Chris Pirillo » screencast

Parallels Review

Chris — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:37:22 +0000

Parallels Review is a post from Chris Pirillo

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There have been numerous screencasts submitted over the past couple of weeks. Several of them are very, VERY good! I always knew that our community was full of talented individuals. It’s not too late for you to get involved, and have your screencast featured on this channel! Bwana has been hanging out with us for years, and is even a moderator in my chat room – when he has time! He’s gained quite a following of his own, and rightfully so. He does excellent work, and I’m always more than happy to have him do reviews for us. Today, he sent a screencast to me to give you all an overview of Parallels on the Mac.

When you first launch the software, you’ll only see the first two options: you’ll have to choose between a new Windows installation or to import a virtual machine. Since Bwana had already created a Windows image, he had a third option to use an existing VM.

The New Windows Installation option allows you to set up a virtual machine within Parallels to run inside of Mac OS X. There are several video tutorials online that show you how to set up and use a virtual machine. For the purposes of this video, Bwana chose to set up a new virtual machine in order to show you how it’s done.

Parallels is so easy to use that you can literally install Windows with just three clicks of your mouse. Run Windows programs like native Mac applications side-by-side using Coherence technologies. Gain instant access to your files, folders and data across both operating systems with SmartX technologies. And… you can remotely control your virtual machine using the iPhone application when you’re away from home!

Thanks to Bwana for sending a screencast in to us… and to all of you who are working hard and continuing to send in excellent material. I promise you – we’ll get them all up on our channels!

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How to Remove Vocals from Songs Using Audacity

Chris — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:12:30 +0000

How to Remove Vocals from Songs Using Audacity is a post from Chris Pirillo

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This is the next in our series of screencasts recorded by people in our community! You can always submit your own, you know. I’m still looking for more good screencasters! Daniel has created this short tutorial for us, to show us how to easily remove the vocals from any song using the free Audacity software.

Open up your song in Audacity. In that top box, click the small drop-down arrow, and choose “Split Stereo Track”. Once it has split into two panes, go to the top of the Audacity window and click “Effect”, and then “Invert”.

Once it has finished, go back to that bottom pane, and click on the drop-down arrow there. Choose “Mono”. Select the top track and repeat the procedure, choosing “Mono” there, as well.

Once you have done this, you’ll notice that the vocals aren’t nearly as prominent. It doesn’t remove it completely, but it does lessen the strength of the voice so that you can easily sing over it, using the edited track for Karaoke purposes.

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Ubuntu 9.10 Screencast

Chris — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:50:04 +0000

Ubuntu 9.10 Screencast is a post from Chris Pirillo

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I recently asked all of you to submit your screencasts to me for review. The best of the best will be chosen to be featured here, in my various channels and outlets. This provides content of a different perspective for our community, and gives you new exposure for your work! Duncan has submitted an excellect screencast, showing all of us the new Ubuntu 9.1 operating system.

Before beginning an install, you should check the release notes for important information. Currently, the system requirements are 256MB of RAM, which means it should work on older systems.

There are two ways to obtain Ubuntu 9.10. The first is to go to the downloads page. From there, you can download the release .iso and mount it onto a CD. The other way to obtain it is to visit the Ship It link, and have them mail a physical CD right to your door – for free. However, it can take up to ten weeks to reach you.

Once you have your CD, you’ll find there are many options to use and/or install Ubuntu 9.10. You can live boot, and try it out without actually installing it. It’s very useful for trying it out and deciding what you think. You can also copy the contents of the CD onto a USB drive, which is handy as well.

The most common method of install is the Dual-Boot method in Windows. This involves shrinking your partition and installing Ubuntu onto the free space. Duncan personally chose to install his copy using VirtualBox to install Ubuntu 9.10 inside of a virtual machine.

You can see that the new version looks quite a bit different than the older version. As it was installing, Duncan walked us through several different options as far as video selection, RAM allocations and the like.

Once Ubuntu itself was installed, Duncan went in and installed the Virtual Box Tools. That allows him to do things like using the mouse more effectively. I definitely recommend you make use of the Tools if you’re going to use a virtual machine.

Duncan’s screencast gives you an excellent look into the installation, use and customization for Ubuntu 9.10. Be sure to watch this video if you’re even thinking about checking out this operating system!

VirtualBox Premium Edition V3

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Microsoft Office 2010 Comparison Screencast

Chris — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:34:03 +0000

Microsoft Office 2010 Comparison Screencast is a post from Chris Pirillo

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I recently asked all of you to submit your screencasts to me for review. The best of the best will be chosen to be featured here, in my various channels and outlets. This provides content of a different perspective for our community, and gives you new exposure for your work! Jack has submitted another excellent screencast, this time showing us a nice comparison between different versions of Microsoft Office.

Jack wanted to show us some of the differences between Office 2007 and Office 2010. One of the biggest changes is that Office 2010 now fully supports 64-bit operating systems. Also, Web Applications (allowing you to co-author documents across the web in real-time) have finally been implemented in the newest release, as well. Office 2010 also includes a redesigned Office button, as well as a nice backstage experience.

Differences in Word include the search function. In Office 2010, it shows up in a navigation pane, instead of a small window. Also in Office 2010, you have a paste preview, letting you see what you’re going to paste BEFORE you actually paste it. There are also enhanced picture editing tools. There are new options for working with text, including changing plain text into Word Art, or using shapes and styles.

The differences in Excel include graphs in single cells, instead of only within sheets like in Office 2007. Formatting tools have also been ehanced and upgraded.

There are also many interesting and excellent differences found within Outlook, Publisher and other Office applications. Thanks, Jack, for this sneak peak at what we can expect when we grab Office 2010 for ourselves!

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How to Disable the UAC in Windows Vista

Chris — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:29:19 +0000

How to Disable the UAC in Windows Vista is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Recently I threw down the gauntlet, asking all of you to submit your best screencasts. I plan to highlight the best of the best here in my channel, and help promote yours. Dylan has sent a few in to us now, and they’re fantastic. This particular screencast is going to help you quickly and easily turn off the UAC in Vista.

The first way that Dylan shows us to disable the UAC is to go into your control panel, and select “User Accounts and Family Safety”. Then go to “Add or Remove User Accounts”. Highlight your account so that it’s selected. You’ll see an option at the bottom that says “Go to the Main User Accounts Page”. Select that, and at the bottom of that screen, you’ll see where it says “Turn the User Account Control On or Off”. Choose that, and uncheck the box. You’ll then need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

For more advanced users who are comfortable when using msconfig, you can use this method, instead. Go to your Start menu, and type msconfig in the search box so that it will open that up. Once in msconfig, click on the “Tools” tab. Scroll down until you see where it says “Disable UAC”. Click the “Launch” button, and another small box will pop up telling you the operation was completed successfully. Close that little box, click OK in msconfig, and close everything. Reboot your computer, and you’re finished!

See how easy that was? Thanks much to Dylan for providing us with this screencast. Keep them coming, everyone! Who knows – you could be featured next.

Writing Guidelines for Screencasts

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Microsoft Office 2010 Screencast

Chris — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:43:54 +0000

Microsoft Office 2010 Screencast is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Recently I threw down the gauntlet, asking all of you to submit your best screencasts. I plan to highlight the best of the best here in my channel, and help promote yours. Jack has sent a few in to us now, and they’re fantastic. This one gives you a quick (but excellent!) overview of Microsoft Office 2010.

Jack started off by letting us know that Office 2010 is only available at this time for developers and technical reviewers. Included features include support for 64-bit, enhanced Office button that leads to a back room of sorts, and web applications for Word and Excel.

The enhanced UI includes a minimizer to give you more work space. This hides the toolbar until you click the button again. The new Office button leads you to a backstage experience where you can edit, save, print or share your documents.

New features in Word 2010 include an improved search function. It opens in a new pane that won’t cover up your document. Other new features include a paste preview, which is very nice. Others include improved picture editing capabilities and more text effects.

Some things new in Publisher 2010 now have pages show up in the side window pane, instead of at the bottom. Powerpoint features include new animations and a video editing capability. Excel doesn’t have too many new features, but it does have a few nice improvements.

Outlook 2010 has a new conversation view, that allows you to group conversations, and even clean them up… allowing you to focus on the most important feature.

Jack did a great job with his screencast. Don’t worry if yours wasn’t chosen to be featured today, though. We’ve received a lot of excellent submissions. We’re still going through them all, and plan to upload one per day (when videos are normally uploaded).

Remember, you need to upload your screencast video to Geeks, and then send me an email with a link to your video, a short description, and of course – tell me where we can find you on YouTube (or wherever you want to be found online).

Keep those submissions coming!

Writing Guidelines for Screencasts

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Screencast!

Chris — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:59:34 +0000

Screencast! is a post from Chris Pirillo

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It seems that everyone is doing screencasts, other than me. I do them every so often, but it takes a lot of time. I know I don’t do them as well as many of you can do. So, I’m going to give you an opportunity to do screencasts for my YouTube channel. What’s in it for you? Promotion, of course! You’ll be promoted not only on my YouTube channel, we’ll also link off to YOUR YouTube channel. We’ll also send out notifications on Twitter, Facebook, and promote you in our newsletters. That, my fellow Geeks, is one heck of a lot of promotion! We can promote your YouTube channel, your website, or your Twitter account – it’s entirely up to you!

So what do you need to do? It’s simple, really. Show me what you’ve got. Anything that can be shown on the screen can certainly be screencast. I can accommodate an unlimited amount of screencasters, but not everybody will pass muster.

Record the screencast in high quality, YouTube HD dimensions. Keep the elements and motion lively. Be tasteful. Zoom in where appropriate. I’d currently prefer the videos be done without logos and/or text. No intros, no outtros.
Be mindful of your audio quality (keep it clear and clean). Nobody wants to hear you fumble with the mic or popping your Ps. Properly licensed Creative Commons music would be okay to play in the background (be sure to give credit where credit is due)!
Introduce yourself at the very beginning of the screencast, making certain you state that you’re recording it for Lockergnome’s YouTube channel. Feel free to close the video with a tease to your own YouTube channel AND Lockergnome’s.
Narrate clearly with specific directions. Why do you like the software you’re demonstrating? What’s someone to expect on the Web site you’re sharing with us? If need be, work from your own script.
Don’t upload the screencast to your own YouTube channel first – the idea is to promote it from mine, where more subscribers will see it and discover more of what you do.
If you want to show me what you can do, upload a sample to our Geeks Community so that I can take a look and make a decision. Email me to link me to what you’ve done, and introduce yourself.

Once I’ve accepted you as a regular contributor, you’ll be able to submit an unlimited amount of screencasts for Lockergnome’s channel on YouTube – about anything worth screencasting! Tips, tricks, suggestions, help, tech support, etc.

I get free stuff (software, hardware, etc.!) all the time… and I just don’t have time myself to review them all. I am looking for a few of the best screencasters in our community to help me when the time comes. You can potentially score some free things, simply by being good at reviewing.

Ideally, I would like to post one new screencast per day – created by any one of you. In order to do that, I have to get them from you, so get busy!

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Free Screencasting

Chris — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:46:48 +0000

Free Screencasting is a post from Chris Pirillo

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What’s on your screen right now, aside from this video? You probably have things on your desktop, likely all over the place. Have you ever tried screencasting? That’s when you take a recording of whatever is on your screen, and then pushing it out to the Web. Usually, it’s done in conjunction with audio. If you’re interested in getting into screencasting, and tying it into your Twitter account, you should check this resource out.

ScreenJelly allows you to record whatever is on your screen – for free! Screenjelly records your screen activity with your voice so you can spread it as a video via Twitter or email. Use it to quickly share cool apps or software tips, report a bug, or just show stuff you like.

How is this useful? Let’s say that you have a family member on the computer on the other side of the world. Ask them to record what’s on their screen so that you can help them with any errors they may be seeing, or something they are having trouble explaining.

You don’t have to install anything in order to use ScreenJelly, as long as you have Adobe Flash. Push your screencasts right to Twitter, where a link to your recording will be posted. You cannot push to YouTube at this time, but hopefully that will come in future versions!

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Any Tips for Creating Video Tutorials?

Chris — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:32:08 +0000

Any Tips for Creating Video Tutorials? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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I know that screencasts are all the rage, and I enjoy watching them. I don’t enjoy making them myself, though. There’s something that seems so impersonal to me. Community member Firebucket sent in his list of top five tips on creating a video tutorial to pass along to all of you.

If you’re going to be demonstrating how to setup and install a program that you can download from the web… NEVER show yourself downloading the program. You can give links if need be, and show yourself being on the web page. Never download while recording, though. Have them already downloaded and ready to go. Even better, install the software first. Installation wizards will bore your audience to death.

Make it simple. Don’t use words that your audience won’t understand. If you have to, define it in an easy way that they can understand. For example, don’t say something like ‘Scaling your images down changes the pixel size’, say something like ‘Scaling the image down, makes the picture smaller’. You will catch more people that way and it will sound like you really know what you’re talking about.

Get a microphone and explain using your voice, not Notepad or Microsoft Word. I have seen tutorial after tutorial explaining something that I really want to know. However, once the video starts, the tutorialer loses me by playing distracting music in the background and SLOWLY typing the instructions in a word processing program. This is painful for your audience. They want to be able to hear you, not constantly go back and forth between the program/feature you are demonstrating and Notepad, slowly typing up the instructions.

Get proper screen capturing software. If you are willing to pay for good software, you can buy something like TechSmith’s Camtasia Studio. There are also free, open-source alternatives out there that will do a similar job. One is CamStudio. I have used this before and with their Lossless Codec, my videos were looking fantastic. CamStudio records in AVI or SWF. You can use the AVI video format to burn to a DVD to distribute to your classmates, friends, co-workers or family. Or, use the compressed SWF file type for uploading to video sharing sites or your own website. This will save you bandwidth and hard drive space. For a Mac, you can use iShowU.

Make sure you put the tutorial online somewhere where it will pull in an audience. Places like YouTube and Blip are great places that people go to. They’re usually looking for something to watch because they are bored, or they need to find how to do something. You will at least get 50-100 views minimum… and maybe even a few subscribers, which can inspire you to become a regular video tutorialer.

These are some of the reasons I don’t do screencasts. In order to make good ones, you have to do it well. There are too many people not doing it well, in my opinion. Not only do the videos I record get uploaded to YouTube, they also get placed into my blog, thanks to Kat. This way, you can read the show notes. Kat will add additional information, notes and links to whatever we’re talking about in the video. I believe it gives things a more in-depth perspective to go along with what I’ve recorded live.

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Camtasia Studio is not CamStudio

Chris — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 01:07:07 +0000

Camtasia Studio is not CamStudio is a post from Chris Pirillo

Chad Wandler (from Split Rock Communications) was listening to the stream from BloggerCon this weekend, overhearing me answering a question about screencasts. For clarification purposes, he informed me that Camtasia Studio and CamStudio have nothing to do with each other and never have. Per the CamStudio’s History site:

CamStudio was originally released by a company called RenderSoft who were subsequently bought by a company called eHelp who used some of the technology in their program, RoboDemo. Some time later, eHelp was bought by Macromedia who wanted RoboDemo (which was to become Captivate).

Knowing that CamStudio did some of the stuff RoboDemo did for free (mainly export to streaming Flash), it looks like they released a newer version of CamStudio (2.1) which fixed some bugs but most importantly, removed certain features, mainly the ability to create SWFs and you were required to register to use it… lovely – and over time, links to the various webpages that had CamStudio and it’s source code were became broken. However, I’ve managed to find the earlier version 2.0 complete with the related CamStudio video codec (comparable to Techsmith’s excellent TSCC), the source code for both and just put the website up so people can download them…

No wonder I was confused – that’s a confusing story! The long and short of it is that CamStudio is on on SourceForge for all you would-be screencasters. And through NickTheGeek’s CamStudio page, I discovered Open Source Alternatives. Awesome!

How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Using GoToAssist is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party.

Network Tools for Windows

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

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Get Your Own Web Site

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

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VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

This feed is fueled by Lockergnome Online Shopping and Coupon Codes

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