Winner Announced: Submit Your Mac Tips & Tricks to Win $1,000!

Winner Announced: Submit Your Mac Tips & Tricks to Win $1,000!

on Jul 23rd 2012 with 52 comments

We’re excited to let you know about our Mactuts+ launch competition, giving you the chance to win $1,000 to put towards a new Mac! You just need to submit a short screencast that showcases your favourite OS X tip, trick, or shortcut.

Read on to find out all the details about how to enter. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Congratulations to Joseph Darnell!

A huge thank you goes out to all the people who worked so hard to submit great content to this competition. We received so many awesome screencasts and the decision was quite difficult!

Be sure to watch the winning video below, which walks users through setting up different user accounts for keeping your files and accounts separated based on whether you’re at work or at home.


Watch the video for a quick overview of the methods in the article.

But I Worked So Hard!

Disappointed that you didn’t win? Don’t be. If we liked what your work, we’ll likely be contacting you soon about the possibility of contributing paid content on a regular basis.

Submit Your Tips, Tricks & Shortcuts

We’d love to find out more about how you use your Mac productively, and discover the tips and tricks that help to speed up your workflow. These might be related to a particular app, something built into OS X, an automator action, terminal command, or anything else!

All you need to do in order to enter the competition is:

  1. Record a screencast of your favourite tip, trick, or shortcut (less than two minutes long, smaller than 25MB)
  2. Write a short description of how it works / why you think it’s so useful

Submit both of these to us, and we’ll feature our favourites on the site next month in a special roundup of tips and tricks!

We’ll also be using this process to find a few awesome writers for Mactuts+, so this is your chance to impress us with your writing, screencasting, and Mac knowledge!

How to Enter

Entering is really simple. Just record your short screencast (bearing the below guidelines in mind), and submit your entry here:

Submit your Mac Tip

To stand the best chance of winning, be sure to:

  • Submit your screencast in 1280×720 HD, as an MP4 or MOV
  • Record audio using a high quality microphone
  • Use the Mactuts+ wallpaper as your desktop background

Terms and Conditions

  • The winner of the prize will be chosen by the Mactuts+ editor, based on which screencast they think is the most informative, unique, and professional.
  • Our decision on the best entry will be final.
  • Entries will close at midnight, 30th July
  • The winner will be contacted via email, on or before 6th August
  • We will be publishing a selection of our favourite entries on Mactuts+. By submitting a screencast, you’re giving us permission to publish it on the site.
  • The prize will be distributed based on cash value — the winner of the competition will be sent US$1,000 via PayPal. You’ll need a PayPal account to accept the prize!
  • Envato staff, contractors, and regular writers (anyone who has contributed two or more articles to the Tuts+ network) are not eligible to enter.
Josh Johnson is secondfret on Graphicriver
 
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Equal parts editor, writer, designer, & photographer. I work for Envato and run Design Shack.  

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  • http://chrisblackwell.me Chris Blackwell

    Very excited for this new site, and you’ll have my entry in a few days!

  • http://kevinlorenz.com verpixelt

    First of all I’m super happy about this new site and i guess I’ll try to do my first screencast ever ;)

  • Devin Rajaram

    Excited for this new tutsplus website! I will be submitting my video screencast soon! Any recommended settings of how you want the video recorded, I know you stated the dimensions, but do you guys recommend any software?

  • Dan

    Can I submit more than one video?

    • http://davidappleyard.net David Appleyard

      Absolutely! Feel free :-)

  • Lucas Rolff

    Hello I did submit a video, it says it support .mov files but when I tried to upload one, I got an error that I couldn’t upload mov files.. Happy that I also created a mp4 file! :D

  • http://srikanthv.info sri

    Which version of OSX are we talking about here ?

    • http://mac.tutsplus.com Josh Johnson
      Author

      Preferably Lion.

      • Richy

        Why preferably Lion?

        Not everyone can upgrade or want’s to upgrade.

        This was my concern then when MacTuts was announced what it would be more biased towards the later versions of OSX, while leaving older users out in the cold, so to speak.

  • glutenfree4u

    well. this is great! i’ve submitted my first tutorial, but as Lucas said, it does not accept .MOV files, so i converted it to .mp4 and it went through, looking forward to seeing what you guys do with this new network, and hopefully helping with it!

    • http://davidappleyard.net David Appleyard

      Sorry for the confusion! We’ve updated the form to allow the upload of .mov files. If you’ve already submitted a screencast as .mp4, it should be fine (providing the video quality is high-res/HD). Thanks!

      • glutenfree4u

        ok thx, i already submitted the tutorial in .MP4, it’s 1280 x 720p so it meets requirements.

  • http://mathiasdebeyser.be Mathias

    Hi

    I just wanted to share these things that are all obvious for people who have been using MAC for longer than a week.

    * Enabling right click: Apple > System Preferences > Mouse > Secondary Click
    => this is equal to CTRL + Left Click

    * Spotlight (Quick search through system): CMD + Space Bar

    * Screenshot: SHIFT + CMD + 3 (!NOT the NUMPAD three!)
    * Area Screenshot: SHIFT + CMD + 4 -> you will see the mouse cursor change to a crosshair -> Left Click + DRAG the area you want a screenshot of
    * Window Screenshot: SHIFT + CMD + 4 -> now press SPACE -> you will see a photo camera -> go over the window you want a screenshot of -> Left Click

    * NTFS Write: What??? I can’t write (put files) on my USB stick I use on my Windows machine??? MAC OS does not have the NTFS Write framework/class/file whatever -> you have to buy this from Paragon, that’s at least the one I am using -> the only one that works properly for me. If you don’t want to buy things, MAC OS can write and read FAT32. !!! FAT32 has a file size limit of 4GB !!!

    * Uninstalling Applications: Their is no such thing as uninstalling on a mac :) basically you can just delete the application buy OW wait the Delete Button doesn’t have the same functionality as it has on my windows machine (See next topic). But if you delete the application, preferences might still be on the system. So their are some nifty applications out their that delete applications and it preferences in one click. I find AppZapper nice, their are some free solutions out their as well!

    * The Delete Button: Deleting files can be done by pressing CMD + Backspace, the same as you did on Windows in the early days to totally erase a file. Because files in the Windows trashcan are still on your file system but that’s a story for another day.

    * ENTER: Maybe you have noticed this but if you press Enter while a file is selected it won’t open but instead you will have the opportunity to rename the file. CMD + O can be used to open the file or just double click it.

    * Screen Casts: What many don’t know is that you don’t need to search for applications that do this for you. Quicktime has a build in screen recording plugin. Quicktime Player > File > New Screen Recording

    * BOOTCAMP: For those who still want to spend some time on Windows or any other Platform you can use BOOTCAMP. In MAC OS X Lion you will find Bootcamp Assistent in your applications folder wich helps intall Windows (7), you will need a Windows install disk. DO NOT FORGET the drivers that Apple provides in the BOOTCAMP ASSISTENT.
    –> by pressing the ALT/OPTION key if you boot your machine, so if you press the power button immediately press the ALT/OPTION key and if you have multiple operating systems installed you will have the option to boot in e.g. Mac OS X Lion or Windows 7. You will notice that the Recovery HD is located here as well ;D.
    –> if you notice that you keep on booting in Windows 7 and that your MAC is no longer initially booting on MAC OS … than you will have to access the BOOTCAMP Preferences. This can be done in MAC OS and in Windows itself, so in both operating systems. In MAC OS X Lion it is found in Apple > System Preferences > Startup Disk. Than choose for MAC OS X Lion to be the default startup disk.

    These are the most useful tricks that lay on top of my mind. If their are any questions or remarks go crazy :D

    Cheers!

  • http://www.keylightstudios.com Emmanuel Franco

    Can it be in Spanish for Latin-American Latin-American followers?

  • Yonathan Medina

    Hey! I’m considering participate, but I’m from Venezuela, and I speak good english but there would be any problem with my accent? =/

    • http://mac.tutsplus.com Josh Johnson
      Author

      Nahh, I’m American and I work with a bunch of Australians and Brits. We love accents :)

  • Bo

    Does it have to be a screencast? Can it be a text tutorial with screenshots?

    • http://mac.tutsplus.com Josh Johnson
      Author

      For this we’re shooting for screencasts.

  • glutenfree4u

    I’m wondering if/when Envato will embrace FCPX and Motion 5? they are actually quite good programs. I know they were not at the start. but they have grown, I’m a tutorial maker for FCPX and Motion mainly, although I also do photoshop, and would be happy to do tutorials for you guys!

  • http://twitter.com/id5w Bryant

    Could i do more then one trick on one video?

    • http://davidappleyard.net David Appleyard

      Yep — That should be fine, if you can fit them into the time limit :-)

      • Bryant

        ok, thank you!!

  • http://iamcook.ie Anthony Cook

    Just submitted my video, wondering if I am supposed to receive some sort of email to confirm my entry but I have yet to receive anything? Can you can confirm I you guys received it?

    Thanks, Anthony Cook

  • Paul Dunahoo

    My display is 1440×900, so how can I record it while showing the entire wallpaper?

    Screeny doesn’t work on OS X 10.8 :-(

    • http://twitter.com/id5w Bryant

      Paul Dunahoo, you don’t need to use Screeny, every mac comes with built in Quicktime Player. QuickTime Player allows you to record your screen/audio at the same time. Since you are running Mountain Lion (10.8) you shouldn’t have any problems recording your Screencast. Good Luck!

  • http://youtube.com/m4cbook Hugo

    Hey there,
    I’m having a problem submitting my entry. I’ve filled out all the info as requested and selected my screencast. Once I submit it, I get an error stating “ERROR: Please return and fill out the following required fields:
    Your Screencast”

    I’ve made sure I have selected my screencast (.mov format) and I also tried on different browsers. I seem to get the same error every time.

    Kind Regards,
    Hugo

    • Hugo

      Can I just send a YouTube link of the video in the description?

    • http://youtube.com/m4cbook Hugo

      So I figured out how to fix this issue. You screencast can be up to 25MB in size for it to work. My original screencast was 66MB so I compressed it to get it under 25MB.

      Just a little heads up in case somebody encounters the same problem.

      • Glutenfree4u

        Yeah I had the same problem at first. .MOV files tend to take a TON of space, so i used Adobe Media Encoder to compress it to a .mp4 takes far less space. and keeps the HD quality!

  • Paul Dunahoo

    I have submitted my tutorial! It wasn’t as good as I would have liked because I had less than two minutes, which was really hard to do. I sure hope I win.

  • Owen Conti

    Disappointed that an author who has posted more than two articles on other Tuts+ sites can’t enter :(

    • http://davidappleyard.net David Appleyard

      Really sorry about that, Owen. It’s just a rule we need to have in place to remove any bias on our part!

  • Yevgeny Kulikov

    Will you accept a tutorial about Snow Leopard feature ?

    • http://mac.tutsplus.com Josh Johnson
      Author

      Sure!

  • John

    OK, submitted one but then noticed that it was a little more than two minutes (but less than three) long.

    It’s pretty difficult to get the screencast to be so short – I am finding, after about 30 takes, a comfortable length for a screencast is about 2m30s.

    Is the two minute screencast length a rule or a guideline?

    • http://mac.tutsplus.com Josh Johnson
      Author

      Try your best to keep it under the limit!

      • John

        Josh, you’ve changed your response since yesterday. Yesterday you indicated that 2m30s “was no biggie”.

        Is 2m30s acceptable or is it a strict 2m time limit, please?

      • John

        I am trying my best to do that. Is 2m a strict rule or just a guideline? Is 2m30s eligible, please?

  • John

    Thanks, Josh. So 2m30s can still be considered for the competition?

  • Marcelo dos S. Mafra

    I’m glad that I still can read/write NTFS thanks to http://psionides.eu/2011/11/20/how-to-fix-ntfs-support-on-osx-lion/ and http://fernandoff.posterous.com/ntfs-write-support-on-osx-lion-with-ntfs-3g-f, because from today on I won’t format my external drives with HFS+. It’s speeds up file search and other OS X features but when comes the need to recover deleted files of partitions …
    It should be easier since acidentally deleting folder/file in OS X is very easy. “The world’s most advanced desktop operating system” that has the most awful filesystem to recover from. And the just to remember in Leopard and Snow Leopard there were no “Merge” while copying a folder with the same name over another, it was just the plain literally replace the folder and its contents (a nightmare).

  • Marcelo dos S. Mafra

    Just to make the point I’ve recovered from NTFS entire partition deletion without losing my time trying and trying different softwares. WIth HFS+ I trying for weeks to recover a deleted partition, which I didn’t make any changes after the deletion. And to recover files from another now is becoming a nightmare.

  • Marcelo dos S. Mafra

    Sorry, not “make the point”, just trying to explain.

  • Paul Dunahoo

    I’d love to write some articles for Mactuts, so please don’t count my screencasts. I’m much better at writing. Let me know if you would like to have me please! Thanks!

  • Yevgeny

    Hey Josh,

    The form for submitting is not working :( Tried to upload numerous times and no result.

    • Yevgeny

      Works. Has to be less than 25mb…

  • Hugo

    Does it have to be a OS X native tip? Or can it be a third party application?

  • http://wordpressdeveloper.me Muhammad Adnan

    I just submitted my entry.

    I think it will be the last one entry :)

  • john

    It is 23.32 BST (British Summer Time) which is 23.32 GMT.

    I have just submitted my screencast at 1m49s long.

    Perhaps mine will be the last entry? ;)

    I wonder how many entries there were in total?

    • john

      CORRECTION TO ABOVE POST:

      It is 23.32 BST (British Summer Time) which is 22.32 GMT.

  • john

    Ah, I notice that my response, above, is timed at 3.33pm – so that would suggest that there are just under eight and a half hours remaining for any other entries – if it is timed by the blog time?