New CDCharaba Demo Reel

This is what has kept my up and too busy too mention the past few days along with my new web-site and more. I hope you enjoy it; that will make the work worthwhile.

This was to play with flourishes, I ended up creating a message of hope for a future in college and beyond. I used one of my Water-color paintings, Photo's, Adobe Photoshop,Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro for this project.

An Important Message From...

This was playing with text and line animation. It made me chuckle. This was created by using Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro.

Ruba's Visit

This a a favorite since it encapsulates everything I learned in the 3-D class. I used Newtek Lightwave 10 and Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Fireworks to complete this project.

Amazing Water - Still shots video

Here are some still shots of "Amazing Water" collected into a video. Hope you enjoy! I used my Photography and Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Premiere Pro to compete this project.

I will play... by Cathy D. Charaba

I will play...

I will get dirty and feel the paint squish between fingers sliding across canvas
I will smell the colors and create
I will taste the freedom of expression and look to my inner self for guidance
I will succeed in the play knowing no bounds
I will grow from the experience

I will feel the texture of the pencil nestled between my fingers and thumb
I will hear the lead scratching out the rhythmic strokes to paper
I will bring the illusion of depth and texture
I will succeed in the play knowing no bounds
I will grow from the experience

I will capture the scene with a mechanical whine
I will hear the shutter sizing, opening and close
I will capture the moment then covet later
I will succeed in the play knowing no bounds
I will grow from the experience

I will look to my screen with vision, mouse and stylus in hand
I will challenge the programs in ignorance discovering the new
I will press, scroll and learn the keys to imagination
I will succeed in the play knowing no bounds
I will grow from the experience

I will pluck and strum cords of rhythms
I will stroke passionately the ivory keys with voice in time
I will dance all the while in merriment
I will succeed in the play knowing no bounds
I will grow from the experience

I will take note of emotions within the tale
I will express the senses in tangible glory
I will author creation of other worlds in time
I will succeed in the play knowing no bounds
I will grow from the experience


I will create as artists must do to tell anew
I will because I breathe… because I am
I will since no other existence is fathomable
I will succeed in the play knowing no bounds
I will grow from the experience


by Cathy D. Charaba

This took awhile. It was not the difficulty but the time involved and the amount of steps involved. It began in Photoshop, creating the text, back-ground and buttons. Then off to After Effects to give it some effects and place it within a timeline. Then off to Encore to create the video. But wait, there is more. Burn a DVD, download it to a portable hard drive and up-load to You-Tube to be able to embed it within this blog. Yes, a long assignment. Meanwhile, I think the transition is too short but that could just be me. I am glad for the lesson, however, I am glad it is completed as well.

Using CSS3 for the first time

So this was interesting. I used CSS3 for the first time. Yes, in many ways it is easier for some things. There is much more than what I have been exposed to thus far. The problem is I just started getting used to HTML 4. I understand it is the nature of the beast to be in a constant state of change. I would just like to have a good understanding of one before another comes in the picture! I can see now, I will have to attend more classes just to learn this now. I was able to view more from the links I was given but am still learning how and where to place the new code within the old code. I worked with the code while in Dreamweaver then linked to attain some of the CSS3 code for generating the boxes. I know I will eventually explore more in the future.

This assignment was to create a web page from free templates. I found one I really liked but it was more than just a page. I hope to develop this eventually for my own in the future. Anyway, I sized my pictures and placed then in, I linked everything that was immediate and uploaded to our server. The one thing that refuses to work is my screen capture! I will put it later when it will work. Anyway I used Photoshop to size my images then used Dreamweaver to create the site. It was fun, but I did not have enough time to put in much of the text. Ha, never say die...I took a photo of the web site and added it to this blog. I did not want to have to do it last minute on Monday or forget.

Logo and online Newsletter

I really was not sure about this one. It took me a few days to succumb to the Narrows Bridge during the Galloping Gertie era and the Model A. It was all too 'stuck'. There are only so many pictures of the bridge and many variations of the Model A, but the manner in which they can go together is non-eventful. I finally got to work on the logo. Everything was accomplished within Illustrator. Then I created a web page for the Newsletter. I followed directions, kept the layout very basic to learn the steps, then was unable to create an absolute link, load to a server and kept crashing my browser! I resigned to turning something in late at 3:AM. This was difficult since I have not had anything late during the two years of learning Digital Design. This got resolved with much needed tutelage. It is still late, but I have learned (I hope). I feel this is something I will be using so I am very interested in getting it right.

Shape Animation in After Effects

I can so get lost in this. So many variations, so little time. These could be some fun screen-savers.
All of it was accomplished in After Effects. I used Premiere Pro to apply the music and the final
output. Within After Effects, I played with 3 different version since I could not settle on which
effects to play with. I was all over the tools like repeater, twist, and pucker & bloat. I played
with trim, blur and a few others but did not use it on this one. This is a fun one to play with if
bored or in between assignments/jobs.

I get to go play some more, so have fun!

Charaba_12_Photo gallery with Java script

http://ddsgn220.volume11.com/Cathy_Charaba/test2.html

Here is the link for the Photo Gallery created using Java script. This was interesting. I had to shake the cobwebs off of a class I took only a couple of quarters ago. what is nice is I made so many mistakes and learned from them during that time that it actually helped me out on this project! It is all there, you just have to go to the link!

I had troubles with screen capturing but that got resolved. I also had problems with it being verticle rather than horizontal. I am not sure if I will have time to repair that before it is due. I will keep trying though.

Have a great day!

This one took me awhile. First, gathering all the photo's, then into Photoshop for some cropping. Once that was accomplished, I played in After Effects. It took some time getting re-oriented to the program. Once I had put a few photos in, I had a nice rhythm going. This took me into the wee hours of the morning. I decided to see what I could make of working the lights in After Effects but that only turned out in failed attempts. It looked great in After Effects, then it rendered with some mean looking shadows. I had a great time doing this one while going down memory lane with some laughter.

This assignment was using '3-D Coat' program for painting on the texture for a still life 3-D image. The 3-D image came from a program called 'Lightwave 10' which I used previously. I was surprised to find we were working with a different program since we had been using Illustrator for so much. I kept the image simple since when this was created, I was still learning Lightwave and 3-D Coat at the time. The project brought me down memory lane which reminded me just how much I have learned and how far I have come.

I have spent the last few days working on my Digital Designs for another class. They download to Deviant Art.
Here is the address;   http://cathydcharaba.deviantart.com/ 
In the future, when I have the time, I will also add some of this art into Deviant Art and visa-versa. Both classes have been dealing with Adobe Illustrator so I have been able to learn more about the program itself. I get frustrated when there are things I still can not figure out. I will get there, I have hope.

SLAM Magazine entries

 These took some time. They were fun but time consuming. There are elements I have been learning and subsequently re-purposing here and there. I did try to make a snow-flake from a previous assignment but it did not down-size well. I used illustrator for both of these entries however, I did crop the photograph in Photoshop first.

Have a great day.

Illustrator brushes

While in Illustrator, I created more brushes and a composition using them. Again, I had to have play time which only made for a much longer work day. What I am most pleased with is my signature which will now show up on my pieces.

Photoshop Brushes

Today I worked on creating Photoshop Brushes then applied the brushes to a photograph I owned. I have been working in Illustrator most of this quarter so it took me a minute to reorient. This assignment took me awhile to do since I had to explore all the capabilities with them and then make a composition. I am already thinking of the other brushes I want to create

Concept Art

This was so fun. I think I know what I want to be when I grow up; a Concept artist. I did everything here in Illustrator. I wanted the practice and challenge to get to know the program more. I created many layers and the file size was huge. My only regret was not having enough time to do more to it. I wanted to spend more time on the planets and the characters. I enjoyed finding out about the artist Drew Struzan as well.

We worked on Illustrator and played with the Drawing tables and pen. I have used a pen enabled laptop before but this tablet took getting used to. We used a Wacom v-3. The cord was restrictive since it would not extend further than it was bound up behind the computer. When I get my own Wacom tablet, I will make sure it has the USB cord free of any encumbrances.  I did enjoy it for the short time I was on it and can see a great deal of play-time getting lost in all the brushes as well as the effects. We were not to use any solid colors which allowed for more experimentation. I enjoyed the watercolor feature as well. There will not be a piece of art to show with this blog since it was play time. 

Have fun and keep playing! 

Today I worked on my vinyl-cut assignment. Actually, I have been working on it. I created it in Adobe Illustrator then imported it to the Roland Cut Studio program at school for printing. The only glitch I had was the size. I made it to fit on a smaller banner originally but the cutter would only accept a smaller size. Needless-to-say, I opted to create the same thing on a sign or even a large sticker. Hmmm. Bigger is not always better I guess.

The completion of the new Font set

 The lower case letters were fun but, I had some difficulty choosing which way to turn some of the lines. I liked the swooping feel of the base lines and did my best to work with that while maintaining consistency.

 The number set was far easier to create while maintaining the swoop. Perhaps I felt more comfortable since I had the practice on the lower case letters. The following symbols were easier as well. The only difficulty I had was creating the period. I wanted it to have continuity but remain true to the style. Once these were created with Illustrator, I used the program called Font Creator. I was pleased when doing the symbols, the program had the placement for the accents etc. 

I just got done with creating a new Font. This was interesting and it allowed me to get to know another program called Font Creator. I am sure there is much more to the program than just what I played with. The Font was created in Illustrator than brought into Font Creator. I followed the lesson plan then once I got the hang of it, I started a new set. I couldn't help over-doing a bit by adding the lower case fonts as well. I know the assignment only wanted Upper-case but it was too hard to resist. I will attach the files shortly. 

Rather than posting the "About me" on the blog, I put it on my "wall". So, this can count as my second post for college class assignment but look on the wall for the scoop! I am not sure if I like it there either. It is yet to be determined. I know I like it better there right now though. Hmmm. Indecisive much?

Embedding a video and using the Brush tool

I had fun creating this since I was able to learn more about the brush tool in Adobe Photoshop and the brush stamps. Due to the requirements of this assignment I also learned how to embed videos within the blogs.

I wanted to show the growth of the plants in a better way but I was still learning the tool. I think I would have been happier if I could have showed them growing from the bottom up better. I think I should have used a smaller brush while using the eraser tool.

I feel I accomplished the requirements of the assignment but I would like to play with it more to experiment. Some music added would have been good too.