It’s been a long time coming, but today mediaRAIN (who I work for), has launched it’s new website.
But more importantly, we’ve launched one of our new products, musicRAIN, this morning as well. musicRAIN is a tool designed to allow music publishers to put their sheet music online, displaying it in Flash, nearly identical to the printed version of music. However, the difference between displaying a PDF for example, and using musicRAIN, is that with a PDF you can’t transpose the music, play it back, or make other tweaks to the music before you decide to print it. It’s pretty awesome.
Previously, mediaRAIN built a music player for the LDS Church to display their hymns and children’s songs online. That site was featured as a Macromedia Site of the Day, nominated as a finalist in the Flashforward Film Festival, and as a nominee for a Webby Award.
This new version basically shares the same idea as the original, however it was rebuilt from the ground up, to be better, faster, and stronger. (But it didn’t take six million dollars to do that). We’ve had a team working on it for a little over a year, and it’s some pretty cool stuff.
So, as my involvement was pretty minimal, I won’t take credit for it, but I would like to offer a big congratulations to the musicRAIN team for pulling this off. Do them a favor, and check it out.
FYI - Studio 8 is now available for download on Macromedia.com, whether or not you have a DevNet subscription.
Just though you might be interested.
(And if you like, you can save a few bucks picking it up at Amazon.com - I did.)
Studio 8 on Amazon
Just got my confirmation email over the weekend - so, if you’re going, I’ll see you there!
This will be my first MAX conference. Even though 2003’s was in Salt Lake, about 20 minutes from my house, I just didn’t have the funds available to make it. Same thing last year. However, this time around though, I’ll be there.
See you then.
Link: MAX 2005
As of this morning, I’ve begun switching my site over to WordPress from MovableType.
It’s something I’ve been contemplating for a while now, and finally began setting up about a week or so ago. All of the entries from the old blog have been transitioned over, and most of the links should still work. However, if you’ve linked to any old entries, your links will still work for now, and should be redirected later on when I have the time to do that.
There are still a few tweaks I need to make, and a few of the features from my old blog that need to be moved over, but those will happen when I get the time.
But in the meantime, if while browsing the site you happen to notice any bugs or glaring errors, please use the contact form to let me know where you found it.
Later.
As many of you now know, the finalists for the Flash Forward Festival have been announced, and one of our projects made the cut!
The Interactive Church Music Player has been nominated as a finalist in the Applications category. While definately not the flashiest name around, it gets to point of what it is and does. This thing not only displays and plays the music, it allows you to play it back at different tempos, transpose the music to different keys, play only certain parts, print the music, just about anything. I’m proud to be a part of this thing, but I will admit that it was probably the longest six months of my life, during which we put in 10-13 hour days almost everyday, I listened to the same song possibly thousands of times getting the timing right on playback, and I discovered the healing powers a late-night burrito can have.
Vote for your favorite
Visit the link above to vote for your favorite entry now for the People’s Choice Award. Of course, I’d like you to vote for ours. It’s even pretty easy to find, right at the top of the list. (This is most likely due to the alphabetical listing of the entries and categories, but we’re still at the top of the list.)
Congrats to the other nominees, and I’ll see you in San Francisco!
Little bit of geek news… The text for the opening crawl of Episode III has been posted on StarWars.com. This is exciting news around MediaRain as May 19, 2005 has been designated as a holiday.
The company that I work for, MediaRain, is currently looking for a few qualifed and experienced developers and designers. MediaRain places a heavy emphasis on using Flash for it’s projects, and we’re often pushing Flash to it’s limits.
We’re looking for candidates for the following design and developer positions:
Note:All job openings are for our offices in Provo, Utah.
- ActionScript Programmer
All candidates must have at least 2 years of ActionScripting experience. Experience with AS2 and OOP principles is suggested and encouraged. Experience with Flash Remoting and Flash Communication Server also encouraged. Experience and knowledge of music and musical notation is a plus, but not necessary.
- Back-End Programmer
Experience and/or schooling in PHP and MySQL. Programmers who have experience with connecting to Flash, with Flash Remoting, or with Flash Communication Server will be highly favored. Other middle-ware experience is not required but preferred.
- Experienced (Lead) Designer
Experience in Flash and Motion Design. The candidate must possess real-world experience and/or schooling in design. This person will be involved in the creation and direction of print, branding, and other collateral materials. The individual will also design interactive media, web pages, CD/DVDs, trade show graphics and other materials, etc. Using Flash to design these materials will be preferred.
- Junior Level Designer
This person will work with the Lead Designer to create interactive media and print materials, such as web pages, interactive presentations, CD/DVDs, brochures, and more. This individual will use Flash to create many of these projects on a regular basis.
- Motion Designer
This position is suited for someone who knows how to tell a captivating story using motion and animation. Responsibilities will include designing animations, character animations, product demos, product launches, menu systems, motion for the Internet, and games. This individual must have adequate experience and possess a portfolio of powerful motion examples in varied industries. Any experience with 3D will place the candidate at the top of the list.
Please email resumes and examples of work to jobs@mediarain.com. Or, call Cielle at (801) 805-9199.
Positions are available immediately.
Pay depends on experience and ability.
Full benefits package available.
Foosball skills not required, but are strongly encouraged.
If you’re interested, do not contact me, use the email address and phone number above to contact MediaRain. I will not respond to any resumes or portfolios sent directly to me.
Quick bit of news today - joshbuhler.com has just been added to the list of feeds aggregated by the Macromedia XML News Aggregator. Hopefully this can help me boost my readership up from 5-6 people (including me) to a little bit more than that.
This is exciting for me because MXNA is where I found a lot of the great sites that I read often and look to for new tips and techniques in Flash and web design in general. And hopefully one day I’ll be able to provide something of use to the Flash Community in general.
If you’re reading this, it means that my DNS info has propagated to my new hosting company, MediaTemple.
That is all.