Category Archives: Tutorials

Bull-shitting Your Way Through Anything

Posted on by
8

It’s day 2 now of the 7 in 7 project. The goal is to create 7 valuable pieces of content to post on the web in 7 days. I’ve been working on projects all day for other people and now it’s my turn to pump something out. For my post today, I’m going to teach you guys “How to Bullshit Your Way Through Anything.”

Not everyone wields the unique power of bull-shitting. It either takes lots of hard work, or you are like me, and was graciously handed the gift at birth. With a little guidance, I can have you gushing loads of bull like the pros in no time!

Tip #1 – Be the Bull

If you’re going to come up with a bunch of crap on the spot and expect people to take the bait, you have to be confident. This confidence is what I like to call “being the bull.” If there is even the slightest hint that you don’t know what you’re talking about, you will lose all respect and rapport that anybody may have previously had for you.

Tip #2 – Don’t Hesitate, Elaborate

When talking or writing the bull, quantity is much more important than quality. Start simple and on topic, and then, just let your imagination flow. Some people while attempting this elaboration method tend to veer too far from the original topic being discussed or written about. The trick to elaboration is to be unique and creative while maintaing a smooth chain of bull.

Tip #3 – If You’re Trying, You’re Trying Too Hard

Bull-shitting isn’t something that can be forced. If you find yourself stuck and searching for what to say or what to write, chances are the material you come up with will feel unnatural and will easily tip-off any suspicious listeners that you’re completely full of shit. Whenever I catch myself searching, I stop, take a breath, and allow my mind to provide me with more precious nuggets of bull. Fact is, true bull is never forced, it can only be inspired.

Following these 3 bull-shitting tips will have you on the fast-track to success!

Ha! Oh man. I’m so full-of-shit it’s ridiculous. Although I was completely talking out of my ass, I think there were some good lessons here that could be applied to other aspects of life. Even if you didn’t learn anything at all, it’s ok, I hope  I was at least able to provide a few good chuckles. Never underestimate the value of a good chuckle.

Have a good night everyone!

Text to Speech – Mac OS X Lion

Posted on by
12

I just made the update to Mac OS X Lion. It’s insane how much easier it is to update your operating system on an Apple than a PC. It was only $29.99 and I installed it right from the App Store on my computer. There are tons of cool new features. Especially one in particular I just stumbled upon tonight, “Text to Speech”. I’m pretty sure Macs have had this feature for a long time, I just never noticed it until now.

I was just perusing the plethora of options within the Text to Speech feature on my Mac and came across an option that allows you to have your computer “speak” whatever text you have selected, simply by pressing a simple key-combination.

Here’s How! 

  1. Go to System Preferences (You can get there by clicking the little black apple at the top-left of the screen)
  2. Click on Speech (It’s the little microphone on the bottom row)
  3. Inside of the “Speech” feature there are 2 tabs at the top of the box, go into the Text to Speech tab by clicking on it.
  4. Select the checkbox that says, “Speak selected text when the key is pressed“
  5. Close out of System Preferences cause you’re all set!

Quick Tip: To close out of any currently open program, press and hold “command”, and while holding, click the “Q” key (command+Q)

Now you can highlight any bit of text, press [option+esc], and the computer will read back to you whatever you have selected.

Practical Uses: 

  • Highlight an entire article on the web and let the computer read it for you. — Hey, why don’t you test it out on this page ;)
  • Highlight your friend’s Status Updates on Facebook and let the computer read them back. You could even go back into the System Preferences and change the computer voice to female and match your friend’s gender… lol
  • Open up a “Text Edit” document, write a bunch of funny stuff and make your computer read it back. For some reason this is so freaking entertaining! I have spent a good few hours writing profanities and funny sentences and making Alex (my computer voice) read them back to me.

I work in an office where everyone sits on their computers for hours at a time. I can’t wait to hook my computer up to the Bose wireless speakers and type something hilarious. Maybe something like, “My name is Murphy, I am your Bose speaker system. Karson, you are looking pretty fat today…” I think it would get some good laughs.

I’m excited to hear what cool stuff you’re able to come up with using the Text to Speech feature on the Mac. Be sure to post any conversation down below as a comment.

I’ve got an idea… How about in the comments, you guys write little chunks of funny text that we can all highlight and make the computer read back? That could be pretty cool.

Catch you later!

Premiere Pro Tutorial – Custom Vignette Border

Posted on by
2

In this video tutorial I show you a few different methods for creating a custom vignette border effect inside Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.

The first method I cover was found online and is fast and simple, but doesn’t give much flexibility whatsoever. If you are simply looking for a feathered black circle around your video, the first method is for you.

If you’re like me and like to control the exact shape of your vignette border, skip ahead to 2:40. I spent a good amount of time playing around with premiere to come up with this method and I’m happy to say it works quite well for the desired custom vignette effect. Method 2 is a bit more advanced, but it gives you so much more control over the final look of the vignette.

I really hope this video tutorial I put together explaining how to make a custom vignette border inside of Adobe Premiere Pro really helps you out. I will be posting many new tutorials in the future, so be sure to let me know if you have any special requests. You can do so by simply leaving a comment down below.

For now just sit back, relax, and learn how to create unique custom vignettes inside adobe premier pro for use in your own video productions.