Ryerson University: Digital Media Experience Lab
What is the Digital Media Experience Lab (DME)?
According to the website: “The DME is a makerspace, fabrication lab and digital media production facility brought to you by the Ryerson Library!”
They give students access to tutorials such as coding a website, Adobe Creative Suite, 3D printing and creating 2D and 3D design software.
I decided to attend a one on one tutorial with a mentor. I was given the option to learn about Adobe Creative Suite. The DME is located on the third floor of the Ryerson Student Learning Centre. Upon entering, I was informed that they have open workshops on 3D printing. They hold the 3D printing workshops at 12:30pm, from Monday to Friday.
I sat down with my mentor and she asked me what I wanted to learn and which Adobe application I was least comfortable with. I suggested for her to teach me on how to properly crop images and replace backgrounds, in Photoshop. She obtained stock photos from the internet. One of puppies in a basket and a grass stock photo. The goal was to replace the wall background of the puppies photo, with grass.
She gave me tips on which tools I should be using to properly crop a photo, in Photoshop. She suggested for to use the Quick Selection Tool, to crop out the puppies. The Magic Wand tool was used to delete any excess areas that weren’t cropped out properly. It was suggested that for more accurate cropping, using the Lasso tool would be better for the important projects. I was also recommended to use filters for the images for blending the photos together. It was a good 30 minute tutorial and I learned new things. It was a good tutorial for beginners, who have no experience in using Adobe Creative Suite.
Would I attend another workshop? Yes. It’s a great experience and you have mentors who guide you, every step of the way. My next trip to the DME would be to play around with the 3D printers and design a project, from start to finish.
