#Polish software house

[thomasrayan12]

polish software house

Polish software house have become synonymous with innovation, quality, and reliability in the global technology landscape. While we cannot provide an exact count of these establishments, there are over 2,000 software development companies in Poland as of my last knowledge update. This number is expected to have grown since then, underlining the country's position as a top choice for outsourcing software development needs. 

[magnoliaroad]

4 Seasons Back Yard Remodel + Crystal Yard

My 4 seasons remodels of the Petz 5 Back Yard are now available for download! And because I went on a bit of a side-quest, I’ve also made a bonus version, a fantasy, crystal back yard!

You can read my creator's notes below:

I somewhat wonder if it's fair to criticize the original Petz 5 playscenes too harshly. It's possible that the development team faced tight deadlines or budget constraints, factors that may not have been entirely within their control. However, regardless of the circumstances, the end result was a disappointingly sloppy product, and it's difficult to ignore some of the glaring flaws. While I can understand that the developers were working with dated software, there are certain flaws that can't be attributed to software limitations. Rather, they seem to reflect a clear lack of attention to detail. Here's what I mean.

The more you look at it, the harder it is to decide which flaw is the worst. The blatant MS paint spray paint "touch-up" in the upper left, that there was no effort put into blending in the skybox, or that they neglected to add textures to the roof.

Alright, enough ranting there. None of this is to say my playscenes are perfect either, but they were a labor of love and I hope that this is evident in the final results.

SPRING

I smoothed out the grass texture to give it a more velvety, manicured lawn appearance. I brightened up the dingy looking fence to a more brighter white. The original playscene had a hole in the fence, and while it might add "character", I opted to cover over it for a more polished look. I added bushes behind the fence to cover up the skybox and to conceal the bottom of the houses.

Speaking of houses. Wow these needed a big work-up. The texture work (or lack of) on these is just bad. I'm no expert in house construction, but even mostly-brick houses will have some accents like trims to break up the monotony of a fully-brick façade.

Because of how fuzzy the brick texture is in the original, I drew in the mortar lines of the bricks to enhance the texture. I added roof shingles, siding, and trim boards to the house to make it look more like a typical suburban house. Despite these edits, it's still not a "great" house - the way it looks through the windows, it looks like the house is one room lol. I wish I could put better houses in the backdrop but because Tinker doesn't allow me to edit the animated blinds, I'm constrained to keeping them the shape that they are. Oh well. We can use our imagination.

I added landscaping rocks to make the flower bed look nicer. I also added some landscaping details like bushes, garden lights, and string lights for ambiance.

[ Enlarged picture of the garden light I made ]

I also worked to improve the skyboxes in all 4 seasons of the of the Back Yard playscenes. It would be lengthy to get into the details of all that but here's a before and after of the night skybox. You got to love them high-quality MS paint stars in the original.

SUMMER

I had a hard time with the summer one because it was hard to come up with ways to make it look different from the spring version. I did make the grass, bushes, and tree leaves slightly more vibrant. Originally I had some flowers by the bushes but I just wasn't really happy with them. At the last minute, I made the decision to remove them entirely. This makes the playscene a little more "plain" but I think some people may want a more "plain", undecorated version so that they can dress it up how they want with toyz.

FALL

Fall is my favorite season, so this was a joy to make. I toned down the color of the grass and added fall landscaping motifs. Recoloring the tree's leaves was done by using Photoshop's gradient map feature. If time permits, I may do a tutorial on this in the future.

Gradient mapping is a powerful tool for recoloring almost anything. It can give way better results than methods such as hue/saturation, replace color, etc. And thanks to photoshop actions, applying this recolor to all the animation frames took just a couple of minutes.

Unfortunately, the fall leaves look "bright" in the nighttime version of the playscene. There does not seem to be a way to implement a darker version of these leaves for the nighttime playscene. If you look at the sprites in Tinker, you'll see that there are two sets of animations for Leaves A, B, and C and they're labeled "PropsAd" and "PropsAn", which would lead you to think that the developers originally intended for there to be a set of leaves for the day time, and a darker set for the night time. I guess the developers scrapped this idea because this does not work in the actual gameplay. When I experimented with this, the game appears to randomly display the nighttime sprite even during the day time, effectively ruining the intended affect. I'm not sure why the developers scrapped this. Either they had issues coding this properly or were just didn't want to put in the effort to make two sets of leaves.

WINTER

Instead of doing recolored leaves for this scene, I made all the leaves transparent and added holiday lighting to the tree. I know the lights aren't perfect - it was kind of hard to make out which direction a branch was going, so it has hard to maintain 'perfect' perspective.

CRYSTAL YARD

This is a bonus playscene that I made because I got a little side-tracked as I was working on the 4 seasons back yards. This is inspired by the Suramar zone from World of Warcraft, so it has a bit of that fantasy, night-elf feel and color scheme. It's been years since I've played WoW but I still appreciate the enchanting aesthetic of the elven zones.

I used gradient mapping again to recolor the leaves to give it this lavender, shimmery, iridescent look. I did a little bit of gaussian blurring and layer effects to make them look a little more "glowy" than the originals.

As before, Tinker won't let me edit the blinds, so it limited what edits I could do to the houses. I would love it if I could have done curtains instead or something. I did my best to make these houses look a little less suburban and more elven. It's not perfect but it was rough working with what I had.

KNOWN ISSUES / THINGS I COULDN'T EDIT

As far as I'm aware, there is no way to turn off the snow effect for seasons like summer where it wouldn't make sense. This probably involves some code-editing that is beyond my technical skillset.

The winter playscene still has the green grass footprint when your petz walk. The sprites for these are not housed within the .env itself but in the Petz 5 Rez.dll file. It would probably involve a bit of tweaking in the code to switch the sprites to something else.

The fall leaves are "bright" in the night time version because there is no way to implement a second, darker set of leaves.

I cannot edit the blinds animation. Tinker gives you an error when you try to edit this sprite. This unfortunately limits what edits I can make to the house and the fence because of where the sprite is positioned.

If anyone does know of solutions to these, do let me know as I'd love to enhance these scenes further!

ICONS

Making the icons for these was also a fun little project. For some odd reason though, the game puts a stray pixel over them when I import them through LnzPro. I did my best to disguise them but there does not seem to be a way to fix that.

BEFORE / AFTER

With all that rambling out of the way, visit my main page over at Magnolia Road > Resources > Playscenes to download the goodies!

[thefloatingwriter]

I'd adore more of your wiress and beetee hcs if you had any more to share maybe

thank you so much for this ask anon i love any excuse to talk about them. i can’t tell if you want just beetee and wiress or them separately but i’ll give you both because i have lots of thoughts.

Beetee:

he was born on july 23rd, 21 ADD.

he has five siblings, two brothers and three sisters. he’s the oldest. in order they are: adeline (six years younger), roent (eight years younger), tera and ruther (ten years younger), and dayta (thirteen years younger).

he grew up really poor, his family barely making ends meet. his father died when he was fourteen and his mother kind of lost herself after that.

because of that, he became his siblings only real parental figure when he was really young.

his favorite color is blue.

he won the 40th at nineteen. it was the oldest a victor ever was at the time of their victory.

he dismantled an old computer he found in the trash and then put it back together when he was six.

he’s either still up at three in the morning or is out at nine pm. there’s no in between.

he also wakes up really early every single morning. wiress thinks he’s insane.

he’s actually pretty tall.

he knows how to ice skate.

he prefers cold weather over warm weather.

he loves the snow.

he’s a dog person.

he’s really good with kids.

Wiress:

she was born on november 6th, 29 ADD.

she has an older sister named barbara (four years older).

she’s polish and her last name is lisiecki.

she’s an acrobat and singer.

her family was richer than most residents of three. her father was a software developer until he passed (i have a lot of dead dads in my hcs). her mother ran a sort of theatre group/circus to entertain capitol and three citizens. it’s where wiress learned acrobatics.

her hair is naturally curly.

she won the 48th when she was eighteen.

she’s really good with crowds but hates one-on-one talking.

her favorite color is lilac.

she had a cat before she won named fleur. fleur went on to have three kittens named iris, leni, and luna.

she loves the smell of lavender.

she is not a morning person at all. she can barely function in the mornings.

she loves both coffee and tea.

she has a giant sweet tooth.

she cannot cook. like seriously. last time she tried she started a fire and almost burnt her house down.

she was always a naturally curious person. as a child she snuck into the woods surrounding three and took walks for hours. it scared her mother senseless every time she up and disappeared and she always sent barbara out to go find her.

her district token was a woven purple bracelet her sister made for her when she was younger.

Wiress and Beetee:

this is basically canon but they can talk with their eyes/just understand each other without saying anything. the other victors have made a game out of figuring out what they’re talking about.

beetee’s token was his glasses for both of his games, so for the 75th he took his wedding band and added two silver stripes on the sides out of the metal.

most of the victors have absolutely no idea what their relationship is. like some of them think they’re just really good friends, some of them think they’re dating casually, and some are like, “no they’ve been married for a decade.”

he was her mentor. the 48th was the only year where both tributes were from “richer families” (i.e. three’s version of merchant families). atlas, the other victor from three, came from a merchant family but beetee didn’t and there’s a lot of animosity between the poorer and richer people in three (similar to twelve but if like everyone acted like mrs. mellark) so he was really worried that wiress was going to be rude or disrespectful. and then he meets the sweetest eighteen year old he’s ever met who sings for fun and hums to herself when she’s anxious. safe to say he was surprised.

beetee really hates explaining stuff so when wiress comes along they can sometimes forget they have to explain stuff to people and they won’t get it if they give them The Look even though they both get what that means. they don’t even mean to but they can be hanging out with anyone and make them feel like they’re third-wheeling.

bonus:

Beetee adjusts his glasses as he squints at the computer in front of him. “Our brains are made of the same wires.”

Wiress looks over at him, a small smile playing on her lips. “That’s genuinely the most romantic thing you have ever said to me.”

(this is 100% going in a fic but why do i have the best ideas for random lines at one in the morning like why can’t inspiration hit at a normal time ffs)

sorry this took a minute for me to post <3 i hope you like these! anyway, again anon ilysm for this ask seriously i love love love talking about them.

[lolitakirstein]

Hey Neighbor PT 10

WC:1.3k~

Previous

AO3 page

Toji

“So what exactly are you wanting me to do, sir?” the lanky male asks Toji. The computer opened and reflected in his oversized glasses.

“I am curious myself,” Shiu sits with his ankle over his knee, staring at Toji from across the kitchen table. “Your text from last night was quite unexpected”

Toji is seated with his forearms braced on the table, a slight frown on his face and a tiredness in his eyes. Which was to be expected since he hadn’t slept a wink the previous night. His mind spun from thoughts of you and this mysterious guy that had interrupted his owning up everything to you. He battled back and forth with his mind–should he really try to find out who this was or should he allow you to live your life and make your own choices? As the sun peaked over the horizon, he came to the middle ground, sorta. He’d find out who this guy was, but that was it! No background checks, no sending out people to his house, and definitely not wiping him off the planet and out of your life. Just a normal hacking of a phone.

“I need to see messages on y/n phone.” Toji answers.

Shiu’s eyes widen, taken back for a moment. Then, his face turns to one of joy. “Ah, already? The agreement must’ve been–”

“This isn’t about the agreement,” Toji interrupts, brusquely. He turns towards the hacker. “Just tell me you can do it.”

The hacker wrings his hands over his keyboard, clearly nervous in the presence of the infamous Toji Fushiguro. “Uhm, I can put spyware on it? Do you have the phone?”

“No, do it remotely. She uses an Apple phone and computer. I’m sure she has messages coming through her computer on the messaging app.” He demands.

“If we are in the range of her wifi, I can crack through her password, and then the software can gather all her credentials–logins and passwords. Then, we just enter those into the messaging app.” The hacker spoke quickly, clearly excited to show off his abilities.

“Do it,” he orders.

~

A day off work was never really a day off. Being so busy with work and honestly being lazy, the house chores had fallen behind. Though you have been living here for a few months now, the house still screams “Grandmother’s house.” You just hadn’t had the heart or the mental strength to get rid of things. Grief made you hang on to it as much as possible Until the smell of her house was replaced with your soft vanilla and lavender smell. You started in the bedroom, packing away old clothes to take to donation centers and replacing the bed sheets with ones that were more you—A soft purple comforter and an overabundance of pillows.

After folding the new bath towels and placing them in the upstairs hallway closet, you look up at the ceiling and the hatch to the attic ladder. You had been dreading going up there for a few reasons. Spiders, dust, dirt, mold, and the wild idea that someone might be up there living for all you knew. Another reason was what you DID know was up there. Pictures, memories of people you would never see again, and memories of moments you’ll never experience. But, today was the day. It had to be done.

Straightening your shoulder, you pull the string and allow the ladder to unfold to the floor. Surprisingly, no dead bodies tumbled down and no clouds of dust poured. You climbed the stairs, holding your phone as a flashlight. Once at the top, you notice it’s not the crypt you expected. It could be a spare room, the floors barely showed signs of neglect, neat stacks of books in the corner, and enough room to stand. Another string hung from the rafters to a light that still worked.

Getting to work, you pull dusty boxes from the corners, carry them to the floor below, gather the books to sort through and sweep the floor. Once satisfied with your cleaning, you gather your supplies and turn off the light. You switch all the supplies to one hand as you shuffle to the ladder.

The canister of furniture polish slips from your arm and rolls to the side of the attic. You chase after it, using your phone light again in the dark. The light bounced off the can and another glint of metal on the wall you hadn’t noticed.

Upon further inspection, you see a small gap in the wall, metal peaking out behind it. Using your phone light, a two-foot by two-foot section of the wall seems to be cut into the wall. YOu dig your finger into the exposed groove and gift it a sideways push. After getting stuck a few times, the panel recedes into the wall at the right, and the content behind it is revealed.

A silver safe about the size of a mini fridge sits behind the wall, a thin layer of dust coating it. A keypad blinks in the upper corner. You take a chance and attempt to pull the handle, hoping it would open—another part of you hoped it wouldn’t. Scared to see what was in it.

After 3 more tugs of the handle, you give up. It clearly needs a passcode. You try a few—1234, 11111, 2222 —-- before again giving up in case it had a system that locked it completely for an undetermined amount of time.

Finally, you climb back down the ladder, Confused, which seems to be your everyday emotion these days. You might as well have a giant question mark above your head

What the fuck is going on?

Toji

“I was able to hack into her cloud and find her contacts. I reverse-searched the number of the last message she received. It comes back to a Connor J. Falco but it appears he’s gone by a multitude of aliases. Here are some of the text messages I was able to—”

“I’m not going to read her messages, just give me what info you have on the guy,” Toji interrupts, slightly closing the laptop that the hacker had rotated around for him to see.

“Isn’t your concern that she is…involved with this man? Romantically?” Shiu chimes in from the living room where he is sitting on the floor with Megumi, playing with action figures. “ I believe I’d want to know what they were discussing, hmmm?”

“That’s—her business,” Toji replies, knowing how ridiculous it sounds.

“Doesn’t hacking into her phone inadvertently—”

“Just give me info on the guy,” Toji says to the hacker. He knows it doesn’t make sense. He tries to ease the guilt of spying by telling himself it’s only half spying. And it’s not spying on you, you were just the obstacle to get to the real prey. He wouldn’t read any of your messages or look through your photos and social media. That’s where he drew the line—the very thin one.

“Connor J Falco is an independent contractor, though I can’t find anything about what exactly he is contracted to do. Small online presence, just moved to town from overseas. No criminal records, no past traffic infractions.”

“See? An upstanding citizen.” Shiu laughs. “Completely harmless.”

“However,” the hacker clears his throat. “That’s just for Connor.”

“What do you mean?” Shiu stands behind the laptop.

“His other alias,” Toji answers. He knew this was what would happen. Whatever persona this guy was showing y/n was no doubt clean. It was his other personas that worried him.

“Correct. And Dmitri Sokolov?” The hacker nods and turns the laptop around for Toji to see. “He has quite a disturbing criminal history.”

Toji slides the laptop closer, clicking through the pages of court records and mugshots both international and domestic. From white-collar to violent crimes. His heart hammers in his chest. These weren’t petty crimes, this guy has experience.

“Shit.”

[myfriendtheurbanlegend]

A little bit of art progress

I try to keep track of a painting as it forms. Not keen on recording but thankfully Paintstorm has a quick export function.

Original post here.

Ideas come a little bit like a prompt. John Reese, Cura Te Ipsum, sitting on a table facing the viewer. There is shadow, there is light, there is a gun on the table. I thought I could have him take Megan’s keys with one hand, and point to the gun with the other.

I always start with the face. Digital painting allows me to get the finer details down before I work on the rest of it.

Basic face shape down, okayish likeness, shadows in place and colours picked. My reference was a POI promotional pic.

My colours originated from the wonderful diner scene. It’s intimate and soft, unlike the scene that follows.

Face done, and now it’s time for the rest of it. The arms are awkward so I fix them.

Now he looks much more comfortable, and imposing. I used a different reference for the hands. Now I had to set up the background.

I liked where this was going but the sea made it look like the house was partially underwater. So I went back to the drawing board.

I found this much better. The light coloured wall made him stand out more in my eyes.

Some more details. Reflections on the polished wood and glass and a very faint overlay to serve as the sun’s rays and I called it done. It was a complex and experimental piece, done on new software but overall I’m still happy with this.

[reyettaclaven]

Content Creation #2: Free Asset Libraries

When you're working on a build, sometimes you might find some weirdness. Carpet where tile should be, or wood that's a little too orange. Or maybe you're trying to build something out of prims or mesh kits, and don't quite have the skills to make your own textures yet.

Free PBR libraries online are your new best friend! My favorite is ambientCG. Check out this cool tile I just picked up for my bathroom there!

This tile only cost me L$30 in upload fees, and looks professionally done. You can grab it for yourself here.

I've also downloaded nice looking hardwood floors, mossy concrete, and some lovely polished marble. The one I get the most use out of is probably this simple rough wood texture.

When you download textures from this website for use within SL, make sure you get the "1k" zip files so you can upload them without needing to resize them.

You don't need to upload everything in the folder. At present, SL only supports a diffuse, normal, and specular layer. AmbientCG assets often come with color, normal, roughness, and displacement layers. Experiment with what looks best for your build. Typically, I use the color layer as my diffuse texture, the normal for the...well, normal layer, and then either the color or displacement layer for the specular. I like to upload everything as a temp upload and just fiddle until I like the way it looks before fully uploading anything.

For me, the best part of getting textures this way is all the options it opens up! I can completely modify these textures using an image editing program however I like before uploading them. So if say, I wanted to color every other tile a specific shade of blue, I could! Or if I wanted to change the tone and saturation level of those hardwood floors, that's an option too (so long as I know how to actually do that using the software I have).

You also have the added benefit of being able to demo the textures before you pay for them. Try them out in your actual build, swap-em out, change the colors and see the updates live inworld. Toss down a flat plane on your house's floor and, without messing up your house's textures, test and see if carpet would look good in there, or play around with new a brick accent wall! Add materials to an old side-table to bring it to the modern era! You'd be surprised how much heavy lifting a wood-textured normal map can do when combined with older textures. The possibilities are truly endless.

AmbientCG also has some files that are formatted specifically for use in substance painter too, for those of you making content that way!

[mariacallous]

Meduza's The Beet: Heels for freedom

Hello, and welcome back to The Beet!

Eilish Hart here, the editor of this weekly dispatch from Meduza that brings you original reporting from across Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. If someone forwarded you this email, sign up here to receive future issues of The Beet. Want to sample some more of our work first? Check out last week’s story about how independent journalism persists in Turkmenistan. And don’t miss my full interview with Access Now tech-legal counsel Natalia Krapiva, who kindly joined Meduza’s The Naked Pravda podcast to discuss recent revelations about the use of Pegasus spyware in Armenia during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war and its aftermath.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Warsaw last Sunday for an anti-government march timed to coincide with the 34th anniversary of the partially-free elections that ushered in the fall of Poland’s Communist regime. With a parliamentary vote coming up in Poland later this year, and President Andrzej Duda now moving to water down a controversial piece of legislation that critics fear will be used to target the opposition, this is something to keep an eye on. But it’s not the topic of this week’s feature. Instead, we’re turning to Warsaw to celebrate the start of Pride Month with a story that takes us inside the Polish capital’s drag scene and introduces us to its late queen, Kim Lee. Journalist Joanna Kozlowska reports for The Beet.

Heels for freedom: Kim Lee and the history of Polish drag

By Joanna Kozlowska

Kim Lee in her Warsaw studio before a performance. 2019.

ZULA RABIKOWSKA

Just over a century ago, looking into the future after emerging from a world war and 120 years of foreign occupation, Poland abolished all aristocratic titles. Later, decades of Communism rendered all thoughts of royalty remote. Yet this year, the Polish capital has crowned a queen, and the choice may surprise some.

A short walk west from Warsaw’s main train station, stepping into the whitewashed mansion that houses a branch of the municipal museum, visitors are greeted by a riot of pastel colors. A black-haired figure in a sumptuous golden dress smiles from a poster near the entrance that reads, Kim Lee. The Queen of Warsaw. The museum’s latest blockbuster offering, the temporary exhibition celebrates an artist lovingly dubbed “Poland’s best and only Vietnamese drag queen,” whose life story is as stunning as the costumes assembled inside. 

“Kim Lee had to be real, because nobody could have made her up,” a column in Poland’s largest left-wing daily recently proclaimed. “If she were a character from a TV show, conservative reviewers would tear it apart. More progressive ones, too, might doubt the scriptwriters’ sanity.”

A display from the exhibition “Kim Lee. The Queen of Warsaw.” 2023.

TOMASZ KACZOR / MUZEUM WARSZAWY

Of the half dozen people The Beet’s correspondent interviewed who knew Kim Lee’s creator Andy Nguyen before COVID-19 cut his life short in 2020, all would agree. Nguyen’s story is indeed almost too unusual to be true. 

A star student in his native Vietnam, Nguyen came to Poland on a scholarship just as Communism was being dismantled. He got a research job at one of the country’s top physics institutes, only to see his pay fall to a pittance during the economic turmoil of the 1990s. He then worked odd jobs to support himself and his young family. For a time, the former scientist ran a market stall selling East Asian goods that a close friend compared to those at Warsaw’s now-demolished 10th-Anniversary Stadium. (Once the site of Communist Party galas, the stadium was later reduced to a sprawling outdoor bazaar where vendors from all over the former Eastern Bloc hawked pirated software, flouncy underwear, and dubious health remedies).  

Nguyen’s drag persona, Kim Lee, was born at the turn of the millennium and soon shot to stardom beyond the wildest dreams of anyone in Poland’s fledgling drag scene. “She whizzed into the mainstream like a meteor,” says Teo Łagowska, a performer with Warsaw’s Drag King Szarm Trio collective. 

Nguyen’s long-time partner, Remigiusz Szeląg, concurs. “Kim performed everywhere,” he recalls. “Non-stop, all over Poland, he was a fixture at ‘straight’ parties and club nights, at burlesque shows. He appeared on TV, on discussion panels. He twice gave lectures at the University of Warsaw — needless to say, in full drag.”

Andy Nguyen (Kim Lee) getting ready for a performance in his studio. Warsaw, 2019.

ZULA RABIKOWSKA

Pleasant surprises

Magdalena Staroszczyk, who curated the exhibition in Warsaw, has no doubt that it belongs in a public museum. She is visibly proud of bringing the project to fruition, not least given the Polish government’s enduring anti-LGBTQ stance. “Queer history should be just as present in various institutions as any other [history],” she underscores.

For almost a decade, Poland has made headlines for its ruling party’s dogged defense of “traditional values” that critics say amounts to little more than anti-LGBTQ policies. Successive electoral campaigns have seen the Law and Justice Party intimidate voters with the “rainbow menace,” while top officials — including Poland’s current president and education minister — have suggested that LGBTQ people don’t deserve equal rights. By October 2019, more than 60 local and regional councils had adopted anti-LGBTQ declarations, with right-leaning councilors decrying the spread of an “LGBT ideology” they claim threatens families. Local authorities and Polish courts have since scrapped some of these resolutions (in many cases for fear of losing E.U. funding), but a sense of deep unease remains. 

Both Szeląg and Krzysztof Tomasik, Nguyen’s friend of many years and the author of multiple books on Polish LGBTQ history, describe the Warsaw exhibition as a turning point for queer visibility. The show, Tomasik stresses, is housed in a state institution — a clear victory for those calling for greater inclusion, even if the museum’s financing comes from Warsaw’s relatively liberal city hall, rather than Poland’s Culture Ministry. 

Staroszczyk, the curator, sees Nguyen’s’s life and work as an integral part of Warsaw’s history. She also notes the artist’s close links to the city’s Wola district in particular, where the museum is located. Nguyen, a long-time resident of the neighborhood, kept more than 1,000 hand-sewn costumes in a space in Wola that became known as “Kim Lee’s Dressing Room.” He also performed in many local clubs, some of which popped up in the district’s shuttered factories. 

Nguyen choosing an outfit for a performance. 2019.

ZULA RABIKOWSKA

Nguyen sewing a costume in his studio. 2019.

ZULA RABIKOWSKA

Today, Wola retains a post-industrial feel, with the high-rises that used to house its workers towering over the museum’s Neoclassical pile. Staroszczyk says that neighbors have been venturing in to get what for many is their first taste of drag. 

“We have one neighbor in particular, an older lady who I’m told has seen the show several times already. She’s been delighted and has been bringing friends along. That was one of the pleasant surprises,” the curator says. 

Groups of retirees — most but not all of them women — regularly book guided tours of the exhibition, Staroszczyk adds.

Local councilors from the Law and Justice Party, meanwhile, questioned the rationale behind the exhibition, while some right-wing and Catholic publications accused the museum of promoting a “deviant lifestyle.” However, as of early June, there has been no sustained political or media campaign against the show, nor protests trying to disrupt it.

On an overcast Saturday in May, the exhibition was well-attended. Groups of visitors admired Kim Lee’s hand-crafted creations — from silk kimonos to voluminous gowns that wouldn’t look out of place in Bourbon-era Versailles — and attempted their own drag transformations, trying on frilly boas and curly blond wigs. Two middle-aged women giggled with delight as they posed before a mirror garlanded with flowers. One 19-year-old visitor named Maciek admitted he’d been surprised to discover that Kim Lee had sold out clubs years before RuPaul’s Drag Race — the U.S. reality competition series that brought drag to a wide audience — premiered on Polish Netflix in the early 2010s. 

The opening of the exhibition “Kim Lee. The Queen of Warsaw.” 2023.

TOMASZ KACZOR / MUZEUM WARSZAWY

Polish divas and a whiff of the West

Researcher Jakub Wojtaszczyk, whose book of interviews with Polish drag performers was published last June, says that self-described drag queens began appearing in the early to mid-1990s, not long after Communism’s collapse. Their acts often harked back to Polish “divas” from Communist times: cabaret star Violetta Villas with her layered, feathered gowns, 1960s sex symbol Kalina Jędrusik, who scandalized crowds with her backless outfits, and patrician mezzo-soprano Irena Santor were all clear favorites. 

One of the drag scene’s stalwarts, Lady Brigitte, recalls impersonating both Villas and Santor during her performances in the 1990s. She says that many queer men at the time embraced Villas as an icon. “She was a colorful flower, a bright light that seemed to have arrived [in Communist Poland] from America, she was bold and courageous, and above all, different,” the drag queen says. 

“Of course, we’d also tackle foreign figures like Cher and Tina Turner — you wanted to have that whiff of the West. But most of each show would revolve around Polish artists,” she explains. 

According to Ludmiła Janion, a cultural studies scholar at the University of Warsaw, the history of Polish “queer icons” goes much deeper. As she speaks, Janion pulls out photos of cross-dressing Polish actors from the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s, one of them the spitting image of U.S. dance pioneer Isadora Duncan. One of the extraordinary performances of that time, she says, comes from the 1937 comedy Neighbors (Piętro wyżej, in Polish). A glittering romp about a feud between two music-loving residents of a Warsaw townhouse, it shows cabaret heartthrob Eugeniusz Bodo wow an audience with his impersonation of the American actress Mae West. “Sex appeal is our womanly weapon,” Bodo sings as he whirls around the stage in a blond wig and a sparkling black dress. 

Eugeniusz Bodo (center) impersonating Mae West in the 1937 film “Neighbors”

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Some Polish film critics view the scene as a nod to LGBTQ audiences, pointing to the blossoming of queer culture in interwar Warsaw. “Bodo never got married. He wasn’t the type to chase after women,” Janion explains. “Of course, we can’t be sure that he was gay, but he was an ambiguous figure,” she adds, noting the actor’s string of cross-dressing characters during the brief but intense flourishing of Warsaw’s cabaret scene in the early 20th century. 

With the advent of Communism, this artistic freedom came to an end. Cross-dressing performances did not disappear, Janion says, but like much else, they retreated to the private sphere; to the semi-safety of high-rise apartments and tipsy evenings with friends. As a result, records of these “clothes-flipping parties” are sparse and hard to find. 

The parties themselves might have slipped into obscurity if Kim Lee hadn’t stopped to chat with an older gentleman who’d come to see her show one day in 2008. She soon found out that Andrzej Szwan, 69 at the time, had decades of “clothes-flipping” performances under his belt, even if his ornate costumes had scarcely left his building. With Nguyen’s help, Szwan transformed into one of Poland’s most eye-catching drag queens: Lulla la Polaca. Now 84, Szwan is still performing and much-loved by the media, including Vogue’s Polish edition and the country’s most august opinion magazines. 

However, researchers Janion and Wojtaszczyk disagree about whether the “clothes-flipping parties” of Communist times and earlier film and cabaret performances can be classed as drag. Wojtaszczyk would rather reserve the term for modern-day performers who choose to use it themselves, while Janion is happy to speak about “a continuum of drag performances” that involve cross-dressing, an audience, and a note of homoerotic tension.  

Andrzej Szwan (Lulla la Polaca) in the 2022 documentary film “Boylesque”

HBO

‘Sister, you’re the activist type’

Lulla la Polaca, for one, was quick to call herself a drag queen once she started performing publicly. She also proudly describes herself as an LGBTQ activist. Most people I speak to agree that the term could also apply to Kim Lee, though not all Polish drag performers embrace it. 

“I’d always say to her: sister, you’re the activist type,” recalls Polish drag queen Lady Brigitte, referencing a double act she and Kim put on in the 2000s. Lady Brigitte herself has a more ambivalent attitude towards activism (“I performed at fund-raisers, but they were mostly for homeless animals”), though she expresses admiration for Nguyen’s engagement with Polish LGBTQ groups at the time. 

“There must have been more than twenty,” Szeląg replies when asked how many queer rights organizations Nguyen was involved in during his lifetime. He adds that Nguyen was also active in Poland’s Vietnamese community — “although he liked to keep that part of his life separate,” initially for fear of negative reactions to his same-sex relationship and stage persona. 

These concerns ultimately proved unfounded, Szeląg maintains. “Poland’s Vietnamese community has undergone a great transformation,” he explains, describing various relatives and friends of Nguyen’s he’s met over the years. “A while ago, a journalist from London came to interview its members for a story. Asked about famous Polish-Vietnamese people, every single one mentioned Kim Lee.” 

In Kim Lee’s Dressing Room

PAT MIC / MUZEUM WARSZAWY

Szeląg and Tomasik say that Nguyen didn’t like to dwell on the racist taunts he sometimes faced. Be that as it may, he publicly weighed in on what Polishness could and should mean by starring in a music video that parodied Poland’s infamous 2014 Eurovision entry. “We are Slavic” by Polish singer Cleo and record producer Donatan, with its busty, butter-churning milkmaids and appeals for foreigners to “try Polish women,” prompted a collective groan from the country’s feminists and liberals. Donatan’s comments denigrating that year’s winner — Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst — only added fuel to the fire. 

Kim was not one to sling back insults. Instead, she twirled around a meadow in Polish folk dress, lip-syncing to lines about “hot Slavic blood” and Polish women “ruddy as fresh bread.” 

Wojtaszczyk and the drag performers The Beet’s correspondent interviewed also recalled Kim’s role in integrating Poland’s drag scene and raising its profile, whether through hosting “Miss Drag” pageants or judging competitions. Teo Łagowska and Agnieszka Małgowska of the Drag King Szarm Trio — the aforementioned Warsaw collective of female and gender-queer performers who embody mostly masculine characters — stressed that Kim advocated inclusivity within a scene that they say still sidelines groups like theirs.  

Nguyen’s untimely death from the coronavirus in 2020 was “a shock for Poland’s rainbow community,” Małgowska says. “We always thought that Kim would become a senior drag queen, like Lulla [la Polaca], that she would dance until the end of time,” she laments. 

In Kim Lee’s Dressing Room

PAT MIC / MUZEUM WARSZAWY

Szeląg, Tomasik, and Staroszczyk all spoke of the Museum of Warsaw exhibition as a means of mourning the artist and honoring his memory. Tomasik, the author and Kim’s long-time friend, says that a “terrible sadness” remains, but he also notes his satisfaction that Polish drag is finally beginning to get official recognition. “It’s an art with a decades-long history and its own icons,” he says. “These are just the first attempts to commemorate, remember, and honor them.”

[leveluponabuck]

Personal Investments for December/January

I wish everyone a happy holiday. My main focus has been on the new year instead of the holidays. Here’s how I’m investing in myself for next year!

- CompTIA A+ - this is at my local community college and I think this will help me get my first IT job.

- Software sales boot camp - It’s only $500 and has a payment plan and I’ve heard awesome reviews!

- Bachelors degree* -  I may actually do this in January, because I graduated December with an AA, but it will all depend on how I will pay for it! (I am in the process of applying for scholarships) 

- A nice planner - My planner costs $85 for it’s totally worth it

- Stuff for my business - I am putting $150 aside for supplies and $50 for more

- Saving for my house/townhouse - I am enrolling in several courses with state organizations to help me buy a home

- A dumpster - rather than constantly keep going back and forth to the dump I rented a dumpster from a local company to clean out my home 

-Shredding services - this helped me get rid of so much in a short amount of time

- A freezer - my freezer is so cute! It’s about 5 cubic feet. I bought this because I as food starts to cost more I can stash more protein when it goes on sale. 

- Audible - I want to listen to a book a month.

- Weave or Sisterlocs - I don’t like doing my hair, but I always want to look polished so I will be figuring out what I will be doing with my hair

- 

[inkdragonworks]

When did you start making games?

As a kid I really liked drawing maps and levels based on games I liked: yoshi, megaman, crash bandicoot, sonic, gex, and oddworld.

I really liked the world map in mario world and drawing a bunch of those, thinking about what stages would be in them. With Megaman, I remember nintendo power showed all the robot masters for each of the previous games which I hadn't played yet (I had an SNES so only knew about X and 7). I made a bunch of levels based on what I thought the robot master's levels would've been like. With crash, I remember making a whole notebook using colored markers of like 70 stages.

I started actually making games sometime at the beginning of high school when I went to Digipen's summer camps, a 2 week thing where we used their then in-house Game Development software, ProjectFUN. ProjectFUN was something I saw advertised in one issue of Nintendo Power, where they showed a screenshot of the UI and it was the first time for me seeing a software like that, and was what led me to asking about Digipen and going to the summer program.

They let us download ProjectFUN for home, but I couldn't really figure out how to use it, and went with something else called BlitzBASIC. The stuff I made was... basic, very small arcadey stuff with rough ms paint graphics. I think this would have been around 2006-2008.

I don't think ProjectFUN is utilized at Digipen anymore as when I went there for college (before dropping out) we ended up using Game Maker, which I ended up liking a lot more.Here's the first game I ever made in it, a 2D puzzle platformer where you mirror your position across the screen: https://www.mediafire.com/file/luy7wj5t8h55f25/SplitUp.zip/file

There were two other game maker games I made in that class but they were a lot less polished cause of the excessive workload Digipen gave us, which is part of why I dropped out. But I ended up sticking with Game Maker and developing a lot of smaller, incomplete stuff with it, and making more complete stuff into today.

[occultpuppy]

get to know a simmer

I was tagged by @lilamausmaus - Thanks so much :)

show your wallpaper:

Phone > Desktop (Animated)

last song you listened to: Drum and Bass On The Roundabout

currently reading: Don't get sucked into too many books these days, most of my reading is through my job unless you count simblr stories lol

last movie: Ace Ventura Pet detective ... it's fucking lame how the plot of the movie is transphobia sponsored by the nfl

last show: I'm constantly stuck in a Dimension20 whole, the storytelling is so good and though I could never play ttrpg myself, it's cool to watch others be good at it :>

craving: nothing at the current moment other than long-term goals

what are you wearing right now: lol just changed from the leopard print sleep gown to more gremlin-casual Venom t-shirt and purple short shorts

how tall are you: 5'5-5'6 depending on the measure

piercings: old holes but I don't wear jewelry currently; I go in phases of either being covered in gold trinkets or bare

tattoos: 6 so far but want more, 2 on each forearm, 1 on my chest and 1 on my leg to match with my mom <3

glasses/contacts: used to but vision got better??

last thing you ate: breakfast! toast, eggs, sausage and nondairy cheese bc lactose intolerance

favourite colour: also phases. maroon/cranberry, gold, teal, deep ROYAL purple, cerulean, a verdant, void black, rich clover green and all the shades of browns/greys of the trees <3

current obsession: D20 honestly. Before that it was From Software Lore, collecting unique boots/shoes that I rarely wear and nail polish

any pets: one little purr machine named Kiki. Her other names are The Keek, Skreekus, The Scrunge, Scrungalista Evangalise, Skinny Raccoon, House Panther, Purrbaby, Kitten and other such variations

favourite fictional character: Kurt and Moon, my OC's which you all have seen Kurt simmed up before but I haven't done Moon. Maybe I should tho

last place you traveled: fuggin work. we dont go anywhere, we're poor af and my job is an hour commute so anytime at home is treasured lol

i'll tag @cantseemtohide @gingerbeardmansim @florwalsims

obviously no pressure yall but this was a fun to pick out what i was willing to share with the community and is a nice way to join in the buzz without the expectation. much love to all of those involved and have a great day :)

[phiralovesloki]

One thing I've noticed is the boundless energy and creativity that humans have when we're not unhappy, burnt out, or too busy being ground to death by capitalism.

One of my favorite ways to wind down is to watch streams of people racing each other playing a randomized version of the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. Let's look at some of the ways people work to make those streams happen:

players have to stream themselves playing the randomizer seed, which involves spending time figuring out how to set themselves up for streaming (e.g. capture card, software, appropriate hardware, controller, etc), as well as spending at least a couple of hours of their free time playing/streaming

a person, the restreamer, sets everything up so that the players' streams are visible on a separate channel, where viewers can watch the race; they have to stay online the whole time and make sure that there are no problems

someone had to design the restream layout, as well as item trackers, so that the viewers can see relevant information during the race, such as which items each player has found

volunteers are responsible for tracking the items, which involves paying a shitload of attention to their assigned player so they don't miss anything

volunteers also work as commentators, so they have to pay attention to the race and be knowledgeable enough about the game and the randomizer to be informative and entertaining

other people work behind the scenes to maintain Discord servers and websites for the community to make these races happen, including organizing tournaments

people are responsible for moderating the community, including dealing with cheating, determining and enforcing rules, and defusing conflicts within the community

several volunteers work to create and update the randomizer, constantly improving it, fixing bugs, adding requested features, and so on (basically, there wouldn't be a randomizer at all except for an incredible amount of labor from these folks!)

I'm probably missing at least twice as much information here, but all this to say: a fun thing I watch to wind down is the result of people spending their precious unpaid free time creating and working.

This is to say nothing of other points other people have raised. I stay home to take care of my kids right now, but I used to teach biology, and I miss it. My mom can't be trusted to babysit my kids because she'll clean my house without asking, because she just does it automatically. My husband desperately wants to get back to polishing up his several novels that he doesn't have the energy for.

Furthermore, automation was advertised and pushed as a way to free up our time. That's not really the point of it (this is capitalism we're talking about, automation is meant to provide the elite with cheaper labor, they don't care that it puts people out of jobs and into poverty, that's the point). But it should have been the point of it.

[topgraphicdesignagency]

Choosing the Best Graphic Design Agency: A Comprehensive Guide to Graphic Design Agencies and Companies

In today's competitive market, businesses strive to stand out, and visual appeal has become a critical factor in gaining customers' attention. Graphic design agencies and companies play a pivotal role in creating memorable visual content that strengthens brand identity. If you're considering hiring a graphic design agency, understanding their services, expertise, and approach is essential. This guide provides in-depth insights into the world of graphic design agencies, their benefits, and how to choose the best one for your needs.

Table of Contents

What Are Graphic Design Agencies?

Benefits of Working with Graphic Design Agencies

Key Services Offered by Graphic Design Companies

How to Choose the Right Graphic Design Agency

Top Trends in Graphic Design for 2024

Conclusion

What Are Graphic Design Agencies?

A graphic design agency is a professional service that specializes in creating visual content for clients, including businesses, non-profits, and individuals. Graphic design agencies bring expertise in visual storytelling, branding, and creative design to help clients communicate their brand values, attract customers, and increase engagement. They employ graphic designers, art directors, project managers, and other creative professionals to deliver high-quality designs across various media, from print to digital.

Types of Graphic Design Agencies:

Full-Service Design Agencies: Offer a range of design services, including branding, web design, packaging, and marketing collateral.

Boutique Agencies: Smaller agencies focused on specialized areas such as logo design, illustration, or digital design.

Freelance Collectives: Groups of freelancers working together to provide a range of graphic design services.

Benefits of Working with Graphic Design Agencies

Hiring a professional graphic design agency can provide multiple advantages, especially for businesses that rely heavily on visual communication.

1. High-Quality Design Expertise

Graphic design agencies bring years of experience and knowledge, ensuring professional and polished designs that are difficult to achieve in-house.

2. Consistent Brand Identity

A design agency can help maintain a cohesive brand identity across all visual content, which is essential for brand recognition and trust.

3. Access to Creative Talent and Tools

Agencies have access to skilled designers and the latest design software, allowing them to produce high-quality work efficiently.

4. Time and Resource Efficiency

Outsourcing design work allows businesses to focus on their core functions while the agency manages the creative process from concept to final product.

5. Improved Marketing and Engagement

Graphic design companies know how to design content that captures audience interest, boosts engagement, and ultimately drives sales.

Key Services Offered by Graphic Design Companies

Graphic design companies offer a variety of services, from branding to user interface (UI) design, each tailored to support different aspects of a business's visual presence.

1. Branding and Logo Design

Branding is more than just a logo; it encompasses the visual language of your business, including colors, typography, and style guidelines. A strong brand identity enhances recognition and builds customer loyalty.

2. Web and App Design

Graphic design agencies specializing in digital design create visually appealing and user-friendly websites and applications, ensuring a seamless experience for users across devices.

3. Packaging Design

Packaging is a crucial marketing tool, especially for products that rely on shelf appeal. A professional design agency can create packaging that not only looks good but also complies with industry standards and resonates with target customers.

4. Print Design

Print materials like brochures, flyers, and business cards still play a role in marketing. Agencies ensure that print designs are consistent with your digital presence and brand.

5. Illustration and Iconography

Custom illustrations and icons add personality to branding, making visual content more engaging and memorable.

6. Social Media Graphics

Graphic design agencies create social media templates and graphics to keep your online presence cohesive, visually appealing, and optimized for engagement.

7. Motion Graphics and Video Production

Video content has become increasingly popular, and graphic design companies often offer motion graphics and video editing services to create eye-catching animations and marketing videos.

How to Choose the Right Graphic Design Agency

Selecting the right graphic design agency involves evaluating several key factors to ensure that they align with your goals, brand, and budget.

1. Define Your Goals and Budget

Determine what you hope to achieve and how much you're willing to invest. Knowing this will help you find an agency that can deliver within your constraints.

2. Review Portfolio and Experience

Examine the agency’s portfolio to assess the quality and diversity of their work. Look for case studies and client testimonials that showcase their capabilities in areas relevant to your business.

3. Check Their Specializations

Some graphic design agencies specialize in certain industries or types of design, such as digital media, print, or branding. Choose an agency with experience in your field or with expertise that matches your needs.

4. Evaluate Communication and Project Management Skills

An agency’s ability to communicate clearly and manage projects effectively is crucial. Ask about their project management process, timelines, and how they handle feedback and revisions.

5. Consider Their Team Structure and Size

Agencies vary in size and structure. While larger agencies may have more resources, smaller agencies may offer a more personalized experience. Consider what works best for your project.

6. Understand Their Creative Process

A transparent and structured creative process is essential for successful collaboration. Ask potential agencies about their approach to ideation, design, and revisions to ensure alignment.

7. Ask About Additional Services

Some agencies offer add-on services like marketing strategy or social media management. These can be beneficial if you're looking for a comprehensive solution.

Top Trends in Graphic Design for 2024

Staying up-to-date with design trends is crucial, as it allows businesses to keep their visuals fresh and engaging. Here are some popular trends to watch for in 2024.

1. Minimalism with Bold Typography

Minimalistic designs with oversized and bold fonts are making a statement. This approach draws attention to important messages while maintaining a clean aesthetic.

2. 3D Elements and Mixed Media

3D graphics, often combined with photography or illustration, add depth and dimension, making visuals more immersive.

3. Dark Mode and Muted Color Palettes

Dark mode compatibility is increasingly popular, especially for mobile applications. Muted color palettes add sophistication and are easy on the eyes.

4. Sustainable Design

Eco-friendly packaging and design materials reflect growing consumer awareness about sustainability, and many brands are aligning their visuals with this ethos.

5. Motion Graphics and Animated Logos

Motion graphics continue to be a popular way to capture attention, and animated logos add a dynamic element to brand identity.

6. Data Visualization and Infographics

With the rise of data-driven content, well-designed infographics and data visualizations help brands communicate complex information effectively.

Conclusion

Choosing the right graphic design agency can be a game-changer for your business, helping you build a strong visual identity and engage your audience effectively. From branding and web design to motion graphics and social media content, graphic design companies offer a wide range of services that can elevate your brand. By understanding your goals, evaluating the agency's portfolio, and staying aware of the latest design trends, you can find a graphic design partner that aligns with your vision and can deliver exceptional results.

With the right agency on your side, you can create visuals that not only resonate with your audience but also help establish your brand in a competitive market. Embrace the power of visual storytelling with a skilled graphic design agency, and watch your brand flourish.

[tapsmedia]

Why Hiring a Professional Event & Promotional Video Production Company Matters

In today’s fast-paced digital world, video content has become one of the most powerful ways for businesses to communicate with their audience. Whether it's for events, commercials, or promotional purposes, videos capture attention, convey messages clearly, and create lasting impressions. However, creating high-quality, impactful videos requires more than just a camera and basic editing software. To achieve professional results, it’s essential to hire a dedicated event and promotional video production company. In this article, we will explore the reasons why investing in professional video production services can make a significant difference to your brand's visibility, engagement, and overall success.

1. The Importance of High-Quality Video Content

A. First Impressions Matter

Video is often the first touchpoint a potential customer has with your brand. Whether it’s an event highlight reel or a promotional advertisement, the quality of your video directly reflects the professionalism of your business. Amateur videos can negatively impact your brand's image, while high-quality videos convey trustworthiness, credibility, and professionalism. This is especially critical for commercial video production, where the goal is to persuade and engage your target audience quickly.

B. Capturing Attention in a Crowded Marketplace

In the age of information overload, consumers are constantly bombarded with content. A well-produced video stands out among the noise, helping your brand to capture and retain your audience’s attention. Whether it's a promotional video for a new product or a recap of a major event, professional video production ensures that your content is visually compelling and engaging enough to cut through the clutter.

2. Expertise and Experience in Event & Promotional Video Production

A. Technical Skills and Equipment

A professional video production company comes equipped with the latest technology, including high-end cameras, sound equipment, lighting, and editing software. But more importantly, they have the expertise to use this equipment to its full potential. Experienced videographers understand the nuances of different shooting environments, from large-scale events to studio settings, ensuring your video looks polished and professional.

B. Creative Storytelling

Creating a video isn’t just about filming; it’s about telling a story. A promotional video production company doesn’t just capture footage — they craft a narrative that resonates with your target audience. They can turn a simple idea into a visually captivating story that conveys your brand’s message in a clear, impactful way. This is particularly crucial for promotional videos, where the goal is to evoke emotion and inspire action in a short amount of time.

C. Event Video Production: Capturing Live Moments Perfectly

Event video production requires a special set of skills, as it involves capturing live moments that can’t be re-recorded. Professional event videographers are trained to anticipate key moments, adjust to different lighting conditions, and ensure high-quality audio even in noisy environments. Whether it's a corporate conference, product launch, or music festival, hiring an event video production company ensures every critical moment is captured seamlessly.

3. Time and Cost Efficiency

A. Save Valuable Time

Producing a high-quality video is a time-consuming process that involves pre-production planning, filming, and post-production editing. When businesses attempt to manage video production in-house, they often underestimate the time and effort required. By hiring a professional event and promotional video production company, you save time and ensure that your project is completed efficiently. This allows you to focus on other important aspects of your business.

B. Avoid Costly Mistakes

While it may seem cost-effective to handle video production in-house or hire a freelance videographer, these options often lead to subpar results that can damage your brand's reputation. Additionally, fixing amateur mistakes in post-production can be costly. Professional video production companies have the experience and resources to get the job done right the first time, ultimately saving you money in the long run.

4. Tailored Solutions for Different Video Needs

A. Promotional Video Production

Promotional videos are an excellent way to showcase your products or services, and they need to be concise, engaging, and on-brand. A professional production company will work with you to understand your marketing goals and tailor the video to suit your audience. Whether you’re looking to promote a new product, highlight a service, or share customer testimonials, a well-crafted promotional video can significantly boost your marketing efforts.

B. Event Video Production

Event videos can serve multiple purposes, from documenting the event for future reference to creating marketing materials for future promotions. A professional event video production company can produce a variety of video formats, including highlight reels, full event coverage, or behind-the-scenes footage. These videos are valuable assets that can be repurposed for social media, your website, or promotional campaigns.

C. Commercial Video Production

When it comes to commercial video production, quality is non-negotiable. Commercials need to deliver a clear, persuasive message in a matter of seconds. A professional production company understands the intricacies of producing commercials that not only look and sound great but also effectively communicate your brand’s message. From scriptwriting to editing, they handle every detail to ensure the final product is compelling and results-driven.

5. Enhancing Brand Reputation and Engagement

A. Building Brand Trust

A polished, high-quality video production enhances your brand’s reputation and fosters trust with your audience. When people see that you’ve invested in professional video production, they perceive your business as credible and reliable. Whether you’re showcasing a new product through a promotional video or highlighting a successful corporate event, professional videos leave a lasting impression.

B. Driving Customer Engagement

In today’s digital landscape, videos are a key driver of engagement across social media platforms, websites, and email marketing campaigns. Professional video production companies know how to optimize content for various platforms, ensuring your videos get maximum reach and engagement. They can also help with incorporating calls-to-action that drive traffic to your website, encouraging potential customers to learn more or make a purchase.

6. Scalability and Flexibility

A. Adapting to Your Needs

Whether you need a single promotional video or full-scale event coverage, professional video production companies offer scalable services to meet your specific needs. They can produce short social media clips, full-length commercials, or anything in between. This flexibility allows you to tailor your video strategy to your marketing goals and budget.

B. Ongoing Support and Updates

A key advantage of hiring a video production company is the ongoing support they provide. Whether you need minor updates to an existing video or want to create a new campaign, professional teams are there to offer guidance and support. This ensures your videos remain up-to-date and relevant, aligning with the latest trends and technologies.

Conclusion

In the competitive digital world, high-quality video content is no longer optional—it’s a necessity. Whether you’re planning a corporate event, launching a new product, or simply looking to enhance your brand’s online presence, hiring a professional event and promotional video production company is the best way to ensure your videos are polished, engaging, and aligned with your brand’s objectives. By partnering with experts, you can save time, avoid costly mistakes, and create videos that truly make an impact.

FAQs:

What should I look for in a video production company? Look for experience, a strong portfolio, client testimonials, and the ability to understand and align with your brand’s goals.

How much does hiring a professional video production company cost? Costs vary depending on the scope of the project, but investing in quality video production can provide significant long-term value.

Can I use professional video production for small-scale projects? Absolutely! Professional companies offer scalable services tailored to both small and large projects.

Why is storytelling important in promotional videos? Storytelling engages viewers emotionally and helps convey your brand’s message in a relatable and memorable way.

How can professional event videos be repurposed? Event videos can be used for future promotions, social media, website content, and internal training purposes.

[pixelworxlondon]

Understanding Post Production in London: The Heart of Creative Filmmaking

Post production is an essential part of the filmmaking process that often goes unnoticed by the general public but plays a critical role in transforming raw footage into a polished, final product. In London, a city renowned for its rich cultural heritage and cutting-edge media industries, the post-production landscape thrives, serving filmmakers, television producers, and content creators from across the globe.

The Role of Post Production in Filmmaking

Post production is the phase that takes place after all filming has concluded. This stage involves a series of intricate processes that bring the film to life, blending visual, auditory, and technical elements to create a cohesive narrative. It encompasses everything from video editing, sound design, color correction, and visual effects to the final export of a ready-for-screening film.

In London, with its deep connection to the global media industry, post-production studios are at the forefront of these technical advancements. The city’s facilities are some of the best in the world, offering the tools and expertise required to handle both big-budget blockbusters and independent films.

Key Stages of Post Production

1. Video Editing Editing is where the story truly begins to take shape. Editors work through hours of footage, selecting the best takes, refining the pacing, and ensuring the narrative flows smoothly. In London, many post-production houses utilize advanced software and experienced editors to ensure every detail is carefully crafted, whether it’s a short film, feature-length movie, or television series.

2. Sound Design and Mixing Audio is just as important as the visuals in a film. From the dialogue to ambient sounds and musical scores, sound design adds depth and emotion to the story. London’s post-production sound engineers focus on synchronizing audio with video, adding effects, and ensuring the sound quality meets professional standards. The sound mixing process helps balance the audio levels, making sure that dialogue, music, and sound effects all complement each other without one overpowering the rest.

3. Visual Effects (VFX) London’s role as a global hub for visual effects cannot be understated. Visual effects enhance the storytelling by incorporating elements that could not be captured during filming. These can include anything from explosions and futuristic cityscapes to subtle background modifications. With some of the most renowned VFX artists in the industry based in London, the city remains a top destination for filmmakers looking to incorporate cutting-edge technology into their projects.

4. Color Grading and Correction Color grading is an often-overlooked but crucial part of post production. It ensures that the final product has a consistent look and feel. Whether it’s achieving the bright tones of a light-hearted comedy or the muted hues of a gritty drama, color grading helps establish the film’s mood. London-based colorists use specialized software to fine-tune the color balance, contrast, and saturation, ensuring the visuals align with the director’s vision.

5. Final Delivery and Formats Once all the editing and adjustments are complete, the project enters the final stage of post production, where the film is prepared for distribution. This can involve exporting the film in various formats for theaters, television, online streaming platforms, or physical media. London’s post-production teams are experts in preparing projects for a wide range of formats, ensuring compatibility across global platforms.

Why London is a Global Post Production Hub

London’s prominence in the post-production world is due in part to its long history in the arts and its current position as a major player in the international film industry. The city offers:

Highly Skilled Talent: London is home to some of the most skilled professionals in post production, from editors and sound designers to VFX artists. Many of these professionals have worked on critically acclaimed films and television shows.

State-of-the-Art Facilities: The city boasts cutting-edge post-production houses equipped with the latest technology, allowing for the highest standards in film production.

Diverse Project Range: London’s post-production industry caters to a wide array of projects, from major Hollywood blockbusters to independent films and television series. The diversity of projects allows filmmakers of all scales to find services that meet their needs.

International Appeal: As a global city with strong ties to both the US and European film markets, London serves as an attractive location for international filmmakers. Post-production houses in the city are experienced in working with international standards and formats, making it a convenient and desirable choice for global film projects.

The Future of Post Production in London

The post-production industry in London is continually evolving, with advancements in technology offering new opportunities to filmmakers. Virtual production, for instance, allows for real-time collaboration between pre- and post-production teams, blurring the lines between the two phases. With London’s embrace of new technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, and AI-driven tools, the city remains at the cutting edge of innovation in filmmaking.

As the demand for high-quality content continues to grow, especially with the rise of streaming services, the need for top-tier post-production services will only increase. London’s infrastructure, talent, and resources position it as a leader in post-production for years to come, drawing filmmakers from around the globe who want to ensure their projects are handled with the utmost precision and creativity.

Conclusion

Post production is a pivotal stage in the filmmaking process, transforming raw footage into a finished product that captivates audiences. London, with its wealth of expertise and cutting-edge facilities, stands as a global leader in post production services. Whether it’s the intricate art of video editing, the power of sound design, or the visual magic of VFX, the city provides everything needed to bring a filmmaker’s vision to life. As the industry continues to evolve, London remains at the forefront, shaping the future of post production and filmmaking.

[consystentinfo]

Quality Champions: Our Commitment to Flawless Software

Imagine launching your dream software application – a masterpiece of code, brimming with potential. But before you unleash it on the world, there's a crucial step: ensuring it functions flawlessly. Enter the realm of software testing, the detective agency of the digital world, dedicated to uncovering and eliminating bugs before they disrupt your users' experience.

At Consystent Info , we understand the importance of robust software testing. That's why we offer comprehensive outsourced software testing services, acting as your trusted partner in delivering high-quality, bug-free software. But before we delve into our services, let's explore the world of software testing:

The Importance of Software Testing: Unmasking Hidden Flaws

Software testing plays a critical role in the development lifecycle, offering several key benefits:

Enhanced Quality: Testing uncovers bugs, performance issues, and usability problems, ensuring your software functions as intended.

Reduced Costs: Early detection and fixing of bugs is significantly cheaper than rectifying them after release.

Improved User Experience: A polished and bug-free software ensures a smooth and satisfying experience for your users.

Enhanced Brand Reputation: Delivering a high-quality product fosters trust and builds a positive brand image.

The Benefits of Outsourced Software Testing: A Strategic Move

While in-house testing has its merits, outsourcing offers several compelling advantages:

Cost-Effectiveness: Outsourcing eliminates the need to invest in additional staff and testing infrastructure.

Access to Expertise: You gain access to a pool of experienced testers with diverse skillsets and testing methodologies.

Scalability: Easily scale your testing resources up or down to meet project demands.

Objectivity: External testers bring a fresh perspective, identifying potential user issues that may be overlooked internally.

Consystent Info : Your Outsourced Testing Partner

We offer a comprehensive suite of outsourced software testing services, catering to diverse project needs. Here's a glimpse into what we can do for you:

Functional Testing: We ensure your software functions as per its intended design and specifications.

Non-Functional Testing: We evaluate performance, usability, security, and compatibility across various platforms and devices.

Regression Testing: We ensure new features don't introduce unintended side effects on existing functionalities.

Automation Testing: We leverage automation tools to streamline repetitive testing tasks and improve efficiency.

Compatibility Testing: We ensure your software works flawlessly across different operating systems, browsers, and devices.

Security Testing: We identify and address vulnerabilities in your software, safeguarding user data and privacy.

Beyond Services: Why Choose Consystent Info ?

Our commitment goes beyond providing outsourced software testing services. Here's what sets us apart:

Experienced Testers: Our team comprises highly skilled and certified testers passionate about delivering exceptional results.

Agile & Collaborative Approach: We integrate seamlessly with your development process, working collaboratively to achieve your testing goals.

Focus on Quality: We prioritize quality throughout the testing process, ensuring your software meets the highest standards.

Advanced Testing Tools & Methodologies: We leverage cutting-edge tools and proven methodologies for comprehensive testing.

Industries We Serve: Ensuring Quality Across the Spectrum

Our outsourced software testing services cater to a wide range of industries, including:

Software Development: Helping independent developers and large enterprises deliver high-quality software applications.

Web Development: Ensuring websites and web applications function flawlessly across various platforms and devices.

eCommerce: Guaranteeing a smooth and secure online shopping experience for your customers.

Mobile Apps: Providing comprehensive testing for a seamless and bug-free mobile app experience.

FinTech & Healthcare: Delivering robust and secure software solutions for critical industries.

Invest in Quality, Invest in Success

Outsourcing software testing with Consystent Info is an investment in the success of your software application. By proactively identifying and eliminating bugs, you ensure a positive user experience, minimize risks, and ultimately, launch a software product you can be proud of.

[ccbks-blog]

Explaindio Business Edition: Revolutionizing Video Creation for Businesses

Are you tired of spending countless hours and a fortune on video production? Looking for a way to create stunning, professional-quality videos without breaking the bank or learning complex software? Explaindio Business Edition might be the game-changing solution you've been searching for.

This comprehensive guide will explore how this powerful video creation tool can transform your business, boost your sales, and give you the edge in today's competitive digital landscape.

Get Instant Access to Explaindio Business Edition

What is Explaindio Business Edition?

Explaindio Business Edition is a cutting-edge video creation platform designed to empower businesses, marketers, and content creators. With its innovative features and user-friendly interface, it allows anyone to produce high-quality 2D, 3D, and doodle sketch videos in minutes – no prior experience required.

The Power of WARP Technology

At the heart of Explaindio Business Edition lies its proprietary WARP (Web-based Animation Rendering Platform) Technology. This revolutionary system enables users to create Hollywood-quality videos with ease, combining various styles and elements to produce unique, engaging content that stands out from the crowd.

Key Features That Set Explaindio Apart

1. Intuitive Drag-and-Drop Interface

Gone are the days of struggling with complex video editing software. Explaindio's user-friendly drag-and-drop interface makes video creation a breeze, even for complete beginners.

2. Versatile Video Styles

Whether you need a sleek 3D animation, an engaging explainer video, or a charming doodle sketch, Explaindio has you covered. The platform offers multiple video styles to suit any brand or message.

3. Full Multi-Timeline Editing

Take control of your video's narrative with Explaindio's full multi-timeline editing capabilities. This feature allows for precise timing and seamless integration of various elements.

4. Extensive Asset Library

With access to over a million stock photos and videos, 180+ pre-made text animations, and 140+ pre-made animations, you'll never run out of creative options.

5. 3D Element Customization

Import external 3D elements and customize animations to create truly unique videos that align perfectly with your brand identity.

6. Ready-to-Use Content

Jump-start your projects with 600 pre-done animated scenes and 500 doodle sketch images, saving you valuable time and effort.

7. Professional Audio and Video Assets

Enhance your videos with background audio tracks and 500 full HD background videos, ensuring a polished, professional look and feel.

8. Agency License

Collaborate effortlessly with your team using the included agency license, which allows access for up to 5 users.

The Business Benefits of Explaindio

1. Time and Cost Savings

By creating professional-quality videos in-house, you can save thousands of dollars on outsourcing to freelancers or agencies. Plus, with Explaindio's efficient workflow, you can produce videos in minutes rather than days.

2. Increased Engagement and Conversions

Captivating videos created with Explaindio can help you attract more leads and boost sales by effectively communicating your message and showcasing your products or services.

3. Monetization Opportunities

With Explaindio, you're not just saving money – you're opening up new revenue streams. Offer video creation services to clients and keep 100% of the profits, leveraging your newfound skills and the powerful Explaindio platform.

4. Flexibility and Freedom

Join the 35,000+ creators and business owners already using Explaindio to work from home or anywhere in the world. Enjoy flexible hours and the ability to scale your video production efforts as needed.

5. Risk-Free Investment

Explaindio offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to try the platform risk-free and see the results for yourself.

Real-World Success Stories

Many businesses have already experienced the transformative power of Explaindio. From small startups to established enterprises, users report significant improvements in their marketing efforts, customer engagement, and overall brand presence.

One satisfied user, Sarah T., a digital marketing consultant, shares: "Explaindio has completely changed the game for me and my clients. I can now create professional-looking videos in a fraction of the time it used to take, and my clients are thrilled with the results. It's boosted my business and helped me attract high-paying clients."

Getting Started with Explaindio Business Edition

Ready to revolutionize your video creation process? Getting started with Explaindio is simple:

Purchase your Explaindio Business Edition license

Download and install the software

Explore the intuitive interface and extensive asset library

Start creating your first professional video in minutes

With Explaindio Business Edition, you're not just buying a video creation tool – you're investing in a powerful asset that can drive your business forward, save you time and money, and help you stand out in today's crowded digital landscape.

Don't let complex video production hold your business back any longer. Embrace the future of video creation with Explaindio Business Edition and watch your engagement, conversions, and profits soar.

Get Instant Access to Explaindio Business Edition