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The weekly Birdbath for July 2nd - 8th

July 2nd - 8th, 2011 by Cobra405/Mizagorn/Redstar/Mpeutz

Vibe to this supremely potent mix by Beamer2327. Like the best of MC's, Beamer uses Myna to mix multiple clips from no less than 7 QuantumTracks sources into a cohesive mix. It'll make you want to get out on the dance floor after quaffing a few rootbeers!

Definitely check out this Awesome Roc beat by Kajihi. She has created a mellow but still quite melodic beat using just a few notes. We sure would love to see her mix this along with other Roc creations into a full-blown Myna mix. It's gorgeous!

Another Peacock abstract contest has produced a batch of fantastic creations. Some of the most incredible creations are born form these abstract contests, where there are no limits to creating. You can join in on contests at our sister site Worth1000. Here are some winners and faves:

Most of you peeps have heard of Aviary's incredibly gifted artist called marksromano by now. He's already been featured in multiple Birdbaths, even though he's only been with us since April. A truly up and coming Phoenix wizard, your mouth will be agape from his use of colors, textures and photographic sources to create some truly stunning visual enjoyment. If you haven't before, now is the time to slowly peruse and marvel at a really wonderful gallery.

We are going to be adding a section that will highlight mentors and proteges from the Aviary mentoring program. We will periodically showcase the growth and progress from the week long mentoring session of brilliant teams.

This week's challenge is the Natural Terrain challenge set by Alpha13Wolf. In this episode, you were asked to create a natural landscape using the terrain hub within Peacock. The stunning power of the Peacock app and the skill of the artists are apparent with these brilliant terrain generated creations:

Alpha testing - just makes you want to be in the know as to what's going on. Catch up on the latest enhancements (and maybe even a little bit of birdish bug eating) to Aviary's suite of free art and music apps (hints - path filters in Raven & multiple clip selection in Myna) right here!

Groups are fun! Plus, they keep the public forums focused on just things art and music. For games and discussions outside of Aviary-related topics, there is no better way to relax, have a Facebook and Twitter kinda chat blast, exercise your god-like powers, and just get to know each other than by creating your own group. Here are some popular examples from the group FTMI (For The Musically Inclined):

Word Association Birthdays!!! Welcome to the Group

Remember the old versions of Time Magazine and Better Homes & Gardens publications? Even if you don't, ever wish you could easily make a retro looking version of your photo art? Maybe this isn't a real tutorial per se, but you gotta take a look at the latest from our now world-famous Blackbox Collection for Peacock: Retro Magazine Effect

 

Toucan Color Palettes

This week’s tip is the last in the Smart Layer series. Though it technically isn’t a real smart layer, the Toucan palette importer will allow you to have instant access to your saved Toucan colors in other applications, just like a smart layer!

[youtube width="550" height="344"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbyxRRS4db4[/youtube]

Let us know in a comment if you would like to see more video tips, and if there is something specific you would like us to cover.

Tip Tuesday - Toucan Color Palettes

This week's tip is the last in the Smart Layer series. Though it technically isn't a real smart layer, the Toucan palette importer will allow you to have instant access to your saved Toucan colors in other applications, just like a smart layer! [youtube width="550" height="344"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbyxRRS4db4[/youtube]

The Weekly Birdbath for June 25th - July 1st

 

June 25th - July 1st, 2011 by Cobra405/Mizagorn/Redstar/Mpeutz

 

 

 

Here is a short but very cool clip made by Luis_Aguilar. This would be a perfect intro to an Aviary music podcast or something.

An awesome mix from mvpalmer that uses the Vacoder instrument. Great chords and a mellow beat give this mix a cool vibe, and a great base to mix more over the top.

 

Universal Studios, Disneyworld, and Jimmy Buffet are not the only artistic things in Florida. Desaturation is the process of selectively removing part or all of the color in a photograph or image. So here's the tie-in: Our guy from the Sunshine State cypher15 has become quite good at using desat techniques in Phoenix to create interesting and emotional art. (And you thought desaturation was squeezing the water out of a sponge?) Cypher also uses the new Peacock Blackboxes very well, plus likes to dabble in the music apps. Be sure to stop by and visit this wonderful gallery of color and non-color. Leave some comments and say "hi" too!

 

 

As you know, we don't have an end date to our challenges and because of that, often what is old becomes new again. Thanks to Alpha13Wolf our 2 year old Surrealist Exquisite Corpse challenges are once again seeing the light of day. In this challenge, someone starts with an image and everyone who wants to play adds one additional hub. Follow the link to a whole lot fun. Thank you A13W, here is a preview of what has been created so far:

yellowstar24 is in the process of setting up a big music collaboration of Roc and Myna artists. The mission: "It will be Roc beats made by us imported and arranged in Myna." Be sure and check it out!

What a mover and a shaker! Yellowstar has also started a new Game Group. Go there and play fun games to get to know others in the forums beyond Aviary.

 

Tip - Audio Smart Layers

[youtube width="550" height="344"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtw2YJEntsk[/youtube]

Tip Tuesday - Audio Smart Layer

In this week's video tip, learn how you can use the Beats command to make, edit and mix your Roc music creations in the audio editor Myna. [youtube width="550" height="344"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtw2YJEntsk[/youtube]

Tip Tuesday - Effect Smart Layer

Learn how you can add bitmap effects to your Raven vectors with this week's video tip.

Tip Tuesday - Text Smart Layer

In this week's video tip, we cover how to get text into your Peacock creations! [youtube width="550" height="343"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edeip3e5GdQ[/youtube]

Tip Tuesday - Vector Masks

Over the next few week we will have video tips on the previously mentioned Smart Layers. These tip will showcase ways to utilize smart layers to extend the editing power of the applications. This weeks tip in on creating vector layer masks using Smart Layers. [youtube width="560" height="349"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVwJTAdFIdU[/youtube]

Tip Tuesday - Smart Layers Myna

Thrilled by the possibilities of Smart Layers in our online image editors, which we've been covering over the past couple weeks? Get ready to be even happier. Our online audio editor, Myna, has Smart Layers too! Though this functionality isn't exactly a layer, it works very similarly to the Smart Layers in the graphic editing applications.  Myna has a function that will let you create and edit beats from our Music creator Roc from within the audio editor, so there's no need to open a new window to create beats for your mix. It's very easy to make a Roc beat to add to your mix: just start by pressing the Beat button (the one nicely marked with a "New" banner). This will open the familiar Roc interface directly in Myna. Now you can create your beat just as you would in the standalone version of Roc. When you're done and want to add the beat to your mix, press the "Add Beat to Myna" button. You'll be prompted to save the beat before it adds it into the mix. You can also edit preexisting beats that you've added to Myna by right-clicking on them and choosing the "Edit Clip in Roc" option.

You will be warned if you try to add a Roc beat where a clip is already located. Just move the playhead to an empty location to continue.