Another day in the studio

 

Why yes, I am shooting a disembodied leg in front of  green screen.  What, you don't see all the practical uses of this?  Huh... well... I dunno what to tell you then.

And so it goes....

Companies brace for end of cheap made-in-China era - Yahoo! Finance

At the other end of the scale, some in research-intensive sectors such as pharmaceutical, biotech and other life sciences companies are also reconsidering China for a range of reasons, including costs and incentives being offered in other countries.

"Life sciences companies have shifted some production back to the U.S. from China. In some cases, the U.S. was becoming cheaper," said Sean Correll, director of consulting services for Burlington, Mass.-based Emptoris.

That may soon become true for publishers, too. Printing a 9-by-9-inch, 334-page hardcover book in China costs about 44 to 45 cents now, with another 3 cents for shipping, says Goodwin. The same book costs 65 to 68 cents to make in the U.S.

"If costs go up by half, it's about the same price as in the U.S. And you don't have 30 days on the water in shipping," he says.

Even with recent increases, wages for Chinese workers are still a fraction of those for Americans. But studies do show China's overall cost advantage is shrinking.

Labor costs have been climbing about 15 percent a year since a 2008 labor contract law that made workers more aware of their rights. Tax preferences for foreign companies ended in 2007. Land, water, energy and shipping costs are on the rise.

In its most recent survey, issued in February, restructuring firm Alix Partners found that overall China was more expensive than Mexico, India, Vietnam, Russia and Romania.

Tales of Hippie Crack

Inside the Nitrous Mafia, an East Coast Hippie-Crack Ring - Page 1 - Music - New York - Village Voice

Throughout the year, the Nitrous Mafia travels from state to state, selling balloons at concert sites. The scene in Williamsburg is only a small preview of what happens in summer, when the outdoor festival season kicks into gear. During these campground events, which last two to four days, the Mafia, which is divided into two rings, based in Boston and Philadelphia, can burn through hundreds of nitrous tanks. With the ability to fill up to 350 balloons per tank, which they sell for $5 and $10, they can bank more than $300,000 per festival, minus expenses. Year after year, security guards at these events attempt to crack down on the illicit business, but, in most cases, they're outmatched by a phalanx of menacing gas dealers who have little regard for unarmed concert personnel.

Apple disregarding Pro Users?

My computer is getting a bit long in the tooth so I wanted to track down some reading about the direction Apple is taking regarding it's Pro Line of gear.  It seems fairly obvious that the iOS devices is the direction the company is going and I have been getting closer to switching to a Windows system since the price point for the gear is waaaaay off once you get to the Mac Pro line versus what you can get in a Windows tower. I already will never buy another Apple monitor again since they are all glossy now so I think it's only a matter of time till I have to get a Windows machine for any kind of serious work. This forum has a nice 25 page long thread of speculation.

Is Apple still serious about the professional market? Mac Rumors

Two items of note on the front page alone:

"Jobs says Apple is a Mobile Device company now, and I guess he would know. "

"However some are speculating that by 2012 Apple will be dropping the Mac Pro."

I have been saying this for awhile now, but facts are sexy.

The Outsourcing Low Cost Lie | Lessons of Failure

# Nearly 50% of outsourced projects fail outright, or fail to meet expectations # 76% of companies said that vendor management effort and costs were much higher than expected # 30% reported ongoing issues with outsourcer management processes (e.g., inadequate governance and conflict resolution procedures) # 51% reported that outsourcer was not performing to expectations

That might sound like a reasonable number, but consider that first point more closely: Nearly 50% of all outsourced projects fail outright or fail to meet expectations in the first place. Essentially, you’re taking the same gamble as red vs. black in Roulette about your project’s success right off the bat, and only then if you pass that hurdle, you’ll get on average, 25% savings over having it done locally.

Recent Design work

[gallery link="file" columns="2"] So here are some recent Design projects I have been working on. Can't post a lot of the Photo Illustration work due to legal stuffs but this I can post.

Very happy with the retro feel of the Barrio Tiger artwork. It is going to be nice to see that as actual real deal album art work. Not a CD, not download, but a real record. The Ditchweed sticker was fun because it's such a strong bright typographic image that still feel a bit country.

Fun stuff.

Nike Football goes live

[gallery link="file" columns="2"]The Project we did for Nike Football went live. The Nike Combat Overview image can be seem here. Multiple composites upon composites. The background plate had to be usable on it's own for wall murals. The uniforms are based upon illustrator files. Had to line up not only the lit and unlit shots but also a baselayer shot. The lit and unlit shots are all done with toning too.

By clicking on the player you can Explore the Uniform and see the individual images up close. I can not go into all the details here of the work, but I am quite proud of the texture of the pants.

This was a very fast turnaround of under a week for this whole project with the individual files being 80 megs when flattened and the group shots being 150 megs. So this was not done at web resolutions, this was done at painful 5 gig psd file sizes. Very fun and challenging project which we were very happy to be a part of.