//na//

• This Lego rendering of MC Escher’s Relativity is a grand slam on the geek meter–and just about the coolest thing I’ve seen all week. See also the artists’ treatment of Escher’s Ascending and Descending. [Via]
• Thomas Raschke makes excellent wire frame sculptures–kind of the old Adobe Dimensions come to life.
• Michael Salter is all about styrofoam sculptures, large and small. [Via]
• Dig the bloopy shapes and shifty eyes of Brendan Monroe’s wooden sculptures. [Via]
• I found myself really enjoying the colors & characters in Oliver Jeffers sketchbook (top item, left column). [Via]

In discussing non-destructive JPEG editing in Lightroom and Camera Raw, I mentioned that it’s possible to convert JPEG files into DNG–a format previously limited to raw data from camera sensors.  Why do the new tools allow this, and why might it be useful?  Here’s some perspective from Tom Hogarty:

It’s been almost a year since Lightroom introduced the ability to convert TIFF and JPEG files to the Digital Negative (DNG) format. This does not mean that Adobe is magically converting output-referred TIFF/JPEG files into mosaic data that has all of the flexibility of native raw files. These converted JPEG/TIFF files are not raw files at all.

So, why allow the conversion?

As Lightroom and now Adobe Camera Raw provide non-destructive editing of JPEG and TIFF files, the DNG format offers benefits as a non-destructive editing format in addition to its position as a raw standard. DNG is designed to efficiently store the XMP metadata block and image preview associated with a non-destructive edit. As non-destructive editing capabilities grow, the DNG format has the architecture required to grow with those capabilities regardless of the source format. For example, a JPEG image converted to DNG and non-destructively edited three different ways will be able to store three sets of editing instructions and three distinct previews for each edit.

Does this lessen DNG’s position as a raw format standard? Absolutely not. The core of public DNG specification is a standard method of storing and describing raw data. Most recently, Leica and Pentax have joined the ranks of camera manufacturers supporting DNG files natively and there are a substantial percentage of professional photographers converting their proprietary raw files to DNG for workflow or archival purposes.

So, editing a JPEG in Lightroom or ACR, then making it into a DNG, allows you to create an envelope that packages up the original bits, the editing sauce, and a rendered preview that any application can see (i.e. DNG = before + after + settings).  And, unlike a regular JPEG that contains editing data, a DNG isn’t going to be mistaken for any old file.  It stands out as something with special editing properties.

Having said all this, converting JPEG to DNG is useful, but it’s not a panacea: it makes files larger (at least for now), and it’s not something I think everyone should run out and do.  (I haven’t found a need to do it myself.)  It’s an option, however, and one that could grow more useful in the future.

//na// Some great animation & motion graphics bits have crossed my path recently:

• After blowing minds with their Crazy video last year, Gnarls Barkley now does the Zelig mockumentary thing in Smiley Faces.  (Dig Baron von Counterculture’s Groovy Purple Dirigible.) Brilliant, and painfully catchy.
• Design shop Foreign Office shows off the in-movie ads & graphics they created for Children of Men (one of my favorite films last year).  State-sanctioned suicide never looked so good. [Via Marc Pawliger]
• The beautiful HP "Hands" campaign continues with this lovliness featuring Brazilian author Paulo Coelho.  People ask me why I work on Photoshop, what I dream of for the future. This vision starts to hint at it. [Via]
• Hand-focused, but on the other end of the tech spectrum, check out the amazing VW Phaeton "What the Hands Can Do" ad. [Via]
• Similarly human-powered & great: the Human skateboard.
• I could really go for more Kirin craziness in this job (being, as I am, disrespectful to dirt). [Via]   Oh, haven’t had enough yet?  Try Fruity Oaty Bars (see also behind the scenes on that one).  That should do the trick.

//na// Some great animation & motion graphics bits have crossed my path recently:

• After blowing minds with their Crazy video last year, Gnarls Barkley now does the Zelig mockumentary thing in Smiley Faces.  (Dig Baron von Counterculture’s Groovy Purple Dirigible.) Brilliant, and painfully catchy.
• Design shop Foreign Office shows off the in-movie ads & graphics they created for Children of Men (one of my favorite films last year).  State-sanctioned suicide never looked so good. [Via Marc Pawliger]
• The beautiful HP "Hands" campaign continues with this lovliness featuring Brazilian author Paulo Coelho.  People ask me why I work on Photoshop, what I dream of for the future. This vision starts to hint at it. [Via]
• Hand-focused, but on the other end of the tech spectrum, check out the amazing VW Phaeton "What the Hands Can Do" ad. [Via]
• Similarly human-powered & great: the Human skateboard.
• I could really go for more Kirin craziness in this job (being, as I am, disrespectful to dirt). [Via]   Oh, haven’t had enough yet?  Try Fruity Oaty Bars (see also behind the scenes on that one).  That should do the trick.

By now you’ve probably seen a whole bunch of stories about how Adobe is planning to put a version of Photoshop online in the next six months or so, based on remarks from CEO Bruce Chizen.  Here’s the original CNET story, as well as a distillation of the quotes from Bruce.

I view this evolution of Adobe imaging as a logical (and exciting) extension of what we’ve been doing for several years.  The company recognized that one size doesn’t fit all, and that it’s possible to leverage core imaging technology & experience to build a variety of related solutions.  That’s what has led to Photoshop Elements (starting with core PS editing, removing pro-level complexity, adding hobbyist-oriented creation & sharing tools) and Photoshop Lightroom (leveraging Camera Raw, metadata, and workflow experience).  A Photoshop-branded online editor lets us start bringing the tech to new customers–much like the new Adobe Remix reaches new customers using Adobe Premiere technology.

To set expectations properly, I think it’s important to mention that by "Photoshop-branded" we don’t mean the professional version of Photoshop.  The tools being discussed here are targeted at the consumer market–especially all the people using social networking and media sharing sites.

Exciting times are ahead.  And meanwhile, we’re working hard to keep opening doors to the online world in Adobe desktop apps. The upshot is that Adobe imaging technology can migrate to the Web, and the Web can transform and enhance desktop tools.