This course spotlights the R13 update for MAXON CINEMA 4D, which includes some key improvements in the rendering, shader, and character tools Author Rob Garrott shows animators how to find their way around the interface, and demonstrates features such as the Physical Render engine with its camera and depth of field and motion blur controls; the CMotion system for creating parametric movement; and the new and revised shaders The course also covers the streamlined workflow for Adobe After Effects Exchange and the new file format options OpenEXR and Xref. Exercise files are included with the course

Author Tom Geller demonstrates how to use the Views module and other add-ons in Drupal to present dynamic, data-rich content. The course examines several real-world examples of effective data visualization and describes the Drupal data-storage model. The course also shows how to create, format, and style views; control access to data; improve data administration with Views Bulk Operations; and display content as custom maps and slide shows. Exercise files accompany the course.

One of the most exciting additions that HTML5 offers to designers is the ability to draw free-form graphics on a drawing surface known as the Canvas. In this course, author Joe Marini introduces the technical concepts behind Canvas and shows how to perform drawing operations directly in a web page. The course covers drawing basic and complex shapes, setting colors and styles, adding shadows, patterns, and gradients, more advanced techniques such as scaling, rotating, and compositing objects, and how to incorporate Canvas elements in a slideshow and an animation. Exercise files are included with the course.

In Photoshop for Designers: Color, Nigel French focuses on the tools and features in Photoshop designed for choosing, applying, and editing color. The course looks at concepts such as the color wheel and color harmonies as well as the practicalities of using the Color Picker, leveraging the power of color channels, and the characteristics of different color modes in Photoshop. The course includes exercises on correcting color, enhancing color, shifting and replacing colors, working with spot color channels, hand coloring black and white images, and designing with a reduced color palette. Exercise files are included with the course.

Flash and Actionscript are ideal for creating flexible, easily updatable web sites that are both unique in design and small in file size. In Creating a Portfolio Web Site Using Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Certified Instructor Paul Trani shows how to exploit Flash to create a web site that showcases work to clients and prospective employers. Find out how to add dynamic navigation, animation, and video to a page, and how to load, sort and display XML that enables portfolio content to be updated without opening Flash. This course is designed to take your existing tweening skills and gotoAndPlay code and walk away with a fully functional Flash site. Exercise files accompany the course.

Author Todd Perkins uses Objective-C and Xcode to build Mole It!, a full-featured game app for the iPhone and iPad that can be downloaded for free from the iOS App Store. The finished app implements Game Center functionality as well as channels for generating revenue. The course introduces the open-source gaming framework cocos2d and explains the fundamental classes necessary for creating a game. The course also shows how to incorporate multi-touch capabilities, customize a game's appearance, set up iAds and in-app purchasing, and configure leaderboards that record and display scores. Exercise files accompany the course.

One of the keys to mastering Photoshop is understanding the multitude of filters that comes with the program. In Photoshop Filters, instructor Peter Bauer starts by discussing what filters are and how they work, then moves on to explain the specifics of each of Photoshops built-in filters. Peter explores each filter group step by step, and also shows how to combine filters for one-of-a-kind effects.