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This month I will not be able to make as many podcasts seeing as I am going to be about a week without power in the house. No power means no electric for running the computers of course but as I get the internet that needs power supplied to the antennae on top of the hill, it could be some more time to get the internet back.

At least if I get the power back and I can use my computers again I will be able to make some more screencasts showing how to do some things with various software. I have to finish one I started already about using MarsEdit. This will be a bit of a comparison with using Blogo for which I made 2 screencasts last week. I am using Blogo to make this post by the way. Also coming, when I am able to is the interview with Ben from DrinkBrainJuice, the developers of Blogo. He has told me that he will give Mac20Q a copy of Blogo to be won by the listeners.

I have a mind to make some more screencasts about Scrivener the writers software. I only scratched the surface with what it can do in the previous screencasts. I was using Scrivener the other day with a project I am writing at the moment. It is a comedy story which I will first make as a story and when I have finished I will turn it into a screen play. Right from the off I see it as a short movie and I have actors in mind to play the parts. Can’t say more about it right now except that ladies underwear is involved.

When I do the screenwriting part of the job I may give Celtx a bit of a run. Celtx is specialist screenwriting software which gives FinalDraft a run for its money. It read the FinalDraft format and the only downside that there is is that sometimes the output does do such a good job of representing the time in a script. Maybe I should see if I can get a test copy of the software to do a proper comparison. There is another screencast possible out of that.

Thanks to Paul Shadwell for telling me about the Sony AX2000 video camera which looks very good. It is 500 dollars cheaper than the similar Pro version NX5 and has the same lens and many other of the same specs. I think I could live without the GPS and the time code and the ability to add a memory pack to be able to record for up to 11 hours. Mind you with only 500 dollars being the difference it may be worth saving the pennies for a while longer.

I was also interested in looking at the Canon 7D or 5D for video. There are some advantages and some drawbacks to using a DSLR rather than a video camera, but quite a few videographers are very impressed with the video shooting DSLR cameras. With a video camera you will get better, smoother zooming features and much better audio. Getting around the audio is possible though with recording it separately

Here is the second instalment of the Blogo tips. The Blogging software is a joy to use and I am pleased to be able to tell you how easy it is to get blog posts on to your blogs using Blogo. In this screencast I show you how to set up an account with a Blog and also with a Twitter account.

I mention that there are keyboard shortcuts and menu items to be able to format your text in the post and do things like add lists. Of course very important to me is ability to publish a podcast in the blog post with Blogo. I show you how it is done with Blog.

You know when you turn on the caps lock and type in a pile of text then have to either type in again or find a way to change it. How about if you were to turn off the Caps Lock Key, you know you hardly ever use it. Seems that it is more there to annoy than to be useful. Well in this video I show you how to turn off the Caps Lock.

See how you can set up active corners that will work with a modifier key so that it doesn’t just annoy you when you are trying to something in one of the active corners, like hit the Apple in the menu bar at top left.

I made this video with ScreenFlow to capture the screen and narrate, then I put it in Final Cut Express to set it up. It is really the first project I have set up in Final Cut so I was pleased that it went so well. I have been using Lynda.com to learn how to use Final Cut. It cost $25 to get Lynda for a month and I would say that with the quality of the screencasts it is well worth it. I have been doing the TrueType lessons as well as Final Cut.

I have been amazed by the capabilities of LiveType and being able to do some round trip editing between it and FinalCut Express. I have opened a Live Type section in FinalCut Express – gone in and changed it, saved it and returned to Final cut to see it updated ready for action.

Here is the Video and if you want to see in High Definition then go to the YouTube site to watch it in 1280 by 720

Another video to show how to do things with ScreenFlow, the screen capture application. I have been using this application for over a year now and I was recently taking part with the Version 2 beta program. As I was recording this video there was another update to the application and telestream do their best to keep on top of it to make a great tool for making and editing video screencasts.

As I am making these screencasts I am learning more about the power that is in this application. There will be more Screencasts to come to show you what can be done.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (18.3MB)

In this podcast I am talking to two people from Telestream, the company that make ScreenFlow. ScreenFlow is a super product that I use often to make screencasts. Barbara deHart and Christine Porter tell me all about ScreenFlow and also mention other products from Telestream.

I was able to give them direct a feature I would like to see in the ScreenFlow, they are keen to improve ScreenFlow and you never know my suggestion about being able to specify the placement of a clip within the screen might make it into ScreenFlow. It pretty good that they have snapping lines that let you snap a clip to the centres and to the edges but sometimes you might want a clip be at an exact position and for that you need some boxes where you can enter some numbers in the same way you can enter a number to specify the zoom level for example.

I also use VideoCue from Telestream and other people have requested some of the features in that to be merged into ScreenFlow, I agree with that for sure.

I know there are other screen capture applications out there and I have paid for a couple of them but in the end I had to get ScreenFlow because of what it can do with the editing. It really is handy to be able to do all you need to do in the one application, from capturing the whole of the screen to uploading it to YouTube.

See the Screencast I made about using ScreenFlow. I show some of the basics like adding extra media and using transitions in between clips. I will be producing more screencasts as soon as my cold/flu symptoms abate a little.

I use ScreenFlow and I am an affiliate for the application. I paid for the application initially but I was pleased to get on the Beta program to get version 2 upgrade without having to pay for the upgrade. I have tried other screen capture apps such as iShowU and SnapzPro, both of which I also paid for. It was the fault of Don McAllister that I lashed out more cash to get ScreenFlow when I already had to screen capture applications. When I met him at Podcamp Barcelona he gave me the recommendation. I tried it and decided that buying it was a no brainer for what I wanted to do. So you can trust me when I say that if you have not tried it yet then I would say give it a try. Once you have made a couple of Screencasts with it you will want to have it past the trial period too.

Here is screencast in which I show you the basics of ScreenFlow. How to put in video actions and callouts and set them up to work and look right. I will do some more screencasts featuring ScreenFlow soon. Why not hit the Leave a comment button below and say what you think yourself. Looking forward to hearing from you.

There was a national holiday here in Spain and my sister in law left her kids with us for the weekend and the youngest is into everything, every moment he is awake. Non stop el teremoto, the earthquake. Nice boys though. But I am pleased my kids are all grown up and doing their own thing.

Enough if the personal news and on to the Mac, even though I wasn’t able to use mine as much this weekend. I just put together a video showing how to use the green screen feature in iMovie. The first time I did it I couldn’t believe it was so easy! This time I recorded what I did with ScreenFlow version 2 which is still working great even though it is beta and not due out until any day now.  Using iMovie to to the chromakey is just a case of dragging the video with the green screen in it into the timeline on top of the background you want to replace the green with. If the screen is lit properly and without shadow caused by creases, it won’t even need any adjustments. I had to make a couple of adjustments but after that it was perfect.

I do plan to get a longer pole for the green material and to put the iron over it too. I will stretch it over some extra poles perhaps to get it just right. You can put a moving background behind or a still image if you wish.

I am still toying with the idea of getting Final Cut Express, which would be better than iMovie but I am finding that iMovie is quite capable now that it has gone to version 09.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (49.7MB)

In this episode I have the developer of the excellent Mercury mover and HighBrow applications Keith Alperin he is also working on an iPhone application too for the shoppers amongst us. I can’t stand shopping unless it is guerilla shopping. Know what I want, where to get it, how much it will cost. In the shop and out again with only the checkout slowing me down. Better still is I can order online. Keith is an extremely genuine chap and I had an absolute blast chatting with him. I asked him for a copy of Mercury Mover and a copy of HighBrow to give away on the show and he responded have 2 copies of each What a nice man

The question you have to answer to win the Mercury Mover application is in to podcast. The question is simplicity itself and the answer is easy peasy. All you have to do is download a copy of the software , there is a trial version available. The answer will be revealed to you. MercuryMover reduces the friction you feel when you use your Mac. With MercuryMover, you can move and resize windows on your Mac from the keyboard, positioning them precisely where you want. By shunning the slow and imprecise mouse, MercuryMover empowers you to work faster and play more.

The first person with the correct answer for the Mercury Mover application will get the software straight away. The second copy of the software will be available in a draw of all the other correct answers.  Same process for the HighBrow also from Heliumfoot software. Two very useful pieces of software for you, the listeners of Mac 20 Questions to win.

Highbrow enables anyone to utilize each installed web browser more effectively on your Mac by eliminating the annoyances that arise from using multiple web browsers. With Highbrow, you can select any of three separate behaviors:

• You can easily switch the system-wide web browser via the Highbrow menu in your Mac’s menubar.
• Highbrow can change the browser on the fly as you shift between web browsers.
• Highbrow can ask you which browser to use each time you click a link via an unintrusive heads-up display.

Keith  on twitter: @kalperin
My favorite app:  Launchbar
My favorite free app:  Jumpcut
Some of my favorite podcasts:  Mac developer Network
CoreInt
Mac Break Weekly

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