If you've been using MS Paint to brainstorm it's time to upgrade. A whiteboard solution called Dabbleboard is one of the better efforts I've seen. It lets you put together a map of ideas very quickly, and supports both free-hand drawing, along with a system that will automatically convert basic doodles into sold shapes like circles, triangles, and squares.
Dabbleboard's killer feature is that it lets you save bits and pieces of these doodles into your library for later use. Once you've added anything to your library you can simply drag and drop it into whatever you're working on, and the pieces will follow you between projects. This is helpful for any complex design elements or images you've uploaded and plan to use in a later session.
In addition to its library tool, Dabbleboard boasts online collaboration that lets you work with several others at the same time. The one caveat here is that only one person can be actively making changes for it to save, otherwise anything you're working on can be overwritten by someone who jumps in and draws something. The system is smart enough to alert you when the other person is using it, however, I found it to do a poor job at respecting the precedence of an edit that had begun before someone else's.
Any work you've done can be shared in a central library with items that can be copied back to your personal collection for editing and redistribution. You can also embed any of these works on a blog or site with code, which means when someone makes a change it will go live wherever it's been embedded.
Besides the standalone site, Dabbleboard offers an API for developers. Anyone can use it to build Dabbleboard into their sites and services, letting users log in and save their work using a pre-existing user account.
The service reminds me quite a bit of Scriblink and Skrbl, two collaborative whiteboard tools I've looked at before. Also worth mentioning is the now-extinct software-based FreeHand, which Adobe Systems killed off back in early 2007. The big difference here remains the clips library, which is just plain smart. In any project where you want to save some time by reusing something you've already modeled, this is going to be a immensely helpful.
I've embedded the service's demo video below.
[via Basement.org]
Collaborative whiteboarding applications can be handy tools for small groups looking to do some brainstorming despite geographical displacement. Meet Twiddla, a free tool that lets you mark up media and live Web sites, or simply organize ideas together on a virtual whiteboard. It also tacks on live communication with text chat and free VoIP conference calling that doesn't require additional plug-ins or software.
The application won an award for technical achievement at last night's SXSW Interactive Web Awards. While technologically fantastic, in my testing I ran up against some noticeable speed and local resource problems. At times I found the application to be nearly unusable despite its simple interface and snappy menus. At other times it was incredibly responsive.
In any case, Twiddla's packing a lot of features that might attract users of premium paid collaborative services such as ConceptShare and Octopz who are seeking a very simple way to get feedback on Web design or photography. It could also easily replace WebEx for a large number of people who use the tool simply for its text chat and shared work space.
One of Twiddla's killer applications is the built-in screenshot tool. It will snap the current iteration of the whiteboard and save it into both your saved media folder and the meeting's history archive. For photo or Web design consulting, this gives you the option of coming back to a work space and editing content asynchronously.
I'm holding off on giving Twiddla a thumbs up for the time being. It simply didn't perform as well as I think it should to make me ditch some of the alternatives. However, I'm happy to see some little guys come up and show WebEx and others like the recently Google-acquired Marratech what can be done on the user interface side to make these tools simple and attractive.
Read Web pages at the same time with others, and make live markups to a site on the fly. You can also chat live with others either via text or VoIP conference calling.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Whiteboarding tools associated with virtual conference solutions frequently don't offer an easy way to record what's being written down, or distribute it elsewhere after the fact. And for presenting, we're often limited to PowerPoints, video, or audio recordings--or sometimes a hodgepodge of all three at once. Enter Sketchcast, a happy medium between voice and whiteboard recording that the service coins as "Sketchcasts." Users can create their own audio-enriched doodle sessions for all to see, and embed them on blogs or Web sites to distribute their work.
Sketchcast creator Richard Ziade drummed up the idea after finding it cumbersome to spend the time blogging out his ideas, and equated his experiences in meeting rooms, with the potential for blog readership. At least that's the concept, anyway. If Sketchcasting has anything in common with Podcasting (which it does), both require your audience to absorb content in a linear fashion, which is far slower than giving someone several paragraphs of writing that they can peruse at their leisure. There's also the problem of indexing and searching the content, which (for now) is only made possible with tags and user-submitted descriptions.
As a tool, Sketchcast gives users a massive color pallet to choose from, along with an eraser and text tool. All three of the tools can be summoned or dismissed in an instant with keyboard shortcuts, which is a big help to power users. The recording feature is also incredibly simple to use, and can be paused at any time if you need time to draw out your next slide. When finished, the tool gives you the standard smattering of links, including a simple URL, e-mail link, and embed code. Videos are broken down into four categories, including one just for tutorials. The service also is also set up to support user ratings (on a five-star scale), and comments that show up just like they do on YouTube.
I'd definitely recommend giving Sketchcast a spin, if only to play with its editor, which is incredibly simple and fun to use (Ed: It requires registration to use.) As for its worth as a blogging tool, I can only say that preparing a proper Sketchcast takes more of my, and likely more of my reader's, time, which is hardly a suitable replacement for text--as much as it is a complement to whatever is being written. I've embedded an example Sketchcast after the break.
[via TechCrunch]
Related: Live whiteboard collaboration with Scriblink
Make your own voice annotated sketch recordings with Sketcast.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Looking for a quick way to pass along ideas with a few other folks? Check out Scriblink, a new site for whiteboarding and conference calling. Setup is dead simple--just load the page and give the service your name to get going. There's a half-page workspace to sketch and write down ideas, a full color pallet to differentiate each user, and an undo button that will let you get rid of every addition you've made. There's also built-in multi-user chat on the right-hand side. If you feel like talking, the service can set up a free conference line (using FreeConferenceCall.com) to dial in to, although this is in no way integrated into the shared workspace.
In case you feel like saving your work, just give it your e-mail address, and the site will give you a permalink to access it whenever you feel like it--although Scriblink doesn't have to hold on to your workspace forever. It promises two months minimum, but if it's important, you'd be wise to save a copy locally or e-mail to yourself.
Scriblink does have a few limitations. You can only have up to five people in a workspace at once, and the actual differentiation of who added what is limited to the color pallet, which means if users change their color and you weren't paying attention, you won't know who made the edit. I'd also like to see the service let you save your workplace as a JPEG or PDF file for easy archiving. If you're a small business looking for a more robust and scalable collaboration application, I'd recommend Octopz (review), Vyew (review) or Yugma (review).
Draw and chat on the same page with Scriblink--a free whiteboard collaboration application.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Qipit is a free service for turning digital photos into sharable, online documents. It works with any photo taken with a digital camera, or from your mobile phone. Like ScanR (review), Qipit will store and host your photos, and let you rotate them to your heart's content. This works the best with shots of documents taken at an angle, and with whiteboards, business cards, etc. Once uploaded, Qipit will tweak the contrast of your shot, drawing out the text, and doing its best to correct perspective warp. Unlike ScanR however, you're not getting the archival goodness of optical character recognition to turn those notes into searchable text. Instead, it's up to you to tag your shots for easy sorting later on.
Qipit can turn handwritten notes into easy-to-read PDFs and JPEGs, although we didn't have much luck with angle correction.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Qipit has a few handy features, like storage for 100 different files, and a way to embed full versions of your scanned photo documents on your blog or Web site using a simple line of JavaScript. You can also process any old photo just by e-mailing copy@qipit.com with an attachment. Qipit will send you back a permalink to the full version, complete with links to download the shot as a PDF or JPEG.
I had mixed results with the service. All my test shots with oblique angles didn't receive any perspective correction, and the two I had selected for color instead of black and white turned out harder to read than they were originally. Also, many modern-day digital cameras have text and whiteboard modes that will either help you center your shots or do correction right in the camera (such as Casio's Exilim line). For phones however, Qipit is a slightly better solution than ScanR, which requires one megapixel or higher, leaving many phones in the dust.
[via Lifehacker]
Skrbl is a delightfully simple whiteboarding tool that lets you draw, type notes, and share files without a software download. Admittedly, my use for and experience with whiteboard products is limited, but Skrbl really impressed me with how quickly I was able to begin a whiteboard and share it with others.
Skrbl also allows you to host files and secure your session with attendees, as long as you register. What's nice is that any unregistered attendee can download your shared files; Skrbl only requires registration to upload. However, one thing to note is the limit on uploading, which is capped at 2MB per file and 10MB of storage. This is too low to share high-resolution digital photos or video files; you're likely better off using a dedicated app like Tubes for such a task. But if you're using the service for business and passing documents back and forth, it will be fine.
See also ImaginationCubed.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
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