Groupdiy Webcasts?

heya folks,

I was reading another thread here (can't remember the topic - someone beheading opamps) and there was a mention of a webcast or webcam type thing.

It got me thinking - what would be the value in the various guru's on here (people like PRR, Gyraf etc) giving 'webcasts' (if they have a webcam) to the community on a saturday afternoon or something?

There is a lot of expertise and knowledge here within the group that could really benefit us all, and in my experience, things like webcasts really are a good way of seeing, hearing and reading various technically challenging topics.

If it's a crap idea, then it's a crap idea, but if you have any good input, please let me know.

Cheers

R

okay, if you do like the idea - what topics would be for discussion?

I'd personally be interested in some basic transistor theory (i.e. the difference between bipolar or FET inputs etc)

Tube theory - would be v.interesting.

As someone who spends 99.9% of my time hear learning from other people, of course I'd love that as well. It does seem like a lot of work for the teacher though. I'd imagine some kind of compensation may become needed for the teachers...

Therefore, I'll not vote right now on this and hope to hear from the gurus out there.

Joel

hmm, hadn't thoguht of that...
shall we all donate transformers?

I'm not really thinking imagining a load of powerpoint slides - lecture style... just more an on the spot Q&A session type thing. Maybe even opportunities to show off latest buiilds so people can ask "where did you buy those switches from? etc"

This is a chance for people to share their ideas on this. What I think we should strive towards is ideas on how to make it work, rather than "that could never work" type comments

Anyway, it's just an idea - I thought it'd be a good way for us to learn a lot more.

cheers

Rochey

I think it's a good idea... Are there any free webcast tools out there? at work I use Raindance, but it's a subscription based service...

There's something called WebEx that we use at work, but again, I don't think it's free...

Oh, and I'm down with this whole thing, BTW!

Peace,
Al.

We have a customer-usable webex service that could be used. I'll enquire at work if we can do it in a "sponsored by TI style" of thing...

Would people have big issues with that? Obviously, there's nothing worse than advertising rammed down your neck, but I personally don't see an issue with hosting a webex for people to join.

I think it's possible to record webex's as well for future use - that might be handy. I'm waiting to hear feedback from the guru's though (you know who you are...).

I'd love to hear reasons against for this as well.

cheers

R

This is a great idea! I personally wouldnt mind the TI advertising if the service were free. One feature that would eb particularly valuable is if the session could be downloaded and archived for latter reference. As for topics, the sky's the limit!

Micah

I'll see if I can talk Gus into hosting a mic mod session at my studio. I am totally picturing "Waynes World" in my head.

Gus: Today on our show we are going to make a Nady 460 sound good.
TK: Excellent, schwing! Party on, Gus....
Gus: First let's explore removing the cathode follower stage.
TK: We're not worthy....Deeedelliedoo...Deeedelliedoo...

:grin:

BTW, I'd pay money to see CJ and his hacksaw at work. Most excellent.

Once upon a time I had set up WinAmp Shoutcast Server on one of my sites. That server has since been hosed but I could go get a tarball of something and install it.

OK, I have a few minutes ready to put up from my Cannon set in movie mode. But it is in AVI format. Can you guys play that or do I have to convert it to something else like an mpeg?

If so, how the heck do I do that?

cj

Hey, I'd love to hear that Narma interview. Let's get that up before we worry about streaming anything else. :wink:

Working on it. He has a very heavy accent, jagged delivery and there was a lot of background noise in the live lobby, so 10 seconds takes me 5 minutes.
I have side one of tape one done. 3 more sides to go. :shock:

>it is in AVI format.

Just post it. If you need hosting, PM me.

I'm not actually sure I can play an AVI, but I'll find a way, or find a converter, or find someone here who can convert.

I have a related question. I made a one-minute movie for a friend's eBay sale, but my camera and my XP work in WMV format. Recent Windows and IE play that fine; FireFox won't play inside a webpage but can call the player. Macs don't come with the WMV player and I won't ask Mac-heads to get and install 6Megs of Borg-ware to play a half-meg movie. How do I convert WMV to QuickTime, MP3, or other apolitical format? Without buying something... this sale won't net much cash.

Posted in the Lab under Desolation Row.

while were on this software thing, I noticed i have a ton of files in my windows/temp folder from web downloads.
should i clean this stuiff out?
thanks!

Edit: Had to do some video file conversion for scoring... i used 'dvd-to-avi' and another one for mpeg... they were both free at c-net. I bet there's a free one that does avi-to-whatever.
.
CJ, yep, empty the temp folder, unless you're downloading entire video files straight to that folder, like it's somehow the target (shouldn't be).
'Disk cleanup' will do it with the right boxes checked. Might speed the OS up a little too.

.
Sweet baby jesus... that video was not what i expected.
The item!
The soundtrack!

Paul, now i understand...
LMAO!

> quicktime pro 7 is $29.99

Good tool, but:

This eBay item is unlikely to fetch even $29, and I may never whack another video...

WMV format is not listed, and since it is MS-proprietary and has anti-piracy features, may never be supported outside MS players.

> I bet there's a free one that does avi-to-

In a quick look, most of the trials are crippled and the buy price is over my budget. But now I know it is possible (I feared MS had a lock on the format) I may find something.

.
Paul, this should work for a one-minute movie:
w..w..w .winmpg.com/download.html
Trial version of WinMPG Video Convert will only convert first 5 minute part of a media file. Please register to get full function.

Hope it helps, Paul

heya folks,

do these sessions need to be interactive? I.e - would a Q&A session be good whilst the webcast was going on?

Simply storing an avi on a server somewhere is one thing - but what i'm thinking of is a way of interacting with the presenter. I will investigate the solutions which are possible.

Also - I love the idea of a waynes world type production!

Cheers

Rochey