The document discusses various technologies the author learned about while constructing a magazine product. The author used Photoshop and InDesign to design pages, PowerPoint to present projects, and Word to write articles. Learning new software like WordPress for blogging was initially challenging. Hardware used included iMacs, a Nikon camera, SD cards, backdrops and lights for photos, and a keyboard/mouse. Overall the author gained experience with different technologies for producing their final magazine product.

1. S
What have you Learnt
about Technologies from
the Process of
Constructing this Product?
By Findlay Young

2. New Technologies
S Throughout the construction of my media
product I have learnt various things about
how new and different technologies can
improve and develop my magazine. There
are a lot of different technologies that
helped me produce my final product. I
used different Hardware's and Software’s
like Keyboards, Cameras, Backdrop,
Photoshop and InDesign.

3. New Software
S Photoshop: Out of all the software's I could use to construct my
magazine, I predominately used Photoshop because it allowed me to
develop and improve a page whether it was the Front cover or the Contents
Page etc. It took a while to get use top it but after the prelim task I created, I
felt comfortable in creating a magazine using Photoshop. From using
Photoshop I learnt how to create a page and combine my products together
and edit them. I mainly used Photoshop to create my Front cover and my
contents Page because they are single are single page set ups in my
magazine. From using Photoshop, I gradually learnt how to edit the
appearance of an artist using the clone tool or the brushes. From creating
my Front Cover and Contents Page with Photoshop it allowed me to learn
how to move different layers in millimeters of space in order to get the best
alignment. Also by using Photoshop I learnt how to change the width and
height of my text without change the number of size its on. From using
Photoshop I also learnt how to free transform different layers, whether it was
text or an image to the size, width and height I wanted it to be.

4. New Software
S InDesign: I used InDesign to construct my Article Page because it’s a
double page spread. I chose to use InDesign because it allows you to
create double page spreads which Photoshop doesn’t. I had never used
this software before and was use to using Photoshop to construct a page
so found it very complicated at first. After I got to grips with the program I
learnt how to create the columns on a page like a magazine article has. I
also found it very easy to align all of my different layers on the page
because they all have a box’s around them to change the size etc and I
used put the edge of the box on top of the alignment lines. I also learnt
how to change the colour of my text, InDesign allows me to be able to mix
to colours together to get a variety of different colours. I also learnt how to
put a different colour and a glow around text to allow it to stand out. I also
learnt how to create Drop Caps in my text/article in order to create article
similar to that of published articles. In InDesign I also learnt how to align
my photo on the whole of the page so the audience know who the article
is about.

5. New Software
S PowerPoint: I really enjoyed using
PowerPoint because it allowed me to present
my projects both text wise and visually
appealing. There wasn’t much for me to learn
whilst using PowerPoint because all of the
different tools you can use are labeled so you
know what do do with it and I had already used
the software before on other computers.
PowerPoint also allows me to add different
information on to different slides so its not all
cramped and congested on to one page.

6. New Software
S Word: I used word to write up the
story for my main article for the
magazine. It is similar to PowerPoint,
but you can have slides. It is very easy
to use and does not require you to
have previous experience on it, there
are no complicated options. Word
allows you to change the font, size of
text and import images to the
document. The bar at the top of the
page has all the options required and it
is clear and easy to understand.

7. New Software
S WordPress: I used the WordPress blog
throughout the construction of my product. The
WordPress blog allowed me to record all of my
coursework so that it can be checked marked. I
found it complicated at the start because I had
never used it before. There were lots of options
and tools that were new to me. For example you
can customize the theme of your blog and add
pages to he blog. I found that WordPress was
similar to Word when constructing a new post. It
allows you to easily write text, change sizes and
font and insert images to it. You can also upload
lots of media to the page.

8. New Hardware
S iMacs: iMacs are a very complicated machine that
is hard to get to grips with if you haven't used one
before, luckily for myself I have one at home so I
know the basics of how the computer works. But I
still used software's which I didn’t know so getting to
grips with that and iMac was hard. After comparing
the iMacs to other computers I have used I found
that the iMacs were a lot quicker. I learnt that the
iMacs also have a great wide-screen display which
makes it more efficient for me working on my
product.

9. New Hardware
S Camera: The camera that I used to take the photos
for my Front cover, Contents Page and my Article
Page is the Nikon D3100 which is an entry level digital
SLR camera. The camera has a newly designed 14
megapixel DX format sensor. It has a one touch full
HD video recording with an autofocus. It has a
sensitivity range of ISO 100-3,200 expandable to ISO
12,800. from using this hardware I learnt that the
Nikon D3100 is well suited to most lighting conditions.
From using the camera I also learnt how to get the
best photos out of the 14 megapixel camera.

10. New Hardware
S SD Card/Reader: The SD Card/reader is the
memory card for my camera. The memory card
is placed in the camera before I take the
photos, the photos are then saved onto the SD
Card. The SD Card Reader is the tool I used to
insert the photos on to the iMac. The SD Card
is placed into a reader/Memory stick, I then find
the file I need and insert the photos in order to
use them on my product.

11. New Hardware
S Back Drop and Soft Boxes: The Soft Boxes
go over the strobe lights and they give the light a softer,
rounder light on the artist when taking a photo. This way
sharp shadows are avoided on the artist and the
photograph has a higher quality. The Backdrop has two
more strobe lights directed at it on full power to create a
high exposure. That Backdrop that I used in my photo
was white. However they do them in other colours such
as black because it will give it that dark effect. But as
my artist was an African American, I wanted my
background to be white and bright because it creates a
contrast with his skin colour.

12. New Hardware
S Keyboard and Mouse: The mouse is different to
what I am use to normally, but as i have has an iMac at
home recently I have been able to get better with the
mouse and it has now become normal to me. The mouse
has some different functions that I wasn’t use to, for
example by clicking the scroller, all the windows are
separated. Like the mouse, the apple keyboard also has
some different functions, for example to copy and paste a
different combination is used. To copy and paste you
must use the command key with the C key to copy and
the command key with the P key to paste.

13. New Hardware
S Horseshoe Flash Trigger and
Strobe Flash: The horseshoe flash
trigger is in-sync with the camera. It
triggers the flash in-sync with the camera
shutter using the infrared signal which is
sent to the strobe flash. The strobe flash
that I used is the Hemisphere 300 model
which suits the speed of the Nikon camera
whose shutter speed is 1/300th of a
second. The dial on the back of the device
is used to set the power of the light.