Video
Webcam Comparison – Shooting video on a budget
Video production comes with a ton of choices. In this post, I’ll show you why my Logitech HD Pro Webcam was (eventually) an easy choice for my screencast recordings. One quick note…the specific HD Pro cam I bought in 2016 was the C920. Newer versions of the HD Pro and HD Pro Stream series cost about the same…
Read MoreTech Comm Tools Video Newsletter, Vol 1 Oct 30, 2017
Check out the inaugural edition of the Tech Comm Tools Video newsletter! In this issue: Welcome to new members from the STC/Adobe Webinar Series Save $100 on my FrameMaker – Working with Content Course
Read MoreVoiceovers for screencasting: 5 secrets (brief outline)
Here’s a quick outline of a presentation I gave to the Orange County chapter of the Society for Technical Communication in June, 2017. The Promise Audio is the easiest way to succeed or fail at screencasting and video. Anyone can quickly produce pro-level audio without going broke. Matt will show you tips for equipment, recording,…
Read MoreBehind the scenes: Adobe TCS video series
Having completed a 25-video series for Adobe on TCS application integration, I’m happy to announce a free mini course, consisting of 25 emails, 1 per day, with short director’s notes for each of the videos. In the notes I discuss the things I like (and like not as much) in each of the videos. They’ll…
Read MoreStrip silence from audio recordings with Adobe Audition
This week I’m sharing a great technique and a timesaving preset that I developed in Adobe Audition. Audition is part of the Adobe CC suite of tools, and is used for audio editing. When I do voice over, I like to record in one “take” That means that after reviewing and practicing my script, I…
Read MoreGuarantee Awesome Video By Choosing the Right Topic
Awesome video isn’t tough to create, and it doesn’t even have to involve a camera. Join me for a free 1-hour webinar to discover how choosing the right topic will help you create awesome video content. The first of three sessions will be on January 27, 10:30 am Pacific I’ll be presenting Guarantee Awesome Video By Choosing the Right…
Read More8 ways to rethink video and visuals in documentation
Death by PowerPoint is nothing compared to a slow and torturous Death by Documentation. We’ve all been forced at one time or another to listen to a speaker drone on and on, reading directly from a text-laden slide deck. But when’s the last time you took a hard look at the docs within your organization? Let’s face it…Powerpoint…
Read MoreScreenFlow: Easy video editing
Scared to edit video? Too many moving parts? I can relate! Over the years I’ve tried everything from Adobe Premiere (a pro-level video editor) to the GoPro free video application. Unfortunately, while every product has its target audience, I wasn’t in the target audience for any of them! I needed something with teeth, that didn’t…
Read More7 Steps to Effective Screencasts
Thanks to everyone in OCSTC for coming out to see my presentation on effective screencasting. I was honored to see a fairly large turnout. Thanks also to Michael Opsteegh for suggesting the session for his Long Beach State tech writing students! The session was lively, and I think I went about 25 minutes over my expected…
Read MoreRECAP: Producing Effective Tech Comm Video class – Week 1 of 6
Interested in doing better tech comm videos? I teach a six-week course for the Society of Technical Communication that can help! This video is a recap of what we discussed.Thanks to everyone who helped fill this STC course to capacity! If you’re interested in attending the next session, please Rate, Comment, and Subscribe. Then, check…
Read MoreMy top 5 new features in ScreenFlow 5 (and a 30% discount if you act quickly!)
NOTE: The discount was good through December 1, 2014. After Dec 1, click on this Telestream link to access the free trial download, or to purchase ScreenFlow for the regular price of $99. You can also visit the Tools page to get a more direct link to the ScreenFlow product page. Background (skip if you just want to hear…
Read MorePresenter 10: Recording/Editing limitation
I have quite a few things going on right now…If you’re feeling impatient, feel free to skip to the bottom of the article. If not, read on! So I finally get my new audio setup (very exciting, and if you see any of my upcoming Adobe webinars, or my guest interview with Kristen Roarke @rourketraining and Rick Zanotti…
Read MoreUsing Video for Technical Communication
I’m getting ready for my upcoming summer school session for STC on Tech Comm Video, so I figured I’d create a series of posts to share some of the high points with the TC2LS community. If you’re interested, the class will be three-hour online sessions for six consecutive Tuesdays, and starts on Tuesday, August 5th.To…
Read MorePlacing YouTube video (without related videos) into WordPress blog posts
So, at the risk of turning this into a Chicken v. Egg debate, here’s an overview of how to create a post to hold a YouTube video in WordPress. Why is this a Chicken v. Egg conundrum? Well, I’m using WordPress to write this out, using YouTube to show the process, and the video itself…
Read MoreFree upgrade from TCS 5 to TCS 5.1
[Edited on July 11, 2014] Adobe released Technical Communication Suite 5.1 on July 9, 2014. The new version appears to be the same components, but updates Captivate to version 8, and Presenter to version 10. Per the Adobe announcement: Customers worldwide, who have purchased Adobe Technical Communication Suite 5 (including Adobe Captivate 7 and Adobe Presenter…
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