Adults can now enroll in Digital Photography classes at the Digital Arts Experience in Westchester and surrounding communities: Scarsdale, Valhalla, Rye, Larchmont, White Plains, Tarrytown and others. In our class, students learn the three core components of a DSLR camera that will have them taking incredible photos: aperture, ISO & shutter speed.
Our classes go over the information you need in a fun, stress-free setting and we don’t bog you down with jargon.
Enroll now: TheDAE.com/adultclasses
We’ve got you covered! While other camps end before August does, The Digital Arts Experience’s computer and STEM summer camps in White Plains of Westchester County, NY, keep on going into the first week of September. Listen to President Rob Kissner talk about how you should end your kids’ summer.
With courses in 3D Printing, Animation, Graphic Design, and more STEM subjects to choose from, your child is sure to find a program that they are interested in! Allow your children to finish their summer at the most fun and educational summer camp in Westchester.
For more information visit our:
YouTube Channel: http://youtube.com/digitalartexperience
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TheDAExperience
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheDAExperience
Website: http://www.TheDAE.com
Registration Page: https://campscui.active.com/orgs/TheDigitalArtsExperience
We, here at The Digital Arts Experience in White Plains, Westchester NY, are proud and excited to announce two NEW programming and web development courses for kids that we are currently adding, and a few extra courses coming this year!
Text-Adventures with Java:
We will be teaching an advanced Java Course that will build off of and develop the skills learned in our Java 101 Course. Students will spend time learning how developers in the real-world face complex problems. They will learn how to think ambiguously, write pseudocode, and develop algorithms to solve the problems they will encounter as they progress through the course. Furthermore, their Final Project will be in the form of a text-adventure, in which, the students will create their own story-line. Our objective is to teach the Java language in depth, while facilitating a fun, creative, engaging, and hands-on experience that encourages curiosity, teamwork, and critical thinking. This course will be a prerequisite to one of our future courses coming this year; Web Applications with Java: Hard-Coding a 2D game.
Programming 101 using Ruby:
This course is specifically designed to teach the core concepts of programming. We have designed the curriculum with the goal of teaching our students to think like a programmer. Students will learn to embrace abstract thought and practice common coding conventions. Being able to code with convention and conciseness in mind, is key to creating beautiful reusable code, that can be distributed worldwide. The Ruby programming language is currently sky-rocketing within the software industry, with employers seeking candidates whom are not only educated in the language, but are able to think pragmatically. This course assumes no prior programming experience, but is equally useful for those on an intermediate level.
COMING SOON:
Why Take These Courses?
To put it simply…. because you should become digitally literate. Programming is, in essence, applied Math and Science. It teaches us to think smarter, faster, and more efficiently. It’s no secret that software and computers are changing our society. With so many of our industries relying on Software Programs to automate their daily tasks, it’s becoming more and more evident that we need to educate not only ourselves, but our youth. The tech industry is booming. Job growth is estimated to increase between 20% and 30% for Computer related fields by the year 2020. Employers are seeking computer literate individuals more than ever before. To add to that, in 2013, a study conducted by the Census Bureau found that 83.8% of households reported computer ownership, and 73.4% reported internet use. With STEM technology rapidly evolving and embedding itself in our daily lives, it is imperative that we learn how computers communicate, and what goes into creating, reading, and writing software programs. Below is a small list of a few jobs in the software industry and their respected average salaries: (Keep in mind the estimated 30% job growth in this industry)
1) Java Developers
2) Ruby Developers
3) Web Developers
To sum it up, we urge you to come learn with us. Tell your friends and family, and spread the word. The Digital Arts Experience of White Plains in Westchester is committed to empowering today’s youth, as well as, any adult whom wants to learn or sharpen their digital skills! Contact us via email, phone, or website. Thank you for reading!
-Jeff, Software Instructor at The Digital Arts Experience
Jeff Soto, programming Instructor at The Digital Arts Experience in White Plains, Westchester, NY.
To learn more about the programming, web development (HTML5), coding and STEM classes that we are offering for kids and teens in Westchester County, visit our website at www.TheDAE.com.
To view our After School schedule, click here.
To view our Summer STEM Camps, click here.
Interdisciplinary Classes for Kids In Westchester at The Digital Arts Experience
The Digital Arts Experience in White Plains is pleased to announce that they will be hosting a 4-day long Winter Break Boot Camp for the kids and teens of Westchester County.
Experience the Digital Arts: Interdisciplinary Program (Ages 9-12)
This customized program is designed to provide the students with the opportunity to experience and experiment with various fields in the digital arts, including: 2D Animation & Visual Effects, Video Production, Graphic Design, Audio & Sound Effects. Each student will work hands-on with and gain foundational knowledge in the professional level hardware and software used in each area of study.
The students will work at The Digital Arts Experience from 9:00AM – 4:00PM on:
Thursday, Dec. 26th
Friday, Dec. 27th
Monday, Dec. 30th
Tuesday, Dec. 31st
There will be 2 90 minute breaks throughout the day, and a lunch break as well. (Lunch will not be included)
They will create, plan and produce a multi-media project. The project will include planning/storyboarding, shooting, and editing video, creating animated titles and adding visual effects, adding sound effects and an original score, and designing a movie poster.
The tuition for this customized program is $550 per student. Each student will spend a total of 35 hours in our facility throughout the 4 days, resulting in cost of approximately $137.50 per day per student or approximately $19.60 per hour per student. Nothing else will be required to bring in besides a USB flash drive so each student can save their work.
To register, please follow this link: http://fs21.formsite.com/TheDAE/form2/index.html.
Feel free to e-mail Cristina at Cristina@thedae.com, or give a call to (914) 644-8100 if you have any questions or comments.
This week, I’ve got a quick tip for all of you Android users! An issue we all face in our digital lives is the data limits on our smartphones. I am constantly streaming music while I’m out and about, and it seems that, in no time, I’ve maxed out my data plan!
Luckily, with an Android device, it is easy to set a cap on your data usage to ensure that you don’t exceed your limit. Simply go to “Settings”, and then select “Data Usage”. Here you can set a mobile data limit, as well as a warning that will alert you when you are getting close to your limit.
That’s all for now, have a great weekend!
By Christina Collins, Account Manager for counterspace
How counterspace Joined the Coworking Community:
We were actively seeking a creative community to engage with last spring. We were looking for anything from a meet-up group to a networking organization- we didn’t really know exactly what, but we wanted to tap into or create ‘something’ where “creatives” could share, learn, network and grow. I had found The Digital Arts Experience online while on my quest for this so-called creative community we were looking for, but, to be completely honest, we didn’t really “get it.” Then, Brett [Yancy Collins, Owner and Creative Director of counterspace] created a meet-up for professional creatives in the Westchester/Fairfield area and Emily, on behalf of The DAE, saw the meet-up and sent Brett a note. When he told me that he got a note from a place called The Digital Arts Experience, I remembered that we had talked about it before and I was like “That’s the place I told you about in White Plains!” We decided we should meet with Emily and check the place out.
When we came in, The DAE was very quiet and there wasn’t much going on, but Brett knew right away that The DAE was a powerhouse waiting to explode and could be the place that he could tap into to host and grow a creative network. What we hadn’t thought about was working from here. After all, we had just moved into a loft space in downtown Port Chester not two months earlier! We left our meeting and Brett and I looked at each other and knew we wanted to try and figure out a way to make The DAE our home. But first, Brett wanted to meet with the founder, so I set up another meeting just to ensure personalities ‘jived.’ Brett, having been a part of creating a place similar to The DAE in Ohio called ‘The Works‘ many years ago and had much to chat about with founder Rob Kissner. We were excited to continue our ‘courtship’ with The DAE!
How counterspace Met Silverback Social:
It was that day that Rob and Emily introduced us to Silverback Social founder, Chris Dessi. Chris had tremendous energy and was gearing up for the first Westchester Digital Summit. Chris and Brett were after the same thing: creating a digital community in our backyards – Westchester, NY. Brett was doing it from a digital design perspective and Chris from a social media perspective, but they clearly were after that same sense of “Do it here. Do it now. And do it digitally.” And Chris was doing it so we were excited to see what the WDS was all about. We attended the [Westchester Digital] Summit the following week and soon after, told Rob we’d be moving in.
How counterspace Felt about Coworking:
We moved in right in the middle of producing a website for International Carseat maker, Diono. The pressure was on to produce the U.S. version of their site; we had crucial deadlines to meet. We were heads down and had no time to make friends! (Not sure what kind of first impression we made!) Meanwhile, all around us, The DAE was full of life. Since we last visited, The New York Institute for Social Media was in ‘the pink room’ (which I was relieved about because that was the absolute, one colored room I did not want!) and Harquin Creative Group was in the ‘blue room.’ There were interns all about, classes in session and freelancers coming and going. And during it all, there was Chris Dessi walking up and down the hall on the phone with clients all day long- also heads down on churring out work all day and night.
counterspace and Silverback Social’s WDS14 Work:
One day out of the blue, Brett and Chris started chatting in the hallway about this and that and Chris mentioned he had some design needs. A few days later, Brett went and sat down with Chris and they talked about creating logos for the Westchester Digital Summit and for Chris’s personal website. They talked about the future goals of each project and what kind of feeling the identity marks should evoke, what style Chris responds to, and what he doesn’t, and other bits of information.
Brett returned to his desk and within a few days time generated a series of logo marks for Chris Dessi and for The Westchester Digital Summit. Chris was very excited about the logos and was eager to continue working together. Together, they began to churn out really high quality work starting with a brochure for the Westchester Digital Summit, which included photography that Brett took specifically for it. From there, they moved onto a large format poster to be used at Westchester Airport and they are currently finishing up the website for WDS.
In addition, we began to execute a new website for Chris’s personal blog featuring all the many things about Chris such as hiring him for speaking engagements, advertising his published book, featuring him as a founder of the digital summit, linking him as the CEO and founder of Silverback and more- he’s a busy guy! counterspace came up with a innovative design for ChristopherDessi.com that will accomplish the goals of featuring “all that is Chris” in a classy way. That site will be launching soon and we are all excited to see it go live! What’s next? Well… we’ll all have to wait and see.
We (counterspace) were very eager to start working on the Westchester Digital Summit, partially because we attended last year and were energized about the concept then, and now this is one just way we get to be a part of it for year 2. The more successful we are at branding it, the more successful it becomes and that is good not only for counterspace, but for all of corporate Westchester, specifically digital agencies.
Best Part of Coworking at The DAE:
The advantage Silverback and counterspace have in the coworking environment at The DAE is proximity. By being in adjacent offices, feedback is delivered in person and instantaneously, questions and answers can be tackled at each other’s desks, gut reactions can be gaged and responded to when sharing deliverables and, most of all, ideas get shared and goals get discussed. Becoming an extension of each other’s teams results in successful projects, positive moral and a sharing of each other’s expertise in a noncompetitive environment. Coworking is truly about working alongside each other, learning and growing by leveraging each other’s areas of expertise, experiences and sharing in each others successes.
We have been at The DAE for 3 months now and we are confident we made the right move for counterspace. We’ve met fabulous people, we like coming to work, talking about projects we are working on, hearing about other people’s projects and even sharing weekend stories. Silverback, Harquin, counterspace and The DAE are currently collaborating on how to work with interns collectively rather than having a “counterspace intern” and a “DAE intern.” We are stronger as one and although we are all still learning the ins and outs of all the agencies and people who call The DAE home, there is an energy happening that assures me we are all moving in the right direction.
The Westchester Digital Summit 2014 will be held on May 15th, 2014 at the White Plains Ritz Carlton. For more information, please contact JohnZanzarella@SilverbackSocial.com or ChrisDessi@SilverbackSocial.com.
Fotor has a desktop and mobile version that allows for organization and tons of cool editing features, including a tilt shift that allows you to keep one part of a photo in focus while shifting the rest of it out of focus, creating a really artistic effect. What’s best of all is Fotor has a web based version of the editor. Simply select a photo to edit, edit it right in your browser, and then choose what online photo gallery to share to (Picasa, Flickr, etc.). And it’s FREE!
As a marketing intern at The DAE, I manage all of our social media channels, which includes this WordPress blog. Before coming to The DAE, however, I’d gotten my feet wet in all different types of blogging sites throughout the years: Xanga (embarrassing), MySpace’s blogging feature (hyperemotional), Blogspot (nothing of relevance to say), Tumblr (also hyperemotional, but with photos and GIFs!), and finally WordPress. Using these blogging mediums for the past eleven years (am I that old?), I’ve clearly found purpose in writing in an online journal of sorts. So, if you’ll bear with me for one of my less emotional posts, here are a few reasons I’ve stuck with blogging my entire Internet life:
1. Community
The people you connect with on blogs are different from those you meet in your everyday life. If you’re anything like me, you’re unlikely to walk into the nearest grocery store, for example, and form a deep connection with the next person you meet. Chances are they’re from the same town, have the same routines as you, and that their life story is not that different from yours. But online, you surround yourself with people with whom you share similar interests. You can connect over things that perhaps your friends don’t have an interest in. You find people who have been down all different walks of life and they expose you to a wider world.
As a Irish-Catholic girl growing up in a very small Irish and Italian-American town, I didn’t know too much about what other people were experiencing beyond the typical Eastchester situations. Having a blog and following others’ blogs helped me to see what was going on beyond the four walls of my room and see things in a different light.
2. Expression
As I mentioned earlier, sometimes my blogs would get a little hyperemotional. But, for the most part, they acted as a healthy outlet for the stressful feelings that come with adolescence and growing up. I identify as a writer: of stories, poems, songs and, well, blogs. So, to have a place I could turn to just by turning on my computer did a world of good for me. I wrote to express everything that I was feeling: stress, sadness, excitement, fear, anxiety, happiness, all of that. It helped to clear my head and keep up my spirits in times of change.
3. Education
I support certain causes very passionately, specifically those involved with mental illness, and while I wasn’t being thoroughly educated about these issues in school or on the news, I was able to stay up to date through blogs. I learned about the different laws, movements, attempts to raise awareness, spokespeople and what was being done overall to reach out to those who struggled with mental illness. It was an education that I couldn’t obtain beyond maybe a day of Health class in school or on the evening news aside from the tragic stories. Following sites like TWLOHA (To Write Love On Her Arms), an anti-suicide nonprofit, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Health), and individual bloggers kept me informed and intelligent on the causes I cared about. On a lighter note, I also follow blogs that provide a certain type of education that I can’t get in school: sports! As a huge Mets fan, I need to stay up-to-date on my boys in orange and blue to be as true of a fan as I can be. So, Mets blogs are a huge part of my blogging experience as well.
4. Inspiration
As a writer and as a frequently stressed college student, I often need a pick-me-up. Early on, there were Xanga sites (does anyone even remember these?) that posted song lyrics and cheesy GIFs to try and make the angsty middle schoolers of that day and age feel a little less mopey and a little more glittery, I guess. Then, with Tumblr, we gained the ability to reblog these images and lyrics, but with the added sophistication of the format, GIFs, and the quality of the quotes. As silly as it may sound to those who never used Xanga/Tumblr, that action of reblogging to save that inspiration for later did a lot. I had a little tag going on my Tumblr called “inspiration” so that if I ever needed a pick-me-up, well, there it was:
“Allow yourself to be a beginner; no one starts off excellent.”
Except for me, of course. But that’s an entirely different story.
5. Growth
What have I learned from blogging? How have I grown? I have been exposed to people from all over the world who are eerily similar to me (sometimes making me think, do I have a clone?). I’ve been a resource to others and they’ve helped me in turn. I learn about the causes I care about and ones I didn’t know existed. My eyes are opened to different opinions and I’m supported by those whose opinions I share. Many times, in today’s day and age, we are told that our connections are so fake because we’re friends with people we don’t really know that well on Facebook or we feel more comfortable talking to certain people online, that we’re not engaged in the “real world.”
But I’d like to argue the opposite opinion: I think we are more engaged in the real world than ever. Instead of limiting ourselves, I feel as though we’ve grown by expanding our interests, knowledge, experiences, and, in general, our reality through the Internet. My reality was once the comfortable life in a New York City suburb, and though I won’t say that I know everything about everything (chances are I’m close), I’ve learned a lot more about the world from being immersed in the blogosphere. I’ve encountered people who have really struggled in their lifetime, stories that aren’t mainstream newsworthy enough, movements that connect people across the world, and it has been a beautiful experience.
I can’t wait to see what else I learn in the years to come. Because even as I finish up my formal education this year, I know I will still have so much more to learn from the wider blogging community.
Image by None via CrunchBase
Ever since Vine, the app that lets you record looping 6-second videos, debuted in January of this year, it has been a hit amongst stop-motion animators. All a Vine recording requires is that you press your thumb down on the screen to record and lift it to stop. So, for stop-motion aficionados, that easily translates to creating your own stop-motion animations.
For those of you who are interested in exploring the stop-motion world, check out these tips, provided by the pro Viners themselves:
1. Come up with an idea!
No (successful) stop-motion clip can be spontaneous. Plan out what you’re going to do in your 6 seconds and figure out what your goal is for this Vine. Pro Viner, Frank Danna, recommends asking yourself, “Wouldn’t it be cool if…?” if you have “Viner’s Block.”
2. Plan. Rome wasn’t Vined in a day!
Much like longer-length productions, you’ll need to organize your Vine by breaking down your shots and figuring out what you’ll have to do – for more complex Vines, this may involve storyboarding! This helps you stay on track and constant throughout the filming process. “I typically begin with rough sketches or written walkthroughs that help me keep the story of my Vine intact and insure consistency from start to finish,” says Danna.
From here, you can figure out not only where your Vine will end up, but also what props and camera angles you may need. If you want to ensure steady shots, get a tripod or a makeshift tripod to keep your stop-motion animation looking flawless.
3. Cut frequently!
You’ve got way more time than you think you have. 6 seconds seems long to us, but in the realm of stop-motion animation, it’s a long time. You have so many possibilities!
Just look at Ben Wyatt (on NBC’s Parks and Recreation) as his hard work of three weeks led to 3 seconds of stop-motion:
Don’t worry, yours won’t be as bad.
4. Use the ghost feature!
Some of you may not even realize this exists, but pro Viner and video producer Ian Padgham recommends using Vine’s ghost feature. It allows you to have a ghost layer while you’re filming, so that if you bump the shot at all, you can view the last scene with ease by tapping the ghost in the bottom right corner
5. Take a screenshot for looping!
Padgham also recommends that, if you want to have a great, smoothly looping Vine, you should take a screenshot of your first shot so that you know exactly how to end your video to look just like the beginning.
Maybe you can even aspire to be as great as these guys (but don’t be ashamed if your first attempt isn’t quite as awe-inducing!)
Happy Vining and hope you have as much fun with it as we do! Check out our Vines by following @thedaexperience.
Love Vine? Check out these great Vine articles that have more tips and more awesome animations!
Interested in having your kids learn stop-motion animation?
Our next Stop-Motion with Legos class at The Digital Arts Experience for ages 9-12 will begin December 4th!
Click here for more information.
Simon Cadel is a one-of-a-kind kid. At the young age of thirteen, he has already begun his standup comedy career and worked hard to support a local nonprofit. Family Services of Westchester (FSW) is a private nonprofit agency in Westchester that offers social and mental health services for children, teens, adults and senior citizens in order to provide as much support for them as possible. Such programs include teen leadership programs, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and HeadStart, just to name a few.
Simon recently organized a comedy show, “Laugh Til It Helps,” at The Digital Arts Experience with his fellow young comedian friends to raise money for FSW and further their cause. The show was a great success and brought in $1,000 for FSW. Furthermore, it had been a dream of Simon’s to hold a comedy show to benefit a charity; to have that sort of ambition and thoughtfulness at 13 years old makes him stand apart from his peers. His knack for comedy is just the extra step that makes him such an outstanding kid.
Simon’s been classified not as a kid comedian, as the Digital Family Summit notes, “he’s a comedian who happens to be a kid.” Basically, he’s young for most comedians, but his delivery, presence and sense of humor show that he’s quick, witty and far more clever than the typical teen. He began studying comedy two years ago, attending camps, the Kids ‘N Comedy classes at the Gotham Comedy Club, and after-school programs.
Simon performed at showcases, videos of which circulated on YouTube and got the attention of comedy clubs like The Comic Strip Live and New York Comedy Club. Both clubs booked him for primetime weekend shows, despite the fact that otherwise, his age would not allow him to go inside! “I’m way too young to be here,” Simon had said when he first walked onstage at The Comic Strip Live. Maybe, but he’s also way too clever to be missed.
The DAE is proud and excited to see our student exhibiting such skill and creativity in his performances. We’ve even had the pleasure of having him do standup at The DAE’s first Open Mic in August, where his confidence and talent allowed him to shine and be completely unfazed by the audience. Simon is currently enrolled in our brand-new class, Game Programming with Java, which excites us to welcome him into The DAE community. Therefore, we’re more than happy to support his efforts in raising money for FSW or calling attention to important causes.
This Saturday, he’ll be participating in another great comedy night, Standup For Peace, which aims to bring comedy and matters of political importance together to open up the conversation. Standup For Peace is a show put on by the well-known political comedians, Scott Blakeman and Dean Obeidallah, to unite all ethnic/religious backgrounds in support of peace in the Middle East and worldwide.
Blakeman and Obeidallah have used their comedic talent to promote tolerance and peace at this critically acclaimed show for the past ten years. Now, Simon will be opening up for these big name comedians in order to show his support for the cause and it promises to be a hilarious night that you won’t want to miss. Standup For Peace is coming to The Purple Crayon in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY this Saturday, October 19th from 8pm-10pm. (Tickets can be purchased for $20 here.) We hope you will go out and support our student comedian and his great causes, see for yourself how great of a show he puts on!
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This past weekend, Simon and his blogger mom Betsy spoke at the 2013 Digital Family Summit on Kid Fame: Right for Your Kid? Or You?. In November, Simon will be auditioning for America’s Got Talent and performing at Gotham Comedy Club, so keep an eye out for him!
Simon’s YouTube page can be found at www.youtube.com/simoncadel, check it out!
THE DIGITAL ARTS EXPERIENCE 