I mentioned the BoinxTV Video mixing Software sometime ago, but haven't had the time to test it on the Apple MacBook Pro and produce an episode of our church's video podcast on it until last weekend.

Our church video ministry already has a 2 channel video mixer, so my use of BoinxTV was going to be cut out the post production required to add a logo and lower 3rds to the video podcast, adding these features live while the church service was being recorded meaning that I would have a more professional looking video and not have to spend time later at home to do this (I don't have the time anyway, which is why there are none of these features currently included in our video podcasts.



Since this was my first time of really playing with BoinxTV, I needed to do some pre-production thinking of the layers required, what settings I needed and how it would work in the video podcast.

To give you a fair idea of what you might need to run BoinxTV on your MacBook Pro, I'm going to post the specs of my Apple laptop here.

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro3,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP31.0070.B07
SMC Version: 1.16f10
Serial Number:
Sudden Motion Sensor: State: Enabled

In order to connect the switched output of the CMX07 Video Mixer, I used a Sony DV camcorder as a bridge, with the compsite video and stereo audio being fed into the camcorder input connectors and the firewire connector of the camcorder being connected to the MacBook Pro.

Because I was going to use BoinxTV only for producing a video podcast for the internet, I had created a template that would record the output file at a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels, so on firing up the BoinxTV software on my MacBook Pro, I open this document. The first thing I had to do was add a new camera source to the software to allow the software to recognise my firewire connected DV camcorder.



The system resources meter showed that it was using about 40% processor with only BoinxTV and nothing else running except one instance of Finder on the MacBook Pro.

I created a new template for a larger video output of 640 x 480 and opened this with BoinxTV.

Note that I have the video layer selected in this case, and that resources are now running at 82%. It was apparent that my MacBook laptop would not be able to handle the 640 x 480 video output size (I hadn't pressed the record button yet), so I closed down the template and reloaded the smaller template into BoinxTV.

I now started playing around with the lower 3rd settings to get something that would be suitable for my video podcast, I had already added the logo layer, and imported the appropriate image for use. When I had what I was happy with, I then decided it was time to try to recording a video to disk, so I plugged in some headphones to monitor the sound, but couldn't hear anything!

The problem was later traced to the fact that I hadn't enabled the audio pass through feature.

Audio Pass through Icon



With the audio levels sorted out, and the layers prepared, I was ready to record my first video podacst, so I clicked the record button, but the recording stopped after 1 minute, which turned out to be because the timer recording was enabled on BoinxTV.





In the end I was able to record a few minutes of the church service using BoinxTV and tried out some of the effects of this live video production software for the Mac.

My impressions of the software are mixed at the moment, I like the features that it possesses, but until I'm able to fully test it on a more powerful Apple Mac, I wouldn't be able to say if it will be used for the actual total production of our videos.

Boinx Software today announced the public realease of BoinxTV Version 1.0, their live video production software for the Apple Mac which allows a laptop such as a MacBook Pro to act as a portable TV studio, supporting up to 3 camera sources.



The key motto of BoinxTV is 'Say goodbye to post production' and this video mixing software has all the features that allows a video producer to create a professional looking podcast or live recording of a TV show. There are layers for lower thirds, logos, graphics, transistions, keying etc.

BoinxTV now brings professional features to a wider range of video content producers, and in some circles is seen real competition to the other portable TV studio product on the market, the Newtek Tricaster.

Price of the video production software for the Mac starts at $199, and is available to download from the BoinxTV software download page.

The Nokia 2310 phone is a cheap mobile phone on offer from the Nokia stable, and while it is not something that will be of much interest to a gadgets fan like myself, I found myself in possession of one due to the fact that my trusted Sony Ericsson K750i mobile phone was broken and I needed a quick replacement mobile phone while I decided on the upgrade model I was going to buy.

The first thing I noticed with my new Nokia 2310 phone was that I needed to setup the speed dial settings, as this was a feature I used very much on my old mobile phone, especially since I could call home by just pressing one button instead of having to go through my contacts list and then choosing my home number.

To setup speed dial on the Nokia 2310 mobile phone, there are just a few steps to take.

1. Make sure you have created contact entries for the numbers you want to assign a speed dial on your Nokia phone.

2. You only have 8 speed dial numbers available to use on the 2310, numbers 2-9, as 1 is automatically assigned the voicemail speed dial code and is not changeable (this is convetional on all mobile phones), while 0 is not available.

3. You now need to activate speed dialing on the Nokia 2310, by selecting menu, contacts, speed dials, on. This makes the feature now available and the phone will automatically assign contacts to the numbers 2-9 which we will want to edit to our preference.

4. To edit the pre-assigned numbers on the phone, go to menu, contacts, speed dials, edit. The first pre-assigned key 2 will be displayed with the contact number, to change this select options, change to call (if you want make a phone call to the number), or change to SMS (if you want to send a SMS text message). You will now be presented with your contacts list, scroll through till you get to the number required for this speed dial, and press select, you should see a message confirming the change and the sreeen will then show the new number assigned to key 2. Scroll down to the next key, select assign and repeat the process till all 8 keys have numbers allocated to them.

You now have 8 speed dials setup on the Nokia 2310 mobile phone for quick calls or text messaging.

In a previous post I mentioned how you could connect an Apple Macbook laptop to a video mixer.




I've had a few queries about connecting a MacBook to a TV, and would like to note that the CS-320 Scan Converter for PC & Mac is device that you could use to connect a MacBook to a CRT TV. The CS-320 scan converter will also work with PCs as well, so now you can watch those video clips stored on your computer's Hard drive using your large screen TV be it CRT, LCD or even a HD plasma.

The CS-320 also has a pass through port, so you could use it to down scale a the resolution of you Macbook to that supported by your LCD or Plasma TV if it doesn't support the native resolution of your computer or laptop.

For more information about the TV One CS-320 that can be used to connect a computer to a Video Mixer or TV read my Connect computer to video mixer post.

Podcasting with BoinxTV in the field

A bit of a guerilla filming technic using BoinxTV Software and the iSight camera of an Apple MacBook to produce a video podcast interview.

Not quite as refined as the Sample BoinxTV video from DigitalUpgrade podcasters, but it gives you an idea of the various capabilities of this new Apple Mac live video production software.

The video can be found here


I'm looking forward to the release version of BoinxTV in November 2008.

My Sony Ericsson K750i mobile phone now needs to be replaced, as not only is it over 2 years old, but the cell phone's lcd display is broken, and I can no longer take photos with the phone anymore.

I'm now thinking of getting another Sony Ericsson mobile phone, maybe the Cybershot C902 with its 5 MegaPixel camera due to my interests in photo taking and videography as opposed to the more popular Sony Walkman W580i which tends to favour the music lovers with its MP3 player. The other mobile phone that has caught my attention is the Nokia N96 which might suit my protable video camcorder needs.

Sony Ericsson cybershot C902, Walkman W580i or Nokia N96 review

So as a gadgets man, which new mobile phone should I go for, the SE C902, the SE W580i or the Nokia N96 that is the current question. I'm not going to rush into a decision, especially since it means I'm going to be tied into at least a 12 month newtork contract with either T-Mobile, Orange, Virgin, O2 or Vodafone.

I'm wondering if email configuraion on the SE W850i will be similar to that of the SE K750i, I hope the SE W850i default smtp server can easily be changed and that the option to leave email on the server is available on the Sony Walkman mobile phone.

As soon as I make a decision on the new mobile phone, I'll post my thoughts here, I don't like the colour of the Sony Ericsson W850i walkman phone.

Here is a sample video produced by BoinxTV showing its video podcasting capabilities.

This BoinxTV Sample Video was produced by the guys at DigitalUpgrade, a German technical podcast team, so while you may not be able to understand what they are saying, the video does show how easy it is to use this Apple Mac software to produce a professional looking show, as demonstrated by the presenter on the left. Notice how with a click of the mouse and a keyboard shortcut he can bring up lower third titles or start a pre-recorded video tutorial.

So with this BoinxTV live video production tool, a single presenter with practice can record his live show, and upload it to the internet with out any post production!

BoinxTV Release 1.0 is due to be released on November 11th 2008.

Yesterday I posted about BoinxTV, a new Apple Mac software currently in its final stages of development by Boinx Software and the coding monkeys.

There is a BoinxTV video tutorial that been released to help beginners get started with this new video production software designed to reduce or eliminate post production of live recorded events such as concerts, weddings, sermons, etc.



You can download the BoinxTV Video Tutorial by clicking here.

BoinxTV for MacBook Pro

I've just discovered BoinxTV a new video production software that looks very useful especially for those who would like to reduce or eliminate post production after recording a live show like I currently have to do for our church services which we put on the web.

At present after recording our live event, I have to do some post production like adding titles, intros and outros, and it looks like with this BoinxTV software for the Mac, I can use the MacBook Pro to do these on the fly and have a properly formatted quicktime movie file ready at the end of the service to be uploaded to the internet.

The BoinxTV Mac video production software is still in alpha at the moment, and I haven't done some serious testing of it yet, but with 3 camera input support, it looks like a video production softeware that might be a challenge for the Tricaster production box product by NewTek.

I will surely be posting a review of BoinxTV once I've tested it thoroughly.

Looking for a Cheap video mixer?

Connecting MacBook Laptop to Cheap Video Mixer

In an earlier post, I mentioned how you could connect a computer to a CRT TV, in this article, I'm going to show you how you can connect an Apple MacBook Pro laptop to a cheap video mixer using a commercially available gadget as an interface.

If you are using a top end broadcast quality video switcher, then you would not need any gadgets to interface between your computer or laptop, but if you are starting out in the video production business or just started a church video TV ministry, then you budget might only allow a cheap video mixer to start with.

TV One CS-320 Scan Converter

The TV One CS-320 down converter is the gadget that allows us to easily connect any computer to a Standard Definition video mixer, and thus be able to use the graphics or whatever the PC is outputing as a video source.

A computer generates very high resolution images which are not compatible with the lower resolutions used by DV or S-Video cameras, however a very popular request in churches or business conferences is being able to mix the output of a laptop with images from a video conferencing camera or other camera.

The work of the TV one CS-320 scan converter is to down grade those high resolution graphics output from the presentation computer into a format that is usable by the video mixer.

The scan converter accepts a wide range of computer screen resolutions and then provides output in either S-Video or Composite (720×576 PAL)format to be used with any cheap video mixer.



I have been using the TV One CS-320 scan converter as part of our church's TV ministry for the past 4 months, and it has worked flawlessly allowing us combine images from our camera's with presentations, videos and graphics stored our Apple MacBook Pro laptop, and easily mix between the two using our CMX-07 video mixer.

As mentioned earlier the TV One down converter is not just for Church TV ministry use, but corporate video or wedding videography as well, and the gadget is quite affordable, so won't break your bank account.



TV One produce a slightly more expensive scan converter the CS-450, one of the added features in this gadget interface is the overlay function which allows you to overlay the graphics from the computer on top of the video images from the cameras, a function that my church services use for song words over the images of the singer or business corporate executives request for titles over images of speakers at conferences.

The TV One CS-320 scan converter is one of the most productive gadget accessories I've used with our church cheap Video mixer and Apple MacBook Pro laptop.

A personal invitation from Pastor Erica Goodman of V2V churh wembley, London to join her at this year's women of excellence conference.

Beijing 2008

If you are looking for live feeds of this years Olympics games, then you should visit

Beijing 2008 Live provided by Eurovision.

You have a choice of 12 channels of live olympic sports with sound, but no commentary.

Anyone with a broadband connection on their pc should be able to follow this year's summer olympics. I've had problems watching it on my Apple MacBook Laptop, but no problems on my Windows Vista powered compaq notebook.

Which Apple Mac Laptop?

When I decided to switch to an Apple MacBook for my mobile video editing needs, I choose the Apple MacBook laptop mainly due to budget constrains. I now have access to and use the MacBook Pro laptop for all my video production capturing and editing with Final Cut Express as the application of choice.



Having used both the MacBook and MacBook Pro for over 6 months, I thought I'd give my thoughts (not a product review) on the two apple laptops so those who might need to choose between the 2 products would be able to make an informed decision.

Apple Laptops Cost

If your decision on which apple laptop you are going to buy is going to be limited by budget, then you would more likely have to buy the apple macbook, as they are cheaper.

MacBook physical design features

The Apple MacBook laptop is only available with a 13inch screen, while the MacBook Pro is available in 15 or 17inch. This is important if you are going to be carrying your apple laptops around a lot especially if you are going to be doing mobile video editing. I found that I was much more confortable using the Apple macbook on the public transport system to do my mobile video production, and as at yet have not used the MacBook pro on London's public transport system (Underground or Buses). The smaller MacBook laptop is obviously lighter, less conspicuous (if you can ever call an apple laptop with its glowing fruit logo inconspicuous).
The MacBooks also have a plastic casing as opposed to the mixed metallic/plastic exterior used on the MacBook Pro which gives the latter a more professional look. It is almost like the MacBook was designed for Students while the MacBook Pro was what you graduated to as a young working professional (just my view anyway).

laptop Specifications

Both versions of the Apple MacBook are well specified machines, with the bigger MacBook Pro having a few extra availble options like faster firewire port, larger and faster harddrive upgrades, glossy/high resolution screen and an illuminated keyboard (a very nice touch for the MacBook Pro laptop).

MacBook or MacBook Pro

So which of the two Apple laptops should one go for? That would depend on what is important to you. Cost aside, as mentioned earlier, If I was going to be doing a lot of mobile video editing, then I would probably settle for a high specification Apple Macbook as the smaller size and lighter weight would make it ideal for carrying around and using on the go (obviously you should think about personal safety when using your gadget in the public). On the other hand if I had my own transport to use, then I would go for the MacBook Pro, with the more professional look.
Personally I like the illuminated keyboard on the Pro laptop, but that alone wouldn't persuade me to buy one, though a professional video editor would probably go for it due to the larger screen estate, faster/bigger hard drive and the ability to connect the firewire 800 port to faster external hard drives.

Apple MacBook Air Laptop
I have not mentioned this gadget, as I don't think it would be useful for mobile video production, but if you are more interested in small apple laptops, then this might be the one for you.



BoinxTV on MacBook my impressions.

Further to my Sanyo VPC-CA6 Camcorder review, this is another rant about this hybrid recording device.

I hadn't used this Sanyo Camcorder in a longer time, opting to use my Sony instead, but today my son had a little presentation at school, and I wanted to use this smaller camcorder so that I could be a little discreet.

On powering up the Sanyo Xacti VPC-CA6, I got a low battery warning message, and immediately I thought not now, as I can't even power the camcorder from the charger!

I know the Sanyo Xacti CA6 is weatherproof, but I would rather have a camcorder that is more versatile, can be mounted on a tripod, has a viewfinder Lcd monitor that allows me to record myself. None of these features are avaiable on the Sanyo VPC CA6!

I'm not sure if I'd buy another Sanyo hybrid camcorder again, I miss my Sanyo Xacti C40. This gadget has now been replaced by a Hitachi SD card HD pocket camcorder.

Sanyo VPC-CA6 Hyprid Camcorder/Camera

Summary: Don't buy this gadget, very poor design compared to the previous Sanyo Xacti model I used.

My first Sanyo Xacti camcorder was the C40 which I had for about one year, and proved to be a very reliable, versatile and useful little digital camcorder with the added advantage of it taking very good quality photographs. Having used the Sanyo Xacti C40 digital camcorder for over a year filming various movies including my african bicycle adventure, my driving school video podcasts and my hang glider blog photographs, I was very upset when the little silver Sanyo Xacti C40 digital camcorder disappeared into thin air. I don't know if it was stolen, or I just lost it.

A few months latter, and I really needed another small digital camcorder to replace the Sanyo C40, as my Sony Digital 8 TRV camcorder was too big to carry around with me all the time.

I wanted to buy another Sanyo Xacti C40, but it was no longer available to buy, so the next model that came up was the Sanyo Xacti CA6 digital camcorder. I needed a replacement really fast, and having been totally satisfied with my first purchase from the Sanyo stable of Camcorders, I didn't think twice about buying the Sanyo CA6. What a big mistake.

When the Sanyo package arrived, I eagerly opened the box, and as I took the digital camcorder out of the wrapping, the first thing I noticed was the plastic casing of the Sanyo CA6 digital camcorder as opposed to the metallic silver casing of the Xacti C40, that was not the only disappointment.

I opened up the camera lcd view finder to find out that the camcorder viewfinder does not swivel around and therefore I can't record video blogs with it! The other problem is you can't charge the battery while it is in the camera, which rules it out it being used as a webcam. Finally the VPC-CA6 does not have a tripod mounting hole as did the Sanyo Xacti C40, so I can't take professionally stable shots!

On the whole a big disappointment when compared to the excellent Sanyo Xacti C40.

I would have returned the Sanyo Xacti VPC-CA6 back to the place I bought it from, but I was just too lazy packing it up and then arranging a courier to take it back, especially when I would have to pay for delivery charges.

So my advice to you is don't buy the Sanyo Xacti VPC-CA6 Digital Camcorder!

Hitachi HD Digital Video Camera

Don't use blogger.com and the custom domains feature for a business blog, even if you have a totally customised blogger template. Today 2nd June 2008 blogger.com suffered an outage, which meant I could not post on my blog, neither could anyone access any blogs hosted by blogger.com. This included blogs on blogspot.com and all blogs using custom domains.

Even though using a custom domain means you can use any of your registered domains as the address for your blog, because the blog is still hosted on blogger.com, any outage on blogger.com will also affect your blog!

Non of my custom domains hosted on blogger.com where business critical, but it just occured to me, that some small businesses or people running business from home, might be using the custom domain feature for their make money online blogs.

It is a shame that blogger layouts are not supported on ftp hosted blogger blogs, as I wouldn't have thought twice about moving my blogs to that option.

I'm hoping that today's blogger.com outage will be the last for a long time

The CMX07 is a cheap 4 source, 2 channel video mixer aimed at the consumer market.

Looking for a cheap HD video mixer?

I needed a low cost mixer for training purposes at my local church's TV ministry, and after some searching on the internet short listed 2 products, the Edirol V4 VJ mixer and Cypress's CMX-07 video mixer.
The CMX-07 was the cheaper mixer by £200, but the main reason why I chose it was that for my TV ministry training application I needed to be able to simultaneously preview all my input sources, and the Edirol did not provide this. The CMX-07 also has an Audio Mixer, but I will not be covering this, as my audio is supplied from a proper mixer and plugs into the XLR inputs of the Sony PD170 used as the main Camera. If you are however pressed for space, then the Edirol V4 mixer is a good option worth considering.

The CMX-07 is manufactured in Taiwan and imported into the UK by CYP UK Ltd. The build quality is what you would expect for a mass produced item from the Far East, the joystick looks particularly vulnerable, and there is the conspicuous absence of a T bar for transitions (probably expected at this price range), instead an audio mixer type slider is used.



Design and Layout
The CMX07 has a cheap look, a plastic case and delicate controls, the unit however is very light and compact. The controls are well grouped, with the frequently used ones within easy access of the operator, the Audio Mixer controls are relegated to the far right.

What's in the Box
Included with the mixer is the Power Adaptor, a S-Video cable and a stereo phono cable.

Setup and Operation
Setting up the CMX07 involves connecting the various Video and Audio sources to the mixer, connecting the preview outputs to the respective monitors and mixer Audio/Video output to the recording device and program monitor.
There are 2 S-Video (4pin DIN), 2 Composite Video (RCA Phono) inputs, all 4 can be monitored simultaneously via their respective preview output (phono connection), 2 stereo audio inputs (RCA Phono) are also provided with the composite video sources, a stereo aux audio (RCA Phono) and a 3/4" Mic jack in the front panel completes the audio inputs. There are 2 S-Video, 2 composite Video and 2 stereo audio outputs.

Once everything is connected, switch on the CMX07 mixer which will go to its default settings. Even though the mixer has 4 video sources, you can only switch 2 at a time, so you need to configure both A and B buses with the required sources for switching. It should be noted that the mixer does not save any settings, so you need to configure the sources each time you switch the unit on. Cutting between 2 sources is accomplished by moving the "T" bar to either A or B bus and simply pressing the Video1 or Video2 button as required.
Basic Transitions (dissolve, wipe and PIP) are provided, again using the "T" bar on A bus, select Video1, choose the transition, on B bus select Video2, move the "T" bar from bus A to B and you have your transition. An auto take button is also provided with programmable speed.

Performance
Obviously this is not a broadcast quality switcher/mixer, and therefore the performance is not going to be brilliant.

The CMX07 specifications boasts that it has "Dual Time Base Correction for glitch-free source-switching", however in use I have found that when perfoming straight cuts between Video1 to Video2 there is a visible freeze on Video1, this occurs about 80% of the time, the dissolves on the other hand are pretty smooth and look professional to me (viewed on my 28inch WS TV). The processed output of the mixer seems to have a little bit of gain, as the same scene viewed from the camcorder recorded tape (ISO) has a lower contrast/Brightness level.
There are various digital effects (Negative, Mosaic, etc), which I've played with, but are generally not going to find use in a real production environment. There is a Blue Key mode which is supposed to allow Blue Screen work, I haven't tried this, but doubt the quality of the key would be very good. The PIP mode works quite well, and could be useful, a set of Background colours is also provided, though I have found no use for these in my application of the unit.

Conclusion
For its price, the CMX07 is actually good value for what it does, the main pitfalls being the absence of a T Bar, and the glitches during straight cuts. I have overcome the glitch problem by using the wipe transition in auto mode at its fastest setting.
Though the unit is advertised as a cheap 2 channel mixer, I have with a bit of ingenuity been able to use it to switch/mix a 3 Camera setup.

Having used the CMX07 mixer for over 4 years in a mobile setup at my local church to connect up to 3 church video cameras in a live switching configuration, I must say it provides good value for money, and would suit churches who want to startup a video/TV ministry, wedding videographers looking to mix 2 cameras live at a reception or even low budget corporate work. If you need something smaller, then I woud recommend the Edirol V4 video mixer.

I am now offering video photography and video editing services to individuals.



Video Photography:
If you are looking for professional coverage of your special events, then I am your man, having submitted video documentaries to BBC and Current TV that have been accepted for publication, I have the knowledge to produce a product that will captivate your audience, unlike your average man with a camcorder who just points and shoots at everything happening.

The end result is a video that is short, entertaining with a balanced coverage of the whole event.
Fees start at £250, and depends on the time spent covering your event.

PS: I don't cover weddings at the moment due to the longs hours required for these and the unwillingness of most people to pay professional rates (min £1,000) for an excellent service.



Video Editing:
Do you have a long wedding video you need edited into something short that can be shown to your guests? Need to produce a video from photos and footage of your children or just need a video produced from various footage you have in old formats, then you have come to the right place.
Fees start at £50 and depends on the work you need done. Please note my editing is not about trimming done a long video into something short, but about telling a story using the footage provided.

Please have a look at my show reel to see the various videos I've produced and edited to have a feel for the quality of work undertaking.

I'm currently acting as a producer/editor on a project billed as Britain's first Internet Only reality show.

If you are interested in any of these services, then call 07956233032 or email sholao@meet-britain.org.uk

Hitachi HD pocket Camcorder

If you want to use a custom domain with blogger.com and have a domain registered with 123reg.co.uk, then here are the steps to follow to enable both www.yourdomain.co.uk and yourdomain.co.uk to point to your old blogspot.com blog. 123reg.co.uk provide cheap uk domains registrations (£6.80 for 2 years) and are thus very popular with bloggers.



Login to your control panel at 123reg.co.uk, and select the domain you want to manage.



Click on modify domain.

Now choose Web Forwarding

Select non-framed webforwarding, and enter the blogspot address of your domain.



Click on update webforwarding to save changes and return to the control panel.

Now select Manage DNS and add a CNAME record for www pointing to ghs.google.com as shown below. Note: there is a trailing dot!

You will now have to wait 24hrs for these changes to take effect. The easiest way to know if the changes have taken effect is to type www.yourdomain.co.uk into a browser, if it comes up with a 123reg.co.uk holding page, then the changes have not occurred.

Once the changes have taken place, login to blogger, and change the publishing settings to your new domain as shown below:



You should now have both www.yourdomain.co.uk and yourdomain.co.uk pointing to your old blogspot.com blog.

PS: You might have to wait about 30 minutes after changes made at blogger.com for your blog to work (you might get 404 errors in the meantime).

Additional Reading
Don't use Blogger Custom Domain for business blog.