Creative Cow forum host: Cowdog

Cowdog Paso Robles, California USA

Cowdog is one of the new breed of web-savvy hounds that frequent the Net. Armed with his trusty and long-lived Radio Shack TRS-80 and 1,200 baud modem, he is quick to log in and take a bite out of a problem or chase down an answer for his friends. He is also quick to fetch sticks and all he asks is a bowl -- well, a BIG bowl, actually -- of his favorite drink Lindeboom Bier Oud Bruin, Dutch dark beer direct from the Lindeboom Brewery in Holland. (Yes, it really exists, visit www.lindeboom.nl or click the bottle at right for a trip to the brewery's Neer, Holland website.)

Cowdog's doghouse is filled with the latest digital wonder toys and he's becoming proficient in integrating Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Audition and Encore DVD. "I love Audition because I'm really into audio -- you do know that dogs have incredible hearing, don't you? Humans have their backward-masking and other audio tricks but us canines can cut in things that humans can't even hear. Very cool for relaying messages around the planet to other dogs."

Lately, Cowdog has been doing sidework for Animal Planet -- mostly voiceover and walk-on parts -- to earn extra money to get a new laptop. "I've got my eyes on a new Intel laptop because Kathlyn won't let me use her MacBook Pro anymore. She says that she's tired of wiping the snot off the keys and the trackpad after I nose around on it for a while. I've been working on my first documentary series for 'Animal Planet' called Great Canines of Historyand the first episode is an exposé called 'Uncovering the Truth about Lassie.' It's been a labor of love and contrary to popular fable ... Lassie is 100% Scottish lass, not laddie. And she likes my hat. She's such a babe!"

During a recent major dog show held in Europe at the world famous Matterhorn, Cowdog won "Best of Show" in the "Canines that Edit Digitally" category. "It was a big victory and I was up against some pretty rough competition. There was a Chihuahua that worked for Mexican television that had a remote field editing system and a high-speed access that allowed him to cut hot news stories in the field and upload them direct to the studios without delay. Really impressive. But I think that I edged him out when I showed the judges that I could integrate the entire Adobe product line in an integrated project that ended up on DVD and the web, as well as burning the broadcast master for Swiss television that night. It really impressed them -- and a certain Saint Bernard that I've been dating since."

Speaking of that "certain" Saint Bernard, rumors of wedding bells in Cowdog's future abound. "He came home smelling of stale beer -- he still has trouble holding the tooth brush between his little canine fingers -- but he was floating around like he was on a cloud," says Creative Cow director, Kathlyn Lindeboom, "he's definitely in love." Kathlyn is someone who should know, as she raised him from the time he was a pup. Still, Cowdog insists that "...like George Clooney, I have too much going on to want to settle down right now. Besides, Curtis and Abraham need me to show them the ropes -- [note: Curtis Thompson, Cow technical consultant; Abraham Chaffin, Cow Sys Admin and systems development]-- and so we've been hitting the singles scene together. The guys have really taken some pointers as to wooing the fairer sex and Curtis seems to have fallen under the spell of a certain someone whose identity he guards like a junkyard dog. Some insist that I'll find myself shortly under Struedel's spell because she had that special 'something extra' that intoxicated me from the moment I met her. Who knows? She may get a ring around my finger but I've got a keg around her neck, so who's really the one coming out ahead in that arrangement, eh???"

• Favorite drink: See above, first paragraph
• Favorite band: (tie) Keef Hartley's Dog Soldier, Temple of the Dog
• Favorite food: Kibble and beer ("...in my own make-shift take-off on 'Gravy Train'")
• Favorite song: "Me and you and a dog named 'Boo'" (Lobo)
• Favorite movie: A Boy and His Dog ("I like Don Johnson, he likes beer too.")
• Favorite TV series: The Super Bowl ("for the beer commercials and wardrobe malfunctions.")
• Favorite book: Garfield books ("I love to rip out the pages -- it's good for dental hygiene.")
• Favorite Cow forum: Audio Professionals ("I hear alot of things in there that you guys miss.")

Articles by Cowdog

	COW: The Community Speaks SOPA Initiative If you are a USA citizen, help us protect the internet from the control and regulation that legislators are trying to implement under two ill-conceived bills that would effectively destroy the internet as we have known it. These bills are being referred to as SOPA and PIPA. Editorial

	Broadcasting Bessie's New Tool Round-up There are a lot of new products designed with your heavy lifting needs in mind. Here are a few that have recently managed to catch our eyes. Review

	Audio Professionals ADR: Hollywood Dialogue Recording Secrets Correcting dialogue is one of the most important parts of the old saying, fix it in post. They're part of a process called ADR -- Additional Dialogue Recording, or Automated Dialogue Replacement -- that has been going on since movies had audio, and is still being done today, from the smallest indie films to the biggest blockbusters. Here's an overview of the world of ADR, some of the Cows who are working in this field, and where to go when you are ready to ADR to your own productions. Feature

	Business & Marketing Business Advice for Tough Times Sound business advice is more precious than ever, and you can find TONS of it from the businesspeople at Creative COW. Our very own Cowdog has gathered some of the best tips for building your business from around the COW, including getting deadbeat clients to pay you, creating strong contracts, protecting your onscreen talent from accidental explosions...and a reminder that, as far as the client is concerned, everything is YOUR fault. Feature, Business

	COWmunications feedback Cows Around the World The 'W' in COW stands for 'world,' and we really mean it. Here are reports from Cows in Russia, India, the Netherlands and Canada about what they do, and what they're working on. People / Interview

	Adobe After Effects New AE DVDs for the Cow Master Series. Save Now! The 3 newest DVDs in the Creative Cow Master Series, training even artists can afford. Learn secrets of advanced rotoscoping and compositing, real-world motion graphics that you can start using right away, and the CS3 tutorials you need to take your work to the next level from true masters from the craft. Feature

	Media 100 | Media 100 HD Media 100 breaks out of its shell at last Have a bunch of Media 100 projects archived that you'd like to have access to, again? Media 100 breaks out of its shell at long last, releasing new versions of their editing system that are software-only, or that can run on cards like the AJA Kona. Review, Editorial

	Business & Marketing How Can I Make Money In A Glutted Market? In this business article from The Creative COW Magazine, Bessie gives some great business advice answering a question from one of the members. Business

	Motion Graphics Tape Formats, Bit Depths, Data Rates & Storage Requirements A very common question that surfaces on the Creative Cow forums is one that deals with formats, data rates and storage requirements. So thanks to our friends at Creative Media Partners in Burbank, California, who have compiled the information, we'd like to offer it for use by our members... Feature