Class on Demand Report Card

News, Views, and Information from COD | July 2009

The Reviews are in...
Our Basic Training for Adobe CS4 Production Premium was reviewed by JR Bookwalter in DV magazine this month and we’re pleased to say he loved it! He was very complimentary of the contents and had this to say about the instructor, our very own Tim Kolb. “Kolb makes for an entertaining and knowledgeable host and it’s impressive how much raw information he can get across in such a relatively short amount of time.” You can read JR’s full review here.

NVIDIA Agreement Expands
Earlier in the year we reported a co-marketing agreement with NVIDIA to provide a discount on our CS4 training videos when you purchased a NVIDIA Quadro GPU. We are now expanding that agreement to include a promo for their products in all our shipments starting next month. NVIDIA is also expanding their offering for CS4 users that is definitely worth checking out. “Many of our customers and prospects are the same end users that turn to Class on Demand for training” says Tom Stoneman, Channel Partner Marketing Manager at NVIDIA. “This co-marketing agreement between our two companies makes sense for everyone.” NVIDIA recently announced the availability of a number of GPU-accelerated plug-ins for CS4 users that are optimized for a wide range of NVIDIA Quadro GPUs. Among the plug-ins offered is the Elemental Accelerator which offloads H.264 video encoding to the Quadro GPU, enabling CS4 Premiere Pro users up to an 11X performance increase when compared to GPU-only video encoders. For a complete list of plug-ins available and COD training videos, click here. The website has a utility to check the GPU in the system and will automatically give you the discounted price during check-out.

Taste of NAB with a Side of COD
For the past seven years, Larry Bloomfield has packed up his RV and travelled across the country for months after NAB bringing a snapshot of the major broadcast event to a venue near you. This year is no exception and Larry plans to visit some 74 locations between May and October. The travelling event is considered an invaluable resource by engineers who get hands on experience with the latest and greatest technologies without the hassle of travel. Over the past seven years Larry has welcomed over 8500 attendees and has given over 400 presentations. This year COD is sponsoring door prizes at all locations. If you stop by the Taste of NAB road show you have a chance to win one of our most popular titles. You can see where Larry and the Taste of NAB will be by clicking here.

Paul in Print
Our very own Paul Holtz contributed an article for Training Magazine this month. In it, Paul discusses how the economic downturn has produced an increase in distance learning and video-based training sales. He also describes how on-demand training addresses the “need to know when I need to know it” challenge that faces many corporate training departments. This approach overcomes the “all hands” training programs that find many signed in to the web-based training but simultaneously working on email and making phone calls. If the training is not relevant right now you do not have an engaged audience. Instead, offer the training in “bite size” easily searchable sections so users can find what they want when they want and need it. To read the full article click here.

Paul Holtz Fires Back

Here’s a tip that could save you a few bucks. Earlier this month I was booking a hotel room online. I went to the normal websites, Orbitz, Travelocity, Hotels.com etc to compare rates and found a reasonable rate on Orbitz. During the check out process I enter all my details and see the total to be paid and there’s a box that says “Enter Promo Code.” I’m starting to think of folks to call who might have a promo code and even try entering random numbers like 10OFF, 15OFF and 50OFF (maybe that last one was a little hopeful) and get the same error message, “invalid code.”

I do what everyone else does when they need a quick answer; I go to Google and enter “Orbitz promo codes.” Google returns a slew of sites that share the promo codes of online retailers for everything from garden furniture to ‘as seen on TV’ products. Sure enough here’s two Orbitz promo codes that I can use; 10% off any hotel booking (Promo code: DEALHOTEL) to a $75 off three night and flight package (Promo code: 75ORBDOT). So take it from me, who never likes to pay full price for anything, before you leave that Promo Code box blank in an online transaction take a minute on Google to see if anyone has shared the promo codes for a discount. If you want to see the site I used, click here.

This seemed like such a good idea to me, we’ve decided to offer 50% off any Class on Demand title for “3 days only” sale this month via our website. Simply enter the code 3day50 in the promo code box on our site and get your 50% off – and please be sure to share this with your friends and Google. Offer good July 30, 31 and Aug. 1 2009.

Featured Instructor | Steve Hullfish
College attended: State University of New York, Brockport
Favorite food: Cajun
Favorite musical artist: Stephane Grapelli
Favorite city in the world: Chicago
Likes: Truth and honesty
Dislikes: Closed-mindedness

Steve's Tip | Use the Keyboard
For one day, pay attention to all of the button pushes you make using the mouse and an on-screen button or pulldown menu. And I'm not just talking about Avid Media Composer. You should do this with EVERY app that allows you to map keyboard functions.

Each day - or even only once a week - make that button a keystroke and promise yourself to use it for a whole week. You'll be amazed at how fast you start working with your applications.

To map a button or file menu to a keystroke, go to Settings and open your Keyboard Setting. Now use command-3 on a Mac or Control-3 on a PC to call up your Command Console. For simple buttons, just drag them from the tabs in the Command Console right onto the appropriate key on your Keyboard Setting. For menu commands, click on the little radio button at the bottom that says "Menu to Button Reassigment." When you do that, your cursor will change to what appears to be a small pulldown menu. Click it on a keyboard button in your Keyboard Setting - like F12 - and then pulldown a menu and select a menu choice and release. When you do, the menu command will be mapped to the key. I just mapped the Audio Mix Tool to F12!

Training by Steve Hullfish

Complete Training for Avid Media Composer
This training will give you the solid foundation needed to quickly and easily get started with Avid Media Composer. It includes Lessons on Migrating to Media Composer for Express and Xpress Pro with Mojo users. Learn to edit like a pro regardless of past software experience. Hullfish will guide you through a series of information-packed lessons.