Video guy need help on a website ...*

by Fredy Schwerdtner

on Jul 22, 2009 at 5:47:29 pm

hi guys,
I'm a creative person who has been working in design / advertising and now putting my first steps on video production (producing, recording, editing ... you name it !). I'm desperately needing to finally build my website as a portfolio of my jobs. Despite of one little experience on a design for a client's website, I have no expertise on the field.
I'm planning to use iWeb or Rapid Weaver to make that site (my computers are all Macs). I have not figured it out which one is the best. Taking a glance on them I could notice that , for example, if I want to make a "simple square" on my page, it is easier with iWeb. I say that because I didn't find out a way to do it with RW ... lol.
Does any body has a tip or advice for which one I should go for ? Moreover..... do they work well on any hosting company ? Does anybody has ever had an experience on a successful hosting company for them ?
Thanks in advance ....

MacBook Pro 17"
2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
(2) External HD LaCieMac (400/800 FW and USB)with 500GB -(2) USB External HD Western Digital (in cases) with 750GB
OS X 10.5.7
Final Cut Studio 2

Re: Video guy need help on a website ...*

by Fernando Mol

on Jul 23, 2009 at 12:52:08 am

Hard to say which software is better for you. It will depend on your background experience.

If you know Photoshop you can use it for designing web pages relatively simple using slices, but it's not very flexible.

The software you mention it's easy to use, but that isn't the same as being good for the job. The code most software for visual designing web pages is usually full of garbage and gets complicated when you start making changes on the fly.

I personally use Dreamweaver to work fast, but it's unavoidable to mess with the code from time to time. My advice is, start with something you already know and don't be afraid to read the code. You'll get to it sooner or later.

I hope this helps.

Re: Video guy need help on a website ...*

by Natalie Hull

on Oct 26, 2009 at 11:53:17 pm

Hello Fredy,

What did you decide to do for your website? I am considering similar options and am curious about your experience.

Natalie

Re: Video guy need help on a website ...*

by Fredy Schwerdtner

on Oct 27, 2009 at 2:37:34 pm

Natalie,
I've decided to use iWeb beccause of its easy way on talking with my Macs.
As the other said here, working with Photoshop / Slices makes it easier.
As the majority of the audience will be people using PC (sorry for them .... ) you should consider 2 things:
1- Everytime you design something test it on Safari changing on "Develop>User Agent>Internet Explorer 6 or 7 or 8 .....
2- To avoid the necessity for them to download the Quicktime Player to watch your videos, go to this link - http://www.iwebunlimited.com/iwebtips/Entries/2009/8/22_19-_Shadowbox_in_iW... - and learn (it is very simple) how to embend your video as .flv and have a player in your site for them. At the link you will also get a lot of good tips;
3- Forget about .png files (for transparency). Make them jpeg . Internet Explorer doesn't like Alpha channels.
Another good site - http://allaboutiweb.com/

MacBook Pro 17"
2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
(2) External HD LaCieMac (400/800 FW and USB)with 500GB -(2) USB External HD Western Digital (in cases) with 750GB
OS X 10.5.7
Final Cut Studio 2

Re: Video guy need help on a website ...*

by Curtis Thompson

on Oct 27, 2009 at 3:18:30 pm

hello...

one point of clarification on this one:

[Fredy Schwerdtner] "3- Forget about .png files (for transparency). Make them jpeg . Internet Explorer doesn't like Alpha channels. "

that's only ie6 and lower, actually - 7 and 8 are fine w/ alpha channels. also, you can use a javascript-based solution for ie6 _if_ your alpha png images are not in backgrounds - here's a site and a script that does that:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bobosola/

sitruc