Feeling Creative? Meyer Media Lab Unites Penniless Artists with Shiny Equipment

Starving Artist Greg played in a nice folk-metal band, but his band members left him because he couldn't pay the studio fees. Recently, his squirrel documentary fell apart because the Scotch tape holding the edits together gave out. And late at night sometimes, Greg reproduces his design sketches in Microsoft Paint because he doesn't have a scanner.

Don't be this guy. Don't be Starving Artist Greg.

For the brilliantly creative (and brilliantly broke) college student, the Meyer Media Lab can deliver you from outdated equipment and provide you with the gear you deserve.

Located at 1154 Meyer Hall, the media lab vibrates with that cold hum of serious machinery and software. The 17 Macintosh G5 workstations and five PC stations boast nice and expensive media editing programs like Adobe Creative Suite and Final Cut Pro Studio.

Meyer Media Lab Enhances Your Workflow

For that big poster presentation, you will find everything you need. First, scan in your photos or sketches with the flatbed scanners. Next, primp and trim your images with Photoshop CS before laying everything out in InDesign CS. The lab also has Vectorworks and Sketchup for more involved design projects. Print out your perfected final product in full, glorious hues with the color laser printer.

Burgeoning Web masters, the Meyer Media Lab has your needs covered too. Stitch your HTML with Dreamweaver MX 2004, or go fancy with Flash MX 2004.

Struggling musicians, find your sound in the Audio Room. A MIDI keyboard with speakers awaits able fingers and discerning ears. Once you've composed your delicate ballad for the ballroom, mix it up for the dance floor with the mixing board. You can record to either analog or digital with the available tape, CD, or DAT (digital audio tape) recorders.

To polish your tracks, run them through Garageband, Audacity, or Soundtrack Pro for that professional shine.

The Meye r Media Lab has much love for video too. After you have camera-flared and star-wiped to your heart's content with iMovie or Final Cut Pro, burn your cinematic epics to DVD with DVD Studio Pro and DVD recorders. And for those of you who feel like going old school, the lab also offers 35mm film recorders.

And the best part: it is free of charge for UC Davis students.

You can tweak, sync, and edit seven days a week. From Monday to Thursday, the lab is open from 8 a.m. to midnight; Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.; and Sunday from noon to 10 p.m.

For a detailed list of hardware and software, take a look at the Meyer Media Lab Web site at meyermedialab.ucdavis.edu. Avoid lines and reserve a station or equipment ahead of time by contacting the Meyer Media Lab at 752-5215.