You all know we have the Adobe Creative Cloud in ideaLAB, right? Indeed, you can access these wonderful software programs during our Open Labs. Need to make a montage of all of your cat videos? BOOM. We’ve got Premiere. Want to put Grandma’s face on Steph Curry draining a 3-pointer? Photoshop is at your service. Is your footage from last summer's family reunion lacking explosions? Check out After Effects. The Creative Suite is a really powerful set of tools with infinite applications.
That said, the Creative Cloud ain’t cheap. Luckily, there are a ton of alternatives, most of which are free and open source (FOSS), so you can get to creating without breaking the bank. For example, there’s GIMP, which is as powerful as Photoshop, but free. Or check out Audacity, which makes it easy to record a podcast or live musical instrument tracks. You can even turn a $150 Chromebook into a fully-functioning computer by installing Linux.
The trick with FOSS is often tracking it down--What’s the software called? Where can I safely download it?--as well as learning how to use it. Never fear! We’ve got you covered. This Tuesday, February 23 at 6 p.m., ideaLAB is offering a Free and Open Source Software for Creatives workshop. J.R. Nielsen, ideaLAB’s first Maker-in-Residence, will show you how to make digital art, produce video, record audio, and make animated movies, all with FOSS software. We’ll have some Chromebooks you can use, or feel free to bring your laptop and we’ll help you get the software installed. No registration is required.
Also, be sure to keep an eye out for our Linux 101, GIMP, and LibreOffice classes here in the CTC, which we offer quarterly. Be free; be creative!
