. All that is to say is that the notes and rhythms found in speech can also be an abundant source of ideas and inspiration for a song.

Less-audible things can be inspiration for a song as well, such as events, places, challenges and emotions. Many great songs are inspired by very personal things, yet are written in a way that allows them to be relatable to a large audience. While it’s true that sometimes a great song is great just because it’s catchy, there is something to be said for music’s ability to connect to someone’s soul and make them feel a certain way, think certain thoughts, and do certain things, even if that thing is simply dancing.

Capturing the Idea

Wherever the idea comes from, it is good to be able to capture an idea as soon as it is thought of, as ideas can easily be forgotten. One of the best ways to do this is to record some audio of yourself singing or beatboxing what’s in your head, perhaps by leaving a message on a phone or on a portable recorder. If no such device is available when inspiration strikes, writing the idea as you best as you can is often enough to jog the memory later. Maybe that looks like a few words and a step sequencer grid with Xs, or a rhythmic squiggle of ink and some circles.

Further Information

Whatever the method, it is important to capture the idea whether you’re inspired in or out of the studio, as song ideas can be forgotten even as you work on the song itself, because it is easy to get caught up in choosing and adjusting sounds.

If you’re looking for more places to find inspiration, check out this article about 7 places to find inspiration for songs. Recently, Audiotuts readers shared some of their techniques for capturing inspiration in the comments of this Open Mic post. Look out for an upcoming post that will show an example of how to start a song by beatboxing it.

There is a lot that you can do in Photoshop with just a few select tools. Today, we will demonstrate how to create a realistic iMac icon in Photoshop that includes a 27-inch screen, a keyboard, and a mouse. Let’s get started!

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Tutorial Assets

• Photo of iMac box (for reference)
• Black & Blue Icons
• Wallpaper (or any other you like)

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Step 1

Create new document 2048px x 1400px. This resolution is set according to the approximate dimensions of the reference image. If you want to create a smaller illustration, just adjust dimensions of workspace and reference image to your needs.

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Step 2

Before you begin, remember to keep your layers organized into folders. This is very important as this tutorial will require you to create many of them.

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Step 3: Screen

Place the reference image onto the workspace and center it if necessary. Then select the Pen Tool (P) and then Freeform Pen Tool in Options panel. Then enable the Magnetic check box in the same panel. This enables Magnetic Freeform Pen tool, which will follow the part of image and create Custom Shapes in seconds.

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Step 4

Create a new folder inside the iMac folder and name it Leg. Select the Magnetic Freeform Pen Tool and start drawing the shape. We are using the freeform tool to create smooth curves. When you are dragging the mouse over the border between the image and white space the anchor points are just copying the shape of it. But as you can see the tool is not so precise on straight lines so it creates too many anchor points there. The solution is to press Alt + Click to start the straight line and then Click to place the ending anchor point and get back to Freeform mode. After closing your path, feel free to remove some of the useless anchor points and simplify your path a bit.

Double click the layer with new shape to open the layer styles dialog and create a new gradient with following values and positions: #8b8b8b at 0%, #CCCCCC at 7% and 49%, #666666 at 54% #CCCCCC at 58% and #CCCCCC at 100%. This will create shadows and highlights at their place.

Create new layer just above the base shape. We need this layer for adding a shadow at the top of leg because this additional one has different direction and shape than the gradient effect.

As the shadow will be inside the base shape the best way to keep it inside the shape is to create a layer mask. As the shape itself has one by default we don’t need to create a new one. Select the base shape’s layer and press Alt + Drag the layer mask to the new layer above. This shortcut will create a copy of the layer mask on new layer.

Select the layer and then select the Brush Tool (B) with 0% – 10% hardness and big diameter and paint the shadow in top right corner of the leg.

Copy the base shape layer by selecting Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + J and in the upcoming dialog change the name. Move the layer above the shadow layer (#3). Select the Direct Selection Tool (A) and select particular anchor points and edit the shape to create top side of the leg. Create gradient layer effect with values #ced2db at 0% and 38%, and #717073 at 100%. Create two new layers above new shape. Name them Highlight (#1) and Shadow (#2). Copy the layer mask to them (Alt + Drag). With Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) create marquee for the shadow – it can be wider than base shape because the layer mask will hide everything outside. Fill it with #333333. Disable marquee, select Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply blur according to the shadow. Just play with the value to get most realistic effect of shadow.

The highlight layer is pretty similar. Copy layer mask. Create marquee with the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L). Fill it with #CCCCCC. Disable marquee, select Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Now apply little blur about 3. Create a selection with the Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) – Top border should be directly on the end of blur and the bottom border should be one height out of the blur. With the marquee select Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur and apply the same value as for the shadow.

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Step 5

Start by drawing the basic shape of the display. Select the Magnetic Freeform Pen Tool and start drawing the shape. Try to create as few anchor points as possible by Alt + Clicking for straight lines. When finishing the shape adjust anchor points to fit

Add a Gradient Layer style with following values to the shape: #333333 at 0% and 13%, #b5b5b5 at 15%, #666666 at 17%, #999999 at 20% and #CCCCCC at 100%. Set the angle of gradient effect to 77 degrees.

Now create a new layer above the shape and copy the layer mask to it. Select Brush Tool (B) with hardness about 5% and color #CCCCCC and paint shadow in the top right corner. Select the display shape and duplicate it by Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + J. Move the layer above the one with shadow. Move and adjust anchor points with Direct Selection Tool (A) to create front side of the display. Create a Gradient Layer Effect with following values: #999999 at 0%, #e3e2e6 at 100% and set angle to 10 degrees.

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Step 6

Duplicate layer (Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + J) and set up Color Overlay layer style effect to #000000. Select the shape with Path selection Tool (A) and select subtract mode. Select Rectangle tool (U) and cover about 20% of lower part of screen. Press Combine. Rename this layer to Display Glass.

Place your Wallpaper onto the workspace and transform (Edit > Transform > Perspective) it according to the perspective.

Create new folder and name it Menu. Create new layer in this folder and name it Menu too. Apply layer mask in shape of transformed wallpaper on it – select the layer and then select Polygonal Lasso Tool (L). Create selection in shape of the transformed wallpaper and select Add layer mask option at the bottom of layers panel.

Select Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) and create selection for menu in top part of the display. Select Gradient Tool (G) and fill that selection with gradient from #d1d0d1 to #ffffff. The darker part of the gradient is the farther one.

Select Ellipse Tool (U) and create small ellipse which will substitute the logo in tray bar. Move it to the position at top left corner and adjust its size (Cmd/Ctrl + T).

Select Horizontal Type Tool (T) and create the menu titles such as Preview File Edit Display Window Help or whatever. Move it next to the logo at top left corner and also adjust its size (Cmd/Ctrl + T). With Horizontal Type Tool (T) selected create new text layer with time as12:15 or whatever and place it in the top right corner of display. As you can see the text doesn’t respect the perspective much. Select Edit > Transform > Skew transform and adjust the shape of this two text layers to fit the perspective.

Select Rectangle Tool (U) and create dock shape using #FFFFFF. Set the transparency of the shape layer to 50%. Select Direct Selection Tool (A) and adjust the positions of anchor points to fit the shape of the Dock.

Now we need the Black & Blue Icons (this tutorial works with Add On 1). Place the icons in the row. Merge them (select layers to merge and Cmd/Ctrl + E) for easier and consistent transformation. Name this icon pack layer Icons. Copy the layer mask from menu layer to this layer. Change the size of the icon pack (Edit > Free Transform or Cmd/Ctrl + T) and adjust the perspective (Edit > Transform > Perspective) and use Cmd/Ctrl + T to polish the finish. Duplicate Layer Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + J and name it Icons Ref. Select Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical to mirror the icons vertically and move them below the original ones. Adjust the perspective by Edit > Transform > Skew and set the Opacity of the layer around 45%.

Select the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U) and set the radius to 5. Create two thin shapes for devices and place them on the side of the display.

Create a new layer and name it Reflection. Cmd/Ctrl + Click on the black screen layer (Display Glass layer) mask to create selection of display then select Polygonal Lasso Tool (L). Hold Alt and create selection around the reflection to subtract the part that is not needed for the reflection. With reflection selection still active select Gradient Tool (G) and fill the selection with gradient of following values: #FFFFFF at 0% and opacity 100%, #FFFFFF at 100% and opacity 0%. Then to get better result select Eraser Tool (E) with hardness set to 0% and size about 150 and erase the bottom border of the reflection.

Select Ellipse Tool (U) and create base shape for apple. With Ellipse Tool (U) still selected enable Subtract mode and create three new shapes over the base one to subtract holes from it. Switch to Create New Shape Layer mode back from Subtract mode. Create new ellipse for tip of the apple. Select Convert Point Tool and click on top and bottom anchor points of the ellipse to remove curves. Move the tip to the top of the apple. If the color of the apple is other than grey change it to #333333. Now place the finished apple to the bottom center of the display.

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Step 7: Mouse

The mouse will be made from fewer layers than the display. It will contain three shape layers for base parts of the mouse and two layers for top reflection and logo.

Select the Ellipse Tool (U) and create an ellipse that mostly fits the shape of the mouse. Select the Direct Selection Tool (A) and adjust its position and shape to completely fit the mouse shape. In this case it is easier to use ellipse tool (U) instead of magnetic freeform pen (P) because the shape is small and contains four almost symmetrical anchor points.

Create a Gradient overlay layer style with following values: #e4e4e4 at 0%, #aaabaf at 46% and 52%, #333333 at 100% and set the angle of gradient to -87.

Duplicate the base layer and add anchor points (Add Anchor Point Tool) to the bottom border line. Edit the anchor points to adjust shape by using the Direct Selection Tool (A) and Convert Point Tool.

Create a Gradient overlay layer style with following values: #cccae0 at 0%, #d8d8e2 at 100% and set the angle of gradient to 90.

Create a Drop Shadow layer style with the following values: Blend Mode: Multiply and #000000, Opacity 75%, Angle 95 degrees, Distance 2px, Spread 0%, Size 1px.

Duplicate the layer and remove effects. Set the color of this shape layer to #dbdbe7. Adjust the anchor points’ position and curve with Direct Selection Tool (A) and Convert Point Tool to create top reflection of the mouse.

Ctrl+ Click on the layer mask of this reflection shape to create selection of it. Create a new layer for the light reflection. With selection still active select Polygonal Lasso Tool (L) and with Alt pressed reduce the size of the selection to almost fit the light reflection. Select Brush Tool (B) and #FFFFFF color. Set the brush hardness to 0% and paint the light reflection.

To create the logo on top just select Ellipse Tool (U) and create ellipse shape. Add some Anchor points with Add Anchor Point Tool. Select Convert Point Tool and recreate the shape of apple to fit the perspective.

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Step 8: Keyboard

The last step of creating the realistic iMac icon is to make the keyboard. This part will work with shapes, gradients, Magnetic Freeform Pen Tool and some layer effects. So if you don’t have it yet create folder and name it Keyboard.

Select Magnetic Freeform Pen Tool. Create Curves by Clicking + dragging and straight lines by Alt + Clicking. Create as few anchor points as possible but stay focused on the shape.

Select the Ellipse Tool (U) and create the side button shape. Apply a Gradient Overlay Effect to it with following values: #c6c6c6 at 0%, #666666 at 5%, #999999 at 15%, #dfdfdf at 30%, #999999 at 45%, #cccccc at 50%, #999999 at 55%, #dfdfdf at 70%, #999999 at 85%, #666666 at 85%, #c6c6c6 at 100%. The gradient is symmetrical so every color on the left side has the equal one on the right. Set the gradient Style to Angle and Angle to 120.

Duplicate the shape layer. Transform (Cmd/Ctrl + T) the size to create a small center of the button. Add the Stroke layer effect to it. Set the Size to 2, Position to Inside and Color to #5f5f5f. Set opacity of the shape layer to 28%.

Select Pen Tool (P) and create the shape for the keyboard bottom shadow. Adjust the anchor points with Direct Selection Tool (A) and curves with Convert Point Tool. Add Gradient Layer Effect to it with following values: #000000 at 0%, #545559 at 72% and #545559 at 100%. Set the Gradient Angle to 88.

Select the Pen Tool (P) or Magnetic Freeform Pen. Create top of the keyboard. I created six anchor points – two anchor points for each curve. Select the Direct Selection Tool (A) and Convert Point Tool and adjust curves to fit the ideal shape. Add the Gradient layer Effect with following values: #9b9b9b at 0%, #747474 at 100%. Set the Gradient Angle to 85.

Duplicate the shape layer. Reduce size of the shape a bit (Cmd/Ctrl + T). Select Direct Selection Tool (A) and Convert Point Tool and adjust the position of the anchor points and curves at the corners. Set the shape color to #f2f2f2. Now we have Keyboard ready for curving the keys and add some finishing layers to it.

Select Pen Tool and enable Subtract From The Shape Area tool option. Look on the reference image  and try to reduce as much of the shape as possible but with keeping the look still in the shape of keyboard and its keys. The most common shape you can subtract is a rectangle so create rectangles to subtract the holes between particular keys. Don’t forget of huge place around the arrows. During the steps or at the end of subtracting, click on Combine.

Create New Layer (Cmd/Ctrl + Alt + J). Copy the layer mask of the keys shape layer to it (Alt + Drag). Select Brush Tool (B) set Hardness to 0% and Size to 20px. Set color to #a7a7a7 and draw the side shadow of the keys.

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Step 9: Polish

The last part of this tutorial is focused on the reflections and shadows casted by the iMac and its accessories. Duplicate the display folder. Keep it selected and merge it (Cmd/Ctrl + E). Move it to the reflections folder. Flip the layer Vertically (Edit > Transform > Flip Vertical). Move the image to the bottom corner of the original. Select Warp Transform (Edit > Transform > Warp) and transform the reflection image to face the bottom shape of the original image.

Select Eraser Tool (E) and set Hardness to 0% and Size about 250px. Erase about half of the reflection image. Set Opacity of the brush to 50% and erase the remaining reflection. As the opacity is set to 50% the eraser tool will remove only half of it so the image will be transparent and less visible. Adjust the visibility of reflection or even its position.

Duplicate the folder of the Mouse. Merge it (Cmd/Ctrl + E). Move it to the reflections folder. Select Warp Transform (Edit > Transform > Warp) and transform the reflection image to face the bottom of the mouse.

Select Eraser Tool (E) and with Hardness set to 0% and size about 250px. Set brush Opacity to 50% and erase the remaining reflection. The effect is the same as for the Display. Also adjust the position and layer opacity.

The reflection of the keyboard can be little bit tricky because of its shape so instead of duplicating layers we are going to draw the reflection ourselves.

Select the Pen Tool (P). Create a shape for the keyboard reflection. Just copy the border of the keyboard and make some space at the bottom according to the image to the left.

Select the Shape Layer and apply following Gradient Layer Effect values: #cdcdcd at 0%, #cdcdcd at 56%, #343434 at 60%, #cdcdcd at 63%, #cdcdcd at 74%, #141415 at 79%, #141415 at 100%.

Rasterize shape layer (right click on the layer and select Rasterize). Select Eraser Tool (E) with hardness set to 0% and size to 150. Erase the bottom part of the reflection according to the shape of the keyboard. Set Eraser opacity to 50% and partly erase the remaining parts of reflection.

If you don’t have one create folder and name it Shadows. It should be beneath the iMac, Mouse and Keyboard folders and over the reflections folder.

Create subfolder in the Shadows folder and name it Magic Mouse. Create two layers inside this folder and name them Lighter and Darker. The darker one should be above the lighter layer.

Select Lighter layer. Select Brush Tool (B). Set size to 20px and hardness to 30%. Set color to #828385. Paint shadow under the mouse and set the layer opacity to 20%.

Select Darker layer. Select Brush Tool (B). Keep the size of 20px and hardness of 30%. Set color to #343435 and paint the darker shadow. Adjust position of both layers.

Create new layer in shadows folder beneath the Mouse folder and name it keyboard. Select Brush Tool (B) with Hardness set to 0%. The size should be set according to the part of the shadow. Set Color to #00000. Select Eraser Tool (E) and erase overdrawed parts. The last thing is to adjust position if it doesn’t fit.

Create a new layer in shadows folder beneath the keyboard layer. Select Brush Tool (B) with hardness set to 0%. The size depends on the part of the shadow as before but keep it small about 15px, paint the shadow at the bottom of the leg. Make it copy the shape of the leg and smoothly disappear at the sides.

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Final Image

Allman or K&R? This is Open Mike, a series of discussion posts to throw the cat amongst the pigeons. These posts are all about you — we want to hear your opinions, ideas, and thoughts. To kick things off, let’s talk about brackets.

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1: Do you Cuddle?

“Cuddling” braces means writing them like this:

function showCuddlingExample():void {
	if (example) {
		//do something
	} else {
		//do something else
	}
}

Alternatively, there’s Allman style:

function showAllmanExample():void
{
	if (example)
	{
		//do something
	}
	else
	{
		//do something else
	}
}

This Wikipedia entry lists other common styles. Which do you use?

I like Allman because you can do this:

//if (someCondition)
{
	doSomething();
}

I can easily turn the conditional check off by simply commenting out the ‘if’ statement. If I was cuddling braces, I’d have to either write a new brace to replace the ‘if’, or comment out the corresponding closing brace.

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2: Do You Pad Your Parentheses?

Compare all of these:

//tight
function exampleFunction(arg1:int, arg2:String):void

//space before parentheses
function exampleFunction (arg1:int, arg2:String):void

//space between variable and type
function exampleFunction(arg1 : int, arg2 : String) : void

//padded parentheses
function exampleFunction( arg1:int, arg2:String ):void

I’ve seen all of these, in various combinations. I used to use ‘padded parentheses’, as it seemed easier to see the arguments and their types, but now I prefer ‘tight’. What about you?

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3: Do You Nest Parentheses in Conditions?

To me, it feels “correct” to write:

if ( (condition1) || (condition2) )

…rather than:

if (condition1 || condition2)

…even though the first takes up a lot more space. The parentheses make it clear where the separation lies. But is that small distinction worth it?

One last thing: thanks to Sergio from www.artua.com for the awesome microphone icon!

Silverlight lays out user interface elements in Panels with various capabilities ranging from fixed, pixel-based layout through to flexible, fluid designs. You can make use of the existing layout mechanisms or build your own Panels to supplement what’s available. Let’s take a look at what’s involved..

In this video, we’ll examine the Panels available and the various properties around alignment and sizing that come into play when you’re laying out elements for Silverlight UI.

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What’s Covered?

Here’s a quick look at some of the subjects covered in this screencast:

• Element properties
• Panel types
• Dragging and dropping
• Fixed and fluid layouts

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View Screencast

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Useful Links

Mike Taulty Microsoft (UK): http://mtaulty.com: [email protected]: twitter.com/mtaulty

• An Introduction to Microsoft Silverlight 4
• Visual Studio (Express Edition)
• Silverlight 4 Tooling
• Expression Blend 4

Saying “no” at work is a surprisingly difficult thing to do. In the minds of your coworkers, the word can land you with the stigma of negativity. Similarly, turning down a client’s request with a blunt “no” can cause you to lose their favor.

Still, sometimes it has to be done. “No” is sometimes necessary, and if it’s used carefully, it can save both sides of the dialogue from unneeded stress and wasted time.

A List Apart has an excellent guide on how to say no properly, supporting it with valid reasons – yet remaining positive to your coworkers and favorable to your clients.

In the long term, a thoughtful, carefully-delivered “no” can be much more positive than saying “yes” as a thoughtless, knee-jerk reaction.

A List Apart – No One Nos: Learning to Say No to Bad Ideas