In this Sharewood Picnic: Visual communication tools for converting presentations to Flash, downloading any video from any video sharing service, as well as services to edit your pictures, create photo galleries, and grab color schemes.

Photo credit: Fotoflash

Here my toolkit of useful video and visual communication tools I have selected for you this week:

1. iSpring Free 3.2: Convert all of your presentations to Flash files for free
2. FixUpMyPic: Upload a picture, type the changes you wish to be done to it, and let a team of professionals edit it for you
3. Flowchart.com: Create mind maps in real-time with other people while chatting with them
4. mooColorFinder: Paste a URL and get a list of all the colors used on that site
5. Photorganizr: Upload all of your images, and arrange them in embeddable, personalizable photo galleries
6. TechSmith Screencast: Upload and share all of your multimedia files through a URL or embedded widget. Free 60-days trial
7. Magnifying Glass: Free Windows software allows you to zoom on screen regions with easy customizable controls
8. TechTracker: Download FLV files from all major video sharing web-sites for free

Visual Communication Tools

1. iSpring Free 3.2
   
   iSpring free is a PowerPoint integration that lets you turn all of your presentations into Flash format. After you have finished a presentation, you can export it in Flash format your presentation just by selecting the destination folder, changing the advanced settings for slides timing and controls, and clicking a button. Free to download and use. Windows only.
   http://www.ispringsolutions.com/products/ispring_free.html






2. FixUpMyPic
   
   FixUpMyPic is a new photo retouch service that anyone can use to get their photo enhanced by a professional staff. Users just have to upload their pictures, specify the changes they would like to be done, and FixUpMyPic's team will do the rest. The service is still in beta, and completely free to use since it runs off of advertising revenue.
   http://www.fixupmypic.com/






3. Flowchart.com
   
   Flowchart.com is a web-based service that you can use to create flowcharts, or simply mind maps, online. You can create mind maps in real-time with other people and chat with them while you draw, add text and insert object onto your map. Flowchart is free to use after you register.
   http://www.flowchart.com/






4. mooColorFinder
   
   mooColorFinder is a free web-based color finder application which displays the color scheme used on a website. All you need to do to get a site's color scheme is to paste the URL into the box and click Get: many color boxes will appear representing the scheme used on that particular site, and you can get their values by placing your mouse over one of the boxes. Free to use.
   http://www.artviper.net/colorfinder.php






5. Photorganizr
   
   Photorganizr is an online web-site that anyone can use to create photo galleries. Once you register for free, you can immediately start creating your gallery: after you create a new gallery, give it a name and a description, you can begin uploading the pictures. When you have uploaded all the images, you just have to select the view-style, and grab the HTML embedding code. Free to use.
   http://www.photorganizr.com/






6. TechSmith Screencast
   
   TechSmith Screencast is a new service from the popular software-house, and it enables you to share multimedia files online. After you create a free account (see the pricing plans), you can upload all of your files, like documents, images, videos, and audio files, and share them through a URL or by embedding a widget onto your web-pages. Free 60 days trial.
   http://www.screencast.com/






7. Magnifying Glass
   
   Magnifying Glass is a free Windows software that lets you zoom on screen regions easily. With fully customizable shortcuts and size, it creates a box besides or on your mouse, in which you can zoom with various levels on the zone it is on. Also available in a pro version with more customizable features, it is completely free to download and use.
   http://www.workerscollection.com/...

Video Publishing Tools

1. TechTracker
   
   TechTracker is a new web-based application that allows you to grab and download in FLV format, videos from major video hosting services. All you need to do is to paste the video URL (from YouTube, Google Video, Metacafe, etc.), click download, and then click on the link. The download will begin, and in a matter of seconds you will be watching the video right on your machine. Free to use, no registration needed.
   http://techtracker.info/

Originally written by Nico Canali De Rossi for Master New Media and first published on June 8th 2008 as "Visual Communication And Video Publishing - Selected Tools And Web Services - Sharewood Picnic Jun08 08"