Automator premiered in Mac OS X Tiger, dubbed as “AppleScript for the rest of us.” Well, maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t, but it hasn’t really seemed to have caught on for me. Maybe it was because some of the aspects of the UI were quirky, or maybe I just don’t do enough repetitive tasks on my computer.

Leopard only brings a few changes to Automator, which mostly acts the same as it did before. Now, one would pretty obviously guess that there’s now new Automator actions out of the box, which is nice, considering that Tiger’s Automator always seemed to leave certain actions out. Automator also now gives you access to variables, so you can easily drag in today’s date, or your short username, or a random number, for example, and these variables will automatically reflect the status when you run the action. And, like practically everything else in Leopard, you have an iLife media browser. (You know, I find it weird that practically all of Leopard has access to your iLife apps, but you STILL have to buy iLife separately!!!)

Probably the most notable new feature in Automator is the ability to record actions. When you click the new Record button in Automator, Automator is hidden and a floating window appears to let you know that Automator is recording. Then, you do your action, and when you’re done doing your action, you hit Stop. Automator creates a new action called Watch Me Do which lists your actions.

However, I repeatedly tried recording different actions, and found Automator to be VERY unreliable. Automator actually records your mouse movements, so when you play back these actions, it actually moves your mouse around. However, Automator doesn’t check to see if the mouse is doing the same thing to the same window, and almost always gets screwed up. (One action that I played back ended up selecting and deleting the text in a document, and then saving it, even though that’s NOT what I told it to do!) And sometimes, Automator completely ignored various actions that I did with my mouse. In short, this feature is horribly unreliable and I wouldn’t trust anything to it.

So Automator has a few new features, but other than for having access to some new actions, Leopard’s Automator is not going to be a reason for Automator-lovers to upgrade. And as for that Record button, Apple’s going to need to order some boxes of bug spray direct from the warehouse.

Feature Satisfaction Rating:

Be sure to check out the other articles in the Leopard Feature Presentation, occurring throughout the month of November here on Webmacster87.info.

Tags: actions, AppleScript, Automator, bugs, features, Leopard Feature Presentation, Mac OS X Leopard, recording, review

On Apple’s 300+ Leopard Features List, iChat earns the recognition of having the most new features in the list–24 to be exact. Although iChat 4 includes a nice series of new features for the AV crowd and some other new ideas, is the new iChat any better at just plain, old-fashioned text chatting? I spent a couple of weeks with iChat to find out.
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Tags: Adium, AIM, audio, chat, Chax, collaboration, features, Google Talk, iChat, iChat Theater, Jabber, Leopard Feature Presentation, Mac, Mac OS X Leopard, preview, Quick Look, recording, review, Screen Sharing, sharing, text, Video

The 1990s saw the rise of a new phenomenon on the radio: call-in talk shows. As most of you know, the idea behind this is a host who leads the show and often offers his/her opinions on something, and then answers calls from listeners who can then contribute their comments. Then, the 2000s saw the rise of another new radio phenomenon: podcasting. Radio shows can now be recorded and distributed online so that listeners can listen at their convenience, and podcasting also opens the door for smaller podcast-only productions (as in shows that don’t go on the actual radio). It would only be a matter of time until talk shows and podcasting came together, and the result of that mix is a fairly new website called TalkShoe.
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Tags: live, podcasting, recording, review, TalkShoe, talkshow, VoIP

The Levelator is a pretty basic application that serves a single purpose, but one that is very useful for podcasters with multiple participants. I use it for PreviewCast and phpBB Weekly editing, and even luminaries like Leo Laporte use it.

You drop an AIFF or WAV file on the Levelator, and the application then goes through and scans the different channels of the audio to equalize their audio levels. For example, when we record PreviewCast, sometimes we may have something happen where someone may be louder or quieter than everyone else, or there may even be a mix of volumes. No problem, I just drop the recorded audio on the Levelator, and it pops out a new audio file with all of the voices at the same volume. It works very well, and has dramatically helped to improve the PreviewCast audio quality.

Levelator does what it advertises, and it works very well. I recommend it for anyone who records podcasts over Skype or other teleconferencing methods, because it will make the quality of your audio SO much better, and you’ll practically never have to worry about volume levels of your participants again.

Final Rating:

Tags: audio, podcasting, PreviewCast, recording, review, Software, volume

Shout-out: Happy birthday today to my Mom!

There are a number of applications and processes that help make PreviewCast and phpBB Weekly happen. One of those apps is Audio Hijack Pro. Audio Hijack Pro is one of a small handful of apps that serve a unique purpose: to record audio coming out of your Mac into an audio file.

The core essence of Audio Hijack Pro is this. You can select any application on your computer that outputs audio, “hijack” the audio, and then record it. AHP comes with presets for a couple of applications such as DVD Player, iChat, iTunes, QuickTime Player, Safari, and Skype, however you can set it for any application on your computer. When you click Hijack, then any audio that the application outputs to the computer will instead be routed to Audio Hijack Pro, and AHP will become responsible for outputting the audio. (There’s a Mute button available that can Mute the audio from outputting through your speakers, if necessary.) To actually record the audio, hit Record.

Audio Hijack Pro also offers many many options for how you want your audio to come out, including support for AIFF, AAC, MP3, and Apple Lossless. You can also very cleanly refine the bitrate, quality, and many other settings as well, including a more advanced area where you can add filters and effects. (Not that I use them.) And of course, Audio Hijack Pro offers a “Default System Input” option if you just want to record something through your microphone.

The one place that Audio Hijack Pro falls short is that it is not one of those drop-dead simple apps that most people want to have at their disposal, however the application will hopefully get easier to use in the future. However, it is a very effective app for helping me make usable recordings of things from Skype chats to YouTube videos, and be able to do things with them, and it many users may find it a very useful tool in this fashion.

Final Rating:

Tags: audio, hijacking, Mac, podcasting, recording, review, Software, utility