Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop Pioneers Guru & Solar – Interview 2

Beneath The Beat: Hip Hop explores the authentic essence of hip hop culture. We offer an independent voice, free from record label and big business imperatives.

This is part two of our Legend series. Hip Hop legend Guru (formally of Gang Star) joins forces with Super Producer Solar as co owners of 7 Grand Records. Guru and Solar have worked with some of the biggest names in Jazz, Hip Hop, Funk & Soul. It is recognized that Guru is one of the founding pioneers of the Hip Hop Jazz component of Nu Jazz fusion. Check out the audio interview below.

Image provided by westword.com

Tracks playing in order during the interview:

1. “Plenty” Guru Featuring Eryka Badu
2. “I’m Jazzy” Guru Featuring Slum Village
3. “Power Money Influence” Guru Featuring Jean Grae & Talib Kwali
4. “Real Life” Guru Featuring B. Real.
5. “Step in the Arena 2 ” Guru Featuring Doo Wo
6. “Lift Your Fist” Guru Featuring The Roots

beneath the beat hip hop

Visionary: Brian Maffitt baffles After Effects Group

Visionary is the celebration of extraordinary individuals, innovations, ideas and events that offer progressive or foretelling insights. Bendrix highlights his thoughts and other lunatic fringe thinking.

iPhone Photo taken by Bendrix

On Thursday September 27th, the New York City After Effects (AE) meet-up group was treated to a master session from the master of motion graphics. The legendary Brian Maffitt graced the stage and presented a 45 minute demo on a filter called “Vanishing Point.” For those of you that don’t know, Brian is a pioneer and the original trainer for the AE Total Training DVDs and since the mid-90s he’s been one of the leading world authorities. His alpha tests and contributions over the years have helped to make the AE environment a powerful and more easily understood application for the rest of us mere mortals.

More on Brian in a bit… SO!!! Back to this demo… Vanishing Point is a filter found in Photoshop that maps out a perspective grid within a the selected Photoshop window. An example would be a newly opened file like a PSD, TIFF, JPG, or PICT. Basically the key or ideal photo should be high resolution with lots of pixel information and there should be some kind of perspective object relationship between the foreground and its background. Once this photo is selected >>> go to the filter section and select “Vanishing Point” >>> it will bring up a special window pane that provides tools to map out a grid on this flat surface plane. Once a perspective grid is mapped out on the various foreground and background planes within this photograph >>> “export for After Effects CS” and it will create a series of PNG files, where ever its chosen to export.

Next open After Effects and import this series of multiple PNG files >>> Create a Composition window. When the imported PNGs recompile in this composition window a 3 dimensional texture map is generated onto a 3D plane allowing for each of the elements to be operated within the various x, y, z axis. For the astute pixel pusher and effects whiz, its absolute eye candy. It tricks the eye into believing that one is navigating within a 3D space. Due to the mathematical averages of this filter effect, there is a limit to the distance the image position can be zoomed into before the background pixels start to wash out and loose their resolution. The ultimate goal is to subtly create a 3D experience using a mere photograph. Brian then went a step further to show us how to animate text on a 3D path. That was a killer tip that everyone was also fawning over. Yes there were lots of “I can’t believe its!!!” and people doing Lord of the Rings jigs in the lobby afterwards.

I cannot stress how meaningful it is to witness Brian’s mastery of AE. His value to the motion graphics community is immeasurable. If I were to equate his parallel I would say that Brian is to AE what Jonathan Ives and his engineering teem is to Apple. The whole look and interfacing of an iPod, iPhone, and many other product innovations from Apple in the past 11 years are all Johnathans doing… Actually this is how I equate Brian in the realm of AE. If you are into motion graphics and want learn more about After Effects, go to the totaltraining website, do a tour, check out the online demos. From novices to intermediates to the pros everyone that uses or wants to learn AE can benefit from these tutorials.

Even though I generally do not post tutorial segments, I think this demo was so enchanting and inspirational, that I had to write about it. I did ask Brian to see if he could release an example or two for my blog so I could post it up and show these undisclosed demo’s to the rest of you. To be honest I totally did not do it any justice with this post. This is something you just have to see in motion. Whenever I get these samples I will be sure to post them up on the blog. Till soon…

- Bendrix

Web Culture: Video 2.0 Meetup – Web 2.0 StartUPs

HTTP Echoes is about insightful blog posts and web related ventures. We echo these insights and offer our thoughts on how it relates to web culture.

Two days ago I went to the Video 2.0 Meetup group hosted at For Your Imagination Studio on 27th and Broadway NYC. It was the first time we met in that space something like 200+ members attended, a great turn out. As far as I can tell its the largest tech related meetup group in NYC. The topic of discussion was on Web 2.0 start up companies. This is great because I’m always looking for new web technologies to make my world a lil easier and efficient. Plus I love spreading the word about whats up and coming.

The first presenter Ben Weinberger CEO of Digitalsmiths in Durham, N.C. You can call them an ad insertion company or “digital deal makers,” but the goal of Digitalsmiths is to be the Google AdSense for video. I watched the presentation and thought it reminded me of those MTV pop up trivia videos. In theory pop up ad insertion is an interesting idea and I can see how it could be very useful in some niche markets. For mass video consumption I think it would be intrusive and annoy the hell out of people. I have a bunch of ideas on how they could proceed with this, but this is not consultant corner … Those of you looking to bring in advertising dollars its worth a look

Next up was Rami Rinot visionary of Chic.tv. The company was created to address the needs of the “chic and savvy consumer who wishes to access lifestyle information in a new form of media, primarily, video on the internet, iPod and cellphone.” Basically its a 24-7 lifestyle video magazine focused on recipe’s, dining, art, books … in New York City. The presentation was quite incoherent and I was having a hard time following; however, I did learn a lot by going to the site. It appears to have a bunch of content that will be interesting to the chic and hip minded individuals.

Max Haot, Founder and CEO of Mogulus gave one of the most outstanding and efficient 10 minute tech presentations I’ve ever seen. Mogulus provides users with the “power to create live, original television programming, all done on their own broadcasting channel.” Its like a virtual TV station based on the .flv video spec. You can do real-time collaborative remote video publishing or mashups using hard media (like DVD’s or tape), Youtube, or other video sources. I really thought the remote collaborative was an excellent feature, I can see a lot of potential with this.

The last presentation was by Yuxt, a video bookmarking widget based application. Yuxt is an indexing service like delicious but exclusively for video. You can call up Youtube, Metacafe, Crackle (formally known as Grouper) … videos by typing in the search field for whatever you are seeking and it will pull up the video files. From there you can drag the video files into a custom folder that you create and drag it to the specified folder. Actually, sites like delicious could learn a thing or two from Yuxt with regards to organization and ease of use. This site is primarily for people seeking a user friendly solution for video bookmarking.

- Bendrix

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Visionary: Apple Store 5th Ave iPhone Debut

Visionary is the celebration of extraordinary individuals, innovations, ideas and events that offer progressive or foretelling insights. Bendrix highlights his thoughts and other lunatic fringe thinking.

On Friday June 29th I traveled to the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in New York City to witness the pandemonium over the iPhone. I have been present at both the SOHO and 5th Ave Apple Store grand openings, about 9 Mac World Expo’s, and a slew of Apple product release events. Let me just say that this was a crowd that stretched a full city block and the largest police presence and gathering of news teams that I’ve ever witnessed at an Apple event. So why all the madness and what exactly is the value of this product?

Some people are interested but think the $600 price tag is steep. Others ask what’s the big deal over a stooooopid gadget that is nothing more than an indulgence. Others are griping about the exclusivity with AT&T.

The significance of this event and this device marks the beginning of a Telecom revolution. Just like the iPod+iTunes and now AppleTV are revolutionizing digital downloads and the way we view our entertainment – the iPhone will do the same. Apple will make the cellular networks and device makers step up their game – forcing them to offer services and innovations long over due. I will be blogging more on this topic over the next few weeks… stay tuned and check out the mayhem on the video clip below.

- Bendrix

Visionary: Apple Store SOHO iPhone Debut

Visionary is the celebration of extraordinary individuals, innovations, ideas and events that offer progressive or foretelling insights.

Yesterday I traveled down to the Apple Store in SOHO New York City and saw the first line brewing for the iPhone. Its absolute madness, in order to be first in line you would have had to have been there on Tuesday June 26th before noon. Some people have been camping out for a few days, but today Friday June 29th is the release date of the long awaited iPhone. The revolutionary device that I predict will change the face of the telcom industry just like the ipod is doing to music, and what iTV is about to do the broadcast and film industries.

Being a tech and mac geek I tend to have a first round adopter mentality but a second round adopter practicality. I think I am going to have to sit this one out. I am very interested in the iPhone but at a $600 price tag and the AT&T subscription, its just not exactly what I’m looking for. Actually, I’m not really the phone that excites me… its the video capabilities, the touch screen simplicity, Bluetooth, and the internet.

I will be taking a trip to the Apple store 5th avenue within the next few hours. I gather the madness is probably more intensified there… The real geeks go to SOHO the wannabe’s go to 5th Ave that’s gonna be my theme over the next few days… stay tuned and check what I post over the next 48 hours and peep this exclusive clip below

- Bendrix

Showbiz: Spiderman 3!!! A memorable experience?

Showbiz focuses on iTunes music reviews and IMDb movie and film reviews. This is part of the Beneath the Beat Showbiz and Entertainment Reviews Podcast.

If you wish to skip the adventures leading up to my review, I suggest jumping to the bottom of the page.

Thursday 7:00PM I’m geeked up and ready to trek over to the IMAX Theater in Manhattan on 68th and Broadway. I walked to the store got my “yum yums” and proceeded to walk up the block … I thought “ooh damn I just missed the bus.” I don’t want to wait 25 minutes for the next cross town bus… “its a beautiful day let me just walk.”

7:45PM Midway through Central Park Its dark, “all of these hills, valleys and discontinuous paths are confusing me, where the heck am I.” Its taking me 30 minutes longer than I expected. “DAGNABBIT!!!” I thought “i forgot my allergy medication,” as I’m sneezeN, wheezeN and gaspN the entire way. Oh did I mention the weight of my mono-pod and camera equipment inside… I was set to podcast the pre and post movie goer responses… I have been planning this for about 3 months now.

8:30PM I arrive at the theater great no lines no people downstairs … I go get my fandango ticket out of the machine… I go upstairs … “WOW the line is already forming and its about 30 to 40 people deep… not bad not bad” I just get a spot.

8:45PM I assembled my video camera and went to various people in line and asked them questions like “what their expectations were for the film” and “what time they got there” I got about 8 people on camera. then go to the front of the line… two cuties are sitting in front. I ask them how long they were there …”since 7PM.” Asked them if they wouldn’t mind going on camera saying that … they declined.

9:00PM The manager of the Theater comes out and says “Please leave the building… No cameras in the building.” I said “I’ll just put it away…” He says “NO Please leave the building…” I’m like “but I paid for this ticket 2 weeks ago I won’t have time to go home and drop the camera off and come back and I’m here early in line…” Basically I had to take my camera somewhere other than the theater because he said that they could not hold it and could not be held responsible for it. I went to pack my camera up and left… lets just say I worked something out and came back upstairs to get back in line.

9:20PM One of the group of guys in the front of the line that I was interviewing, invited me to cut the line and hang out with them. I thought it beat the alternative of having to go to the back of the line, which was now 100+ people deep. They were cool kats we had jokes and fun and I was hangN tough with them like we were old time buddies

10:00PM They let us in the theater to sit down. The group I was with was able to secure about 15 seats in the back row, the best seats in the house. All but 2 seats were taken in our row. People kept coming around asking if they were taken and my guys were just shooing them away.

10:30PM Because the IMAX theater is so huge the movie attendant makes an announcement via megaphone… “anyone in the theater holding seats needed to release them and move closer to the middle.” Some people moved but my boys continued to hold their seats. Some {{Knuckle-Head}} actually forced his way into one of the seats and insisted he was entitled to the seat. The guys who made me part of their crew were like “YO my boyz are getting popcorn…” after much grumbling the {{Knuckle-Head}} got up and left.

By 11:00PM It was a crazy scene, some people were literally getting booed by some of the seated ticket holders, all because they pleaded and begged various people to move over JUST ONE seat when they found an unoccupied seat. I have never heard of people getting booed by a theater crowd before. Though funny the first time it got old after the 2nd and 3rd and 4th and 5th time(s)…

11:30PM In between all the booing and cheering at random crowd activity there was another announcement that movie attendants would be coming through the rows to identify IMAX ticket holders… they said “if you didn’t have an IMAX ticket you would be asked to leave.” I thought this was highly irregular. In all my movie going years I have never had anyone come to verify tickets once I occupied a seat in the theater. As they were going through the rows… “MY boyz” the same ones that held down 14 seats … just up and ran out… it was a total scandal. I couldn’t believe they got in in the first place and had the nerve to hold down all those seats LOL.

11:55PM All these people jump in the newly vacated seats and the {{Knuckle-Head}} from before comes back and practically pushed this girl out of the way and jumped in the last two seats… The girl was absolutely pissed – not because he jumped in front of her but because the {{Knuckle-Head}} avoided having someone check his ticket. This fool was orbiting the seating area from above when the attendant was coming through… and when she left and the seats opened up he took his chance to jump right in just a few seats away from me. Anyway the girl brings a movie attendant and her boyfriend back with her … the {{Knuckle-Head}} and his friend protest and get up because NEITHER of them have a ticket. The {{Knuckle-Head}} insults the girl – the boyfriend gets pissed – fight almost breaks out… The boyfriend was huge too and madd as hell and the {{Knuckle-Head}} was a scrawny kat and the friend was a lil on the slobby side. I”m not one for drama and certainly not so close to me. People are shouting … ITS ONLY A MOVIE… luckily the fight didn’t break out. By this point

12:05AM everyone is seated and watching the movie …

2:30AM I was the third person to escape the theater. It was a shame because I had planned many months ago to get the post Spidy reviews and podcast them, but by that time the whole Pre-Spidy 3 experience and all the excitement and thrill of the opening had left me quite agitated. As my allergies continued to flare up.

THE SPIDERMAN 3 REVIEW

Let me first warn the Spidy Comic Book fans and those who dug the first two movies… if you want to really enjoy the movie please lower your expectations. It’s not the greatest movie of all time like many of us expect. As far as “American Cinema” goes: in my opinion the original Matrix is the best action hero movie of all time – Spidy 2 is distant second. OH yeah… go see this at the IMAX Theater.

Not as good as Spidy 2 but on par with Spidy 1. I fault the studios for taking short cuts and trying to get as much bang for their merchandising buck. All in all I feel the actors all gave solid performances considering it was a typical Hollywood script. Warning some of the scenes are so hokey and so overtly dramatic it comes off as comedic sloppiness instead of its intended sentiment. The dynamic between Peter Parker and Mary Jane are off target from the last two films. Aunt Mae is a cross between a seasoned Catherine Hepburn and Yoda. Jay Joanna Jameson is wickedly funny as always. There are way too many high caliber bad guys for Spidy to be handling in one movie. The story feels very rushed and lacking character development in many parts.

That Said… Although rushed I will say that it is easy to follow and a few scenes had me geekN out. Without giving away too much; I will say that I absolutely dug the back-story of Sandman and how they established the character. I also really liked the evolution of Harry Osborn as the second Goblin. I personally think he was much more interesting than the first Goblin in Spidy 1. The black costume on Spidy really should have been the black costume from the comics. The execution of the costume was not as developed as it should have been… should have been a second movie. The CGI is evident in many places, but ‘WHO THE HELL CARES!!!!” Some scenes are truly monumental and memorable in their own right. Overall a fun and entertaining piece, some of the action is just mouthwatering, for that alone its worth a viewing. I am going to take another trip to the IMAX to see it again.

- Bendrix