Did you know there are several text editors included on your Mac that you won't find in the Applications folder? They are in Terminal. Sure, they are ancient editors from a bygone era, but there are still a lot of cool functions in them that you can't do in Word or Pages. Check out some examples. I doubt anyone will want to switch to VIM after seeing this, but it is good to know it is there just in case.
So I had this idea. If you put a video into Keynote, and the first 5 second on the first frame, and the second 5 seconds on the second frame, etc. And then you exported it as video, would it export just like the original? Turns out it will, as long as you set things up right. So given that, you now have a way to add all sorts of graphics, text and other elements to those frames. This could be a way to create some interesting videos.
Happy holidays everyone! Here is an everyday task (for me) that I wanted to share with everyone. This is how I grab images from the Apple site, even though it doesn't appear as if you can save images from most of their pages. This same technique can be used at other difficult websites, or just to make it easier at other websites.
So the popular Mac image editing app Pixelmator Pro added a new feature a few days ago called ML Super Resolution. Basically, what it does is to increase the resolution of an image. It uses machine learning to fill in the blanks. You can then take older lower-resolution photos and upscale them so they don't look as bad on today's higher resolution screens, or for printing. But does it work? I did some initial tests and it is pretty impressive. I may do a MacMost video on this if enough people want to see tutorials on 3rd-party apps like Pixelmator Pro. I'll have to try it on some images with people, and maybe some landscapes too. Oh, and by the way, this YouTube video is in 4K. I thought that was appropriate so you could see the images as clearly as possible. So if you have the speed and screen size, view it full screen.
I really like the forms feature of Numbers that is on the iPad. But Apple still hasn't added that to the Mac version of Numbers. I don't think they ever will. So I came up with a script that will do it. This JavaScript (JXA) script in Script Editor will take the values from 4 cells on a second sheet and then use them to create a new row of data in a table on the first sheet. So it is basically like a data entry form. You can put scripts like this in a special Script menu bar icon, and then they only appear when the right app is open. I'll attach the script if you want to try it out.
So I've got this upcoming video on creating a movie in iMovie where you throw a fireball. I create the fireball in Keynote. Here is a preview of the video: <a href="https://archive.org/download/createamagicfireballvideousingthesoftwareonyourmacmacmost2074/2074Fireball.mp4" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://archive.org/download/createamagicfireballvideousingthesoftwareonyourmacmacmost2074/2074Fireball.mp4</a> While making this video, it occurred to me that you can use the same fireball inside a Keynote presentation. For instance, you can have a torch in an image have an animated flame. So I try that out here with two examples. I also started to think about other similar effect tricks. So I create a scene where I could use the fireworks animation as a background behind a city scene.
So I finally got a better camera for shooting MacMost videos. Some of you may remember I had been using the Logitech Brio, a 1080p webcam, for years. Then I upgraded a few months ago to a cheap camcorder, the Canon R800. I plugged that in to an Elgato Cam Link 4K to stream the 1080p video into the Mac and record in ScreenFlow. That was better. But I know a real camera with a large sensor and lens would be much better. I had planned to get the Sony 𝛂6400 for a while, but the $1,000 price point held me back. Then Sony came out with the 𝛂6100, a cheaper version for $750. I got that over the weekend and have now shot two upcoming videos with it. Take a look at the comparison. It is quite a jump. And I can see it when I zoom in really well. I now understand why not all actors were thrilled when 1080 became the standard for TV! The camera is actually 4K, but I'm using it at 1080p. The Elgato Cam Link 4K can do 4K, but at the moment I can only seem to get 4K by sacrificing frames. So instead of 30 frames per second, I'm getting dropped frames, so more like 10 fps. It looks jittery. Each frame is crystal clear, though. And the preview of the video looks 30fps. So I'm wondering if even my 2013 Mac Pro isn't capable of encoding 4K video <strong>in real time</strong>. That "in real time" is the key here. Even a midrange Mac can work with 4K video, but it isn't encoding a stream of it in real time. So I can try some 4K video, but just recorded to the camera's SD card. And maybe my next Mac will be able to do it. Or maybe the successor to the Elgato Cam Link 4K will work. I can't wait to use the new camera as a camera too. Oh, and I've moved the R800 to the other side of my desk to use instead of the old Brio in the shot of me in the corner of the screen. Have to use the same Cam Link for now, swapping out the HDMI input though.
So I have an upcoming video on store photos in the Finder as files rather than in the Photos app. That is useful, especially if you use your Mac for work and want to separate work projects from your personal photos. Here is a preview of the video: <a href="https://archive.org/download/storingphotosinfinderfoldersasanalternativetothephotosappmacmost2069/2069FinderPhotos.mp4" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://archive.org/download/storingphotosinfinderfoldersasanalternativetothephotosappmacmost2069/2069FinderPhotos.mp4</a> While making this video, I thought it would be useful to be able to rename photos, but keep the original name in parenthesis. So "IMG0096.jpg" would become "Photo Title (IMG0096).jpg". Sure you can do it manually. But if this could be something that you need to do often if you take photos for work. Heck, I have a huge clipart photo collection I purchased with names that are just numbers and I'd love to rename a file from time-to-time but don't want to lose the original filename. So here is an automator script that does this. It prompts you for a new name and then puts that name, plus the original name in parenthesis. I thought it would be easier to make. But it is tricky because you have to take apart the original file path and just get the name. And you have to juggle that and the new name. I'll zip up and attach the Automator workflow to this post.
So I had some fun last night and made this little video, just for YouTube. But I thought I'd share it here too, so we can discuss. Having a teenager at home, and a wife pretty active with social media, I see a lot of communication done with emoji. I find it fascinating how these little pictures are being used to abbreviate words, feelings, or convey an idea with some whimsy. I made this video partially because I think people will find it fun, but also because some parents may want to know what their kids mean when they send a text. I thought very carefully how to handle the more risqué ones. I tried to present the most logical and least-shocking definitions I could think of, without making them difficult to understand. I hope no one takes offense.
I can't believe this worked so easily. I bought some cheap NFC tag stickers from Amazon and was easily able to add Personal Automations in the Shortcuts app on my iPhone that are triggered by them. As an example, I now have a tag that I can wave my iPhone in front of and a song will play. I'm sure I can come up with more useful things for it to do too. Works better than other Personal Automations because you can set it to run without confirming. I will be playing with it more and doing a regular tutorial at some point. Any good ideas for useful things that can be done with this technique?
So I'm thinking about doing a video soon about alternate methods of organizing your photos in the Photos app. So many people are stuck just using plain albums. But you can use titles, descriptions and keywords and then build Smart Albums instead. Or use no albums at all and just keywords and searches. Let me show you these methods and I'd love your feedback and other suggestions.
Been a while since I showed what equipment I'm using. Here are some details: <ul> <li>Neewer Ring Light Kit:18"/48cm Outer 55W 5500K Dimmable LED Ring Light</li> <li>Canon VIXIA HF R800</li> <li>Elgato Cam Link 4K</li> <li>AT2020 USB Cardioid Condenser Microphone</li></ul>
Watch as I go through the specs of the new MacBook Pro and comment on what I like and don't like (but I like everything).
Adobe released its long-awaited "full" Photoshop app for iPad today. I immediately downloaded it and gave it a spin. The first thing I wanted to do, filters, wasn't supported. Looks like this is more of a companion to desktop Photoshop for the time being. Hopefully Adobe will push forward quickly adding the missing pieces to this app. In the meantime, I guess if you have both a Mac and an iPad, then this is somewhat useful as you can open your PSD files. Here's a direct link to the app, since you can't find it by searching yet. <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/adobe-photoshop/id1457771281" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://apps.apple.com/us/app/adobe-photoshop/id1457771281</a>
It is handy to know there is a place you can see what software has been updated on your Mac and when, including system updates and even malware tool updates.
I really wanted to make a MacMost tutorial about using the Record feature in Automator. But that thing is so frustrating to use! But it can some in handy. So here is me trying -- somewhat successfully -- to use Automator to make it easier to create circular text in Keynote. Lots to learn here.
The Music app on iOS 13 (and iPadOS) does some fun things with lyrics. I love music, and I love lyrics, so I love these features! First, the lyrics are now follow-along style. So you see what is being sung as the song plays. Second, you can scroll through the lyrics and then tap on a line to jump to that part of the song. Third, you can now search by entering in any obscure lyric you can think of and the song pops up. This helps find those songs that have non-obvious titles and ear-worms that you just can't place.
Mac Catalyst is the set of developer tools that makes it easier for developers to create iPad and Mac apps at the same time. With the launch of Catalina, there are already several new apps in the Mac App Store because of this. Nothing too exciting though. Here are some lists compiled by some news sites. It is great to see this actually happening already. But over the next months and years we'll see a definite boost in available Mac apps due to this new tech.
So you may be noticing how almost every episode of the show looks a little different at the start. Sometimes the video introduction is good. Sometimes it is bad. Most of the time it is somewhere in between. I've become obsessed with getting it right. The video here shows 6 variations. Watch at the end when all 6 are side-by-side in a loop. I'm not done yet. Some of those episodes are yet to go up, as the whole Catalina release date has my whole schedule in chaos. But here is a run-down of these 6 variations and what is working and what is not. First, we have the <strong>Logitech Brio</strong>, a 4K (1080p really) webcam. I've been using this for a long while, but never happy with it. Look how washed out my skin is. The pixels are all mushy. I must do better. Next, I tried to use my trusty DSLR, my <strong>Canon T3i</strong>. It does 1080p and this may be the best of the bunch. The problem is there is no way to stream that into my Mac. I have to record to the SD card, film everything as best I can, then transfer via the card to the Mac. Doing it this way is a pain and while the image quality is great, the content will suffer as production never goes smoothly. Just to try it, I used my <strong>iPhone X</strong>. This was before I got the iPhone 11 Pro Max, but I don't think that would make a difference. The quality is definitely better than the Brio, but not as good as the T3i. And I have to record to the phone and transfer, which is a pain. OK, so I heard about the Elgato Cam Link 4K. It is a little USB device that takes HDMI in one end and outputs USB3 on the other. It turns any HDMI signal into a webcam. Yes! I wanted this for so long. Previous solutions just never worked. But what camera do I get to work with the Cam Link? My T3i can only be convinced to output sub-1080 on HDMI. I'd have to buy something new. I figured out the perfect camera, but stopped short of buying it because of the price. More on that later. Instead I got the <strong>Canon R800</strong>, a little camcorder that outputs 1080p. It only cost me $159. But my first attempt at using it was very disappointing. It looks almost as bad as the Brio! However, there are lots of YouTubers using the R800 and their video looks good. And Elgato even has a test video where they use it, and that looks good. So I played with the settings and found if I turned off "Auto" and switched to "<strong>Highlights</strong>" it looks much better. It actually looks 1080p, unlike the first try. But the other issue may have been my lighting. I have a lot of little lights. I keep adding more to try to get it better. I decided to spend $60 and get some real studio lights. Big ones. That seems to help. So the last example is the R800 with <strong>better lighting</strong>. I'm still not super happy with it. If I have more lights, why does it kinda look dark? I think the key may be in the settings. I'll keep playing with it. It could also be that "highlights" mode is working with the bright white shirt in the example. Maybe I need to adjust the exposure in some way that I haven't discovered yet. Oh, so I mentioned my ideal camera. I figured out that the <strong>Sony A6400</strong> is probably what I should get . It is a mirrorless camera with a 4K video mode that works well with the Cam Link. Plus I think the reason the T3i works so well, even though it is the oldest piece of equipment here, is just the basics: lens size and sensor size. It simply has a bigger lens and larger sensor = more light + larger sensor pixels. At least that is my theory. So the A6400 would be a modern version of that capable of pumping 4K through the Cam Link and making things look ultra-professional. But at a cost: $1,000. So I'm going to stick with the R800 for now and plan on an A6400 for later. The A6400 is all over YouTube and being hailed by many as the perfect "YouTube camera," which fits with how I want to use it.
Couldn't wait to get outside and test out the 3 cameras and what they can do. Also: night mode.
