Pachyderm Advice

Tips by Jared Bendis of Case Western Reserve University


Never, never, never hit the back button!
(I found this out myself. Great advice.)

Stay away from using videos (mov) files. Version 2.0 produces and error and then opens in another window not within the pachyderm display.

Do not add links to web pages. Keep the project self contained. Otherwise you may lose your viewer to another web site and may never get them back.

Start at the most specific elements and work back to general information.

Jared’s analogy: Treat a Pachyderm project like a tree. Start with the leaves then the branches and finally the trunk.

We must control the flow of the project to the viewer.

Each page should be independent of its information.

The user should load the images or assets first.

Max image size is 2560 x 2048 pixels.

Name images factually. No goofy names to confuse any searches.

When entering metadata to each image use at least the two below"
Contributor = the creator (don't use real name, use initials or false name)
Tombstone – a must to fill out. If no other information is given on an asset the tombstone text will be used.

You can search on Media after it is entered.

Design ahead of time.

Do not use the Time Line template.

Type your text in Word then spell check it. From your word file you will cut and paste into Pachyderm.

We can do basic html for bold and italic.

We can’t change font or size.

Jared recommended that I try the Slider template! Keep images to 8 or 10 only. I did so and used 9 images for promoting MediaVision's Video Production.

When exporting the final product via the Zip button, we must use a third party zip program such as WinZip. Pachyderm is not compatible with XP or Vista’s Zip program. This I also found out on my own.

All in all, Jared was very informative.

Dreamweaver's Code Navigator

I am in LOVE with Dreamweaver's Code Navigator! Where have you been all my life.

This makes finding CSS code quick and easy. Since I am new to Dreamweaver CS4 I have been curious about the Code Navigator icon that shows up. It can be quite annoying. Now I know how to turn it off if I need to.

In default mode, you can just rest you selector tool on some text. After few seconds the Code Nav icons appears. It looks like a ships wheel. Just click on icon and it will bring up a list of code pertaining to the text. You can run your selector over the list of code for more info. What is great is that you can click on the code and it will take you to the CSS code, even the source code. So you can make fast edits. For example, since I was talking about text, you can easily change font size, colors or etc...

Code Navigator works just about everywhere. You can even select from the nav bars above the properties information.

This is just terrific!

Once you have Code Navigator open to a list, you have an option of turning off the annoying icon. To use Code Nav you just have to alt/click on a element to bring it up.

Enjoy,
DJ

Pachyderm testing

I have been doing some testing of Pachyderm Multimedia online application.

My first experience has been positive. It is very intuitive and easy to use. One of the templates I used was the phone Dial template but found it redundant having to load 2 images, one for a full size image and one for a thumbnail. Adding URL links is straight forward.

My first two sets turned out very nice. I had created one about the Cleveland Ohio Cultural Gardens. It had three pages linked to it. My second was about my passion of motorcycles also produced positive results. It had 11 pages linked from it. Both sets had URL links that worked.

My next step was to add sound to the motorcycle project. This is where things got pretty tough. Pachyderm is not able to use WAV files. I had used sound recorder to produce two clips of my narration. I also found wav files of desired sound effects. Pachyderm will use only mp3 or swf files for audio. My experience told me that the swf files would be smaller than mp3.

Here is a comparison:
Original file WAV: 3,877 KB
Converted to SWF: 187 KB
Converted to MP3: 225 KB

So I converted all my wav files to swf. I imported some test files into Pachyderm. They loaded just fine and I tagged them accordingly. However, when I went to test the pages the swf files came in with 2 copies. It would auto play right away. The first copy would play followed by the second copy about 3 second later. There was also no play, volume or pause control. I searched online at the Pachyderm site and also on Google. I could not figure out why this was happening. I sent an email to Pachyderm's help page.

Finally, I converted my wav files into mp3 files. I then removed the swf files and replaced them with the mp3 files. To my surprise it worked! The audio file would not play until I clicked on the play button. Only one copy of the file played. I could pause, reset and play the audio.

About 4 hour after sending a email to pachyderm I received a response. It confirmed that it was the swf files that caused the problem. Why does pachyderm list swf as a compatible file is beyond me.

I used Sound Recorder to capture my voice for two clips. I then downloaded Power Sound Editor to resize my imported sound clips and edit the length of each. The only issue with Power Sound Editor is that it will only export as wav files. Not compatible with Pachyderm. So I downloaded Media Center which I them used to convert the wav files to mp3. Power Sound Editor and Media Center are both free programs.

Next up will be trying videos in pachyderm. It should be interesting.

DJ

Limits of Flickr's Free Version

I have a large collection of images taken for Case Western Reserve University.

I have downloaded the free version of Flickr to help organize these images. I used Lynda.com to get me up to stead on how to use Flickr.

With the free version we can only download 100 mgbs a month. The full version is $24.95 for a year with unlimited storage and bandwidth.

According to Lynda.com I should add metadata before hand and also resize the images before going importing into Flickr.

I have a Microsoft Power tool called Resizer. I have resized select images before importing them. It's really too bad that Resizer is not standard on XP and Vista. I hope it is available on Windows 7.

I aslo used Adobe Bridge to go in and add metadata to my library of images. So at least I can now do searches on names of staff, events and other categories.

I need to create folders in order to organize all my images. With the free version of Flickr I am able to create Sets to store grouped images. The sample project was to organize all my images of campus buildings. My goal is to create a folder called Campus Buildings and in it have sets that include images of individual buildings.

In Fickr Professional, we are able to create folders called Collections. Once I have a folder created I would be able to move my Sets into it. I can then make Collections for all categories. This feature is not available with the free version.

I have maxed out our space on Flickr. They most images we can have stored is 200. I am right at 200 now.

For now, perhaps the best idea is to load all these images onto the new server and them give access to anyone in ITAC or ITS permission to go in and view the images.

My conclusion on Flickr is it is too limited for the free version. It's a great way to show off images to family members it is not a professional tool. Upgrading to Flickr Professional is a must for serious logging of photos.

DJ

CSS: Specificity

First rule of Specificity: The last one in, wins!

While working on the new web template for Case Western Reserve University, I ran into an issue that the space allocated for the title of our department was too small. The title of our department is Information Technology and Academic Computing.

This Title placement was flush right on the far right side of the page. It would butt up against our schools logo which was on the far left.

Using a line break would not work because it would drop the second line of the title down into a white portion of the page. Since the text is white you could not see it.

So I wanted to drop the font size of this text. The name of this CSS code for h1 id header is called "subsite". I decided to use to over come this issue. Our web template uses a web based CSS code plus a local CSS called "mysite".

First I found the "subsite" code and duplicated it. I then renamed it "newsubsite". I added a font size property to it of 18 pixels. I then dragged this code to the bottom of "mysite". This is where Specificity takes over.

I then renamed the code for the Title "newsubsite". Now my font size is a tad smaller and the title now fits in the allotted space.

DJ

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

September 17, 2009

Error while working with a template using Dreamweaver.

Received this error message while using the university's new template that I was using to create a web page for viewing Lowerthird samples online.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

This would not show while previewing on a local browser from Dreamweaver but showed up once posted on the server and then viewed.

After looking around online it sounded like a server side include. I found this article:
http://www.ozoneasylum.com/11164

This article had an example:
This line of code caused this error message.
<--#exec cgi=/cgi-bin/stats/stat.cgi" --->

So I search my code and it turned out the culprit was line 156 :
<---#include virtual="myfooter.html" -->

I removed this line of code and the error went away.


DJ

Audience Digital Signage at CWRU

The Audience system creates individual digital displays called Playbacks. A playback will have a single background element. Within each playback we can have multiple screens so we can program the system to change to a different look with different graphics.

For each screen we can create zones (areas for content). Once inside a zone, pages are create for multiple content. These pages are created from either default templates or custom made templates (which I do).

The content can be JPGs, MOVs and text. It also supports RSS feeds for both text and images. It also has support for Flash movies but that function has never worked properly and is still not reliable.

Content is added through a program called Audience Billboard. The client is given permission to login and add the information. The School of Medicine has permission to log onto the system via VNC.

Capital Network will sell RSS feeds as bundles for either weather, sports, news and more. Each of these categories can contain local, regional or global data. The last time I checked with Capital Network (6 months ago) the cost of a bundle is $75 a month. Our first year using Audience, we had a one year contract. The weather feed could pull up a daily, three day or 7 day forecast. This would automatically bring up corresponding weather icons with the temperatures.

For the School of Law and School of Medicine, I was able to obtain free RSS feeds. In order to utilize them I had to work with tech support at Capital Network on reconfiguring Audience so it would accept this data. It has worked ever very well ever since. The School of Law did not wish to subscribe to Capital Network for feeds because of the cost. They are happy with our current feeds. The School of Medicine has signed on for a medical feed on their own.

At the beginning of a project I work with the client to determine how many zones are required and what the size of the zones will be. The zones are not able to overlap. We will decide on the graphic element that will be used for the background. I then layout the zones and send the dimensions to the client. The then create the graphics to match the size of the zones. If they don't the images will be distorted. I then set them up with a Billboard account to allow them to download their images or text. They then set a start date and a stop date.

Live Cycle for Form Creation

In ITAC / MediaVision we have the need for electronic forms. Either for AV orders, text information for the creation of video lower thirds or title slates or in house information.

I have used for the past several years a program by Adobe called Live Cycle Designer.

I will use the AV Equipment Order Form as an example.

The original form was created in Microsoft Word. This form would be filled out by the front desk person or faxed to a client who need equipment for an up coming event. Once filled out by the client it would be faxed back to our front desk person who would then place the order.

Using Live Cycle Designer, I had recreated this form with the end product being a PDF file that can be sent electronically to any client via email. The client would then fill out the form and save it as an unique name. That would then be emailed back to the person who would place the order. The client is able to tab through the form from one cell to the next.

There is a bit of a learning curve with Live Cycle but it is rather instinctive. In this sample of the AV Form, it had three columns which initially proofed tricky. Once finished I had a clean, well organized form. Originally I had set it up to include a "Total" zone. So once the form was finished it would automatically add the sum of the select items. It was decided not to enable this function in case of additional labor or last minute additions. We needed the flexibility so not to have conflict with the clients over quotes.

We also have the option to send the data via HTML and have it stripped out with excel. My experience it is better just to have the PDF from sent back as it.

I am very satisfied with Live Cycle for PDF form creation and would recommend to others.

DJ

iTunes U Welcome page set up

We have a iTunes U site for Case Western Reserve University.

We have decided on keeping some of the course pages from last year. Plus I am setting up new courses for this coming fall semester.

What I wanted to do is create a new folder (termed: Welcome) In this folder (Fall 2009), I can put in all new course pages. This way I can keep everything tidy.

Problem is that I when I created a new folder called Spring 2009 and wanted to move the existing course pages into it, I was not able to do so. I have spent a good deal of time researching this to no avail.

What it boils down to is that I must plan ahead and create these folders before creating the course pages. For now, I have removed all the Spring 2009 courses that the professors did not want saved and renamed them Spring 2009 after the name of the class.

DJ

iTunes Couseware Albums Fall 2009

These are the proofs for Case Western Reserve University's
iTunes Courseware Albums.

Lower Third Samples 08-05-09

Lower Thirds Samples
08-05-09


ABC News-03

DJ's favorite
I like the layers and the way they interact with their transparencies. Perhaps adding some drop shadows could add some depth. I especially like the rectangle behind the name and how it interacts with the colors below.


CBS Early Show-01


DJ's second favorite
This is a very nice use of layers and nice depth. I like the graphic element for the "Early" logo. This could be void of logo but reserved for the placement of our Case Sun Rise Bug. The bug is added in post production.


CNN-03

DJ's third favorite
I really like the graphic element of the top "name" area. I would have reversed the graphic so the lighter area would not interfere with the text. I also like the white text on the dark background in contrast with the black text on the white background.


USAtoday-05

I like the textured blue background. For the top area, I like how they broght in some of the same blue from the bottom. I like the addition of the top black bar. All graphic elements fade to the left. Because of the use of our Case Bug, this graphic would have to be flipped.



CNET-01

This lower tird has a very nice placement of the CNET logo. I like how the theme of the circle is carried through the design. The entire left side could be used for the Case Bug placemet.


NASCAR-03

I like the use of the graphic elements. The different layers is very nice. Also, I like the gray background to block out the bottom portion of the video, it is however transparent to allow some of the video to show through. I had created my own version of this recently.



TNT-01

This is a very simple, clean design. The font is too condensed for video however. This font could fill in or blur once encoded. I do like that the text is flus left and then place in the center of the screen.




USAtoday-01

This is a very simple clean design. I like the gradation from black to transparent. It also does not have a hard edge. I don't think the blue bullet is necessary as it fad into the black background. Also our bug would work well with this.



USAtoday-03

We can't get any simplier than this sample. This is close the the Case color blue. It fades from blue on the left to either black or transparent on the right. Our bug would work very well with this.




MSNBC-01

This is perhaps one of the busiest lower third designs around. Hoever it is very well done. It has a sliding black background for the speaker's names. The problem with that is this area must be adjusted per speaker's names length. More than likely, NBC has a program that adjusts this area automatically.