A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day...11-14-03...California ~ The Golden State

Mama_Bear

[MeekOneGOP]

Mornin', everybody ! Happy Friday !

Have a cup while you Freep !

[MeekOneGOP]

Californee, huh ?? ...

[Mama_Bear]

Hiya, Meekie. :-)

[SerpentDove]

Pardon us while we talk "Photoshop"..:-)

If you'll notice on your Photoshop 7 tool bar, where I've highlighted here in red, there is a "Jump to Imageready" button.

If you click on that, your image will automatically open in Imageready, which is included as part of your Photoshop 7 package.

In Imageready, you can optimize your JPEGS to small size/high quality, visually. It's really not as complicated as it might sound.

If you've used Fireworks, it's similar. Very simple, very intuitive.

Also, you may separate images as frames in an animation, and select how long you want each frame to be seen.

None of this is as complicated as it might seem at first.

But the main thing is, you have Imageready already, and if you go to Imageready Help, you can be doing animations in a snap!

:-)

SD

[SerpentDove]

Mornin' Meek!

Pretty chilly FReepin' weather down here, eh?

[Mama_Bear]

Wow! Thank you. I will check that out.

One little question....does imageready also compress (for lack of a better word) the individual images into a single animated gif? I bought "GIF Movie Gear", tried preparing each graphic in photoshop and then uploading them to Movie Gear which will put them together in a single animation, but I have been having some problems getting the program to work just right. Anyway, you are saying I can do the entire thing in Photoshop?

This opens up a whole new world of possibilities, as soon as I get a few minutes I will check it out.

[SerpentDove]

I have never heard of GIF Movie Gear, but I can advise you to throw it away. LOL

It may be a fine program, but with Photoshop 7, you don't need it.

Yes, Imageready compresses it all into a single animated GIF and exports it. VERY easy.

To get started, you can place all your frames into a certain folder, then in Imageready, you do file/import/folder as frames and they automatically import as an animation. There is an animation pallette, with VCR controls, etc.

You set the sequence of how you want the frames to appear, plus the duration of each frame.

I think you can even import a layered file where each layer is a frame, but I've never done it that way yet.

Then you export as a GIF. It is VERY easy. It may take a LITTLE trial and error, but I don't think it will take you long.

You can be doing animations by lunchtime, probably. Let's see, California is two hours behind Texas, I think.

Yeah, by lunchtime, definitely. :-)

[JustAmy]

You've done an excellent job with California, Lori.

Though we studied California History in elementary school, the refresher course is wonderful.

After I get caught up, I will try to get some pictures scanned. Don't want to post what others have posted. Below is the coastline just south of Morro Bay.

[SerpentDove]

Now if GIF compresses VIDEOS it may be great to have.

Imageready doesn't do that, to my knowledge.

SD

[Mama_Bear]

You can be doing animations by lunchtime, probably. Let's see, California is two hours behind Texas, I think. Yeah, by lunchtime, definitely. :-)

LOL! Okie dokie, I will try it out....and I will let you know if or when I am able to create something. But it won't be by lunchtime. Heck, it probably won't even be by next week, but I will get to it eventually. I love working with graphics.

Thank you so much!

[JustAmy]

LOL

Thanks

[SerpentDove]

:-)

[Mama_Bear]

Now if GIF compresses VIDEOS it may be great to have.

I don't think so, it's a pretty simple, basic program. I think I will take your advice and toss it out. I didn't pay much for it...and, it's true, you do get what you pay for. :-)

Speaking of paying...I was at Staples the other day and looked at PhotoShop7 there, $699.00! We use photoshop in our business to retouch portraits and restore old photographs, and we DID pay a lot for it, but I don't think we paid that much!

[MeekOneGOP]

Yep ! We get cooler weather and just when I used to wearing more clothes (jeans vs shorts), it turns warmer again. And vice versa, lol ! That time of year !

[Mama_Bear]

Oh, that's a beautiful picture of the coast. I see some poppies in it too.

We try to get over to Morro Bay once a year....but it has been at least two years since we've been there. And, it's less than 2 hours away. :-(

[FreeTheHostages]

Ok, here's the details.

We got our Senate passes via a friend, a son of a Senator. It turns out that when we went, Wed. eve, that was unnecessary: they had enough space to give out passes to people who were just out on the street.

We got there at 11:45 and left around 1 a.m.

We heard Sen. Boxer -- over and over again with the 98% -- and then we heard Sen. Chambliss' very funny retort: "My wife wouldn't accept a 98% faithfulness record. I wouldn't want my food 98% free of e coli. And I don't think a 98% compliance with the Constitution is something my friends on the other side of the aisle should be boasting about."

Both Sen. Chambliss and Sen. Lindsey Graham "grew up" together politically in the House, part of Gingrich's revolution. And they were both there when we were there, obviously enjoying each other's company. Joking, whispering, their staffs consulting.

Sen. Hutchinson of Texas was a sight to behold! In person, wearing a bright red jacket with gold jewelry, she was a prim and proper as ever! Perfect demeanor: rigid, at attention, carefully watching the Dems as they talked. Once the Dems tried to pass their minimum wage bill when Sen. Hutchinson was on watch and talking, and even though she was whispering to someone else on the floor she plainly heard it and interrupted her own whisper to turn and address the Senate President and list her objection. Seems like a very efficient person.

Hmm, what else is there to say? Ah, yes, I suppose the dreadful part will all the self-important staff and pages that cluster around the Senators of both parties. These kids scare me. They're really too young, if I may say so, to be taken seriously, and yet they take themselves so seriously . . . . Sen. Boxer and the other Dems were really big on charts, and so you'd see in person -- it doesn't show on CSPAN -- all these self-important pages rushing around preparing the next chart, and you could even see through the cloak room doors the pages hurriedly arranging charts in there. There was plainly a chart war going between the Dems and the Republicans. The Dems were playing to CSPAN.

I would definitely say the following: it was apparent to me from the hour and a half that we stayed that the Republican Senators were operating in a more team-like fashion. They were consulting and whispering and coordinating. There were about 4 Republican and 3 Senators actually on the floor. (You gotta figure the rest were standing by in their officies, monitoring on CSPAN or the like.) The Democrats didn't seem to be coordinating. Like Boxer once went and whispered something in the senior Senator from New York's ear, and he seemed annoyed she was bothering him.

[The Thin Man]

Great job Mama Bear at regaling us with stories of California's interesting past.

Of course there is always a fly in the ointment.....

Hisortic Sutter Creek

:-)

[FreeTheHostages]

I would add, for those who regret being there, that from our up-above gallery positions, we weren't far from the CSPAN camera monitors and I could see what the monitors were showing. So don't feel bad -- CSPAN did a good job of showing you what was actually going on on the floor. There were just 3 or 4 Senators of each party, but when they weren't talking, there wasn't much to look at except the speaker and their charts. And that's what CSPAN neutrally broadcast. So I have to say the experience of being there was similar to the experience of watching it later the next day on CSPAN.

[FreeTheHostages]

oh -- and Sen. Boxer is *really* think. really really thin

[jwfiv]

Good morning, Mrs. Bear...such a beautiful tour of CA you've given us this morning...thank you....some vry nice pics in their...I've been to most corners of the state, at least in passing through...you've stirred a lot of good memories.

Good morning to all our lovely Hostesses and all the Finest...a thousand million blessings upon you all this very good Friday...)