Now that Toshiba has removed itself from the game of Next-Gen DVD choice, Blu-Ray has the backing of all 6 major studios. So with the decision made, hopefully, we can move on with our media creation! If the need arises TechnoStones Interactive will still create HDDVD’s for you as long as there is blank media available!
The Winner Is? Blu-Ray
Feb 21
First Avid dropped out of NAB(National Association of Broadcasters) Convention and now Apple? WOW! I am interested to see if Discreet will see an increase in leads by attending the show as one of very few Post Production distributors. Adobe?
There has been alot of the buzz if NAB has lost its luster. If you think of it this way, you spend 6 figures to attend a trade show to present your latest and greatest. But if you spent that 6 figure budget in other marketing areas, I am sure you would have a better ROI. You could get a lot of Clicks for 6 figures.
Mac or PC, if you are in the post video industry you have heard or used Avid and or Apple. I am interested to see if these two will pull out of SIGGRAPH later on this year as well. Ah it doesn’t matter – we all go to these trade shows for the t-shirts and the parties!
Drupal/RuPaul
Jan 27
The first time someone mentioned Drupal I thought it was another flamboyant character from the 90’s. But it is not….
Drupal is a very very robust backend framework that allows for a great deal of flexibility. It provides the users many options including, 3rd party modules and themes, to make a very comprehensive social site. Here at TechnoStones Interactive we are diving in head first to see what it’s limitations are. Were are not finding too many limitations thus far. I am excited to see that we have come a long way from custom built solutions that cost $250k+ and are able to use open source coding for the small company’s.
If you would like more information about Drupal visit http://www.drupal.org
Most of cell phone users are able to receive SMS (Short Message Service) or Text messages. It is about time that someone put a good use to SMS technology other than advertisers.
Wireless AMBER Alerts is using SMS technology to broadcast alerts to anyone that signs up! It is a painless process to sign up. Enter your mobile phone number fill out a short form and select the zip codes that you would like to recieve alerts. You will only recieve alerts when an AMBER Alert is sent out within your specified zip codes. You can cancel your subscription at any time.
Dual Purpose Media
Dec 22
Last night I was flipping through the channels here in Wisconsin and I happened upon “Firebrand”. I thought this format looks alot like the Rich Media you would put on the web. See the screen shot below:
It is the same format that is on the web! The screen shot above is for a Snickers spot.
Firebrand is an excellent concept to showcase commercials, but really good commercials one right after another. So the show was a commercial show with no commercials! Go figure I sat thru them all, 30 minutes. During the show a spokeswoman would key in on screen and talk about the next set of spots. Across the top was the Call to Action of visiting the website. http://www.firebrand.com I visited the website today and it is very neat. The IA on the site takes a little bit to get used to. You are able to search by brand, set up playlists and rate your favorites. You can even download the spot if you would like. The extremely nice feature is you can view the credits of these spots.
The web killed your TV!
Dec 6
On December 5th Adobe announced that the new Flash Player 9 build 3 will support H.264 video. This is excellent news for those individuals that post video on their website.
For those of you who don’t know. H.264 is a type of compressor/decompresser that will give your videos better than DVD quality. Keep in mind that with the DVD wars going on right now, Blu-ray and HDDVD uses H.264 standard for video compression.
This is a benefit to media producers, like Technostones, Inc., because the end user has a small download to get updated to the new flash player. Where in the past if you wanted to use H.264 you would hope that your user would; 1. have QuickTime installed or 2. want to download a 50mb file to watch your content.
To see what market share the Flash player has visit the Adobe website
For a side by side comparison of QuickTime, Windows Media and Flash done in last year take a look at another chart from Adobe.
Earlier this week it was announced that DivX purchased MainConcept for some pocket change. MainConcept is the distributor of the H.264 codec, along with other technology used by Adobe, Corel, Sonic, Sony and Panasonic. I am sure the stakeholders at DivX see additional market penetration in the mobile and HD market.
DivX has made its living licensing its codec, mostly for DVD Players and the web. I hope that H.264 does not fall under that mindset. H.264 is how ever an open standard based codec, but with this acquisition, DivX could bring it under its licensing umbrella.
For more information visit MainConcept
One Man Video Band!
Nov 13
In October’s issue of INC. Magazine there is a good article on Video and how YouTube has created a “good enough” mentality for posting videos on the web. YouTube style “run and gun” type productions are perfect for the teenager with a skateboard, but as a Company, there is an image to uphold. Because of that image the typical “run and gun” style of shoot should not be used. A little more thought should be put into what you are going to upload. Ask your self one simple question: Is this what my customers are looking for?
Training videos, or product demonstrations need a little bit more finesse. Not all companies have the budget to hire a video production house to write, shoot, edit, and deliver your video, but at least take the time to research your options before beginning your project. If you have a smaller budget look for smaller post houses like TechnoStones or a gorilla video expert versed in all aspects of video. If you still would like to use YouTube after your final product is complete, you will be steps ahead of 95% of the YouTube content submissions. An old saying comes to mind – Garbage In, Garbage Out! Let’s keep the web a clean place for all.
Package Web Solutions
Nov 9
Can web site solutions be sold as packages? Similar to this:
In the 10 years TechnoStones has been producing web work, we have never come across 2 different client sites that need the same solution. Other than the hard costs of Domain name and Hosting, 10 pages of content will vary depending on clients needs. Here is an example of how a single website page would differ in costs, assuming no content exists. We will use the standard “about us” page.
Sample A:
The Need:Informational page about the company and their mission statement. How they work, when they were founded.
The Solution: Copywriting is the only person needed to generate content for this sample.
Sample B:
The Need:Information page about the company and their mission statement. How they work, including wireframe structure of personel and facility workflow. Include a photo of the building and the president behind her desk.
The Solution: Photographer to take the pictures of the building and President. Graphic Designer to create the workflow wireframe with personel legend. Copywriter to generate copy for the page.
As you can see a single page can differ quite a bit from client to client. In the end it is still only an “about us” page. By providing an all inclusive package for a website would be a disservice to the client and the design firm. In the end your project will cost more than the original package price. If it doesn’t cost more, your site will be sub-standard because the design/development was driven by “this is what you get for this amount of an investment”.
With the web you can provide 31 different options on a single request. Make sure you select the option that is right for your company and your customers!
I remember back when I was a young sprout watching public access television on Sunday afternoons. The production value not the best, but it was different than the norm. Over the years I have seen less and less Public Access programming, other than the occasional Central High School football game.
Is there a reason? Free is good right?
While driving the other day I figured out where all of my Public Access programming went – to the internet. YouTube.com for example offers the same value that Public Access provided, with out a time schedule. Web users are used to getting the information when and how they want it. Think of the possibilities of producing a video for your company that is available 24/7. That is a lot better than have your video stuck in the 1pm time slot when your target audience is at work.
Here is the type of shows that used to be on Public Access - Now showing on YouTube!!!
Ready-Set-Bumbo III