Screen shot of DVIDS website - http://www.dvidshub.net
My first choice was from DVIDS (Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System). DVIDS is a site that hosts a multitude of video, images and podcasts of military experiences including interviews, news from soldiers, visuals from Iraq and Afghanistan, and a slew of other military/government related media. The DVIDS RSS news feed is a great way to keep track of news and media uploads. At work, we use DVIDS to integrate rich media elements relevant to topics in our training packages, and it really comes in handy when deadlines are strict. Besides the news feed, you can also subscribe to individual media elements such as video and images. One feature that I find useful is the ability to setup RSS feeds for keywords used in a search. Any video or image uploaded that has tags matching those keywords will automatically show up in the feed. This site is also being used exclusively for my action research project which focuses on the culture of Iraq. Since I wont be able to fly to Iraq to film or take pictures, this site is going to provide everything I need in terms of imagery.
My second choice was Digital Tutors, which is a video training website that offers advanced 3D and other types of software training similar to the skills needed in the professional world. This site helped me enhance my 3D skills needed for my job now and keeps me up to date on the latest techniques used in the professional world. They don't have an RSS feed, but they have a blog that Google Reader can also keep track of. The blog shows whats going to be available in the future for training and also shows news related to the 3D industry. The forums on the Digital Tutors website offer a huge wealth of information for software and RSS feeds associated for each topic. I went ahead and subscribed to the Maya general RSS feed, since Maya is the 3D application I use at home and at work. If you would like to learn more about Maya and its capabilities, check out the website here.
My third choice was the RSS feed for Adobe Flash. I have been using Flash for 11 years and currently use Flash CS4 at work. The RSS feed provides news, tips and tricks, and even bug fixes for various versions of Flash and other software that works with Flash. Whats great about the feed is it also provides information on Action Script, Flash's programming language. Although I have been using Flash professionally for some time now, there are still certain components Im still trying to grasp like the latest version of Action Script. So I think the Flash RSS feed will prove to be useful in the future while at work and at home.
Screenshot of Turbosquid website - http://turbosquid.com
Next up is Turbosquid. Turbosquid is a convenient source for 3D models, 3D animations and textures for use in multimedia projects. I help develop 3D models at work for promotional videos and training simulations and sometimes the project requires us to get models and animations out the door extremely fast. The site offers free models for download and more detailed models for purchase. The Turbosquid RSS feed lets me know whats happening on the site regarding updated policies on models, site design, and news relevant to the 3D industry.
My last choice was for iOS, Apple's operating system for mobile devices. I am starting to break into developing applications for the iPhone and iPad for personal use and for work. A couple of people at work have discussed the potential uses for our training on mobile devices, but wasn't sure how to get the process started. The IOS developer RSS feed informs me of updates to the developer software and provides updates to policies and procedures regarding the app store and developing content for Apple's mobile devices.
0 comments:
Post a Comment