Archive for the 'General' Category

Microphone Sound Test

Published on June 25, 2007 in General. 0 Comments

In my attempts to get the best sound possible for my video tutorials, I’ve tested a bunch of mics. I kept the budget under $800 for the whole setup (mic and audio interface) because .. well, I didn’t want to spend more!

That said I have narrowed my choice down to two mics:

The EV R20 @ $500 USD.
re20 Microphone

Another Option

Another really good mic that sounds about the same and is much cheaper ($99) is the Audio-Technica AT2010 or the Audio-Technica AE-6100.

The Audio-Technica AT2010
Microphone-audio-technica

SO WHAT’S AN ‘AUDIO INTERFACE’?

In a nutshell an audio interface (ex: FAST TRACK PRO) is a piece of hardware that allows you to connect XLR microphones to your computer. An XLR is a type of cable that is used in professional audio.


M-AUDIO FAST TRACK PRO @ $200.
m-audio-audio-interface

Thanks!

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com

Mac OSX vs. Windows

Published on June 20, 2007 in General. 2 Comments

Mac os x logo

It has been 6 months since I picked up a MacBook Pro and I have been very impressed with this machine.

To be fair, it isn’t perfect but it is the best computer I’ve ever used:

  • OSX is stable and pleasant to use. Things just work!
  • The Mac book hardware is top notch.

For example:

Every MacBook comes with a tiny webcam (iSight) built into its’ cover - no need to buy an external cam anymore. It is convenient to be sure, but how about the image quality?

… To my surprise, the little webcam produces a better image quality than even top notch webcams from Logitech!

How about 3rd party hardware?

As is consistent with Mac OSX (in that things tend to work), when you plug in any piece of hardware, it seems to just work.

At first it was a little strange to me, as I was expecting dialog boxes to pop up etc … as you have with Windows. But after a while you get used to it.

:)

Security?

OSX has an intelligent security system where it only prompts you for permission, if you are installing core components of the OS. Contrast this to Vista where even deleting shortcuts will require extra annoying clicks!

Crashing?

I’ve had Mac OSX die on me twice in 6 months. Both times, it was problems related to having a few external devices connected, and me being very impatient, clicking a lot of buttons.

… A simple restart, and OSX came back like nothing ever happened.

With Windows, I find when you boot back up (after a crash), half the time, you have restart again because the OS will be .. shaky. It as though Windows needs another crack at cleaning itself up …?

-

If you’ve never used Mac OS and are considering a new machine, I think it is time for you to consider.

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook

idea22.com: how to produce a video tutorial

Published on May 28, 2007 in General. 3 Comments

Hi,

I’ve put together a PDF document that outlines the process on how to create an effective video tutorial:

How to create a video tutorial

Although I wrote this to help people who want to contribute video tutorials to idea22.com, you will find it packed with a lot of tips on:

  • On how to create effective videos.
  • Software options for creating videos.
  • How to work with both Windows and Mac when creating videos.

Hope you find this useful.

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook

CSS Menu Templates now on Webshapes.org

Published on April 27, 2007 in General. 0 Comments

We’ve now added another category of web templates to webshapes.org: CSS menus.

Check out our web template widget:


You can access the collection of CSS menus here: CSS menus

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook

Video tutorial site idea22.com - public beta release.

Published on April 4, 2007 in General and Podcast | Videos. 6 Comments

We just launched idea22.com, a social networking, video sharing site that targets tutorial videos only.

What makes idea22.com different, is that we have built the system to cater to tutorial/training videos.

We are still tweaking the functionality and the UI, but I invite you to take a look:

www.idea22.com

Thanks,

Stefan