After waiting and waiting for just the right moment, I finally decided to get a new computer. The old Power Mac G4 seemed to be wheezing and coughing its way as I pushed it through sizeable uploads, downloads and video rendering. Every fast big new computer eventually becomes slow, small and old. So now I am the pilot of a Mac Pro with two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel processors, 2gb of RAM and a terrabyte of hard drive space. Huh? What that means, is that compared to what I had, its way better, faster and bigger. I also upgraded to an Apple 23" Cinema Display, which is about as big as I could stand to look at. It seems huge to me, and I can easily get a good look at a two-page spread in InDesign. So far everything is going great, but it really does take a long time to get it all set up just the way I like it. The speed is remarkable. Even my DSL connection seems faster. I can't wait to see where this new hardware can take me as a designer.
At the same time, I decided to go for a major software upgrade. Adobe now owns the world when it come to design software. They swallowed up Macromedia about a year ago, so we really have to worship at the altar of Adobe if we want to be digital designers. So, I purchased the Adobe Creative Suite Design Premium Edition. It gave me an upgrade for practically every program I use, and a few that I didn't. It has InDesign CS3, Photoshop CS3 Extended, Illustrator CS3, Flash CS3 Professional, Dreamweaver CS3 and Acrobat 8 Pro. I also picked up Adobe Lightroom, which is a photo editing and organizing tool which was recommended by my friend and photographer, Tom Hassler. The new version of Illustrator, means that I say goodbye to Macromedia's Freehand, a program that I have used since it was Aldus Freehand in about 1988. I've only just begun to familiarize myself with all of the new features of these software programs.Finally, the next upgrade that is coming to my studio will be Fiber Optic cable, or FiOs (as Verizon has named it). They recently laid the cable in my neighborhood, and they're offering good rates to get us hooked up. My current DSL connection is OK, but the new FiOs connection will be 15-times faster than DSL. Combined with the new fast processor speed, the internet will be a whole new ballgame. Video will stream nearly instantly. That will be a huge boost to productivity... or a huge distraction... we'll see which. I'm excited about the new technology coming into the studio. It feels like I've just bought myself a Ferrari. Let's hope I don't hurt myself on a slippery turn.
2 comments:
Wow, Woody. i can't wait to see that in "gear". It sounds fantastic.
Making the switch from Freehand to Illustrator will take some time. Be ready for some frustration on that score. I think, however, that you will really appreciate the common interface and the integration of all the Adobe apps working together. It's even better in CS3, I hear (I'm still with CS2, where Illustrator and Flash don't always work well together - a situation that has reportedly been greatly improved with CS3).
If you have clients who wish to update their own web pages periodically, you might wish to consider adding Contribute CS3 as well. You can set parameters for inexperienced users and maintain as much control as you like over the design, while still providing a means for the client to make content updates whenever they want. I've just used it once, and it solved a lot of headaches.
Enjoy!
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