MFA 2014 All Art ADMISSIONS freak-out forum!!!!!!!!

[bannedinbc]

anyone else checking their google analytics religiously?

Every time I see that my site got a hit from a city where I applied to a school: super excited!... then when I see that they only spent 11 seconds on the page....

[Rother]

 "Mixed Media. Done."

 

similar

I went with "long exposure photograph"  for all of mine.

 

I really did not want to do any leading.  But felt I needed to clarify that each was single frame, with no hdr.

 

 

 

 

 

www.nickrother.com  if you click the "captured" link, old stuff, same vein

[Loric]

anyone else checking their google analytics religiously?

Every time I see that my site got a hit from a city where I applied to a school: super excited!... then when I see that they only spent 11 seconds on the page....

 

I havent even looked - my site went on lockdown when i started the application process. My twitter went private and my facebook became squeaky clean (and blocked to all but direct friends).

[EDay27]

Hey everyone, here's a newbie question regarding image resolution- Is it absolutely necessary to submit your portfolio images at 72dpi? It seems most schools using slide room will accept anything in the range of 5-10mb, at which point dpi doesn't really matter. Most of my images are saved at 240 or 300 dpi. I tried shrinking them down to 72dpi, but some were so small I couldn't possibly submit them. So far, my strategy has been to stick to the mb limit and disregarded the 72dpi… dun dun dun. Am I doomed? 

[klp]

Do you have photoshop? If yes you can change the dpi to 72 without shrinking them to the smallness you describe.

 

Go to Image > Image size

Make sure the aspect ratio constraint button is on (it looks like a chain between width and height)

Change the width and height units to pixels

Copy the width or height

Change Resolution to 72

Paste in the original width (in pixels), the height should adjust automatically

Click OK

 

Hope this helps.

[Loric]

I was going to provide a nice clear answer but then i managed to confuse myself between dpi, ppi, etc..

 

Regardless, you want your "resolution" to be 72 or higher. That's the 240 and 300 you're seeing. So being higher is fine. It just makes it a big clunky file.

 

But then there's the actual image size and how "big" it will look on people's screens. You want 1000 pixels in any given direction for the image size - assuming you're

 

At 72 pixels/inch, bumping an image to 1000 pixels wide puts it at about 14 inches when displayed (13.889). However, at 300 pixels/inch, it "shrinks" down to 3.33 inches. So when someone goes to look at it, it's data dense but itty bitty. They can bother to zoom in, and it will remain clear as the data is all there and will just expand-outward, but you really want it around the 14 inches of the 72 pixel/inch default. So they dont/can't/wont need to zoom in to see it large and clearly.

 

So just be mindful of your canvas/image size when you're changing resolution.

[EDay27]

Gotcha. Thanks a lot, Loric! 

[bannedinbc]

http://slideroom.besnappy.com/faq#media-210

 

I posted this in another thread, but as you can see in the link above, slideroom says that it will resize the image to 1280x1280 pixels at 72 ppi, so submitting something that is larger than that (more pixels, regardless of the ppi) accomplishes nothing, at least on slideroom. 

[meese]

I'm beginning to really despise slideroom...

[Loric]

It really is awful.

[pulpandink]

For fellow Indiana University-Bloomington applicants… has anyone been able to check the status of their application materials?  I never received an email with a University ID # and the Graduate School assistant told me to contact the Fine Arts Department Office in order to confirm the receipt of my transcripts.  I emailed the Fine Arts Department a little over a week ago and still haven't heard anything.

[Firenze]

For fellow Indiana University-Bloomington applicants… has anyone been able to check the status of their application materials?  I never received an email with a University ID # and the Graduate School assistant told me to contact the Fine Arts Department Office in order to confirm the receipt of my transcripts.  I emailed the Fine Arts Department a little over a week ago and still haven't heard anything.

 

I haven't checked the status of my application. I got an email saying they had received my application. It also stated that, "The department/unit may contact you if they need additional information or have questions about your application." Since I haven't heard from them, I'm assuming all of the required application materials were received.

[herki]

Slideroom is a breeze considering the other options. Last year one school I applied to had their own clunky proprietary application system, and for another school I had to burn my portfolio onto a CD and mail it in with all the completed forms. I also had to mail envelopes with addresses and postage to all my recommenders too for that school.

Edited January 24, 2014 by herki

[klp]

You crazy digital types. I had to take in a physical A1 portfolio to the RCA last weekend. I'm counting my blessings that I didn't have to post a physical A1 portfolio from overseas!

[fairweather]

For fellow Indiana University-Bloomington applicants… has anyone been able to check the status of their application materials?  I never received an email with a University ID # and the Graduate School assistant told me to contact the Fine Arts Department Office in order to confirm the receipt of my transcripts.  I emailed the Fine Arts Department a little over a week ago and still haven't heard anything.

 

I gave them a ring and the admissions desk was able to give me verbal confirmation of my materials. I haven't received any email confirmation either, but I do seem to be having trouble with my letters of recommendation at Indiana. Two out of the three professors are receiving messages that their letters are in the wrong format? Profs are saying otherwise. They certainly have been giving me the most trouble.  

[Loric]

I've done the CD and physical portfolio showings. With those, you control the context. With slideroom they are judging just by the photo - which for many mediums royally screws people over.

[Jacque]

I was going to provide a nice clear answer but then i managed to confuse myself between dpi, ppi, etc..

 

Regardless, you want your "resolution" to be 72 or higher. That's the 240 and 300 you're seeing. So being higher is fine. It just makes it a big clunky file.

 

But then there's the actual image size and how "big" it will look on people's screens. You want 1000 pixels in any given direction for the image size - assuming you're

 

At 72 pixels/inch, bumping an image to 1000 pixels wide puts it at about 14 inches when displayed (13.889). However, at 300 pixels/inch, it "shrinks" down to 3.33 inches. So when someone goes to look at it, it's data dense but itty bitty. They can bother to zoom in, and it will remain clear as the data is all there and will just expand-outward, but you really want it around the 14 inches of the 72 pixel/inch default. So they dont/can't/wont need to zoom in to see it large and clearly.

 

So just be mindful of your canvas/image size when you're changing resolution.

 

DPI will not make a difference on how large an image displays on a person's screen, 1000 pixels is still 1000 pixels on anyone's screen. DPI is important in the context of printing. Of course there will be slight differences in display size whether it's viewed on a Macintosh or a Windows machine, as the default PPI for those is 72 and 96 respectively. Now, you will notice that on "retina" displays images appear half as large, but thats because the pixel density is much higher.

 

On the topic of Slideroom... the people that have to review submissions are looking at hundreds of portfolios, they still have classes to teach, and programs to run; they don't want to read an essay about every piece and they certainly don't have time to. And yes, Slideroom doesn't let you show of each of your works just how you'd want to, but the people reviewing them are artists themselves, and they understand that one image and a short sentence description of a piece is not telling/showing them everything that that artwork is about.

 

The initial application review process is to weed out the inferior portfolios. After that, usually they then dig deeper into the quality applications, spending more time reading the descriptions and analyzing the work with more deliberate thought and conversation amongst the reviewers.

[llife00]

Jacque knows what's up

[EDay27]

DPI will not make a difference on how large an image displays on a person's screen, 1000 pixels is still 1000 pixels on anyone's screen. DPI is important in the context of printing. Of course there will be slight differences in display size whether it's viewed on a Macintosh or a Windows machine, as the default PPI for those is 72 and 96 respectively. Now, you will notice that on "retina" displays images appear half as large, but thats because the pixel density is much higher.

 

On the topic of Slideroom... the people that have to review submissions are looking at hundreds of portfolios, they still have classes to teach, and programs to run; they don't want to read an essay about every piece and they certainly don't have time to. And yes, Slideroom doesn't let you show of each of your works just how you'd want to, but the people reviewing them are artists themselves, and they understand that one image and a short sentence description of a piece is not telling/showing them everything that that artwork is about.

 

The initial application review process is to weed out the inferior portfolios. After that, usually they then dig deeper into the quality applications, spending more time reading the descriptions and analyzing the work with more deliberate thought and conversation amongst the reviewers.

That's very helpful, thank you. I've been using Photoshop for years to re-size images without fully grasping what "dpi" actually refers to.

[Loric]

Photoshop uses DPI and PPI interchangeably. If you use photoshop's image settings to change the DPI to 72 from 300 it will shrink your image canvas size.

And Jaques I'm sooooo sorry you might need to read a caption to understand an image when judging media that is not 2d. Your life must be so hard. I'm so sorry people expect you to do all functions of your job with diligence rather than skimping over the parts you don't like or find unpleasant. I mean, it's not like someone's future is at stake if you gloss over things and make incorrect assumptions.

Funnily enough I suspect glossing over things, coming to erroneous conclusions, and yet still being treated like you deserve a cookie for the "good" you've done is not at all a foreign concept to you.

[Kelly Anna Yllek]

The initial application review process is to weed out the inferior portfolios. After that, usually they then dig deeper into the quality applications, spending more time reading the descriptions and analyzing the work with more deliberate thought and conversation amongst the reviewers.

If that was the case then how come less than a week after I submitted my application and got an interview, my POI didn't have anything but the images themselves? Following that logic, no desc/titles in first review to get rid of unwanted portfolios, why did I get an interview at all? 

Now, I'm not any member of an admission committee or anything but it seems more like they didn't have all the information available instead of didn't want to have all of it. For example, one of my pieces was a video and the description wrote it was a projection in a planetarium. She was super surprised by that and said how it made so much more sense. (Space related video would be best shown in space related way.) I don't think they get the info that we provide. 

[llife00]

Photoshop uses DPI and PPI interchangeably. If you use photoshop's image settings to change the DPI to 72 from 300 it will shrink your image canvas size.

 

 

That's only because you aren't changing the DPI the correct way. If you just open up "image size" and change it from 72 to 300, it has to shrink the actual size of the image in order to obtain that DPI number. 

[abarcio]

Hey Hopeful!

UNLV is a fully funded MFA, with stipend (1,300) a month, teaching and gallery experience, grants (up to 1,500 a year) for materials, tons of visiting artists and critics (each week), artists in residences and great field trips (going to Marfa this year), LARGE studios and lots of freedom!

I know, Las Vegas- but coming from San Francisco and LA I thought I would hate it and discovered that it's not that bad. Old downtown Vegas is amazing, everyone has a pool, rent is sooo affordable (you can get a 1 bedroom for 450), the desert sky is beautiful and it's not too far from LA. The school offers lots of freedom and there are only 12 total MFA's in the program. Applications are open till Feb.

Good luck out there!

XX

[Jacque]

Photoshop uses DPI and PPI interchangeably. If you use photoshop's image settings to change the DPI to 72 from 300 it will shrink your image canvas size.

 

You're incorrectly changing the DPI of your images, you need to make sure "Resample Image:" is not selected. Notice then how the physical pixel resolution stays the same while the document size (as it would print) changes.

 

Also, missed the c, and no s.

[bannedinbc]

Photoshop uses DPI and PPI interchangeably. If you use photoshop's image settings to change the DPI to 72 from 300 it will shrink your image canvas size.

 

Just to clarify here. To make sure that Photoshop won't change your image size (read: total number of pixels) when you change ppi, all you need to do is uncheck "resample image" in the image size dialog box.