ScreenFlow Update

I used ScreenFlow window capture software to create some short videos for lessons on Excel and FileMaker Pro.  My first attempt was blurry!  I consulted my Apple guru to figure out why.  I had not set up the output to be in 16:9 ratio or 1280 by 720.

The tutorials for ScreenFlow were excellent.  It took less than 30 second to figure out the problems.  I make the corrections in a couple of minutes and uploaded the files to YouTube as HD videos - amazing.  I have a YouTube channel - but it is not designed for the general audience.  It was not a problem, because I used the embed script to add the videos to the lessons I designed.

My guru consultant advised me to add callouts (closeups) to the videos.  Although the videos are not professional quality - they should serve the instructional purposes that I had in mind.

FileMaker Pro 12 vs Access Update

The past few weeks I have been learning how to use FileMaker Pro 12 so that I can teach it to students in a few weeks - there you go - the life of a teacher (learn one, do one, teach one).  The bottom line is that I really am liking FileMaker Pro!!  My son told me (sons are always smarter than mothers) that FileMaker Pro is more intuitive than Access and I have to agree.

FileMaker Pro makes fantastic use of "layouts."  Layouts are views of table and query data.  FileMaker Pro does not use the techie terms of queries.  The calculation formulas are identical to Access with the exception that FileMaker Pro uses semicolons ; instead of commas, in the calculations.

Okay - Microsoft - Access was the only app that kept me in the Microsoft system.  Since 1/3 of the students in the class I am teaching this summer are Mac users and I need to introduce them to database software - I am sucked into the Apple ecosystem.

I am also learning ScreenFlow software in order to show the students certain database functions.  Will have additional blogs on that software.  Learned an important lesson today on how the videos show up in YouTube in HD!  OMG!  Amazing!!  Thanks FL!!!!

Now if I could only do without any sleep I could be twice as productive :-)

Mirroring the iPad

With our faculty development ePublishing workshop there is so much to learn!  I saw a video in MacWorld today that demonstrated mirroring the iPad on the Mac. That was a process that I wanted to master.  It would be a very nice feature to include pertinent videos about the iPad in this blog, in a course, or in a workshop.  It turns out that there are several apps that allow that to happen without using Apple TV! 

I decided to try the Reflection app.  It was amazingly easy.  All I did was to download the app (trial) to the Mac.  I double-clicked the Home button on the iPad and did a right fingersweep.  A button appeared that allowed me to select to mirror to the Mac and to turn on mirroring using AirPlay.  That was it!  The image of the iPad appeared on the Mac.  I then started Screenflow video capturing software and did a sample recording.  I am still a novice user of Screenflow but plan to work with it more.  I could do some great recordings for the iBook and also for my online course content.

Apparently, Reflection and AirServer are very similar apps.  The cost is identical - $14.99.