INDUSTRY STANDARD SOFTWARES used in the creation, editing and post-production process within four different areas of Creative Media RESEARCH BY: MELANIE-JO MANGANI 1. PHOTO MANIPULATION SOFTWARES Photo manipulation softwares are applications that can be used to edit photos. Examples are: Photoshop, Lightroom, Affinity Photo, Pixlr and Gimp. Here is an explanation about one of them: PHOTOSHOP You want to make your photos as amazing as your memories? So, use photoshop! That is the main describtion used by Adobe for this software. Photoshop is a sofware used for professional photo editing created by Adobe Systems company. You can work on photoshop, both on Windows and Mac opertaing systems. The purpose of this software is to help us edit any kind of image – manipulate, crop, resize and colour correcting photos (only digital). Who should use photoshop? This software should be used by professional photographers and graphic designers. Technical Specifications / Technical Requirments Windows: 1.6GHz or faster processor Microsoft Windows 7/8/10 (64bit) 4GB of RAM 5GB of available space on hard-disk 1024x768 display resolution Microsoft Directx9 or 10 compatible display driver Mac OS: 64bit multicore intel processor Max Osx v10.10 or v10.11 6GB of RAM 5GB available harddisk space 1024x768 display resolution Advantantages of photoshop: • An new easy way how to organize photos: Photoshop let you import your photos quickly or even videos and then everything will be organized on the software itself. This will help you find the items more easy. • Quick Editing: Photoshop have the fascility of one-click edit. This will help the user to edit a photo with just one click. Example of one-click edit is skin tone adjustment. This will point out the benefit that a even a beginner can use this software even though training on how to use this software was not given to him. • Not only focused on photos: This software can also be used to edit videos. This method is used from professional video-editors since the process is a little bit complicated, but it can be done. • You can fix the errors: You can make a photo looks professional even though it was not taken with a professional camera. • There are various tools to choose from: There are many tools that will help you to be more creative and professional. Tools include: 1. Selection Tool (rectangular marquee, quick selection...); 2. Crop & Slice Tool (perspective crop, slice select...); 3. Drawing & Typing Tool (pen, horizontal type...) 4. Retouching Tool (clone stamp, healing brush) FIGURE 1: PHOTOSHOP WORKSPACE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWpx9HqJWrk Disadvantages of photoshop: • Very expensive: Adobe photoshop is one of the most expensive photo editing software. So, if you are not planning to edit your photos on professional basis, it is not worth it investing in it. There are lots of software that will help you simple edit your photos and there are offered for free! • Not suitable for beginners: Although it has the feature for quick editing, the photoshop was not in- vented for beginners. So, if you’re just a beginner, you can’t just sit down and start editing - you should do a training programme or watch tutorials on the internet. • Requires a lot of space: Photoshop requires a computer with a lot of available space, so it can’t be used on all computers. http://www.online-sciences.com/technology/adobe-photoshop-advantages-and-disadvantages/ and https://www.reference.com/hobbies-games/advantages-disadvantages-adobe-photoshop-ad- 789099e33cd153 Supported Files Formats in Photoshop Users can import, export and work with the below formats: Photoshop format (PSD) Photoshop 2.0 format Photoshop EPS format Photoshop Raw format Digital Negative format (DNG) BMP format (Windows standard) Cineon format (Kodak) IFF DICOM format (for medical images - ultrasounds or scans) GIF (for graphics) JPEG format Large Document Format (PSB) OpenEXR format PICT (Mac OS graphics) PDF (Standard PDF or Photoshop PDF) PNG format Pixar format (Professional graphics) Portable Bit Map format Radiance format (High definition Images) Scitex CT TIFF WBMP format More information about these extensions can be obtained from: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/ using/file-formats.html 2. VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARES Video editing softwares are softwares that allow users to edit videos clips. Examples of such softwares are: 1. Premiere Pro (Adobe) 2. Apple Final Cut Pro 3. Windows Movie Maker (Windows) 4. I-Movie (Apple) Here is an explanation about one of them: APPLE FINAL CUT PRO Final Cut Pro is a timeline based software application that its purpose is to create and edit videos. The main problem of this software is that it is only compatible with Apple devices, so it can’t be used on a windows laptop / pc. The picture below is showing how a final cut timeline (your editing space) looks like: FIGURE 2: FINAL CUT WORKSPACE TIMELINE https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/final-cut-pro/id424389933?mt=12 Who should use Final Cut Pro? This software should be used by professional video editors. Final Cur Pro main features includes: 1. Professional Video Editing 2. Effects (2d & 3d titles) and video transitions 3. Audtio Editing (including audio transitions / effects) 4. Colour Grading Technical Specifications / Technical Requirments Mac OS: OSx v10.10.4 or later 4GB of RAM 4.15GB of hard-disk space https://support.apple.com/kb/sp624?locale=en_US Advantages of Final Cut: • Final Cut is a very straight forward software used by experienced people in many fields, particularly in media. Straight forward means that a person doesn’t need an intensive training to use this programme. • The quality delivered from this software is very high: It has a vast variety of effects and transitions that makes the product looks professional. This thanks to many powerful tools that it includes for one to use. Then, when the project is finished you can export it with a professional resolution (apple pro res). As a result, final cut can be used to export broadcast footage (.mxf) • Audio-editing: Final cut gives you the fascility to edit your timeline audio, since it has a very good audio mixer / transitions with a very easy-to-use settings. • Colour Correction: When compared to other video editing softwares, this software has an improved colour correction settings. It also has more powerful tools for one • Users: Final Cut can be used from both beginners and professionals. • Exports: It can be used to export broadcast (.mxf) Disadvantages of Final Cut: Only for Mac OS: Unfortunely this software is only targeted to apple devices. It is a little bit difficult to install it on Windows pc. Supported Files Formats in Final Cut Pro Users can import, export and work with the below formats: VIDEO FORMATS Apple Intermediate codec Apple ProRes (all versions) AVCHD (including AVCCAM, AVCHD Lite, and NXCAM) H.264 AVC-ULTRA HDV DV (including DVCAM, DVCPRO, and DVCPRO50) DVCPRO HD iFrame Motion JPEG (OpenDML only) MPEG IMX (D-10) QuickTime formats REDCODE RAW (R3D) Uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2 Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2 Apple Animation codec XAVC (including XAVC-S) XDCAM HD/EX/HD422 XF-AVC AUDIO FORMATS AAC AIFF BWF CAF MP3 MP4 WAV STILL-IMAGE FORMATS BMP GIF JPEG PNG PSD (static and layered) RAW TGA TIFF CONTAINER FORMATS 3GP AVI MOV (QuickTime)MP4 MTS/M2TS MXF More information about these extensions can be obtained from: https://support.apple.com/kb/ PH12754?locale=en_US 3. SOUND EDITING SOFTWARES These are types of software which allows user to edit audio clips. Examples of these types of sofwares are: audiocity and adobe audition. Here is an explanation about one of them: ADOBE AUDITION Adobe audition is a software that is used to edit and mix sound clips created by Adobe Systems company. This programme is mostly used for production of music, radio broadcasting. To make users life easier, this programme offers a large variety of royalty-free music to be used as part of productions made by this software. Important thing to note is that originally this software was named ‘Cool Edit’ and then name changed to ‘Adobe Audition’. Features of this software includes: 1. Very professional sound editing 2. A vast selection of audio transitions and effects. Who should use this software? This software should be used by sound editors, radio presenters and music composers. Advantages of Adobe Audition: 1. Sound Removal Tool: Audtion give users the ability to remove noise very professionally. 2. Pitch Control Tool: Audtion control the pitch with a good control and with a great precision. 3. Loudness Radar: With the audition software, loudness can be adjusted based on a human hearing. As a result, human hearing models are provided to have more accurate results. Disadvantages of Adobe Audition: 1. Aimed only for sound / video editors: Since it is only focused on sound editing, it can’t be used by anyoned in the media sector. In addition, it is also aimed to professionals since it is a little bit hard to use. https://www.renderosity.com/adobe-audition-cc-in-review-cms-16778 Technical Specifications / Technical Requirments Mac OS: Intel Processor with 64bit support Versions 10.9 / 10 or 11 4GB of RAM 4GB of available space 1920x1080 display resolution Windows: Multicore processor with 64bit Windows 7 / 8 / 10 4GB of RAM 4GB of available space 1920x1080 display resolution https://helpx.adobe.com/audition/system-requirements.html Supported Files Formats in Adobe Audition Users can import, export and work with the below formats: AUDIO FILE FORMATS 64-bit doubles RAW (.raw, .dbl) 8-bit signed SAM (.sam)