Mesh Multimedia
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After Effects
We are pleased to announce another great service offering to our lineup - motion graphics with After Effects. We are currently in the midst of a large project for a corporate client - 8 software product demos leveraging a combination of technologies:
- Camtasia for product usage video capture
- After Effects for editing, compositing and 3D motion graphics
- Flash for Web delivery and player design
Plus the normal mix of Pro Tools, PhotoShop, Illustrator, caffeine, Advil and Visine - these are a few of my favorite things and are the lube which keeps creative agencies in motion!
We'll be posting the demos on our site in a few weeks, stay tuned!
- Camtasia for product usage video capture
- After Effects for editing, compositing and 3D motion graphics
- Flash for Web delivery and player design
Plus the normal mix of Pro Tools, PhotoShop, Illustrator, caffeine, Advil and Visine - these are a few of my favorite things and are the lube which keeps creative agencies in motion!
We'll be posting the demos on our site in a few weeks, stay tuned!
No That's Not It...
Sometimes one of the most fascinating (and certainly frustrating) aspects of the design process is trying to have a client describe their likes, dislikes, and creative vision to a producer or designer. It seems many times that people have difficulty enunciating what they envision, yet are quite clear on what they do not like. The challenge is that often times a designer will spend considerable time on a concept, and upon presentation to a client the dialogue proceeds something like this:
<start>
"How do you like this concept?"
"Yeah, well, it's really nice but definitely not it..."
"OK, great! We can eliminate this avenue, any ideas on what you'd like to see next?"
"Hmmm, not sure, but why don't you just make something up and run it by me again...?"
<repeat>
Thus it falls to the producer and/or designer to guide, as well as stimulate the client to find a common vocabulary so that creative visions can be pulled from the ether and into the physical realm within the budget and timeline constraints of the project at hand. Without some sort of direction it is easy for designers to burn the budget.
One of my favorite stories in this vein goes way back to my audio engineering days. A colleague was on tour with Carlos Santana, and his monitor engineer was having difficulty mixing and equalizing the sound to Carlos' taste. This proceeded through several days of rehearsals, frustration mounting on both sides of the conversation. Typically an artist is unable to tell an engineer "please take out 3 dB of 400 Hz on my vocal, and increase my guitar level 1.5 dB in the sidefills" - NEVER happens that way.
So Carlos and this particular engineer were sitting in catering and the conversation turned to wine. After several minutes of discussion they both realized they shared a common passion for wine. Then the magic moment occurred, Carlos said to his engineer "Why don't you just make my guitar sound more like a Merlot? And then make my vocal just a bit less edgy, more like a Pinot Noir?" To which the engineer replied "Well why didn't you say so???" And believe it or not the engineer was then able to dial in the mixing console perfectly, much to Carlos' delight.
The point of the story is when we are engaged in dialogue around creative vision, it is perfectly relevant (and sometimes essential) to be creative about the dialogue itself. You will be amazed when you take a room of technical people and ask them to discuss Wall Street dynamics in terms of their children's pre-school friends (I just made that up but you see where I'm going...) the way it opens the mind to previously unimagined connections and descriptions.
Give it a try sometime. I'm going to redesign a Web site into more of a pesto with extra pine nuts and sea salt vibe...
<start>
"How do you like this concept?"
"Yeah, well, it's really nice but definitely not it..."
"OK, great! We can eliminate this avenue, any ideas on what you'd like to see next?"
"Hmmm, not sure, but why don't you just make something up and run it by me again...?"
<repeat>
Thus it falls to the producer and/or designer to guide, as well as stimulate the client to find a common vocabulary so that creative visions can be pulled from the ether and into the physical realm within the budget and timeline constraints of the project at hand. Without some sort of direction it is easy for designers to burn the budget.
One of my favorite stories in this vein goes way back to my audio engineering days. A colleague was on tour with Carlos Santana, and his monitor engineer was having difficulty mixing and equalizing the sound to Carlos' taste. This proceeded through several days of rehearsals, frustration mounting on both sides of the conversation. Typically an artist is unable to tell an engineer "please take out 3 dB of 400 Hz on my vocal, and increase my guitar level 1.5 dB in the sidefills" - NEVER happens that way.
So Carlos and this particular engineer were sitting in catering and the conversation turned to wine. After several minutes of discussion they both realized they shared a common passion for wine. Then the magic moment occurred, Carlos said to his engineer "Why don't you just make my guitar sound more like a Merlot? And then make my vocal just a bit less edgy, more like a Pinot Noir?" To which the engineer replied "Well why didn't you say so???" And believe it or not the engineer was then able to dial in the mixing console perfectly, much to Carlos' delight.
The point of the story is when we are engaged in dialogue around creative vision, it is perfectly relevant (and sometimes essential) to be creative about the dialogue itself. You will be amazed when you take a room of technical people and ask them to discuss Wall Street dynamics in terms of their children's pre-school friends (I just made that up but you see where I'm going...) the way it opens the mind to previously unimagined connections and descriptions.
Give it a try sometime. I'm going to redesign a Web site into more of a pesto with extra pine nuts and sea salt vibe...
HD Video Editing
We are pleased to announce a fantastic addition to our service offering. We have recently invested in an HD editing suite and are now providing video production services to our growing list of clients. Contact us to learn more about ongoing projects and the many ways in which Mesh Multimedia can help you grow your business through creative leveraging of the mesh.
Site Survey
I recently performed two site surveys for upcoming events, and thought it appropriate to write down a few thoughts about the mindset I believe differentiates a successful site survey from a "measurement exercise." These various tactics will ensure your visit is as comprehensive as possible.
- BE THE ATTENDEE - This is absolutely the most critical aspect of any successful site survey. As we view the space, often times we find ourselves seeing it solely from a production standpoint i.e. "can the stagehands get the gear from the dock" or "where will I store empty cases" or "does the hotel have the correct chairs". Certainly these elements are important for the efficient execution of the creative vision, but are not critical to the attendee experience. As we iron out production aspects, we must do so first and foremost with the attendee (your client's client...) in mind. For example, I like to leave the building and begin my "attendee vision" from the moment they step off the shuttle. What does the entrance look like? Is the signage clear? Where are the restrooms? Where is the ballroom? Where is my table? My seat? Who what where when why how... I could go on and on but the key lesson is to remove your technical/event planner hat and just pretend you are a confused attendee, ask yourself all these questions, and take a hard look at the event and facilities.
- TIMELINE SNAPSHOTS - What I mean by this is examine the space/logistics at various key moments during the event. For example, the signage in the lobby works great when everyone is pouring through the east entrance from the registration desk, but can't be seen when the attendees are returning from the regional breakouts after lunch through the west entrance. Another example, the catering staff says they can get salads set in 15 minutes and that we "should be able" to get all the attendees into and out of the restrooms in that amount of time. The point is, walk through the complete agenda and take "snapshots" of attendee movements, traffic choke points, facility logistics, etc. Just because an idea makes sense for the morning does not necessarily mean it will work for the afternoon session.
- GET IDEAS FROM THE LOCAL STAFF - Ask the CSM, catering manager, production manager, basically anybody who has worked a number of previous events what has worked and what has not. I like max/min type questions like "What was the most memorable event you've ever hosted" and "What was the biggest disaster you've ever had" - things like that often reveal site-specific challenges that may not be immediately apparent but that the hotel does (or does not) wish to repeat.
- PHOTOGRAPH EVERYTHING - No matter how seemingly insignificant or obscure, take a picture of everything. The entire load-in path for the technical production. The entire attendee environment. And everything in between. And TAKE NOTES of what you are photographing. It is useless and frustrating to get back to the design studio and realize "that soffit was weird for some reason - why did I take this picture...?"
- MEASURE EVERYTHING - Again, no matter how insignificant or obscure, take a measurement of everything. Every wall in the attendee spaces that could be used for signage. Every low pipe in the service corridors that could prevent a manlift from driving through. Clearly you must measure all the obvious elements, but time after time it is the oddities that wreak havoc during load-in.
- WRITE IT DOWN - Perhaps most important is taking the time to create clear, concise notations of everything you've seen, heard, felt, and discussed. Again it is terribly frustrating to get back to the design studio with scribbles on floorplan printouts saying things like "watch out for this" with an arrow to a black dot. What was I saying? Better to write "this airwall buildout could cost us a table thus reducing overall capacity"
It would be impossible for me to list out all the lessons I've learned from decades in event production, but the overall message is clear. ASSUME EVERYTHING WILL CHANGE (for the better) and have clear, concise accurate data to react, re-design, and win!
Welcome
Welcome to Mesh Multimedia. This is our debut blog entry, published primarily as a beta test of the new Web site collaborative content systems.
We are looking forward to sharing our creativity, insights, and commentary in an effort to inspire our customers to reach beyond their preconceived notions, and to leverage the mesh for new and exciting initiatives. We welcome your feedback and appreciate your interest.
We are looking forward to sharing our creativity, insights, and commentary in an effort to inspire our customers to reach beyond their preconceived notions, and to leverage the mesh for new and exciting initiatives. We welcome your feedback and appreciate your interest.