Re: Graphics apps, kde stuff
On 02/24/2013 09:44 AM, Len Ovens wrote: My opinion is that integration is over rated :) Adding krita is 38Mb on the ISO or so. I am downloading it now to try. I find mypaint hard to use, but that is mostly because there is not an artist using the mouse :P I agree with you about integration, mostly. One major thing to be said about the 'kde' integration is the ease of setting up custom keybindings for wacom tablets (what digital artist uses a mouse anymore?! ;) ). I know that XFCE has some basic setup for tablets, and the pressure sensitivity is still used in Mypaint etc while under xfce, but being able to specifically configure the tablet for KDE apps in general is the real plus of KDE+Krita. I would say that I tend to use Mypaint for quick sketches in xfce, but if I'm going to do some real intensive painting sessions, I boot up a Kubuntu session with my specific tablet settings. The main drawback for me is that I always feel like there is A LOT of overhead using KDE just to get this functionality, but I don't have the time, or really the technical know-how to implement this type of thing in xfce. Krita is a great piece of software, and in some regards is really pushing new boundaries with digital painting in free-software : http://libregraphicsworld.org/blog/entry/krita-2.6-released This alone is reason enough to add it to US, but perhaps some effort upstream to make XFCE's tablet configuration more robust would be the real winner for every piece of digital painting software in US! Just my 2 cents, - Benjamin -- Ubuntu-Studio-devel mailing list Ubuntu-Studio-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
Re: US website theme RFC & request for screenshots
On 05/08/2011 03:43 PM, Jorge G. Mare wrote: Howdy, Although this is still very much work in progress, I thought I would put the new website in it's current state on a staging URL so that you guys can play with it: http://www.myhaiku.org Jorge - This looks great! On a first walkthrough I found that I wanted to navigate the homepage's info carousel by clicking on the images below the text held in the unordered list with id="flowtabs". To a certain extent this section of the page feels like an accordion interaction, so when I couldn't click on the images I had to find out *how* to interact with it - ie. click the text. In the grand scheme of things, not to big, just something that *feels* like it should be interactive. Text looks awesome! I like the line spacing, and the subtle grey border below the h2 tags. There is only one thing I might play with in regards to text, and that is the post's meta content. The way it is currently looks beautiful, but the content isn't as *scan-able* By that I mean that when I scroll down the page the individual post titles (h2) stand out, but the content of the post doesn't stand out from the meta - ie. author, post date, etc... In terms of a solution - Hmmm... the quick thing would be to make the meta smaller. Another possible solution would be to not have it on the home page, or to have a limited amount showing, when the viewer clicks through to the single post they would get more details. I'm not as thrilled with that solution, but it could work. Anyway, keep up the good work! - Benjamin -- Ubuntu-Studio-devel mailing list Ubuntu-Studio-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
Re: US website theme RFC & request for screenshots
On 04/16/2011 02:16 PM, Jorge G. Mare wrote: I got a bit created and come up with another iteration for the front page: https://picasaweb.google.com/jorge.g.mare/UbuntuStudioArtwork#5596292342587151458 https://picasaweb.google.com/jorge.g.mare/UbuntuStudioArtwork#5596292345587801058 Jorge these look so cool! I can't wait for it to be (somewhat) live so I can see the hover effects and links! One other thing - I didn't see until I zoomed in to full size - Nice job on the background, the grey 'dimples' give a nice subtle texture, keeping it interesting but not distracting! Great! - Benjamin -- Ubuntu-Studio-devel mailing list Ubuntu-Studio-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
Re: US website theme RFC & request for screenshots
News post https://picasaweb.google.com/jorge.g.mare/UbuntuStudioArtwork#5595278554459506242 User profile https://picasaweb.google.com/jorge.g.mare/UbuntuStudioArtwork#5595278554875022562 Blog post https://picasaweb.google.com/jorge.g.mare/UbuntuStudioArtwork#5595284881897234786 Jorge Jorge - I think that this theme is coming along wonderfully. There are a few things that you may still be working on, but I thought I would give my 2 cents. The main elements of page adhere to a pretty good grid system (the green lines in the link below). There are some things that don't really follow the grid that you are beginning to establish (red lines). It seems that perhaps these elements are part of the 'main content' or something like that, and that they are structured more like a directory tree - great for viewing files - but somewhat breaking from your design grid. Overall, I think that your font choices are doing their jobs - I can tell that 'UbuntuStudio Live Recording' is the title of the article, and that the 'view edit unpublish' are navigational. However the 'Home' from the main menu and the 'home' in the content area feels a little redundant, or perhaps unclear as to what each instance does. Perhaps if you are trying to establish where the user is, you could hi-light the 'home' in the menu area? I've uploaded a screenshot with a few annotations to hopefully clarify what I mean: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9k0EVSEZ-UoHpjegBBjN-iHR1PMKhI6HfAFTAPr0k3A?feat=directlink Thanks for all the great work you're doing! - Benjamin -- Ubuntu-Studio-devel mailing list Ubuntu-Studio-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
Re: irc meeting
> > > On a side note, I finally finished a small on-line portfolio, which I > said I would show you all whenever it was done. It is here for anyone > who is interested: > > http://www.sunmachine.coop/briandavid/ > > Brian - I like the site, both your personal portfolio and the Sun Machine Co-Op! Looks like you've got a good place to plug UbuntuStudio! :) - Ben -- Ubuntu-Studio-devel mailing list Ubuntu-Studio-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
Re: Putting the cart before the horse. (was: Final Notes on the Ubuntu Studio Website)
> > Hi Benjamin! > > Very cool! I like it a lot and would like to learn whether all your > creations were done using Ubuntu Studio applications? > For example, one can create a great looking image in GIMP resembling a > website, but how does one proceed further. Which tools would one use to turn > the GIMP file into an HTML file? I guess this could be something included in > the tasks section. > > Thanks again. > > Stefan > Hey Stefan -- To answer your question, I do use Ubuntu Studio (with some other packages added) to create digital graphics. In terms of designing things for the web, I will typically layout and build things using Inkscape. If i'm doing something that requires altering a photo then I will fire up GIMP, but not until it is necessary. My main rational for this is that with raster (bitmap) images and layouts, things degrade quite quickly as you make changes. Also, in terms of personal preference, I think that I just think in 'vector' style. I do know that some people use GIMP for creating the prototype, however for me I prefer Inkscape. I think that it boils down to a couple of things. 1) Inkscape is a drawing program, as opposed to image editing program. By that I mean you make lines, circles, rectangles, text blocks, etc... as opposed to making selections and changing the color of pixels (what GIMP does). 2) Because it is a vector editing program, you can scale it to any size without pixelation of the image. You can also export the page, or any part of it to any resolution that you want (see File:Export Bitmap in Inkscape) 3) Also because Inkscape is a markup language (it uses SVG) it has many similarities to HTML. In addition svg is slowily becoming supported by browsers (chromium does mostly, firefox a bit - its quickly coming about.) Anyway, check out inkscape. I will also be trying to document my process (beyond just inkscape) at the very least for the current wiki, and hopefully for the various 'tasks' that we'll highlighting. -- Benjamin -- Ubuntu-Studio-devel mailing list Ubuntu-Studio-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
Re: Putting the cart before the horse. (was: Final Notes on the Ubuntu Studio Website)
I updated the revamp wiki to include a fictionalized "target audience" - his name is James! I do this profile creation a lot when I'm working on a project -- kind of puts a face to who I'm trying to design for. Anyway, I tried to create a person that we want to be using Ubuntu Studio (even though he isn't the only one, he is the 'main' one) Have a look, and see if it's kind of who everyone imagines our target user to be. Also, I made some updates to the Audio Horizons theme: Keeping James' needs in mind, I tried to simplify things down, and make it easy to a) find out why Ubuntu studio is right for him and b) once he tries it, how he can get various tasks done. So in reference to a) the main page is almost entirely devoted to What Ubuntu Studio *is* and how it can help *you*. As for b) I tried to make it easy to navigate lots of information. The main categories are accessed from the top 'main nav' while secondary navigation changes on the left with each 'category' selection. Specifically for the Support section, I envision a brief blurb for the major programs included, (Why is it that Jack is the first thing you start for everything audio?) with links to additional help. Additionally there would be a 'Task' section that would outline the workflows and tools needed to get a task done. So yeah, let me know what you think! -- Benjamin -- Ubuntu-Studio-devel mailing list Ubuntu-Studio-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
Re: Audio/Video/Graphical Package Selection for Natty Narwhal
Sorry, I should have posted the last email to the general list! Anyway, I was wondering if the discussion has already happened in relation to including KDE apps. I know for me f-spot isn't up to the task of maintaining my image collection. It's a decent manager, but one that I wouldn't describe as being a 'professional' grade. There are a couple of reasons for this: 1) When browsing a large image library (~10,000 images) f-spot seems to be a bit slow in its response, while Digikam seems to be more snappy. (sorry for no concrete data supporting this!) 2) Digikam has a batch processing utility. You can queue it up to adjust all sorts of things like color, brightness, resize, crop, watermaking, etc... and then let it go. F-spot doesn't seem to offer this. 3) Digikam can view all sorts of file formats - everything from RAW(although I'm not sure if you are seeing the 'real' RAW photo, maybe just a quick jpg) to jpg as far as photos, as well as gimps native xcf, and even inkscape's svg drawings and page layouts! I understand that adding kde libraries adds a number of functions that are duplicated in gtk libraries. However, there are other pretty good programs out there for KDE (K3b, Kdenlive) So what do people think? -- Benjamin -- Ubuntu-Studio-devel mailing list Ubuntu-Studio-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
Re: Audio/Video/Graphical Package Selection for Natty Narwhal
I've been thinking a lot about what Scott has asked for in this e-mail. For me, these tasks and workflows that we're asked to document for package selection, point to the real potential for Ubuntu Studio. In it's very basic sense, Ubuntu Studio is simply a bunch of open-source applications for multimedia creation. The thing is, we've brought these various programs together because we know how they work best together. We have our workflows and know when to use what tool for which job. We can actually get the 'task' we have in mind done!! So -- the main reason why i'm responding to this email -- While working on the website re-vamp, I've been trying to pin down how the site should function for the user. These workflows we're making for package selection can become really great content for the website, if we can only flesh them out a little bit more. I'm in the midst of writing down my process as it relates to web design, but I'd love to see more of how people do the things they do best, and in language that everyone can understand, even the non-linux geek! Respond if you have any interest in documenting these workflows, especially gearing them for clear online content. -- Benjamin -- Ubuntu-Studio-devel mailing list Ubuntu-Studio-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
Re: Putting the cart before the horse. (was: Final Notes on the Ubuntu Studio Website)
On Fri, Oct 8, 2010 at 9:59 PM, Brian David wrote: > Alright, here's my next go at it: > > http://www.sunmachine.coop/ubuntu/mock-up_simple_2.png > > I tried to add a little of all the designs we've seen so far. Think of > this as the landing page, with the main site looking more along the lines of > Scott's mock-up, except with a matching palette. Also, I decided to move > away from the darker colors, just to see what it was like. All the links > and examples are basically placeholders, and can be replaced by whatever. > > Let me know what you think. > > -- > -Brian David > > -- > Ubuntu-Studio-devel mailing list > Ubuntu-Studio-devel@lists.ubuntu.com > Modify settings or unsubscribe at: > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel > > Brian I'm liking the structural elements, specifically how the logo is front and center, anchoring the whole page. One thing that feels just a bit off to me is that the colors are all so close to each other on the color wheel - blues to purple, with a bunch of white. I wonder what would happen if you incorporated just a touch of yellow, maybe orange, to add some contrast. - Benjamin -- Ubuntu-Studio-devel mailing list Ubuntu-Studio-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
Re: Putting the cart before the horse. (was: Final Notes on the Ubuntu Studio Website)
Hello all, I just wanted to let people know I posted some changes to the website revamp wiki to include mockups for the homepage and secondary pages. I'm working under the theme name 'Audio Horizons' with two .pngs following the borderlands theme. Thanks for any feedback! https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuStudio/TaskWebRevamp -- Benjamin -- Ubuntu-Studio-devel mailing list Ubuntu-Studio-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
Re: Putting the cart before the horse. (was: Final Notes on the Ubuntu Studio Website)
In response to Scott's original mockup: http://www.fossmusicproject.org/public/images/website-mockup-3.png Good work Scott! So, starting with what works: 1) I like that things have been moved up the page. The old site was pretty, but simple, with specific information at least a scroll's length down the page. 2) Navigation wise, I would say that someone that lands here has the potential of getting their bearings quickly. The global nav is easily accessible in the upper right, along with lower level categories on the left being easily skimmed by the eye without having to 'move' the page. 3) On the old site the blog entries were pretty small, closer to tweets -- "Look a new release!" With this mockup, the space is tuned more to those types of posts. Someone can easily take in the most recent information, again without 'moving the page.' As for what it can do better: 1) I don't really like the social media icons. They seem to clutter up that valuable 'upper right' real estate. I would question how much use they will get. However, if we do decide that they belong, then I think the icons themselves need to be desaturated. These current colors are good for THEIR respective brands, but totally destroy our color scheme, and our brand. Perhaps gray/black social media icons, that regain their color with a mouse hover? 2) I would tend to agree with others that the mock-up feels busy. I think that the majority of this has to do with the font settings, and to a lesser extent, certain page elements not lining up. (I'll post something later showing what I mean) I would submit that much 'breathing room' could be created by using a tighter editorial writing style coupled with a larger line height, and greater margins/padding. A quick example - within the 'what is ubuntu' section: "Watch the YouTube video for a quick explanation of what Ubuntu Studio offers or look at the feature walkthrough for a more in depth exploration of the features available in Ubuntu Studio." This feels wordy, and could possibly be removed or rewritten to something more succinct: "Explore what Ubuntu Studio can do for you" ** A link to the walk-though would be included. As for the youtube video, having that video right there with the 'play' button ready to go, is more than enough prompting for most people. Summary : All in all I think this shows some merit, with more work needed on the actual wording, along with spacing the text correctly, and better alignment of the various page elements. I'll throw in a little design time this weekend, once I get a hold on Scott's svg. Good work guys! -- Benjamin -- Ubuntu-Studio-devel mailing list Ubuntu-Studio-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
Re: Putting the cart before the horse. (was: Final Notes on the Ubuntu Studio Website)
> > >> * DIY theme * >> Rather than deny an artistic concept with a blanket statement I would >> suggest that we value any examples by their merits individually. I would >> imagine that some DIY concepts might present themselves as unprofessional, >> while others would extend themselves as hip or cool (LOL...does that make me >> old to say that?) >> >> If someone has an mock-up then I would love to see it and evaluate it's >> merits. >> >> >> I would second not throwing out any concepts right off the bat. I think though that perhaps we should redirect where this thread is going. Before we get down to eliminating or zeroing in on any 'theme' we should really take a hard look as to how we want this website to function for the Ubuntu Studio community. I'd like to try and summarize some things: The current site at ubuntustudio.org is a brochure site - it is very simple, and establishes a sort of creative vibe- all the while smacking you in the face with DOWNLOAD -- 1 2 3! This is exactly what we (traditionally) want the visitor to do - try THIS distro. I took some time to whip up sitemap for the existing site, and also one for the eventual 'revamped' one, using the elements that we have going on the wiki. In addition, I worked a wireframe over a screenshot of the original site. What becomes apparent to me while looking over these site maps is that people are brainstorming for a much more dynamic (and complicated) website, one that begins to blur the lines between the wiki, the forums, and the website, perhaps taking on aspects of a social networking site (I'm thinking specifically about the submissions, polls, and other things that would require someone to create a profile). But do we have the energy/time/skill? I think that many of these things sound cool. I would ask ourselves if we (and future users/contributors) will have the energy to create and maintain one MORE online persona. Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps this 'social connection' role could be filled by other existing sites? I'm thinking about the deviantART and Flikr user groups for inkscape. Are there other sites out there that could facilitate the creation of Music Creation Communities? To put it another way, do we have people here wanting to code and maintain that sort of community in relation to the Ubuntu Studio Website? Where are we going? In the end I feel we should more clearly describe where Ubuntu Studio is moving, and how we envision using it, and by extension, how we will use the website. For me I first came to Ubuntu Studio because it was built on the back of Ubuntu's Gnome install, but with an eye to a more specialized and 'professional' grade of computer user. This being said, there are still a few other applications I install that are not included in the base installation (Who doesn't?) I can see the Ubuntu Studio project becoming a nexus of creative energy. Taking the best things out there, and making them work well together, all the while documenting the processes, and making it easy for new users (both to Linux, AND to art creation) to create high quality digital art creations. Let me know if this resonates with anyone. Where do others see our goals being? -- Benjamin -- Ubuntu-Studio-devel mailing list Ubuntu-Studio-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
Introducing Myself
Hello everyone! My name is Benjamin Turner and I am an artist living and working in Portland Oregon. Much of my focus has been with painting and sculpture, but over the last few years I have been getting more involved with digital art and web design. I recently read the interview on The Fridge with Scott and began snooping around the website revamp page. I'd love to help out where I can. This means that I know a 'bit' of the web development side of things - specifically front-end stuff - HTML/CSS, but have more experience with general design, layout, color, illustration etc... artsy fartsy stuff. Here are some samples of things I have created. This first link focuses more on my 3d ceramic work, while the second is of my webcomic (All Inkscape!!) http://passinsplay.com http://oo-oo.passionsplay.com Looking forward to helping out! -- Benjamin -- Ubuntu-Studio-devel mailing list Ubuntu-Studio-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-studio-devel
