srsly

App Review: Camera Awesome.

donaldsng — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:57:00 +0800

I came across Camera Awesome on Fstoppers recently and I was immediately blown away with what this app has to offer. It is a camera app unlike any I’ve seen so far with a variety of advanced features which many photographers/ photo-enthusiast would crave for.

With features such as image stabilization, big button (damn useful for the self-shots photos!), slow/fast burst mode, timer, interval and white balance adjustment, what more can you ask for. This is basically features you find on a standard compact camera.

This is something really cool, you can basically set the camera focus and exposure points separately. In layman’s term, you can focus on one part of the screen while letting the app control the exposure based on another which you’ve selected. (goodbye bad exposures!)

Composition guides to help you compose your image before you shoot. I believe most of us commonly adhere to the rule of thirds (grid mode), therefore, this is a good time to try out the other 2 rules of composition, Golden and Trisec.

The Horizon function for those who tend to take slanted pictures.

Beside the fact that Camera Awesome is an awesome camera app, it also has a built in photo-editor. The 1-tap Awesomize function is the most idiot proof way to make your photos look brilliant. The witty loading screen while your photos are being ‘awesomized’ is probably the designer’s way of telling you that ‘magic’ is being done to your photos.

It also comes with presets, filters and textures which you can use to enhance your photos. (similar to what apps like Instagram and Camera+ offer)

For the social media junkies, the app allows you to export full resolution edited images to a variety social networking sites such Twitter, Facebook and even Instagram.

The best part of it all, it is absolutely FREE on the app store. The free app comes with 9 free presets, filters, textures and frames. In conclusion, I believe this will be a great addition to the iPhone homescreen.

(The app is available here.)

UNIQLO WAKE UP

insprxn — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:31:41 +0800

Looking for a new, unorthodox wake up alarm tone? UNIQLO has created yet another quirky, but oh-so-beautiful app, this time allowing you to wake up to different music based on the weather outside. You can even opt for the mandarin alarm music vocals. The lovely music is Cornelius x Yoko Kanno. The app is so pretty, looking at the design is enough to perk you up on the gloomiest days.

The app is free, and available here.

Girls, is your period schedule running amok?

karenkhz — Sat, 12 May 2012 16:43:00 +0800

Now, unless your bodily functions run like clockwork, chances are, your period usually do not occur on the exact same day every month. And we all know how annoying it is when you know it’s that time of the month soon, but you’re not sure when exactly.

Naturally, you run into a fit of paranoia and rush to the toilet at the slightest hint of a discharge.

Ok, sorry for being so graphical, but you get the gist.

No worries girls! Here’s Captain America to the rescue!

Download the Period Tracker Lite and see it work its magic!

This app works by gathering your period data, i.e. the start and end dates, it will then tabulate information like your fertile period, the start of your ovulation cycle and the forecasted date of your menstruation. Of course, first-time users would have to input your data for at least 3 to 4 months for the app to tabulate accurate forecasts. After that, however, it’s pretty much on autopilot mode; all you have to do is to enter the day your period starts and ends.

What’s cute about this app is that you can even enter text and indicate your moods and other symptoms, thus resembling a journal.

Of course, I am sure there are better apps out there, and if you would like to share them, please do! For now, I am happy with this free and fuss-free app.

Alright, now wave goodbye to bloody nasty surprises!

(You can read more about this app here)

Singtel aware of slow 3G internet

reivad — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:33:42 +0800

Singtel aware of slow 3G internet:

Using a mobile device, a typical page takes an average of 12 seconds to load in Singapore, Google data shows.

That is far slower than the 4.6 to 6 seconds in Hong Kong and South Korea.

The first step is acknowledging you have a problem. I’m on Singtel and I get what appears to be full 3G reception when I’m in the city, until I actually try to use it.

Camera Apps for iPhone; introducing VSCO CAM

insprxn — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:53:00 +0800

I recently purchased the VSCO CAM on the Appstore for $0.99, and I must say it is quite a lovely app with beautiful filters. Being the iPhone photography addict that I am, I have been downloading tonnes of camera apps, testing out the editing, filters and shooting, but have never been able to settle on one. VSCO CAM comes in close, however there are still certain limitations.

For the sake of comparison, here is a list of my favourite camera apps based on my personal experience, and why I am so inclined towards the new VSCO app.

(I am currently using an iPhone 4 which is about a year and a half old.)

Default iPhone Camera app
By Apple, free

Taken with iPhone Camera app, HDR format

Pros: The HDR format is a joy. The app is also easily accessible from the lock screen and snapping photos with volume buttons is a big plus point.

Cons: Slow. Takes a few seconds to process photos before being able to snap the next one. Editing, including rotating and cropping, is glitchy. The image may appear to have been edited but when uploaded, it resumes its original image.

Summary: I seldom use it, unless I am attempting to snap a fleeting moment; the Camera app is quickest to access (from my lock screen).

Camera+
By Tap Tap Tap LLC, $0.99

Taken with Camera+, edited with “Clarity” and “Cross Process”

Pros: Photo processing in the background allows simultaneous shots, which is one of my favourite features. There are tonnes of filters and adjustments including cropping, rotating and touch exposure/focus. It has the ability to upload multiple photos at once to social media websites (although the Facebook upload option has been a little glitchy for a while now). The ”Clarity” option is helpful in enhancing photos, especially those underexposed or taken under dim lighting.

Cons: The lightbox option feels clumsy. Although it saves your edits and allows for changes later, it does not directly save the edited photo to your iPhone Camera Roll. You can only do so by manually saving the photo to your phone, after which the edited photo disappears from the lightbox. Hence the original photo will be lost forever. Some glitches previously have also caused my photos to disappear from my lightbox.

Recently, it has been taking me centuries (an overstatement) to load the camera. Even the iPhone camera is sometimes faster. But perhaps this is because my phone is getting old and slow.

Summary: For a while, this was an app that replaced my default camera app on the iPhone. I used it often because of background processing which allowed me to snap photos simultaneously. The “Cross process” filter is lovely, although it can get a bit too much.

Hipstamatic
By Synthetic, LLC, $1.99

Taken with Hipstamatic, using the Blanko Freedom13 film. Lenses range from left to right: Americana, Helga Viking and Lucas AB2

Not much of a post-process app, but you can mix and match different lenses and films for different effects and save them as favourites to be used every time. There are many lens/film packs to purchase, most of them $0.99 each. All photos are confined to the square format, mimicking the 120 film.

Expansion packs I bought: Wicker Park HipstaPak, America HipstaPak, Retropak One, NSW Always On FreePak, Cowboys & Aliens FreePak, Camden HipstaPak, Williamsburg Starter HipstaPak.

Pros: Superbly analogue photos and has the element of random inconsistencies. It has great user interface and delicious graphics. I really like its default landscape mode as it feels really good as a camera. Background processing allows it to also take photos really fast (about a second interval). It also has integration with Instagram which makes it easy to upload photos on the social network.

Cons: The filters are good, but to the point that they look too analogue. Most of the filters are way too dramatic and tend to look overdone. Hipstamatic has yet to come up with a mild cross process-esque filter that does not scream, “SPAM ALL THE PHOTO FILTERS!”

Summary: I used Hipstamatic to take photos during my holiday in Korea, as it is fast to load and quick to snap photos with its background processing ability. I also need not worry about post processing as all the photos would be ready to upload once they are snapped.

I don’t like borders for my photos hence I always use the Blanko Freedom13 film from the America HipstaPak. My favourite lenses are currently Americana, Helga Viking and Lucas AB2, although they too are slightly overdone (too green, too blue, too yellow). If only they had an intensity adjustment, the app would be perfect.

Instagram
By Burbn, Inc., free

Taken with Instagram, edited with “Rise” filter and Blur tool

Any smart phone user would not be unfamiliar with this app. Available for both iPhone iOS and Andriod, it marries social media and photography.

Pros: Filters are good, with a range from mild to intense. One good feature is the integrated blur tool which allows for post-editing psuedo-tiltshift/ depth of field. Instagram is also the easiest and most efficient way of uploading to multiple social media platforms at once with just one button. The best part has to be that it is available for free.

Cons: Not a good app to take photos (tends to be blur). Also, posting too many photos at once can be irritating for your followers as you will be spamming their news feed.

Summary: It is a must-have for all iPhone users. Pity it doesnt have a web/PC/Mac/iPad version for better viewing on bigger screens. However there are many third-party apps/galleries created just to view Instagram, such as InstaPad for iPad, or Instagrid for the computer. I use Instagram a lot but I stagger my photos because I don’t want to spam my followers’ photo feed. Social media always entices more with likes and comments. Did I mention that it’s free?

Pudding Camera
By KTH, free

Taken with Pudding Camera, “Vintage Brown” filter

Pros: The “Vintage Brown” lens is very popular amongst those who use Pudding, giving off a warm, rustic vibe. It offeres many different camera modes and lenses, including the Triplex, Motion and Fish-eye. Background processing allows it to snap photos really fast; in fact it is the fastest camera app I have used, even faster than Hipstamatic or Camera+ (less than a second interval for the next photo).

Pudding has its own social media platform, pudding.to, which is strangely very similar to Instagram’s interface and layout. Like Hipstamatic, there is no need for post-processing as the lenses and camera are set prior to shooting.

Cons: At a maximum of 1280px, the resolution is small and comparatively of poorer quality.

Summary: It is a good app but to compromise with poor resolution turns me off. Also, it can look a little too old and dull. I seldom use it as my friends use it too, and the photo treatment looks exactly the same.

VSCO CAM
By Visual Supply Company, $0.99

Taken with VSCO CAM, edited with “fill” option and with filter 09.

The camera is only recently launched on the appstore, and from some sample photos I have seen, it looks really promising.

Pros: It has a minimalist user interface for a multi-functional filter app. It allows for background processing, but takes about 5 seconds before allowing the next shot. I like the “fill” option, which fades out the photo and gives it an overexposed, dreamy feel. Instagram is an option for upload — it brings you directly to the stage where the photo is already on the filter page, so it is a shortcut without having to manually upload the photo on Instagram.

Cons: The app lacks basic editing functions such as rotate and crop. I also encountered a strange problem with landscape photos, as it doesnt seem to be able to rotate them automatically when using the in-app camera. Like Camera+, photos taken are not saved to Camera Roll. Saving photos to the Camera Roll takes quite a bit of time.

Summary: VSCO looks promising and I really dig the filters that they provide. Coupled with background processing means I get the best of both worlds — fast snapping and awesome editing. The simple, pretty interface does not hurt one bit. I am looking forward to trying out the app outdoors.

Capacitive Stylus Roundup: Just Mobile Alupen, Nomad Brush, 3M Smart Pen

reivad — Wed, 09 May 2012 00:24:00 +0800

The market’s absolutely saturated with stylus accessories for iPads, iPhones and other capacitive touch screen devices. I own far too many than I admit, but there are 3 that I kind of like. The Just Mobile Alupen, the Nomad Brush and the 3M Smart Pen. There may be a strong case against the use of styli on an iPad, but with apps like Draw Something and Paper, I find myself needing one.

The Just Mobile Alupen is thick, and it’s great for drawing, but writing could be a pain. It feels like a marker, and performs like how a marker would too. The tip is large, and precise control is hard to achieve. It was the first capacitive stylus I bought with a soft rubber tip, and I was floored with how responsive it was, compared to a rough foam tip stylus I purchased from Dealextreme that required quite bit of pressure to produce a mark. Maybe great for Draw Something, but not so for Penultimate or Paper.

The Nomad Brush is light, thin, and in place of a rubber tip is a brush that somehow registers a signal on a capacitive screen. It’s great for painting apps like Brushes, Procreate or Artrage, but only because it feels like a paintbrush. Its responsiveness is somewhat marred by the fact that you can’t just lightly glaze the brush over the screen. You have to apply a bit of pressure. There is almost no way to precisely draw with this brush. But if you’re a traditional painter, you just might feel more at ease with this.

The 3M Smart Pen is by far my favourite. Here’s the backstory: I have been searching for a styli with a smaller tip and even better responsiveness than the Alupen for quite a while. I needed something that would allow me to write legible text in the Paper app. I was so keen on purchasing the Wacom Bamboo Stylus because almost every site that reviewed it said while expensive, it was the best that money could buy. Looking around Amazon reviews I found out that there was a problem with the rubber tip. It wore out too easily. It was an expensive stylus, and according to a shop in Funan, the replacement rubber tips would be sold at quite a high mark up, and would only come in when it comes in. I continued my search, and came across the Power Support Smart Pen on Lester Chan’s blog. Turns out it was sold for $39.90 and had a 3M logo on top. I then found a 3M branded stylus that looked exactly the same for $35. Score.

It’s probably not as well weighted as the Wacom Bamboo Stylus, but it was cheaper, and from initial tests, performs pretty darn well. It’s entirely silver coloured, and to me it doesn’t look bad at all. In other styli, the rubber tip is a mushy, hollow thing. On the 3M Smart Pen, the tip is mushy, but when I squeeze it I find there to be something solid inside. This seemingly innocuous feature is the reason why this stylus is so precise when used for writing.

I can finally write legible text in Paper.

Customize your iPhone Message tones.

reivad — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:36:00 +0800

Isn’t it fustrating that every other person on the bus or train is using the same iPhone message tone and not knowing who’s phone actually made the alert? Tri-tone and Glass has got to be the most common message tones heard in public.

One of the many new features of iOS5 is the ability to customise your iPhone Message tone. Similar to the Custom Ringtones which you can set previously, the Message tone is also in the .m4r format. There are a number of ways to go about making your own ringtones and message tones but if you are lazy, you can browse sites such as free-ringtones.cc to download tones that you want.
After you have downloaded the custom tones, simply add them to your iTunes library, sync wirelessly (another feature of iOS5) to your iPhone and voila! You now have custom message tones on your iPhone to choose from.

3G network too congested? Upgrade free wifi network instead.

reivad — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 01:57:00 +0800

The Government is in talks with various parties to upgrade the country’s free public Wi-Fi system and ease mobile network congestion here caused by an unexpected surge in Internet data usage.

via straitstimes.com

A rather strange solution.

Create unique websites without writing code | Muse (code name)

reivad — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 09:35:00 +0800

Muse (code name)

Design and publish HTML websites without writing code

Create websites as easily as you create layouts for print. You can design and publish original HTML pages to the latest web standards without writing code. Now in beta, Muse makes it a snap to produce unique, professional websites.

via muse.adobe.com

Let your creative run wild and be set free from coding obstacles with Adobe Muse, a software that lets you design and publish websites without the hassle of writing your own codes.

Beta version is complimentary till early 2012. Available on both Mac and PC.

Looks like unlimited detail in games wasn't a hoax.

reivad — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 09:34:00 +0800

via youtube.com

Nice lengthy interview with Bruce Dell by [H]ardOCP. Even includes a realtime demo!

Autodesk releases a 3D sculpting tool for the iPad

reivad — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 09:34:00 +0800

via youtube.com

In a few years’ time I might be able to use Maya on my iPad.

Unlimited real time "atom based" 3D rendering.

reivad — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:34:00 +0800

via youtube.com

I’m still in shock. It could be an elaborate hoax though.

The Straits Times, finally an iPad app this Monday.

reivad — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 09:34:00 +0800

THE Straits Times is launching its iPad app on Monday to reach readers who are increasingly spending more time on their mobile devices. Singapore’s largest newspaper will also be releasing an enhanced iPhone app that day.

Both apps, which can be downloaded from the Apple iTunes App Store, will provide content in the print edition for free for five weeks until Sept 7.

via straitstimes.com

I like to get my news source from a variety of sources, because there doesn’t exist a truly unbiased new source anywhere. I have been waiting for this for a long time, and hopefully know what they’re doing and do not price the digital version the same as the print version.

HP Touchpad internal launch event

reivad — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 09:33:00 +0800

See the full gallery on Posterous

IMG_0788.MOV Watch on Posterous

Quick peak at the HP Touchpad featuring WebOS. Pardon the background commentary.

Measure your heart rate using the iPhone camera

reivad — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 09:33:00 +0800

See the full gallery on Posterous

This app, Instant Heart Rate by Azumio allows you to measure your heart rate using the iPhone camera. It does so by shining the iPhone flash LED and detecting the changes in colour on your finger placed on the iPhone camera lens. I was skeptical until I tried it and it really works (I think)! Well worth the 99 cents, if you don’t mind smudging your camera lens every now and then.

A motion capture doll for everyone

reivad — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 09:33:00 +0800

via techcrunch.com

This would be great if it works in Maya or any major 3D animation software. I wish this would work the other way round too: adjusting a pose in the computer and the robot will mimic the pose.

‪Got a chicken? Use it as a steadicam.

reivad — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 09:32:00 +0800

via youtube.com

We need smaller HD cameras to make this viable. Also, readily available live chickens.

Dealextreme Portable Rechargeable Bluetooth Keyboard Review

reivad — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 09:32:00 +0800

I recently went on a shopping spree on Dealextreme.com and I ended up ordering a bluetooth keyboard, since I couldn’t bear to fork out S$98 for an Apple Wireless Keyboard. The package has arrived and here are some pictures.

You get what you pay for, so the keys are not as tactile and responsive as my Logitech Illuminated Keyboard or even the Macbook Pro keyboard. It may be because I’m not used to it though. From what I can see, it’s almost exactly the same layout as an Apple Wireless Keyboard, although on the product page, the photos show a windows key rather than a mac command key, but it works the same.

It is rechargeable, compared to the Apple Wireless Keyboard which requires you to insert 2 AA batteries. However, it doesn’t charge using a regular mini USB port like most devices. Instead it actually uses an Apple 30 pin dock connector. It even includes a cable in the package. No idea why this particular design choice was made, but it’s good since I have these cables lying around everywhere.

Setup is easy and fast. I managed to connect it to my iPad, Macbook and PC. Still yet to connect it to the Playstation 3 and iPhone. Will try that later. If I’m not wrong you would have to re-pair it with a device after you connected the keyboard to another device. A minor hassle but I think this is the same with all Bluetooth keyboards. It also includes a mini CD with drivers, but you probably wouldn’t need it. I notice there are 3 lights on the top right of the keyboard, but I think none of these lights is the capslock light. Kind of weird, considering the first time I turned it on, all 3 lights were working. Pressing capslock does not activate any light.

Overall this is an pretty good product, especially since I paid much less than an Apple Wireless Keyboard for it, S$40 exactly. It may not be made of brushed aluminum, but it looks good and performs decently. Here are more pictures.

See the full gallery on Posterous

If you want to purchase this product on Dealextreme, here’s the link.

Watch how the Russians use the Singapore made Ultimax 100 machine gun

reivad — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:31:00 +0800

via youtube.com

Even with blank rounds, we weren’t allow to shoot like this during NS. Lucky guy.

Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium Review

reivad — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:31:00 +0800

I recently got the opportunity to snag a copy of the latest and greatest Adobe CS 5.5 Production Premium. This review will be made from the perspective of an animated filmmaker and amateur videography hobbyist.

The .5 means that Adobe is trying something new with their product cycle. Instead of launching a new product about every 2 years or so, they are launching a product mid-cycle, every year. The Adobe folks stress that this will allow features to be pushed to consumers quicker, but I can’t help but think that this was mostly a business decision.

Let’s start with what’s changed from CS5. From the Adobe website:

Take advantage of sweeping performance enhancements in Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Production Premium software, including powerful new audio editing capabilities, workflow improvements, and advanced compositing effects.

The thing is, the bulk of the changes in CS 5.5 Production Premium are in After Effects and Premiere (there are virtually no upgrades to Photoshop and Illustrator) and I am not sure this justifies the US$399 upgrade fee (if you are upgrading from CS5). The Warp Stabilisation tool in After Effects is in my opinion is amazing, and may alone justify the purchase for indie filmmakers, who can actually save a ton of money in steadycam rentals. Imagine taking a shaky handheld shot and converting it to a smooth tracking shot. I have a sample video below and you can see the results are pretty decent. Not as mind blowing as the sample videos on the Adobe website, but decent. The quality of the stabilized shot really depends on the shakiness of your source file, so results may vary. When I first read about CS 5.5, this was the feature that got me most excited.

In this stabilized video, the edges are synthesized, but not very well, probably because there is too much going on in the edges. There’s sort of an earthquake effect if you view this in HD, because the shutter speed was too slow and there was too much shake.

In this video I chose to crop the edges instead of synthesizing them, since I realise there was no way the software was going to synthesize believable edges in such a complicated footage. Very decent result, although it would require more tweaks to be usable in a film.

Tip: when shooting a footage meant to be stabilized, make sure you shoot wider than intended. This is because while the synthesize edges function is quite magical, it more often than not does not play nice, and you end up having to crop the footage. Also, shoot at a high shutter speed, at least 1/200. A stabilized shot wouldn’t look good with motion blur.

The other After Effects additions, like light falloff and camera lens blur are small additions that you might already have plugins for. The new Mercury Playback Engine in Premiere is supposedly faster, but I don’t have a frame of reference since I never really used Premier in CS5.

The biggest update to Photoshop is the addition of tablet functionality. I tried this out with one of the new Adobe iPad apps, Eazel, and I found it to be simple and straightforward, with minimal setup I managed to push my artwork from the iPad to the computer. However, this update is available free to users of Photoshop CS5 users, so you don’t have to purchase CS5.5 to get this feature.

Flash got a small bump in features too. It now allows you to publish on mobile devices including tablets much easier through Adobe Air. Inverse kinematics allow you to animate objects and characters like you would in an advanced 3D software like Maya, although I don’t see how it would be used much in a 2D environment. There’s autosave now, which is crazy that it’s only in Flash now, considering how much it has crashed on me.

What I would have liked to see in this release is an easier way to work with dual channel stereoscopic footage. I deal with a lot of this at work, and I have had to create workarounds to deal with the limitations of After Effects. There is a new 3D stereoscopic camera rig but this is only for 3D compositions made in After Effects, not rendered animations or footage from cameras. For instance, It would be great if I could load the left channel into a composition, and it automatically creates a second composition that takes in all the footage of my right channel and updates this composition whenever I make changes to my left footage.

With these little changes, it is hard to justify a purchase of Adobe CS 5.5 to those who already own CS5. The additions are very specific to certain users, like the Red camera support, which I personally do not use since I mainly do 3D animation, and even if I were to shoot video, I shoot it with my trusty Canon 550D. The warp stabilization tool is great, but you can hold off till Adobe releases CS6 to play with it.

Things are different if you are upgrading from a much earlier version of CS, or if you are just getting started with Adobe CS altogether. Some may argue that Adobe has added far too many features and ended up bloating Creative Suite, but I think you are getting bang for your buck. But note that upgrading from CS4 Production Premium can set you back US$789. There is a new subscription service that allows you to “pay as you go” for as low as US$85 a month, but anyone using this piece of software for a living will not find that economically viable. If you’ve decided not to upgrade this time round, there’s always a new Creative Suite around the corner, so you know another (paid) upgrade is less than 12 months away.