Well, Tom was right. I boosted my Audio bitrate by just a touch and the improvement was excellent.
Aug
03
I am running a Mac on OSX with VM Fusion with Windows XP. I do this because Articulate doesn’t have a Mac version and I like Outlook.
I am using a Logitech headset for recording audio. Last week the headset was giving me problems. It was detected with no problem on the Mac side, but for some reason it was not visible to the Windows side. I tried restarting the Guest in VM Fusion hoping that Windows would pick up the headset when it restarted but nothing seemed to work. I tried quitting VM Fusion and then restarting. I tried quitting everything and rebooting. I tried detecting devices in Windows. Eventually, I called computer support but they told me to uninstall and reinstall drivers. I was uncomfortable doing that so I continued to look in VM Fusion’s Help. There I discovered the answers.
Somehow the USB controller had stopped working. I had to reinstall that and the add a sound adapter.
Adding the USB Controller
1. With the virtual machine shut down or powered off, select the virtual machine in the Virtual Machine Library window and click Settings.
You cannot change the setting while the virtual machine is powered on or suspended.
2. Under Removable Devices in the Settings window, select USB Devices.
3. Click Add USB Controller.
4. Select one or both of the options:
■ Enable USB 2.0 support
■ Automatically connect USB devices
Adding a Sound Adapter
1. With the virtual machine shut down or powered off, select the virtual machine in the Virtual Machine Library window and click Settings.
You cannot change the setting while the virtual machine is powered on or suspended.
2. In the Removable Devices section of the Settings window, select Sound.
3. Click Add Sound Device.
4. To connect or disconnect the sound adapter, select or deselect the checkbox Connected.
After that I had to go into Windows control panel, select “Sounds and Audio Devices” and make sure the Logitech device was chosen under the Audio tab for Sound playback and Sound recording, and under the Voice tab for Voice playback and Voice recording. After that it worked like a charm. Unfortunately it took a couple hours (at least) to figure this out, but now i know!
Jul
23
The audio files unlinked from my presentation …again…. only this time the fix I posted here didn’t work. So I decided to try recording in Audacity.
My audio quality has been pretty low. First of all, the original recordings were full of mouth sounds. And even when the recording sounds ok, the publishing process that Articulate runs has garbled it. Based on an article in the Rapid E-learning Blog, I tried a couple of things to improve quality.
I used a homemade pop screen. I have a Logitech headset. I set the mic below my mouth, held the pop screen in front of it, and went into a room with no windows. The quality of the original recording was significantly better. Unfortunately, there’s still a tinny, garbled sound being produced after the publish process.
One advantage to recording each slide separately in Audacity is that now i have them in a separate folder and don’t have to worry about losing them in audio-file-neverland. Plus they are easy to change and easy to upload. I saved them as .wav files at 16 bit rate with a sampling rate of 44 kHz as recommended in the new Articulate book, “Essential Articulate Studio ‘09.”
My hope now is to figure out how to get rid of the tinny quality when I publish.
Jun
29
I’m not much of a photographer, and we are lucky to have a very talented photographer on staff doing our shooting. I need pics with isolated white backgrounds to use on our slides and for menu items. It’s turned out to be a challenge to find and create safety equipment photos with isolated white backgrounds! We are working on it now and in the process I found this informative link:
I haven’t tried it yet, but I hope it’s helpful to others as well.
Jun
19
Thanks to my office manager, and her PowerPoint class at Bismarck State College, I’ve discovered a wealth of invaluable tutorials for all kinds of cool stuff. Actually it’s a collection of websites created by people associated with Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professionals program. The tutorials are under the MVP Links section.
The PowerPoint section is helpful to me as an Articulate user. The more I know about PowerPoint, the more I can harness its power for e-learning!
Try them out – tell us what you think!
Jun
19
Last week I had to present the Safety module I was working on and the morning of, I discovered that the version of the file I had published had NO AUDIO files. oh boy was i excited, running round screaming, “My audio files disappeared!”
After combing through the forums and finding nothing, I resorted to emailing Articulate’s customer service. As always, they were prompt, courteous and correct. Here is the response I received.
‘If you are working in Presenter ‘09 and notice your audio disappears, please review the following article which outlines possible solutions for you:
http://www.articulate.com/support/presenter09/kb/?p=643
If you installed Presenter ‘09 Update 4, you may notice that audio recorded in PowerPoint via SlideShow -> Record Narration doesn’t publish. We will be addressing this issue in Update 5. In the meantime, you can workaround this issue. Please see:
http://www.articulate.com/support/presenter09/kb/?p=891
You can check the version in about Articulate. The update 4 version is: Presenter 6.1.903.321
THE FIX:
In your MyArticulateProject folder, look for a file ending in “-old” and remove the word old.
Restoring the connection between the <presentation>-old.ppta file and your PowerPoint file
In the event that a <presentation>-old.ppta file is created which still contains your audio, you can easily reconnect it with the PowerPoint file.
- You can tell if the <presentation>-old.ppta file contains your audio because it should be significantly larger than your current PPTA file.
- If your PowerPoint presentation’s name is still the same, you would simply need to remove the -old from the PPTA name and make sure that the PPTA file resides in the same directory as that of the PowerPoint file. This will restore the connection between the PPTA file and your PowerPoint file.
- If you changed the name of the PowerPoint file you would simply need to update the <presentation>-old.ppta file name to match the PowerPoint name.
This worked like a charm.
Jun
18
Well, I’ve been gathering data on Articulate (by using it) for several months now, and I have to say that my impression is generally positive. There are many times when I’ve been frustrated with the little glitches that have raised their ugly heads, but generally the sharp-looking, easy-to-achieve results are well worth the hassles.
When I do have issues, I have found answers either in the forums or through customer service. My office only has the email help account, but all of my emails have received prompt, polite and accurate responses. There is (or at least was) a daily webinar users can attend, and the one time that I took advantage of that I received personalized answers to my questions. My absolute favoriate aspect of Articulate’s customer service is the rapid e-learning blog. I’ve learn so much from the author, Tom Kuhlmann, about not only Articulate, but good practical application of ID principles. Thanks, Tom!
Jun
18
I’ve been in my new job for about 5 months now, and in Bismarck for about 2. I’ve been hesitant to settle myself in my new office because of the somewhat shaky beginnings. However, things are improving drastically, so this week I decided to bring some life in. My new plant, my new office, my new career. yay me.
new plant, new office, new job, new career
Apr
24
I am attending my first Construction Conference. I’m going to try doing my first real time blog post too.
Wow when I walked in the room all men!! Saw a friend from Grand Forks which was nice. Saw L but didn’t get a chance to say hi immediately
Peggy Anderson, NDDOT Communications Director, spoke on “How to work with the media”
Very interesting topic. It’s sad that everyone has to be so careful. Everyone these days has the ability to record you; always be on your guard.
She told a story of the Gordon Call incident. I think my friend adonica did a little play on that. She was the reporter that closest b/c her dad knew the farmer next door to the Calls.. they were broadcasting her in NY.
The Feds would not talk to the press, so the front page the newspaper “FBI shot the family dog”
They didn’t tell their story.
She played an interview from youtube called the “front fell off.” A very funny example of a poorly done interview.
Good example: Senator Conrad interview.
Created talking points for every one in the different cities when the MN bridge collapsed to present a consistent message across the state
Jack Olson, Assistant Director, Planning Programming Dvision “Oil, Manufacturing and Agricultural Truck Growth”
Lots of information on “truck traffic”; lots of numbers.
In 1950 12.5 billion pounds of agriculture
57 billion pounds in 2006
32% increase in weight the system was asked to carry. Move it one time from field to farm. That is 1.3 million truckloads.
Agriculture is producing a lot more weight.
Potato production shifted to western regions where technology allowed irrigation in sandy areas.
The Durham triangle 1975 wheat production in bushels. went up and then tailed back and moved west. other, heavier crops took their place.
Shifts present challenges for engineers
oil production confined in western part of the state
Agriculture and oil production
Wind farms
- 1740 megawatts of wind generation in the state
- Blades are about 140,000 lbs
- 13 to 15 loads per
- most of them are permitted for over weight
- 1.5 million pounds for one unit
- ND highest potential for wind farms with wind potentials in the nation…how that develops will depend on how energy policies play out.
Ardoch Coal Transload site.
- one of the few 4 way railway stops in the state
- 27,000 tons of coal a year
- 80 truck loads a day
- About 1/3 fewer railroads today – all trucks now
- All production that was being hauled by rail is now going out by truck to more locations
ASHTO
truck impacts – how we can deal with them – they are very important to our economy
average semi same impact of 9600 automobiles
$4m worth of goods moved with trucks
Leads to more Mileage Distress
we will have to continue working to provide services to road and railroad systems to safely move people and good.s
Francis Zielgler, PE, Director
Grant Levi, PE, Deputy Director for the Engineering for the NDDOT
vision, mission and employee values
professionalism
respect
integrity
dedication
excellent
whatever you do be safe!
Gary Levi
The American Recovery & Investment Act
$27.5 billion for highways
USDOT 21 days to distribute or they will be distrubted
Priority is given to projects that will be completed within 3 years and in economically distressed areas.
$8.5 mill for Transit
ND should received about $11 million
ND spends $1millioin on a snow storm.
Bills in the Legislative Session
most important thing to us is safety
“Move Over” bill – puts the highway industry people in the same bracket as the patrol officers.
FHWA UPdate
Wendall L. Meyer, Divisin Adminisnrator
Federal Highway Association
Mission 0- povide for a strong and virogours national economy
improve mobility on our nation’s highways thru national learndship innovation and program delivery
what the public expects
safety and fiscal integrity , emergency response.
our roles
Congressional Action
economic recovery pacakge
www.recovery.gov
fwa.dot.gov/economicrecovery
ARRA American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
infrastructure recovery will play an important role in teh long term prosperity of our countty.(GO READ IT)
- build roads and bridges to keep the economy moving
- job preservation and creation
- infrastructure investment
- energy efficiency and science
- assistance to unemployed and
- $48.1 billion for transportation,
- 27.5 for highways
- 8.4 billion for transit
- 8.0 for high speed rail.
- 1.3 bill for amtrak
- significant accountability, ransparency and reporting requirements
- projects must be completed in 3 years
- in economically distressed areas
