MacMost: Patreon Video

Here's a Numbers spreadsheet I created to make sample names and addresses. I needed some sample for a future tutorial, so instead of coming up with fake names I built this tool to make up as many as I need.

So in tomorrow's regular video, I talk about creating nice-looking photo slideshows in Keynote. Here's a different way to do it that makes it look like all of the photos are on one "canvas" that moves around. You can use this same technique for mixed media presentations too.

You can use Shell Scripts to run one or more Terminal commands, but as a single file you can easily double-click to run. In this example I create one that opens three files and launches an app all with one action. Then you have to set the permissions for the Shell Script file and set it to run in Terminal. An alternative is to embed Shell Scripts into an Automator app.

Every year Backblaze publishes the stats on their drive. So many drives! And so big. I didn't realize you could get 16TB drives now relatively cheap. Anyway, the report is at <a href="https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-stats-for-2019/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-stats-for-2019/</a> 

While playing around with building organizational diagrams in Pages, I took a detour to make diagrams that actually perform calculations using one-cell tables in Numbers. It is kinda neat. I'm calling them "Flowsheets." Take a look at this example. I'll attach the document too.

Remember back in the 1980s when computers were things that you would buy and then use to learn how to program? You turned on the Apple II and you were greeted with a command line and could start programming in BASIC right away. This is how I started. You can't really do this on a Mac, but you can do something kinda like it. The <strong>Script Editor</strong> app can be used to get started with JavaScript in a similar way to how the Apple II let you learn BASIC. And JavaScript is related and similar to so many modern programming languages, so it is a good place to start. So I decided to try to recreate a simple BASIC learning workbook, but using Script Editor and JavaScript. I'm not sure if the result is good or not. It certainly is long, at 25 minutes. Or, maybe that is short for what it covers. I'm thinking of doing this in a more polished way as a regular MacMost video. In the meantime, here's my first attempt at such a tutorial.

I'm a huge fan of RTS (real-time strategy) games. Back in the heyday of RTS games, titles like Age of Empires and Rise of Nations were my favorites. But those games are so old they don't work on modern Macs. I miss them. I was surprised to see a new game appear, and not from a major studio or developer. And is is definitely built for modern computers with way better graphics, etc. Take a look.

There's a special mode in iMovie that lets you edit and export vertical video. I hate to mention it though, because I don't want to encourage people to shoot vertical video. But it is good to know, nonetheless.

When I'm done making each tutorial, I spend a few minutes making the poster that you see at YouTube and the MacMost site. This includes the title, a graphic like an icon, and usually me looking excited/authoritative/goofy in front of a background. I create these in Pixelmator with a variety of techniques. I use two selection tools to cut myself out of the image and then put myself in front of the background and template with a subtle shadow. My hope is that by including a face in the poster it makes it more "visible" in places like YouTube so get some new people watching my tutorials.

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.