Best Batch .DDS File Converter

Well, finally I am getting back to blogging again and a lot has happened since my last post. I have a new job helping design an Xbox 360 game / Audio Engineering  and I have to admit it has been amazing. It is a dream job and feel like I am the most fortunate person in the world to participate in it. For the last couple of months I have not only been busy doing lots of R&D for the game engine and asset creation etc…, but also getting used to being a dad :)  also I wanted to wait to blog about something that pertains to my new job and 3d too. Well, one thing I have been doing lots of is UV Mapping and texturing for our game prototypes and using 3ds max 2009 to do it. In order to get the most optimized texture file that includes an Alpha Channel and MIP Map Settings embedded in it you will quickly see the benefit of the .dds file, not to mention you can have a 5 mb file be compressed to 600k roughly. That is a big difference and that means you have store more files in a limited storage space. What is a .dds file you ask? Well I found a good definition that might help clarify it for you:

QUOTE - “The DirectX Texture tool-DxTex's native file format is called "DDS" file format because it encapsulates the information in a DirectDrawSurface.
This format is easy to read and write and supports features such as alpha (Pixel opacity info) and multiple mipmap levels, as well as DXTn compression.
The DDS file format is used to store textures and cubic environment maps, both with and without mipmap levels. This format can store uncompressed and compressed pixel formats, and is the preferred file format for storing DXTn compressed data. Other than DxTex, this file format is supported by some third party tools, and by the Direct3D extensions (D3DX) library.”

Also read this definition: http://www.modwiki.net/wiki/DDS_(file_format)

Well, I have been using Ghost Painter and C4D Bodypaint R4 to paint over seams from the finished UV sets. It just so happens that currently in order to paint a texture in 3d you can use most every format except the .dds texture format. This results in the need for a conversion from say a .tga file to .dds. Not a big problem for small work but in a real game and a production pipeline .dds is what the file needs to be in. Also you might find yourself doing a .tga sequence for say a water ripple or anything that moves and you will also need to convert these .tga files into .dds. Doing this one by one is a massive loss of time and the need for a batch .dds converter comes in. I have done quite a bit of research into what apps allow batch .dds conversion and there are some that are good and some that are not. I will spare you the time and just mention the one that is best  - The Compressonator

ATI - The Compressonator - http://developer.amd.com/gpu/compressonator/Pages/default.aspx

I found this ATI batch conversion tool to be by far better and more stable than the other .dds file converters. You can find others by doing a Google Search but they are unstable and sometimes result in weird conversions. Also the NVidia Photoshop is ok but it makes Photoshop behave weirdly and has some latency issues not to mention it is only one at a time conversion so I try not to use it.

Overview

What's New in Version 1.41

• Maintenance release.
• Fixes to Microsoft D3D10 BCn compression.

What's New in Version 1.40

• New D3D10Compressor plugin for compression to D3D10 BC1-BC5 compressed texture formats.
• Support for the D3D10 texture formats.
• Improved compatibility with plugins build with old versions of Plugin SDK.
• Added command line options for setting MinMipSize & MaxMipLevels.
• Various bug fixes.

Important Notes

A tool for compressing textures and creating mip-map levels.
The results of compression can be visualized by comparing the original and the compressed textures.
Textures (and directories containing textures) can be explicitly compared to other textures or directories.
Also, you can batch compress any number of textures.
There are several types of compression available: DirectX and Grayscale texture compression in addition to palletized texture decoding.
The options for these methods can be set from dialogs.
When comparing textures, the intensity of difference can be increased by as much as 3200%.

» Reference ATI_Compress
» Download

 

Related Sites:

http://www.katsbits.com/htm/tutorials/create_dds_ati_compressonator.htm

http://developer.nvidia.com/object/nv_texture_tools.html

http://eliteforce2.filefront.com/file/DDS_Converter;29412

http://files.filefront.com/DDS+Converter+2+10/;3577988;/fileinfo.html

Flex 3 Regular Expression Explorer – By: Ryan Swanson

Just the other day my friend and super Flex Developer Ryan Swanson released an online Regular Expression Explorer for Flex 3. He has done an excellent job in developing this application and find it to be a very useful tool for doing RegEx in Flex. If you are doing RegEx in your ActionScript code then this tool Ryan built will prove to be extremely helpful.

Check it out: http://blog.ryanswanson.com/2008/10/introducing-flex-3-regular-expression.html

Google Chrome and Flex Deep Linking Don’t Work Well Together

Of course I installed the new Google Chrome browser and tested all my web pages in it. For the most part all my sites worked but I did see lots of other people’s site break. Whatever, that’s not important really, what is important is that if you use any Flex Component that uses the Deep Linking built in Like the Tab Navigator you will immediately notice that the tab acts all weird and doesn’t really seem to work right. Yeah that’s probably because the JavaScript being used from the Flex BrowserManager and HistoryManager objects is not compatible going out to the external interface. Anyway’s now you now that currently there is weirdness between Google Chrome and the Flex Deep Linking functionality.

Related Articles:

http://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/SDK-16697

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/communityengine/index.cfm?event=showdetails&postId=9563&productId=2

http://blog.everythingflex.com/2008/09/03/google-chrome-initial-experience/

Adobe AIR Installer Seen As Trojan Horse By Free AVG Anti-Virus

I just installed the new Adobe Acrobat Reader 9 from the official Adobe website and sure enough during the install my anti-virus program which is AVG saw it as a Trojan Horse Threat. This can only mean a few things really. Either AVG just got it all wrong and mis-detects the AIR executable or It really is a Trojan. All I can say is if they keep making programs like the Adobe Updater service, then chances are Adobe AIR Installer.exe really is a Trojan. Some of Adobe’s installs are ok, but you just might get an Adobe app that could bog down your system.

Need a Good Browser Proxy? Use HttpFox.

The other day while developing our Flex app at work I needed to do some detective work to see what was coming through during the service calls. Normally I just use Charles which is a great app all on its own. However I kept having certificate issues all over the place and things didn’t exactly work as I needed on this particular occasion. So I did some research and found a really handy add-on for Firefox called HttpFox by Martin Theimer. I installed it, restarted my browser and used it immediately without any issues. It worked nicely and just thought I’d pass along the info to any of you looking for good Web / Http Analyzers. This great thing about HttpFox is it’s free. It works works well and works right in your browser. So if you all you need is a browser proxy for your Flex Development or any web development for that matter, then this might work well for you. Below is a description of what HttpFox does for you:

Description:

HttpFox monitors and analyzes all incoming and outgoing HTTP traffic between the browser and the web servers.

It aims to bring the functionality known from tools like HttpWatch or IEInspector to the Firefox browser.
Information available per request includes:
- Request and response headers
- Sent and received cookies
- Querystring parameters
- POST parameters
- Response body

Add-On Download: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6647

Homepage: http://code.google.com/p/httpfox/

Interview with Diode A.K.A ( Alex Alejandro ) – Drum and Bass Producer

I recently had the pleasure of do a really fun interview / chat with Alex Alejandro A.K.A Diode and Dominic Sagona. Dominic and I basically had the opportunity to ask Alex all about his music production and his thoughts on music right now and what he’s been up to. This happened to be a pretty informal interview but I think anyone really into Drum and Bass and his music will like to read this. Alex is a really nice person to talk to and is really forthright in his techniques. He was more than willing to talk and I have a feeling we’ll be hearing more from him in the future because this dude is one sick producer. Well, if you into the goods on hearing how people make their Drum and Bass and you like Diode’s music style then keep readin cuz there some good information here.

 

Group Chat with Alex Alejandro – Diode

diodednb = Alex Alejandro

lizardkingunseen = Dominic Sagona

frankiemilkshoes = Frankie Loscavio

 

lizardkingunseen (9:21:00 PM): aight so alex
frankiemilkshoes (9:21:00 PM): hehe
lizardkingunseen (9:21:02 PM): you're from
lizardkingunseen (9:21:04 PM): where is it
lizardkingunseen (9:21:06 PM): Massachusetts?
diodednb (9:21:19 PM): good ol gray MASSASSASSSASSS
diodednb (9:21:30 PM): yeah Worcester, Massachusetts
frankiemilkshoes (9:21:43 PM): go sox
lizardkingunseen (9:21:49 PM): i think I've been to Boston for over a night, but never enough time to really get the feel of it.  So i mean, what's it like out there?
diodednb (9:22:01 PM): yeah bye bye  Manny  you guys can have him
diodednb (9:22:44 PM): well... life.. its kinda hectic.. everybody is stressed. more bills less money idea  I guess..
diodednb (9:22:51 PM): dnb its kinda slow..
diodednb (9:23:05 PM): I mean. there's a scene. just not super active.
diodednb (9:23:14 PM): Worcester has NO scene what so ever.. just me.
frankiemilkshoes (9:23:26 PM): it seems like it's kinda tough to make a living being a D&B producer
diodednb (9:24:15 PM): well yeah it is.. there really isn't much money in production.. you can get tracks signed but its not like you're gonna go platinum.. That goes for Any scene really. Money is in the shows you do.
lizardkingunseen (9:24:40 PM): ya man its seems like its a struggle even you have to work part time don’t you?
frankiemilkshoes (9:25:07 PM): where do you find the time to make all these tracks I've heard
lizardkingunseen (9:25:12 PM): ya man
lizardkingunseen (9:25:14 PM): he's even bgot
lizardkingunseen (9:25:23 PM): some electro ones
frankiemilkshoes (9:25:28 PM): all of them top notch too
lizardkingunseen (9:25:29 PM): he does his design work on the side
frankiemilkshoes (9:25:42 PM): ahhh i see
lizardkingunseen (9:25:43 PM): pretty crazy seems like you got a full plate!
lizardkingunseen (9:25:56 PM): and you work at Lowe's too right?
lizardkingunseen (9:26:07 PM): and have a little girl?
diodednb (9:26:09 PM): yeah
diodednb (9:26:13 PM): man. don't remind me.
lizardkingunseen (9:26:19 PM): nah man that's tough to do
frankiemilkshoes (9:26:23 PM): amazing you do all of this
lizardkingunseen (9:26:26 PM): i don’t know how you juggle it all its impressive bro
diodednb (9:26:30 PM): I work full time as a manager with Lowe's.
lizardkingunseen (9:26:48 PM): seriously, do you sleep
lizardkingunseen (9:26:49 PM): lol
diodednb (9:26:55 PM): 4 hours a day.
lizardkingunseen (9:26:58 PM): ahahah
lizardkingunseen (9:27:04 PM): ok so lets get down to some of your music
diodednb (9:27:13 PM): fall asleep at 11 and wake up at 3:30
diodednb (9:27:16 PM): k
lizardkingunseen (9:27:17 PM): what releases have you got on the way?
diodednb (9:27:58 PM): Currently, Close 2 Death Records from England are to release "Krion" backed by "The Skull"
lizardkingunseen (9:28:27 PM): that skull tune is the newer one right.   definitely some heat.
diodednb (9:28:29 PM): Axis Audio from LA picked up "Bit Rusher" for an MP3 Release.
frankiemilkshoes (9:28:37 PM): sick
diodednb (9:28:42 PM): yeah the skull rocks man. first tune on fruity loops
lizardkingunseen (9:28:53 PM): ya you seemed to bounce to that just recently
frankiemilkshoes (9:28:57 PM): ahhh I'm glad you mentioned what you are using
lizardkingunseen (9:28:57 PM): i think you did to right Frankie?
diodednb (9:28:57 PM): yeah man
lizardkingunseen (9:29:07 PM): i cant get the gist of it
diodednb (9:29:08 PM): its so much better than reason
lizardkingunseen (9:29:11 PM): I'm all reason logic'ed out
diodednb (9:29:17 PM): yeah..
diodednb (9:29:19 PM): logic too
frankiemilkshoes (9:29:26 PM): Alex do you find FL Studio to be a useful tool for you
lizardkingunseen (9:29:27 PM): you'll have to show me a couple things been interested in it
diodednb (9:29:33 PM): reason is an amazing sequencer.. but I can't get my sound "clean"
frankiemilkshoes (9:29:45 PM): yeah kind "reasony"?
diodednb (9:29:53 PM): yeah
lizardkingunseen (9:29:59 PM): i think a lot of reason producers have this issue
diodednb (9:30:02 PM): their sound engine isn't the greatest.
lizardkingunseen (9:30:06 PM): and i think a lot of the time you can almost spot a reason track
frankiemilkshoes (9:30:09 PM): i have talked to a lot who say this
diodednb (9:30:10 PM): that's why ALLLLLLl jump up sounds the same..
diodednb (9:30:15 PM): they all use reason
frankiemilkshoes (9:30:34 PM): I think it's important for people to know how you work. people love to know
diodednb (9:30:46 PM): you're right Dom. you can tell when a tune was made in reason.
diodednb (9:30:48 PM): yeah man
frankiemilkshoes (9:30:59 PM): you have a very clean sound with twisted synths
diodednb (9:31:16 PM): most people are surprised when I say I write in reason.
lizardkingunseen (9:31:19 PM): ya man
lizardkingunseen (9:31:22 PM): i was definitely blown away
lizardkingunseen (9:31:26 PM): when i found that out
diodednb (9:31:29 PM): but I think I've pushed it as far as I can.
lizardkingunseen (9:31:43 PM): I can’t believe you make some of the stuff sound the way it does
lizardkingunseen (9:31:43 PM): in that
frankiemilkshoes (9:32:11 PM): yeah it's super fresh and very clean
lizardkingunseen (9:32:11 PM): what is it in fruity loops that makes it sound better than Reason eh engine or devices?
diodednb (9:32:11 PM): thx
diodednb (9:32:20 PM): the engine
lizardkingunseen (9:32:24 PM): ah ok
frankiemilkshoes (9:32:25 PM): totally i agree 100%
diodednb (9:32:27 PM): and the vst capabilities
frankiemilkshoes (9:32:30 PM): their engine is very good
diodednb (9:32:52 PM): the Maximus Soundgoodizer
diodednb (9:32:54 PM): love it
frankiemilkshoes (9:32:58 PM): I think alot of people might ask how you do your automation in Fl Studio compared to how you used to work in Reason
diodednb (9:33:06 PM): oh man...
diodednb (9:33:10 PM): Its so much harder
lizardkingunseen (9:33:26 PM): ya
lizardkingunseen (9:33:29 PM): when i got into fruity loops
diodednb (9:33:34 PM): you see. Reason is created for EASE OF USE... Fruity is just a regular DAW.
lizardkingunseen (9:33:37 PM): i couldn’t get all my sequencing and automation
lizardkingunseen (9:33:39 PM): down i gave up
frankiemilkshoes (9:33:40 PM): that seems to be the major diff in editing
frankiemilkshoes (9:33:53 PM): and i am so curious how you achieve it in FL Studio
lizardkingunseen (9:34:15 PM): ya any particular tips
lizardkingunseen (9:34:26 PM): or pointers you want to share as far as the fruity loops thing goes?
diodednb (9:34:26 PM): well what has helped is that in FL Studio 8. They have a sequencer now that is similar to reason..
lizardkingunseen (9:34:32 PM): really?
diodednb (9:34:32 PM): hmm..
diodednb (9:34:38 PM): yeah its great!
lizardkingunseen (9:34:42 PM): ill have to try it again
lizardkingunseen (9:34:45 PM): but i mean
diodednb (9:34:46 PM): event for automation
lizardkingunseen (9:34:50 PM): was it a seamless transition
diodednb (9:34:50 PM): even*
lizardkingunseen (9:34:53 PM): for you to go from
lizardkingunseen (9:34:54 PM): reason
lizardkingunseen (9:34:56 PM): to fruity loops
diodednb (9:34:58 PM): NO!
diodednb (9:35:03 PM): man..
lizardkingunseen (9:35:03 PM): i mean can you really get around and do everything like you could in reason
lizardkingunseen (9:35:04 PM): now?
diodednb (9:35:06 PM): its the vsts
diodednb (9:35:15 PM): nah I can't...
lizardkingunseen (9:35:19 PM): are you using lots of third party vsts?
diodednb (9:35:23 PM): There isn't a Malstrom in fruity haha
lizardkingunseen (9:35:27 PM): hahaha
frankiemilkshoes (9:35:29 PM): yeah but Sytrus?
diodednb (9:35:37 PM): too hard for me to get
lizardkingunseen (9:35:43 PM): takes time
diodednb (9:35:51 PM): I have a better chance with Absynth, Albino, and Virus
frankiemilkshoes (9:36:05 PM): i mean for me after reason I was kinda like wtf I have to make a new layer for every switch
frankiemilkshoes (9:36:14 PM): or a huge piano roll
lizardkingunseen (9:36:18 PM): do you use those for most your sounds?
diodednb (9:36:30 PM): yeah over course..
diodednb (9:36:35 PM): short piano rolls..
lizardkingunseen (9:36:36 PM): ya that's what Frankie tells me about fruity loops a new layer for a switch up?
lizardkingunseen (9:36:39 PM): lame
diodednb (9:36:45 PM): well..
diodednb (9:36:54 PM): its like reason now....
lizardkingunseen (9:37:05 PM): and you've only been on it
lizardkingunseen (9:37:08 PM): for id say maybe a month now
lizardkingunseen (9:37:12 PM): so that's a pretty quick turn around time
frankiemilkshoes (9:37:28 PM): wow
diodednb (9:37:37 PM): in the sense that you have your drums. Which is a layer.. then the bass. and you know how you have your color boxes in reason? with the midi?
diodednb (9:37:40 PM): its the same deal
diodednb (9:37:54 PM): except with out the color.
lizardkingunseen (9:37:57 PM): but what about
lizardkingunseen (9:38:01 PM): all the wiring and stuff like that
lizardkingunseen (9:38:12 PM): like in reason.  you can really manipulate
diodednb (9:38:22 PM): yeah.. in Fruit you can as well.
lizardkingunseen (9:38:23 PM): what you want to do with signal flow and all that.  how does that compare in fruity loops?
lizardkingunseen (9:38:32 PM): was that easy to pick up?
diodednb (9:38:54 PM): they have the option to make a "patter" unique.. so it clones your pervious pattern so you can edit easier.
frankiemilkshoes (9:39:01 PM): ahhh nice
diodednb (9:39:08 PM): signal flow?
diodednb (9:39:10 PM): what do you mean
frankiemilkshoes (9:39:16 PM): ahhh like the rack device chain?
diodednb (9:39:24 PM): AH
lizardkingunseen (9:39:28 PM): well you know like how you open your compressor for instance first, then like your EQ or whatever
lizardkingunseen (9:39:44 PM): but you can switch the order they run though just buy moving them up or down
lizardkingunseen (9:40:00 PM): or split them up to run to other stuff with the spider
lizardkingunseen (9:40:01 PM): etc
frankiemilkshoes (9:40:01 PM): oh in the effect chain you mean?
lizardkingunseen (9:40:06 PM): ya
diodednb (9:40:28 PM): its easier in fruity
diodednb (9:40:37 PM): makes less, "visual" mess
diodednb (9:41:06 PM): the only thing that sucks is the Auxiliary Sends.. I don't think they help at all in FL8
frankiemilkshoes (9:41:18 PM): i am curious alex how you automate your third party vst's. it seems like you use a lot of fatty synth tweaks a lot
diodednb (9:41:27 PM): no no no
diodednb (9:41:28 PM): I don't
lizardkingunseen (9:41:34 PM): resample?
diodednb (9:41:36 PM): I can't figure it out tbh.
diodednb (9:41:38 PM): yeah
frankiemilkshoes (9:41:47 PM): ahhh gotcha
lizardkingunseen (9:41:49 PM): it takes tons more CPU to leave them open
diodednb (9:41:49 PM): I edit resample. edit resample
diodednb (9:41:55 PM): oh my god
lizardkingunseen (9:41:57 PM): geeez
frankiemilkshoes (9:41:59 PM): oh so you bounce back and forth?
lizardkingunseen (9:42:00 PM): that's so much work
lizardkingunseen (9:42:05 PM): i cant be bothered to do that
diodednb (9:42:07 PM): CPU. I'm actually gonna buy a new pc soon cuz of fruity alone
frankiemilkshoes (9:42:14 PM): WOW
frankiemilkshoes (9:42:25 PM): I'm personally glad to see your on pc hehehe
lizardkingunseen (9:42:33 PM): ya i over heard Ketek from different breed saying something about that.  what are you thinking about getting?
diodednb (9:42:33 PM): its cheaper
lizardkingunseen (9:42:36 PM): i was about to say
lizardkingunseen (9:42:40 PM): you're a pc guy frank
diodednb (9:42:42 PM): not all of use are loaded like Sagona here
frankiemilkshoes (9:42:47 PM): hehehe
lizardkingunseen (9:42:50 PM): fuck off!
frankiemilkshoes (9:42:53 PM): LOL
diodednb (9:42:58 PM): hah
lizardkingunseen (9:42:59 PM): i wish i was loaded i Rollerblade for a living
lizardkingunseen (9:43:00 PM): remember
lizardkingunseen (9:43:01 PM): lol
lizardkingunseen (9:43:14 PM): id make more money selling oranges on the corner like alex
diodednb (9:43:16 PM): you get loaded for sure tho
frankiemilkshoes (9:43:22 PM): hehehe
lizardkingunseen (9:43:33 PM): ahha ya you went complaining for weeks talking like you needed to see the doctor!!
lizardkingunseen (9:43:34 PM): ahahahah
diodednb (9:43:43 PM): its true
frankiemilkshoes (9:43:43 PM): i heard Noisia used albino for a synth sound that almost overloaded their machine
diodednb (9:43:57 PM): ha
lizardkingunseen (9:44:01 PM): lol
diodednb (9:44:03 PM): i have some Noisia presets
frankiemilkshoes (9:44:09 PM): just that one sound
diodednb (9:44:12 PM): their pc must suck
frankiemilkshoes (9:44:14 PM): alone took all the CPU
lizardkingunseen (9:44:16 PM): yar they're cool there's a  lot of good presets in there
diodednb (9:44:26 PM): with was the effects.. reverb does that
frankiemilkshoes (9:44:44 PM): have you ever used rewire with FL Studio
diodednb (9:44:44 PM): it was*
diodednb (9:44:48 PM): nah
diodednb (9:44:52 PM): I'm thinkin about it
diodednb (9:44:57 PM): but I don't know if I'll like it
lizardkingunseen (9:44:59 PM): man when you get your new PC
diodednb (9:45:05 PM): Cubase with reason is AWESOME
lizardkingunseen (9:45:06 PM): you might dig it, but i dont know
lizardkingunseen (9:45:11 PM): if you even need to
lizardkingunseen (9:45:15 PM): since fruity runs vst
lizardkingunseen (9:45:22 PM): that's kind of the whole point with rewiring with reason
frankiemilkshoes (9:45:24 PM): yeah man we just got Cubase here and we use it fl studio rewired
diodednb (9:45:25 PM): I'd rather use Cubase with reason.
frankiemilkshoes (9:46:03 PM): have you ever done any releases with artist that you totally look up to?
diodednb (9:46:51 PM): nope
diodednb (9:46:54 PM): not yet
lizardkingunseen (9:47:07 PM): how about Spor?  don’t you really want to work with him?
frankiemilkshoes (9:47:12 PM): i think it's safe to say that could happen soon
diodednb (9:47:20 PM): I mean.. I respect the ones I have released with
frankiemilkshoes (9:47:27 PM): yeah yeah
diodednb (9:47:28 PM): Cooh is my buddy and an AMAZING producer..
frankiemilkshoes (9:47:36 PM): yeah he's sick
diodednb (9:47:45 PM): but you know.. I'd love to work with "the upbeats"
frankiemilkshoes (9:47:51 PM): awesome!
lizardkingunseen (9:48:00 PM): that’d be an interesting combo
diodednb (9:48:01 PM): I've always been into their stuff
diodednb (9:48:05 PM): yeah
lizardkingunseen (9:48:10 PM): what other artists are you keen on?
frankiemilkshoes (9:48:17 PM): would be cool to hear that come together
diodednb (9:48:20 PM): probably wouldn't work but would be great to learn
diodednb (9:48:27 PM): APEX
lizardkingunseen (9:48:29 PM): way different styles
lizardkingunseen (9:48:36 PM): ya you and apex would work well
diodednb (9:48:40 PM): yeah
diodednb (9:48:46 PM): Spor maybe..
diodednb (9:48:52 PM): Noisia.. Phace...
diodednb (9:49:03 PM): remix a pendulum tune
lizardkingunseen (9:49:10 PM): eheh that would be a fun one
diodednb (9:49:16 PM): hazard...
lizardkingunseen (9:49:18 PM): have you done lots of rmxs?
frankiemilkshoes (9:49:21 PM): I'm curious. if you where to work with someone on a project and they used a totally diff tool than you. would you learn what they use and rock it?
diodednb (9:49:26 PM): I know that's jump up but I like it
diodednb (9:49:36 PM): yeah
frankiemilkshoes (9:49:38 PM): how does that work
diodednb (9:49:39 PM): man I'm a quick study
diodednb (9:50:00 PM): and like "Edgey" once told me. they're all tools man. just gotta learn em and use em.
frankiemilkshoes (9:50:15 PM): WAIT YOU KNOW EDGEY?
diodednb (9:50:25 PM): I use to talk to him a LONG time ago
diodednb (9:50:32 PM): was a cool cat. dunno what he's doin
frankiemilkshoes (9:50:32 PM): oh man i loved his tracks
diodednb (9:50:44 PM): I think he went more gabber style..
lizardkingunseen (9:50:50 PM): wow am i out of the loop whos Edgey?
diodednb (9:50:56 PM): yeah his drum'n'bass was nasty
diodednb (9:51:04 PM): Edgey is a cat from NY
diodednb (9:51:08 PM): Edgey.net
lizardkingunseen (9:51:13 PM): nice!
diodednb (9:51:16 PM): if he still has it up
frankiemilkshoes (9:51:21 PM): yeah he was ahead of his time
frankiemilkshoes (9:51:47 PM): and really you are too in the kind of D&B we listen to
frankiemilkshoes (9:52:05 PM): i listened to your mixes and tracks and really you do make some great tunes
frankiemilkshoes (9:52:24 PM): how has music played a role in your life up to now?
diodednb (9:52:49 PM): its my pass time man.
diodednb (9:52:52 PM): i love it
frankiemilkshoes (9:53:03 PM): did you grow up on the computer?
diodednb (9:53:08 PM): I wish I could do it full time and travel the world
frankiemilkshoes (9:53:09 PM): or in traditional music?
diodednb (9:53:12 PM): ummm
diodednb (9:53:16 PM): not at all man
lizardkingunseen (9:53:24 PM): how long have you been writing for?
diodednb (9:53:24 PM): I was a into graffiti and breakdancing
frankiemilkshoes (9:53:29 PM): nice
diodednb (9:53:31 PM): no musical talent in my family
frankiemilkshoes (9:53:47 PM): well you play a mean computer
diodednb (9:53:50 PM): I started in ... .2000 for fun on the mtv music generator.
lizardkingunseen (9:53:51 PM): ahha
lizardkingunseen (9:53:58 PM): wasn’t that a Playstation thing?
frankiemilkshoes (9:54:03 PM): hahahahaha
frankiemilkshoes (9:54:58 PM): when you make your drum sequences do you have any tips for peeps trying to make their music sound better?
frankiemilkshoes (9:55:14 PM): your hits are hard and clean
diodednb (9:55:20 PM): um.
diodednb (9:55:27 PM): don't be a pussy
lizardkingunseen (9:55:30 PM): ahahah
frankiemilkshoes (9:55:33 PM): HAHAHAHAHAHA
lizardkingunseen (9:55:36 PM): well when you were here
diodednb (9:55:36 PM): don't be an asshole either
lizardkingunseen (9:55:38 PM): you were telling me
diodednb (9:55:38 PM): you know
lizardkingunseen (9:55:41 PM): don’t over process
diodednb (9:55:45 PM): right
lizardkingunseen (9:55:47 PM): and you were doing very minimal processing?
diodednb (9:55:57 PM): you need to keep it simple..
diodednb (9:56:04 PM): if you're sample sucks... don't use it
frankiemilkshoes (9:56:16 PM): right. like a low res picture
diodednb (9:56:23 PM): exactly
frankiemilkshoes (9:56:25 PM): trying to use it for a poster
lizardkingunseen (9:56:27 PM): cant polish a turd
diodednb (9:56:44 PM): you can but it'll still be a turd
frankiemilkshoes (9:56:52 PM): actually Dom i bet it is possible to actually polish a turd
lizardkingunseen (9:57:00 PM): lol
lizardkingunseen (9:57:09 PM): alex is mexican he can clean anything
frankiemilkshoes (9:57:15 PM): omg
lizardkingunseen (9:57:16 PM): 
diodednb (9:57:32 PM): I'm not Mexican saggy chin nuts
lizardkingunseen (9:57:36 PM): ahahaahhaah
frankiemilkshoes (9:57:45 PM): Dom how did you meet Alex?
lizardkingunseen (9:57:58 PM): ok well lets set the records straight you're Puerto Rican right
lizardkingunseen (9:58:05 PM): umm
lizardkingunseen (9:58:21 PM): well he was just flow out here
lizardkingunseen (9:58:33 PM): not too long ago to play a drum and bass monthly our mutual friend ketek throws
lizardkingunseen (9:58:58 PM): he stayed for almost a week and we took him to a couple parties out here
frankiemilkshoes (9:59:14 PM): ha nice
diodednb (9:59:30 PM): yeah
diodednb (9:59:33 PM): that was nice man
diodednb (9:59:36 PM): culture shock
frankiemilkshoes (9:59:39 PM): so you showed him esco dom?
lizardkingunseen (9:59:41 PM): nar
lizardkingunseen (9:59:45 PM): we stayed more inland
diodednb (9:59:47 PM): you know that's the life I should be livin
frankiemilkshoes (9:59:47 PM): ahh
lizardkingunseen (9:59:47 PM): and went to la a bit
lizardkingunseen (9:59:50 PM): ya man
lizardkingunseen (9:59:54 PM): you would get so much more play out here
diodednb (10:00:03 PM): yeah
lizardkingunseen (10:00:04 PM): but you seem to be doing better as far as the gig thing goes
lizardkingunseen (10:00:12 PM): arent you opening for telemetric soon?
diodednb (10:00:14 PM): right now its ok
diodednb (10:00:18 PM): yeah
lizardkingunseen (10:00:21 PM): how did that come about?
diodednb (10:00:23 PM): I hope it falls through
diodednb (10:00:26 PM): some local..
diodednb (10:00:38 PM): this kid is from the worcester area and does a TON of big shows
diodednb (10:00:55 PM): I played for him a long as time ago then I fell out the scene..
lizardkingunseen (10:00:55 PM): to be honest i don't know how you don't get more gigs or play out so much.  tons of artists play out a lot and have minimal releases or shitty tunes
diodednb (10:01:03 PM): he got my number from a friend and called me up
frankiemilkshoes (10:01:04 PM): yeah exactly
lizardkingunseen (10:01:07 PM): you should be booked much more with the quality of work you have
frankiemilkshoes (10:01:11 PM): i agree
diodednb (10:01:17 PM): yeah well..
lizardkingunseen (10:01:18 PM): which i think is why Ketek wanted to bring you out so bad
diodednb (10:01:20 PM): like i said
lizardkingunseen (10:01:21 PM): to support that
diodednb (10:01:23 PM): its just me here
frankiemilkshoes (10:01:25 PM): i mean man you should hook up with Evol
diodednb (10:01:29 PM): I don't know many people
frankiemilkshoes (10:01:37 PM): down here in ATL
diodednb (10:01:43 PM): I've talked to em
diodednb (10:01:46 PM): they like my house
lizardkingunseen (10:01:52 PM): i think you spend a lot of time focusing on your work which is why it comes out the way it does
lizardkingunseen (10:01:53 PM): ahha
lizardkingunseen (10:01:54 PM): sick
diodednb (10:01:56 PM): but they never were like "dude that’s a sick tune"
lizardkingunseen (10:02:05 PM): you guys sound completely different
frankiemilkshoes (10:02:16 PM): yeah it's diff for sure
lizardkingunseen (10:02:37 PM): soo what's up with your
lizardkingunseen (10:02:38 PM): electro stuff
lizardkingunseen (10:02:58 PM): i think i have heard most of them and they're just as good as your dnb.
diodednb (10:02:59 PM): haven't worked it much
lizardkingunseen (10:03:10 PM): ever thought about pushing it to some electro labels?
diodednb (10:03:15 PM): fruity has taken a lot of time and I can't seem to write house in it
diodednb (10:03:20 PM): yeah i have
frankiemilkshoes (10:03:23 PM): ha have you heard Dom’s electro track?
diodednb (10:03:24 PM): just don't know any
diodednb (10:03:28 PM): Dom sucks
diodednb (10:03:32 PM): ha
diodednb (10:03:36 PM): jk yeah its good
frankiemilkshoes (10:03:37 PM): i was rockin it today in the car
lizardkingunseen (10:03:42 PM): i was actually inspired to start writing the electro stuff
lizardkingunseen (10:03:44 PM): after alex came out
lizardkingunseen (10:03:47 PM): to cali for a bit
frankiemilkshoes (10:03:48 PM): ahhhh rad
diodednb (10:03:51 PM): right on
diodednb (10:03:54 PM): its fun innit
diodednb (10:04:02 PM): you know. Terravita?
frankiemilkshoes (10:04:11 PM): Yeah man their good
lizardkingunseen (10:04:13 PM): he showed me a couple things in reason then i just kinda listened to his electro and i was into it a lot at the time so i just used that as a starting point sort of
diodednb (10:04:19 PM): they're from here and started hot pink Delorean
frankiemilkshoes (10:04:21 PM): they where on spors podcast also
lizardkingunseen (10:04:23 PM): ya they're doin their thing too
diodednb (10:04:28 PM): they are getting BIG BIG shows
frankiemilkshoes (10:04:32 PM): really?
diodednb (10:04:36 PM): yeah man
lizardkingunseen (10:04:38 PM): ya you were saying that
lizardkingunseen (10:04:41 PM): and making some loot too
lizardkingunseen (10:04:44 PM): there is a lot more money
lizardkingunseen (10:04:47 PM): in other music genres
diodednb (10:04:52 PM): oh yeah
lizardkingunseen (10:05:01 PM): and for artists that aren’t even that big as well
diodednb (10:05:02 PM): dnb sucks for the money
frankiemilkshoes (10:05:07 PM): what are your feelings on stuff like Dubstep now
diodednb (10:05:25 PM): Dubstep is sick
diodednb (10:05:42 PM): but it has to but fuckin absolutely disgusting for me to like it
frankiemilkshoes (10:05:51 PM): do you like Eskmo?
diodednb (10:05:53 PM): I just don't like that.. its Dubstep/Drum'n'bass
diodednb (10:06:10 PM): dunno
lizardkingunseen (10:06:12 PM): its crazy to think because that genre was almost non existent a couple years ago
diodednb (10:06:12 PM): who's that
lizardkingunseen (10:06:15 PM): ya you'd dig him alex
lizardkingunseen (10:06:18 PM): you're styles
lizardkingunseen (10:06:28 PM): writes bad ass breaks and Dubstep
frankiemilkshoes (10:06:44 PM): i think SPL is doin dubstep a bit too now
lizardkingunseen (10:06:50 PM): ya hes got a couple on his page are wicked
diodednb (10:06:54 PM): cooh makes some sick shit.. Noisia has a new house track that has a switch to something similar to dub step
lizardkingunseen (10:07:02 PM): i think a lot of artists are branching out a lot
lizardkingunseen (10:07:08 PM): everyone seems to have side projects
lizardkingunseen (10:07:18 PM): its just a natural process i think once you develop a skill
diodednb (10:07:25 PM): yeah man. you have to..
diodednb (10:07:29 PM): exactly
frankiemilkshoes (10:07:32 PM): ha I'd love to hear current value do Dubstep
lizardkingunseen (10:07:33 PM): i mean your'e even going to be doing all the audio for an XBox video game now aren’t you Frankie?
diodednb (10:07:43 PM): maybe you'll find your calling elsewhere
lizardkingunseen (10:07:46 PM): agreed
frankiemilkshoes (10:08:03 PM): yeah
lizardkingunseen (10:08:05 PM): so then does dnb feel the most natural
lizardkingunseen (10:08:08 PM): for you to write alex?
diodednb (10:08:13 PM): that's sick.. a friend of mine in FL did the sound track to the matrix video game. .
lizardkingunseen (10:08:17 PM): whaat
lizardkingunseen (10:08:20 PM): that's dope
frankiemilkshoes (10:08:21 PM): wow
lizardkingunseen (10:08:24 PM): i want to get into more stuff like that
lizardkingunseen (10:08:26 PM): scoring movies
frankiemilkshoes (10:08:29 PM): and you can
diodednb (10:08:31 PM): yeah he use to write dnb now he just scores.
frankiemilkshoes (10:08:32 PM): it's out there
frankiemilkshoes (10:08:34 PM): waiting
diodednb (10:08:46 PM): just gotta mingle with the right folks
lizardkingunseen (10:08:58 PM): what about live performance alex?
diodednb (10:09:02 PM): that's why LA I liked... everyone seemed like me some what
diodednb (10:09:04 PM): NO!
lizardkingunseen (10:09:06 PM): ever thought about branching out into that?
diodednb (10:09:07 PM): no live shows
lizardkingunseen (10:09:16 PM): why not?
diodednb (10:09:17 PM): wouldn't even know how
diodednb (10:09:23 PM): I don't even know how
lizardkingunseen (10:09:24 PM): oh just cus you don’t know how or cus
lizardkingunseen (10:09:27 PM): you don’t want to?
diodednb (10:09:33 PM): I would if I knew
diodednb (10:09:37 PM): but I don't get it
lizardkingunseen (10:09:39 PM): i think you could destroy it
lizardkingunseen (10:09:46 PM): because you need to have a catalog
lizardkingunseen (10:09:51 PM): of your own music to do that first
lizardkingunseen (10:09:57 PM): and you have more than enough to work with
frankiemilkshoes (10:10:05 PM): omg how many tunes do you have now?
diodednb (10:10:13 PM): I'm sure I'd be a better producer for it but i just haven't had the chance to get the things I need for it.
lizardkingunseen (10:10:14 PM): i think what Knick from Evol does is they just chop everything up
lizardkingunseen (10:10:17 PM): then load it all up into Abelton
lizardkingunseen (10:10:22 PM): freestyle steez
diodednb (10:10:30 PM): weird..
diodednb (10:10:33 PM): I don't know
lizardkingunseen (10:10:39 PM): man
lizardkingunseen (10:10:41 PM): i think once you did that
diodednb (10:10:43 PM): I'll look into it when I get a midi board
lizardkingunseen (10:10:47 PM): you'd seriously just fly
lizardkingunseen (10:10:55 PM): ya you don’t even have a keyboard do you?
diodednb (10:11:02 PM): nope
lizardkingunseen (10:11:03 PM): wow
diodednb (10:11:07 PM): just the good old mouse
frankiemilkshoes (10:11:14 PM): hahahaha rad++
frankiemilkshoes (10:11:32 PM): do you mix with monitors?
diodednb (10:11:39 PM): oh yeah. EVENTS
diodednb (10:11:45 PM): I love em so much
lizardkingunseen (10:11:45 PM): ya those are nice
lizardkingunseen (10:11:49 PM): you're baby's aren’t they
diodednb (10:11:55 PM): but me back about $1500 but they are nasty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lizardkingunseen (10:12:05 PM): now who's loaded!!!
frankiemilkshoes (10:12:22 PM): what volume do you produce at?
diodednb (10:12:29 PM): low and loud
lizardkingunseen (10:12:30 PM): do you think you could write your stuff without them
diodednb (10:12:35 PM): yeah
lizardkingunseen (10:12:38 PM): or are they that essential?
diodednb (10:12:42 PM): nope
diodednb (10:12:51 PM): I could get some Yamaha's and be ok
lizardkingunseen (10:12:54 PM): just another reference but the perfect one
diodednb (10:12:57 PM): these just sound rich
lizardkingunseen (10:12:59 PM): what about not having
lizardkingunseen (10:13:03 PM): any monitors at all?
diodednb (10:13:06 PM): nope
diodednb (10:13:07 PM): can't
lizardkingunseen (10:13:09 PM): like i don’t have any
lizardkingunseen (10:13:11 PM): and it sucks
lizardkingunseen (10:13:12 PM): lol
diodednb (10:13:14 PM): can't mix down in em
diodednb (10:13:22 PM): well
diodednb (10:13:27 PM): your cans aren't bad
lizardkingunseen (10:13:28 PM): i think this is part of why
diodednb (10:13:38 PM): yeah
lizardkingunseen (10:13:38 PM): you're tracks sound so full like that
lizardkingunseen (10:13:45 PM): with the minimal processing and all that too
diodednb (10:13:47 PM): you need to here your tune in actual space
lizardkingunseen (10:13:52 PM): yessss
diodednb (10:14:02 PM): yo guys I've gotta go
lizardkingunseen (10:14:07 PM): alright player
diodednb (10:14:09 PM): its late and I gotta work tomorrow
frankiemilkshoes (10:14:12 PM): hey Alex thanks for taking the time to do this
diodednb (10:14:24 PM): dude I'll do this every day if you want
lizardkingunseen (10:14:24 PM): ez
diodednb (10:14:25 PM): haha
frankiemilkshoes (10:14:30 PM): is it ok to use this for my blog post
lizardkingunseen (10:14:31 PM): haahah
diodednb (10:14:34 PM): " a day in the life of Diode"
lizardkingunseen (10:14:42 PM): podcast!
lizardkingunseen (10:14:42 PM): hahaah
diodednb (10:14:44 PM): lol
diodednb (10:14:46 PM): you know
lizardkingunseen (10:14:49 PM): complete with sound
lizardkingunseen (10:14:53 PM): 
diodednb (10:14:59 PM): and fart smell o vision
frankiemilkshoes (10:15:02 PM): yeah man you are super good and it's great to hear how you do it
lizardkingunseen (10:15:02 PM): not a bad idea
lizardkingunseen (10:15:06 PM): smell like carne
diodednb (10:15:10 PM): lol
frankiemilkshoes (10:15:10 PM): ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
diodednb (10:15:17 PM): yo I'm out
lizardkingunseen (10:15:19 PM): alirhg tplayer
lizardkingunseen (10:15:23 PM): get some zzs
lizardkingunseen (10:15:24 PM): one
diodednb (10:15:25 PM): we'll catch up soon! Ezzzzzzzzzz
frankiemilkshoes (10:15:32 PM): night Alex. thanks mang

Diode - Drum and Bass

 Lately I have been trying help get the super fresh Drum and Bass producers some exposure by blogging about their work in a time when it’s never been easier to do so. I do this because I absolutely love Drum and Bass and in particular the darker / cleaner production styles. I think that the artists that make killer tracks deserve the recognition and really work their asses off to make them sound good. So with that said I wanted to mention a newer producer some of you may have not heard of called Diode. My good friend Dominic Sagona let me know about Diode a.k.a Alex Alejandro who is a Graphic Designer as well as D&B producer from Worcester, Massachusetts. After listening to his tunes and mix definitely think his tracks are worth bringing to your attention. He has a very fresh and high quality sound that also hits hard with great sequences, so if you like quality drum and bass then you will certainly find Diode’s music appealing.  If I was asked to compare his style with another D&B artist I would say he is a lot like Spor in the way he sequences and his use of sounds. He has a very clean production technique that really sounds good.  I hope to get a hold of him soon through Dominic to do a complete interview so anyone interested in knowing more about Diode can get that chance. There are a lot of people out there who want to know the goods and hear about who the artist is and what makes them tick. In the next few months I hope to do that so stay tunes for that.

Stay tuned because I’ll hopefully be interviewing Coresplittaz soon too and he is definitely a producer you want to read about as well in the upcoming weeks. He’s a badass as well. If you like it then support these dudes by buying their tracks.

http://www.myspace.com/diodednb

 

Using Regex and the Change Event to Filter Text Input on Flex Text Controls

Today I had an issue where I needed to make sure no new lines “\n” or carriage returns “\r” when entered into the Flex TextArea components representing a Subject field. The Subject field always needed to be one line even if you try and Copy and Paste multi-line text values into it. Also it had to be a TextArea control in this case since it also need to show a wrapping single line value in the view. Otherwise a single TextInput control would have been appropriate here. Anyway’s, the reason for all of this is usually a Subject field is always just one line of text and to ensure the data is displayed and sent correctly we need to handle a user trying to enter multi-line text. One very important thing to note here and it was brought to my attention by co-worker Ryan Swanson is that the TextEvent.TEXT_INPUT gets called before the Change event, so you should be aware of the order for these events. I ran into some problems trying to do the Regex stuff in the TextEvent.TEXT_INPUT rather than actually doing it in the Event.Change because of the order of the Events.

I couldn’t show you the exact app I was working on but I have de-natured it and show you a working example of this below the code.

The ActionScript 3 code used to filter the line breaks and prevent multi-lines in a TextArea is below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="vertical" horizontalAlign="left" creationComplete="onCreationComplete()" width="630">
<mx:Script>
    <![CDATA[
        private function onCreationComplete():void{
            testSubject.addEventListener(TextEvent.TEXT_INPUT, onTextSubjectInput);
            testSubject.addEventListener(Event.CHANGE, onTextSubjectChange);
        }
        private function onTextSubjectInput(event:TextEvent):void{
            if (event.text == "\n"){
                fieldPreventionLabel.visible = true;
                fieldPreventionLabel.text = "Sorry Line Breaks are not valid in this field";
                event.preventDefault();
            }else{
                fieldPreventionLabel.text = "";
                fieldPreventionLabel.visible = false;
            }
        }
        private function onTextSubjectChange(event:Event):void {
            (event.currentTarget as TextArea).text = replaceSubjectTextChars((event.currentTarget as TextArea).text);
        }
        private function replaceSubjectTextChars(s:String):String{
            var newString:String = s.replace( new RegExp("(\\r|\\n)","g"),"");
                return newString;
        }
    ]]>
</mx:Script>
<mx:Label text="Paste or Enter Text Into TextArea showing the Prevention and Removal Line Breaks." width="100%" fontStyle="italic" fontWeight="bold"/>
<mx:Label text="Notice that all line breaks \n and \r are removed making it one long single line for a subject field." width="100%" fontStyle="italic"/>
<mx:Label id="fieldPreventionLabel" text="" width="100%" fontWeight="bold" color="red" visible="false" />
<mx:TextArea id="testSubject" width="100%" height="200" color="#000000" fontSize="22" fontWeight="bold" maxChars="300" verticalScrollPolicy="off" />
<mx:Spacer height="20" />
<mx:Button label="Click to Copy Text To Clipboard" width="100%" textAlign="center" click="{System.setClipboard(exampleText.text);}"/>
<mx:TextArea id="exampleText" width="100%" backgroundAlpha="0" height="270">
    <mx:text>
<![CDATA[A few familiar examples of progressive disclosure

An example of progressive disclosure is an online news article that is spread across four screens (with a Next Page link at the bottom). This use of progressive disclosure serves advertising objectives (showing banners on each page) and not the user's task. Another example would be a site that explains a product by making the user click through 4-5 pages of overview/benefits information before revealing the price of the product. The idea here is that if the user reads the product information, they will accept the price more easily. The problem with that approach is that it does not accommodate free-form exploration, a typical behavior on the web.

In its purest format, progressive disclosure is about offering a good teaser. A good teaser can include the following:

* A sample of what is next
* An introductory task that is most common
* A high level view of what is expected
* A wizard that walks the user through the task
* A button that leads to more advanced functions (such as editing)

Progressive disclosure says: "Make more information available within reach, but don't overwhelm the user with all the features and possibilities".

Short History of Progressive Disclosure

Progressive disclosure is a concept that has been around since at least the early 1980's.  The technique caught the attention of user interface specialists with Jack Carroll's lab work at IBM (1983), where he found that hiding advanced functionality early on led to an increased success of its use later on. The approach dubbed "training wheels" is one of the only references validating the technique. Carroll and Rosson (1997) pointed out that no empirical evidence exists regarding the effectiveness of progressive disclosure and that the training wheels approach only studied a "single computer application (word processor) and a single interface style (menu based control)". While independent usability studies and consultancy research (including our own) has shown that appropriate usage of the technique is valuable, more empirical research is clearly required.

The software vs. web design environment

Historically, progressive disclosure is a concept that came from the software usability experience. It is clearly easier to apply to software than it is on the web, which is probably why you don't hear all that much about how to do it effectively on the web. In software, the interaction is between dialogues and 'fixed state' interactions. On the web, interactions are chaotic, randomized and dynamic due to the fact that hypertext is a non-linear media.

In the software world the audience is predictable and targeted, making learning styles more predictable. On the web, it's anybody's guess who might be using the site. The website visitor might be a particle physicist, a teen or a grandma. Learning styles, comfort levels and expectations differ greatly. This is perhaps why you hear a lot of references to progressive disclosure in conversations and interviews, but rarely any ideas about how to apply it effectively.

]]>
     </mx:text>
</mx:TextArea>
</mx:Application>

To see how this filtering works in action click the Copy Text Button and paste into TextArea:

Related Article: Preventing line feeds in a TextArea control in Flex >>

If your MXML Code Coloring Disappears in Flex

Today I was working with super Flexer and coworker Ryan Swanson and I noticed one of my MXML components stopped displaying the code coloring for this specific file. I’m not sure exactly what happened in this specific situation today but I tried everything from closing my Flex project to updating my file in SVN again to closing Flex all together. Nothing made the code coloring for MXML reappear. I have seen code coloring disappear when the default namespace wasn’t included in the file so I quickly made sure that wasn’t the issue in case you’re reading this and thought that. No, it just didn’t work.

So what the solution to this problem today was me deleting the current project and then re-importing that very same project into the existing workspace. It was Ryan’s suggestion as he had similar issue with this before and he thought this might work for me too. After Importing my project all my workspace variables matched up to the linked resources for this project so this wasn’t bad at all to get going again. The only thing I had to fix was the Run/Debug settings for the project properties and that was an easy fix too. But really, if you find yourself in a situation where the MXML code and tag formatting is gone and won’t reappear after you have tried everything. You might want to try what we did by removing your workspace project and then re-importing it.

Remember NOT to delete your file when you remove the project from your workspace! Just remove the project reference and then re-import it. Something in the project metadata must be messed up somewhere and when you make a new project it clears all that out and reapplies the coloring for your code.

OvernightPrints.com is the Worst Print Service Ever. Don’t Use them!

As a Graphic Designer here in Atlanta, Georgia, I design quite a bit of business cards for clients. For a long time I have used OvernightPrints.com because of their relatively cheap prices and their thick cardstocks with rounded corners and Spot UV printing. I have had many cards printed that they have messed up repeatedly and had to go through many hoops to even get a human to respond long after I contacted them. These where huge print mistakes that where all unacceptable. Well, I have finally had enough this time and I am no longer going to use them for printing anything. Overnight prints is one of those bad relationships I should have broken a long long time ago. Time after time they cut the cards wrong or have the colors set so dark they the card looks horrible. I don’t just mean bad, OvernightPrints.com’s colors and service are HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE.

DO NOT USE OVERNIGHTPRINTS.COM! GET YOUR BUSINESS CARDS PRINTED SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!!!!!!

What they do is gang the prints together with any or all of the clients being printed at that time and they calibrate the colors for one specific client and then anyone else who is ganged into that batch is at the mercy of the initial color calibration. It makes for cards and prints that look nothing like what you designed for in CMYK. The color was all wrong and I had to throw them all away. I have had a clients card get redone multiple times because the blues in their card kept getting calibrated wrong and turned out purple etc.. I sent the cards back to OvernightPrints.com and they gave me a reprint. The only problem was the next batch of cards where brown. W…T…F! One time I got a batch of 1000 cards for client and the cards where ALL cut poorly. I mean it was really bad, probably the worst card print and cut I’ve ever seen.Totally unusable! This leads me to another poor quality about OvernightPrints.com, the fact that they never look at what they print. They obviously just print anything blindly and never check to see if they put the paper in correctly or wether or not their blades are dull. Why would they? Their cards are so cheap that’s how they save money. They save money and never ever achieve quality.

DO NOT USE OVERNIGHTPRINTS.COM! GET YOUR BUSINESS CARDS PRINTED SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!!!!!!

So I have finally had enough of them and I will be using a local print shop down the street so I can actually see these cards in person and build a strong relationship with them. It’s one thing to get cards for cheap, but it’s another to get cheap cards and repeatedly get back bad prints costing more oney in the long run dealing with reprints or trying to get their customer service. It’s just not worth it anymore.

So in conclusion I would recommend NO ONE ever use Overnight Prints. They are the worst card printing service ever and just because they are cheap means nothing. They offer no quality printing service and you’ll be lucky to ever speak to someone in person, and it’s a “not if"" ... "but when" you encounter a problem that you'll have to try an contact someone to fix a print error on their part. I just hope this reaches everyone who ever thought of using them and helps you change your mind quickly. OvernightPrints.com in my book gets a bad review and I am so happy to say I will never use them again.

DO NOT USE OVERNIGHTPRINTS.COM! GET YOUR BUSINESS CARDS PRINTED SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!!!!!!

Related Overnight Prints Horror Stories:

Beware of OvernightPrints.com

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/220/RipOff0220961.htm

Overnight Prints Complaints - Totally dissatisfied with the service!

Overnight Prints Complaints - Save yourself the nightmare!

Overnight prints fucking sucks it!

http://virb.com/dragulescuboy/blog/59323

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=24523

Small Biz Warning: OvernightPrints.com

Overnight Prints Complaints - Horrible quality & customer service!

Where to Print?

If you think you’re gonna get screwed…. you will

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Overnight_Prints

http://overnightprintssucks.ning.com/

DO NOT USE OVERNIGHTPRINTS.COM! GET YOUR BUSINESS CARDS PRINTED SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!!!!!!