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The Bite-Size Free Resources List

The purpose of this post is to list the free resources I use, or have used, in my business, which I will also briefly review.

Office suite

Openoffice.org is my office suite of choice. It comprises a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation package, graphics editor, database and mathematics editor.

I really like it! There are several reasons why I like it in preference to Microsoft Office:

• It’s free;
• It uses menus like Office 2003 did, which are far more intuitive to me than the current ribbon bar used by later versions of Office;
• It can produce PDF files out of the box;
• It’s available for alternative operating systems; you don’t need to be running Windows to use it.

Accounts

GnuCash is the package that I like. However, it is not easy to use for a beginner to book-keeping (in my opinion). It will only use a system known as double-entry book-keeping; it does not have a single-entry book-keeping capability, which you will be more familiar with if you have used software such as Quicken in the past.

It is reasonably powerful. It can prepare invoices, track jobs, and the like.

Screen capture

For years, I used CamStudio for screen video capture, along with simultaneous headset audio. CamStudio is very powerful and flexible, and it comes with a lossless video codec which makes the videos look great. It is not that easy to use. Expect a learning curve with it if you intend to use it. Also it is not 100% reliable, especially for longer recordings.

However, CamStudio is not a complete solution. It does not provide any editing facilities. I have had moderate success with VirtualDub, but it has crashed on me every now and again.

You then need to get your video into a format suitable for website upload. Ffmpeg2theora is the tool that I’ve used for this purpose. It converts your video into ogg video format (using Theora codec for video and Vorbis codec for audio) which can be used directly by Firefox and Google Chrome in HTML5 video pages.

Of course, you need to support more than just Firefox and Google Chrome. You will therefore also need to put Cortado on your server, and modify your HTML5 video code so that any browser that doesn’t understand what to do with HTML5 video, or Ogg Theora-encoded video, can use the Java applet as a fallback.

Other services that exist include ScreenToaster (check the conditions of the licence agreement, especially if you intend to use them to stream your videos) and the free version of the Dimdim webcasting solution, which has the ability to record the webcast. With these services, limited or no editing is possible.

If I would have the ability to roll back the clock and make a change to my system from the earlier days, I would not use free programs anymore for screen capture. I would instead use Camtasia Studio. The only issue I have with Camtasia Studio is that it is geared up to create MP4 files, and the codec for such files is protected by patent law and therefore subject to licensing rules. This does not apply to the European Union where (at the time of writing) software patents cannot be created, but it does apply in USA and Japan. I don’t know the status in other countries.

Audio recording and playback

The choice here is simple. Audacity is an excellent multi-track audio recording and playback program. It has many advanced capabilities and works really well. I own a copy of Goldwave which is more powerful, but I find myself using Audacity quite a lot.

Graphics design

The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) is excellent. It is a bitmap image processing tool with many capabilities, including support for layers and transparency. It can be a bit difficult to use, and there’s a learning curve associated with it. However, there is also a learning curve associated with e.g. Adobe Photoshop Elements.

Paint.NET is a simpler general-purpose graphics program to use than GIMP. I understand that it is far easier to use than GIMP, and I’m about to try it. There is also a PSD file plugin available that provides Paint.NET with the functionality to open Photoshop PSD files and work with them.

The instructions for how to install the plugin can be found here.

I have just found out about XHeader, a tool specifically designed for the purpose of creating attractive header artwork for web sites. I can’t say anything about it yet because I’ve only just installed it.

File compression

There’s no need to go with WinZip at all. 7-Zip is an excellent, free program that will create Zip archives or more compact 7z archives for you.

Media player

I think VLC media player is fantastic. It can incrementally increase or decrease the speed of audio or video playing, and it does this without pitch-shifting the audio; furthermore, it actually makes a very good job of it. It can also do video format conversion (transcoding) for you.

Others

This post is a work-in-progress. I expect to update it periodically with new information as and when I have it. Please add your comments about the free software you use in your business!

Updates

13 March 2010: Added paint.net and PSD plugin details.

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