Archive for the ‘multimedia-recording’ Category

How to add multiple clips to the timeline in Expression Encoder – at once

  1. Expression Encoder is a great screen casting tool for Windows – and it is free.
  2. Except that in the free version, each clip is limited to 10 minutes. This can result in many clips that you nee to combine to document one session.
  3. Adding clips to the media and encode them does not roll over at the end of one to the next clip (different from as things used to Work in Windows Media Encoder) – it produces as many output files.
  4. Using the Add Source at End Cc294622.5bff4edb-e4d1-4fca-b268-0d194faf13d1(en-us,Expression.30).png. button seems to limit you to adding one clip after the other. image
  5. What I had missed so far: You can simply select multiple clips at once in the file open dialogue.
  6. Expression Encoder will add all to the timeline in sequence, and encode all to one output file: image


  1. Symptom: See title.
  3. Possible solutions:
      5. kaltura flash microphone settings0kaltura flash microphone settings

How to fix Expression Encoder not outputting to a Silverlight template

  1. This glitch has bugged me once too often, so now I am writing myself a mental note:
  2. Problem:
    1. On some projects, Expression Encoder outputs only media files, while I need a web-publishable HTML container that calls Silverlight: image.
    2. And I cannot find in the interface where to re-enable  this output option.
  3. Root cause : Something turns the display of the Template Tab off.
  4. Solution:
    1. To show the Template tab, in an existing “Transcoding Project”, go to menu: “Window”, check “Templates” :image
    2. Makes all the difference: image Smiley
    3. Now select something else but “None” which  your prior transcoding defaulted to.
    4. image
    5. Voilà: image

ScreenToGif Debugging: Object reference not set to an instance of an object (#7)

  1. Trying to contribute a tiny bit to the development of this great utility ScreenToGif:
  2. 1st version: image
    1. crashes on pressing “stop”: image
    2. the Log
    3. Title: NullPointer in the Stop function 7
      Source: ScreenToGif
      TargetSite: Void Stop()
      StackTrace:    at ScreenToGif.Legacy.Stop()
      Date/Time: 7/3/2014 12:55:16 PM
  3. Newer version: image
    1. does not hang on “stop”
      1. after adding overlay text (great new feature!), image
        1. seems to hang on pressing “Done” with “Analizing [sic] Unchanged Pixels”
        2. crashes on pressing window close: image
        3. Maybe I was just not patient enough? for:
      2. without adding overlay pixels:
        1. seems to also take a long time (2-3minutes analyzing, without a progress bar, or any other indication that the program is still working and has not crashed – the couple of minutes “Processing” seem to go by faster, thanks to the progress bar and frame counter) for a 5fps 1073*810, about 300frames, but hey! It works:image
        2. Plus you can now open the resulting GIF file directly from the creator.
        3. Actually, when I click “Stop” (I realize  I am supposed to click “Close”), I still get a NullReferenceException (#9), probably should not: image
    2. No log has been outputted with the new version .





Sanakoaudioconfigonthefly software utilities updated for Vista/Windows7

  1. (Shortcut to download – now fixed) The reason why a colleague’s signature reads: “Worrying about a large institution, especially when it has computers, is like worrying about a large gorilla, especially when it’s on fire" (Bruce Sterling) might just be that a multimedia-capable fully computerized classroom – think 30 PCs and 30 students trying not only to listen to, but record responses to exam audio – is a notoriously difficult beast to control, and all too easily spins out of the same (a classroom humming in an endless audio feedback loop is neither a pleasant nor an unfamiliar sight).
  2. The Sanako Study 1200 is a digital audio lab software that facilitates the use of personal computers in face-to-face class settings. However, while the Sanako Study 1200 features many ways for the teacher to control and manage the student PCs, the students’ audio settings cannot be controlled on the fly.
  3. Enter these little sanakoaudioconfigonthefly utilities (written in AutoIt) for Windows 7 and Vista  (old Windows PX version still available here) that extend the Sanako Study 1200.
  4. We now use  (as it is completely adequate and actually superior to to the seemingly more applicable PC control / Launch programs features which is requires the program executable to reside under the same path on student and tutor computer) Playlist / copy and launch (folder icon) and the Sanako grouping feature to send a program with your choice of action to the student PCs  of your choice. In this example,
    1. click playlist, 01
    2. and in the window that opens, click (1) to send to “all”, then click (2) to select which program to send: image_thumb[3]
  5. Files included in this release (each for 64-bit, and as source code, so that you can compile your own if you are still on MS-Vista/MS-Windows-732-bit platform):
    1. Change student recording levels (microphone sensitivity).
    2. Toggle student sidetone ( in Sanako = “listen” to this device in Windows)
    3. Control student playback level (headphone volume).
  6. Likely these programs can be adapted beyond Sanako Study 1200, but I do not remember (helpful comments appreciated)
    1. whether other digital audio lab platforms (Sony Virtuoso, Robotel SmartClass) allow for changing the student audio config on the fly
    2. and what mechanism (if any – but likely) they (and Sanako Lab300) provide to launch programs on the students’ computers
  7. Prerequisites:
    1. None other than your digital audio lab software and the utilities you can download below. In particular, it is not required to install AutoIt on teacher or student computers.
    2. However, there should be only 1 microphone/speaker per student computer in the digital audio lab. If you have more, you likely have bigger problems to solve first, but you also need to alter the source code (included) to select the microphone you want to work with (should be easy; note however, that I have not tested this scenario, for: “There should be only 1 microphone/speaker per student computer in the digital audio lab” Smile
  8. Request here to download these utilities.