Peterson’s Advice for Digital Media
1.
Never trust a computer (it does not care about
you).
2.
Software is designed by human beings. It will have flaws (bugs). Getting angry with
it, is pointless and counter-productive.
3.
SAVE
Often. Get in the habit of saving every few minutes.
a.
If you have spent more than five minutes on a
piece of work, SAVE; give it a file
name and put in a folder.
b.
Keep all file
names as short as possible.
c.
DO NOT LEAVE IT ON THE DESKTOP!!!!!
d.
If you work on a piece for more than an hour,
back up the piece (in its folder – if possible). Use an iCloud account, or similar storage.
4.
Memory Management: Digital Media sucks RAM and leaves behind piles of temp files on your
hard-drive. It is very important to
practice good memory management.
a.
Try to only
have the program, or programs, you absolutely need, when working in digital
media. You can even shut down the
internet, your mail. Everything that is not necessary to do your project.
b.
This will cut down on the RAM sucking and speed
up processing AND help reduce system crashes.
c.
Save often, which will clear a lot of the
temp files from the OS cache and also reduce system crashes.
5.
Digital Media is often very easily corrupted
, SAVE it in different versions by changing the file name in a systematic manner.
6.
Digital Media of Industrial Quality (such as CS) is complex – DO NOT expect it to be
easy to learn without concentration,
effort and self-investment. Getting
angry because it seems hard (at first) is pointless and counter-productive.
7.
Be creative – but always be as systematic as you can force
yourself to be.
8.
Always remember – you can learn from a computer, it can
teach you things, but it cannot read your mind! Digital Media software can help you be creative, but it
cannot be creative for you.
9.
Digital Media is not like riding a bicycle.
You need to practice frequently or you will forget a lot of how
to use it.
10. Work
in as high a resolution as you
need and as high as possible.
Remember: you cannot use data
you do not have, or did not generate.
a.
When you take digital photographs, capturing in low resolution is pointless and counter-productive.
b.
Good digital photography depends on high DPI – use it!
(again – you cannot use data you do not have. Low
resolution = less data).
c.
Most good quality SmartPhones have pretty good resolution that is sufficient (generally) for most student work photography.
11. Digital Media files at high resolution
can get large – make allowances for this.
12. Do not use copyrighted work by other
people.
a.
You can’t learn anything if somebody else has
done all the work.
b.
It is pointless and counter-productive
c.
It is ILLEGAL!
i. All
of the really good stuff is digitally watermarked
and you can get caught. And you can
get in a lot of trouble.
ii. Copying
and pasting, or using in other manners, images from Google Images, won’t help you learn much. If you live in Orange, N.J. and need a
picture of a snowy mountaintop – I admit you’re kind of stuck, but it can
become a crutch. G.I should be a last resort, not a first choice.
13. All Digital Media software has a HELP
function (menu). Generally it’s pretty good. Use
it!
a.
If something requires effort and you force
yourself to make that effort, you will tend to remember it better.
b.
Most things have a value equal to the effort required
to acquire them. Solid (deep) knowledge does not come cheap!
14. Finally – DO NOT STEAL SOFTWARE!!!
There are a lot of inexpensive apps
available. Most work quite well. Read
the ratings. And, cloud licensing is pretty reasonable
these days for the higher end stuff.
{{All of my
in-depth research was done on Wikipedia.}}
{{All of my
in-depth research was done on Wikipedia.}}
Dale Clarence Peterson © 2014
Please check out my new book Drawing Blind (Learn to draw
without looking) at:
It’s free – all I ask is that you post a review.
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