Auotdesk has shipped Smoke 2012

Autodesk has released the full version of Smoke 2013 and you can download a free trial. It is $3495 per user license.Damn, I wish I had played more with the earlier beta to get used to it, as I would really like to get proficient as the node based graphics tools (like the earlier Shake) are so powerful.I still wish it was $1000, so it was more affordable to a normal user like me, but still it has dropped a great amount and looks to be a powerful editing and graphics tool.

Google has released Google Maps for iOS

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OK all, time to all take a collective breath, Google has released Google Maps for the iPhone and iPad. Download it and stop complaining about Apple Maps!Yes I don't like Maps too well either. Sure the 3D thing on new devices is cool, though useless. And I don't see why older devices can't do turn by turn. And I do hate the colors, and the traffic has been totally useless, but I just moved to alternatives. And have been really enjoying VUZE for traffic, but now Google Maps is back, so...EDIT: ArsTechnica has a great article on it, including it's shortcomings. The biggest that it doesn't access your contacts from anywhere, not iOS or from Google itself, so you can't just type someone's name to get their address (THIS SERIOUSLY NEEDS TO BE FIXED).And they tell you how to activate privacy, though it looks like it will then also turn off your helping with traffic.

Matrox DS1 Thunberbolt Docking Station

MacOSRumors has the news on this Docking Station for a Thunbderbolt equipped Macbook Pro.It has a Gigabit Ethernet Port, Two USB 2 ports, AUdio in and out jacks, and either HDMI or DVI port (depending on the model).A very cool idea for around $250.

New Scripts at AE Scripts

Some new scripts up at AE Scripts.Path Duplicator, to duplicate Paths for $14.99.BAO Distortion Selector, to control the zone corrected by distortion for $49.99.OBJ Vertex Export for $14.99.2 - Sided Layer for $9.99 (Something I could use very very often!)And Locations for $29.99 to create 2D and 3D Geolocations on a map.

Photoshop and Illustrator CS6 have been updated for HiDPI Retina Displays

Adobe has released updates to Photoshop and Illustrator for those with HiDPI and Retina displays, such as the new MacPro Laptops. The Adobe Illustrator Blog has more on the Illustrator update.And the Mac Performance Guide says that the new Photoshop is 13% faster than the previous version! Nice!Great news for those with Retina displays, but I likely won't be one of those for a long time. I still use my MacPro and am hoping for a new one and a large Retina display, say 24 inch would just be too expensive for a very very long time. Still great to see Adobe keeping up though (and this will be awesome for Premiere Pro once it is updated for those with the 15" Retina MacBook Pro).

Red Giant Software 40% Sale Today only!

Today only Red Giant is having a 40% off sale on all there products! Just enter 2012BSF40 at checkout and you will get the discount, which applies to all products including upgrades! This is a great deal and I love their suites of FX as is. So if you don't have them today is a great time to catch up.EDIT: And it now goes till 10 AM Pacific this Wednesday 12-12-12, so you have a couple of more hours.

CNET on the 7 Features dropped from iTunes 11

CNET has an article on the 7 features Apple dropped from iTunes 11. These are Cover Flow (which I don't miss), de-duper (now you need to use 3rd party applications, the excellent iTunes DJ for creating easy continuous mixes, Gapless Playback Editor (works for old Gapless albums, but not new ones, so all my new live stuff will have gaps), Multiple Windows (as you can tell from my previous post my other biggest piss off), the other Sidebar (which was just a link to the store and I will not miss) and quick volume control in the mini player.I hate when Apple upgrades and removes features! It is the dumbing of the Mac and I don't like it!And honestly so far I haven't been so impressed by the much vaunted speed of iTunes 11. Maybe my library is too big, but scrolling still does not seem that fast to me.

iTunes 11 is out

Well Apple has released it's huge update to iTunes, iTunes 11. And honestly I find it harder to use, especially playlists. Instead of all on one window, you have to use separate windows, so it actually takes more steps to do things I used to easily be able to do.Here is the album view.And the Playlist viewAnd you can no longer break playlists off, so you can copy between playlists or use it to organize. Now you can only see one playlist at a time. I hate the move to more iOS like single window viewing, instead of being able to view as many windows as I want!Yes the iTunes store is now even prettier, and you can now play songs from the iCloud (if you have a small enough library to do iTunes Match, which I don't), but overall I find it actually harder to use. It is much more focused on Album covers instead of lists, and I have always found lists to be much easier to use (faster and more efficient), and while there are still lists here, they are more hidden. And I have to hit a button to edit a playlist, and then go to where the song is and drag it in, instead of being able to see my playlists and my songs at the same time. The extra step is not easier, it is harder!And I don't think syncing has been much improved. Instead of your connected devices showing up in the playlists they show up on the right, but the menus inside seem mostly the same except the addition of an "On this iPad" which I like since the movies have never been as well organized as playlists, especially when you have a huge list. I hate the thumbnail there view, which has not changed (a list would be much more efficient), but at least you can look "On Your iPad" and more easily see what you have already synced.Here is the On This iPad button.Here is where your iOS devices show up.And what happens when you click on the button. And then you can go into the standard sync section, which hasn't changed much.And another loss of efficiency is that you have to hover over areas on the iOS device to see how much actual space each section is taking up.Adding another step which slows things down.Overall it stills works and I can still make playlists, play music and sync, and there is a better mini player with a search function, but I actually think it downgraded in many ways. I don't think you will have a choice before long, so this is where iTunes is going and if you need to sync and iOS device you need to use the latest and greatest, so here it is, but overall it is not much of an improvement and even might be a downgrade to what we used to have, even if it always has been bloated and slow.EDIT:Well I was wrong…

Surgery Update after a few days rest

Well I have been off work for a week now and am feeling much better! My shoulders are much less sore, and I am feeling pretty good overall. Seem to have caught a little cough, but that is a separate issue all together. A week down has certainly just made my body feel a lot better, and a lot less sore. Now lets hope that I can get back to work next week, or soon after!