Anthony Reimer

Limited Card Access Now Available

We now have approval to give out card access to the Labs under specific terms.

Students must make a request to the Head Technician (Anthony) in order to obtain card access to the Labs (via email to iaml@ucalgary.ca or in person when the technician is on site). The student will need to provide their UCID number and the reason for their request (e.g., “Dance 391 student”, “graduate student in Art”). The student must go through a safety orientation (re: cleaning stations and hands, maximum occupancy, physical distancing) in person or via video conference (e.g., Zoom, Teams, FaceTime). This can be done individually or in a group (e.g., as part of a class).

As usual, card access is limited to majors and minors in Art, Music, Drama, and Dance, as well as those students taking a course in one of those disciplines that requires Lab access. Students unwilling or unable to go through the safety orientation may still access the two computers available outside the north door of the Main Lab.

The access hours for undergraduates match the current building hours: 08:00–17:00 weekdays. Graduate students and Faculty will have 24 hour access. Students may access either the Main Lab or the Small Lab with their approved card access.

It takes Campus Security up to three business days to process card access requests, so students should initiate this process well before an assignment is due.

Remote Workflow Tips for Photographers (and others)

If you’re taking a photography class and you don’t have Photoshop on your personal computer, you are probably taking advantage of our service that allows you to remote control a Lab computer that does have Photoshop. That gives you access to Photoshop, but how do you get your photos from your SD memory card to the remote computer? What’s the most efficient way to hand in your final work? How do I retrieve my final work and put it back on my computer? Even if you are not taking a Photography class, you may have read other help files on our web site about specific tasks but are looking for an overview of the entire workflow.

Conceptually (TL;DR, if you will), you are going to copy the files from your SD card to your own computer (if necessary), upload those files to a Cloud service or our Server, and then download them to the Lab computer you will be remote-controlling. (You do the reverse when you are done working for the day.) Here are step-by-step directions on how such workflows work.

Workflow 1: The Cloud is your friend

Many of you will be familiar with a service like DropBox, Google Drive, iCloud, or OneDrive. (Your University account comes with OneDrive storage included.) You can use such cloud services to shuttle your work between your computer and the remote Lab computer. A typical RAW photo workflow would look like this:

Copy the RAW files from your SD card onto your own computer (copy them as if they were on a USB stick; don’t use a photo app).
Upload the RAW files from your computer to your Cloud service (depending on the service you use, you might be able to copy them to a folder on your computer or you may have to open a web browser and upload the files).
Log in to a Lab computer remotely.
On the remote computer, log in to your Cloud service via a web browser.
The files you just uploaded should be listed there. Download them to the remote computer. (They will likely show up in the Downloads folder unless you specify otherwise.)
Using your RAW editing app (Photoshop, Bridge, or Lightroom, depending on what your Instructor suggests), open the RAW files from the location you stored them in the previous step.
Process as required.
Save your processed files on the remote Lab computer.
If you have something you need to hand in to the Lab Server, it is easiest if you do that while still remotely connected to a Lab Computer. Connect to the Lab Server using the Connect > Lab Server app near the right corner of the Dock (full instructions are available).
Log back in to your Cloud service via a web browser. Upload the work you just completed to the Cloud Service.
Log out of the remote computer so that it sits at the user login screen, then disconnect your session.

You can now download your processed photos from your Cloud service and copy them to your own computer (or any Lab computer if you need to do more work).

Workflow 2: The IAML Server Shuttle

You can use the IAML Server much like you would use a Cloud storage service. You are allowed to store your working files on our Server as well as hand in assignments there. Here is a typical RAW photo workflow:

Copy the RAW files from your SD card onto your own computer (copy them as if they were on a USB stick; don’t use a photo app).
Connect to the University of Calgary network (airuc-secure if on-campus, General UCalgary VPN if off-campus).
Connect to the IAML Server.
Copy the RAW files from your computer to the Server (create a folder with your name on it to store your files if you don’t already have one). Once they are copied, you can disconnect from the Server.
Log in to a Lab computer remotely.
On the remote computer, connect to the Lab Server using the Connect > Lab Server app near the right corner of the Dock (full instructions are available). The files you just uploaded should be listed there. Copy them to the remote computer. (It is not recommended to work directly off the Server, as Adobe does not support this use, so things could go wrong for no reason.)
Using your RAW editing app (Photoshop, Bridge, or Lightroom, depending on what your Instructor suggests), open the RAW files from the remote computer.
Process as required.
Save your processed files on the remote Lab computer.
Copy your processed files to your named folder on the Lab Server.
If you have something you need to hand in, just drop it on the Assignment Drop Box folder on the Server.
Log out of the remote computer so that it sits at the user login screen, then disconnect your session.

Your processed photos are now available when you connect to the Lab Server from your own computer. You can copy any of these files to your own computer (or any Lab computer if you need to do more work).

Other Options

When the Lab is open, you are welcome to use our computer in-person to do your editing. All the iMac computers have a built-in SD card reader on the back, so you can just insert your card and go. This can simplify your workflow by eliminating the need to “shuttle” your RAW files using a Cloud service or our Server. This best mimics the workflow you would use if you were doing all the work on your own computer.

We still recommend you store your processed photographs on our Server (or another Cloud service), as you are not guaranteed to be able to use the same computer the next time you work in person.

Need Lab software at home?

Updated 2024-09-26

If you are working remotely for classes or prefer to use your own computer to do work that you would normally do in our Labs, here is how you can obtain your own copy of common Lab software and the associated cost if applicable.

Adobe Products (Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, Premiere Pro)

TL;DR: $135 for 3 months of any app; Photoshop/Lightroom $156/year or $97.50 for 3 months

Platforms: macOS, Windows
Free Trial: 7 days
Student Discount Price: $312 per year for entire Creative Cloud suite ($552/year after the first year); a regular price option may be better if you only need Photoshop or Lightroom (see below)
Regular Price:
$864 per year for Creative Cloud suite
$156 per year for CC Photography plan with 20 GB cloud storage (Photoshop + Lightroom) or Lightroom with 1 TB cloud storage
$312 per year for CC Photography plan with 1 TB cloud storage (Photoshop + Lightroom)
$348 per year for Illustrator or Premiere Pro only
$45 per month for any one app (no annual commitment required)
License: Subscription (only)

Adobe offers all of its products as subscriptions; you must pay Adobe a monthly or annual fee (billed monthly) to continue to use the software. Which app or combination of apps you need and for how long will determine which option is the most cost-effective for you — the student discount may not be the best deal for you if you only need one app or only need three months of use. Subscriptions are priced in Canadian Dollars.

All of Adobe’s annual subscriptions can be billed on a monthly basis, but if you cancel early, you pay a 50% penalty for each month you cancel. For example, if you only needed to use Photoshop or Lightroom for three months for a Fall or Winter class, your best choices would be Adobe’s regular offers, not the student offer:

$156 for a one-year subscription to the CC Photography plan with 20 GB storage ($12.99/month × 12 months; no student discount)
$97.50 for 3 months of CC Photography plan (20 GB) subscription ($12.99 × 3 months + $6.50 × 9 month penalty for early cancellation)

For an app like Illustrator or Premiere, your best choices would be:

$312 for a one-year subscription to the Creative Cloud suite ($25.99/month × 12 months after student discount)
$195 for 3 months of the CC student discount subscription ($25.99 × 3 months + $13 × 9 month penalty for early cancellation)
$135 for 3 months use of the app ($44.99/month × 3 months, no student discount)

Once you need two or more Adobe apps (other than Photoshop + Lightroom), you are almost certainly better off subscribing to the full Creative Cloud plan for students. Note that the price increases by 50% after the first year of your subscription if you choose to use the software long-term.

If you do not wish to subscribe to Adobe’s software, there are now excellent alternative apps that can accomplish much of what Adobe’s products do and even export to Adobe’s file formats. For example, perpetual licenses for Affinity Photo (similar to Photoshop) and Affinity Designer (similar to Illustrator) are available for $100 each, which includes an iPad license, and are available on a six-month free trial as of Fall 2024. Check with your instructor to see if such alternatives would be suitable for your particular class.

Final Cut Pro

TL;DR: 90 day free trial

Platform: macOS and iPadOS (limited)
Free Trial: 90 days (macOS), 30 days (iPadOS)
Student Discount Price: $260 as part of a bundle for macOS (no Education price for iPadOS)
Regular Price: $400 (no bundle) for macOS, $6.99/month or $69/year for iPadOS
License: Perpetual (one-time payment) for macOS, Subscription for iPadOS

Apple extended their normal 30 day trial on Final Cut Pro during the pandemic, so tactical use of the macOS trial could get you through a Term without needing to purchase the app. If you wish to use the app longer than that, the best value for dollar is Apple’s “Pro Apps for Education” bundle, which includes apps like Compressor and Logic Pro (Apple’s digital audio workstation app — think GarageBand on steroids). Note that the iPadOS version of Final Cut Pro cannot exchange projects with the macOS version — you can import your work from iPad to Mac but not the other direction.

Logic Pro

TL;DR: 90 day free trial

Platform: macOS and iPadOS
Free Trial: 90 days (macOS), 30 days (iPadOS)
Student Discount Price: $260 as part of a bundle for macOS (no Education price for iPadOS)
Regular Price: $280 (no bundle) for macOS, $6.99/month or $69/year for iPadOS
License: Perpetual (one-time payment) for macOS, Subscription for iPadOS

Apple didn’t have a trial version of Logic Pro prior to the pandemic, as most people’s needs were met with GarageBand. Tactical use of this new trial option could get you through a Term without needing to purchase the app. If you wish to use the app longer than that, a small discount comes by purchasing Apple’s “Pro Apps for Education” bundle, but you also receive Final Cut Pro video editing software (normally $400 itself — think iMovie on steroids). The new version for iPad can exchange projects back and forth between itself and the macOS version.

ZBrush

TL;DR: $90 for one year

Platform: macOS, Windows
Free Trial: 14 days (as part of the Maxon One bundle)
Student Discount Price: Maxon One bundle (including Cinema 4D and other apps) $90 per year
Regular Price: $516 per year or $65 per month
License: Subscription

We know that ZBrush is quite costly — it’s a professional tool used in the industry and it is priced accordingly. The Student pricing is quite reduced but expect to pay a high subscription price once you graduate (much like with Adobe software). Due to a recent change in ownership of the company that makes ZBrush, the old perpetual license model has been eliminated.

Vectorworks

TL;DR: Free student licence

Platform: macOS, Windows
Student Offer: Free student license
Regular Price: $4200 (!!) for perpetual license or $175-210 per month for subscription
License: Perpetual or Subscription

Here’s another professional-grade tool that students can not reasonably afford themselves. Luckily, it is now offered for free to Education users. Use the link above to download a copy for your own computer.

Celebrating 25 Years

The Integrated Arts Media Lab (singular) began in 1994, when the units within the Faculty of Fine Arts (Art, Music, Drama, Dance) decided that they should pool their resources and have a shared digital facility that was better than any of them could build on their own.

Main Lab in 1998 — *The original Integrated Arts Media Lab in 1998*

The original Main Lab was located in Craigie Hall F208 in the space currently occupied by the Doolittle Theatre (the current entrance at F206 was the entrance to the staff office and server room). The digital work Music had done in F206 was superseded by this new Lab. Art kept a small lab going in AB 611 with older computers, mostly for digital photography. Eventually, when demand began to grow for our facilities, the Lab in AB 611 became a secondary lab, used by Drama to teach drafting in addition to its Art uses.

All this changed in 2006, when we moved into our current facilities. Since there was clearly a need for concurrent spaces, we developed one Main Lab and one Smaller Lab with similar capacities to our previous spaces in Craigie Hall and the Art Building. These new labs occupied spaces previously used as the Art Department Office (Small Lab) and Slide Library (Main Lab). This move gave us much-improved networking within the building (although it would be a few years before the link to the campus network sped up) and the opportunity for research-level work.

The scope of what the IAML does has grown greatly over time. We now focus a lot on services, such as photo printing and equipment loans. It’s still our job to make certain that the Labs run well for classes and drop-in use, but the breadth of apps we support continues to grow. We don’t know what the IAML will look like over the next 25 years, but we suspect it will still focus on providing Arts Technology services, particularly in the Apple space, to students and faculty.