First reaction – WOW! I have been editing with Premiere Pro for over six years, and have to say with this release, Adobe not only listened to the professional editor, they have also brought Premiere to the forefront of software-based editing applications.

A completely redesigned user interface eliminates desktop clutter, allowing an editor to focus on the job at hand. New keyboard shortcuts will make many Final Cut Pro editors who are transitioning to Premiere Pro CS6 feel right at home. The ability to stabilize shaky footage from within PPro is a real timesaver. The feature I have found very useful is the ability of PPro to keep playing the timeline while you move around in or out of the application. Nice touch Adobe.

The audio mixer display has been redesigned as well as the timeline VU meters – they give real-time update of levels as the timeline plays, so you can readily see how your levels change across playback. Very nice for creating great mixes!

The introduction of adjustment layers into PPro gives users the ability to set up effect layers without having to add effects to individual clips. This is a huge timesaver in previewing how different effects may look. Add multiple adjustment layers with various effect combinations and toggle the layers off and on during real-time playback —excellent for quickly previewing looks with an Art Director looking over your shoulder.

The addition of Speed Grade to the CS6 suite brings high-end color correction to the desktop. Not only can you achieve an initial first pass technical grade quickly, you can also apply or create custom looks that mimic those found on the big screen or primetime television. This alone is worth the price of the suite upgrade. Color correction is what makes a great edit into an award winner — having this integrated into the Adobe CS6 Suite is a real step toward a complete finishing package.

The CS6 Media Encoder has a completely redesigned interface that is easy to navigate and includes presets for broadcast, web and personal device video. Also, you can apply multiple presets to a single video source — again a huge timesaver. Did I mention background rendering? Not new to Media Encoder, however, being able to edit, work in

After Effects, Photoshop and background render is something I have come to expect from my edit system of choice — and Adobe keeps making the choice easier with each new release of its software.

For a full list of changes to the software, please visit: http://success.adobe.com/assets/en/downloads/guides/Pr_CS6_WN_Reveal.pdf

Apple launched new iPad product marketing last week and, surprise, it’s better than ever!

The most newsworthy feature that places it ahead of its’ protégés iPad 1 and iPad 2 is screen resolution. According to Apple’s website, the screen resolution on the iPad 3 is 44% greater in color saturation and offers 3.1 million pixels on their 9.7” screen. Most images currently on the web are 72 ppi (pixels per inch), while the new iPad screens offer 264 ppi.

For the technically challenged, this “geek speak” means that the new iPad screens offer better resolution when viewing all web images, reading articles or playing games.

You may think this will only effect the way iPad users view web-based applications, but based upon Apple’s track record, they won’t create this amazing screen resolution for just one product.

How does this affect you?

If you have a website or microsite, create applications or publish web-based articles, you’ll need to rethink the revisions of current and the creation of future web-based marketing tools. The best way to cater to all users is to create two versions of your images and apps. One version can be viewable on current computer and tablet screens, while the second version should be viewable on the new iPad screens and future high-resolution screens.

If two versions of the images are created, the user’s web browser will choose which version to show the based upon the tool (New iPad or current resolution screen) being used.

Need help figuring all of this out? Give us a call at 610-437-4300! First Generation stays at the forefront of the technical world so you don’t have to!

Facebook has announced that their company page templates are changing again. This new change called Timeline, which has already been introduced to personal pages, is going to affect the look of your company page, apps, posts and advertisements within the site. Timeline requires page revisions, so get familiar with the requirements now to be prepared for the mandatory change on March 30^th!

Here are some tips for creating and using your new Company Timeline:

Carpenter Technology spent a lot of time on the road this spring, attending trade shows at the Offshore Technology Conference and National Association of Corrosion Engineers Expo. Not only was Carpenter educating attendees about their newest products and offerings, but they engaged attendees with their “Win a Metallurgist” contest, planned and executed by First Generation.

FG designed a pre-show mailer with contest details and a pop-up cutout metallurgist that served as the entry form for recipients to fill out and submit at one of the trade shows for a chance to utilize the technical expertise of a Carpenter metallurgist for one day. In addition, the mailer advertised the opportunity to win an iPad by completing an iPad puzzle at Carpenter’s booth. It was a win-win occasion! Carpenter’s social media channels were also utilized and successful in promoting the contest, generating greater awareness and interest.

A custom contest website was developed and hosted by First Gen, providing full contest details and giving those unable to attend a show a chance to qualify to “Win a Metallurgist.”

The campaign mailer response rate was just under 5%, which is well above the reported average of less than 2% reported by The Direct Marketing Association. Congratulations to the “Win a Metallurgist” contest winner, The Lee Company of Westbrook, CT!

ReSearch Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (RPS) of Ft. Washington, PA supports global pharmaceutical companies in managing clinical trials. Being sure that participating sites around the world understand the outcome measures for a particular study and accurately collect data as they treat their patients is vital. RPS turned to FG for a solution that provides continuous learning support for study sites.

FG’s solution – a web-based learning portal that can be accessed from anywhere in the world and that can easily be updated and maintained to address the learning and assessment needs of the study. In just 90 days, FG developed and produced the interactive assessments, courses, and portal. The portal provides support documents, video-based learning programs, and targeted assessments so that study coordinators can be sure that study sites adhere to the required protocols. The courses include video guides and demonstrations, shot in FG’s studio, and interactive case studies that help reinforce the practical application of what can be an involved outcome measurement process.

The FG team worked tirelessly to meet the aggressive timeline to launch the portal and will continue to support it for the duration of the trial. This includes managing and tracking users and user data, translating programs and assessments into 17 different languages, and developing refresher assessments as required by the study.

On April 18^th, FG’s New Technology Director Steve White will speak to Lehigh University students, faculty, alumni, and community leaders at the Baker Institute at Lehigh University’s annual iDeX: Innovation Conference. The event is a platform for “Inspiring Ideas and Creating Value,” where speakers share ways their work is related to the development of innovation, a successful business or non-profit organization, or progress and social change. 

Steve is speaking as a Composer, Entrepreneur and Workforce Learning Guru, with the last title referring to the work he has pioneered at First Generation. He drives the technology behind marketing initiatives and the training and learning solutions division at FG.  

The public is invited to attend iDeX at Lehigh University on April 18 at 6:00pm in the Packard Lab Auditorium 101. For more information, please visit the event’s Facebook page – goo.gl/uPoZC.

If you’d like to learn more about how FG’s technology-based marketing solutions, mLearning, performance support, and blended learning solutions, please email Steve at swhite@firstgencom.com.

For Volvo Trucks North America, one of the keys to driving success is educating drivers to take advantage of the features and technology built into their vehicles and the best practices for maintaining and efficiently operating those vehicles out on the road.

One of the key challenges facing Volvo: developing engaging and informative content that fleet drivers and owner operators can access easily. To help meet this challenge, VTNA called on First Generation’s unique combination of expertise in media production, interactive development and instructional design.

First Generation partnered with Volvo to write, develop and produce 16 interactive online learning programs for their online Driver Development portal, www.edrivertraining.com

“When developing programs for learning and development, it is important that content is presented in a context that is relevant to the audience, in this case, vehicle operators” said Steve White, First Generation’s producer for the project. “We worked with Volvo to create a narrative that drivers will relate to and that fulfills the learning objectives of each program.”

Each program is multimedia rich utilizing audio, video, animated graphics, and interactive exercises to deliver content in a real world context. Everything was produced in-house at First Generation, including instructional design and script development, several days of shooting in our 5,000 square foot studio, several days of HD location production on the highways and roads of North Carolina, and the editing, animation, programming and testing.

Check out the first 4 modules for free at www.edrivertraining.com

Engaging target audiences in a meaningful online conversation through a Web event was the topic of Alex Shade’s presentation at a recent Banana Factory luncheon. Alex, First Generation’s President, spoke before the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) to counsel on the best ways to deliver cost-effective, time-saving information that drives a real-time interaction with your sales force, customers, prospective customers and/or other industry thought leaders.

Ms. Shade referenced numerous Web events produced by First Generation, including a Live Cell Imaging Web Event for Olympus Scientific Equipment Group and a national H1N1 webcast for sanofi-pasteur.

Mark Demko, President of the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the IABC, said, “Alex shared with us the secrets to a successful online event, including how our organizations can leverage webcast technology to connect directly to our customers and prospects. On behalf of the communications professionals affiliated with the Lehigh Valley IABC, we thank Alex and First Generation for revealing their strategies to promote and facilitate webinars and most importantly, to engage our audiences in a virtual dialogue.”

Founded in 1970, The International Association of Business Communicators provides a professional network of about 15,000 business communication professionals in over 80 countries. Members hold positions in fields such as Media Relations, Public Affairs, Corporate Communications, Advertising, and Video Production.

Occasionally I need to work in the PowerPoint world. Usually it requires re-designing and converting slides from a client’s existing presentation so they will be legible and useful for a video or interactive presentation that we would be producing here at First Generation. PowerPoint is not my favorite piece of software — and I’m happy I don’t need to deal with it on a daily basis. It’s not the most elegant piece of software in the world, and it seems to me that it is poorly used by many people.

Because of its very purpose, many PowerPoint users are not designers, and it is the design aspect of building a slide that is often the last item considered by its legions of users. It can be frustrating for those of us who are designers to look at some of the incredibly bad PowerPoint slides we see.

Anyway, the whole PowerPoint experience got me to think about the word “slides.”

And I thought of my dad.

My father was a professor of Civil Engineering and researcher at Lehigh University for 50 years. As his career flourished, he traveled extensively — teaching, lecturing, and speaking around the world. He became a master of what he called the “slide talk.”

He did it in a world before PowerPoint.

Today, the word “slide” seems forever tied to PowerPoint. Click the mouse or press Page Down… view the next slide. Bullet point after bullet point. Need more information? Add a slide.

In my father’s world, slides were something quite different. They were individual frames of 35mm film, fixed in 2 inch square cardboard mounts. One hundred-forty slides could be carefully inserted in a “carousel” holder, placed on a slide projector, then projected in the dark — hopefully on a silver-coated screen for an optimum viewing experience.
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Step aside, Leno and Letterman.

While the nighttime television talk shows featuring Letterman and Leno film in NYC and Burbank, Olympus Imaging America, Inc. took the Palazzo Hotel in Vegas by storm last month during the Best Buy National Sales Conference with Olympus Tonight!

Scripted, produced, and staged by First Generation, Olympus Tonight! was created to educate and equip sales reps at Best Buy to sell the new Olympus PEN E-PL1 camera and Stylus Tough cameras by Olympus. Olympus Tonight! did 16 “sold-out” performances over the course of two days. The 45-minute presentation featured live onscreen camera demonstrations, audience participation, a “top ten” list, and humorous interactions between Olympus product managers and show host “Bobby Schiff,” a very talented NYC comedian and actor.

Olympus Tonight! received rave reviews and compliments from the 1,400 Best Buy audience members, who liked the energy and uniqueness of the show.

“The Best Buy Sales presentation was very successful,” says Katie Roseman, Olympus Product Manager, DSLR. “First Generation was excellent to work with, professional and creative. We could not have pulled this event off without you. It was a homerun for sure!”

For more information on the E-PL1 or Stylus Tough cameras, please visit olympusamerica.com.