SFSI Presentation by Violet Blue on Viral Marketing

Violet Blue is a sex educator, writer, blogger and a bunch of other things I am forgetting at the moment. She knows a thing or to about using web video, marketing a difficult topic and providing educational outreach.

San Francisco Sex Information (SFSI) has a series of five videos of her presentation that presents information about how to use and understand the web applications, Twitter, Facebook and the ever evolving world of social media.



The focus of the videos is how sex educators and information providers can connection and outreach to people who are seeking help and information assistance. It is also the similar social media information that most of us need to pay attention to in terms of promoting and clearly defining what we do and how we engage others in communicating our messages.

Violet's primary blog is Tiny Nibbles and is is seriously not safe for work. It is great blog, I'm just saying some of the images are not work place safe.

For those that cannot visit Violet's blog, San Francisco Sex Information does have the presentations on YouTube on their channel. Violet has the videos posted on her blog as well.

Naked Lens: Video Blogging & Video Journaling

Just a quickie. There is a new book entitled Naked Lens: Video Blogging & Video Journaling to Reclaim the YOU in YouTube by Micheal Sean Kaminsky.


It is an invitation for self-discovery and a reclamation project for the You in the 'tubes and the development of video journaling. The above photo is linked to his Amazon page where you can dig the table of contents and read a few pages from the book. The price is right and the topic timely.

Naked Lens: Video Blogging & Video Journaling

There is a new book entitled Naked Lens: Video Blogging & Video Journaling to Reclaim the YOU in YouTube by Micheal Sean Kaminsky.


It is an invitation for self-discovery and a reclamation project for the You in the 'tubes. The above photo is linked to his Amazon page where you can view the table of contents and read a few pages from the book.

The price is right and the topic timely.

A Single Promotion Video - A Little Goes A Long Way

You don't have to create a web series to promote your business, activities or as a daily post. Maybe you just need just one a short video on your web site that who you are and what you can do for potential customers or visitors.

This concept isn't anything new but sometimes it is overlooked when folks are talking about the latest whiz bang that comes along to distract. This is just an example of what you could do with one video.

The video gives visitors to Kate's site a chance to meet her and understand the concepts of her business. Short, simple and to the point. It is an introduction to her business and what she has to offer.

Kate just happens to be married to a videographer/videoblogger named Rupert Howe who has a new venture called Blackfish.tv. The company creates business and corporate video profiles in the UK.

So, in almost all things keep it simple sweetheart.

A Quick Look At Adobe Visual Communicator 3

I remember seeing this program demonstrated at one of the DV Expositions in Los Angeles a few years ago. I had forgotten that Adobe had purchased Visual Communicator a while back.

I was messing around VideoWTF and noticed a mention of the program. So I swung by Adobe and checked out what was new about the program.


The software seems now to be targeted to small businesses, educators or those that want to present a professional message but don't have a lot of time or money.

You received a green cloth for the "green screen" effect. You can set up your script and have it projected as a telepromter on your computer screen and it works with web cams or web camcorder. It is unclear to me if the product does work with the new line of USB flash memory and hard drive camcorders. You might want to check that out be

For those in education you can add captioning/subtitles to the video. It does come with music, titles and guides to help you with the program.

Support Resources and Groups

Adobe certainly has a Visual Communicator support forum. If you think you might be interested in the program go there first to check out what the common problems are and the type of support that is given. You can check out the help manual; but I don't think it has been updated to reflect that many people now have USB camcorders.

Rob Zdrojewski is a busy dude. He is at the helm at the Teachme Google Groups and SchoolTV Made Easy. For education folks he also hangs out at the Ask Mr. Z blog.

This is an example of a tutorial video created by Rob that explains the unintentional "Chipmunk" audio effect.



It is also a good visual example of the features of Adobe Visual Communicator 3. The background, titles and music were all generated by the program.

Frugality vs. Time Saved

Ok, I do think that $400 smackers is a lot for this program. I can buy a camcorder, green sheets, some lights and have change left over. I come from a long line of frugal women so it is my DNA. I don't necessarily by cheap but I need to know if there is value in the purchase.

If this software and the stuff that comes with it helps you to efficiently create, produce and output video on a regular basis then you have saved time and money. I believe that is called a good return on your investment.

Me? Naw, I'm old school. I want to do it myself. But there is a value in this product for those that need to produced video content quickly and not have it look tacky.

Only you can decide if this is a good option for your creation needs..

From Articulate - How To Create Effective E-Learning

One of my goals in creating this blog was to show that there are interlinking communities that have similar knowledge and skills that serve different needs. I have been known to poke my nose into the Rapid E-Learning blog at Articulate.


For those folks thinking about creating video information products or selling e-learning or demonstration videos there is a right way and a wrong way to do things. It is also a tremendous opportunity to carry what we have learned forward.

Articulate makes e-learning products. It is a for profit business. They would like you to purchase their products. But the company does have a lot of solid information about using the tools an software that you might have to create an effective instructional package.

In businesses and corporations e-learning is use to train staff and transmitted essential information. In an academic class setting the goals is to transmit cultural and career required content. I have to give a hat tip to the YouTube and other screencasters who are trying to explain software applications or product demos.

Yes some are demos and tutorials are crude. Some are very will done. The great news is that they are not waiting for anyone from up hight to help them figure out how to do this "right".

The YT tutorial creators are doing and demonstrating what can be done with determination and bare bones skills. They are filling a need when the manufacture of products has not fulfilled users questions on a product or service.

As always, I look to the left and to the right to ascertain a functional middle ground.

If you can, squeak out some time to rome over to the Articular blog or their free screen capture application Screenr. Get a sense of how you can make use of just in time recording or taking the long road of building a skill set that will pay you down the road for your investment.

A Demo of What A Tablet PC Could Do

This is a demonstration or concept video created by Wonderfactory and Time.com to show what could be done with a Tablet PC. Or e-Reader. Or media device.

The demonstration uses Sport Illustrated reinvented:



You know, I want to whoop and holler yeah, that the ticket! I can't. And sports has nothing to do with it. It kinda helped that I know nothing about the topic so I could concentrate on the device.

Well, eh. I liked the execution of the video. I liked some of the concepts demonstrated. Browsing through a collection of stunning photographs got my attention. If I can go as deep as I want or view a galley of a specific photographer's work I could dig it.

I do expect if I'm paying that much for the device and the data plan that the videos would be larger than the traditional 320x240 or the high def equivalent. I can hear the voice in the back right corner saying, "It is a magazine, the focus should be on the text. The video is an extra."

Nope. Not anymore. With tablet PCs we are going to have to redefine a lot of concepts. What is a magazine? Photos and text in the analog paper form. Why not audio and video and photos and text?.

I would expect an audio transcription track of the text when I can't view the screen. I would hope that there would be captioned video for those environments that it is inappropriate to listen to audio. Or an adjustable text mode that knows I like x amount of light and a certain font to display the content.

And if all I cared about was fencing then I should be able to subscribe to just that area of the magazine and see all of the new and archived fencing articles.

That, my friends is going to take a lot of content. And the need for knowledgeable content creators. It also means that once again a monopoly of distribution paths is being created.

Bah! Open source baby! Except I know that at some point people are going to have to pay, either with cash or the price of attention.

Look, I still think the infrastructure of broadband/high capacity connections have to be installed. I said it before and I'll say it again, the capabilities of any wi-fi or broadband device are going be restricted until we have coast to coast fiber in those 'tubes.

I'm socking my pretend money in my imaginary tech mattress until the entire country has a functional and reliable high speed access. I can look and drool at the shiny toys but unless I can use them what is the point?

Kerry Garrison on Understanding Aperture

Cameras and camcorders. There is so much to learn. The answers are out there. I discovered a web site called Camera Dojo. It is for still photographers but much goodness can be found for all that carry some form of camera equipment.

This is a video by Kerry on understanding how light travels into the camera and how setting (or understanding) the lens aperture can affect the recording quality.



What has this got to do with video? Everything, especially if you have on a fixed focused camcorder. If you watched the video or had a photography class you will understand these examples better.

The Flip Mino HD has a fixed 2.4 lens aperture or how wide the lens is open to record video. That will let in light. It also will affect the depth of field (like Kerry said in the video). So if you are shooting something far away it is more likely to be out of focus. Up close with enough light you will be fine.

The much more expensive Canon Vixia HF S2 has multiple aperture settings from 1.8 to 8 so that you would be able to balance the amount of light needed with the distance the subject is away from the camcorder.

With the fixed focused camcorders there isn't a lot that can be done with the camcorder. You can increase the amount of light or move closer but the compensation has to come external to the camcorder.

Oh, one more thing. Looking at the LCD may or may not help you. Your eyes know how to compensate for depth of field. Lenses by themselves currently do not. So what you see is not 100% what the lens may record.

There are other factors as well but this video get you in the neighborhood of understanding about light and aperture.