Screencasts, Video Demos & Post-Production Services: Smashcut Media Launched

By Michael Pick | December 2, 2007

UPDATE: Smashcut Media has been retired. I’m moving on to fresher pastures - broken links galore below.

Smashcut Media is my latest project, and is essentially a micro-studio for producing professional screencasts and other new media. Largely serving the Web 2.0 startup ecosystem, I’ve opened up a number of services and options for potential clients and now have a price guide available upon request.

I won’t pretend I’m not excited, as I’ve been working with (and continue to work with) some incredibly passionate, inspired web entrepreneurs these past months, and can now commit to doing that full time in my capacity as a professional screencaster and new media producer.

Among the services on offer you’ll find promotional videos, screencast tutorials, social media seeding and consulting services, and e-learning packages.Styles range from sedate but cool minimalist screencasting, to mash-ups, motion graphics and breakneck promos.

So what’s a “smashcut” anyway?I’m a film-geek at heart. Studied film, went on to do a masters in it, taught it at uni and shot and edited more videos than I care to remember. A smashcut is a film term for one of those edits where you suddenly jump from one frame to another, creating a jolt effect in the audience.

So just as the killer is about to plunge his knife into the helpless victim you get a jarring cut to some random guy taking a shave. Bunuel was wild about them.Think of it as a jumpcut on steroids.

And that’s what I’m trying to do with Smashcut Media. Not always literally, but at least figuratively.As we reach saturation point with web video, the need is there to create a jolt effect, a eureka moment, a surrealist mind-clash, call it what you will. With web video you have an infinitely short amount of time to catch your viewer’s attention and keep it caught. And there is no greater sin than sending them away bored, or worse having them reach for the back button before your message is through.That’s what I’m gunning for, and along with producing videos that hopefully have this effect, I’m offering a range of services to help clients get their videos seen and talked about in the first place.

Here at Michael-Pick.com you can expect to see more of the same - videos shared, screencasting tools reviewed, and content connected to my professional, personal and video-entranced life. Thanks for reading so far!

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RSS: 2 Ways To Get (Or Give A Friend) A Handle On It

By Michael Pick | November 20, 2007

As fate would conspire I’ve wound up producing two different ways of trying to point out the basics of RSS for newcomers.

The first was a recent client project, for the awesome social feed reading application Feed Each Other. I had a lot of fun working with Udi at Feed Each Other on this one, and hopefully the results - a screencast / motion graphics / stock footage mashup will help to explain the benefits of using a feed reader, and in particular Feed Each Other, which I encourage you to check out.

Check out the (slightly grainy) YouTube version here:

Second up my beginner’s guide to RSS and what you can do with it just made it to the front page of Master New Media, so by all means check that out if you get a chance, or want to direct someone less experienced with the wonders of RSS than yourself at some of the cool things that you can do with it.

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Screencasts Come Of Age, I Turn Full-Time Screencaster

By Michael Pick | November 19, 2007

Screencasts Turn Three

A little over three years ago the term screencast didn’t exist at all. In the same month that the medium comes of age, I have made the commitment to professional screencasting as a full-time career.Screencasts Turn Three  Jon Udell coined the term (with a little help from his blog community) and basically (re)invented the medium while he was at it.It’s surreal to think that on the month that screencasts turn three I have made the final leap to full-time professional screencasting after working with a great bunch of clients this last year. A lot has changed in a short space of time.So obviously I have a lot to celebrate, and to thank Mr. Udell for.  Beth Kanter - whose awesome screencasting primer and commitment to sharing her findings on screencasting has made a huge difference to me - has put together a birthday screencast to mark the occasion.As always, it was cool to hear Beth’s reflections on her experiences with this fledgling medium and much of what she talked about in the screencast, and in her accompanying blog post sparked my interest.

Screencasting as Micro-Media

 Beth has a lot to say about Jing, and the great impact it has had in turning screencasting into something everyday people can pick up and use to teach each other, share issues they’re having, and a lot more besides. Jing cuts out the trimmings - the extras that are only really going to be of interest to that small percentage of technically minded pros - and makes it really simple to create satisfying chunks of just-in-time micro media that get the job done. Period.At the moment I’m teaching my folks some social media tricks, and it quickly become apparent how useful Jing is at just getting the simple task of relaying information quickly, and visually in this sort of situation.

Professional Screencasting

 On the other side of the coin I find myself using Final Cut Pro Studio 2 in my professional work, in spite of its obvious unfriendliness to the task of screencasting, for a couple of reasons: 

  •  The non-linear editing environment is something I’ve long been familiar with, since my background is in film and video. It’s really tough to let go of the ability to make precision edits and use my favorite little tools, especially when making revisions for clients that might otherwise mean completely reshooting footage
  • I find my own work moving into a fusion of screencasting and something closer to motion graphics. I’m calling it “screencasts ++” or “enhanced screencasting” for want of a better phrase. Final Cut helps me get there.
  • I just love grappling with software updates that introduce fresh bugs and demand new and imaginative workarounds ;-)

 

Future of Screencasting

 Reading Beth’s and Jon’s posts, I got to thinking about the future of screencasting.I think, just as with web video at large, we are seeing an interesting and highly complementary split in the road for screencasting. I see more people using screencasting in a professional capacity - as teachers, Internet marketers, and even screencasters-for-hire like me, and expect to see this trend take a sharp upturn in 2008 and onwards. I also see screencasting steadily merging with other genres - motion presentations, animation, motion graphics, video blogging to name a few - to create new and interesting hybrids.Then on the other side, screencasting seems to be becoming steadily more accepted as another way for people to easily communicate something visually - helped along by end-to-end solutions like Jing that make capturing and publishing screencasts as easy as sending an email or making an iTunes playlist. I’m really looking forward to the results of the meeting between this super-fast way of making screencasts, with the Twitter like speed and informality of Seesmic. That could be a tipping point I think.

What’s Next?

 I’ve been working hard on some great new client screencasts (++) and am in the midst of setting up my own micro-studio website, video podcast and an increasing amount of motion graphics work.

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Screencast Double-Bill: Tubetorial Latest

By Michael Pick | October 26, 2007

I have a screencast double-bill for you today, over at Tubetorial.

tubelatest1.jpg

Parts five and six of our 7 Must Have Plugins for Wordpress series cover a smart, easy to use video aggregation script and a very effective way to change your permalink structure without losing all of your traffic.

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New Screencasting Tool For OSX: Screencast

By Michael Pick | October 24, 2007

We mac screencasters are relatively limited in our options when it comes to screen recording applications. The only two worth the time of day, in my humble opinion, are iShowU and Snapz Pro. I ditched Snapz a good while back thanks to the instant rendering and extensive options available in iShowU, which I now use exclusively.

However, as of this week there is another contender - the aptly named Screencast from Araelium Group.

screencast 1.0

I just had a check of the demo, and it holds up pretty nicely. The interface is nice and pared down, and rather pretty to look at. The recordings come out looking great (especially in the screencasters’ favorite recording codec “Animation”), and have all of the usual QT output options. Of course system audio and mic recording are both options, too.

What makes it stand out for me (besides being a steal at $29) is the inclusion of three features missing in our other contenders:

  1. The ability to show mouse clicks on screen with a little marker, which otherwise requires the use of either Mouseposé or OmniDazzle, adding to the apps you need to use in your screencasts
  2. The ability to show keyboard shortcuts on screen, which is something you can only do with Mouseposeé at the moment as far as I’m aware
  3. The inclusion of a very useful aspect ratio setting in the recording window selection. With this setting activated, I can scale the window to any size, and it will always remain within the aspect ratio parameters I have specified, which is priceless for anyone that wants a crisp, undistorted video, regardless of the different recording sizes you mix together

I haven’t committed to buying it yet, given that iShowU, Mouseposee and OmniDazzle work well for me, but I am definitely thinking about it. If you haven’t grabbed yourself a screencasting app for the mac yet, this one is definitely worth considering.

The only possible downside is that the video is rendered after the recording, as is the case with Snapz. This means that you will have at least a short wait ahead of you at the end of a recording, whereas IShowU somehow manages to render files out instantly, which rocks.

With that said, as the files are saved in a nifty little sidebar, this means that you can export them to multiple formats right from the app, which might save a bit of time heading over to Compressor or Quicktime Pro.

Screencast costs $29 and is available from Araelium’s website, where you can also download a free trial.

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The Old Way Of Learning Doesn’t Cut It Any More

By Michael Pick | October 18, 2007

If the old way of learning ever had any value, it’s certainly starting to show it’s limitations now. In the following video (by the same guy who brought you the cool Web 2.0 video, Michael Wesch) we get a very compelling view of the way that students learn today, and also the myriad ways that universities fail them and sink into increasing irrelevance.

If you were wondering whether or not to put that screencast on your website, or just leave the plain old FAQ, here’s your answer.

Thanks to Don McAllister, a fellow screencaster and Facebook friend - for sharing this on FB.

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Professional Screencaster Take Note: Camtasia Studio 5 In-Depth Review

By Michael Pick | October 15, 2007

If you are or aspire to be a professional screencaster, putting together killer screen recordings  that look great on your website - or those of your clients - you are definitely going to want to check out Camtasia Studio 5, from Techsmith.

mnmcamtasia5.jpg

And if for some reason you need further encouragement to shell out $299 for it - which is peanuts by professional video editing software standards - head over to my in-depth, blow-by-blow review over at Master New Media, to get a better idea why this is a must-have piece of kit.

Short of giving you extra time in your schedule, making your voice over less monotonous, and shooting your recording for you Camtasia Studio 5 will do pretty much everything else, and a whole lot of stuff you would never have even asked for.

And if you are still not satisfied with that, the only thing left is to hire me to do it for you.

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Screencasting With Jing Gets Even Easier

By Michael Pick | October 11, 2007

The Jing Project, TechSmith’s free-to-download, cross platform screen capture and screencasting tool, has just received some welcome upgrades that make it even easier for anyone to get started in the world of screen recording. I reviewed Jing when it first reared its head, over at Master New Media back in July, and since then the Techsmith team have added some useful functionality to this already useful tool.

Jing Project

If you haven’t encountered it before, Jing Project lets you make screen capture still images of your desktop (or anything on it), or movies of up to five minutes long of the same. This can be really useful if you are trying to show a friend how to do something on your computer, or need to get a point across quickly to a client without laboriously putting it into words and pulling out your hair.

New features include:

  • A 3, 2, 1 countdown before you start recording your screencast, so you can get “psyched”
  • Onscreen status of whether your mic is on or muted
  • No more sign up for Screencast.com when you go to upload your video (this is now dealt with in the app setup)
  • Rollover info on the items in your recording history
  • Much better access to the HTML embed code, right out of the share menu (my favourite)

As I’ve said before, this isn’t professional screencasting grade stuff - for that you want to take a look at the new Camtasia Studio 5, or upgrade to Final Cut Pro if you’re feeling wildly frivolous and have a lot of time on your hands. But Jing’s beauty is in its simplicity, and the ease with which anyone can make a screencast and share it over the web in a minute or so.

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Jaiku Messaging From Your Non-Symbian/Java Phone (Quick & Dirty Hack)

By Michael Pick | October 11, 2007

Okay, so Jaiku is flavour of the month again thanks to the Google acquisition, and you know you have to start using it, however hard you might resist. But unless you have a symbian or Java phone, you’re basically screwed. Sure you can use SMS, if that’s your bag. Unless you live somewhere like Japan where SMS is totally dead technology, long since buried by effective, cheap mobile email without all of that silly character limit business.

Jaiku hack

Well, there’s a quick and dirty hack for all of you, so fear not:

1.) Grab yourself a Tumblr account. If you have one, get a new one, just for this job.

2.) Grab the RSS feed of your Tumblr account. It will be in the following format: http://username.tumblr.com/rss

3.) Go to the Settings menu from the Tumblr dashboard, and turn off the option that says “Truncate RSS feed”

4.) Go to the Goodies tab of the Tumblr dashboard, and scribble down the “post to mobile” email address you find there

5.) Add said email address to your mobile address book

6.) Add your Tumblr RSS feed to your Jaiku incoming feeds (>Settings >Manage Your Web Feeds >Add Another Atom or RSS Feed)

7.) You’re done, now you can email Jaiku’s out to your heart’s content

But I want to read them, too I hear you cry.

Sheesh, some people want the earth.

All you have to do in that case is make use of your Jaiku feed and stick it in RSSFwd, so that it gets emailed to your phone in your choice of HTML or plaintext, by-the-post, or in email digests. Woop.

Not the most elegant of hacks, I know, but until Google make Jaiku a wee bit more friendly or third party developers rush to the new hip scene, leaving Twitter for dead, this will keep Symbianless tech-fashion-victims happy for now I hope.

Not sure how useful this one will be outside of Japan, but there you go.

BTW - if you do have a nokia, you can download the nokia app, and if you are on another Java based phone there’s a widget for you.

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Professional Screencasting Gets A Hand With Camtasia Studio 5

By Michael Pick | October 9, 2007

Professional screencasting is, at the moment, a relatively small field, and you can probably count the number of people making a living from screencasts on one hand. Or a couple, maybe. But out of all of the tools available to the would be screencaster, Camtasia Studio makes for an excellent entry-point, and for many people an endpoint. Whether for putting together video software demonstrations, learning materials or information products, Camtasia can come in very handy.

camtasia_studio_5.jpg

The soon to be released Camtasia Studio 5 is likely to continue in popularizing the format, just as Techsmith’s Jing Project seems to have made an impact in the blogoshphere. What the Jing Project has done for newcomers to screencasting, Camtasia does for those looking to put together a more professional screencast, packing in an impressive feature set.

The latest version has some excellent features, and while they won’t be convincing me to leave my Final Cut Pro and iShowU workflow, I think that I will probably be tempted into checking what’s on offer. Amit Argarwal has put togther a nice teaser review over at Digital Inspiration, and the Techsmith people have been unloosing sneak peek screencasts over the last week or so.

Among the features that are likely to appeal to the would-be screencaster are:

  • New transitions and call outs
  • Screencast.com integration for easy publishing and sharing
  • A “snap-to-app” feature which helps you to instantly resize application windows to standard or custom video dimensions
  • A killer feature called Smart Focus, which will let you resize your screencast right down to iPod proportions, and will automatically zoom and pan to maintain visibility throughout. This one is well worth seeing in action.

For me, the last feature is enough to warrant picking up a copy, at least if the feature works as well as it does in the screencast demo. I spend a fair amount of time manually panning and zooming in FCPS2, so it would be nice to use Camtasia to automate that part of my screencasting workflow for me. Should it come out on the mac, I might just indulge.

Where Camtasia falls short for me, consistently, is in its audio and editing capabilities, so it certainly won’t be taking the place of Final Cut for me. Nevertheless, for getting out a fast, professional looking screencast with ease, and its horde of features, I think that this is likely to be the most popular version of the tool yet.

Professional screencasters beware, the market is about to get a fresh influx of newcomers!

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