Happy Thursday everyone.  The new Layers TV episode is up, and I encourage you guys to either watch it on the web or subscribe and download it on iTunes. This week we have Corey playing around with Bevels in Illustrator and Richard Harrington giving us an overview of Alpha Channels in Premiere. Make sure you click the player on the right! It's short, and Suite (sorry.. couldn't help the pun).

Redesign Design - Richard Hanley, Caryn Leschen, and Hannah Schrag
Sometimes the best way for you to learn design theory is to see how other graphic designers would tackle a problem. Today's tutorial features work by three graphic designers. Richard, Caryn, and Hannah take a brochure from Great American Publishers and each of them rework the piece. You can see the before and after, and read comments from the designers by clicking on the link below:

Before and After - Great American Publisher

Layers TV Contest Winner
Congratulations to Angela Goldsbury for winning this past week's Layers TV contest!! You're headed off to Photoshop World with a brand new iPod Touch, AND a bunch of new books and prizes. Congratulations to all of you who entered!!! Something tells me that lightning may strike more than once over the next few weeks. Make sure you stay tuned.

The Flash Blog - Mouse Proximity Tutorial
Lee Brimelow over at The Flash Blog has got an interesting tutorial on Mouse Proximity effect. In short, the Flash file looks for the mouse.. and when it is close, a graphic pops and follows it. It is really cool stuff. If you want to check it out, make sure you go here:

The Flash Blog - Proximity Menu Example

That's it for today everyone! Have a great one. We'll see you here tomorrow!

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Happy Wednesday everyone. First off, I'd like to congratulate Josh Bradley on his upcoming book, The Official Nik Software Image Enhancement Guide. Josh has really gotten in there and turned over every leaf - giving you unprecedented detail on the use of some of the coolest enhancement software from Nik Software. I can't even begin to tell you how much time I've spent playing around on my computer with their stuff. I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention just how much time they've been able to save me with those very same plugins. So, here's to you Josh. Congratulations! I urge everyone to go out and, not only check his blog (great photography), but also give Nik Software a quick peek. You can pre-order the book from Amazon.com

Sean Duggan - Working with Noise
Sean Duggan's got a new tutorial online now talking about how to work with or deal with noise. Fact of the matter is, not everyone is going to be able to get the high ISO capabilities of the D3 or the D700(now there's a droolable camera). Because of that, you're going to need to know what you can do to manage the noise. Click on the link below to do just that.

Sean Duggan - Turn Down the Noise in Photoshop CS3

Logo Creation Walkthrough
AG Design has got a really cool piece on walking through a logo design process. It's always a treat to see how someone goes through one of the coolest parts of graphic design (IMHO). Click on the link below to check it out:

Logo Design Creation Process - Mark Misenheimer

That's it for today everyone. Keep on the lookout for Layers TV! We'll see you back here tomorrow AM.

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Bert Monroy - Artistic Expression
So, this morning we have a column from world famous illustrator Bert Monroy. What I particularly dig about this article is that he breaks down yet another component of one of my favorite works of his - Oyster Bar. This picture really is something that needs to be seen up close. Every single component of it is drawn in Photoshop or Illustrator - I mean detail. You can see the individual ripples of water. It's so intense.

The tutorial is wonderful, but if you want to experience more of the master at work, check out his new book, Photoshop Studio With Bert Monroy: Digital Painting. Click on the link below to get to the tutorial.

Bert Monroy - Artistic Expressions - Warp

Check out DAV's TechTable
While out in San Jose last week, I was turned on to a new blog that I am really digging. The blog is owned by Dave Helmly - Senior Business Development Manager for Video and Imaging Products at Adobe and it's called DAV's Tech Table. The Tech Table covers all things video from the Adobe side, so those of you who are Premiere inclined, this will be a great place to go.

That's gonna wrap it for today. Make sure you stay tuned for tomorrow morning for Layers TV!

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Happy Monday! Hope the weekend was productive for everyone. Me, I spent it flying back from San Jose where I attended a couple of meetings.. so the airport was my friend. That's not necessarily a problem however, because I have iTunes.

iTunes is for Everyone
You know, it still surprises me how many people associate iTunes with paying for music. Yes, there is a large component of the iTunes store that is used for paying for music, and that by itself is really cool. However, there are A LOT of people that use iTunes and don't buy a single song or video from them!

Let's take Layers TV for example. There are generally three options for you to view the show. The small version is here on the page. It's great when you want to check out stuff.. but it's small. If you click on the link to the larger version, the size goes up just a little bit, but it's better than the smaller version. Then there is iTunes.

If you have iTunes on your computer, all you have to do is go to the iTunes Music Store and type "Layers TV" in the search field at the top. This will bring up the show, and you can subscribe to the super-large version. What does that look like, you ask? Well, click on the graphic below and you'll see a big screen version of an After Effects tutorial.

Pretty big, huh? :) The thing I like the most about this larger size is that you can really see the screen and can distinguish what we are clicking on when we take you though an application tutorial. That is a big plus when you are trying to follow along. In the coming weeks you may even see an HD version of Layers TV on the iTunes site.

Layers TV on Your Coffee Break!
While I am on the subject - I have gotten a couple of emails from viewers about the speed of the tutorials. Yes, Corey and I are both aware that we sometimes go through the tutorials at a bit of a breakneck pace. Sometimes there is a lot of cool information that we want to get out to you - but we don't want to chew out the whole of your day in doing so. Our goal is to be able to show you some stuff in the amount of time you use to take a coffee break. It doesn't break your day, and if we go fast - we assume that you'll be able to pause the show, rewind, and go back to any part as much as you want. That's another reason why subscribing to the show in iTunes rocks.

Finally - another great reason for using iTunes is the exposure to all of the other shows out there. Going to the Podcast >Technology>Software How To> really is a gold mine. There are tons of different podcasts out there. You can have a bunch of subscriptions to really, really interesting content, learn an amazing amount, and it doesn't cost you a dime. Then, if you decide you want to get an iPod - you can totally sync the iPod for on-the-go work. Personally, I'm trying to make a case for getting the AppleTV - so I can watch some of my favorite podcasts right on the TV. Really - give iTunes a try.. it's going to be free. .and you'll totally love the podcast areas.

Click on the jump to get a cool Flash Button Tutorial and this week's Contest.

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Layers TV Contest - 16GB iPod Touch
Hey everyone. So, if you haven't checked out the bonus Layers TV episode on the Layers TV page, I highly suggest that you do. This week, we are giving away a brand new 16GB iPod Touch, a full conference pass to Photoshop World, AND while we are at it, a couple of books and magazines as well. It's a contest I am lovingly calling the 4-16-4. It's a ton of stuff, and it could be all yours for the taking. Make sure that you check out the Layers TV episode over on the right hand side. You'll be glad you did!

Chris Orwig on Lightroom
Chris Orwig has got a great tutorial on how to create stunning black and white images in Lightroom. Lightroom has quickly become the go-to program for working with bulk images, and it offers a very easy way to take those images from "OK" to "Wow". Click on the link below to get to the tutorial.

Chris Orwig - Create Stunning Black and White Images

Contest Winners
Congratulations to Joseph Sims for being the winner of this weeks contest! Way to go! Stay tuned next week for yet another contest.. i'm going to start giving it all away.

That's it for today everyone! Make sure you enter the Layers TV contest - you might just win a ton of stuff! I'll see you guys next week.
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