The Woodworking Channel

[gary in virginia]

New! Woodworking TV 24X7 on your PC!

Maybe you folks have heard about it already but I thought I'd give you a heads up.

Gary

Here's what they say about themselves on the internet: WELCOME!

We want to officially welcome you to the launch of The Woodworking Channel!

After many months of hard work, we're finally ready to share this channel with you. We want to welcome woodworkers from all over the world to the world's first 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year network devoted solely to woodworking. We have already received emails from all over the world - Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Uruguay, Denmark, Hungary, Germany, Spain, England, Italy, Japan, and China. I think we have also heard from every state in the United States as well. (That's six of the seven continents. Antarctica... where are you?!)

FOR WOODWORKERS, BY WOODWORKERS

This channel is for woodworkers by woodworkers! We want our content to reflect your interests as much as ours. We have some good ideas, and we know you will too. That's why we want to hear from you. We encourage you to take a few weeks, watch when you can, and then send us your thoughts about what we're doing right on the channel and ways you think we can improve. We know we can't do it all ourselves and after so many months of preparation, frankly, our brains are tired. It's time for you to share in the work -- so write in and tell us what you think! This is your chance to speak directly to the sponsors and content producers and tell them what you want to see!

INTERNET TELEVISION -- WHAT'S NEW AND DIFFERENT

In many ways, The Woodworking Channel is just like a conventional television channel. But, the cool thing about the internet is that we are not limited by the traditional framework of cable and network TV. For example, we can create programming that is as long or short as the subject matter needs to be. We hate instructional and how-to shows that rush through a project just because they want to get everything in by the end of the half-hour (which is really only about 22 minutes, in the first place!). That's what's so great about having a channel on the internet. We're able to focus on the process rather than the payoff when it comes to new production. Another great thing about internet television is how quickly we can develop new shows. When we come across a great idea, we're able to shoot, edit, and get it playing on the channel immediately. We don't have to wait until next season for a great idea that comes in today.

THE WOODWORKING CHANNEL -- VERSION 1.0

Now a little bit about this version of the channel -- we consider it a 1.0 or first version. We're already working on version 2.0 with more features, upgrades, and great woodworking resources. We're looking at pod-casting, downloadable plans, and ways you can customize your own viewing experience (and for those who have written in to ask... yes, that means Video-On-Demand). After you've had a chance to get to know the channel, please feel free to send us your ideas of features you'd like to see. We don't have all the answers and we don't want to get too far into development without your input. To share your ideas, you can click here.

HOW IT WORKS -- THE MECHANICS

The Woodworking Channel follows a schedule like every other TV channel you have ever seen. We start new shows every half-hour, but unlike conventional television, we don't have commercials during the shows. Our advertising comes through sponsorship and flash ads that run next to the viewer. As a result, we're sometimes left with some down-time at the end of a program. We'll fill those minutes with other great content and then on the half-hour we'll start the next show. On occasion, there may be a few seconds when the screen goes black between shows. Don't worry -- this is part of the process and a new show is on the way! (By the way -- our goal is to collect video segments from our viewers and include them between episodes. For more information on how you can get involved, click here.)

NAVIGATION BUTTONS

Next to the viewer, you'll find a series of buttons that allow you to navigate through the features of the channel. These buttons will allow you to find more out about the shows in our line-up, when these shows will air, and what sponsors are supporting the channel and making this resource possible. They're all pretty self explanatory, but we do want to point out a couple of items.

Schedule -- The Schedule button to the left of the video window will allow you to search the program listings for the next 7 days. We also have a neat feature that will synchronize your schedule to the clock settings from your computer. Woodworking involves enough math already so we wanted to save you some addition or subtraction with the broadcast times.

Resources -- The Resource button leads you to a directory page that will grow over time. Here you'll find schools, educational facilities, and organizations that can help you get started woodworking, build your skills, or find sources in your area for whatever you need. If you have a suggestion (know of a great school, guild, woodworking club or materials source, etc.) please let us know so we can include it in our listings. You can send us your suggestions by clicking here.

Send Your Video -- In our opinion, the most exciting button is the one marked "Send Your Video" This is where you'll find out how to be on The Woodworking Channel yourself. If you have a great shop tip, jig idea, or hint you've picked up along the way, we encourage you to make a short video and send it in. Even if you don't have a tip, send us a clip telling us who you are, what you like to make in your shop, and where you're from. It's always exciting to hear from woodworkers all over the world and we can't wait to share your ideas and greetings.

The Player Buttons -- These are the traditional video control buttons below the viewer. For now the rewind and fast forward buttons are not functional. We built them in as a feature of the channel for the future. We felt it would be easier to build them in now rather than later. The up arrow button allows you to set your connection speed. The channel functions optimally with a high speed internet connection, but can support dial up connections in some cases. The "question mark" button will allow you to access the troubleshooting and help area. If you are having trouble and are not able to resolve your problem with information on this page please email us a [e-mail].

THANKS

In the last few months, it's been incredible to hear from all of you new friends and supporters of this channel. It's amazing to see just how large and diverse the world's woodworking community is and at the same time learn how small and similar we all are, as well. It seems there are certain values and a character we all share. No matter how many miles, cultures, languages, and countries apart we are, we're always just a phone call, or an email, or now a tv channel away.

All of us at The Woodworking Channel want to say, "thanks" in advance for your viewership, encouragement, and support. We really mean it when we say this is a channel "by woodworkers, for woodworkers", and we can't wait to hear your thoughts, suggestions, encouragements, and even criticisms. All of them will help us make a better channel.

Finally, we'd like to encourage you to drop a line to our sponsors and tell them what you think. If you like what you see, please be sure to tell them "thanks". It's their support that allows us to bring you the great classic shows and exciting new programs you're enjoying right now.

That's all for now. We hope you enjoy the channel and we look forward to hearing from you soon!

Best Regards,

Reed Smith

[Ralph E Lindberg]

Thanks Gary, but I suspect most knew about it already. It's been "on the air" for some weeks now

I've found that the video freezes in the evenings and weekends (probably too many people watching it), make it unusable in those periods

[else24]

I guess I need to quit leaving the house so much. I had no idea it was out there.

[Upscale]

You're not the only one. I didn't know it was there either.

[Odinn]

On 4/14/2006 3:09 PM Upscale mumbled something about the following:

But I can't TiVo it and watch it at my convenience.

[Darrell Dorsey]

It was the first I've heard of it as well.

Darrell

[Leon]

Not to worry, the shows appear to repeat themselves often enough.

[else24]

And you can purchase software that will act just like a tivo. Or a vcr, depending on which generation youi're coming from. :-)

[Odinn]

On 4/15/2006 8:45 AM [e-mail] mumbled something about the following:

Umm, that's a screen capture, it won't capture streaming video. As for which generation I'm coming from, I remember the VHS/Beta wars (I was an avid BetaMax user), I also happen to be a geek. I have 4 VHS player/recorders, which all work, and 2 TiVos that I've enhanced considerably.

[Ba r r y]

Odinn,

Google shows me that TiVo enhancement is a hobby in itself, but do you know of any simple method to get a batch of shows off the HDD to my DVD recorder?

I have 74 David Marks episodes that I'd like to store 12-16 per disk. I'd like to not have to provide manual input every 30 minutes via the "Save to VCR" option.

[Odinn]

On 4/15/2006 9:07 AM Ba r r y mumbled something about the following:

You need to hack the TiVo, add networking capabilities and file extraction capabilities, then convert them to an mpg, then you can burn to CD/DVD.

Now, I know someone who somehow managed to get them to play from his TiVo with a vid input card on his computer, and capture them that way, but I haven't been successful doing that, and he hasn't provided me with all the good info yet.

[Ba r r y]

That sounds interesting.

Thanks!

[else24]

"Umm, that's a screen capture, it won't capture streaming video. As for which generation I'm coming from, I remember the VHS/Beta wars (I was an avid BetaMax user), I also happen to be a geek. I have 4 VHS player/recorders, which all work, and 2 TiVos that I've enhanced considerably. "

Sorry, I didn't mean to disparage your geekiness. I'm sure you're, like, really really geeky.

And I did post the wrong URL. That company has a video capture but that's not it. Here's a list of video/audio capture programs that I'm slowly working my way through trying to find one that does everything I want, or as close as I can get.

[arw01]

I've only got 48 of them on my tivo/hard drives to burn to DVD's..

I'm going to purchase Video Redo to make the conversion to plain MPEG and then use a DVD RW in the computer to make the actual DVD's. Will put likely 5 shows per DVD.

Norm, St. Roy, and a couple of DIY turning shows are also saved to my computers for burning someday also.

Then I plan on deleting DIY on comcast and dropping back a ways on my cable bill which has gotten over $75.00 a month with MINOR premium channel that comes with DIY anyways.

Alan

[brianlanning]

Actually, you don't need to hack the tivo. You could do the video capture board with an IR blaser type thing to control the tivo. Or you could just do what I did:

First, you need a tivo series 2 dvr, which most people have.

Then you need to setup the networking. The tivo doesn't have an ethernet port, but it does have a usb port. You can get either wired or wireless usb to ethernet adapter and plug that into the back. Before you buy, go to the tivo website and see what's compatable. Most are not. Better yet, buy it from them. Their prices are ok and you'll know it works. If you have a broadband connection, this also allows you to get the guide info over the internet and ditch the phone line. And you can use the tivo website to schedule shows. You can also use a lot of other new tivo features. I play my entire mp3 collection from my computer through the tivo.

Then set up tivo to go:

allows you to run a program (tivo desktop) on your windows machine and pull shows off the tivo and into the computer. The tivo can still see those shows and pull them back in. So this is a way to free up space on the tivo. The files end in .tivo and are an encrypted and probably watermarked mpeg2 file.

Then you have a choice, you can either use Sonic My DVD to burn them to a DVD you can play in any dvd player. Or you can use a freeware utility to strip the encryption from the tivo files and make plain old mpeg2 files. To do that, you need directshow dump:

[Tom]

I have my VCR/DVD recorder hooked up to my TIVO and then to my TV. I am able to record to my DVD or VCR with no problems. I have several NYWS's and other WW programs saved to my DVD disks.

[Lee Gordon]

[Odinn]

On 4/15/2006 1:28 PM Lee Gordon mumbled something about the following:

What I've found easier than pulling them off my TiVo is getting them from a bittorrent site or mlnet. Most people who have put them up have already stripped out the commercials for you, and all you have to do is burn them to DVD.

Now, before anyone says anything about it being illegal to download them from a bittorrent or mlnet, it's no more illegal to download them from there than it is from your TiVo and do all the footwork to remove the commercials and burn to DVD, so if you have a problem with this, then you better voice your opinion about the legalities of stripping them from your TiVo as well.

[brianlanning]

Can you post (or email) and let me know which torrent tracking site you use? The usual suspects don't seem to have any of the woodworking shows, although I have found a few on edonkey. I'm mainly interested in shows from older seasons.

brian

[Odinn]

On 4/15/2006 2:42 PM brianlanning mumbled something about the following:

I've gotten most of mine from edonkey, but since I use mlnet for unix, it does bittorrent, edonkey and about 5 or 6 other networks from a single client.