youtube-video: Application of peak detectors - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: papo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2014, 08:21:17 pm
content: Hello everyoneI've been considering taking a few videos on electronics for quite some time now. I've been doing electronics since I'm 15, initially without having access to oscilloscopes, microcontrollers and other nice things. The consequence was that I spent a lot of time attempting to understand circuits and gathered some knowledge about circuits and also on how to evaluate different design decisions.What I have been observing during the last few years is that many people getting started with electronics throw an arduino at a problem and consider it to be solved. There's a whole thread here about 'arduino is not electronics' even. My stand is that arduino, raspberry pi et al. attract a lot of people who would arguably never have considered electronics otherwise and I think that this is great. But I also believe that electronics is so much more than hooking up stuff to a microcontroller and I would like to share some of these aspects. Generally, my aim with this channel is to discuss circuits based on questions I see asked online, and also to to go into some more specific parts and gear. For example, I got this XMOS starter kit and I have a few cool ideas for it which will hopefully result in projects that I will document.That being said, I cooked up aon somequestionI stumbled upon on reddit. The problem with the video though is that I am not happy with it. I published it nonetheless as sort of beta-video since I reckon I might get some feedback on what could be improved. That's what I got so far from people I shared the video with:My voice and accent sucks.True, I'm sorry about that.The audio track is too low.I'll normalize the audio in the future.There is an annoying echo. I'm trying to figure out how to address that. The room I took the video in is quite narrow and my bench sits towards the wall, so when I talk the sound reflects off that wall, directly in to the microphone and the opposing wall is not far away either, leading to excessive echo. I'm thinking about a combination of microphone and clothes (or some other absorbers) to reduce the effect.I should ask myself what I assume to be knowledge the audience already has and start from there when introducing new concepts.Any feedback on my beta-video is appreciated, although I'd like to ask you to be polite and constructive.Best regards and thanksMatt

author: codeboy2k
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 21, 2014, 11:22:09 am
content: good video1) your voice and accent is fine, highly understandable, more so than many non-native english speakers so you have done well with your voice training. My native language is english, but I speak 3 other languages, and I only wish I was as accent free in those languages as you are in english. You have no problem, so don't worry about that.2) you're a good teacher. You speak clearly and know where the flow is going with your video, and you cover the concepts well. Even though the content is basic to me, as I have been doing this for over 25 years already, I was still enjoying your video3) the echo was a little distracting at first but I tuned it out. In time you can figure that out.4) I really liked the fade to different slides -- it seems to give a thought pause for a moment, then continues. I liked that.5) I can't think of anything negative about it really. Maybe I am more tolerant than others, I am sure someone will have something negative to say

author: papo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 21, 2014, 12:01:19 pm
content: HelloFirst of all, thank you very much for your positive feedback. After I had cut the video, I was really disappointed of the result and your comment puts things a bit into perspective, so thank you indeed.Quote from: codeboy2k on January 21, 2014, 11:22:09 amThis is somehow an interesting phenomenon, I feel exactly the same with many electronics videos I watch online. Another thing is that I feel the more elaborate a video topic is, the trickier it is to convey a concise message. E.g. at work we had the need for a ultra low noise differential amplifier and the discussions on frontend design and chip selection took hours. Extracting some key aspects from that is most likely harder than discussing basic stuff, hence my choice.Quote from: codeboy2k on January 21, 2014, 11:22:09 amYeah I guess I'm trained to structure my thoughts. But the fading results from us not being able to change the camera viewpoint smoothly. In the raw footage the camera motion is really jerky, overshoots the relevant part of the sheet and we had to zoom in and out repeatedly to get it right. So we just cut that out and faded between the segments.Quote from: codeboy2k on January 21, 2014, 11:22:09 amThank you!Best regardsMatt

author: deth502
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 21, 2014, 12:03:57 pm
content: 1. the accent is not that bad, you are completely and easily understandable.2&3. it was not "broadcast quality" audio, thats for sure. you may want to invest in some minimal equipment (like a lapel mic) and dub the audio if you are looking to make "professional" grade tutorials, that said, again, it was clearly understandable. ive seen much worse on youtube.4. i thnk you did good on content too. imo, its always better to assume the recipient dumber than smarter, to avoid a huge number of follow up questions. i know if im watching something, and someone is going over shit i already know, it kind of helps me relate more, it helps me to know where to apply the concepts i already know to reach the goal of adding in a new concept, ie, "learning".on the content: i notices a lot of drawn out words, pauses, and "ummm's". it seemed you were just doing it as you go, which is fine, but if you are planning on "professional" tutorials, i would recommend scripting it out first so you can speak more fluidly and not pause while trying to think of the appropriate word your looking for. im not saying to talk faster, just more fluidity in your words. just dont make it sound like your reading it, keep it natural.on the circuit: i know its impossible to tell anything without having the sensor n front of you and taking it apart, but chances are its either done with a micro, or something like a 555 with an r/c circuit to time that pulse. if a micro, you solution is best, however if there is a r/c circuit in there to set the duration of that pulse, the easiest method would be to just tweak the value of those to get the desired operation.

author: miceuz
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 21, 2014, 12:18:54 pm
content: your accent is fine, nobody likes to listen to his own voiceIn addition to what's been said, I'd say add a bit of effort to lightning (the paper looks grey) and visual content preparation. I like pencil drawings, but if those would be made using a ruler for straight lines, it would add some more polished look. Also think a bit about camera position - note the cut off ground symbol @ 3:40. In general, great video, mine was much worse: