Da2c Training Video compilation discs
These are some of the Da2c Compilation discs. Collections of portable freeware, with supporting tutorials (printable and video) put together for specific clients.
Local (disc based) help pages are seamlessly integrated with 'live' online help pages. Display help as a local (on the CD/DVD) HTML page in an embedded browser with links to an online HTML page that can be readily updated for all users.
Software virtualization allows delivering the application as a portable, 'stand-alone' secure EXE file which runs instantly with zero installation. Works without extracting packed files to the hard drive and creating temporary files. All of the software is either natively portable, ie. a single executable or has been 'portablised' using VMWare's ThinApp or NSIS (NullSoft Scriptable Installer System).
These discs will not install any files on your computer. No changes are made at all to your computer. All programs on these discs can be run directly from the disc, although if you copy the contents of the disc to your hard drive, the programs will probably run faster. If you copy the contents of the disc to a folder on your hard drive, when you have finished, you can completely remove it simply by deleting the folder.
SME Preflight Checklist
This compilation disc provides all the tools necessary for making computer screen video recordings (Screencasts). This disc is in the form of a 'Pre-flight Checklist', the user is guided through the various stages of 'Setup and Pre-Production', 'Recording and Screen Annotation', and finally 'Post-Production and Output' required to complete a video. This involves 1. Analysing the host computer for suitability. 2. Maximising the computers performance. 3. Creating screen annotations. 4. Recording and lossless editing 5. Outputing to various formats. A simple quiz function is built in with the automatic generation of a Certificate of Completion.
Status: This project is in active development.
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Caricature
Caricature contains four separate portablised copies of the last available freeware version of AnmanieSMP. The four copies each have a different default image embeded. The 'How to...' page contains nine videos explaining how to use the software.
The image shows a version of the disc produced in the Spring of 2010. The animated image of the 'Mona Lisa' on the help screen was produced in AnmanieSMP. Three of the images are of UK political party leaders, and the fourth image is of a 'practice' image, similar in appearance to graph paper. The 'graph paper' image is useful for understanding the function of the toolset, as it allows the subtleties of each tool to be clearly seen.
A separate disc containing a 'clean' copy of the last available freeware version of AnmanieSMP and the various utilities needed to construct your own tailored version of Caricature is also available.
Status: This project is in active development.
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'Switch Off' Simulator
This is an example of an early 'interactive' training video. After the user had watched a demonstration video, they could try to perform the same series of tasks they had just seen, using a simulator.
Although the technique of showing the user a demonstration, followed by the user attempting to repeat the tasks in a simulation was very effective as a learning strategy, building the simulations was very labour intensive. The simulations had to be built manually, making this a very time-consuming process. More recently, other software such as Adobe Captivate or the freeware Wink has been used to partially automate this process.
Status: Further development of this project has ceased.
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Early Video training discs
An early training video series from 2001. These early discs consisted of an interactive menu that displayed when the CD was inserted in the users computer. The menu gave access to videos packaged with their own video player and codecs. Each video was therefore entirely self-contained, no software or codecs needed to be installed on the users machine.
The menu system, which included system evaluation and audio-system setup, was a development from an earlier project, 'FrEMen' (Front-End Menu) written in Object Pascal using a free copy of Delphi v4 Standard from a magazine cover disc. (PC Plus, Jan 2001)
Status: Further development of this project has ceased.
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The contents of these discs are Copyrighted Freeware. You may distribute copies of these discs. You may charge a reasonable fee to cover copying and distribution costs. You are not allowed to sell these discs or any part of these discs.
The front-end menu system, the help files and all the training videos are Copyright © 2001 - 2011 by Da2c.