I am pleased to announce that we have a couple new videos available on the Silicon Valley JavaFX User Group (SvJugFx) video site. Here is a link to the landing page where you can watch these videos as well as all our previous sessions:

http://web.ubivent.com/svjugfx.html

The first new video is a Hands-On JavaFX Lab given by Stuart Marks, core JavaFX team member, and regular SvJugFx attendee. This was our most successful meeting so far for the local audience, because it filled in the gap between the very technical rich presentations we started with and the experience level of the attendees. The entire flood tutorial was published as an HTML document, but it is much more entertaining to see Stuart do it first hand:

Hands-on JavaFX:  http://jnlp.ubivent.com/jnlp/eventid=10/guest=1/path=doc:129,doc:128,doc:210

The second was the wildly popular Bay Area JUG Round-Up event.  All the Bay Area user groups cooperated to host a massive event with a live recording of the Java Posse.  Oracle sponsored the event, with an introduction by Justin Kestelyn and update on Java.net from Sonya Barry.  And of course the Java Posse did an amazing job working the crowd with some hilarious techie humor.

Justin Kestelyn: http://jnlp.ubivent.com/jnlp/eventid=10/guest=1/path=doc:129,doc:128,doc:217,goto:v:-0

Sonya Barry: http://jnlp.ubivent.com/jnlp/eventid=10/guest=1/path=doc:129,doc:128,doc:217,goto:v:-1

The Java Posse: http://jnlp.ubivent.com/jnlp/eventid=10/guest=1/path=doc:129,doc:128,doc:217,goto:v:-2

For our meeting next month we have the esteemed Max Katz coming to speak on Enterprise JavaFX.  He will demonstrate how to use the open-source Flamingo framework to connect a JavaFX application to an enterprise backend using JBoss Seam.  For those of you who don’t know, Exadel also develops an Eclipse plug-in for JavaFX, which he will be using for all his coding examples.  It should be an exciting event, so please sign-up to attend in person or online:

Enterprise JavaFX with Max Katz:  http://www.svjugfx.org/calendar/13605800/

I am honored to be accepted by some great conferences to speak on JavaFX.  Each of the talks I am giving is unique, which means more work for me, but is a great opportunity to talk about some different topics that I think are important for folks using JavaFX.

First up is Jazoon in Zurich, Switzerland on June 1-3.  I have heard great things about this conference from folks who have attended in past years, and have already heard from some folks who will be attending my talk.  The topic for my session will be Building Data Rich Interfaces with JavaFX.  I have some good content lined up from my open source projects (actually too much content), so it should be a great session.

Next I will be speaking at JavaOne in my hometown of San Francisco on September 19-23.  Oracle is pulling out all the stops for this conference, taking over a full block of Mason Street as the JavaOne “Zone”.  They will be putting up a big tent with videostreaming and other festivities, in addition to the 4,000 square feet of space dedicated to talks and sessions.  For those of you who are not aware of the magnitude of Oracle, here is a shot of what they have done in past years for Oracle Open World:

I am fortunate enough to be able to co-present 2 Technical Sessions and 2 BOFs at JavaOne 2010:

Technical Session 1: Pro JavaFX: Developing Enterprise Applications
Co-presented with Jim Weaver

Technical Session 2: Take Control of JavaFX
Co-presented with Jonathan Giles from the JavaFX Control Team

Birds of a Feather Session 1: JFXtras: JavaFX Controls, Layouts, Services, and More
Co-presented with Dean Iverson and the rest of the JFXtras Team

Birds of a Feather Session 2: JavaFX Author JAM
Co-presented with Jim Weaver, Jim Clarke, Dean Iverson, and many other JavaFX authors (to be announced)

If you haven’t already, it is not too late to book your ticket for JavaOne.  This will definitely be a year you won’t want to miss!

This past month we had a great combined meeting of the Silicon Valley JavaFX User Group (SvJugFx) together with the Silicon Valley Web User Group.  The presenters included Richard Hyde and James Allen from Oracle on the Java Store and Yoav Landman and Fred Simon from JFrog on repository management with Artifactory.

Our April SvJugFx presentation will feature Stuart Marks from the JavaFX Team in Hands on JavaFX – Scripting the Scene Graph.  To attend in person or via our live web stream (and be eligible for great prizes!), please sign-up here: http://www.svjugfx.org/calendar/12863551/

We were also fortunate enough to be contacted by the folks at Ubivent who have developed a JavaFX-based event platform.  Their platform is used by large corporations like SAP, and they have generously offered to host our videos going forward.  Therefore, you can now watch all the SvJugFx videos using JavaFX technology!

To watch the latest videos, you can go to the landing page for the new SvJugFX Video Site:

Registration is optional, but will allow you to comment on the presentations.  Once you launch the application you will be taken to an event hall that lets you choose which presentation you want to watch:

Finally, when you click on a presentation you will be given a virtual theater experience with side-by-side slides and video.  You can click on the double arrows to expand it to full screen, skip around by chapter, and comment on the video as you are watching.

For convenience, here are some links that will take you directly to the two videos and their associated slide shows:

Java Store & Java Warehouse Overview (video) (slides)

Repository Management with JFrog Artifactory (video) (slides)

Also, we have posted the videos on our Parleys SvJugFx Space and will continue to do that for folks who like using this excellent presentation platform.

This is the second installation of my Live Streaming Guide, which will go over all the hardware you need to get setup.  While you can spend tens of thousands of dollars on professional gear, it is possible to put together a high quality setup for a fraction of that cost.  You may also be able to reuse some of your existing hardware, further reducing the cost.

This setup is targeted at streaming a live presentation over the internet that includes a speaker and possibly some slides or a demo.  Not all of this hardware is required to get started, so I will present it in order of how critical it is to the quality of the presentation.

If you are just interested in knowing what I recommend and how much it will run you, skip to the Buying Guide.

Choosing a Camcorder

The first thing you will need is a camcorder to stream the video.  The reason to go with a camcorder rather than a webcam is that you will have more options for lenses and zooming, and will be able to get a much higher resolution (as high as 1920×1080 for HD).  HD camcorders are pretty common and fairly inexpensive; a good one can be bought new for around $600.  Also, chances are that you or someone you know already has one that you can take advantage of.

One important consideration for camcorders is the computer interface.  If the camcorder supports Firewire (IEEE 1394), you are in pretty good shape.  This means it will probably support DV or HDV streaming to a laptop that has Firewire, and video streaming software will automatically pick it up as an input device.  A popular model for doing video streaming is the Canon Vixia HV40 which can be purchased for around $650 new:

Canon Vixia HV40

What if I Have an AVCHD Camcorder? (skip this section if you are buying new)

A lot of the more recent camcorder models, particularly any that support Advanced Video Coding High Definition (AVCHD), do not have Firewire support.  The advantage of these new AVCHD cameras is that they are lighter, and can capture video to a memory stick for easy transfer.  However, they lack the DV circuitry needed to stream over Firewire.  This is the case with the Canon Vixia HF20 camcorder I have been using.

Fortunately, you have some options with AVCHD cameras.  Many of them support HDMI out, which is actually higher quality than HDV as long as you have a capture card you can use to record it.  The card I have been using is the BlackMagic Intensity Pro, which works on both Mac and PC systems and is relatively inexpensive (about $185):

Blackmagic Intensity Pro

The big disadvantage of this is that it is a PCI Express card, so you need a computer with an expansion slot available.  This makes a truly portable setup impossible since no laptops come with PCI slots.

Another option that is more attractive for a portable setup is to use a Matrox MX02 Mini breakout box.  This supports both PCI and ExpressCard (EC) adapters, the latter of which can be found standard on many laptops.  I actually bought a Matrox MX02 from the folks at DVEStore and tested it out, but it wouldn’t work for my setup.  The problem is that I have a PC laptop with an EC slot, but the Matrox PC drivers don’t have full DirectShow support and only support capture to a limited set of applications such as Adobe Premiere.  On the other hand, their Mac drivers are much better, allowing capture to any application that supports QuickTime video capture.  The showstopper here was that Apple recently stopped shipping EC slots on all models smaller than 17″, so my 15″ Mac was useless (and I couldn’t justify buying a new laptop just for this purpose).

The upshot is that if you have a Mac with an ExpressCard Slot the MX02 Mini is a great, portable option to go with your AVCHD camcorder:

Matrox MX02 Mini

Capturing Presenter Audio

Now that you have high definition video, you need crystal clear audio to match.  The problem is that most camcorder microphones will pick up ambient sound, so they are useless for recording the speaker at an event.

The best option is to pick up a lavalier mic that will capture the presenter audio directly.  A good option that Aleksandar Gargenta (Sasa) uses for his San Francisco JUG meetups is the Audio Technica Pro 88W.  It is relatively inexpensive and has excellent audio quality for the price.  The disadvantages are that it operates over VHF frequencies, so it is subject to more interference and less range than UHF, and it has no battery meter so you are left guessing when to switch them out so you don’t lose power in the middle of a presentation.

Audio Technica Pro 88W

Sennheiser makes some much higher end models that will give you better audio, longer range, and an array of features like battery life monitoring and configurable channels.  If you can afford the price (roughly $600), it is well worth it to invest in something like the Sennheiser EW112P G3:

Sennheiser EW112P G3

In addition to a lapel mic, you may also want to consider getting a shotgun mic.  This will not give you as clear audio as you will get from the presenter, but can be useful to pick up questions from the audience.  The way a shotgun mic works is that it is directional, so wherever you point the camera is where it will record the sound from.  The audio pick-up is roughly canonical in shape, so the farther you are away from the speaker the more background noise you are likely to pick up.  An excellent choice for a shotgun mic is the Rode VideoMic 2 which has professional sound quality, but only costs $150 (remember to check for accessory shoe compatibility with your camcorder…  you may need an adapter):

Rode VideoMic 2

Picking a Tripod

The last bit of essential equipment is getting a good tripod for your setup.  If you have a standard camera tripod you can make due, but getting a specialized video tripod is ideal.  Even though a tripod will be the largest item in your rig, it doesn’t have to be the most expensive item, especially if you shop around.  Some things you should consider when looking for a tripod are:

• Weight – If you will be recording on the run, choose a tripod that is lightweight and easy to setup.
• Control – You want to be able to easily pan and tilt the camera independently to follow the presenter, so get one with a good fluid drag mechanism.
• Quality – Your tripod stands to take a fair amount of abuse as you move your setup around, so make sure it is of sturdy construction.

I ended up going with the Ravelli AVT Video Tripod and have been pretty impressed with what you get for $77.  It has a fluid balance for leveling the camera, switchable plates for quickly changing the mounted camcorder, and comes with two solid metal arms for controlling the camera angle.  The only downside is that it is a little heavy (9 pounds), but the construction of the entire tripod is extremely rugged.

Ravelli AVT Video Tripod

Screen Recording

If you have the rest of the setup mentioned above, you are doing pretty good.  However, for typical technical presentations with a slide deck or demos you will have trouble getting a good shot of both the presenter and the presentation.  A much better option is to separately record and stream the presenter’s laptop so you can superimpose the presenter’s picture on top of the slides.

There are a variety of software options you can use to do this, but I am not going to even bother covering these for the simple reason that they are impractical.  In most cases your presenter will use their own laptop, so it is not an option to setup the recording in advance.  Even if it was, you still run the risk of having screen recording issues that would require interrupting the presenter to diagnose (this happened to me during my talk at the SD Forum and was extremely embarrassing even though we figured it out on the fly).

A much better option is to record the presenter’s laptop by intercepting and capturing the VGA signal.  There are several VGA to USB converters on the market, but the most reasonable ones are sold by a company called Epiphan based out of Canada.  Their entry level VGA2USB model is only $300, will allow capture of VGA signals at up to 2048×1536 resolution, and is about the size of a pack of cigarettes.

Epiphan VGA2USB

The downside of the entry level model is that the frame rate drops off steeply as the resolution goes up, and it is interlaced, which means your attendees will see tearing in the picture.  They also sell much more expensive models that can handle everything from Dual-head DVI to direct internet streaming, but the best option is probably the VGA2USB LR, which captures at much higher frame rates with zero interlacing for $800:

Epiphan VGA2USB LR

In addition to the VGA to USB converter, you will also need a VGA splitter.  It comes with a passive one, but if you want to maintain a high quality signal over a relatively long VGA cable (ours is 50′) you should probably invest in an active splitter.  Radio Shack sells a very convenient VGA Splitter that will power itself off the computer’s USB slot, which is worth it for saving the hassle of carting yet another power supply:

Gigaware USB-Powered VGA Splitter

Buying Guide

After all that detail on the products and options, it is easy to lose track of the essentials.  This section will give you just the line items and cost for my recommended setup.

Category	Hardware	Cost
Camcorder	Canon Vixia HV40	$650
Microphone	Audio Technica Pro 88W	$124
Tripod	Ravelli AVT Video Tripod	$77
VGA Converter	Epiphan VGA2USB	$300
VGA Splitter	Gigaware USB-Powered VGA Splitter	$33

Important: Remember to buy a Firewire cable to hook this up to your computer, and a long (50′) VGA cable for the VGA2USB dongle.

I hope this hardware guide has been helpful.  I have no vested interested in any of the companies or products mentioned, and welcome suggestions about good alternatives in the comments section.

Make sure to follow my blog so you catch the next installment of this series where I will go into detail on how to use this hardware to stream live from your event!

In case you missed the big event last week, I have finished post-processing and uploading the video.  We took the quality up a notch by getting a direct screen capture from the presenter laptop.  This means that you will not only get crystal clear slides, but also full-screen demos and a nice tight head-shot of the presenter.  This moves our video setup firmly up from a Level 4 to a premium Level 1 operation as detailed in Stephan Janssen’s blog.

Without further ado, here is the Parleys version of Hinkmond’s JavaFX Mobile Dojo talk:

I got a lot of requests for just the slides last time, so I am also making them available here:

Finally, a quick plug for our next SvJugFx event.  We will be doing a double feature with folks from the Java Store and JFrog Artifactory presenting back-to-back.  Even if you plan to attend online, make sure to sign-up here:
http://www.svjugfx.org/calendar/12559455/

I finished post-processing and publishing our January talk with Amy Fowler on Parleys.com.

Here is a direct link: JavaFX Layout Secrets with Amy Fowler

I did my best to clean up the audio at the beginning to remove the static that our streaming listeners had to put up with. After the first 10 minutes we swapped mics, which made a huge difference!

Here are the slides for the same presentation:

Our plan for next month is to upgrade our streaming/recording setup once again so we can directly capture the presenter’s VGA signal for a dual-cast. This should allow us to capture the demos in full resolution and give a much better streaming experience. If you or your company is interested in helping sponsor some of our hardware needs, we can definitely use the help (contact me).

See you next month for Hinkmond’s JavaFX Mobile talk: Hinkmond’s JavaFX Mobile Dojo

I am very pleased to have Amy Fowler (Aim) presenting on JavaFX Layouts at our January Silicon Valley JavaFX Users Group (SvJugFx).  For those of you who don’t know Aim, she was a founding member of the Swing team, has done some Rock Star presentations at JavaOne, and is a core member of the JavaFX team focused on all things layout.

If you are doing any JavaFX development at all, this is an event you won’t want to miss.  The presentation is on January 13th and you can sign-up on the SvJugFx website here:

Click to Sign-Up

We will also be streaming the event live from Santa Clara, so if you don’t live nearby make sure to join us online for the event.  I actually think the folks watching it online are at an advantage, because they get all the inside information in the chat window from JavaFX luminaries like Jim Weaver, Dean Iverson, and Jonathan Giles.

For those of you who missed our December event, we just finished posting Richard Bair’s December talk on JavaFX entitled “Intro to JavaFX – A Rich Client Platform for All Screens.”  You can view it on Parleys.com complete with synchronized slides by clicking on the image or link below:

Richard Bair Presenting on JavaFX at the SvJugFx

Click to View Presentation

I hope to see you at our next event!

For those of you who don’t know, SvJugFx stands for the Silicon Valley JavaFX Users Group.  We will be holding our very first meeting this coming Wednesday with a live, streamed presentation from the world renowned Richard Bair (who is now infamous for divulging JavaFX secrets at Devoxx).

Richard Bair Presenting at Devoxx 2009

Yes, I said streamed live…  for those of you who are not fortunate enough to live in Silicon Valley, you can still participate in realtime by doing the following:

1. Sign-up for the SvJugFx meetup group.  This is the primary communication vehicle we will use to announce last-minute changes:
   http://www.svjugfx.org/
   (Note: Everyone can sign up for the group, but please only RSVP for the event if you are physically attending)
2. For the video feed, please go to the following ustream channel:

   http://www.ustream.tv/channel/silicon-valley-javafx-user-group

3. And to participate, please log on to Google Moderator at the following URL:

   http://moderator.appspot.com/#16/e=d528e

The in-person meeting will start on: Wednesday at 6PM PST
The online streaming will start at latest by: 7PM PST (possibly earlier)

Please leave enough time to login on both sites and test your internet and video playback capabilities.  You will be able to watch the live video stream on ustream and respond with your own questions (as well as vote other participant’s questions up and down) via Google Moderator, which we will be monitoring during the presentation.

This is the first time we are trying this format, so we apologize in advance for technical glitches or issues that we are sure will arise.

“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”

–Winston Churchill

My Devoxx university session yesterday was packed, which was awesome!  It was 3 hours of hard-core JavaFX knowledge, and almost everyone stayed for the duration.  Aaron Houston got a great shot of the venue (more on the Java Champions site):

I posted my slides on SlideShare, so check it out when you get a chance.  Special thanks to my co-authors, Jim, Weiqi, and Dean for help with the content.

For those of you at Devoxx, I also posted a new LearnFX question.  Please launch it with the link below and respond before or during my conference session tomorrow at 1:30PM to be eligable to win a prize!

More updates after my conference session tomorrow!

Next week I will be giving two talks on JavaFX at Devoxx in Belgium.  The first is a university session on Tuesday at 13:30 called The JavaFX Platform – A Java Developer’s Guide.  The second is a technical session on Thursday at 14:00 entitled Pro Javafx – Developing Enterprise Applications.

Leading up to both these sessions I will post a question via the LearnFX application.  To win a prize, all you have to do is:

1. Answer the question correctly using the LearnFX client (see below)
2. Come to the next Devoxx session I am speaking at
3. Winners will be selected by a random drawing from all the correct responses

Here is the LearnFX client displaying the first question.  To run it, make sure that you have a recent version (update 14 or later) of Java SE 6, and simply click on the launch button:

Please don’t ruin this for others by mentioning the answer!

The prizes include several copies of Pro JavaFX Platform and a limited edition WidgetFX T-Shirt.  I don’t know about you, but I know which prize I would pick:

WidgetFX Limited run T-Shirt - original artwork by Keith Combs (WidgetFX Developer)

There will also be an opportunity for audience members to answer simply by using a laptop or mobile Twitter client (more details on this at the start of the session), so you don’t have to respond in advance to win.

Thanks to Jim Weaver for the excellent LearnFX application, and I look forward to seeing you at my Devoxx talks!