Templot online workshop/dabble session

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Martin Wynne
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Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Martin Wynne » Thu Sep 24, 2020 1:42 pm

The trials for the Virtual Scaleforum on Saturday reminded me that a few years ago I tried broadcasting my Templot computer screen as a way of providing quick Templot help and support for users.

It wasn't very successful then, but browser tech and broadband seems to have improved a bit since, so I have had another go. So far it seems to be working quite well.

It would be a bit daft to run it in conflict with the live Scaleforum, but I thought maybe I could run an online Templot session on Saturday evening after Scaleforum closes, or maybe on Sunday? Folks could post questions here or on the Templot Club forum. Assuming anyone would be interested of course.

If you go to this link right now:

https://templot.com/companion/live_screen.php

you should be able to see Templot test running. I've allocated half my screen width to it so that I can go on working in the other half. You can tell it's live because the red radius warning indicator should be flashing. If not, try pressing CTRL+F5 to refresh the page. Allow 20 seconds or so before anything much happens.

From time to time for the next few hours I will dabble with it just to see how well it works.

Please report if it is working for you, the image quality, etc. Thanks. You will probably need reasonable broadband, but not anything special.

p.s. this is not using Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instazoomgram, or any other MegaCorporation harvesting your hat size. You don't need to register, sign in, give your email address or any information at all. It's running on a small UK-based streaming service, and displayed on the Templot web site.

More info: https://85a.co.uk/forum/view_topic.php? ... forum_id=1

cheers,

Martin.
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Rod Cameron
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Rod Cameron » Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:57 pm

Looks fine here Martin (macOS 10.13.6/Safari).
Last edited by Rod Cameron on Thu Sep 24, 2020 4:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Rod

Carlos
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Carlos » Thu Sep 24, 2020 3:24 pm

Same from Chrome

Mario KESR
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Mario KESR » Thu Sep 24, 2020 3:39 pm

Picture looks fine here. I can't get the volume very high. I can here music and maybe typing and a creaking chair.
I think I'm on Internet Explorer.

Regards Mario

philchudley
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby philchudley » Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:44 pm

Hi Martin

I can confirm the stream looks just fine on my workstation:

Latest release Windows 10
Latest release of Microsoft Edge Chromium

All the best
Phil

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Martin Wynne
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Martin Wynne » Fri Sep 25, 2020 4:17 pm

Thanks for all the feedback. It seems that the technology is good for us, so now we need to put it to use, and I see Danny has added me as a postscript to the Virtual Scaleforum show tomorrow: Image

viewtopic.php?p=78726#p78726

I'm proposing to start the proceedings, if they can be called such, at about 7pm and continue for most of the evening. I shall be dabbling with Templot and nattering about what I'm doing. If you have any questions or help requests please post them in this topic or on the Templot Club forum, and I will try to answer them.

To try out the format and learn from mistakes I shall be doing the same at various times this evening, but I can't say when or for how long.

Here's the link again:

https://templot.com/companion/live_screen.php

cheers,

Martin.
40+ years developing Templot. Enjoy using Templot? Join Templot Club. Be a Templot supporter.

Davidbeale
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Davidbeale » Sat Sep 26, 2020 8:58 am

Hi Martin,
What a great idea! And lovely to hear from you. Two questions for tonight. I have my track plan ready but I need to calibrate the printer and am not sure how that happens. Second, if I want to get it printed out commercially on larger, or continuous sheet (it is 28 feet long) how is the best way?

Look forward to joining you sometime this evening,

david

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Martin Wynne
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Martin Wynne » Sat Sep 26, 2020 6:10 pm

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mikeannneale
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby mikeannneale » Sat Sep 26, 2020 9:15 pm

Thank you Martin. A lot to take in even over 3 hours. The sound was fine for me but I used headphones. Keep up the good work!

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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby mikeannneale » Sun Sep 27, 2020 10:06 am

Good Morning Martin. Very pleasant evening yesterday but a lot to assimilate. Is it possible you could make downloads of demonstrations so that we can view them at leisure? A big ask but it would be a great help.

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Martin Wynne
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Martin Wynne » Mon Sep 28, 2020 8:33 pm

mikeannneale wrote:Good Morning Martin. Very pleasant evening yesterday but a lot to assimilate. Is it possible you could make downloads of demonstrations so that we can view them at leisure? A big ask but it would be a great help.

Many thanks all, for the positive feedback after Saturday's live Templot session.

Hi Mike,

I'm keeping a recording of each session, for archive and record purposes, so in theory they could be posted after the event to make them permanently available. In practice it is not so simple. I'm recording them in 15-minute clips to keep file sizes within reason (each one is around 100MB). Saturday's session was over 4 hours, so I now have 17 such clips. To edit and combine them, removing interruptions and breaks (and also my various mistakes and mis-clicks Image) would be a full day's work.

But I have now uploaded a 16-minute raw clip from Saturday's session:

https://flashbackconnect.com/Default.as ... ZPTOLRm1A2

I have called it CLIP A. It stops dead in the middle of nowhere, so I need to make a follow-on clip B. But I haven't done it yet. Maybe later tonight.

cheers,

Martin.
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Martin Wynne
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Martin Wynne » Tue Sep 29, 2020 12:11 pm

Martin Wynne wrote:I have called it CLIP A. It stops dead in the middle of nowhere, so I need to make a follow-on clip B. But I haven't done it yet.

CLIP B is now online:

https://flashbackconnect.com/Movie.aspx ... LbfPFi7sw2

cheers,

Martin.
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Martin Wynne
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Martin Wynne » Fri Feb 26, 2021 1:37 am

I can't believe it's 5 months since the live Templot session I did after the virtual Scaleforum show in September. Time to do another?

The Gauge 0 Guild are doing a similar virtual show on March 6th, so I'm planning to do another live evening session to coincide with that.

More about the Templot live screen sessions:

https://85a.uk/templot/companion/live_screen.php

https://85a.uk/templot/club/index.php?t ... ession.79/

The show will be worth a visit anyway:

Image

The show is open to all -- info at: https://www.gaugeoguild.com/events/guil ... .aspx?id=4

cheers,

Martin.
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Martin Wynne
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Martin Wynne » Sat Mar 06, 2021 9:24 am

Just a reminder that the Gauge 0 Guild has a virtual show today opening in 10 minutes time at:

https://www.gaugeoguild.com/

And I'm planning a live screen Templot session at 19:30 GMT tonight at:

https://85a.uk/templot/companion/live_screen.php

cheers,

Martin.
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Julian Roberts
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Julian Roberts » Sun Mar 07, 2021 7:03 am

I was amazed to be one of only two or three taking part in this yesterday evening. Many thanks for putting it on, Martin.

Paul Cram
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Paul Cram » Sun Mar 07, 2021 8:36 am

I was watching but I don't appear to have shown up as watching. I wonder how many others were in the same position. Not sure how Martin was seeing who was attanding.

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Martin Wynne
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Martin Wynne » Sun Mar 07, 2021 9:27 am

Paul Cram wrote:I was watching but I don't appear to have shown up as watching. I wonder how many others were in the same position. Not sure how Martin was seeing who was attending.

Hi Julian, Paul,

Thanks for watching. :)

Paul, were you watching all evening? I'm using this counter:

http://freehostedscripts.net/oc.php?id= ... t8MHx8MQ==

which as you can see shows 10 watching at the start of the evening, but it quickly fell away to only 2 or 3.

(One of them was me, so subtract 1 from the figures.)

If you zoom in on the map you can see details for each visitor over the last 24 hours, but most were simply checking the link and stayed only 1 minute:

http://freehostedscripts.net/oc.php?id= ... t8MHx8MXwx

I suspect that even in lockdown a Saturday evening may not be the most convenient time. Also, knowing that I will be posting the recorded clips may cause some to decide to watch it later, although that means of course that you can't ask live questions via the chat box.

cheers,

Martin.
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Jol Wilkinson
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Jol Wilkinson » Sun Mar 07, 2021 10:32 am

I would liked to have joined in but 19:30 on a Saturday evening wasn't practical for me.

Paul Cram
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Paul Cram » Sun Mar 07, 2021 11:12 am

Yes I was watching all evening. It did hang once following one of your breaks. I was still watching when you decided that there was no one left watching

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Martin Wynne
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Martin Wynne » Sun Mar 07, 2021 11:34 am

Paul Cram wrote:Yes I was watching all evening. It did hang once following one of your breaks. I was still watching when you decided that there was no one left watching

Thanks Paul.

It was showing only 1 online, and that was me. I'm not convinced that tracking script is very accurate. Which browser were you using? Did you have any tracker blocking or privacy settings switched on? Were you using the alternative http URL:

http://templot.com/templot/companion/live_screen.php

instead of

https://85a.uk/templot/companion/live_screen.php

Did you see much video buffering during the evening? Was the image quality ok, or breaking up? I fear some may have left because the quality wasn't good enough. Clear line graphics need a faster bit rate than ordinary webcam video.

cheers,

Martin.
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LesGros
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby LesGros » Sun Mar 07, 2021 11:42 am

Martin,
I was one of those who fell away after around 10 minutes. Frequent buffering made the presentation impossible to follow. I tried restarting the browser ( Firefox). Using the suggested alternative link made no improvement.

That one of the watchers had only a single hang suggests that the frequent buffering issue is local to me; we are at the end of copper, 5Km from the Fibre Network. Time of day often has an ill effect here; sometimes Netflix hangs too.

The image was stable throughout, it just froze during buffering every ten or fifteen seconds (approx)

btw. I am about to return to Templot for part of new layout project; after several years neglect, but well remember the trouble-free high quality of your video tutorials. :thumb

Regards,
LesG

The man who never made a mistake
never made anything useful

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Martin Wynne
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Martin Wynne » Sun Mar 07, 2021 11:56 am

Thanks Les.

I noticed more buffering here than the last time in September. All streaming services are congested now with so many lockdown conferences etc.

I may have to upgrade to a more expensive streaming service. But if so I shall need to do more than one every 5 months to justify it. :)

As a point of interest, is it buffering now when showing only the low-quality test card, with no connection from here?

https://camsecure.uk/httpswebcam/templot/templot.html

(watch for several seconds to check)

cheers,

Martin.
40+ years developing Templot. Enjoy using Templot? Join Templot Club. Be a Templot supporter.

Paul Cram
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Paul Cram » Sun Mar 07, 2021 12:01 pm

Hi Martin

I was using the link http://templot.com/templot/companion/live_screen.php. There was some buffering but not too bad. I was using Firefox as the browser with an ad blocker.

Regards
Paul

Paul Cram
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby Paul Cram » Sun Mar 07, 2021 12:04 pm

There is some intermittent bufferiing of a second or 2 on the test link.

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LesGros
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Re: Templot online workshop/dabble session

Postby LesGros » Sun Mar 07, 2021 12:16 pm

Martin Wynne wrote:...
As a point of interest, is it buffering now when showing only the low-quality test card, with no connection from here?
https://camsecure.uk/httpswebcam/templot/templot.html
(watch for several seconds to check)...

Yes,
Frequent buffering for 1 or 2 seconds at intervals of 3 to 12 seconds; observed over about a minute.
LesG

The man who never made a mistake
never made anything useful


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