Play Netflix or Stream Videos From Your Computer To Your Nintendo Wii

I recently stumbled upon software that allows to you to stream content from your computer to your Nintendo Wii. They work by processing the meadia on your computer and then transmit the content over your network to your Wii in a format that it understands. I am aware of two applications that will allow you to do this. Playon and orb.





Playon:After installation you will need to open up your Wii browser and type "Playon.tv" to access your media.

Pros:Allows you to stream Netflix as well as Hulu, also has a nice plugin base.
Cons:After your two week trial is over it will cost you $40





Orb:After installation you open up your Wii Browser and type "Mycast.orb.com" to login to your account.

Pros: It is free, you can access it anywhere you have web access and it works for your Iphone and webcam.
Cons: Does not play Netflix or Hulu and it does not have a strong plugin base.

Tech Tutorials

-Stream Videos to Your Nintendo Wii

Setting Up Custom Shortcuts for your Wacom Tablet

This is something every tablet owner should know how to do. It will make working with your tablet faster by letting you apply the functions you use most often to your buttons.


First you need to locate your Wacom tablet Properties. Start>All Programs>Wacom Tablet>Wacom Tapblet Properties
This will open up the wacom tablet properties menu which has many different options to help you fine tune your tablet.


By default the grip pen icon should already be selected. You should see an image of your pen, the drop down menus next to it indicate what action will take place when that button is pushed. Click on one of the drop down menus and select "keystroke".
The Define Keystrokes window should open up, by pressing a key on the keyboard it will add that stroke to your button. In this example I used the open bracket button [ because it makes your brush shrink in Photoshop. This means in Photoshop every time I hit that particular pen button It will make my brush size smaller. You can use whatever keystroke you want. Then hit OK. Now it will prompt you to put in a name, do it then hit OK once more and you are done. You can continue to do this for any button you would like.


Clicking on the function icon will reveal more buttons. It is also worth noting that clicking the plus button next to "Applications" will allow you to add any program that you would like to the list, and by clicking on the icon of that program you can then add new button functions that will affect that application only.

Choosing a Drawing Tablet

Drawing Tablets, what are they and what kind should i get?

A Drawing tablet allows you to use natural drawing techniques to help make creating digital art a more familiar, comfortable process. If you are serious about creating digital artwork and you do not yet own one, I highly recommend you consider making a purchase. You see not only does a tablet allow you to create art work naturally but more often than not it also allows you to produce it at a faster rate than using a mouse.

When it comes to choosing a drawing tablet I strongly recommend Wacom tablets. Other brands are available such as Aiptek though for the most part Wacom tablets are considered to be a cut above the rest. I would suggest looking at the Intuos and Cintiq lines when purchasing a Wacom tablet. While there are less expensive brands these will provide just about all of the functionality you will need.

What is the difference between the Intous and Cintiq tablets?
Well in short the Cintiq has a built in viewing screen and the Intous does not. When you are drawing on the Intous all the work you are doing appears on your computer monitor in front of you, and while you are drawing on the Cintiq all the work happens where you place your pen on the Cintiq's viewing screen. (see the image above) Needless to say the Intuos tablets are less expensive than the Cintiq.

What size tablet should i get?
Most people prefer the 6x8 graphics tablet. All though it is important to know that a bigger tablet doesn't make you any better an artist. What kind of an artist are you? Some people prefer the smaller tablets because they prefer to draw or paint with the motioning of their wrists, while others may or may not like the larger tablets because you motion more with your arm.

OTHER TUTORIALS

-Choosing a Wacom Tablet.
-Setting Up Custom Buttons For your Wacom Tablet

Upcoming Posts

Over the next few weeks i am going to be writing about digital painting with Photoshop. We will start by talking about drawing tablets as well as how to maximize your productivity by adding tablet hot keys then finally we will talk about painting techniques for Photoshop (The fun part).

Welcome

Hello Everyone, welcome to paper vs rock. The goal is to create a place where one can learn about the technical side of art as well as the artistic side. We are going to learn digital and traditional techniques. I desire to write one tutorial every week or every other week. The tutorials will span from the very simple to the very complex, but they will all be useful. The first couple of tutorials will stay on the simple side, just because it makes since that way :). However, I am going to try to make the tutorials as simple and straight forward as possible, while also explaining the reasons why we do things. Also i am a fan of pictures, so i will try to include as many step by steps as i can. well since this blog is for you guys, if anyone has any requests or suggestions mail me at papervsrock@gmail.com :) look for our first tutorial as we enter the new week!