NoRights Podcasts Archive - Page 17 of 19

NoRights Podcast: S2E15 – Installing a Forum

On April 29, 2013 ·
By Ben ·

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On this episode we ask, what do you want out of a forum? We discuss the work involved in building a community, I recommend the book Managing Online Forums, (As well as the website Managing Communities) and we take a look at various forum software.

For forum services I’d take a look at Vanilla Forums. Vanilla also comes in a self-hosted version you can install on your own site.

Other self-hosted options include PHPBB, VBulletin, and MyBB.

If you’re looking for WordPress integration, Automattic have their own solution in BBPress. There’s also Simple:Press, Mingle Forum, Forums Plugin, Tal.ki Embeddable Forums, and Forum Press. Not to mention the interesting idea of Tweetboard which turns twitter into a forum.

NoRights Podcast: S2E14 – Making an Image Gallery

On April 22, 2013 ·
By Ben ·

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This week we discuss making an image gallery. We talk about expectations, asking what do you want out of your gallery? What kind of management do you need? As well as other features to consider when setting one up. Things like Lightbox, watermarking, hotlink protection, download management, and weighing the benefits of self-hosted vs using a hosting service.

For WordPress users there’s the gallery shortcode as well as a number of plugins available.(NextGEN Gallery, Image Gallery Reloaded, etc.)

There’s also stand-alone scripts such as the popular Galleryproject.

Services mentioned include Flickr, Photobucket, and Instagram.

NoRights Podcast: S2E13 – WordPress

On April 15, 2013 ·
By Ben ·

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This episode is all about WordPress. We offer some answers to the question, “Why WordPress?” Some of those include the famous 12-minute (Oh hey, now it’s down to 5 minutes or less?) install:

You can customize WordPress to use for things other than just blogs. You can make video portals, job posting boards, forums, social media sites, classified and want ad listings, portfolios, a custom twitter for groups, and online business cards just to name a few.

We discuss things to consider when installing such as setting up a testing environment, (Using either WAMP or MAMP), security, keeping up to date, dealing with anonymous comments, traffic, and caching.We cover enhancing your install with themes and plugins for ecommerce, webcomics, galleries, stats, caching, anti-spam, and running TAC to protect against bad themes. Then we round things out by discussing the virtues of enabling multisite. Learn to Use WordPress.

NoRights Podcast: S2E12 – Making a Website

On April 8, 2013 ·
By Ben ·

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Today we’re talking about the process of making a website. We discuss topics like platform, (Blogger, Typepad, Tumblr, WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Squarespace, etc.) web standards, (Practices like table based design vs CSS, fluid site design, and Search Engine Optimization. I really recommend listening to the Boagworld Podcast for a much more in-depth discussion and explanation) choosing a domain, choosing a domain registrar, (Like Hover or Go Daddy) choosing a host, (Dreamhost and Media Temple come highly recommended) and the various types of hosting to consider. (Shared, virtual private server, and getting a dedicated server) There are many helpful resources for getting started on putting a site together such as firstsiteguide.com and their guide, How to Make a Website.

NoRights Podcast: S2E11 – Ecommerce

On April 1, 2013 ·
By Ben ·

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This episode is all about selling things online. We discuss various shopping cart systems, (WP Ecommerce, WordPress Simple Paypal Shopping Cart, ShopperPress, ArtPal, and Cart66 to name a few if you’re using WordPress. Zen Cart and Open Cart if you’re not.) the positives and negatives of online storefronts and auction sites, (Big Cartel, Ebay, Etsy, Shopify) online fulfillment houses and print on demand, (CafePress, Createspace, Zazzle, Lulu, RedBubble, Society6) shipping services, (Uline, Endecia, and Stamps.com) as well as ways to take credit cards. (Paypal, Google Checkout, Square)

NoRights Podcast: S2E10 – Getting Things Printed

On March 25, 2013 ·
By Ben ·

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Today’s episode is all about print. We cover basic topics like print resolution vs screen resolution, bitmap vs vector, CMYK vs RGB, the use of templates, and flattening layers. Then we go into dealing with the color black, including trapping blacks and the issue of rich black vs plain black. From there we discuss paper weight, type, and matte vs glossy. I share my opinions on printing at home, printing local, and various print on demand companies. (Comixpress, Ka-Blam, Printkeg, Lulu, Createspace, Magcloud, Newspaper Club, etc.) I discuss the differences between short run and large run printing and wrap things up by suggesting folks who want to print a lot get quotes from as many printers as they can. (Particularly folks like Transcontinental, Marquis Livre, Active Media, Sheridan Group, and Quad Graphics)

NoRights Podcast: S2E9 – Cameras and Livestreaming/Video Production

On March 18, 2013 ·
By Ben ·

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Today is all about video on the podcast. What kind of camera you get is dependent on your budget and your needs. Are you a consumer, prosumer, or professional? Maybe your computer’s built in webcam or the ones in your iPhone are all you need. I’m a big fan of pocket digital cameras like the Flip and the slightly more customizable through external mic jack and SD card storage Kodak Zi8. (which is currently out of production but can still be found online) There’s plenty of attachments you can get for these types of cameras, like the ones at Photojojo.

A thing to remember about small cameras like this is their potential to shake if you hold them improperly. This results in the rolling shutter “jello effect” –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfgElcUpTzQ

Image stabilization is helped greatly by using a tripod or some other steadicam device to keep the camera from picking up motion. Here are some examples you can build yourself. Here’s a very nicely designed one called the Flip Float.

I also discuss streaming sites like Ustream, Livestream, and Justin.tv as well as various apps for pulling in video sources like Camtwist, Manycam, and Webcam Max.

NoRights Podcast: S2E8 – Recording and Podcasting

On March 11, 2013 ·
By Ben ·

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Today’s episode is all about recording and podcasting. I discuss types of microphones, pick up patterns, types of audio connectors, different audio filetypes, (Uncompressed, lossless, and lossy) mixers, preamps, headsets like the ones from Plantronics and Logitech, editing software, (Audacity, GarageBand, Adobe Audition, Logic, Cakewalk Studio, Pro Tools, etc.) sites for hosting your own online call in talk show like Talkshoe and Blog Talk Radio, programs for pulling in audio from various sources like Audio Hijack Pro and Skype Call Recorder (You can find versions out there on different platforms like Mac and Windows) as well as Wiretap Studio for recording/editing audio nondestructively, programs like Switch for converting and Levelator for equalizing, sites for podcasting from your mobile devices like Audioboo and Spreaker, hosting with sites like Libsyn, wordpress plugins for podcasting, (Podpress, Podlove, Blubrry PowerPress, etc.) Tagr for editing file tags and artwork, and I’d like to recommend a podcast about podcasting – The School of Podcasting’s Morning Announcements.

NoRights Podcast: S2E7 – Animation Exercises

On March 4, 2013 ·
By Ben ·

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This week’s episode is a little hard to get across on an audio podcast since it deals with animation exercises. Here’s a video of some pencil tests I made roughly between 2003-2005.

I also discuss important concepts like timing; frames per second; layout, keys, breakdowns, and inbetweens; differences between straight ahead animation and pose to pose, puppet and limited animation as opposed to full, and the concept of ease in and ease out. Like in these tutorials by Jason Ryan from Dreamworks.

Some exercise examples (a few you can see in my college reel) include:

Bouncing Ball

Swinging Pendulum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvnDTAzsmqE

Flour Sack

Head Turn

Expression Change

A Take

Walk Cycle

Also check out John K’s writeup on the double bounce walk

Run Cycle

4-Legged Walk

4-Legged Guide by Preston Blair

Lifting a Heavy Object

Weight Lift

As long as we’re talking animation stuff, here’s the line test for Richard Williams’s Animator’s Survival Kit logo animation

And here’s the finished version

Finally, to bring up my books on animating post from awhile back, this site takes the Preston Blair animation book and turns the examples into animated gifts to help get the lessons across.

NoRights Podcast: S2E6 – Tools for 2D Animation

On February 25, 2013 ·
By Ben ·

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This week on the podcast I discuss tools for 2D animation. Of course I mention paper, (Everything from student bond to cheap copy paper) pencils, (Col-erase being my personal favorite though I also mention the popular Blackwing 602 and the classic Ticonderoga #2) lightboxes, (I have a LightTracer as well as a desk from AnimationDesks.com – there’s also plenty of guides online about how to build your own) hole punches, (3-hole and Acme) pegbars, (3-hole and Acme again) scanners and automatic document feeders, (I use the Brother MFC-6490CW – here’s a step by step on how to set up the ADF to scan for optical registration)