Information presented here is the author's opinion.
Product-related commentary should not be considered an endorsement by Digital Granite.
New Media is a term which is being used to describe the fields of
multimedia, computer graphics, web page design and computer animation.
A more descriptive title is likely to emerge as time goes by. While each of
these fields requires extensive specialized knowledge, they share the basic
foundation skills, and there is considerable overlap which makes it difficult
to draw firm boundry lines in defining each field.
Someone who is interested in learning New Media skills might have difficulty
finding a starting point.
It might be reassuring to the beginner to know that it is not necessary to
become proficient in every available software package in order to produce
worthwhile creations. Several software companies produce competing products,
and learning just one of the two or three competing products from well-known
manufacturers is enough to get started.
The multimedia professional will eventually want to become skilled in most of
the graphics software from major manufacturers, as well as a few of the
lesser-known software packages, but this is not a concern for someone who is
just beginning the basics.
Someone who wants to develop job skills is well-advised to learn the software
products from major manufacturers such as Adobe,Macromedia,
and Corel. Some products from Jasc and Ulead are also
well worth consideration, and Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge should be
noted by those who will be working extensively with sound. These well-known
products are more likely to be in use in the corporate world than software from
lesser-known manufacturers.
Adobe Photoshop seems to be the most often mentioned software product
in help-wanted ads for computer graphic artists. Photoshop skills alone might
not get you a job, but skills in this product are in such great demand that
learning Photoshop does seem to be a logical starting point.
Because Adobe and Macromedia are the frontrunners of graphics software
manufacturers, it can be helpful to make note of their competing products,
which are available for either Windows or Macintosh platforms.
Adobe Photoshop (with ImageReady) vs Macromedia Fireworks
Adobe Illustrator vs Macromedia FreeHand
Adobe GoLive vs Macromedia Dreamweaver
Adobe LiveMotion vs Macromedia Flash
Macromedia Fireworks is comparable to Adobe ImageReady which is included with
Adobe Photoshop.
Photoshop has some advanced features not found in Fireworks.
Otherwise, a collection consisting of
Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, GoLive and LiveMotion
will perform tasks roughly equivalent to those performed by a collection consisting of
Macromedia Fireworks, FreeHand, Dreamweaver, and Flash.
While Adobe can point to Photoshop as their product which sets the industry
standard for image editing software, Macromedia Dreamweaver is
the product which sets the industry standard for HTML editors. Dreamweaver
is known as a what you see is what you get or WYSIWYG editor for
creating web pages. Dreamweaver is also a product which is mentioned with great
frequency in the help-wanted ads. Macromedia Flash is also a noteworthy product.
It is usually possible to import files created with Adobe software to be
used with Macromedia software and vice-versa. You will of course want to
check on the specific details before purchasing software.
Corel's CorelDraw Graphics Suite is another product worth investigating.
It would be compared to either
Adobe's Photoshop and Illustrator or
Macromedia's Fireworks and Freehand.
CorelDraw Graphics Suite does not have some of the advanced features of
the Adobe and Macromedia products, but some people report that this means
the Corel product is easier to use.
It has been said that Macromedia makes products for computer programmers who
need to do some art work, while Adobe makes products for artists who need to
work with the computer. You be the judge.
Susan of Digital Granite
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