Today I have mostly been noodling with tech to record the ‘CAD for Gardeners‘ online class. My recently replaced my ancient Mac with a re-purposed office PC, installing Linux Mint on it. There is some amazing free software out there but heck, it does take some configuring.
I’m running OBS Studio for livestreaming and recording video, and KDEnlive for video editing. They are both pretty OP (that’s OverPowered, phrase courtesy of my teenager) though they do lack some of the simple controls that more commercial, beginner software offers. What this means is a bit of a learning curve.
There are also little niggles with Linux, nothing major, just trying to get a screen magnifier to work, or have the mouse get larger when you jiggle it, or simply displaying a quick banner of text on the screen. All these things I knew how to do on the Mac, and finding work arounds on a new system is all part of the learning experience.
I find this with gardening as well, so many things to learn, such depth and detail on every layer, and learning feels like accretion as much as revelation.
What you do get with Linux is a real DIY ethic, that much is for sure!
Anyways, the video is all set up, and I have my slideshow pretty much ready to roll:
I have also started writing big threads over on Mastodon, to help people out who can’t afford to buy my courses but also to spread the word and the knowledge as well. This is my thread on CAD for Gardeners.
What I did find at the end of the day is a lovely website called Abandoned America. Puts me in mind of Welsh Ruins
Finally, there is a course run by United Designers, they use Adobe Illustrator. IMHO, Illustrator is not so good as CAD for designing because:
Yes, it can look pretty but that’s not the same as being the right tool for the job. I’d be tempted to take a CAD drawing and then “prettify” it afterwards in Illustrator if they client wanted nice colours and shading