Blancer.com Tutorials and projects

Russ Cook is a illustrator and caricature artist from Oxford, UK. He has a unique caricature style which can be seen on his portfolio site that has a number of celebrities and well known people’s caricatures. In this interview, he talks about how he got started with illustration, caricatures, his creative process, ideas and inspirations. He also shares some vector art tips and advice, read about this and more at the jump.

Continue reading “Interview with Russ Cook”

A friend brings you a multi-tracked session recorded with another DAW. Before diving in to the mix, send him looking for coffee and a newspaper, and take time to organize your project and optimize the work area. You will save time and gain in efficiency. Some say “Less is more.” Now let’s say “No stress, good mix!”

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Step 1: Import the Audio Tracks

Before importing the audio files in the DAW, let’s have a look at those files. Are they WAV or AIFF? Are they OMF? The files’ format depends on the way your friend exported from his DAW.

OMF (Open Media Format): When importing this file format, the DAW recreates the same project and puts all the audio files along the timeline in the proper order with the correct track names. Note that this file format does not capture effects data.

WAV or AIFF: If the export of every track has been done with this file format, all the tracks have to start at the same point. Otherwise you won’t be able to line up the files at the same start point.

Start with an empty project. Hit <ctrl + N>, select your project folder and hit OK. Under the menu File, select Import Audio file and look in your hard disk to select the bounces.

If you import the tracks one by one, you will have to create an audio track beforehand. You can select all the tracks you need by holding the <ctrl> key on your keypad.

At this point, make the good choice in the Import Option windows:

Select “copy files to working directory”. All the audio files will be copied and stored in the audio folder of your project.

Selecting “Convert and copy to project if needed” will convert the audio files to the same sample rate and record format you previously set in the Project Setup.

Some Cubase users set the project at 32-bit floating point (adding extra 8 bits full of zero), arguing that all internal processing in the application are done at 32-bit floating point, which means there is no bit depth conversion during processing. The gain is not clear but the impact on the storage capacity is really clear!

Selecting “split channels” allows you to decide if you want separate a stereo track to two mono tracks.

The next window gives you the choice to insert the audio files on one track or insert on different tracks – select “different tracks”.

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Step 2: Organize the Tracks

We all remember our mother saying “Clean your room!” We thought she was wrong when we were young, but for a mix, she’s so right!

Let’s have a look at the project:

As you can see, all the tracks are completely disorganized. They appear in the order you selected them. Some guitar tracks are followed by keyboard tracks, drum track, vocal tracks, piano tracks, drum tracks again, and piano…

Set all the audio tracks in the common order most of the front of house engineers use: First, all the drums tracks (kick, snare top, snare bottom, hh, toms and oh), then the bass tracks, then guitars tracks, then the ‘extra’ instruments (keyboards, strings…) and finished with the vocals tracks.

To do so, drag and drop the kick drum track to the top of the track list. As you move a track on the track list, two green horizontal lines appear. Use the same technique with your project tracks.

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Step 3: Rename the Tracks

Take the time to rename tracks as you want to. If there is only one kick drum track, why keep a track called “bounce kick-01″? Rename it “kick drum” for example. You just have to double click on the name in the track list to edit it.

At the same time, if you want to rename the track in the event display, select the track, click the Show Event Info Line icon in the toolbar and double click on the name under ‘File’.

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Step 4: Colorize the Tracks

You should add some colors to your tracks for easier overview.

You have two options:

• Eat some pills and paint your tracks like a rainbow, really nice!

• Or decide to colorize all the drum tracks in one particular color, bass tracks in another color, guitar tracks in a third color…

Select the first drum track (which should be the kick now), hold [ctrl + shift] and click on the last drum track. All the drum tracks are now selected. Choose and apply a color from the color selector in the toolbar located on the top right of the project window.

At this point, all the tracks are organized, renamed and colorized.

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Step 5: Group Channel Track

Using group channel tracks is very useful for mixing. By routing several audio channels to a group channel, you can submix them, apply the same effects and equalization to all of them. Let’s create these tracks and see the benefits.

In this example project we have 10 drums tracks, 2 bass tracks, 3 guitars tracks and 4 keyboards tracks. So we create four group channel tracks.

Do a right click in the track list, select “Add Group Channel Track”, set the count to 4, select Stereo and click OK.

Rename the group channel tracks as ‘Drums’, ‘Bass’, ‘Guitars’ and ‘Keyboard’, set the colors of your choice (the same as the corresponding audio tracks or different one) and place these four group channel tracks at the end of the track list as it is physically placed on an analogue mixing desk.

To route the output of an audio channel to a group, pull down the output routing pop-up and select the corresponding group.

If you want to route multiple audio channels to a group at once, select all the tracks needed, hold Shift+ALT and click on the output routing pop-up to select the group.

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Step 6: Solo a Group

If you solo a group channel, all channels routed to the group will be automatically soloed as well. Soloing a channel routed to a group will automatically solo the group channel.

Note that if you solo a group or channel routed to that group, any channels which have AUX sends routed to other group channels, FX channels or output busses will be muted.

In the example below, the solo button on the drums group track has been activated.

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Step 7: Mute a Group

If you mute a group channel, all channels routed to it will be muted as well.

You can change this functionality in the Preferences at the VST page.

If you deactivate the option “Group Channels: Mute Sources as well”, muting a group channel will mute this group channel track but all channels that are routed directly to that group channel will remain unmuted. This means that if any of those channels have aux sends routed to other group channels, FX channels or output busses, those will still be heard.

Next time, we will continue to organize and prepare the project session. We still have to create folder tracks, check the phase cancellation on the snare, edit some audio tracks and set configurations of the mixer.

I think you need more coffee before you can finally put your fingers on the mixer…

Recently, I had a chance to talk with Ranko Blazina who is a very talented and award winning digital artist from Croatia. We talked about his work, career, his techniques and style. Amazing and inspiring words came from Ranko and I welcome you to read the interview.

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Hi there ! My name is Ranko Blažina aka RaneZ, I come from Samobor, Croatia. I work full time at my graphic design studio – Snooze. In the rest of my free time I spend it developing new skills in retouching, digital art and abstract art. For the last eight years I was working and developing a broad range of illustrations, web sites and graphical products.

My studio deals with innovative solutions which enables clients to get a satisfactory product. Despite the fact that I use my skills for business, I see digital art as a way of living. My first contact with Photoshop was 10 years ago, maybe more, when the first Windows came out. I remember those hand scanners…they were fun!

So I started like many other digital artist, playing with abstract 3d pieces from 3D Studiomax or Cinema4d.. Good old 90′s. Then I realized that I wanted more from 3d…so I started doing some photo manipulations. Especially when the first digital cameras were released. As years passed by I was improving my skills. Today, anyone can do photo manipulations. But, there are just too many average guys out there. You really have to push yourself hard to be better these days.

Well, I must admit, it’s really hard to push a career here. We are just too small for any big plans.
But in some cases, that is an advantage. I must push even harder to be up-to-date.

As I recall, me and 2 other guys that I know, here from Croatia, are the only crew that makes such (digital) art. We have some plans for the future, to get people familiar with these digital techniques and programs that we use. I hope that next year I will have my first exhibition here in Zagreb, so I can start spreading my “digital art revolution” in Croatia

Hehe, that artwork was produced in a few winter nights, just like the title says. A few days before starting to draw this piece, I was starring through my window and watching snowflakes fall.

We have really SNOWY days here in Croatia. Did you notice that every time the snow is falling , there are no clouds?! Just an awesome site to whiteness covering the sky. So, it hit me! There must be someone who MAKES clouds! At least in my imaginary world. A few girls blowing the clouds from their mouths, but only when no one is watching. So I started sketching, planning, and finding some base plates. After few sleepless nights, the "winter cloud makers" piece was done!

As you can see, all of my artwork is usually inspired by oversized animals and little humans. That’s just the way I usually dream them up. Snail Guardian was a long time in my mind. A Jungle, little waterfalls, few spooky eyes watching the scene.

The point of this piece is a little girl that controls a giant snail, and together they guard the forest. He can’t exist without her, together they are the one. I especially love this piece because I used tons of brushing for lightning, toning, coloring and making perfect blends.

Sketch, sketch, sketch. I always use paper before starting. Paper, pen, coffee. I must admit that I am not so good with paper and pen, but I know what it is in my head that I want. So those sketches do not always look so good, but I don’t care. After some basic scene drawings, I decide which rule of thirds I will use. Not always, but often. Then I search the web for starting the image. Images, that will be plate.

Usually, after I finish my artwork, plate is unrecognizable so I delete it. Then I do some quick placing images in one file so I can visualize what is going where. At the end this process, when I am pleased with order, I start merging, painting, and coloring. Details are added afterwards.

To be honest, I am also new to matte painting. You can search web for this phrase, and you will probably end with some mattes for movie industries. But I am using this same techniques to create my own world. Photomontage is the best way to start using Photoshop. That’s why Photoshop exists ! The hardest things is probably lightning. Good light source and quality shadows and are the basics of digital artwork. I am a former photographer, so I got my "lighting" knowledge earlier. But the principle is the same. Light and shadows. You paint with light. Secondly, the thing to be good at photo manipulation is color balance. Merging black stripes of a zebra taken in local Zoo with flash and a low Mp camera into some winter night scene with lots of different light sources that will be printed on billboard is THE job. Practice. That’s all I can say. Read online tutorials. Browse online artistic groups. Practice.

Once more, practice. Experiment. You will be surprised what kind of stuff you are able to produce when mixing different styles, techniques. See what are you into. I experiment a lot with typography because I am using it in everyday designs. Not only digital artwork but in Posters, flyers, billboards, signs, letterheads, and booklets. Running my own creative studio (Snooze), I have learned that you must know different styles to satisfy clients.

Yep, I run a little creative studio called Snooze here in Croatia. Much less stress than working in an agency. The first and main reason I left the traditional ad agency work is they didn’t allow designers to produce something that YOU thought up, something with YOUR technique and YOUR style. I was so unhappy. So, running my own was like big explosion of ideas in my head. I was able to create client demands like I wanted, and most important thing is that THEY were really satisfied.

ADA for Earth poster was really a morale booster. I got a few emails from possible clients asking me to produce more stuff like this. So I have learned that online recognition is important to succeed. How can someone find you if you are a caveman in front of your iMac?

Packaging, advertising, digital art. Same old story, different clients. That is design. Every day I learn something new, that’s why I love design and art. We have designed a few websites, and I am looking forward to use more Snooze skills for online content.

I am looking forward to expand my studio a little more. Add a few more people, a few more Macs, a few more Wacoms. 5 to 10 years? That’s a hard question. Like you said, evolving too rapidly. But, I will try to stay in the flow!

Experiment with your art. Don’t copy. Be yourself. Learn from websites, tutorials, and friends.

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Find Ranko on the Web

• Ranko Blažina Portfolio
• Studio Snooze
• Ranko on Deviant Art
• Ranko on Behance
• Twitter