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| Jonathan Tuppeny - J H Tuppeny Consulting Ltd |
| Demonstrating software skills online. |
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My business is developing bespoke software for a wide range of different applications using Access, Visual Basic and the Office suite. Most of the new business that I get comes through my website, so having an engaging site for potential customers is crucial.
I'd been wanting to add some more visual elements to the site for sometime but was stuck for a good way to do this.
The majority of software that I write tends to be databases and utility software, and whilst this software might be very functional and easy-to-use, it doesn't tend to make for eye-catching screen shots. The other problem is that an image doesn't give much impression of what the software actually does or how it works. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but when it comes to demonstrating software a simple screen shot doesn't get much across.
When I go to meet a new customer I tend to demonstrate the software that I have written using my laptop. This works well to get across the range of software that I've written and to give the customer some idea of what their application might look like. Ideally I wanted to have some demonstrations online by including movies of my software in action.
I searched the internet for a tool that would enable me to achieve this and came across BB Flashback fairly quickly. All I knew at this stage was that I wanted to simply record my software in action and be able to add some explanatory notes. BB Flashback seemed to offer this so I downloaded a copy.
I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I got to grips with the software and within a short time I'd created a movie that showed that I could create the sort of demonstration that I was looking for.
Once I'd created the final movies and put them on my site, those that I'd asked to take a look at them all said that they found the demos ran too quickly and that they couldn't follow the action. BB Flashback allowed me to fix this very easily without having to re-record the demos. I simply slowed the movies down and then reduced the frame rate so that the files wouldn't take any longer to download.
I feel that I have added a very useful extension to my website that allows visitors to get a good idea of what I can do without having to download and install anything. I think that the movies also add to the overall impression of my website.
BB Flashback proved to be a very powerful and easy to use application that has been well thought out. It simply allowed me create exactly what I wanted, and it did it well. What more does anyone want from a piece of software?
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J H Tuppeny Consulting Website: http://www.jht.co.uk/
Demonstration Movies: http://www.jht.co.uk/frame_demos.htm | |
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