New TechSmith iPad app provides Camtasia Studio Training–and it is FREE!

View In iTunes

• Free

• Category: Education
• Released: Feb 01, 2012
• Version: 1.0.0
• Size: 200 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: TechSmith Corporation
• © 2012 TechSmith Corporation

TechSmith FastTrack makes learning Camtasia Studio easy so you can create eye-catching training, presentation and demo videos. There are 16 tutorial videos that will walk you through Camtasia from start to finish. Learn how to record your screen, apply polished effects, remove background noise and more.

FastTrack lets you get helpful Camtasia Studio tips wherever you are. You can watch on your iPad while travelling, or right at your desk following along with Camtasia Studio open on your desktop.
Within FastTrack, you can:
• Watch tutorial videos, even when offline
• Search for keywords
• Read the video transcripts
• Provide feedback
• Open a web browser to view online tutorials
FastTrack highlights 16 tutorial videos, including:
Getting Started with Screen Recording
• Record Full Screen
• Editing Dimensions and Save Project
• Overview of Camtasia Studio Interface
• Apply SmartFocus to Zoom and Pan
• Cut Unwanted Video and Audio on the Timeline
• Add a Title Clip
• Add a Transition
• Share Your Video on Screencast.com
Recording PowerPoint Presentation
• PowerPoint Add-in Toolbar
• Record a PowerPoint Presentation
• Editing Dimensions and Save Project
• Cut and Split Clips Using Markers on the Timeline
• Use Markers to Create a Table of Contents
• Audio Enhancements – Noise Removal
• Custom Production Settings
• Share on the Web with Link to HTML File

Setting up a PowerPoint Slide Show to run Standalone and Continuously…

I had a discussion with one of our customers about an inexpensive setup for sign management using an All-In-One PC mounted to a wall in their employee information area and then running some type of automated image slide deck on the screen to provide information updates and calendar info for their employees.

I decided to do this using PowerPoint and setting it up to create a self executing file that once it is started will run continuously on the system. Here is a quick video clip on setting this up using PowerPoint 2010.

ECO-Friendly Battery-Free BlueEye Mouse

Experience the most ECO-friendly wireless mouse from Genius BlueEye family DX-ECO. Battery free design let you contribute your very own effort in environment protection. Featuring battery free design, it has built-in a gold capacitor to expand recharge life up to 100,000 times; just a quick charge for 3 minutes and ready to use. The Genius BlueEye technology let you work virtually anywhere. Its bi-directional 2.4GHz let your work up to 15 meters and anti-interference ensures perfect working smoothness. Also available of four hot key to access to Previous/Next Page, Flying Scroll and dpi adjust between 800 and 1600 dpi. Plus it’s super mini receiver is easy for storage and prevent breakage. For a high C/P value and ECO-friendly mouse, there is nothing better than DX-ECO, so why wait? Start protecting the environment from DX-ECO now.

How does it work?  It uses a gold capacitor, also known as an electric double layered capacitor (or super capacitor). Rather than the chemical reaction found in standard batteries, gold capacitors rely on a storage cell that utilizes the absorption and release of ions. It was theorized a few years ago that this technology could power a mouse, but historically it has been used to provide backup sources of power (though the test mouse was also able to charge inductively, so it was completely cord-free). Apparently, the mouse can go a "full day" on one charge, but can be recharged in a mere three minutes — so while you likely won't see the longevity you get from traditional batteries, charging the mouse up should be a minimal inconvenience. You accomplish the recharging by plugging in the mouse using a micro-USB connection on the mouse.

Package Contents:

• DX-ECO wireless mouse
• USB pico receiver
• CD driver
• Micro USB rechargeable cable
• Multi-language user's manual

Highlights and Price:

• Battery free wireless mouse 168a.jpg
• Fully recharged within three minutes while using
• Works on virtually every surface including dusted glass and marble
• Fully Plug and Play
• Comfortable ergonomic design
• Adjustable dpi – 800/1600 dpi
• Travel friendly with storable 2.4GHz USB Pico receiver
• MSRP: US$39.99

Download Spec Sheet

Not Happy with iMovie on the iPad try Avid Studio

One of the reasons that I got and iPad 2 when I did was because I wanted to try my hand with video editing on it. Have I done much with it? Not really but the was my reasoning. Another product has just launched from Avid called Avid Studio for iPad. This is probably the first real competitor to Apple’s iMovie video editing app.

What makes this so interesting is that Avid was king of digital video editing in Hollywood for a long time, and then Apple came out with the far more affordable Final Cut Pro/ Final Cut Studio, and enticed a few big name directors to give their new software a try.

So how do they compare? Both products can do the basics that you would expect for any video editor. You can insert videos, photos, and music, trim clips, add titles, and export to YouTube. But this is where iMovie begins to fail.

Audio Management – in iMovie when you insert a music track it becomes the background for the entire movie. You can’t insert clips and manipulate transitions. You are stuck with playing the whole song. In Avid Studio, you can trim your sound clips and insert them anywhere in your movie and layer up to 3 clips at a time.

Inserting Photo and Videos as PIP - One of the cool features Avid Studio provides is the ability to insert photos or video over the main movie in the timeline. Meaning, if you want to have a photo or video play in the middle of a movie clip, you can do so while still having the audio and elapsed time from the main movie playing in the background. This is one the features I most like about Avid Studio. The only thing you can do in iMovie is split up the clip and put a photo or movie clip into the middle. Avid’s way — which Apple does support on the desktop version of iMovie — is more useful.

Video Management – iMovie doesn’t allow you to access imported video that was done with iTunes. The only videos accessible with iMovie are the ones in your camera roll or in albums. Avid does allow access to imported videos.

Titles and Montages – iMovie forces you to use their themes to insert titles in your movie. This means that all text inserted in iMovie must be overlaid with part of your movie. Avid Studio comes with fun montages as well as allowing you to use plain black slides with text to create your titles. The montages can be made up of anywhere between 1 and 4 photos and may be static images or mini video clips.

Conclusion – Avid Studio wins hands down. Both products are priced the same at $4.99 but there is so much more flexibility available in Avid Studio.

Here is a quick overview video of this product produced by MattsMacintosh published to YouTube.

One step further, here is a 20 minute tutorial from MeadorsMusings posted to Youtube.

Click on this link to view even more helpful YouTube Videos on this subject.

The Zen Table allows you to produce real-time art!

We all love to watch videos of interesting products and this Kickstarter project is really interesting. The Zen Table creates intricate sand drawings using a specially designed sculpting head. Starting at $500 for the DIY kit is a little pricey but watch the video and you will start to think about letting go of a little of that green stuff!

For more information Take a look at the kickstarter site.