The Download Munkey : Tracking the Treasure Down …

I was checking out the official site for the latest Tekken game – Tekken 6 – where there’s a nice gallery of character renders – which are unfortunately not available for download Well there’s almost nothing that isn’t downloadable if it can display in your browser, right?

Since the images are probably loaded and then cached by the browser, it’s only a simple matter of deciding which is the most convenient browser for the task. I could have used my favourite web browser Opera but version 9.27 on my computer doesn’t load the site properly while the newer versions use a quirky caching system, therefore the next best alternative is definitely Mozilla Firefox loaded with benki’s very useful CacheViewer extension.

Step 1 : Install Firefox and benki’s CacheViewer extension

Install the plugin if you haven’t (go under Tools > Addons > Get Extensions and search for CacheViewer), follow the instructions and restart Firefox when prompted.

Step 2 : Browse as per normal

After Firefox has restarted, head on down to tekken.namco.com and browse through the photo gallery – remember to click the full screen icon on the bottom right to view the renders in their original sizes and then navigate back or forward to load all images into Firefox’s cache.

Step 3 : Start CacheViewer and filter with the appropriate keyword(s) and save!

Once you’re done, open the CacheViewer window (under Tools > CacheViewer) and enter “full” in the Search box as the filenames of all the original renders contain the word “full”. Let CacheViewer automatically filter the relevant images for you, select all the files listed and then save them all by right-clicking and selecting Save As (or simply press Ctrl+C) which CacheViewer will then prompt you for a folder to save these images – neat, isn’t it?

This simple little technique with Firefox + CacheViewer should also work nicely on other Flash-based image galleries with slight modifications

Download Mozilla Firefox (yes, I know I am a very late adopter ) or check out the official page for benki’s CacheViewer extension.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Grab Those HD Movie Trailers @ Trailer Freaks
Exporting and Converting Bookmarks with Bookmark Buddy
Playing Flash Games Offline with opera:cache + Adobe Flash 9 Debug Players
Google Cheat Sheets
Mini Language Reference for Download Junkies

Saw some concepts from Tham Hoi Mun‘s (aka numioh) deviantART gallery (featured here not too long ago) which were conceptualized in Alchemy (free!) before being painted over in Photoshop. (sorry, this one’s not free )

For those who prefer a more hands-on approach, there’s also a video demo of Alchemy by Andrew “Android” Jones (more here) recorded at the Digital Conference of Creative Elite (DCCE) in Shanghai.

While I’m no artist, Alchemy feels very different from any drawing or painting application I’ve played around before as it doesn’t try to fully emulate the traditional drawing and painting tools and process (try and find the Undo button ). You can simply use Alchemy to sketch and draw but its beauty lies in its ability to quickly inject randomness into your ideas through a variety of create modules which are essentially shape and line generators. Applying one or more alter modules which further process and add effects to your input allows you to realize your imagination on digital canvas in a lot of different and interesting ways.

The above was done in 2 minutes by someone with zero artistic skills (namely me) and Alchemy with the Pull Shapes and Mirror modules Amazing, isn’t it?

My first attempt with Alchemy to draw an Ork Warboss from Warhammer 40,000

While Alchemy is still in alpha, you can try it out by visiting and registering at www.al.chemy.org. Alchemy is currently available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Android Jones – Musical Art & Much More
Fun Drawing Tools For The Masses
Create Your Own Graffiti Masterpiece with Graffiti Studio 2.0

I encountered CamStudio while looking for a freeware or open source solution for creating Flash screencasts to demonstrate the new features of the software products developed at work. For most users, viewing such screencasts beats reading a lengthy user guide or looking through a whole lot of screenshots.

If you’re new to producing screencasts, you’ll be glad to find that CamStudio is very easy to use. After the straightforward installation process, launch CamStudio and change Region > Fixed Region to Region. Click Record, select the screen area to record and then control the recording process with the mouse or keyboard hotkeys (default for record/pause is F8). Below is a short screencast of me capturing a screencast of myself typing in Notepad.

[kml_flashembed fversion="8.0.0" movie="http://www.downloadmunkey.net/download/convert.swf" targetclass="flashmovie" publishmethod="static" width="450"]

Click here to view screencast at its original size.

Of course, unless a screencast is self-explanatory or utterly pointless like the one above, you will need either verbal or written messages to be displayed during your screencasts. CamStudio supports recording audio instructions through microphones or speakers connected to the computer. Alternatively, you can also create screen annotations – see the screencast below. Much more useful, eh?
[kml_flashembed fversion="8.0.0" movie="http://www.downloadmunkey.net/download/annotate.swf" targetclass="flashmovie" publishmethod="static" width="450"]
Click here to view screencast at its original size.

CamStudio records your screen actions into an AVI which you will most probably want to convert to a bandwidth friendly Flash file with the included SWF Producer.
[kml_flashembed fversion="8.0.0" movie="http://www.downloadmunkey.net/download/record.swf" targetclass="flashmovie" publishmethod="static" width="450"]
Click here to view screencast at its original size.

While I use CamStudio primarily for work, I’m sure it can be put to imaginative use for gaming too – creating walkthroughs, feature demos, tutorials, etc.

Download CamStudio.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Exporting and Converting Bookmarks with Bookmark Buddy
Foxit Reader vs PDF-XChange Viewer vs Sumatra
Using Sandboxie For Testing New Software

Frank from Web Talk (www.webtlk.com) was very kind to drop me an email about his review of The Download Munkey last week (yay!)

While I didn’t really have to write a recipriocal review of Web Talk in return, I did feel a need to recommend Web Talk since Frank and I share a similar love for sourcing and writing about interesting stuff on the web and a common belief in only writing about topics that we’re genuinely interested in as well as publishing only those articles that we write ourselves (which means no wholescale cut n’ paste from other sites ).

As the title implies, Web Talk focuses mainly on computers and the Internet. While I’m not a big fan of techie blogs primarily because I deal with enough technology and computers at work everyday, I do have a soft spot for collecting helpful tech tips and how-tos.

And that’s precisely where Web Talk shines as it hosts a large and rapidly-growing collection of concise and easy to understand articles on getting the most out of your computer, be it Windows XP or Vista, Firefox or even tricks for Youtube like searching for HD videos or converting YouTube videos for iPod or PSP.

For the readers who are neither Firefox users nor Youtube fanatics, here’s a trio of my personal favourites from Web Talk that you might also enjoy

• A feature on Animata for creating your own real-time animations
• Tools and tips on playing Flash games offline – for those times when you’re stuck with a laptop with no Internet and no entertainment
• A tutorial on getting your first WordPress-based blog online (!)

Readers who love computers and technology will be delighted to know that Web Talk is updated with original content daily (and usually multiple times per day )

Check out Web Talk.

Finally found the standalone player for the latest version of Adobe Flash which allows you to run Flash applications and games written in Flash 10 offline.

Frankly speaking, the only application written in Flash 10 that I’ve seen is Hobnox’s Audiotool recommended by Andy over at Geeknews (more about this impressive online audio production tool in the near future), but the standalone player is still worth downloading since it’s backwards compatible with all games and apps written in earlier versions of Flash.

For example, BubbleBox offers a selection of freely downloadable Flash games which you can load and play with the standalone player. Above is Bubblebox’s Elite Base Jump in the standalone player.

Download Adobe Flash 10 Standalone Player. You’ll want the non-debugger version unless you’re a Flash developer (Versions for Windows, Mac and Linux are found in the zip download – Windows users should run flashplayer10r12_36_win_sa.exe inside the zip file).

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Playing Flash Games Offline with opera:cache + Adobe Flash 9 Debug Players
Rumble Roses Exclusive Wallpapers + Fun With Flasm
Flasm – A Flash Disassembler