Deke McClelland is an Adobe Photoshop master. Hell, he’s not just a master he’s a Photoshop Arch-Mage with +20 dexterity and 180 hit points and, most importantly, he knows how to put on a good show.

Currently on installment 4, Deke’s shows deal with work-arounds and nifty problem solving for the design set. But he does it in a style that is, to quote someone else:

…fast-paced, laser-beam intense, and entertaining as hell. It’s a hyper-kinetic production that demands attention and rewards you with that special buzz only knowledge can bring.

I was totally gonna say that myself…

You really don’t have to understand much about Photoshop to get a kick out of Deke’s show, it’s just a lot of fun to watch.

He uses a nice mix of talk-to-the-camera video mixed with some great still photos to accentuate his points. It moves fast so you have to really be on the ball to catch the visual puns and to understand what he’s trying to show you. I’d bet that 90% of his viewers make liberal use of the pause button of their video players just to slow down the steady stream of input he’s throwing out.

Still it’s a fun ride which only gets slowed down when he pumps sales on his books and videos. But what the hell, the man deserves to be earning money off of the knowledge he’s imparting, and as we all know the solution of monetizing online video is still out to lunch, let him pump his sales. My only beef is that it is kind of in-congruent with the overall tone and pace of the show.

Technically, it’s good stuff: good sound, good video imagery, tight editing (that might be just a tad too fast for some people’s taste – use the pause button) but overall, Deke’s show is a class act and it’s a surprise that a guy so wound up in the nerdy world of digital imagery is so good on camera.

the Bottom Line:

4 out of 5 stars. As I’ve said before, I’m hesitant to give top marks to a show with only a few episodes out, but if Deke keeps producing in this quality, he’ll be hitting the 5 star mark very soon.