Website for Minneapolis Musician Jamison Murphy

This website has actually been up for quite some time now, but I am just getting to writing about it today. If you haven’t heard of Jamison Murphy before, check out his debut music video here.

If you notice, I am actually in the first shot of the video sitting at a table! Why is this, you ask? Because I perform with Jamison in his band. His website can be found at, you guessed it, JamisonMurphy.com.

JamisonMurphy.com

Check out That Bone Structure

There is not a lot of content for the site yet, and as a result the design is very simple and clean. We didn’t want to bog it down with anything unnecessary. The plan is to eventually design a more full-fledged site once there is more to put there. I will keep you posted when that happens.

If you want to keep tabs on his progress, you can get to his Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts from the site. With any luck, there will be some shows in Minneapolis this summer. If you like, check out the website I did for another up-and-coming Minneapolis Musician, Meek Demeo.

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Published:
May 3, 2012 – 10:37 am
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By Brian Johnson
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Fix: Unable to Approve, Edit, or Spam Comments in WordPress

This is a common problem for people using the plugin, “Advanced Access Manager.” If you do not have this plugin, your problem is something else.

If you use Advanced Access Manager and have noticed that since installing, the checkbox next to each comment is missing, there is an easy fix for you. It took me a while to track down what to do but I was finally able to do it. Here is how to bring to the checkboxes back so you can approve, deny, edit, or spam comments again. Essentially you need to add the function to allow editing comments.

Not sure why they make you do this.

1. Go to your  your blog dashboard. On the left, near the bottom of the menu choices, click “AWM Group” and then when the sub-menu opens up under that, click “Access Manager.”

2. In the new horizontal menu that opens up, click the 3rd choice, “Capabilities.”

3. In the bottom-left of this area, select, “Add New Cap.” In the dialogue that appears, name the new capability “Edit Comment.”

That’s it! If you wish to give this ability to more roles (Subscriber, Editor, etc.) simply select that role in the bottom of the window and then check the “Edit Comment” checkbox that we just created.

It baffles me why this capability is not available by default, I’m not sure why you would EVER not want anyone to be able to manage the comments. I am currently running WordPress  3.3.2 and Advanced Access Manager 1.6.2. From my research, it would appear that this problem has existed for a while, though it’s possible it could be fixed in future versions of the plugin.

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Published:
April 23, 2012 – 8:02 pm
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By Brian Johnson
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1 Comment

Use Photo as Layer Mask in Photoshop: Tutorial

Have you ever wondered how to use an image as a mask in Photoshop but just couldn’t figure out how to do it? The solution is actually fairly simple, but Adobe hasn’t done you any favors with how unintuitive it is. With just a few easy steps, you can use any picture or graphic to mask specific parts of a layer.

A rather unimaginative and creepy image I made utilizing my face as a layer mask over Minneapolis

The first thing to consider is the fact that low-contrast images are not going to work well as masks, since they are going to be converted to grayscale when placed on the layer mask. Make sure the blacks in your image are completely black, and the whites are completely white. I like to mess around with this a bit by selecting the layer I want to use AS the mask,  clicking “Image” at the top, then mousing over “Adjustments” and then selecting “Levels.” Ctrl/Cmd + L works as well. I like to drag the whites down quite a bit and the black up quite a bit, depending on the image, until a good chunk of the image is solid black and white. This allows for better masking.

Now for the actual masking. Follow these steps to place the photo or image as the layer mask on another layer.

Note: I am using Photoshop CS5

1. Select the layer you wish to turn into the mask.

2. Press Ctrl+a (Mac: Cmd+a) to select the contents of the photo in their entirety.

3. Pres Ctrl/Cmd + c to copy those contents.

4. Create a layer mask on the layer to be masked by selecting the layer, and then pressing the “Add Layer Mask” Button at the bottom of the layers palette.

5. Here is the magic part. This is a little trick they won’t teach you in design school. (Disclaimer: I have no idea what they teach you at design school, I’ve never been). To treat a mask almost as it’s own, normal layer, you just hold down Alt (Option) and click on the layer mask thumbnail. This let’s you view the mask by itself, and also make changes to it. For some reason it seems like the good folks at Adobe don’t want you using this feature, I’m not quite sure why.

6. Press Ctrl/Cmd + v to copy the image into the mask. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+v to copy the image in place, preserving it’s original location in the document.

7. Hide the layer with the original image.

That’s it! Click another layer or elsewhere to see how the mask looks. There are a lot of possibilities with this method, use your imagination!

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Published:
April 16, 2012 – 9:34 pm
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By Brian Johnson
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SEO Problem for Lakeville Karate/TaeKwonDo Academy

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One chop from him could be lethal

So I have been trying to work through a problem I have been having helping a great Lakeville/Rosemount TaeKwonDo Academy. They have been around a little while and teach primarily TaeKwonDo, which from what I understand is technically distinct from Karate. I know they do good work and they have done a great job gaining and maintaining students. But they wanted a little help driving some more web traffic.

The problem is that the site is supplied by the franchiser, Tiger Rock Martial Arts, and very little control over content is given. Sure, we can change the brief description of this specific location as well as class schedules etc. But I have no way of accessing important things like page titles, the actual navigation, and other important areas. My hands are fairly tied as an SEO.

So at this point I have done what I can, and we have seen some results, so I will continue to use all the tools of SEO that are still available to me.  I will post again when we have seen more results.

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Published:
April 10, 2012 – 8:31 pm
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By Brian Johnson
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Deblur Feature in Photoshop CS6 Beta Absent

I just got my hands on the new Photoshop CS6 Beta and was disappointed to find that the feature I was most looking forward to was not there! It was a feature that allowed you to deblur photos that had motion blur due to camera movement during exposure. Last October a video was released showing a demonstration at Adobe MAX 2011 where they showed the feature in action, and it was quite impressive.

My burning desire is to find out what this picture is.

In the video, a blurred image is shown. The demonstrator then loads the deblurring plugin and clicks the analyze button. He explains that this checks the image and determines how it was blurred using a computer-intensive algorithm. This produces what he calls a “blur kernel” which is basically a greyscale image that shows the motion trajectory of the blur. He then clicks “restore” and it applies this blur kernel to the image and it is completely transformed. Where once there was a worthless image, there is now a crystal-clear shot.

Needless to say, myself and others were quite excited about this feature. So many ruined shots could magically be repaired! Alas, it is not available in the Photoshop CS6 Beta that was released today. They did mention at the time of the video that the anti-blur feature was still in it’s early stages, so maybe they just don’t have it perfected yet. I hope to see it when CS6 is officially released! Ideally it would come with it installed, but even if it was a downloadable plug-in that would be fine.

That being said, I am liking what I am seeing with all the other new stuff in the beta. I highly recommend checking it out, you can get the free download here.

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Published:
March 22, 2012 – 11:12 am
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By Brian Johnson
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How to Make Larger-Than-Window Element Visible But Not Scrollable

In this tutorial, I will show you how to make an element that is too big for some screens visible when it does fit, but not trigger scrolling when it doesn’t. I’ll also show you how to center it. Essentially, we can make an element in a website behave just like the background of the <body> element. It took me a while to figure out the bugs with this, but eventually I was able to solve the problem.

This might help you understand what we are trying to do

Let’s clarify our objectives.

1. The element must be visible (not cut off) when the browser is big enough in size to see it.
2. It should not trigger the ability to scroll when the window is too small, but when other elements allow you to scroll, will still scroll with them (not fixed.)
3. We should be able to specify a minimum size for the important aspects of the element, so that if the window is even smaller than this size, you can still scroll to those important parts.
4. The element should be centered on the page.

 

Still confused about what this means? Check out this demo of the solution which will help explain what we are trying to do.

The html:


<div id="box">
    <div id="element"></div>
</div>

Nothing too fancy, basically just a box or container div around the div with your element. In my case, the div IS the element. The magic, now, is in the CSS.

The CSS:

html, body {
    height:100%;
}

body {
    margin:0px;
    padding:0px;
    min-width:1000px;            /*Set the width you want to be able to scroll to here*/
}

#element {
    height:100%;
         position:relative;        /*This section centers your element*/
    left:50%;
    margin-left:-800px;        /*Half the width of the image*/
        z-index:-9999;            /*This part puts it behind everything, not needed if you aren't making a background*/
    background:url(image.jpg) no-repeat;
}

#box {
    height:100%;
    min-height:700px;            /*Set the height you want to be able to scroll to here*/
    overflow:hidden;            /*Needed due to centering with margins*/
}

That’s basically all you have to do. You can put anything you want within the #element div, and it should still behave how it is supposed to. I use it on a website for cycling through divs like a slideshow using jquery cycle. It took me a while to figure out this solution, but I think it works pretty well, so let me know in the comments if you have any trouble with it.

Keep in mind, this isn’t going to work quite the same with any other positioning. You are going to run into problems with just about anything else. If you didn’t care about centering, you would probably be fine leaving your positioning as static but that is probably the best you can hope for. Check out the working demo.

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Published:
March 20, 2012 – 5:06 pm
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By Brian Johnson
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The Greatest Song Ever Written

Random post today. I just wanted to share with everyone a song which I think might quite possible be the greatest song ever written. Many of you may have heard it before. In my case, it comes from my childhood. At the time I didn’t think twice about it. After all, what kid cares about music without words? Revisiting this song makes me realize how truly great it is. All the intricacies, all the changes that flow perfectly from one to the next.

Makes Mufasa's death look like comedy

The artist: James Horner. Composer of the scores for such films as Titanic, Apollo 13, Braveheart, Avatar, A Beautiful Mind, and many more, this is a man whose work virtually every American is familiar with. You can view a more complete list of his works here.

The movie: The Land Before Time. The classic tale of baby dinosaurs trying to find the Great Valley. Okay that sounds pretty lame written that way…  Solid movie, either way. It went downhill fast after the first movie but I don’t let that ruin it.

The song: The Great Migration. The centerpiece to Horner’s masterful score. In it, you will find all the ups and downs a typical youngster that is also a dinosaur faces, perfectly expressed through music.  It’s some powerful stuff. Check it out here: The Great Migration. Let me know what you think in the comments.

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Published:
March 1, 2012 – 8:49 pm
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By Brian Johnson
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How to Link to Your Google Places Page: A Tutorial

I’ve had several people come up and ask me, ‘How can I give people a direct link to my business listing in Google Places?’ While at first it may seem impossible, it is actually quite easy. They may be looking to put this link on their website, share it with potential clients, put it on their business card, or one of many other reasons. Here is how you go about doing it. Follow along with the steps you need help on.

1. Find the Google Places Page You are Trying to link to.

If you don’t know how to do this, the easiest way is to Google your business phone number, the one you registered with your listing. Type in your full number right into Google, then click “Maps” on the left. This will do a search of all locations with that phone number. If you set your Places Page for your company up properly, it should come right up. Click the name of your business and it will bring you to the places page.

2. Click the “Link” Button Right Above the Google Map on the Right.

Immediately above the map should be a few links. One of them should read “link.” In the past it was an icon of a chain. That wasn’t very user friendly, so now it is a regular link. Click that link. It will bring up another dialogue with a link which you can paste and use however you like.

3. Choose Whether You Would Like a Short Link to Your Places Listing, and Then Share it.

I would recommend checking the option for a short URL, because it just looks cleaner. Plus, usually the other link will have some information in it that you may or may not want to include, such as your phone number directly in there. Then you just copy and paste the link to wherever you need to share it. This could be on your website, in an email, on your business card possibly in the form of a QR code, and many more.

Google always seems to be changing things like this, and if this one changes in the future, let me know in the comments so I can update it. Hope this helps!

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Published:
February 14, 2012 – 8:51 pm
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By Brian Johnson
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Import Sequential Videos, Change Frame Rate, and Encode HD Video in Sony Vegas

Have you ever had a bunch of video files in a row that you wanted to import into Vegas, without gaps, adjust the frame rate, and then encode so that it doesn’t take up so much room? I can help you with that. Or if you are trying to accomplish some of that, I can still help you. Follow along with the steps you need. I had to do this because I took a time lapse video that produced a bunch of files that needed to be combined, and at a lower frame rate than desired. Note: I am using Sony Vegas Pro 9.0.Vegas

1. Import sequential clips without gaps between them.

First, it’s easiest to rename all the files in order so that  they don’t get messed up. You could do 1, 2, 3 etc., or if, like me, your files have time stamps in the name, just make sure they are displayed as 2012-01-01 format, and military time if applicable so that am/pm doesn’t mess things up.

Start a new project with the desired settings, pay attention to the resolution you want. It’s easiest to keep the resolution of the existing videos. Click options, make sure snapping is enabled, and disable snap to grid and snap to markers, leaving only snap to all events enabled. This part is key to preventing gaps from forming between the videos.

Then use the Vegas browser window to navigate to your files, select them all, and drag them to the timeline. Verify that there are no gaps between them.

2. Change frame rate by stretching video, not splitting or combining frames.

Go to file,  properties (or find the project settings, wherever that is in your version of Vegas), select the “Ruler” tab, and change “Ruler time format” to “Absolute Frames.” Select all of your clips in the time line at once, right click on one, mouse over “Switches,” and select “Disable Resample” at the bottom. Now render the video as you like, selecting the desired frame rate. The video will be shorter or longer depending on if you raised or lowered the frame rate.

3. Encode the HD video file to a manageable size.

If your files were like mine, an uncompressed, 11-minute, 1080p video will be around 100gb. Not only is this absurdly large, it is unplayable unless you are running 10-SSDs in RAID. It is just too much data for most computers to keep up with. I found an easy to use, free encoder that does a great job. Download it here: http://www.h264encoder.com/

Once you download it, you just open it, select your recently rendered file, choose the output file name and location, select the resolution you want to spit out, and click encode. It takes care of the rest.

I would recommend choosing one of the options with explicit resolutions. The ones at the bottom that claim “Same Size with Source” don’t really produce a file that is the same resolution. They create EXTREMELY low quality files no matter what, even on the “High Quality” option. I selected “Full High Definition (1920×1080)” because that’s what my video was and I wanted to keep it that way.

If your video gets to be very long, rendering to an uncompressed format will produce a prohibitively large file, so you will need to find a codec that works with Vegas to compress while rendering. This x264 codec seems to work ok: http://www.videohelp.com/tools/x264-VFW

Otherwise you will just have to do some research on the mind-numbingly dysfunctional world of HD video encoding. Good luck!

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Published:
February 3, 2012 – 5:18 pm
Author:
By Brian Johnson
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