I guess it wasn’t mentioned in my job description but among my regular duties I’ve been tasked to search for opensource/freeware/cheap alternatives to common windows based tools used for video & photo editing, 3D modelling, DTP etc. that are a part of the usual software porftolio in a design studio (web/print/video/whatever).

I found some interesting options that might be of use to someone but to be honest from the start – although many of these are actually quite capable I’ve found a number of missing features that would be a deal braker for my personal use. But if you’re just starting out or are on a serious budget or there are some specific circumstances (that’s why I’ve been researching this in the first place) then these should do just fine.

Just one more thing… some of these might not be free but cost considerably less than the industry standard.

sound editing:

• Audacity
• GoldWave

3D graphics:

• Blender

Photo editing:

• GIMP
• GIMPShop (GIMP offspring that looks like Photoshop)
• CinePaint (GIMP offspring for the film industry with some specific features)
• Picture Window Pro ($90)
• Photoshop Elements 6 ($100)

Vector graphics:

• Inkscape

Non linear video editing:

• Jahshaka (free, latest release oct 06)
• ZS4 (free, latest release feb 07)
• Cinerella (free but only available on Linux)
• Adobe Premiere Elements 4 ($99)
• Pinnacle Studio Plus ($99)
• Pinnacle Studio Ultimate ($130)
• Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum ($120)
• Avid Xpress Pro Academic ($295)
• ULEAD Media Studio Pro ($400)

Desktop Publishing:

• Scribus
• QuarkXpress ($195)

As I said… I’m not switching completely but these might be very attractive to some.

This video has been making the rounds in the past few days:

Superbly shot, excellent locations and some very fine music. And since youtube hardly does this video justice – here’s the original trailer.

I’ve watched it a few times already and every single time I get the urge to pack up and go to Iceland. And just so you know… Iceland is just as amazing underwater. Silfra…a crack in the earth’s crust where european and american tectonic plates meet and visibility is quite literally limitless… probably the most spectatular dive site on the planet.

NDR Silfra report on YouTube:

you can also freedive there…

I must warn you though…it is cold… ;)

This story truly is bizarre as the title on the Digital Journalist feature says.

Some weirdo apparently wanted his claim to fame and resorted to stealing works from several photographers and passing them as his own. For years if not decades no less! But that’s hardly news at all no matter how long he was doing it, it happens way too often. No, no… when he died The New York Times, The Tennessean, American Photo, The Boston Globe and other media outlets bought this fake story and ran his obituary praising his exceptional work and showing photo(s) that someone in those organisation should have recognized as stolen. But no…they didn’t.

It was Gary Haynes, a retired UPI photographer, who recognized the real author and contacted NYT the next morning (aug. 15) yet they still haven’t published a statement, correction or apology.

Head over to TOP for another take on this.

UPDATE

Tyge O’Donnell, son of the photographer whose work is being scrutinized, tries to explain the situation in an email to the Editor & Publisher journal.

Back in the mid-1990s, Dad made a trip to the National Archives and found what he thought were some of his unaccredited photos // In my fathers mind, in the state he was in from the 1990’s onward until his death, he honestly thought it was his photograph // Whether young and partying or old and going senile, your mind can convince you of things if you let it… or if you want it to. If you’ve ever seen how senility and Alzheimer’s can deteriorate a person, you would understand.