40-ish free multimedia tools for the backpack journalist …
(or charities with the passion to connect, but not the cash)

In addition to my media consultancy work with the Thomson Foundation, I’m currently supporting non-profit organisations whose passions span helping make life better for schoolchildren in Ghana and carers in Wales.

Many of those I work with, especially charities, don’t have access to expensive multimedia gear. In fact, what they really want is cheap, a fast learning curve and good results.

So I’ve had a rummage in my backpack for a few of the free (or affordable) multimedia apps and tools that have gone down well and helped make a difference. All are free unless otherwise stated:

ORGANISATION

It all starts with Firefox and its plugins. Topping my list are:

Evernote (syncing seamlessly with a desktop version and keeping all my notes and cuttings in order, wherever I go)
ReaditLater (which lets me read pages I’ve saved on or offline)
LastPass (never forget a password again)
Brief (for RSS).

PRODUCTIVITY & WEB

GoogleDocs for everything Microsoft Office can do, with the added benefit of easy collaboration
Back to Firefox, ColorZilla (show and save any website’s colour palette) and MeasureIt (how big shall I make that thumbnail?) are two great little plugins for website-tweaking. Got a gremlin in your code? The FireBug plugin will hunt it down, and do lots more besides.
For FTP, it’s hard to beat the Firefox-based FireFTP (although I also use the open-source FileZilla because of its multi-language support).
Over the last year I’ve been using MAMP to test websites on my hard drive and wonder how I managed without it.

LISTENING TOOLS

Google Alerts, RSS (I use Brief on Firefox … can’t handle the jumble of Google Reader first thing in the morning, though I do encourage people to start with it), Social Mention for monitoring social media conversation and, of course, Twitter (TweetDeck with columns set up for hashtag searches and lists I follow)

BLOGGING

WordPress. The fastest, easiest way to learn about this whole Web 2.0 thingy is to start your own blog. You haven’t already?
In additional to Google Analytics, there are hundreds of free tools for SEO and measurement out there. Check out the online tools (including Firefox plugin) and tips at SEOBOOK and the famous HubSpot tools for grading your blog, plus Twitter and Facebook accounts.

AUDIO

For audio editing, Audacity gets my vote for a fast learning curve, great results and multi-language, cross-platform support.
For capturing audio, a bottom-end recorder (and don’t go much lower) like the Zoom H2 will set you back around £150. If you don’t have the money, use a Flip (£90-odd, upwards) – the results are better than you’d imagine, Audacity will crunch its MP4 file a treat, and you have a video camera to play with.
Still too expensive? Use your phone and record to a ‘phlogging’ host like the excellent iPadio, from where you can share or download the file.

Audacity: A great cross-platform audio editor with fast learning curve ... and free

IMAGE EDITING

Leaving aside the mighty Photoshop, you could go for Photoshop Elements at just over £50 (or, if you have a PC, bundled with video editor Adobe Premiere Elements for around £80).
Then comes open-source Gimp, with full, layer-based functionality, multi-language support and an editing experience I’d really love to love. But, sorry, I find X11 a real pain.
So for simple editing tasks, here’s my recommendation: Picnik can have the job done before I’ve launched Photoshop (it also has a Firefox plugin that means I can edit pictures straight from my browser). What a gem. A good alternative is FotoFlexer.

AUDIO SOUNDSLIDES

In my recent series comparing tools for creating audio slideshows, Picasa 3 proved a real find (and a good place to start). But if you’re serious and don’t mind paying a little extra for outstanding quality and superb ease of use, it just has to be Soundslides (around $40, but pay the extra $30 and buy Soundslides Plus).

Soundslides ... the benchmark for quality and ease of use

ONLINE INTERVIEWS AND WEB CONFERENCES

Skype, of course (I bolt on Call Recorder to record interviews, allowing me to record both sides of a conversation separately, with or without video).
One of my most exciting discoveries of 2009 for sharing a video conversation and whatever’s on my desktop is DimDim. Free web conferencing for up to 20 people. Amazing.

DESIGN

If you need to knock up a presentation and don’t have Powerpoint to hand or the superior (in my view) Keynote for Mac, Google has it covered.
If it’s a diagram or organisation chart you want (and don’t mind a modest watermark and single-graphic limitation), go for Creately or Lovely Charts.

VIDEO

Camera: If your multimedia budget is under £100, go buy a Flip. There are strong contenders, especially the Kodak Zi8 (whose best features, like 2.5in screen, still picture capture and external mic input beat the Flip hands down). But for a reliable bit of kit with decent sound, good results in most lighting conditions and super-simple editing software and no real flaws, the Flip won’t disappoint. The slimline Flip Mino HD is my personal choice (around £120, the same as the Kodak, which then needs a £20 flash card)
Editing: Personally, I wouldn’t touch Windows MovieMaker with a bargepole. If you have a Mac, buy Final Cut Express for just over £100. If a PC, Adobe Premiere Elements is fantastic value at under £60. Both are fine editing tools. If you’re lucky enough to have a new-ish Mac, you will have iMovie installed free. iMovie 08 is junk. iMovie 09 is great, with good control over cutaways, Ken Burns effect, transitions and titles. It’s all you need to create very good online movies and it’s soooo simple to use.

Stay clear of iMovie 08, but iMovie 09 is seriously easy to use and deceptively powerful

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Anyone can create a simple, collaborative gant chart using Google Spreadsheets (there are plenty of community-generated templates to give you a start).
I’ve also been really impressed with the open-source ProjectPier (for nothing, it’s remarkable). Admittedly, it’s a bit fiddly to set up, but it has the benefit of running off your own server.
If you have money to invest on organising your project and/or you business, particularly if you’re regularly on the move, my favourite tool is BaseCamp and it’s five-star sibling BackPack.

HOSTING & CONVERSION

If you don’t have your own server and don’t want to use social media sites to host or store a video, MP3 or document, give Picasa Albums (for photos and videos) and FileDen (for almost anything up to a 1GB free account limit) a whirl. There are lots of others.
For video (and more) file conversions, I still keep a link to Zamzar handy.

FREE PICTURES, AUDIO & FONTS

Pictures: Start with a Flickr search using the Creative Commons filter (click Advanced Search on Flickr and scroll to the bottom of the page) or search the web via the Creative Commons search engine. There are several sites for free royalty-free images (always read the conditions) – Stock.xchang is the one of the best.
Sound: Need some natural sound to accompany your video, podcast or audio slideshow? Try SoundTransit or SoundBible.
For free fonts, I’m a big fan of the AbstractFonts interface.

I could go on … but I reckon that’s enough for now. And I haven’t really talked about mobiles, which can be just about do every job in the toolkit, including providing G3 connectivity for your laptop.

So. My thanks to all those who dedicate their time and talent to open-source applications and free plugins. And I hope YOUR cause achieves great things in 2010.

If you come across any great (free) tools, please share them.