Some Free CBT's Finally?

mgeorge

Well the past few years I've been saying that I'm going to attempt to make some CBT videos and lately I've been giving it some tries.

Well to be honest, I find it A LOT easier teaching in a classroom environment then making these types of videos. Talking into a mic as if I'm talking to invisible people is harder then I anticipated.

Every instructor has their own teaching style(s) and since I'm a very interactive instructor in the classroom, I like to get my students involved as it helps them learn a lot quicker. I'm sure the more videos I make the more comfortable I'll become making them.

For the past few months I've been attempting to start a website to provide completely free technical training and it's not as easy as I have to take time out of my already busy schedule of work, teaching and CCIE studies.

Well these are some of videos I've made thus far, please feel free to comment here or if you have any requests on video(s) that you'd like to see made then let me know and I'll try to get to them when I can. I'm aiming to do at least 2-3 videos a week.

Cisco IOS Recovery via xModem

Windows 7 Pre-Release Beta Features

Windows 7 Pre-Release Beta Installation

Cisco 2600 PW Reset and Sanitation

Pash

This has the makings of something special im sure. Well done matt and I will be sure to check out those videos at some point.

Cheers,

Pash.

dynamik

Hey Matt,

I watched the beta features video. It's good overall. Here's a few notes I made:

1. The "gadget bar" is simply called the sidebar
2. Make a shortcut for control netconnections - huge time saver for Vista/7 NIC configuration access
3. The sticky notes were in Vista as a sidebar gadget, but they didn't link http and unc
4. The iSCSI and Task Manager bits seemed out of place since they were in Vista
5. The calculator actually has a lot of new features. Check out the new modes and options; it's not just eye candy
6. Check out the new theme stuff. You can do some neat things like automatically change your background every X minutes.
7. Things like not knowing the name of the sidebar and the sort of random clicking through the folders made it seemed like you were a bit unprepared.
8. You seemed to rag on MS a bit, and it was sort of a turn off. If I watch something like this, I simply want to be informed of the new features. Adding things like, "I don't know why they did this," or "This is useless/unnecessary," gets distracting. For example, the vast majority of people, myself include, like the ribbon. You're obviously entitled to your opinion, and I actually agreed with you on some of the points. It just seems like that type of thing would be better suited for a personal review video or blog article. I did laugh at adjusting the annoyance level though. Let's hope I don't have to run as an admin to renew a DHCP lease anymore!

Like I said, very good overall. That's just a little feedback.

What did you use to record the audio/video (mic/software)?

How are you planning on paying for the bandwidth? That video was about 42mb. You're going to break a gig every 25 views.

Where did the LexTrain name come from?

mgeorge

Well to be honest, I threw the beta video together on a short notice. Someone on irc messaged me and asked me to do it since i was playing with it at the time, I've only been using 7 for like maybe 30 minutes max.

I left a lot of the theme stuff out of the video because VMWare kills Aero.

Lextrain came from "Lexington training" the city where I'm located at.

As far as bandwidth, I get unlimited from this hosting company or so they say, I'm wondering how long this "unlimited" will last under a "fair use" policy.

About the side bar, yeah I was unprepared because I've only touched sidebar in vista for like 3 minutes in my entire vista life.

For recording software I'm using CamStudio 2.5 (free)

Sadly I pulled my mixer from my studio and hooked it up to my desktop and I'm using a Shure SM57 mic. The mixer is a 20 chan USB but it does not like windows, it has a small whine to it. It does not do that on a mac. (must be the windows drivers)

But by all means I've not meant for these to be professional like cbt nuggets or something, I'm just trying to get the feel at making these kinds of videos at first.

I have a few buddies said they may jump on the wagon and make the Microsoft and VMWare videos while I concentrate on Cisco, but we'll see. This is still a very young project of mine. It may take off or yet it may crash and burn

kalebksp

I watched most xmodem video (I stopped because I had to go to sleep, not because it wasn't good). I thought it was very well done. The audio wasn't the best quality, but I've heard much worse. I'm sure you can work that out.

It's nice to see people trying to create some good free training materials. Perhaps I'll try my hand at this sort of thing when I have some spare time. Best of luck with this project!

dynamik

mgeorge wrote: »

But by all means I've not meant for these to be professional like cbt nuggets or something, I'm just trying to get the feel at making these kinds of videos at first.

Yea I know. My comments were made in comparison to something like that, but only because I think you can get there. You're off to a good start.

Your "unlimited" bandwidth isn't going to take you very far with popular video content. You should probably start looking into CacheFly or something like that. I think your biggest hurdle is going to be financing the project. I doubt you'd be able to cover your costs with donations and AdWords alone.

mgeorge

Well I've been looking into ways to shrink the video file size and optimize bandwidth. I'll definitely look into CacheFLY. I need to get away from making 1024x768 videos but with some videos its a must.

I've already made back the money I've put into starting the site with adsense so as of now I have nothing in the site but time.

dynamik

Yea, but that's nothing compared to transferring hundreds or thousands of gigs per month. If you get serious about this, and it takes off, you're going to want to be prepared for that. You could probably afford to pay out of pocket, but that's no fun

mikej412

Nice!!

Professional delivery! Only notice a couple of "ands" at the beginning of sentences that could have been skipped -- but they beat "uh" any day of the week.

I thought the sound quality on Xmodem was fine -- but there was a volume drop when I opened up Password Recovery. I'm pretty sure I didn't play with my speaker volume between attempts.

When are you going to tackle a Subnetting Video? You are taking requests, right? I'm thinking TCP/IP 3-way handshake with wireshark demo. Ditto - ARP with wireshark demo.

mgeorge

Yeah some of the earlier videos I made were very low because i was still experimenting with what settings on my mixers preamp would work best.

Honestly, subnetting is probably the one video I'm going to dread doing lol!!! I even hate teaching it in class but its on my list to do but the Wireshark demo could be interesting, I'll definitely add that to the list.

As of today I'm working on an SDM video since I see everyone talking about it so I'll try to post it either tonight or tomorrow.

kalebksp

I agree that the bandwidth is going to add up fast. You may want to look into getting a partner account with YouTube, they pay you ad revenue and you can upload HD video.

Daniel333

Very awesome!

I started a similar project on and off. ( Learn IT Video Cast! on blip.tv ).

Kept deleting and redoing episodes beause of technical or human basic slip ups (cussing for one!). I also hate video editing, so I find myself leaving things in there I probably shoudn't. Then again, for free what can people expect?

Are you considering a ipod/zune compatible version?

mgeorge

kalebksp wrote: »

I agree that the bandwidth is going to add up fast. You may want to look into getting a partner account with YouTube, they pay you ad revenue and you can upload HD video.

Well I think you've provided the best idea yet. Take advantage of YouTUBE's HD video delivery.

I can embed the videos onto the site and ultimately if the site crashes i still have the videos public.

So after this new video I'm making on Cisco SDM, I'm going to probably going to take a break for a few days and experiment with HD and see how it goes.

drew2000

Love the videos!

Drew

coffeeking

Regardless of the sound/picture quality of the videos, you are doing a great job. Just to start something like this and make it publicly available for free requires some encouragement. Good luck with it!

lildeezul

awesome videos geroge... I actually used the xmodem video, becuase i just bought some upgraded flash, and had to xmodem the IOS over in the rommon mode... so i had to change the config register to 3922...

thanks the videos help. and perfect timing haha:D

mgeorge

I appreciate the compliments guys, at the moment I'm working on an SDM installation video since i see alot of questions about it on forums about how to install it and such.

I did start it originally in 800x600 but then i decided to do it in HD 1280x720 and host it on youtube. I finished it last night but youtube killed the quality of the video so I'm going to have to redo it again tonight. I'll post a link to it when it's hosted @ youtube.

tigerplug

Thanks - I'll be checking these out very shortly!

mgeorge

Well guys I've had this SDM video done for a while but I've been trying to keep YouTube from killing the quality of the videos. I've went ahead and uploaded it any ways and its somewhat viewable so check it out. I will be working to better the quality of the video since I have the original encoded at a lossless codec.

Installing Cisco SDM v2.5

I guess I'm going to have to take some time to learn Adobe Premier

dynamik

That's why I didn't suggest YouTube as an option. Even with their "HD" offering, I don't think they can provide the quality necessary for IT training. It's great if you want to make a redneck slingshot though.

mamono

Very nice.

skrpune

dynamik wrote: »

It's great if you want to make a redneck slingshot though.

Oh. My. Goodness. I totally thought she was going to splat into the side of the hill there....

mgeorge

I would totally get in that redneck slingshot! looks like a kick @$$ ride!

Well I've been experimenting with YouTube's HD video and I've noticed that in order for YouTube to stream a video HD even if you use 1280x720, you need to have a certain color bit depth to each frame of the video.

For example, the following video was created at 1280x720 and I used a solid color wallpaper and the classic windows and YouTube gave it only "High Quality" option;
YouTube - YouTube's HD Testing - High Quality

The next video is recorded on the same computer at the same resolution (720p) and uses a colorful background and the windows vista theme but notice that YouTube offers this video in HD now;
YouTube - YouTube's HD Testing - High Definition

So after banging my head against the desk for the past few days trying to figure this out, I've learned that even if your video is 1280x720 and you upload it to YouTube, if it does not meet a minimum "colorful" requirement, YouTube will not stream it in HD.

Now for the big challenge, to find a colorful neutral background that I can make videos with that will enable YouTube to offer the videos in HD.

mgeorge

Conclusion....

Well after making those two comparison videos I've noticed that the bitrate of the first video without the background and classic theme was getting a bitrate of about 500Kbps, YouTube requires a bitrate of 1Mbps or greater at 1280x720 to enable HD.

Now the second video, which had a background and theme and stuff got a higher bitrate naturally even during compression because of the more content per frame therefore putting its bitrate above 1Mbps even after h.264 compression.

I've already uploaded my old SDM Installation originally made in HD to YouTube and it's now streaming HD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwGch5zKcuA&fmt=22

More videos to come now that I've figured this whole HD issue out. I believe I may start on that WireShark Video now.

ITdude

Very impressive....Keep up the good work!

mikej412

mgeorge wrote: »

I believe I may start on that WireShark Video now.

Adding a request for a generic WireShark setup/configurion video -- useful for almost any of the networking/security certifications (and the upcoming WireShark Certification). Don't forget the exciting action shots of some traces showing what stuff hits a home internet connection.

And a SPAN Video (and a sequel covering RSPAN -- since 2 bite sized videos are easier for some to digest rather then 1 larger video).

Also other videos that could use Wireshark (besides the ARP Video and TCP 3-way Handshake) -- the obvious -- SSH and VPNs!! Show the simple new CCNA Security topics showing the data traffic before and after. Show the "cisco" password with telnet, then the SSH configuration, then show what you get with the SSH login.

Silver Bullet

Very nice job on the SDM video Matt! The quality and content is very good.

mgeorge

Since using YouTube, I'll be limited to 10 minute videos each until YouTube lifts this restriction.

I originally thought of doing like 2-3 of the WireShark videos to give an overview of its potential, such as the 3way handshake, a span session, RIP updates unsecured and secured, and now that you mentioned ssh, i could probably do that in a short and sweet video.

My goal is to make these videos as down to earth as I can so people can relate to them easily but not noobify (haha i love that word) them enough to make people feel like they are in first grade

drew2000

I just had a chance to watch the xModem video all the way through, these are really helpful!

Drew

drew2000

The password reset video is nice also. I though the that chip view of the bootrom and NVRAM chips was a nice surprise. I knew what bootrom looked like, but for some reason I thought the NVRAM was different type of chip, so the clarification was good. Also, the idea of making a backup of the startup-config was a nice addition also.

Drew

mikej412

rotinhell2568 wrote: »

Also how do i set up a T*f-tp server. Can you give me a step by step tutorial that i can follow to set up one and a tutorial so i can get the image onto the switch

Sounds like another Matt George Video Request to me!!

I'm surprised it's not already in http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/21264-matt-george-guide-cisco-ios.html?highlight=MATT+GEORGE+GUIDE (and the link to the http://www.techexams.net/forums/ccna-ccent/34375-matt-george-tutorial-home-cisco-routers.html?highlight=MATT+GEORGE+GUIDE is dead in that thread).