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Synth Saturday: PPG Wave 2

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The PPG Wave and it’s follow ons the 2.2 and 2.3 are early analog/digital hybrid synths from the early 1980s. They use digital sample wavetables but also feature analog VCA envelope and VCF filter. It also had and onboard 8-track sequencer featured automation of pitch, loudness, filter cutoff, and waveforms it would also record any filtering and wave changes, in real-time.

Symmetrical Docking Friday (Week 179)

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What that? You say it’s Friday? Well I guess that means it’s Symmetrical Docking Friday Time!

One thing I thought I would never do see Digimon SDF. This is between Angewomon and Ladydevimon. And if you need help figuring out who is who, I have just one question to ask. Really?

image via sankakucomplex.com

Symmetrical Docking Friday (Week 178)

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Sorry for getting this weeks Symmetrical Docking Friday up a bit late but my work schedule has been all messed up.

This weeks SDF features a couple of girls from Super Real Mahjong on the original strip Mahjong games. Strip Mahjong games are basically Japan’s answer to Strip Poker video games.

image via sankakucomplex.com

Synth Saturday: Overtone

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Are you a computer geek who likes music? Can you program up a storm but haven’t time to learn a instrument? Well then Overtone just might be for you.

Overtone is an Open Source toolkit for creating synthesizers and making music. It uses a Clojure API to access the SuperCollider synthesis engine. It has a growing library of musical functions (scales, chords, rhythms, arpeggiators, etc.) with a metronome and timing system to support live-coding and sequencing.

This weeks FLOSS Weekly talked to Sam Aaron one of the lead programers of the project.

Symmetrical Docking Friday (Week 177)

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Another Friday has come which means it’s time for another docking.

This weeks Symmetrical Docking Friday features Chiba Kirino and Kuwahara Sayako from Bamboo Blade in that rare form of a non-colored SDF image.

image via sankakucomplex.com

Wacom Bamboo Create

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Of the personal projects that I’ve been working on has involved fixing up scans of old images. While I can do the work in Photoshop with just a mouse I’ve been wanting a tablet for quite sometime as there are things you can do with pen pressure and the like that is just not possible with a mouse.

So my Christmas present to myself was the Wacom Bamboo Create . The Crate is Wacom’s high end model of their Bamboo line of consumer tables. It’s MRSP is $199 but I was able to get it for $170 from Amazon, which sound like a lot until you realize that the low end of Wacom’s pro line starts at $229 for a smaller work area.

I’ve worked with a table before but that was quite some time ago and it’s takes some getting use to. The big thing is that it works very differently then a mouse. A mouse relative movement pointer device that why you get move pick up the mouse move syndrome. A table on the other hand is absolute device, every point on the table relates to one point on your screen. It takes some getting use too, but once I got working on the current image the advantages of pressure sensitivity make show that learning curve is going to worth it.

The other thing that I’m going to have to get use to is the way it works with my dual monitor setup. Basically it has three modes, both monitors, left monitor, or right monitor. In both screen mode my work area is cut in half as I have the image on the main monitor and the tools on the second one. But, it has the advantage that I can just jump over to the other monitor. In left or right mode it only work with one monitor at a time, this gives you the whole tablet to one monitor which give you a bit more horizontal fine movement. You are able to set one of the ‘ExpressKeys’ to switch between them but the problem is that instead of switching from one monitor to the other it cycles through the three modes, both, left, right. I’ll have to look into the driver settings and see if there is a way to change this.

The big problem I’m having right now thou has nothing to do with the tablet. It’s my desk, it simply too small for everything having one hand on the table and the other on the keyboard is a bit awkward at the moment. Hopefully that will change in the near future as the current plan is to take the tax return money and do a complete room make over. Which should include a bigger and better setup for the computer and it’s many accessories.

All in all it’s going to take some getting use to but I feel in the long run it’ll be well worth the money, and would recommend a tablet to anyone who wants to draw on their computer.

Symmetrical Docking Friday (Week 176)

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Another week. Another Docking. It’s Symmetrical Docking Friday time boys and girls.

For the first SDF of 2012 we have a couple of cute girls in Chinese Dress celebrating the New Year.

image via sankakucomplex.com