Recent Posts

Topic: Contest Kiosk / What videos would you like to see in the contest?

@ Brittanie --Well, it depends what exactly you want to notice.. we would probably need some doctors advice… heh.. can’t diagnose for things like that on the inter-webs

Topic: Teachers' Lounge / How long should it take for a video to process?

Hey Jim, this should be fixed, now! Thanks.

Topic: Teachers' Lounge / How long should it take for a video to process?

I have tried uploading a video twice and it seems to be stuck in processing limbo. Is anyone else having trouble, or is this a high upload traffic day for Mindbites? Curious…

Topic: MindBites Watercooler / Tweak to the upload process

Thanks for letting us know about your problems. We’re working on getting everything back up and functioning properly after the redesign. Let us know if anything else pops up that isn’t working properly.

Topic: MindBites Watercooler / Tweak to the upload process

had the same issue, unfortunately. Somehow managed to get around it.. try firefox or internet explorer :/
Also had some issues uploading a thumbnail image….
Code 500 server error?

Topic: MindBites Watercooler / Tweak to the upload process

Thanks, Jendi! We will post the problem and resolution, once we have it all worked out.

Topic: MindBites Watercooler / Tweak to the upload process

Wanted to let everyone know that I got an email reply.
We are working it out.

Topic: MindBites Watercooler / Tweak to the upload process

How do I tell MB which file to upload?
I filled out the form.
Then clicked the Upload lesson button.
Nothing happens and I can’t find where to tell MB which file to upload.
I have tried 4 times; some in IE and some in Safari. I have sent help a question.
I am very frustrated with this site right now.
Can you help me please?

Topic: Crafting Corner / Best crafty Christmas presents for little nieces and nephews

Does she have enough hair for cute little hairbows? The pillowcase dresses are so cute, with the added benefit that she could wear them as little tunic-style shirts once she gets bigger. There’s also the adorable tutu lesson in the contest…. Maybe you could spoil her and make them all!

Topic: Crafting Corner / Best crafty Christmas presents for little nieces and nephews

What do you guys think I should make?

I’m torn between a pillowcase dress and a faux silk screen tee… Lucky Claire!

Topic: MindBites Watercooler / Tweak to the upload process

This is a great enhancement – I never liked having to accept and then publish – it makes sense to just have to hit one button one time!

Love the look and feel of the new site!

Topic: MindBites Watercooler / Tweak to the upload process

So, originally, to upload a new lesson, this is what had to happen:
1. Author uploads
2. MB processes
3. Author accepts media
4. Author publishes lesson

We’re going to remove that step 3 to see if you guys like it better. Please let us know if you do or don’t. From now on, when uploading a new lesson, you’ll just have to hit one button (publish). You can definitely preview the lesson media before you hit the publish button and opt to upload a new media file, but now you won’t have the two steps.

(When uploading new media to an already published lesson, you will have to accept the media still, which will then automatically replace the existing media that’s published in the marketplace with your newly uploaded media.)

Topic: Parent Meeting / Toddler Halloween Costume

So, Max is going to be a bee for Halloween… He loved the bee costume and didn’t want to take it off.

Topic: Teachers' Lounge / What if I don't have a video camera?

The How To Embroider a Greeting Card was made with Powerpoint! A lot of the tips in that blog are also great ways to add information to your lessons, such as title screens, etc. And if you are entering the contest, but need to add a little extra time to your lesson (they need to be at least 5 minutes), these are some great tips to get you started.

Topic: Contest Kiosk / Contest Rule: 5-20 minutes

Hey guys – it’s come to our attention that we may need to pass along a gentle reminder that contest entries should be 5-20 minutes in length! If you’re a bit shy of this, consider adding some slides or pictures to the beginning or end or intermittently throughout – you can never have enough shots of examples or instruction details!

Topic: Teachers' Lounge / What if I don't have a video camera?

http://blog.mindbites.com/general/5-ways-to-make-a-mindbite-without-owning-a-video-camera/

Here’s a blog post we made a while back on how to make a MindBite when you don’t have a video camera… there are several really GREAT lessons on the site that people made without the use of a video camera – so, by all means, don’t be discouraged!

Topic: Teachers' Lounge / What if I don't have a video camera?

Can I make a MindBite some other way?

Topic: MindBites Watercooler / Your First Visit - We want to know your first impressions.

Ron – shoot anyone hear an email with which lesson you’d like to have available for free, and we’ll update the pricing to make it so!

Looking forward to checking out your lessons! welcome to MB. :)

Topic: MindBites Watercooler / Your First Visit - We want to know your first impressions.

I think this site is a wonderful idea and have already uploaded a tutorial for your free content. One of the observations made earlier in this thread was, ‘why should I pay for a tutorial here when I can probably see it for free on Youtube?’ and although it is true that there are many tutorials on Youtube, the quality of the information found in free tutorial will in many cases be worth what you paid for it. By contrast, tutorials produced in the interest of selling them will more likely be well produced by professionals who REALLY know what they’re talking about and how to teach it. And the consumer will get a good long look at the content with the one minute preview. (one minute on screen is LONG preview)

The tutorial I uploaded is one that I am adding to the free side, that’s because I think it best for people to see that I do indeed make good tutorials. (I also shot that first one with a cheap camera!) That way when I upload one for sale, the consumer will be able to trust the quality of my content having seen the first one for free. Before I made my mold making tutorial, I searched the internet to see if there were any already in existence and what I found was next to nothing – what did exist wasn’t worth watching. The only tutorials I have ever seen in my business (special effects puppet and prop design and construction) have been on video tape or DVD for sale to the public and made by professionals – the same sort of thing I have found on Youtube for free, contained poorly explained and very limited advice posted by amateurs.

This site looks like an experiment that could produce results well worth having as a resource for people seeking useful information in video form.

Topic: MindBites Watercooler / Introducing the New MindBites Design - Let us know what you think

This looks great – you guys have done a ton of work and incorporate some fantastic upgrades into the site. Love the new look and feature set!

Topic: MindBites Watercooler / Introducing the New MindBites Design - Let us know what you think

As you may have noticed, today we rolled out a new design for MindBites. As with all projects that start off as simple design refreshes, we ended up touching almost every aspect of the site. For those of you familiar with the old site design, you will notice a significantly different lesson page, with larger sleeker player and more discovery search options. The Community page was also completely redesigned to make the forums and other resources a lot more accessible as well as to give a better sense of what is happening across the community. For authors, we have a brand new author resources section as well as a redesigned Teach page for prospective authors. The home page and MyMindBites sections also got a good work over. Like I said, there ended up not being many pages we didn’t end up touching in some fashion.

As with any redesign, there are still some rough edges that we are trying to smooth out, so please bear with us. More importantly though, let us know what you think and any problems or ideas you have for making it better.

As always thanks for your support of the MindBites community.

Topic: Video Workshop / Turning a slide presentation into a video

Question from Author:

Mindbites looks fantastic and I have already registered as an author. But, to get going I would be very grateful if you could give me some tips, or point me in the right direction, on how to turn PowerPoint slides into video.

Answer:

First, try using the ‘save as’ feature in PowerPoint and changing the format. Depending on what type of computer you are working on and what version of PowerPoint you are using, you might be able to save the file as a video. For example, on my Mac, with Office 2004, I have a feature to ‘Save as PowerPoint Movie,’ which is a .mov file that can then be uploaded directly to MindBites.

If the ‘save as’ feature is not an option, there are several programs you can download free from the Internet that will allow you to save your file in a video format. I have not used any of these, so make sure you read up on them before you download.
http://www.effectmatrix.com/PowerPoint-Video-Converter/Free-PowerPoint-Video-Converter.htm
http://www.videoppt.com/index.html?a=100
http://www.visifly.com/VisiPPT

Finally, if you don’t want to download anything, there is a website similar to SlideShare, called authorSTREAM, that converts your presentation to a video format automatically. I found this article instructing how to record audio and prepare the file:
http://www.labnol.org/software/tutorials/convert-powerpoint-video-upload-youtube-ppt-dvd/2978/

Topic: Parent Meeting / Toddler Halloween Costume

I think a little boy looks cute as a puppy dog b/c you can paint their nose brown and put big floppy ears on their head. I also love toddlers dressed up as litle ghost.

Topic: Teachers' Lounge / more questions

thanks a lot Alex I should be good now. I’ll post any more questions if i have any.

Topic: Parent Meeting / Toddler Halloween Costume

I am looking for ideas for my 18 mo. old son for Halloween… any ideas? I’ve thought about Max from Where The Wild Things Are, but I can’t find white footed pajamas. Any other thoughts?