BeardmoreWeb

Just a quick update, Windows Live Writer 2008 has come out of beta! If you are uncertain what this is, read my previous post about Live Writer.

Check out the Live Writer Blog here: http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/

Get Live Writer from this url: http://get.live.com/writer/overview

Photo from Live Writer page

While browsing DIGG I discovered a great article of one hundred great open source mac software titles!  This list includes web browsers, graphics programs, media players, chat clients and much more!

Again a growing theme on this blog, they are all completely free.  Check it out:

Top 100 best open source mac software — ajaxflakes.com

Try QLab from Figure 53. It allows sound designers to totally pre-program their show without the hassle of showing their soundboard operators how to run different pieces of equipment and have to teach them decent fades. This software application does it all! With a few extra licenses which are very reasonably priced, one can easily run an entire show including video, fog machines, motors and lights all from one Mac running Tiger or Leopard.

The interface is very intuitive with mostly drag and drop. It is very easy to number cues however a person wants! The best thing is that the software is constantly being updated. QLab’s web site www.figure53.com is continuously being updated with new information for support and case studies. The case studies show some truly amazing setups where designers setup QLab to do some pretty cool things with their shows! One case study that was published showed that a one person performance could be run by triggering cues from a rigged cell phone that beamed commands to the computer! This is of course and extreme example, but for the person who simply wants to run sound cues, it is a great piece of software.

At UW-La Crosse we use a FireStudio 410 FireWire audio interface with QLab which allows us to control eight different speakers at the same time! With eight speakers, one could easily make sound pan all around the room immersing the audience in the scene!

The video license allows one (assuming that they have a powerful enough computer) to drive eight different displays at the same time with full video! I would have loved to have this soft of sophistication in my shows in High School!

A plus is that QLab is not very resource intensive at all. I ran Christmas Carol with many sound effects all happening relatively quickly on a PowerMac G3 with zero problems.

Also, since QLab runs on OS X, its stability is great. I have not had one single freeze when working with QLab.

Rock Solid Stability + Great User Interface + Free = One Great Application!

Check it out today at www.figure53.com

Need an application to record or edit sound?  Try Audacity.  I personally think it is one of the best open source tools I have ever used.  It runs on Windows, Mac and Linux and doesn’t require too great of resources.  It will do so many amazing things including import and export MP3’s, WAV’s.  It allows you to do multi track editing so when you are doing things such as building sound effects, you can easily adjust one part of the effect instead of having to mix everything down to a single stereo track!  It comes with a ton of built in effects that you only get with the expensive sound programs all for the price of Free!

The Audacity team is constantly making improvements to the software to make it even better all the time.  I use it with my Peavey USB mixer to record whatever I need and it works great.  Audacity also works great with the Snowball from Blue (A USB microphone) and many other USB devices.

Whenever I worked on sound at UW-L be it for the sound design class or for a show, Audacity was my best friend.  It made my life a whole lot easier than using the other programs that people have to pay for!

This software is great for people trying to create podcasts with Windows.  It is very simple to record and edit your audio.  What I usually do when I want to create a podcast is start in Audacity with recording and making editing changes, then I will export the file to MP3 and move it over to Garageband (Mac application) for final touches and to make an enhanced version with pictures.

Check it out at: http://audacity.sourceforge.net

For more documentation go to: www.audacityteam.org/wiki

Windows Live Writer is an application that is not well known in the Microsoft Live offering. It is buried in the Beta’s section of the website.

Today I am reviewing Microsoft Live Writer, an application that helps you post to blogs of various technologies including Moveable Type, WordPress and Microsoft’s very own Spaces platform. This application is very simple to setup and use and that’s why I think it’s an excellent application to feature. In fact, Microsoft Live Writer is my writing tool to post to the BeardmoreWeb blog.

After a very simple installation the software opens with a setup screen that asks what type of service you will be using. In my case I choose “Another weblog service” because I run a WordPress blog.

After that, it brings me to a simple page that asks me the url of my website and my username and password for the system.

Once you have entered in your login credentials, Live Writer automatically detects and analyzes your blog to determine how it will post data.

Alright then, now you are good to edit your blog with this awesome interface which allows you to add files, pictures, hyperlinks and even pictures from Microsoft’s Virtual Earth system.

The program is great for making quick posts to your blog without having to worry about logging into the blogging interface. The thing that I like so much about this app is that it makes it easier for a writer to imbed items into their blog post. For instance, when I want to add a picture to a WordPress blog, first I have to upload the picture, then I have to try to remember how to insert it into my blog post, then after that it is still only a thumbnail. With this app, I can easily customize an image, make it just the right size and also do some neat effects from right within one application!

I look forward to the final release of this app and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a much better way to post to their blog.

You can find this app at www.live.com