RobiNZ CAD Blog

Splitting a video into separate files with Camtasia

I had a large 40 minute video file with several demos and wanted to refer to parts of it in a presentation. That’s simple to open the file with a hyperlink but I didn’t want to be searching for the correct section during the presentation and there were no chapter markers.

After deciding the simplest solution would be creating a separate file for each part I set to work in Camtasia. My intention was to create a project then export each demo to create a separate file. That was going to be easier if they had a marker so went through and added them first.

I then discovered on “production” you get offered the the choice to include markers and, if you want, create a separate file for each section between them! Click the button, wander off for a Friday afternoon coffee, come back to find the folder of split files. Perfect!

Note: These images show Camtasia 4, the current version should have the same features but the UI may differ.

I wrote this way back on 07-29-2006, but just found it sitting in drafts, so here tis!

Click for post related Disclosure Statement

Doh! Why not use an ActiveWords script for blog comment forms?

Sometimes the obvious isn’t very obvious. Following thousands of blogs means I’m often leaving comments. Even responding to comments on my own blog requires the same process as readers use. It’s standard to require name, email, and optionally site URL, when commenting so I set up ActiveWords for each of  those. Now I just type a few ActiveWords (rcf, @b, rbu) to enter all the details. 

It was only today that I realised nearly all blogs request these details in the same order. It took only a few seconds to create this simple ActiveWords script;

<RCF><TAB><WORD:@b><TAB><RBU><TAB>

• Like the ActiveWord below @b has “Confirmation Flag” ticked. This means it requires confirmation with the ActiveWords Key to activate. This type of ActiveWord is called in scripts with <WORD:#> format rather than the normal <#>.
• You could just enter the name etc directly in the script but calling ActiveWords means if something changes, say my blog email, editing one ActiveWord updates it everywhere it’s nested.

Now it’s just “rbc” to leave a comment. That’s 59 potentially error ridden keystrokes without ActiveWords reduced to 3 and no chance for a mistake. Now it’s done it seems so obvious. So why, I wonder, did it take so long to think of?

Screenshot created with SnagIt 8, Animated Gif with Camtasia 4, Magic with ActiveWords

Click for post related Disclosure Statement

Meeting Betsy, Screencast of the week and that AU Plane a year later...

It was great to meet Betsy Weber and the TechSmith team in the Autodesk University Exhibit hall. She told me I was featured on her blog, screencast of the week (26/11/2007), again! About this time last year a Camtasia Studio recording helped me get to AU 2006 and it seems that little video made quite an impression. It’s had about 1,350 views and I was amazed how many at AU 2007 still remembered “The AU 2006 Paper Plane guy”.

That presentation was a mix of AutoCAD, PowerPoint, Corel animation and live video but it was Camtasia Studio which pulled it all together. It’s a brilliant way to share/capture information and just before Autodesk University 2007 TechSmith released the latest version, Camtasia Studio 5.

I’ve only had a quick look at the trial version so far but one new feature alone justifies an upgrade for me. If you are not recording full screen Camtasia can now resize the application window and recording area to a selected size. This is brilliant when you are recording several clips to be merged especially if, like me, you run higher than average screen resolution.

It’s best for file size and compatibility to record screencasts at 640x480, 800x600 or 1024x800 resolution, or less. Previously this required fussing about with graphics settings or “hand sizing” windows which meant getting consistent sizes could be tricky. Now you just set your desired production size in the recorder, pick the target and let Camtasia coordinate the window and clip mask to suit. Very nice!

 Click for post related Disclosure Statements

Sneak peek of Camtasia Studio v5...

Keep an eye on Betsy’s blog, or feed, for news about a new version of Camtasia which is coming soon….

Sneak peek of Camtasia Studio v5 and Introducing SmartFocus (Visual Lounge)

“You'll see over the next ten days how we’ve added major new features during each of the three stages of production - recording, editing and production – that have benefits for both the screencast creator and the viewers.”

Camtasia for YouTube

If you want to output Camtasia movies for YouTube this clip from www.dougstech.com has some great tips on output profile settings for video, audio, compression…

Here is a demo of Visual Thesaurus re-processed with Doug’s settings. It’s the tiny 861kb .mov file, less than half the .wmv and a fraction of the shockwave file size which are the same quality once uploaded to YouTube. 

Share a screen capture in a Jing

The Jing Project is an experiment from TechSmith, the screen capture/recording people, who are best known for SnagIt &  Camtasia. It offers a little of each product in a slick, easy to use, form for both Windows (XP/Vista) & Mac OS X users. 

Jing aims to make grabbing a screen capture easy and sharing it a snap, or should I say a Jing! You can grab and use a capture in seconds to get the message across. It’s great if, like me, you are the family computer support help-desk. Capture the solution and share it in a click. If “a picture paints a thousand words” a Jing can save thousands of keystrokes!

Jing is a “project” and is free to use in this form. TechSmith are keen to see how it’s used and get feedback from users.

“It’s something we want to give you, along with some online media hosting, to see how you use it. The project will eventually turn into something else. Tell us what you think so we can figure out what that is.”

That feedback & response is already happening via the Jing Blog. The first version of Jing, released yesterday, wouldn’t run with my regional settings but overnight an update was posted which works fine!

Using Jing: It lives as a small docked “Orb” which grows three “rays” when you mouse over it. They allow instant access to capture, history and settings.

To grab a screen-shot image or audio/video: Click capture and you are presented with a “glowing frame”. It automatically finds window elements (toolbars, frames, windows) or allows you to define a rectangular capture area. I like how areas outside the capture window fade to mono while the capture frame glows.

Enhance the capture:

Click Image and the capture is transferred to an editing window which allows arrows, text, and highlights to be added. Video captures are loaded into a preview player window.

The result (below) can be automatically shared via TechSmith’s Screencast file share site or saved locally (.png image or .swf video file).

Share your capture:

You get a Screencast account for Jing use while the project is running.

Jing uploads the file and places a URL, the capture above is seen at http://www.screencast.com/t/6lgmSCnjD1d, ready to paste into your email, blog or IM conversation.

Try the Jing Project yourself or see a video of it in action: http://www.jingproject.com/

Read the Jing Project Blog: http://blog.jingproject.com/

PS: Wondering how I captured Jing while using it? The interface images in this post were captured with SnagIt, the capture example is all Jing

Click for blog related Disclosure Statement

Tags: Jing

Align, the forgotten AutoCAD hero

A post on Daily AutoCAD, subscribe to this blog if you haven’t already, highlights a brilliant but often forgotten editing command. With “Align” you can move, rotate and scale an object while aligning it with existing geometry or selected points. It’s often only thought of as a 3D command but is one I often use in 2D. While it will manipulate AutoCAD geometry you can also scale and align images. Just draw a line to the “known length”, select the two corresponding points on the image and use the scale option to rotate, scale and place the image perfectly.

Here is a Camtasia gif of Align in 2D action, Daily AutoCAD have step by step examples for 2D & 3D uses of align. 

ALIGN command in 2D - Daily Autocad

ALIGN command in 3D - Daily Autocad

I’ve long argued Align deserves a place on the standard “Modify” toolbar/Dashboard but it’s not there. Thankfully the ability to customise the dashboard means you can add it yourself using Right Click > Customise Commands and choosing “Align” in all commands. If the control lacks an image, specify RCDATA_16_ALIGN in both “Images” property fields.

Faultless typing in live demonstrations?

• If you’ve watched a demonstration you’ve probably seen this!
• If you’ve presented you’ve done probably this!

Demo shows Notepad with the ActiveWords Bar visible, it’s normally docked at the screen top or totally hidden.

Disclosure: 6 month trial screencast.com account provided by TechSmith

AutoCAD 2008 - Linescale sorted?

Did anyone ever really understand the linescale settings in AutoCAD?

Confusing enough for “the imperialists”, it was further complicated for metric users with the addition of “international” file settings & ISO line styles. Many never realised these existed “drawing metric” in imperial .dwg files with imperial linetypes then cranking up the LTScale & hatch pattern scales to compensate.

Combine a mixture of imperial/metric drawing settings, imperial/metric (ISO) linestyles, add modelspace vs paperspace, mix in differing view scales and the whole thing got very confusing. Sort out the file related settings (measurement & measureinit 1 for metric), import the ISO linetypes, get the line scale correct and you still had various paperspace viewport scales to contend with. 

Setting global scale to 1, or sometimes not quite 1, with the “Use paperspace units for scaling” (PSLTSCALE) on sorted that out until you went back to modelspace & found all the lines looking continuous, Arrgggggh…!

Finally AutoCAD 2008 adds a MSLTSCALE variable, I know you’re thinking “Not another variable!”, to allow correct scaling in differently scaled layout viewports AND modelspace – phew!

For those hungry for more detail on the variables old & new a lazy Robin will hand over to, not lazy, David Koch who has a great post on the whole thing here:

The Architect's Desktop: No More LTSCALE/PSLTSCALE Problems!

AutoCAD Architecture 2008 - Easy access to Display Control

AutoCAD Architecture 2008 (ACA) brings display settings closer to the user allowing direct access to them from a new tab on the Properties Palette. The animation below shows some of the capabilities that this allows.

You can edit Drawing Defaults, Style, Object settings and even selected object components and material display properties. Previously these were accessed via the Display/Style managers or the Style/Object Display dialogs. This was a little remote from the modelling environment and the objects they were controlling. You could see changes in an object viewer but often had to apply the changes & exit the dialog to see the impact on the full drawing. As you select the object, or component, the settings relevant to that object/component in the current display condition are exposed. You also see the changes immediately when applied in the greatly improving feedback.

While it makes editing easier you do still need to understand the possible impact of these changes. By default there are warnings, as you apply overrides or global changes, and allowing these properties to be edited directly in the drawing editor does make the relationship between the various settings easier to understand.

While it’s good style and object settings can be easily edited I do have reservations about users editing the drawing defaults. I’ve often found this is done in error believing you are editing a style appearance when it’s actually just a style using the default settings. Copy that object style to another file, with different defaults, and the results are unpredictable.

I’ve been revisiting some old files which date back to our first use of ADT and were not responding to Project Synchronisation. This was thanks to another common mistake – applying object overrides instead of changes to the style.  The styles were updating but object overrides means they didn’t display correctly. There are valid reasons to use object overrides but you loose the benefits of style based display if you do.

Fixing this is easy, just remove the override, but finding them could a challenge without the “Show Display Overrides” command (CAD Manager>AEC Project Standards menu or _AecShowDisplayOverrides). This has an option to highlight objects with style or object overrides making it easy to track them down. Select previous, then remove all the object overrides in a click!

UPDATE 02–03–2007: I was asked about AutoCAD objects but they are are excluded. ACA display system control of them is high on my personal wishlist!

Tags: AutoCAD+Architecture+2008

AutoCAD 2008 - Custom Dashboards, It's your dashboard after all...

As I wrote the new Dashboard Layer Control post I noticed all that blank space above the Layer State control. I use the layer off, freeze, lock controls on the former Layers II Toolbar often and thought they’d fit in there nicely. Before 2008 that would have remained a “wish” as the Dashboard Control Panels were off limits for customisation but now you can edit them yourself. If you don’t like the layout, change it!

The screen capture below is not intended as a complete guide to CUI customisation  but shows the process to add tools to the control panel of your choice*. Locate the panel in the CUI dialog and drag the tool to the “Row” you want it to appear in. Dashboard Panel “Rows” in the CUI correspond with the vertical control arrangement within the panel and the tool order controls the left/right arrangement. You can apply changes at any time, to see your progress on the panel, then continue editing. Once happy with your new layout OK to save changes and exit the dialog

* If you’re not a stand-alone user it would pay to check with your CAD Manager before trying this as your work maybe un-done by profile management tools next time you logon.

Tags: AutoCAD+2008

AutoCAD 2008 - Layers on the Dashboard

Just one update to the AutoCAD 2008 Dashboard is a new component containing functions previously seen on the Layer Properties Toolbar. It adds Isolate/Un-isolate buttons and Layer States can be accessed and managed.

Opening an extended fly-out reveals controls for the new “Locked Layer Fade” feature. This makes it much easier to work with locked layers as a background as they can be faded to reduce “clutter” but still seen for visual or object snap reference. You can control the fade %’age via a slide or entering a typed value. Below this is quick access to Layer Filter Groups, complete with "invert option", without opening the full Layer Manager which is a real time saver.

The legacy Layer Properties Toolbar is still available if you prefer but the dashboard controls are a nice alternative.

Tags: AutoCAD+2008

AutoCAD 2008 InfoCenter - "It’s help Jim, but not as we know it”

Apologies for the Trekkie parody but InfoCenter really does take “Help” from being “Just another menu” to a true information resource for the user. It combines AutoCAD help and Communication Center features with powerful search and adds one very cool new feature .

The screen capture shows the InfoCenter interface which sits in the menu bar enabling search and access of these resources:

• Help: Searches across multiple files and presents merged results in a dynamic results menu. You see the results from the Application Help,  New Features Workshop and Customisation Help in one interface.
• Communication Center;
•  “Channels”(from Autodesk);
• Live Update Notification and Subscription Announcements
• Articles and Tips
• Featured Technologies and Content
• Product Support Information
• User RSS Feeds; This is the cool new function.
• It installs with feeds from the Autodesk product related Blogs, Discussion Groups and Knowledge Base.
• Users can also add/remove their own blog feeds. An unscrupulous Cad Manager could load his own blog feed to boosting his FeedBurner stats
• CAD Manager Channel: This is a RSS feed that the user can not remove. In the capture you see my blog feed but I will create a company wiki/blog feed with CAD related updates for the real deployment (honest!)
• Favourites: Save links to those frequently accessed topics here!

InfoCenter has a CAD Manager Application which allows the CAD Manager to control the Users ability to access/edit display of content & settings. 

It’s one place for information access from local help, local company web/intranet/wiki feeds or the Internet – a true AutoCAD “InfoCenter”.

UPDATE 22–02–2007: Jimmy has a great post about the CAD Manager Utility which includes some InfoCenter controls:

CAD Manager Control Utility for AutoCAD 2008 - JTB World

Tags: AutoCAD+2008

Visualising words for work and fun

I’ve posted about Visual Thesaurus before. It’s a web or stand-alone application that offers a remarkable visual tour of language. 

I have the on-line subscription so can use Visual Thesaurus on any machine with a web connection. Unfortunately I had some trouble running it at home but found updating my Java install fixed whatever the problem was so all is well again.

Have a look at the animation in the extended post to see words and the relationships between them in a whole new way. If you are trying to find a word or brainstorm Visual Thesaurus may make connections you’d otherwise never see.

Themes to the rescue - Architectural Desktop Display Theme

One reason to prefer object based Architectural Desktop over line, arc, circle, hatch CAD;

• Devise a new display grouping scheme for area spaces…
• In the library;
• Add a style based property to spaces defining the new display groups.
• Create a Display Theme to look at that group property definition and re-colour existing objects.
• Take seven years of legacy files created with areas defined as styled AEC Space objects:
• Add the Display Theme
• Synchronise to update the existing space objects with the library.

Seven years of legacy plans display the new scheme with no redrawing, no new or duplicated objects, no layers. Priceless!

Even better: If it changes… edit the library, re-synchronise and it’s updated!

CAD/Software System Documentation with MindManager and Camtasia

Regular visitors may have noticed that I mention using MindManager and Camtasia for documentation . It’s difficult to share real content here without extensive editing to remove confidential information but this overview may be enough to get an idea of the process.

I made it to share with our IT how I document the design related applications, network resource use and structure, build process and applications. I start with a basic OS build from them and add design related applications. The build is ghosted but I capture the creation of that build, mainly for my own reference!

The YouTube resolution is fairly low but hopefully you can see/hear enough to make sense of it. If not let me know via “email me” or comments & will try some other format/host.

 

Documenting Folder Structures with MindManager

There was a question on the Autodesk CAD Manager Discussion Group regarding methods for documenting file & folder structures. I use a combination of tools depending on the need. If you simply want an image a screen capture will be fine like these captures of a demo folder structure & map.

However, I author my documentation with MindManager and use it’s “Smart Map Parts” to generate folder links. The result is a refresh-able representation of the folder/file structure. Each folder is generated as a topic with a hyperlink. If the folder structure changes refresh the topic to see the changes. These updates can be manual, automatic, requiring user confirmation or “silent”. Topics can also be “dragged out of the part” to become static topics if you prefer. You can share as a map or using MindManagers many export options. If the export format supports links they are included.

The process is easier to do than write about so this video shows the MindManager Explorer All Folder Part in action.

To try it yourself download the free trial of MindManager Pro (must be Pro) from http://www.mindjet.com

5 things "Memebuster"

Meme: An idea which mutates, is inherited like a gene and spreads like a virus.

I think it’s funny the “5 CAD things…” meme*, which started with this post, is spreading across the CAD Blogosphere. I’d been tagged by the original "5 Things..." meme so when tagged again changed it slightly for the CAD blog.

However this was just another example of memes and evolution in action. The idea (meme!) to make it industry/application related to came from another source. Check out Betsy Weber’s post:

Tag - You're it! 5 things about me, SnagIt, Camtasia and Morae...
“I am supposed to share 5 things you don't know about me. So, I'll play along...with a twist”

* More about Memes - The word "meme' was coined by Richard Dawkins...

Tags: dawkins, 5+things+meme

MindManager - Custom toolbar buttons for my favourite commands

Two of my most used MindManager commands are a bit buried in menu/fly-outs so the first thing I do after install is create tool-bar buttons. This only takes a minute but allows easy access to Save All and Paste Special. I edit these to “All” and “Special” to save room. Save all does what it says for all maps open in the editor. This is really good when working on multiple linked maps. The screen capture shows the set-up process.

Snagged by SnagIt

Since Camtasia played a role in getting me there it was really great to meet TechSmith Chief Evangelist Betsy Weber at AU.

After coming up with the wacky theme for my submission I created the plane in AutoCAD and then a PowerPoint to tell the story. I could have submitted those alone but it seemed like something more was needed. Camtasia came to the rescue as it enabled all the elements to be combined and presented in a single package conveying the idea far better than “static” presentation files.

Betsy was kind enough to give me Camtasia 4 & SnagIt 8 licences to get me up to speed with the latest versions. I’ve been using Camtasia for a couple of years and was aware of SnagIt but never bothered to try it. The main reason was I already used a screen capture utility that is part of Corel Graphics so why bother with another…

It didn’t take long using SnagIt to realise I was wrong in thinking there’d be little difference. A capture is a capture but the difference with SnagIt is how well integrated the processing and use of that capture is once complete. You can add effects, call-outs and various other frills but then it’s time to get that screen-shot to the intended application.

This is where SnagIt 8 shines as in addition to the usual Clipboard, Email, File Save and FTP transfer methods it features application “Accessories”. These have specific capabilities to transfer the screen-shot to the target application. Word, Excel & PowerPoint accessories are installed by default but you can also download others including Flickr and my favourite, shown in action below, MindManager.

This allows a capture to be added to a MindManager Map in the various content forms that MindManager supports for images: Main Topic, Sub-Topic, Floating Topic, Call-out, or Notes. As seen below, once the capture is complete transfer to any of these options is just a click away. It the application isn’t running SnagIt will launch it, if open with multiple documents you can choose the target. Very slick!

In a Screencast about SnagIt it was mentioned there will be more “Accessories” so I’m hoping TypePad (Photo Albums) and BlogJet are on the To-Do list…

If you need screen capture software try SnagIt and be prepared to be impressed.

The AU Plane is Screencast of the week?

After a couple of days travel I finally got the chance to check my email to find Betsy Weber (TechSmith's Chief Evangelist & Blogger) has featured my little AU Paper Plane Video as the Camtasia Screencast of the week. It's rather flattering and also amusing to see where the AU Barnaby plane turns up. Last time I looked about 200 people had viewed it, now I see its over 500 600!

Betsy is attending AU so hopefully I will be able to met her and I did meet her.

Screencast of the Week - Camtasia Screencast wins Robin Capper a trip to Las Vegas!

The #30th #31st of 30 Camtasia Videos is done

The Camtasia “30 Videos In 30 Days” series has made it to video #30 #31!. I’ve updated my original post with links to them all as this is a really useful resource if you are using, or considering trying, Camtasia.

30 Camtasia tutorial videos in 30 days - RobiNZ CAD Blog
The Visual Lounge (the TechSmith Blog) have a great series of Camtasia demos: “30 Videos In 30 Days”

30 Camtasia tutorial videos in 30 days

The Visual Lounge (the TechSmith Blog) have a great series of Camtasia demos: “30 Videos In 30 Days” – post #14  #18 of 30 as I write. Each one features tips & techniques for using Camtasia. Some are “blog’vertorial” as preview features in Camtasia 4 which is due for release soon.

I’ve used Camtasia since version 2 but more as a tool for documentation than demonstration. I got it to record use of a custom ADT add-on I commissioned. It was handy to send demos of how the code was working when collaborating with the developer. A picture may be worth a thousand words but those short videos saved a thousand emails. It’s also a nice way to report tech problems & I’ve had support technicians comment how much they help with diagnosing faults.

Recently I’ve started to record presentations & find that a really nice use. It was fortunate this coincided with the “30 Videos…” series as they have been a great help!

The Visual Lounge
The "Behind the Scenes" Blog of TechSmith
Find out about TechSmith behind-the-scenes, see screen casts and videos from other customers, meet up with your fellow TechSmith users and staff, and get more tips and tricks!

There is no category or tag index system on the TechSmith “Blog”  so I’ve compiled links to the series & will add the others as they arrive.

• Camtasia demos: “30 Videos In 30 Days”
• Inspired by Nick Hodges - 30 videos in 30 days...
• Video #2 of 30 - Vista Videos with Camtasia Studio
• Video #3 of 30 - Sizer
• Video #4 of 30 - Using Screendraw
• Video #5 of 30 - Recording PowerPoint
• Video #6 - Recording a Video of a Video
• Video #7 of 30 - Precision Editing with Camtasia Studio
• Video 8 of 30 - Precision Editing, Part 2
• Video #9 and #10 - Camtasia Studio 4.0 Sneak Peek
• Video #11 of 30 - Noise Reduction in Camtasia Studio 4
•  Video #12 of 30 - Get the most out of your recordings
• Video #13 of 30 - Camtasia Studio 4, Share and share alike...
• Video #14 of 30 - Looking good on stage...
• Video #15 and 16 of 30...PowerPoint, hot spots, and cold spots...oh my!
• Video #17 of 30 - New Camtasia Studio 4 feature...Production Preview
• Video #18 of 30 - Camtasia Studio meets the iPod
• Video #19 and 20 - Consistent Audio and Custom Production Settings in Camtasia Studio 4
• Video #21 of 30 - Quizzes and Surveys in Camtasia Studio 4
• Video #22 of 30 - Podcasting, iPod video, Screencasting and more with Camtasia Studio 4
• Video #23 of 30 - Reusing Video Segments in Camtasia Studio
• Video #24 of 30 - Customized Web Menus with Camtasia
• Video #25 of 30 - Working with PIP in Camtasia Studio
• Video #26 and #27 - Table of Contents and Smoother Demos
• Video #28 and 29 of 30 - Closed Captioning and What's Fixed and New in Camtasia Studio
• Video #30 of 30...Creating custom Flash Preloaders
• Video #31 of 30 - Bonus Camtasia Video. Hack your Table of Contents – We had so much fun with the 30 videos in 30 days series, that we couldn't stop. So, you get a bonus video!

Tags: TechSmith, The+Visual+Lounge, 30+Videos+In+30+Days

Present to yourself & learn...

Yesterday I did a presentation that was supposed to be 20 minutes but was more like 30. It’s hard to judge yourself but it seemed to go Ok. There was no snoring and I’ve had plenty of positive comments but there is one thing nobody knew.

Later that day I recorded the same presentation with Camtasia. I tried doing the whole thing in one take – working the PowerPoint, applications linked to the demo and talking – as if presenting to an audience and it was terrible! I kept stumbling, usually by clicking the wrong buttons, and eventually gave up. You could edit the mistakes out of the final production but I tried another approach.

I ran through the complete presentation recording the video, working the PowerPoint & other applications, but just thinking about what I would say. The resulting presentation was operator error free and about 14 minutes….

I then played back the recorded video adding narration just leaving silence when I’d said enough about the material on screen. The result, after editing out the “no more to add” sections, was about 12 minutes which made me wonder; what was I doing for the rest of the time!

Some of it was due to questions etc but not 50%!  Camtasia is a great way to record presentations but it’s also a great way to refine your technique by presenting to yourself then watching the results!