Shahid Online - Tech Corner

In a previous Blog, I looked at freeware and open source software alternatives so that you can roll out your own version of Adobe Creative Suite 3. But did you think that was it for open source? Surely not!?! 3D Carrying on the theme of design, I have been asked by many for 3D modelling software. One way is subscribing to a magazine and wait for a cover edition of the high end apps like Alias Wavefront. The other is to get Blender . Available on Windows and Mac OS, this has been used in some commercial movies and is by far the most popular application. Did I mention that I really like it? Other alternatives are Art of Illusion (Win/Mac) and POV-Ray (Win/Mac). There is a fairly new application called Wings 3D (Win/Mac), which is in development but is already attracting a lot of attention. Video Editing This could have gone with the Adobe Creative Suite round up, but there is nothing to pit against Premiere. As promised I found some applications but have not had a chance to test them....

Oh yes, an update to an earlier post about getting hold of free or Open Source alternatives to Adobe Creative Suite. I actually forgot to mention about Adobe ImageReady, which gets bundled with Photoshop. There are a number of basic animation tools, but none provide flexibility similar to ImageReady. Fortunately, Open Source lovers are in for a surprise in the form of GIMP Animation Package . This link will take you to the Windows download site as I cannot find any references to this for the Mac OS. Chances are that it could be part of the Gimp.app download, but I haven't had time to inspect this. The Creative Suite package includes Adobe Bridge, which is a thumbnail viewer to convert images and open them up in any Adobe application for editing. No matter how they would try to trump up its name, it is still a thumbnail viewer. The best free application out there for this is IrfanView . Need I say more? Are there any pixel pushers out there, who prefer to simply draw their own pics?...

You may still be using Internet Explorer, given all the choices out there. But why? You don't have to be dull and just browse web pages. There's more to the Internet such as blogging, sharing pictures and having a bit of fun. While Mozilla Firefox is a great (and more secure) alternative to Internet Explorer, it adds to the experience with Extensions. These extensions can vary from weather and news feeds all the way to making web developers gleem while hacking away at the keyboard. Enter Flock . To quote from their website: Flock is an amazing new web browser that makes it easier to share media and connect to other people online. Share photos, automatically stay up-to-date with new content from your favorite sites, and search the Web with the most advanced Search Toolbar available today. It is based on the Mozilla Gecko engine and resembles Firefox on steroids, or (if you like) extensions such as The Coop. I actually use Flock to seek enjoyment from the Internet, so while I...

With the take over of Macromedia by Adobe, they have increased their arsenal of design packages, as well as the price. No-one can do pretty much without the popular package of Photoshop for their images, and Dreamweaver for websites, especially aspiring design students who do not have much money. Nevertheless, open source software has come to save the day. What is open source software? In a nutshell it is free software with its source-code freely available to those who would like to expand or improve on the software. To expand further, anyone who’s tinkered with the source code such as optimisation or additional functionality can resubmit it back to the holders and let others enjoy the fruits of your labour. I have trawled through the World Wide Web to find out how everyone can benefit from Open Source to build up their own studio and compete against Adobe Creative Suite. All this for free, apart from the cost of the Internet. I am planning to have a facility where you can purchase...