Talking in Pictures

Category: Web/Tech

ScreenSteps Desktop 2.7 Now Available! Download ScreenSteps 2.7

Update a 1Password Login in 4 Easy Steps

We are big fans of 1Password at Blue Mango. If you are a Mac owner then it really is a "must have" utility. It makes keeping track of all of your logins between multiple online accounts super easy. 1Password stores your logins for websites that you frequent.

But sometimes I run into the situation where 1Password has stored a form and now I want to change the values that it is going to auto submit. This most often happens when 1Password hasn’t saved the "remember me" setting on a form. Each time I login with 1Password it will leave the "remember me" box unchecked which means I have to login more often. Here is how to update your login so that it will check the "remember me" box. You can use this same technique to update any aspect of the form.

These instructions will only work if you have the 1Password browser button installed.

Deactivate “Autosubmit Logins”

Deactivate_Autosubmit_Logins2.png

I am using the 1Password button. Just make sure Autosubmit Logins is unchecked.

Fill In Form

Fill_In_Form2.png

Just the button to fill in your form.

No_Remember_Me2.png

You can see that the Remember me button isn’t checked.

Check Button and Save

Check_Button_and_Save2.png

Check the button and then select Save Login… from the 1Password button.

Save

Save2.png

Change the action to Replace … (1) and then click Save. You can now use 1Password to login with the updated form values.

Optional – Reactivate “Autosubmit Logins”

Optional_-_Reactivate_Autosubmit_Logins1.png

You can now turn Autosubmit Logins back on. Yeah, I know that is actually five steps, but since it’s optional we won’t count it ;) .

Bookmark and Share

Paste Adjustments in Screenflow With a Video Action

This is a follow up to the post from last week about pasting adjustments in Screenflow. A tricky situation can arise if you are pasting adjustments from a clip that has a video action on it.

3 Different Pan/Zoom Settings

3_Different_PanZoom_Settings1.png

Here we have two clips but there are actually three pan and zoom settings.

1. There is the initial pan and zoom setting of the first clip. This consists of the x/y coordinate of the video and the zoom setting.
2. Next we have a video action. All a video action does is allow you to set a new x/y coordinate and zoom setting for the clip. The video action then animates the transition between the original pan/zoom setting and the new pan/zoom setting to create the pan/zoom visual effect.
3. The new clip has its own pan (x/y coordinate) and zoom setting.

media_12632399254391.png

Let’s say that we want to copy the zoom settings from clip 1 to clip 2. At the beginning of the clip (1) the zoom is set to 100%. At the end of the clip, after the video action the zoom is set to 300%. At the beginning of the 2nd clip (3) the zoom is set to 100%.

What we want is to change the zoom setting of the 2nd clip (3) to 300%.

The Wrong Approach

The_Wrong_Approach1.png

Here I have placed the playhead at the end of clip 1. What I will see on the screen is a zoom of 300% because I have the playhead placed after the video action. So I might think that I am copying a zoom setting of 300%. BUT I AM NOT. The Edit > Copy command copies what is selected, not what is under the playhead. If I copy right now I will be copying a zoom setting of 100%.

The Right Way

The_Right_Way1.png

Now I have the video action selected. If I select Edit > Copy I will be copying a zoom setting of 300%.

Finish

Finish1.png

Now just select the 2nd clip and choose Edit > Paste Adjustments > Video and you will be applying the 300% zoom to the 2nd clip.

Improve Your Customer Commnunication

Download our free webinar: Video, Screencasts and Still Images – Using the Right Tool at the Right Time

Bookmark and Share

Paste Zoom and Pan Settings From One Clip to Another in Screenflow

Sometimes when editing in Screenflow I want to apply the zoom and pan setting of one clip to another. I just discovered an easy way of doing this.

Setup

Setup1.png

Here is the situation. I have a clip that I have zoomed and panned (1). When the playline moves to the next clip (2) I want it to have the same zoom and pan settings.

Select Edit > Copy

Select_Edit__Copy1.png

With the zoomed and panned clip selected, select Edit > Copy as if you were going to copy the entire clip.

Select 2nd Clip

Select_2nd_Clip1.png

I now select the clip I want to apply the settings to (2). The clip I copied is just before it in the timeline (1), but doesn’t have to be.

Select Edit > Paste Adjustments

Select_Edit__Paste_Adjustments1.png

Select Edit > Paste Adjustments and whatever attribute you want to apply from the clip you copied. In my case I am selecting Video. That will apply the zoom and pan settings to the new clip. As you can see you could do the same for Audio, Screen Recording and Callout settings.

Update: Here is another post that clarifies how to do this if you have a clip with a video action on it.

Improve Your Customer Commnunication

Download our free webinar: Video, Screencasts and Still Images – Using the Right Tool at the Right Time

Bookmark and Share

Improving Audio In Screenflow Using GarageBand

Screenflow is a great screencasting application. But it doesn’t offer much in the form of audio editing. In this post I will show you a simple method for editing your audio in GarageBand and bringing it back into Screenflow.

A little background on this: I have been using this method for awhile with Screenflow and Garageband. Last week we wanted to get Trevor going creating some screencasts, so we purchased a Screenflow license and Trevor got started creating some videos. I whipped this lesson up in ScreenSteps to show him how to improve his audio.

Setup:
Before doing this you want to make sure that you have finished editing your video in Screenflow. This is the last thing you do before you publish your screencast. In this tutorial we are going to:

  1. Export our video
  2. Open it in GarageBand
  3. Edit the audio
  4. Bring it back into Screenflow

Export Video

Export_Video.png

Adjust Settings

Adjust_Settings.png

Video size and quality doesn’t matter. Just make sure the audio quality is good. I probably should export the audio as AIFF here but AAC seems to work fine for me.

Open GarageBand And Start a New Project

Open_GarageBand_And_Start_a_New_Project.png

Select Movie

Select_Movie.png

Drag Your Movie Onto GarageBand

Drag_Your_Movie_Onto_GarageBand.png

Drag the movie that you exported from Screenflow onto your GarageBand project.

Select Sound Track

Select_Sound_Track.png

Select Info

Select_Info.png

Apply a Default Setting

Apply_a_Default_Setting.png

I just use Male Narrator. It applies just a bit of EQ and compression.

Perform Any Other Edits

At this point I usually quickly go through and cut out any pops, clicks or other noises. GarageBand makes this very simple.

Export Audio

Export_Audio.png

We are just going to export the audio, but to do that we want to select Export Movie to Disk…

Select Expert Setting

Select_Expert_Setting.png

Then click Export.

Set Format and Save

Set_Format_and_Save.png

1. Set Export to Sound to AIFF
2. Click Save

Add Audio to Screenflow

Add_Audio_to_Screenflow.png

Drag the audio file you just created onto your Screenflow project. A new track will be created.

Delete Audio

Delete_Audio_1.png

You are now going to delete the original audio from your Screenflow project. If the audio is merged into your video recording then you will first need to detach it. Right click on the clip and select Detach Audio.

Delete_Audio.png

Select audio and delete.

Position New Audio

Position_New_Audio.png

Now just position the new audio file from GarageBand at the beginning of your project. Everything should line up fine and your audio will sound much better.

Improve Your Customer Commnunication

Download our free webinar: Video, Screencasts and Still Images – Using the Right Tool at the Right Time

Bookmark and Share

Using ScreenSteps 2.7 With Mailplane

Mailplane is a great application if you are a heavy Gmail user. It lets you manage multiple Gmail accounts, easily add attachments and manage all of your Gmail settings from a desktop application.

But if you have tried using the new “Export Lesson to Clipoard as HTML” feature in ScreenSteps 2.7 you probably have discovered that the images don’t show up in your message. This is because of a limitation in the Google Gmail API that doesn’t allow Mailplane to insert the type of content that ScreenSteps puts on the clipboard. But there is a workaround. The video below will show you how to quickly attach your ScreenSteps lessons to email messages in Mailplane.

(more…)

Bookmark and Share

Capturing Knowledge With Evernote and ScreenSteps

Evernote is a great note/information collection application. Not only does it sync across multiple devices but it will actually let you search for text inside of images you insert into notes. I like to use Evernote to store information about tasks that I perform on a semi-regular basis. With the new Export to Clipboard feature in ScreenSteps 2.7 you can now easily do your screen captures and authoring in ScreenSteps and instantly insert the lesson or document you created into Evernote. The video below shows all of the details:

If you would like to learn more about ScreenSteps or download a free trial please visit the link below:
Learn more about ScreenSteps

For more information on the new copy to clipboard feature check out the Exporting to the System Clipboard chapter in the ScreenSteps manual.

Bookmark and Share

Rotating Video with Screenflow

Last week on Allison Sheridan’s Nosillacast she did a review of Screenflow. In it she mentioned that she couldn’t figure out why they have a “rotate video” option. We use Screenflow a lot and are one of the sponsors of the Nosillacast so I thought I would throw together a quick tutorial on why and how you would use the video rotation feature in Screenflow.

Intro Video

Setup

Setup.png

Be sure to watch the video above so you know what we are trying to accomplish in this tutorial. To recreate the effect above you need to have first recorded your background video (in my case, a Keynote presentation).

Add Overlay Video

Add_Overlay_Video.png

Next we need to add the overlay video. To do this click Add Media (1) if you already have a recording, or Add Recording (2) if you need to do a new recording. The new recording I have added is selected in the image above (3).

Expand Your Timeline

Expand_Your_Timeline.png

We are going to add another track so we want to expand our timeline. Click on the top bar and drag up.

Drag 2nd Video Onto Preview Area

Drag_2nd_Video_Onto_Preview_Area.png

Drag the 2nd video you created onto the preview area.

Your Timeline Should Look Something Like This

Your_Timeline_Should_Look_Something_Like_This.png

You should now see your 2nd clip on top of everything. This is important. Screenflow displays elements from top to bottom so you need this 2nd clip to appear above the other clips.

Crop and Resize 2nd Clip

Crop_and_Resize_2nd_Clip.png

Crop and resize the 2nd clip. Resizing is very straight forward. Just adjust the zoom level of the clip in the Video Properties.

Cropping is a little trickier. You need to click on the handles while holding the ctl key to crop the edges.

media_1259066137094.png

You should end up with something like this.

Reposition and Resize

Reposition_and_Resize.png

Drag the video where you would like it to appear and resize it to fit in the space.

Add Rotation and Reflection

Add_Rotation_and_Reflection.png

We could leave the overlay video as is, but adding a little rotation and reflection can add a cool effect. Adjust the Y rotation (in this case -37). Then check the Reflection box.

Add Starting and Ending Transitions

Add_Starting_and_Ending_Transitions.png

Right click on the clip and add a starting and ending transition.

Position Clip

Position_Clip.png

Now just position the clip where you want it to appear in the timeline. You will have a nice overlay video that will fade up, slightly rotated, with a reflection.

You can use this same technique with other elements as well, not just an overlay video. I will sometimes do this with still images that I import into my project such as screenshots, arrows or other graphics.

Improve Your Customer Commnunication

Download our free webinar: Video, Screencasts and Still Images – Using the Right Tool at the Right Time

Bookmark and Share

Filtering Feeds from NetNewsWire For Your iPhone

This will show you how to quickly customize the feeds you receive in NewNewsWire on your iPhone. I got the original instructions here.

Login to NewsGator

wpid94-media-1215789000263.png

Select Settings

wpid95-media-1215789108905.png

Select Edit Locations

wpid96-media-1215789121891.png

Select Feeds for iPhone

wpid97-media-1215789137453.png

Scroll down to the NetNewsWire iPhone/iPod-Touch section and select Feeds.

Uncheck Feeds

wpid98-media-1215789158528.png

Uncheck the feeds you don’t want to see on your iPhone.

wpid99-media-1215789172111.png

Select Update.

Bookmark and Share

ScreenSteps Live: A Case Study on Ruby on Rails – Part 1

At Blue Mango Learning Systems we primarily develop two applications:

Distributing a product for Mac, PC and running a hosted web service is a lot of work, especially when there are only two people in your company. Therefore we have had to choose our development tools very carefully. For us, the most important aspect of any development tool is our ability to quickly iterate over a product until we feel that we have it “right”. Really, for us, all other considerations fall way behind. If we can’t iterate efficiently then we are going to move on to another tool.

Ruby on Rails has proven to be a great tool for this type of development. There are a lot of people getting into Ruby on Rails so I thought some of you might be interested in my experience. I think that ScreenSteps Live is an interesting case study in the benefits and drawbacks of Rails, so over the next couple of months I will be posting some of the things that I have learned as I have dived into the Rails world.

First, a little background on myself as a programmer and ScreenSteps Live as a web app.

ScreenSteps Live Struggles to Come To Life

I have no background as a programmer. Well, almost none. We first got the idea for ScreenSteps Live back in late 2006 or early 2007. At that time I had never even attempted to program a web application. I knew some basic html, enough to throw up a web page, and enough php to do some basic includes. But nothing beyond that. I also had programmed some smaller desktop apps with Revolution but only after extensive help from Trevor.

But we needed a web app. Trevor wasn’t going to have time to do it so we decided to outsource. I won’t go into all of the details on this but our first attempt didn’t work out so well. Suffice it to say that after 2 months we had nothing and were out a few thousand dollars. All I can say is be very meticulous in checking out the people you are hiring to develop your stuff. We weren’t and it came back to bite us in the form of lost time and lost money.

(more…)

Bookmark and Share

A Little Revolution Does A Developer Good

Round here we develop all of our desktop applications using Revolution. I recently attended the RunRevLive 08 conference in Las Vegas where one of the speakers was Robert Cailliau, the co-developer of the web. Robert spoke on “Programming systems and the birth of the Web”. Following a very interesting presentation on how the web came about he discussed some characteristics he thought a good programming language should have:

  • You should not need the reference manual lying open next to you.
  • A good assignment operator.
  • The less “swear” characters the better. These are characters from the top of the keyboard and are like the top shelf at a newsstand – dirty.
  • You should not need lots of comments.

His point was that you spend most of your time reading your code, not writing it. Therefore the language should be easy to read and understand. Since Revolution uses an english-like syntax it fulfills all of Robert’s criteria.

(more…)

Bookmark and Share
Screensteps Support Suite

ScreenSteps is the most effective tool for creating and delivering customer tutorials and guides.
Learn about the ScreenSteps Support Suite