Christmas in 3 D

This is my last post of this year 2010. New Year is around the corner.

I plan to post next year interesting links that I find for writers since I am writing my novel and I am researching marketing possibilities. How should a writer promote her or his book. What makes a good author's site, book trailer (as seen on youtube), and many more activities that a future author-preneur may need to include on their do list. I also want to include more art in my Raven's Art Shack.

I made animated photos ( .GIF) but later found out that some websites "flatten" the pictures and thus prevent the animation. I enjoyed making my wiggle grams so I took two wiggle grams and made a video. I had fun making the 28 second video. Making a wiggle gram is simple when you download free software from Stereo Photo Maker

With Stereo Photo Maker software you can make 3 D photos as well as animated photos. Some artists recommend that you shift the camera 2 inches when taking a set of photos. I found this excessive. I think what makes a successful wiggle gram/ 3D picture is the short distance between two photos. You can preview this effect in Windows Gallery by watching one photo and clicking the next button. You will want a slight change in the photos. The sliver of focal shift causes a believable movement that you just turned a corner.

I hope you brought your 3 D glasses. Enjoy mon amies! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Writing Tips from Ragnarok Fantasy

Ragnarok Fantasy

I found this author's site truly fascinating. I felt as if I stepped in a Viking world and met a live dragon who tells his story. This site is a work of art. I found 10 tips for writers very interesting.

Happy Writing!

Writer Barbara Knobova'a link

Hey folks! I found a cool link. Chiquenist writer Barbora Knobova has a cool blog and she writes in her blog entry "Are You a Nomad?" ( December 6, 2010) I found this entry delightful. In our life's journey we search for beauty. I am also doing research regarding how authors promote their work. She made youtube videos that promote her books! That is clever! :D

If you find a clever way to promote your book let me know! Cheers and Happy writing! :)

Quest for Beauty

Quest for Beauty

I think we are always looking for beauty in our daily lives. I find it when the sun shimmers on glistening snow. I even find it in virtual plug ins, algorithms. I don't pretend to understand them, but they are beautiful. Algorithms live and dance in software. It makes the arp in a virtual synthesizer purr, grumble or roar. It is in your image software that transforms pixels into brush strokes. Amazing wonders.

Right now I am writing my novel and I keep a watchful eye for visual and audio stimulation. I want to define the purpose of my blog. Art enriches lives by expressing thoughts and emotions. Yesterday I discovered GIMP software. I took a picture of my favorite cyclamen flower and tried cloning for the first time! I Ctrl+ click the area that I want to transport on another area of the picture. The clone function allows me to conceal parts of the photo, make spheres, brushstrokes or add extra flowers. When I Ctrl+click I find that when I move my brush the control area moves so I can trace the shape of the cyclamen and create as many as I want where I want them! Wow!

I hope you discover new things in your own personal journey too! :)

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween mon amies! I made this video just in time for All Hallowed's Eve.

Info: photos taken with Nintendo DSi and digitally painted.

Music composition: with LMMS software, DSK Overture and Audacity.

I find deep inspiration with artists and I think people who make virtual instruments and virtual studios are uniquely talented people who share their inspiration and help artists create. Thank you.

My First song with LMMS software!

If you follow this link ravenking5 it will take you to my first music video I composed with LMMS software titled "I Can Rave On with LMMS". My youtube channel is ravenking5. I had so much fun making this video by shooting 20 second clips in the dark and painting over digital photos taken with my Nintendo DSi. This is my first song composed with LMMS so I only used the song beat editor and the presets that came from this software. The genre is trance, industrial at 140 BPM.

I would say that making that first song with a powerful software is start of a wonderful sonorous journey. :)

Fascination

Fascination (4 DAW and VSTi)

I see it

in my dreams

my new obsession

a new arp odyssey

of sine waves

and oscillators,

my motif

of the day

browse by

the day

or by the hour

screenshots

of GUI

my new window

opens up to a new world

of reverb

raising my BPM

dynamics propell

my desire.

Plug in a virtual

instrument,

increases desire

searching

for that elusive sound

so much to learn

so little time

so much to

express with my CPU.

In the middle of writing my novel I found a new obsession: making digital music. There is a lot of software to try, learn and enjoy. If you are new to virtual instruments I recommend that you start with a DAW/ VST host. Once you have a vst host or DAW you can insert your VST i (virtual instrument/ vst plug in) in the VST host.

I tried LMMS which is a VST host and it is a wonderful software that can load in plug ins (virtual instruments), contains a sound font 2 player, song editor with piano roll, beat editor, mixer with many effects and prests. You can export your music file to .wav file.

Here are cool websites to browse for vst host and instruments.

Check out the excitement, tutorials, downloads, forums. :)

LMMS
http://lmms.sourceforge.net/

Check out freeware, free vst hosts and virtual instruments
http://www.vst4free.com/

freeware, vst hosts and vst plugins
http://www.vstplanet.com/