The 150 or so of you I've added in the past couple of days may have noticed that the comments weren't working right for you. They're working for everyone now.
Moo! Your pal, Bessie
Posted by: Eric T. Bliss on Mar 28, 2007 at 6:28:58 am
I got this lovely letter from Dave Gorrie about an article in the current issue of The Creative COW magazine by John Woody, about the cutting-edge lab at James Madison University. Dave graduated in 2000 and clearly did his homework! He cut over 1500 promos at The Discovery Channel, and has since started his own production business...
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Hello Bessie!
Thank you for publishing the article about the School of Media Arts and Design at James Madison University. I'm glad there are outlets like Creative Cow that help give insight into the challenges of industry educators and professionals alike. Articles like the one written about the SMAD program can only help inform and inspire others along their path to create up-to-date facilities. It's my hope that other media publications can spotlight more and more success stories to help ease other institutions conversion to newer technologies.
I can easily give credit to resources like the greater Cow community, and my college education from John Woody (and a host of other great professors in the SMAD program) for my advancement in the video production field. The best thing is that I know I'm not alone, there are dozens, maybe even hundreds of others that can claim the same thing. I can't imagine where I would be today if my curriculum hadn't included the latest applications, tools, and techniques. I know the applications and techniques are only a brick in the overall foundation, but it's these principles that led me to stand strong and have a successful career in the production/post production industry. Anything you can do to help promote cutting edge learning environments is greatly appreciated.
So Bessie, tell everyone in the herd thanks...and keep up the good work!
I'm thrilled by how many of you want to join 'ol Bessie at The COWBlogs. The initial stampede came faster than my hooves could send the approvals, but by now, everybody should be all set. New accounts should also be getting approved much more quickly now.
If yours hasn't been approved yet, it's probably because you didn't use your real name when creating your account. I've tried to notify everyone in that situation, and will be activating those accounts as soon as you reply.
Any more questions? Swing by the COWBlog Help forum, and we'll get things all sorted out.
Thanks again for your enthusiasm!
Moo!
Your pal,
Bessie
Posted by: Eric T. Bliss on Mar 26, 2007 at 1:14:03 pm
I've been getting a lot of questions about how people can get their own COWBlogs, so I added a link to the Navigation menu in the upper left. The link says "Get a COWBlog." It takes you to the first entry in the Writing COWBlogs FAQ, which has all the details.
Speaking of FAQs, Bessie says read 'em! My boy Timmy did a pretty good job with them. I could have done better, but with the whole COW to run, I have to delegate sometimes.
So if you have any questions or suggestions, including telling Timmy how to improve the FAQ pages, please visit the COWBlog Help forum, using the link in the upper right.
Moo!
Your pal,
Bessie
Posted by: Eric T. Bliss on Mar 23, 2007 at 4:33:54 am
What’s a blog? "Blog” is short for web log, and it’s just that: a journal of what you find anywhere in the the world: online, at work, even (oh no!) in your life. Think of blogs as a cross between a website and a forum. They’re easier to build than a website, and they have a built-in way for people to respond to what you write.
Blogs aren’t just popular. They’re exploding: 70 million of them as 2007 begins, and 100 million expected by the end of they year.
While hundreds of COWs already have their own blogs, there’s never been a community of blogs created by video and film professionals.
Until now.
Why does The COW have blogs? One of reasons why The COW is so successful is that we match the tool to the task. We don’t do many tutorials in the magazine, because tutorials work better online. We don’t make half-hour video podcasts, because long tutorials work better on DVDs. And so on.
Well, there are some aspects of community building that work better in blogs than they do in forums.
Conversations are nonlinear. Discussions in The COW forums are linear: specific tasks, specific toolsets. That’s not how conversations work. They might start out on one topic, but they naturally include others as well. That’s where blogs come in. A single blog entry can cover multiple topics, which doesn’t work as well in a forum thread.
There’s more to talk about than problems. We’re geeks. We keep our eyes peeled for new technology. And not just work-related technology. Sometimes we have strong feelings about what we see, and other times we have questions. In any case, we’re ready to talk.
To use one early-2007 example, there’s not a forum to talk about Apple TV….even though it’s something that we’re all talking about privately.
And yes, there are already blog entries about Apple TV at the COWBlogs. In fact, we blogged that Apple TVs were shipping before Apple announced it.
Communities are made of individuals. Forums let you be an individual, of course, but blogs are an even better way to express yourself as individual. Talk about what you want to talk about, including things that have nothing to do with technology at all.
These are jus a few of the reasons why blogs are the best tool for The COW to take the next step in community building.
This section includes everything you need to know about reading COWBlogs, as well as options for account set-up.
What am I looking at when I get to the COWBlogs? The heart of the page is a list of summaries of the most recent blog entries. You'll see very quickly that they cover a wide range of interests, from a wide range of people.
Just under the title of each blog entry, you'll see a link to the author's name. Just like at the COW forums, that takes you to the author's profile.
On the same line, you'll also see a list of topics that the author covers in the post. More often than not, a single blog entry will cover multiple topics. When you click on one of them (either After Effects or Final Cut Pro in this example), you'll be taken to an entire page on that topic, built on the fly from all the COWBlogs at once.
At the bottom of each entry, you'll see another link that takes you to that author's blog, with all the entries that he or she has written.
And of course, the "Read more" link takes you to the rest of the entry.
How can I find all the COWBlog entries for a specific topic? You'll find this in the Navigation menu up and left from here.
Click on COWBlog Search. This takes you to a complete list of all the topics tracked by the COWBlogs. (Authors set the topics of their own blog entries when they write them.) Clicking the "+" next to each topic expands the list, so that you can see the title for each entry on that topic.
Who’s got a COWBlog? Just click the COWBlog Authors link, also up and to the left. Authors are listed in the order that they last logged in.
What’s "Bessie's Blog?" Bessie has her own view of the world, and of course it's centered around The COW. She'll keep you up to date with news of the latest tutorials, podcasts, new forums, and other news about The COW. Bessie's Blog will also feature news and tips for The COWBlogs.
Do I need an account to view the COWBlogs? It works exactly the same way that The COW does: no need for an account if all you want to do is read the entries.
What are the benefits of registering for an account? Onece you've created an account, you can add comments to COWBlog entries.
You can also have the latest entries on your favorite topics, blog entries, and COWBlog authors with a feature called Subscriptions.
On each post, you'll see "Subscribe" links for that specific blog entry. You'll also see a link for "Subscribe Blog," which notifies of all entries from that author.
Once you've added threads and blogs to your list of subscriptions, you can now manage them on the "Subscriptions" tab of your My Account page.
The Subscriptions tab also allows you to receive email updates of all entries on chosen topics from all blog authors.
How do I update my account? In the links at the upper left of your blog, you’ll see the link to My Account.
The View tab shows you how the world sees your profile. We’ll enter some of this for you when we set up your account, but you’ll want to fill in the rest.
Next is the Edit tab, which has two parts.
The first is Account Settings. At the very top you'll see a link for "TinyMCE rich-text settings." This allows WYSIWYG text entry. It's on by default. You can either turn it off here, or on a post-by-post basis. You'll probably want to leave this on unless your browser has problems with it.
Further down, you'll see a place to upload your picture. You'll also see a place to choose your Theme. This will change the way your blog looks, both to you and to your visitors.
There aren't many to begin with, but keep checking back. More are on the way.
How do I enter my personal information? That's on the next tab of My Account, Edit. It's pretty straightforward, too. Your company name is required. A link and your location is optional.
So is "Other things to know about me" field, which is just below that. It's as free-form as it sounds. Put anything there you want.
(The box there is very small by default, but you can use the resize handle in the lower right to make it bigger.)
This is just some of what's available once you register to create an account. Please note that a real name is required to open a COWBlog account.
For any questions about reading COWBlogs not answered here, visit the COWBlogs Help Forum.
Read on for details on how to start your own COWBlog!
Posted by: Eric T. Bliss on Mar 22, 2007 at 11:22:06 am
I, Bessie, love the music of the cowbell as I graze. I also love the sounds of The Grassroots, The Animals, The Crickets, and The Beatles. I know that many of you COWs love music while you graze as well.
That's why we started the Now Playing podcast: to talk about music with producers, performers, and more. You'll see that the first episode has already been posted, with more on the way.
That's also why I wanted to start the Now Playing forum at The Creative COW. It's still new, but you'll see some conversations underway, especially talking about the music people are listening to and discovering right now. (As in Now Playing.)
Both the podcast and the forum will also take in TV and movies, snuggle up in your jammies to join the fun.
Posted by: Eric T. Bliss on Mar 14, 2007 at 11:58:51 am
From: "Adams, Scott Civ, AFN South" Subject: Thanks Creative Cow!
I have been an avid reader and user of Creative Cow for about four years now and wanted to take a moment to say "Thank-You!" I have been a broadcast designer and 3d animator for about 7 years. I worked for the Golf Channel for 6 years and then a year ago I started working for American Foces Radio and TV, supporting American servicemen and thier families in Europe.
In the past I have always had great bosses and co-workers to learn from and collaborate with. Here in my new network I am working with many less experienced designers and have to look for other ways to stay abreast of what's happening and to learn new techniques. Creative Cow has been essential support in my work here. I also work with many new Avid editors and have them registering on the Avid forums for outside help.
One thing in particular that I wanted to mention is the After Effects tutorials. I find all the tutorials pertinent and helpful, but the tutorials done by Aharon Rabinowitz and Andrew Kramer are the absolute best. I can't tell you how many times I have needed to learn something for a new project and have turned to those tutorials for fresh methods. Fresh donuts for those guys.
A great big thank you to you and your staff!
Sincerely,
Scott Adams Broadcast Designer AFN South Vicenza, Italy
Posted by: Eric T. Bliss on Mar 12, 2007 at 5:40:43 pm
You can control virtually everything about how the text in your blog looks. The best part is that you can see it all as you compose your blog.
Nearly all the features you expect from a word processor are here
Easy lists, both numbered and bulleted
Bold, underscore, strikethrough, etc.
Multiple Fonts and SIZES,and more
Select text and press the eraster tool (toward the left of the bottom row) to remove styles
Find-replace
Smileys What can I say? Bessie loves smileys.
A button to paste text from Word that also cleans it up for the web (a HUGE feature). It's the icon in the third row, about the middle of the row, that has a clipboard with the Word "W" logo.
There's a magnifying glass icon in the second row, a little left of the smileys. It's a super-speedy preview that pops up window. It's designed to preview of the text only. For previewing your post as it will look in a full page, including the summary, you'll still want to use the Preview button below the text window.
There are some fanatastic features for pictures too, but they'll need their own post
Rich text is on by default. You can turn it off for each post by clicking to disable rich text, just below the text entry window. To change the default, go to My Account: Edit, and choose false (off by default). Don't forget to press the "Submit" button all the way at the bottom of the page.
Okay, back to chewing the grass for Bessie!
Posted by: Eric T. Bliss on Mar 8, 2007 at 2:10:15 pm
What can I say? Bessie loves smileys. 
