motion 5: Getting Around in Motion

With its intuitive interface, Motion lets you immediately combine video
and graphics, animate text, or create dazzling particle effects. But don’t
confuse efficient design with simplicity. Motion is a deep application
that can help realize your creative vision, no matter how intricate or
complex.
In this first lesson, we won’t focus on what things are or why they work.
You’ll learn more details in the lessons that follow. In this lesson, you’ll
jump right in and start building a new project to quickly get a feel for
what’s unique about Motion and why it’s so much fun.


Following a New Paradigm
With Motion, you can do things on a desktop or portable computer that were unthinkable
only a few years ago: create compelling, professional-looking motion graphics and visual
effects in a real-time design environment.

         Whether you answer to a producer, agency, corporate client, or to your own creative muse,
you can design motion graphics in a way that is natural and addictive.

 Motion makes it easy to perform the primary motion graphics tasks: compositing and
animating. Compositing involves layering together disparate elements to create a single
complete image. Animating involves changing properties of those elements over time so
that they fly, drift, grow, fade, spin, or wriggle. The interactive, real-time design engine
and unique behaviors of Motion allow you to design and animate elements as your project
plays.
 
         With its intuitive 3D design tools, you can spread out your elements in 3D space; add
lights, reflections, and shadows; and fly virtual cameras around a 3D world.
Finally, you can use all of these features in Smart Templates that can be published to and
modified in Final Cut Pro X.

         Whether you’re designing an opening title sequence, producing a series of lower thirds,
or doing green screen work, Motion makes motion graphics and visual effects more
accessible, more interactive, and more enjoyable.

Opening Motion
Before you get started, install the Motion application, if necessary, and copy the lessons
and media from the book’s DVD to your hard disk. Instructions for doing this are in
the Getting Started section of this book. After those two tasks are complete, let’s start by
opening Motion and creating a new project.

1            From the Dock, click the Motion icon to open the application.
              The first window that opens is the Project Browser, where you can create a new project,
              open a recent project, or choose a template. In this exercise, you’ll create a new project.
              The sidebar to the left of the Project Browser lists project categories and themes. The
              center project stack displays thumbnail previews of projects based on the sidebar
              selection. An information column to the right includes project settings options.

2         Verify that the Blank category is selected in the sidebar, that Motion Project is selected
            in the project stack and that the Broadcast HD 720 Preset is selected in the
            information column.

              Tip            To see the projects you’ve recently worked on, from the sidebar list, select

In this lesson, you’ll work with a video clip recorded in 1280 x 720 HD resolution
at 59.94 frames per second (fps). Because these are the default project settings, you
needn’t change the Broadcast HD 720 Preset in the information column.
 

Tip         You usually choose a project Preset setting based on the format of your video

                             material and the target output specifications. For example, you might choose one preset

                    to create a spot for standard-definition television and a different preset for HDTV

                        content. If you consistently create projects using the same preset, you can choose to

                         bypass the Project Browser by changing an option in the Project pane of the Motion

Preferences.

              Preferences.



3          Click Open.
              A new, empty Motion project opens.


Importing a Video Clip
The Motion interface, called the workspace, consists of a single window with components
you can show or hide. The large upper-right area dominated by a black rectangle is the
Canvas. Here you build and view your project. To the left of the Canvas is the Project
pane, which displays all the elements in your project.

            The tall, skinny component to the left of the Project pane is divided into three major
panes: the File Browser, Library, and Inspector. Along the bottom of the workspace, you’ll
find the Timing pane, which contains the Timeline, the Audio Timeline, and the Keyframe
Editor. Finally, above the Timing pane is the toolbar, which contains tools and controls for
creating and editing project elements.

When you add any video, graphic, or text element to Motion they are called layers. The
first way you’ll create a layer is by bringing a video clip into your project.

In the File Browser, you’ll locate, preview, and import media into your project. Media can
include graphics, video, and audio files that are located on your computer or connected
storage devices.

1          In the middle of the File Browser, click the Desktop icon. This section of the File
Browser is called the sidebar.


             The contents on your desktop are now displayed in the lower section of the File
Browser, called the stack.

2   Double-click the Motion5_Book_Files folder.
3   Double-click the Media folder, and then double-click the Skier folder, which contains
a single video clip, mogul_1.

4  Select the clip and look at the top of the File Browser.

In this preview area, you can preview a video clip and also find important information

about the clip, including its resolution, codec, and frame rate.

Because this is the clip you want to use, you can add it to your project by simply dragging

it into the Canvas or clicking the Import button.

5   Drag the clip from the File Browser stack (not from the preview area) to the Canvas

but don’t release the mouse button just yet.

    Yellow lines appear as you move the clip near the vertical and horizontal center of
    the Canvas. You’ll see the clip snap to those lines as it approaches them. These lines,
    called dynamic guides, help you center an element in the Canvas and align multiple
    elements.

6  Snap the clip to the center of the Canvas and release the mouse button.
    Congratulations. You’ve now created your first Layer in Motion.
    NOTE P If the dynamic guides don’t appear, turn on snapping by choosing View >
    Snap, or pressing N.
    Before you go any further, it’s a good idea to save your project.

7  Choose File > Save, or press Command-S.

8  Navigate to Desktop > Motion5_Book_Files > Lessons > Lesson_01 > Student_Saves.

TIP                The lower half of the Save dialog includes a menu for Collect Media. When

set to Copy to Folder, Motion copies all the external video, audio, and graphics used

in the project into the same folder as the saved project, making it easy to back up your

project or move it to another Mac.

9   Name your project Lesson_01_practice, and click Save.
      When you added the clip to the project, you may have noticed that a translucent gray
      window appeared in the center of the workspace. It’s called the heads-up display, or HUD,
      and you’ll use it later in this lesson. For now, you can turn it on and off by clicking the
      HUD button on the right side of the toolbar or by pressing F7.

Adding Audio with HTML5

Problem
You want to add audio to a web page with HTML5.

Solution
Use the audio element to specify an audio file, as shown In picture

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html lang="en">

<head>

<meta charset="utf-8">

<title>CSS Cookbook</title>

</head>

<body>

<h1>Audio Example</h1>

<audio src="html5audio.ogg" autoplay controls>

<a href="html5test.ogg">Download audio</a>

</audio>

</body>

</html>

Discussion
The audio element has five attributes associated with it: src, autobuffer, autoplay,
loop, and controls. If you don’t have the controls attribute, the audio player
disappears.

Audio compatibility
At the time of this writing, no one audio file type plays across all the browsers that
support the HTML5 audio element, as shown blow.

	Firefox 3.5	Safari 4	Chrome 3 beta	Opera 10
Ogg Vorbis	Y		Y
MP3		Y	Y
WAV	Y	Y		Y

To create a cross-browser solution, use the audio element along with the source element
that cites both OGG and MP3 files. Then include Flash Player embed and object code
afterward:

<audio controls autobuffer>

<source src="html5audio.ogg" />

<source src="html5audio.mp3" />

<!-- include Adobe Flash player EMBED and OBJECT code here -->

</audio>

If you do insert audio, setting the file to autoplay is not recommended,

as it interferes with the experience for web surfers using screen readers.

for adding video to web pages

Incorporating Video with HTML5


You want to add video to HTML5.
Use the HTML5 video element, as shown in picture below

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html lang="en">

<head>

<meta charset="utf-8">

<title>CSS Cookbook</title>

</head>

<body>

<h1>Video Example</h1>

<video src="html5video.ogg" width="320" height="240"

controls poster="html5video.jpg">

<a href="html5video.ogg">Download movie</a>

</video>

</body>

</html>

Discussion
You do not have to specify the width and height of the video element. If you do not set
the video element with its respective attributes, the movie will play to the default values
of the video file itself.
A video file might have its own poster, which is a static image that represents the video
as a whole, similar to a thumbnail. However, you can override this poster by using the
poster attribute. The poster image can be any file type the browser supports (e.g., GIF,
JPEG, or PNG).

Although the controls attribute is optional, for the sake of usability I

suggest using it so as not to offend your site’s visitors.

You can place alternative text in between the video tags, including a link to download
the video file, for browsers that do not recognize the video element. This method allows
website visitors a method to view the content with third-party solutions other than
browsers.
At the time of this writing, Safari 3.1 and later, Firefox 3.5 and later, Opera 10 beta,
and Chrome 3 beta support the video element.

See Also
http://www.videolan.org/ for information on the export tools in the VLC software application,
which you can use to convert common video files to OGG format (supported
by Firefox and Opera)

Making a Web Form Print-Ready

 You need to have a form that users can fill out online, or that they can print and then
fill out offline, as shown above.


Solution
First, create a print media stylesheet and a class selector that transforms the form elements
so that they display black text and feature a 1-pixel border on the bottom.
For example, consider the following HTML code for an input text element:

To style the form element requires the following CSS rule:

<style type="text/css" media="print ">
.fillout {
color: black;
border-width: 0;
border: 1px solid #000;
width: 300pt;
}
</style>

For drop-down menus, hide the select element altogether and add some additional

markup to help produce the bottom border:

<label for="bitem">Breakfast Item</label>
<select name="bitem" size="1">
<option selected="selected">Select</option>
<option>Milk</option>
<option>Eggs</option>
<option>Orange Juice</option>
<option>Newspaper</option>
</select><span class="postselect"> </span>

Then, in the CSS rules, convert the inline span element to a block element. This enables

you to set the width of the span element and places the border at the bottom to equal

that of the input elements in the preceding CSS rule:

<style type="text/css" media="print">

select {

display: none;

}

.postselect {

display: block;

width: 300pt;

height: 1em;

border: none;

border-bottom: 1px solid #000;

}

</style>

For elements such as a Submit button, which can’t be used on the printed page, set the

display property to none. You can see the finished product in the picture below.

Discussion
Lines created in the print stylesheet on an order form tell users they can fill out the form
fields. By using the border property, you can easily create these lines in a browser,
making web forms useful both online and offline.
For select elements, the workaround is somewhat of a hack that involves interfering
with the ideal semantic markup; it still works and is valid HTML. Place a span element
after the select element:

<select name="bitem" size="1">

<option selected="selected">Select</option>

<option>Milk</option>

<option>Eggs</option>

<option>Orange Juice</option>

<option>Newspaper</option>

</select>

<span class="postselect"> </span>

Then set the select element to disappear:

select {

display: none;

}

selecdisplay: none; }

Next, set the span element to display as a block to enable the width and height properties.
With those width and height properties set, you can place the bottom border to
match the rest of the form elements:

.postselect {

display: block;

width: 300pt;

height: 1em;

border: none;

border-bottom: 1px solid #000;

}

Using attribute selectors to differentiate form elements

Attribute selectors from the CSS specification make it easier to style forms for print.
When you use attribute selectors, it’s easier to distinguish which form elements should
be stylized than it is when you insert class attributes and their respective values in the
markup.
In the following code, the first CSS rule applies only to input elements for text, whereas
the second rule hides the Submit button and the Select drop-down box:

input[type="text"] {

color: black;

border-width: 0;

border: 1px solid #000;

}

input[type="submit"], select {

display: none;

}

The good news is that most modern browsers now support attribute

selectors; however, Internet Explorer 6 does not.


Adding user friendliness
Since the form is now being printed, site visitors cannot use the Submit button to
transmit their information. Be sure to provide the next steps users should follow after
they have completed the printed form.
For example, if you want users to mail the form, add a mailing address to the page on
which the form is printed, as shown in the following code:

<div id="print">

<p>Please mail the form to the following address:</p>

<address class="adr">

<span class="org">

<span class="organization-name">The White House</span>

</span><br />

<span class="street-address work postal">1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

</span><br />

<span class="locality">Washington, DC</span>

<span class="postal-code">20500</span><br />

<span class="country-name">USA</span>

</address>

</div>

Notice that the instructions are wrapped with a div element where the class attribute’s

value is set to print. In the stylesheet for screen delivery, set the display property for
this specific class to none:

<style type="text/css" media="screen">

.print {

display: none;

}

</style

>With a separate stylesheet for print delivery, allow the instructions to be printed by

setting the display property to block:

<style type="text/css" media="print">

.print {

display: block;

}

</style>

Enjoy, please commments


See Also
Attribute selector documentation in the W3C specification at http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/selector.html #attribute-selectors; the HTML   specification for the label tag
at http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/interact/forms.html#edef-LABEL

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Solution: Understanding the Sort Order Within CSS

Problem: You want toYou want to know how a browser handles the application of CSS rules.
Solution
The basic rule of thumb is “any CSS rule that is closest to the content wins” over any
other CSS rule.
Discussion
With so many ways CSS can be associated to a web document (see Recipe 2.12), there
needs to be a way for the browser to handle potential conflicts if the same or a similar
rule appears from two different sources.
Follow this guideline when trying to determine how to resolve conflicts within your
CSS rules:

• The user’s own styles take priority over browser styles.
• The author’s (your) styles take priority over user styles.
• Embedded styles take priority over linked or imported styles.
• Inline styles take priority over embedded, linked, or imported styles.

For example, say we have a series of paragraphs, all set to a sans serif font, as shown
in Above picture:
p {
font-family: "Gill Sans", Trebuchet, Calibri, sans-serif;
}

But when we bring in another rule to style the paragraphs with a serif font and place
this new rule before the previous rule, as shown in the following code, the paragraphs
remain unchanged:

Only when we place the serif font rule for the paragraphs after the sans serif font rule
does the change in the browser take place, as shown below.


p {
font-family: Garamond, "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", Times, serif;
}
p {
font-family: "Gill Sans", Trebuchet, Calibri, sans-serif;
}




Again, this occurrence follows the rule of thumb that “any CSS rule that is closest to
the content wins.”
However, there is an exception to this rule—Clarifying Specificity


Problem
You want to understand how potential conflicts within CSS are resolved, if origin and
sorting order for a CSS rule are the same.
Solution
Each CSS rule carries information that lets the browser (and us) know its weight or
specificity.
Consider the following three CSS rules:
#header p.big {
font-family: Impact, Haettenschweiler, "Arial Narrow Bold", sans-serif;
}
p.big {
font-family: Futura, "Century Gothic", AppleGothic, sans-serif;
}
p {
font-family: "Gill Sans", Trebuchet, Calibri, sans-serif;


The higher the specificity a CSS rule possesses, the greater the chance that the CSS rule
will win out over another rule. However, when viewed in the browser, the first CSS rule
(with the Impact font) wins out, as shown below

To determine why the first rule wins, determine the CSS rule’s specificity. Follow
Table when trying to determine a CSS rule’s specificity.

Selector example Inline style Number of ID selectors Number of class selectors Number of elements
p                             0                             0                      0                                  1

p.big                       0                              0                      1                                  1

#header p.big         0                                1                  1                                    1


According to Table
• The p selector has a specificity value of 0,0,0,1.
• The p.big selector has a specificity value of 0,0,1,1 because of the class selector.


• The #header p.big selector has a specificity value of 0,1,1,1 because of the class
and ID selectors.
In these examples, the last selector has a greater specificity, and therefore wins in a
conflict.


Discussion
The origin and sorting order of CSS help a browser to determine which rules win out
over others (and the !important declaration allows certain rules to override others).
When those methods of determining which CSS rules should win fail, there is a conflict.
CSS has in place a way to deal with those conflicts: the specificity of the CSS rule
itself.

The higher the specificity of a CSS rule, the greater the likelihood that the CSS wins.


Several CSS specificity calculators are available online to help you determine the specificity
of rules. One such calculator is available at http://www.suzyit.com/tools/specific
ity.php.

What Google Get From 2012

It was a monumental 2011 for Google, with it finally cracking the social media nut, rolling out social search globally, before unfurling the +1 button across the Web and then launching its much-anticipated Facebook-killer Google+. Heck, even the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu started hanging out on Google+. You don’t get any hipper than that.

Google can be pretty satisfied with the way its 2011 went, but we’re not here to look backwards. The Next Web’s Nancy Messieh has already done a pretty stellar job of dissecting the past year for Google, so here we’ll take a look at our virtual crystal ball, and see what could be on the road ahead for Google over the next twelve months.

Google Wallet and the global march to omnipresence

Back in May 2011, The Next Web was given a sneak peek at Google Wallet. For the uninitiated, Google Wallet uses NFC technology to turn your phone into a virtual wallet, and in September the service went live for Google Nexus 4G users on Sprint in major American cities, such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington DC.

In an attempt to keep the service as secure as possible, your credit card data is stored in a single place on a chip, and a limit of $100 is placed on all new cards, until the owner releases the limitation.

It pretty much goes without saying that Google Wallet will be rolled out further afield in 2012, with rumors currently suggesting that the UK will receive it in time for the London Olympic Games which kick off this summer.

Alas, the aforementioned data storage issue will become a hot topic of debate, and many more data privacy issues are likely to arise off the back of this. Google already knows so much about our lives, does it need to know any more? Well, yes it does, and yes it will. 2012 will be the year that Google gets a pretty rounded picture of everything we do, from Gmail and Maps through to Search, and onto Google+ before hitting Wallet via Android.

Google will continue on its march to omnipresence, like a child’s imaginary best friend.

Speaking of mobile…

Motorola

We’ve established that 2011 was a pretty big year for Google across the board, but perhaps the biggest piece of news was Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility in August, secured with a hefty price-tag of $12.5 billion. The acquisition is Google’s attempt to position itself as a smartphone vendor, and perhaps bag 1 or 17,000 patents in the process. It has real potential to offer users a better, more holistic Android experience, something which has plagued the OS.

But…the ‘acquisition’ has yet to be finalized. The European Commission is investigating the deal, and was originally supposed to make a decision by 10 January 2012, though delays have been anticipated with Google being asked to provide more information. There’s general optimism about the acquisition though, and a spokesperson told Bloomberg that it was “confident the commission will conclude that this acquisition is good for competition.” Indeed, this deal should probably be concluded some time in the first half of 2012.

Android

At the LeWeb ’11 conference in Paris back in early December, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt made some of his usual inflammatory comments about the future of Android, saying: “Android is ahead of the iPhone now.” Schmidt elaborated, saying that Android was ahead due to a number of factors, including “unit volume, Ice Cream Sandwich, the price is lower, there are more vendors.”

After an Android user in the audience expressed irritation at the fact that many of the best apps showed up on iOS well before Android, Schmidt retorted: “My prediction is that six months from now you’ll say the opposite”, before adding:

“Ultimately, application vendors are driven by volume, and volume is favored by the open approach Google is taking. There are so many manufacturers working so hard to distribute Android phones globally. Whether you like ICS or not, and again I like it a great deal, you will want to develop for that platform, and perhaps even first. Think of it as a transition over the next 6 months.”

So…will app developers prefer Android over iOS in 6 months time? It’s a tough call, but I’d say not quite as soon as that, but it may happen. At the moment, whilst Android out-muscles iOS in terms of smartphones (because it’s used by multiple manufacturers), iPhone typically is the preferred platform for the best apps, simply due to the type of people who buy iPhones. Apps have had a pretty tough time of it on Android from a monetization standpoint. Oh, and Ice Cream Sandwich should make a difference too (see below).

Schmidt said at LeWeb that there was ‘about 200 million’ Android handsets on the market. During its Q2 earnings call in July, Schmidt said that about 6bn apps had been downloaded. Using those figures, we have previously estimated that there is around 50 apps on average installed per Android device. By comparison, iOS users downloaded 83 apps per device in 2011.

However, Google announced 3.7m Android activations over the Christmas period, and in general is notching up 700,000 a day. There will be a tipping point, where the uptake of Android will be so vast, that app developers might just start favoring it over iOS, though this is unlikely to be within the next 6 months. By the end of 2012? Hmmm…maybe. Just maybe.

Ice Cream Sandwich

Launched in late 2011 on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) was the much-anticipated follow-up to the earlier version of Android, Gingerbread. The new OS brings Android tablet Honeycomb features to users’ smartphones and, initially, ICS won’t be available to all smartphone users, with Nexus and Sony Ericsson’s 2011 Xperia line among the first to host the new OS. It will start rolling out on more handsets in Q1 2012 and, well, most Android fans can’t wait.

Google Voice slide-tackles Skype

Google opened Voice calling on Gmail to the global masses back in August, but it has only been free in the US and Canada. The company recently announced that it’s extending free calling within Gmail through 2012 for calls made within the United States and Canada. This is similar to the announcement it made for 2011. Google said:

““As the holiday season approaches, we’re happy to announce that we’ve extended free domestic calls within the US and Canada for 2012.

This is our way of helping you connect with friends and family across the country. And you can still call the rest of the world from Gmail at our insanely low rates.””

Google Voice is still trying to become the default VoIP carrier online, with Skype still the dominant force. Whilst Voice has found its way into Gmail and Google+ Hangouts, Google will make a big push for the VoIP market in 2012. Will that mean free domestic calls for all? It just might.

Google TV

We’ve previously pondered whether Google TV is doomed. To give you a quick synopsis, Google TV is a Smart TV platform which was the search giant’s attempt at bringing its advertising into your livingroom by transforming your TV into an Internet video player, where the major networks’ shows can be searched for alongside YouTube videos, the Web and apps.

It was announced in May 2010, and was co-developed by Google, Intel, Sony and Logitech. Logitech announced in November this year that it will stop making Google TV devices given that it had lost more than $100m in operating profits.

Google then included ‘a new YouTube experience’ for Google TV, with the changes including playlists and subscriptions, and we noted that it was becoming a more lean-back experience, with watching YouTube becoming more akin to watching regular TV.

So what does 2012 hold for Google TV? At LeWeb in early December, Eric Schmidt was on fine predictive form as we saw with his thoughts on the future of Android. And his forecasts extended into the televisual sphere too, saying: “By the summer of 2012, the majority of the televisions you see in stores will have Google TV embedded.”

Hold on though. Surely the luke-warm response (that’s being kind) to Google TV so far would preclude any TV market domination so soon? I’m inclined to say yes, but as we know with Google, if at first it doesn’t succeed, well, you know the rest. Google didn’t give up with social, and it eventually built a pretty sound platform in the form of Google+. Schmidt also noted that Google is acquiring about one company a week.

Whether Google innovates from within, or snaps up some young punks with the brains to help it dominate the TV market, remains to be seen. But Google is Google – it will get there eventually. It might not be on most new TVs by the summer of 2012, but you can bet it will have something big to show the world.

Google Chrome

Chrome became more popular than Firefox worldwide in late 2011. And it seems it’s also making ground on Internet Explorer, overtaking IE8 on weekdays, implying that business use of Google’s browser has hit a key milestone. Across the board, however, IE still dominates overall with 40% market share over Chrome’s 25%.

Will 2012 be the year that Chrome hits top spot? Probably not so soon, but it will make significant ground. Firefox is losing ground fast, and Chrome doubled up from around 12% on the same period in 2010. IE (and Firefox) will continue to lose users to Chrome, which could see the two browsers nearing neck-and-neck by the end of this year, setting 2013 up for one almighty battle of the browsers.

Elsewhere…

Okay, Google has a plethora of products and it’s difficult to call exactly where they’ll be 12 months from now, but we gave it a shot.

Many of its core products – the ones where it is clear market leader – will continue to dominate, but by how much? Bing gained some ground on Google Search in November in the US, taking over 13% of the market share there. But Google still has 65% market share in the States. However, worldwide Google Search is like a habit people just can’t shake, and it will still hold fort by the end of this year. That’s not to say there’s not room for it to lose more share beyond 2012 though -  if Bing continues its push, and Yahoo doesn’t die off, then there’s potential for Google to at least fall below 50% in key markets such as the US at some point. Just…not this year.

Microsoft Office is still the preeminent suite of ‘office’ tools, but even though it has launched its own cloud version, Google Docs will continue to gain traction, securing a bigger share of the business and consumer markets. General Motors (GM) reportedly signed up for Google Apps back in November, sucking up 100,000 employees in the process. Apps and Gmail to usurp Office and Outlook in 2012? Nah, but it will gain a lot of ground.

YouTube is starting to annoy a lot of people with its adverts, but one trillion playbacks in 2011 speaks volumes. It’ll still be the dominant video-streaming platform in 2012 and beyond, though it may lose a little ground to the likes of Vimeo.

Google+ is ambling along nicely, and welcomed brands on board back in November. Facebook isn’t trembling yet, but Google+ does have a nice social platform to gel its various products together. Many argue that Circles is better for privacy than Facebook’s ‘granular settings’ through its list feature. And Google+ also has a hit with Hangouts, making video chats social, something not even Facebook and Skype has mustered so far. Google+ will well exceed 100m users in 2012, perhaps even closing in on the 200m mark, but it won’t be stealing users from Facebook – there’s room for both to coexists peacefully. For now, at least.

2011 was Spotify’s year to shine, but will 2012 be the year that Google Music, having only launched back in November, heaves itself out of the US and onto the global masses? Almost certainly. Will it nudge the likes of iTunes and Spotify of their perches? No…but it will embed itself firmly into the consciousness of the music-loving masses around the world.

Here’s to another busy year for Google…

Home Page: With Auto Thumbnail Plus Summaries For Blogger Post

Wordpress users might have seen the wordpress excerpt thing, which displays a summary of your post. Now we have something similar for blogger.Actually i should say it is really amazing..This hack will automatically create post summaries with thumbnails.. you needn't need to add any extra code in every blogpost that you make..These summaries will be displayed on all pages other than the post page..Here in my blog i am using a modded version of the same which displays summaries on pages other than the post page and homepage.Check out some of my labels to see the hack in action..

First of all, this hack was developed by Blogger Sphera . I will try to explain his hack to you guys..

First of all Edit your blogger template

Find this code

</head>

and replace it with

<script type='text/javascript'> 

var thumbnail_mode = &quot;float&quot; ; 

summary_noimg = 230; 

summary_img = 140; 

img_thumb_height = 100; 

img_thumb_width = 100; 

</script> 

<script src='http://blogergadgets.googlecode.com/files/excerpt.js' type='text/javascript'/> 

</head>

Off course you can edit these parameters..
Now Find

<data:post.body/>

Replace it with

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'> 

<data:post.body/> 

<b:else/> 

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;static_page&quot;'> 

<data:post.body/> 

<b:else/> 

<div expr:id='&quot;summary&quot; + data:post.id'> 

<data:post.body/> 

</div> 

<script type='text/javascript'> 

createSummaryAndThumb(&quot;summary<data:post.id/>&quot;); 

</script> 

<div style='clear: both;'/> 

<span style='padding-top:5px;;float:right;text-align:right;'><a expr:href='data:post.url' rel='bookmark'><b>Read more >></b></a></span> 

</b:if> 

</b:if> 

And you are done.. now you should have the post summaries on your homepage,search results,archive and label pages..

Target your Audience by Designing

Some of the truest words I've heard so far are: "If you do not plan to create your own business, then you plan to be broke."

While there are many people out there that have made ​​life pleasant work for other companies, should not be crazy to think about going into business for himself, either a full time job or a part-time gig. With the changing economic climate things are not guaranteed and, frankly, the time spent helping someone else achieve their goals could be time well spent in pursuing their own dreams.

As graphic designers, working independently and creating our own small business is usually a fairly common thought, which is almost a given. Even if we do not market as independent, I'm sure some of us have come to do work from side to put some extra money in our pockets. Some designers like to offer design services, while others have a total business about clothing design or product development, or perhaps the association with someone else to offer more products and services.

Regardless of what they do, in order to see some growth in your business you should know that you are targeting. Many of us believe that our product is for everyone, but trying to get your product in front of everyone's going to be painful and expensive. What I do is find out who they are specifically targeted to find that niche and put your efforts on them. Learn more about them will help your efficiency and ultimately help your reach, because once you know that you are selling, best know how to design for them.

If you have never taken the time to do some research of customers, do not go mad now. Hopefully you have enough customers to try and figure it out, or maybe you've developed your product or service enough to know everything about who thinks he can pitch to. The biggest mistake is to launch your product or service in the face of all and hope they bite. That's one of the hard work, but in business who want to work smart. So here are some things you can start buying and find out what you should buy your product.

Who are they?

The first thing you need to know about your target audience is what they are. What kind of things do they do? What kind of music do you listen? What products do you use? How old are they? The answers to these questions and more will help you better understand the people who are designing. Get an understanding of these people helps you to easily and do something you know that relate to them and end up with a good communication.
As a young designer, I realize that I am interested in flyers and brochures that refer to me with great design techniques, a clear message and a professional appearance. I have also heard of brake really creative ideas and pictures and things of that nature. I like that sort of thing, so for me it's easy to want to create that kind of thing, but the truth is that people sometimes end up designing probably care less about the design and make things clean and professional. It sounds absurd, but it's true, you have to interact with the public.
Again, you have to know the target audience. If you or your client have no idea who you are designing for, you are actually taking a stab in the dark and hoping and praying to get somewhere. There are times when you can have a wide variety of people in his audience, but you have to find something in common with most people.

Do the research

Learn more about your audience does not have to be a genius and do not let anyone tell you otherwise. It is not about getting your information, but what questions you ask and what they decide to do with it. Say, for example, running a brick and mortar store shirts. You have a t-shirt design sold very well, but you want to know how to create more like it. If you have a low volume of people coming through, just ask them what attracts them to the shirt in particular. Not only is doing research here, but you're making connections with their customers. If you have more volume, or run an online store, create a quick and concise survey that asks the questions.
You should also know that you have to ask the right questions. If you want to know why people like the design of the shirt, I'm not used to ask what size shirt, I will focus on design. For example, why they like or what design means to them. Want to ask questions that will help your audience and help make guesses about things you like in the future.
Note, demographic information is only useful to some extent. You still have to find out what your audience likes and what they feel (and what felt like). They are so caught up in the boring regular questions about the age and income that you forget to ask about their interests as well.
New products can make it difficult to understand your target audience, but similar products can be investigated and beta testing. With its beta testing phase, you can continue your study of a group of users not only on efficacy, but above all things related to the design as well. Also, keep in mind that he intends to buy your product is not always the same person who buys it. Many times, we will have a big idea and we have a sense of knowing who will buy, but sometimes not always go as we planned. This is why beta testing and data collection are important.

What are you doing?

Once you feel you have a good understanding of your target market, you must have an even better understanding of what we are trying to do or what they are trying to design for. If you are trying to sell a product or service, what are you trying to convey about that product or service?
When you get to this step is easy to want to establish some kind of analysis features and benefits. This means, for example, if you are trying to sell their services in graphic design, feature that makes it possible to design large print and web design, so its advantage is that you are a "one-stop-shop ". That's very nice, but you have to be more than that. Try to highlight what you can do for them and not just the skill set. To say that print designs have the ability to captivate the audience, not only you can do print design. To say that their web designs allow users to connect to a company in a way never imagined. Saying that your product is not just a product, but also contributes to your life so much deeper.
Knowing what your target audience likes and interests will help you get to this sort of thing much easier. Not bad to show the features and benefits for some audiences, that's all you really need. But in a competitive market, you have to know what makes your audience react and if your product or service has to.

design basics

After gathering all the information and you feel like you understand their purpose and audience, then it's time to make your design. The fact that you are designing more intent does not mean you forget any of the fundamentals. You must continue to incorporate all the theories of design so you can make an effective piece of design.
The more fundamental theory that can not always be missed is the visual hierarchy. As a designer, you have to remember and understand that you have all the power to imagine what the public sees when they look at a flyer or package. Use that to your advantage in everything you do. This theory basically states that creates the hierarchy or importance on the basis of what is the largest and what is the smallest. While this is the first taxpayer, the taxpayer will be second placement. His most important visual, either a title or image, you must be above or at eye level. Put it under the eyes or outside the initial view is a total and absolute loss of time.
With the visual hierarchy, you want to take into account the design, balance, distribution, and proximity to good. These are just the basics to make sure they have some sort of order and cleanliness of whatever you are designing. Many times, we want people to stop noticing something crazy and we have done with a design or something, but do not reinvent the wheel, we should be doing everything that makes sense and is readable. You want everyone who sees his vision to get the main points, even if only in transit.

Put the two together

Know your fundamentals of graphic design is essential. That will make your audience, whoever can understand what they are trying to say. The purpose of the investigation of your audience and get to know is that when it's time for design, visual addresses them and makes them move.
As I said before, as a graphic designer, I just want to make fun designs with crazy colors, shapes, fresh, and illustrations. From my own personal business that works, because they tend to serve more fashionable young people who are interested in trying new things. However, sometimes I have a client who is less interested in that. Sometimes I have clients who are corporate, so I have to get over a bit, since it is not at all interested in cool and crazy designs. It led them to death with my design, but I'll make sure not focus on what needs attention.
Many times we get caught up in ourselves and what we want, but it has nothing to do with what we want, and everything to do with what the public wants. If you feel like the design that you want to be very creative with what you're doing, you have to have a purpose for it. You have to know that this is something that the public responds. Creative and crazy can unnecessarily alienate a large portion of your target audience if that is not what they are doing.
The ultimate goal of all that is being designed is to get people moving. You have to relate to them in a way that they get. If they listen to 60 + years old, do not use pastel colors and illustrations to attract them. If you are trying to appeal to teens, it is probably not going to use earth tones and pictures of older people to get them to do something. You have to know the demographic situation and, above all, psychographics (the way you think, feel, etc..) When you have a true understanding of the psychographics can get to do anything. If we want to feel excited about your product and the elite to own it, should know how to convey that to them. You should also know what they want to feel about your product.
Creating a visual does not have to be very forward. You want them to think about their product a bit and let them interact with them. Basically while you are worrying about your target or niche market, from time to time you have a person who is not fit any of their investigations, but does not exclude them completely. Use the design to take advantage of someone feel a certain way because that's what makes people interested in your product or service.
Try to put yourself in their shoes, what would you like to see and do not want to see? Even if it's related to your product, put yourself in the shoes of the consumer. For example, I like to pick up a brochure or see a site for a real estate agent and the visual is only given an injection of the agent glamor. What are you doing for me? How is it that makes me want to buy a property? Well, it does not. If you were to create a visual representation and only has a picture of yourself or your product or service, how that really make a customer wants to make a purchase?

The design of your website

One of the most important visual elements that have and use, is their website. Some people are just going to run into it and want more information, and some are going to go to your particular website in a bid to get more information. You have to keep your research in line with the images on your website. Part of their research should indicate why customers come to your website and what they want on the site.
Many designers and website owners believe a sole purpose is to tell everyone about your product or service and why it is totally awesome. Well, I beg to differ. A website is supposed to be an extension of your business and should be used to communicate with your customers and potential customers. Which is compatible with your target market and available on its website.
Make sure you have a clear message on their site, if you sell multiple products try to highlight one. If you have a number of different services emphasize or highlight the reasons why people keep coming back, creating a feeling. No matter the demographics of your audience, your website must be clear and consistent.

More research
As graphic designers and / or business owners, we must learn to understand the tactics of marketing and research. Identify a target market does not take much, but you want to make sure you're doing in a way that suits your needs. Your business and its customers rely on visual effects that make, if they end up being ineffective, which tends to be a direct reflection of their work. Again, you want to make sure they are working intelligently (for doing your research and use of it), instead of working hard (the creation of a group of images blind hope that someone picks it up).
It can sometimes be a difficult concept to understand, so I added some pretty solid and useful resources.

How to Define Your Target Market
What to Ask When Designing For a Target Audience
Conducting Market Research
How to Do Market Research


Kendra Gaines is a freelance designer from Virginia, USA. Connect with her.
Have you had experience switching from a large audience to selecting your target? What was your experience?