I’m deceased—along with everyone else who battled Iron Mike on the NES! Now let’s “Bring the pain to your elders”:

Whee!

[Via fellow curmudgeon Tom Hogarty]

Bonus bummer:

I meant to post this incredibly weird old-ish Chemical Brothers video for Halloween. Seems somehow just as appropriate this morning, imagery+mood-wise.

Who needs AI Will gobbling spaghetti (which has somehow become the Utah Teapot of generative video!) when you’ve got this tiny, meticulous excellence?

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Daily Dose Of Art (@art_dailydose)

The hilariously nerdy Elle Cordova (of “Fonts Hanging Out” fame) is back, this time as some of our favorite (and least favorite) file formats.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Elle Cordova (@ellecordova)

Oh man, what a mixture of tiny, relatable jokes (“STOP”) with absolutely incomprehensible gibberish—i.e., TikTok in a nutshell. I think you’ll dig it:

[I know this note seems supremely off topic, but bear with me.]

I’m sorry to hear of the passing of larger-than-life NBA star Dikembe Mutombo. He inspired the name of a “Project Mutombo” at Google, which was meant to block unintended sharing of content outside of one’s company. Unrelated (AFAIK he never knew of the project), back in 2015 I happened to see him biking around campus—dwarfing a hapless Google Bike & making its back tire cartoonishly flat.

RIP, big guy. Thanks for the memories, GIFs, and inspiration.

Fernando Livschitz, whose amazing work I’ve featured many times over the years, is back with some delightfully pillowy interactions in & over the Big Apple:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Fernando Livschitz (@ferliv)

So is the expanded Midwest the Midwesteros? 🙂 Whatever the case, enjoy this little mashup before House Killjoy lawyers go full loot train on it.

I fondly recall Andy Samberg saying years ago that they’d sometimes cook up a sketch that would air at the absolute tail end of Saturday Night Live, be seen by almost no one, and be gotten by far fewer still—and yet for, like, 10,000 kids, it would become their favorite thing ever.

Given that it was just my birthday, I’ve dug up such an old… gem (?). This is why I’ve spent the last ~25 years hearing Jack Black belting out “Ha-ppy Birth-DAYYY!!” Enjoy (?!).

Wandering alone around the campus of my alma mater this past weekend had me in a deeply wistful, reflective mood. I reached out across time & space to some long-separated friends, and I thought you might enjoy this beautiful tune that’s been in my head the whole while.

Days of Miracles & Wonder, as always…

Infinite seamless mega meme mashup

Keyframes were used to seamlessly transition between 20 memes w/ audio @LumaLabsAI Audio on pic.twitter.com/9jzbMDUDp2

— Blaine Brown (@blizaine) June 29, 2024

Here’s a micro tutorial on how to create similar effects:

Here’s how to morph memes using Dream Machine’s new Keyframe feature. Simply upload two of your favorite memes, write a prompt that describes how you’d like to transition between them, and we’ll dream up the rest. https://t.co/G3HUEBEAcO #LumaDreamMachine pic.twitter.com/yNaRhERutn

— Luma AI (@LumaLabsAI) June 29, 2024

Hey man, it’s Monday. 🙂 Enjoy some silly but well executed VFX:

Wtf! pic.twitter.com/mdT5YgAn97

— LA CUEVA DEL CINÉFILO (@Tibu696) June 15, 2024

I really enjoyed this TED talk from Fei-Fei Li on spatial computing & the possible dawning of a Cambrian explosion on how we—and our creations—perceive the world.

In the beginning of the universe, all was darkness — until the first organisms developed sight, which ushered in an explosion of life, learning and progress. AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li says a similar moment is about to happen for computers and robots. She shows how machines are gaining “spatial intelligence” — the ability to process visual data, make predictions and act upon those predictions — and shares how this could enable AI to interact with humans in the real world.

I dig this charming little narrative from Apple. Happy Tuesday.

Hard to keep a good font down; even harder with a bad one! :-p Enjoy:

Given that my wife is the one responsible enough to chase the eclipse today & not roast her eyeballs, I’m left at home digging up a classic Dana Carvey bit about the eclipse (30 seconds, starts at 2:04). Enjoy! :-p

It’s somehow true!

I think the spirit of maximally inclusive “Irishness” has special resonance for millions of people around the world, like me, who can trace a portion (but not all) of their ancestry to the Emerald Isle. (For me it’s 75%, surname notwithstanding.) I’m reminded of Notre Dame’s “What Would You Fight For?” campaign, which features scientists, engineers, and humanitarians from around the world who conclude with “We are the Fighting Irish.” I dunno—it’s hard to explain, but it really warms my heart—as did the Irish & Chinese Railroad Workers float we saw in SF’s St. Paddy’s parade on Saturday.

Anyway, I found this bit starring & directed by Jason Momoa to be pretty charming. Enjoy:

Heh—my kind of very silly fun. Happy Wednesday.

In her 12+ years in Adobe’s video group, my wife Margot worked to bring more women into the world of editing & filmmaking, participating in efforts supporting all kinds of filmmakers across a diverse range of ages, genders, types of subject matter, experience levels, and backgrounds. I’m delighted to see such efforts continuing & growing:

Adobe and the Adobe Foundation will partner with a cohort of global organizations that are committed to empowering underrepresented communities, including Easterseals, Gold House, Latinx House, Sundance Institute and Yuvaa, funding fellowships and apprenticeships that offer direct, hands-on industry access. The grants will also enable organizations to directly support filmmakers in their communities with funding for short and feature films.

The first fellowship is a collaboration with the NAACP, designed to increase representation in post-production. The NAACP Editing Fellowship is a 14-week program focused on education and training, career growth and workplace experience and will include access to Adobe Creative Cloud to further set up emerging creators with the necessary tools. Applications open on Jan. 18, with four fellows selected to participate in the program starting in May.

“If you want to make a movie look good, make it sound good.” That’s the spirit in which Adobe is introducing a wide range of enhancements to audio handling in Premiere Pro:

According to the team, the audio workflow changes now available in the beta include:

• Interactive Fade Handles: Now you can simply click and drag from the edge of a clip to create a variety of custom audio fades in the timeline or drag across two clips to create a crossfade. These visual fades provide more precision and control over audio transitions while making it easy to see where they are applied across your sequence.
• AI-powered Audio Category Tagging: When you drag clips into the sequence, they’ll automatically be identified and labeled with new icons for dialogue, music, sound effects, or ambience. A single click on the icon provides access to the most relevant tools for that audio type in the Essential Sound panel — such as Loudness Matching or Auto Ducking.
• Redesigned FX Clip Badges: An updated badge makes it easier for you to see which clips have effects added to them. New effects can be added by right clicking the badge, and a single click opens the Effect Control panel for even more adjustment without changing the workspace or searching for the panel.
• Modern, Intelligent Waveforms and Clips: Waveforms now dynamically resize when you change the track height and improved clip colors make it easier for you to see and work with audio on the timeline.

My friend Kevin had the honor of designing the designing the art & animation for this interactive wearable demo. Stick around (or jump) to the end to see the moving images:

@el_hormiguero Marron nos trae el proyecto Primrose desarrollado por @Adobe: el vestido interactivo capaz de cambiar su apariencia  #vestidointeractivo #adobe #elhormiguero #SofíaVergaraEH ♬ sonido original – El Hormiguero

We’re looking to meet great PMs, engineers, data scientists, and more; come check out open roles!

Man, if you feel like you can’t keep up with technology while you do your day job, just please know that the same is true even at the company where one works, regarding one’s old app. At least we have smart folks like Deke McClelland to show us what’s been happening:

Beautifully put. We’ll be forever in his debt.

“Believe in creativity. Believe in imagination. Believe in innovation. Believe in the future.” As we say farewell to our co-founder Dr. John Warnock, we remember how his incredible ideas touched and transformed countless lives. Thank you for the gift of your creativity. ❤️️ pic.twitter.com/SrxOYohkqu

— Adobe (@Adobe) September 1, 2023

Like so many folks inside Adobe & far beyond, I’m saddened by the passing of our co-founder & a truly great innovator. I’m traveling this week in Ireland & thus haven’t time to compose a proper remembrance, but I’ve shared a few meaningful bits in this thread (click or tap through to see):

I am so sorry to hear of the passing of Adobe cofounder John Warnock. He changed all our lives, and those of millions more, for the better. God bless and godspeed, sir. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/ZHZDdkqcOO

— John Nack (@jnack) August 20, 2023

I’ve yet to see Wes Anderson’s latest, but I enjoyed this brief peek into how it was made:

Bonus: Bird!

This is me, giving my now-48yo brain a birthday break by skipping any attempt at meaningfulness & instead sharing just some pure exuberant mayhem. 🤘😛🤘

I know very little about this plugin—only what’s shown below—but it looks promising:

OT, but too charming not to share. 😌 It’s amazing the creative mileage one can get from just a few minutes (if that) worth of recut footage plus a relatable concept.

Yikes—my ability to post got knocked out nearly a week ago due to a WordPress update gone awry. Hopefully things are now back to normal & I can resume sharing bits of the non-stop 5-alarm torrent of rad AI-related developments that land every day. Stay tuned!

I cannot tell you just how much I need this in my life. 🥰 Click through to see the whole gallery.

Saturday Night Live’s pre-taped segments would be impressive on any timetable—but to produce them in a matter of days (sometimes editing right up until airtime, and even beyond for digital distribution) is truly bonkers. Check out how ambitious they’ve gotten, thanks to their incredible production team & tools:

Check out this long-desired hotness!

Photographer Dan Marcolina has been pushing the limits of digital creation for many years, and on Feb. 9 at 11am Eastern time, he’s scheduled to present a lecture. You can register here & check out details below:

—————————

Dan will demonstrate how to use an AI workflow to create dynamic, personalized imagery using your own photos. Additional information on Augmented Reality and thoughts from Dan’s 35-year design career will also be presented.

What attendees will learn:

• Tips from Dan’s book iPhone Obsessed, revealing how to best shoot and process photos on your cell for use in the AI re-imagination process  SEE THE BOOK
• The AI photo re-creation workflow with tips and tricks to get started quickly, showing how a single source image can be crafted to create new meaning.
• The post process of upscaling, clean-up, post manipulation and color correction to obtain a gallery ready image.
• As a bonus he will show a little of how he did the augmented reality aspect of the show.

Anyone interested in image creation, photography, illustration, painting, storytelling, design or who is curious about AI/AR and the future of photography will gain valuable insights from the presentation.

These short re-imaginings are an absolute delight. Cue the John Williams…

…and Johann Strauss:

Brilliant. Enjoy your next three minutes! 🏎️🐢🐢🐢

Man, it is so weird to watch this scene with a laugh track & those whimsical mouth sounds:

It’s wild to look back & realize that I’ve spent roughly a third of my life at this special place, making amazing friends & even meeting my future wife (and future coworker!) on a customer visit. I feel like I should have more profundity to offer, and maybe I will soon, but at the moment I just feel grateful—including for the banger of a party the company threw last week in SF.

Here’s a fun little homage to history, made now via Photoshop 1.0. (I still kinda wish I hadn’t been talked into donating my boxed copy of 1.0 to the Smithsonian! The ‘Dobe giveth…)

Raise your hand if you’re a Day 1.0 @Photoshop fan 🙋‍♀️

Nostalgia brought to you by TikTok’s wes45678 to celebrate Adobe’s 40th anniversary! pic.twitter.com/Y8QEtcJawf

— Adobe (@Adobe) December 12, 2022

PDF to cloud to homegrown tech titan: Adobe celebrates 40th anniversary

“What if you could just focus on what’s being said, instead of how it sounds?” Sounds good to me. 🥁

I had the chance to grab breakfast with Figma founder & CEO Dylan Field a couple of weeks ago, and I found him to be incredibly modest and down to earth. He reminded me of certain fellow Brown CS majors—the brilliant & gracious founding team of Adobe After Effects. I can’t wait for them all to meet someday soon.

In any case, I really enjoyed the hour-long interview Dylan did with Nilay Patel of The Verge. Here’s hoping that the Adobe deal goes through as planned & that we get to do great things together!

Happy day to all who celebrate. 😌

The whole thread is hilarious & well worth a look:

You can take Maverick out of the Tomcat, but you can’t take the tom cat out of Maverick. 😸

[Via CAPT Chris Peppel, USN]

98% unrelated, but possibly amusing:

“Everything Is A Remix,” right? Or, if you prefer, it’s an homage—as Star Wars arguably was to The Dambusters. Anyway, genius steals, blah blah, and this is a fun set of juxtapositions & tropes:

What the what? From Sébastien Deguy, founder of Allegorithmic & now VP 3D & Immersive at Adobe:

I don’t communicate often about that other part of my activities, but I am so glad I could work with one of my all time favorites that I have to 🙂 My latest track, featuring Raekwon (Wu-Tang Clan) is available on all streaming platforms! Like here on Spotify.

Perhaps even more surprisingly, it slaps! 👏

If this sounds like your kind of jam, read on! From the job description:

What you’ll do:

• Share your knowledge, passion and experience of Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects with video makers.
• Engage daily with communities around professional video wherever they are (Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) in two-way conversations, representing Adobe.
• Be active and visible within the community, build long term relationships and trust, and demonstrate that knowledge and understanding of the users to help Adobe internally.
• Build relationships with leaders in the identified communities.
• Establish yourself as a leader through your work and participation in time-sensitive topics and conversations.
• Answer questions and engage in discussion about Adobe products and policies with a heavy focus on newcomers to the ecosystem.
• Encourage others through sharing your personal use of and experimentation with professional video tools.
• Enable conversation, build content and speak about Adobe tools to address the specific audience needs.
• Understand the competitive landscape and promptly report accordingly.
• Coordinate with other community, product, marketing and campaign teams to develop mini-engagements and activities for the community (i.e. AMAs with the product team on Reddit, or community activities and discussions via live streams, etc.)
• Work closely with the broader community team, evangelism team, and product teams to provide insight and feedback to advocate for the pro video community within Adobe and to help drive product development direction.

Two roles (listed as being based in NYC & Denver) are now open. Check out the descriptions from the team:

—————————

As a key member and thought-leader on this team, you’ll be an integral part of exploring and influencing the next generation of Adobe’s creative tools. Together, we are forging a new class of experience standards for desktop, mobile, and web products for years to come.

You will (among other things):

• Seek/design the “simple” experiences and interactions that influence our growing portfolio of creative tools. Empower users to delight themselves.
• Partner closely with fellow senior designers, product managers, senior engineers, and other leaders across different teams to bring new products to life.
  

What you’ll bring to the team

Must-Haves

• A minimum of 5 years of industry experience in product design with a proven track record of success
• Experience (and a love of!) solving complex design and technology problems using systems thinking
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate a multi-level problem space and strategy behind design decisions
• Creative and analytical skills to advocate for and support research, synthesize, and communicate insights that encourage design opportunities and product strategy
• Passion for understanding how creative people do what they do and how technology plays a role in the creative process
• Experience establishing user experience patterns across mobile, web, and desktop products within connected platforms

My video teammates (including the one I married) are attempting some groundbreaking, audacious stuff, and this newly open gig is a great chance to dive in with them:

This role will lead projects across various workflows from editing, audio, color, graphics and motion. You will bring your future-looking ideas to life with your designs, prototypes, and storytelling toolkit. You are a strong advocate for the customer because you can relate to their needs and understand the power of design and story to transform.

You will use your experience in post-production and experience design to paint the future vision of the products, but also love getting down into the details of shipping new builds and setting the example for shipping work with high quality.