# Directories

Vendors, Stock, Software, Companies, Job Boards, etc

# Software Directory

<p class="callout info">This is automatically populated from the Software section.</p>

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A lot of this software is cross-platform. If it isn't, chances are there's an analog with a different name.

Some software has breakout pages for pro-tips and tutorials.

### Software To Design, Create, &amp; Edit

<table id="bkmrk-ableton-live-audio-e" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100%;height:1396.4px;"><colgroup><col style="width:29.7996%;"></col><col style="width:70.2004%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Ableton Live</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Audio editor and music composer - great for mixtapes</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Adobe After Effects (AE)</td><td style="height:29.8px;">VFX, Compositing, Motion Graphics</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Adobe Audition (AU)</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Audio Editing</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Adobe Bridge (BR)</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Local file management, batching, renaming</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Adobe InDesign (ID)</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Making decks, presentations, making books, making portfolios</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Adobe Lightroom (LR)</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Raw editing and photo library mgmt/ cloud services</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Adobe Media Encoder (AME)</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Export, watch-folders, transcode</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Adobe Photoshop (PS)</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Photo editing, still compositing </td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Adobe Premiere Pro (PR)</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Video Editing, Titles, Color</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Apple Keynote</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Making decks and presentations, but you can use it for a lot of things

</td></tr><tr style="height:46.6px;"><td style="height:46.6px;">Apple Pages</td><td style="height:46.6px;">Contemporary ClarisWorks.

It's just like Office or Google Docs except you don't have to pay for it and your data isn't being tracked 🙃

</td></tr><tr style="height:113.8px;"><td style="height:113.8px;">Avid</td><td style="height:113.8px;">Video NLE Software

I’ve never used it, and it's never been a requirement or a desired software for any company or project I’ve worked on. I’ve only seen it in the wild once or twice. That said: it is used for feature film and documentaries and sometimes tour dorks use it to edit their show before they throw it into Disguise 🤢

</td></tr><tr style="height:147.4px;"><td style="height:147.4px;">BMD DaVinci / Resolve</td><td style="height:147.4px;">Great and free video NLE and color software, but I need ADLs (Adobe Dynamic Link) too much. My need to have things colored does not outweigh the need for me to easily speak with After Effects.

EDLs (Edit Decision Lists) are a pain in the ass that should be done by the editor’s assistant’s assistants. Good luck verifying any speed ramps!! The BMD universe and Adobe CC interpret speed ramping differently. The solve is to either bake the ramp before an EDL, or do your color before your ramp!

</td></tr><tr style="height:97px;"><td style="height:97px;">EXIFTOOL</td><td style="height:97px;">A command line file auditing tool.

Very similar to FFPROBE, which is FFMPEG’s auditing tool. Slightly different. I tend to use EXIF to pull metadata details from video files so I can remember what lens was on the camera, or what aperture, etc.

</td></tr><tr style="height:46.6px;"><td style="height:46.6px;">FFMPEG / FFPROBE</td><td style="height:46.6px;">Command line/terminal transcode, packaging of audio and video files. Very powerful. Faster than AME but steep learning curve for non-code folks.   
</td></tr><tr><td>Handbrake</td><td>An FFMPEG top that's very very good. Been around forever.

</td></tr><tr style="height:130.6px;"><td style="height:130.6px;">Immersive Designer Pro (IDP)</td><td style="height:130.6px;">A dongle locked x64 only projection engineering tool. It’s pretty great, but it is Windows only and x64, so you can’t run it on ARM or Apple Silicone (even using Parallels).

Much of these tools can be manually rebuilt in Vectorworks with one massive piece missing: you can NDI or spout/syphon into IDP for real time previz and mapping tests. Very powerful. Every few months I try to run this on Paralells and it continues not to work (April 2023, last checked).

</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">iZotope RX Audio Editor</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Noise removal, steam creation, audio swiss army knife. Pricey but best in class utilities.   
</td></tr><tr style="height:80.2px;"><td style="height:80.2px;">Jokyo HAP Encoder</td><td style="height:80.2px;">A proprietary new version of the HAP encoder. It is an evolutionary version of the OG Vidvox HAP → Disguise HAP. Jokyo’s encoder is much better with banding and noise within gradients and introduces a new HAP format as well (HAPr). The tweakable options with Jokyo are superior as well. Can recommend. </td></tr><tr style="height:46.6px;"><td style="height:46.6px;">Neat DeNoise</td><td style="height:46.6px;">A great video / photo denoise tool (plugin for AE/PR), get its own section in software because it's so good.   
</td></tr><tr style="height:63.4px;"><td style="height:63.4px;">Omnigraffle</td><td style="height:63.4px;">A paid drawing app that is great for flow charts, system diagrams, projector rasters, etc. Better than drawing manually in Vectorworks, but harder than drawing automatically in Vectorworks (using ConnectCAD). </td></tr><tr style="height:46.6px;"><td style="height:46.6px;">ShutterEncoder</td><td style="height:46.6px;">A front end GUI (or “top”) for FFMPEG, FFPROBE, EXIFTOOL and more. Very good. Will do the trick for 90% of use cases. Thanks Melinda Sihalath for this one. </td></tr><tr style="height:63.4px;"><td style="height:63.4px;">Sketchup (SKP)</td><td style="height:63.4px;">A simpler tool for CAD that was free for at least a decade before it was sold by Google to another company. Lots of Millenials know how to use it. There is a free “viewer” companion app.</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Topaz Video Enhance AI</td><td style="height:29.8px;">A+ video upscale and restoration tool</td></tr><tr style="height:97px;"><td style="height:97px;">Vectorworks (VWX)</td><td style="height:97px;">CAD for theatrical and event design (but also for architecture, landscaping things). There is a free “viewer” companion app.

Really good for projection engineering even if you're doing it manually (the built-in projector tools are not so thorough)

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A lot of this software is cross-platform. If it isn't, chances are there's an analog with a different name.

Some software has breakout pages for pro-tips and tutorials.

### Software To Display, Interact, &amp; Perform

<table id="bkmrk-ableton-live-audio-e-1" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100%;height:662.85px;"><colgroup><col style="width:29.8215%;"></col><col style="width:70.2977%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Ableton Live</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Audio editor and music composer - great for mixtapes</td></tr><tr style="height:137.25px;"><td style="height:137.25px;">Garagecube MadMapper (Mad / MM)</td><td style="height:137.25px;">Projection Mapping &amp; Blending, Pixel &amp; LED mapping

I use it for those things, but also:

- Load-Testing
- Quick + Dirty Media Review
- Quick + Dirty Media Audits

</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Garagecube Modul8</td><td style="height:29.8px;">VJ party time</td></tr><tr style="height:63.4px;"><td style="height:63.4px;">Isadora (Izzy)</td><td style="height:63.4px;">A node based creative software that’s a great tool to quickly build multimedia projects with. Good for performance, theater, dance, etc. </td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Open Frameworks (OF)</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Creative code and scripting environment</td></tr><tr style="height:97px;"><td style="height:97px;">QLab</td><td style="height:97px;">Mac only audio / video cue system. Generally speaking, the standard tool for show audio control. This is a good thing to know how to use. It’s video capabilities are great for cueing as well, but not great for mapping IMHO. Pro-Tip NDI your video cue to another program or Syphon out for final output. </td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Resolume</td><td style="height:29.8px;">VJ software; multi-display; video generators; cueing. </td></tr><tr style="height:46.6px;"><td style="height:46.6px;">TouchDesigner</td><td style="height:46.6px;">Like Isadora but does more things (except projection map as well). All the Izzy dorks now use Touch. </td></tr><tr style="height:46.6px;"><td style="height:46.6px;">Unity</td><td style="height:46.6px;">Like Unreal, but now kind of like “Beta” - By that I mean penultimate. Though I think it still has logic advantages. </td></tr><tr style="height:63.4px;"><td style="height:63.4px;">Unreal Engine</td><td style="height:63.4px;">A video game engine that CT uses for complex and interactive playback where game logic is helpful or there is a requirement for real-time realistic rendering</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">VDMX</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Affordable, accessible, multi-platform custom playback and mapping software.</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">  
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### Software For Data, Numbers, &amp; Management

<table id="bkmrk-airtable-super-power" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100%;height:662.85px;"><colgroup><col style="width:29.8215%;"></col><col style="width:70.2977%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>AirTable</td><td>Super powerful spreadsheet adjacent tool that's great for managing all kinds of data. Kanban, Gantt, Automation, Calendars. Really great.

I've heard it called "a better smarsheet" but I don't know what that is.

</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Apple Numbers</td><td style="height:29.8px;">It's just like Excel or Google Sheets except you don't have to pay for it and your data isn't being tracked 🙃</td></tr><tr><td>Google Sheets</td><td>Probably the best spreadsheet purist tool out there. Excel feels like ancient technology in comparison (though in some cases, you still need to use it).   
</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Software For Communications

<table id="bkmrk-discord-slack-for-bo" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100%;height:662.85px;"><colgroup><col style="width:29.8215%;"></col><col style="width:70.2977%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>Discord</td><td>Slack for board-game nerds</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">iMessage</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Contemporary AIM</td></tr><tr><td>Slack</td><td>Discord for businesses and political action</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Calculators, Unit Conversion, &amp; Measurements  


This section is a combination of apps and web apps that will help you do tons of different math things and save you some time.

#### Standalone Calculator Applications  


<table id="bkmrk-netmedia.dev%E2%80%99s-timec" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100%;height:662.85px;"><tbody><tr><td style="width:30.0596%;">Netmedia.dev’s [Timecode](https://netmedia.dev/project/timecode-calculator.html) Calculator</td><td style="width:70.0596%;">Mac OS App Timecode Calculator. I've asked them to add in custom timecode... let's see!</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;width:30.0596%;">[Numi](https://numi.app/)</td><td style="height:29.8px;width:70.0596%;">A contextual calculator that will save custom functions, define variables, as well as formulas and you can use markdown within a calculator set (thanks to Sean Leo for this one). Highly recommended.   
</td></tr><tr><td style="width:30.0596%;">[Units Master](https://unitsmaster.com)</td><td style="width:70.0596%;">Converting things like feet and meters, also a calculator for feet / inches / fractions. All about size things. You can do a lot of this in-line in Vectorworks, but this is a little faster. Their hotkeys are a little weird and can’t find the doc right now but “F” will do feet (not ‘) and “I” will do inches (not “).   
</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="width:100.119%;">Or just use a spreadsheet 😉 - Google Sheets is free and good. Apple’s Numbers is free and fine – the better feature is that Apple’s Keynote and Pages have tables that allow you to use spreadsheet formulas. Microsoft’s Excel is good, too, just bulky as hell and why pay for something if you can get it for free… oh yeah because nothing is free in this life.   
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Here’s an example **Numi** recipe for calculating file transfer times over x bandwidth:

```c
// manual entry //
// enter target file size MBs in variable vFileSizeMB // 
vFileSizeMB = 3370363.64 MB = 3,370,363.64 MB
vFileSizeBG = vFileSizeMB in GB = 3,370.36 GB
vFileSizeTB = vFileSizeMB in TB = 3.37 TB
// enter bandwidth in megabits per second //
vMbiPS = 700 Mb = 700 Mb
// auto calc // 
vMByPS = vMbiPS in MB = 87.5 MB
vEstimateSeconds = vFileSizeMB/VMByPS  = 38,518.44
VEstimate = vEstimateSeconds*1seconds in hours  = 10 h 41 min 58 s
```

#### Web Application Calculators

<table id="bkmrk-fov-calculator-for-w" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100%;height:190.2px;"><colgroup><col style="width:29.8215%;"></col><col style="width:70.2977%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>[FOV Calculator](https://www.scantips.com/lights/fieldofview.html)</td><td>for when you need to calculate the field of view for a camera based on sensor size / lens MM / etc. Very useful. The person who made this is a very smart psychopath.

</td></tr><tr style="height:97px;"><td style="height:97px;">[Projector Central Throw Distance Calculator](https://www.projectorcentral.com/projection-calculator-pro.cfm)</td><td style="height:97px;">Brand agnostic. Definitely the go-to calculator for quick things. Good for estimating brightness. Usually not as up to date as brand calculators – there’s a lag for new projectors and lenses. **You should always verify with brand calculators and sometimes, you just need to get the projector on a bench and try it out.** There are some calculators that are off, but it’s usually marginal and it’s rare.

</td></tr><tr style="height:46.6px;"><td style="height:46.6px;">Projector Screen [Rando Calculators](https://www.projectorscreen.com/projector-screen-calculators)</td><td style="height:46.6px;">Collection of projector calculators - fL, viewing angle, throw distance etc. They’ve got most projector, models. If they don’t check a manufacturer directly. Remember a .5:1 throw isn’t 100% 1:1 between models. Chip sizes change this match just a little bit. Point being :5:1 on one model isn’t the same as .5:1 on another, but they’re close!   
</td></tr><tr><td>[Proportional Calculator](https://www.wyzant.com/resources/lessons/math/algebra/calculators/proportion/)</td><td>For when you’re feeling lazy about doing proportional algebra and you don't want to open a Google Sheet or use Numi or a calculator.</td></tr><tr style="height:46.6px;"><td style="height:46.6px;">[PPD Calculator](https://res18h39.netlify.app/calculator?ref=gtg.benabraham.net)</td><td style="height:46.6px;">Viewing Angle and Screen Door Math  
</td></tr></tbody></table>

#### Custom Calculators

<table id="bkmrk-my-buddy-avery-built" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100%;border-width:0px;"><colgroup><col style="width:47.7381%;"></col><col style="width:2.2619%;"></col><col style="width:50%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;">My buddy Avery built out a calculator to [determine a max scale based on a series of values](https://jsfiddle.net/whtv5u98/5/).

The goal with this tool was to be able to find what the largest scale possible is that results in whole numbers based on multiple numbers. You need whole numbers when you’re working with pixels!

</td><td style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;"></td><td style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;">[![AverySoftware.png](http://tech-almanac.org/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/scaled-1680-/averysoftware.png)](http://tech-almanac.org/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/averysoftware.png)

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#### Brand Specific Projector Calculators

- [BARCO](https://lenscalculator.barco.com/) throw calculator
- [Epson](https://epson.com/Support/wa00814) throw calculator
- [NEC](https://www.necdisplay.com/tool/image-calculator/2) throw calculator
- [Optoma](https://www.optoma.com/projectioncalculator/) throw calculator
- [PANAsonic](https://panasonic.net/cns/projector/calculator/tdc/) throw calculator

#### Measuring Documents Digitally  


*For when you don’t want to open Vectorworks, or when you want to get information quick + dirty*

<table id="bkmrk-if-you%E2%80%99re-given-a-gr" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100%;border-width:0px;"><colgroup><col style="width:62.8571%;"></col><col style="width:1.19048%;"></col><col style="width:35.9524%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;">[![MeasureDocuments.png](http://tech-almanac.org/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/scaled-1680-/measuredocuments.png)](http://tech-almanac.org/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/measuredocuments.png)

</td><td style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;"></td><td style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;">If you’re given a ground plan or elevations and they are to-scale (eg ¼” = 1’0”), you can open up the Preview app (on a mac), press Command-I, go over to the crop options, and change the units to inches.

Then you make a selection box in preview, and get the approximate dimensions of that selection.

In this example, I’ve made a selection that is 1x1” (the width and height).

This is the equivalent of 4x4’ in ¼” scale.

</td></tr></tbody></table>

A good way to verify whether or not the drawing is to the scale that it is indicated to be using, is to measure it against something you “know”


In ¼” scale:   
sheet goods are often 4x8’ AKA 1x2”  
doors are often 2’6”-3’ wide AKA 0.625-0.75”  
Any scale indicators on the page (annotated dimensions FTW)  
A spec for something that you can look up (like projector dimensions, for example)

Unfortunate Caveat: It is fairly typical to receive drawings with indicated scales that are wrong or are inconsistent from drawing to drawing on a single page. This is something I’ve dealt with from MEPs, GCs, Architects, Scenic Designers and Manufacturers!

The best thing to do is ask for something with a correctly indicated scale, but that isn’t always possible.

Or learn some 3D CAD and/or 3D visual fx software and ask for the CAD!

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### General Use Tools

<table id="bkmrk-1password-if-you%E2%80%99re-" style="border-collapse:collapse;border-width:1px;width:100%;height:505px;"><colgroup><col style="width:29.8215%;"></col><col style="width:70.2977%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height:113.8px;"><td style="height:113.8px;">1Password</td><td style="height:113.8px;">If you’re not using 1Password, or a program like it, do so immediately. 1Password is a tool that you use to track all your password and login information. You just need to know the primary password and have the secret key on hand somewhere for initial setup. I use 1Password across multiple devices, systems, and OS’ to track all my passwords. It’ll change your life. Worth every penny. DropBox offers a similar service for free (with a Pro account or higher), but I’ve never bothered. I’m sure it’s fine, but don’t know anyone who uses it!  
</td></tr><tr style="height:63.4px;"><td style="height:63.4px;">DaisyDisk</td><td style="height:63.4px;">Mac OS application that indexes drives / folders so that utilization can be better analyzed through visualization. If you’re trying to free up some space, or you have some unknown bloat, this is a good tool to find out why and where (see also Grand Perspective).   
</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Czkawka</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Duplicate file finder and more! Requires some homebrew commands to be able to use the GUI version.   
</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">FreeFileSync</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Free, donation ware. Very similar to Sync Folders Pro, but available across different operating systems and more widely used. Have seen the fastest possible web transfers using this program. Thanks to Dylan Steenkamp for this gem.   
</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Grand Perspective</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Mac OS application that does exactly the same thing as DaisyDisk except it’s way less sexy. The block format, however, may be preferred over DD, which has files represented circularly. I thought they stopped developing a while ago, but they are still going as of summer 2023. Happy to see that!  
</td></tr><tr><td>Jump Desktop</td><td>Enterprise screenshare tool with really low latency used for Post Production work (and good for almost everything else, too).

</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Magnet</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Mac OS level shortcut that allows you to use hotkeys to arrange application windows. Very good, but some Magnet shortcuts have conflicts with specific software, like After Effects. This automatically disables Magnet shortcuts when that is the active app. This is rare! I believe conflicts can be avoided, but it is a manual process of cross checking between apps. I’ll update here if/when I figure out a smarter way to fix that.

Another bug is that Adobe Illustrator will work dumb slow in some cases with Magnet enabled.

</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">[MonitorControl](https://github.com/MonitorControl/MonitorControl)</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Gives you control of Audio and Brightness settings for external monitors. You know when you plug in a display and you can’t mute or use the Mac volume buttons to change the levels? This allows you to use your OS volume and brightness keys to control an external monitor – just make sure to allow it to work in Privacy &amp; Security → Accessibility  
</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Parallels</td><td style="height:29.8px;">A way to run Windows OS on an Apple ARM Silicone. On older devices (MacIntel), BootCamp is preferable. On ARM, you can’t run contemporary AAA games, but you can run Star Wars Battlefront II (the OG one from 2005).   
</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Parsec</td><td style="height:29.8px;">A screenshare software that is very reliable and has a good frame rate. Developed originally by Unity for cloud gaming. Good for remote management, but has a very annoying setup protocol that I’ll breakout here at some point. Can hit servers with tons of screens, but not Mosaic. Windows/Mac. </td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">[Restart on Crash](https://w-shadow.com/blog/2009/03/04/restart-on-crash/)</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Windows utility that you can set to automatically launch a crashed program. Be warned: increase the timeout so you don’t launch tons of application instances. Also, doesn’t work if theres a system dialog that hangs the program…   
</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">ScreenConnect</td><td style="height:29.8px;">A nicely priced screenshare software with tons of iT features, tiered access levels, managed accounts, the ability to brand the application to your company. Can hit servers with up to 8ish screens, including Mosaic. Windows/Mac. Latency aggressive for post-production work but good for IT.   
</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Sync Folders Pro</td><td style="height:29.8px;">Great auto-sync, backup, merge tool. Build and save actions. Recommended.</td></tr><tr style="height:29.8px;"><td style="height:29.8px;">Velja</td><td style="height:29.8px;"><table style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100.158%;border-width:0px;"><colgroup><col style="width:33.2691%;"></col><col style="width:2.84955%;"></col><col style="width:63.6887%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;">Mac OS level shortcut application that allows you prompt for browser selection for any link clicked on the OS level, or to set rules to open specific browsers, or do specific actions based on a link type.

Here’s some rules I set up so that all things google happen in Firefox. This means that I can be logged into G-Suite in Firefox, but not use it for anything except for G-Suite (except google.com for searching). If logged out of Google in Safari, this prevents Google from tracking my searches against my email data. I originally created this information with Google Docs and I’m surprised I haven’t got a DDS agfp9jadgm’;dgz aefdsii ///// shutdown /s /

</td><td style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;">  
</td><td style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;">[![Velja.png](http://tech-almanac.org/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/scaled-1680-/velja.png)](http://tech-almanac.org/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/velja.png)

</td></tr></tbody></table>

</td></tr><tr><td>VLC (Video Lan Client)</td><td>A utilitarian AV player for Mac/Windows that’s been around since forever. It can play most, but not all, things. It’s free. You can playlist assets. A very good swiss army knife. Has command line controls, too! </td></tr><tr><td>WebKiosk</td><td>A lockdown app for Mac OS by xproline.io to turn a Mac into a locked kiosk running a WebApp. Paid version. Used it in 2024 for a bunch of webapp demos and it works real good. [Link](https://www.xproline.io/webkiosk). </td></tr><tr><td>WiFi Explorer</td><td>Mac OS application that allows you to see all the available wifi networks around you. This can help you narrow down channel usage to prevent congestion. It's also helpful to determine WAP placement. [Some pro-tips here](https://tech-almanac.org/books/network/page/network-overview "Network Overview").   
</td></tr><tr><td>WinDirStat</td><td>A Windows application that does the same thing as DaisyDisk or Grandperspective: visually indexes hard drive utilization to help manage computer storage.   
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# Vendor Directory

*In general, try to support the smaller companies when you can over big box stores !!*

<table id="bkmrk-vendor-type-descript" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100%;"><colgroup><col style="width:26.5793%;"></col><col style="width:22.3915%;"></col><col style="width:51.0293%;"></col></colgroup><thead><tr><td>Vendor</td><td>Type</td><td>Description</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### 4Wall

</td><td>AVL Installer, Rentals, Labor, Production Support

</td><td>Big AVL rental house and integrator. Global. Decent rates. Good folks.

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### Adafruit

</td><td>Parts

</td><td>Like Digi-Key or Mouser but much more accessible and is a great resource when it comes to making electronic things (education, best practices, etc). They also make some parts. They sell all things Arduino and Pi. They are based in NYC, but they do not have a storefront and they don’t allow pickups. I have tried many times. Better to call around other Creative Tech companies or your homies and ask if someone can hook you up from their stock if you need something day-of or last minute.

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### Adoroma

</td><td>Film/Photo/Audio/Video/Grip/Lighting Rentals &amp; Purchases

</td><td>NYC based film/photo/video/grip/lighting company. Same holiday schedule as B&amp;H. Smaller, less inventory, but better sales engineers. Good to get to know folks here. All great people. Used dept will take pretty much anything and is a great place to get good deals on things. For example: I got an open box B+W 72mm UV filter for $5 (value is close to $100). Good to support these guys. Located in Chelsea. Pro-tip: they have a membership you can pay for (think it’s called Adoroma pro or something). With this membership, every item you purchase is automatically enrolled in an unlimited 1 year warranty. If you’re buying a lot from these guys, get this membership. It has saved me a couple of times.

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### B&amp;H

</td><td>Film/Photo/Audio/Video/Grip/Lighting Purchases

</td><td>NYC based film/photo/video/grip/lighting company. Strictly follows Jewish Orthodox calendar. So they’re closed for high holidays, all Saturdays and early on Fridays. Bigger, huge inventory, but better corporate sales dept. Pro-tip: set up a biz account and do “quotes” and you’ll get a steeper discount the bigger your order is and whatever margin flexibility they have on the specific items. Ditto on the used prices, but they don’t accept as many things as Ado does. Has a significant projector, mount, CCTV, and display inventory, too. Shipping times are incredible. Midtown <span style="font:10px 'Apple Color Emoji';color:#000000;font-family:'Apple Color Emoji';font-size:small;">😵‍💫 </span>

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### Boxx

</td><td>Custom Computers

</td><td>Online retailer that produces powerful Windows servers that can be used as media servers or as high-end VFX and creative software machines. Desktop or rack mount. They also produce laptops but have never bought or used one. From 2018 to 2023, I’ve purchased about 18 rack models. Different builds. Always satisfied and have never had a problem (!!)

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### Brytesoft

</td><td>Operating System Resellers

</td><td>Online retailer of Windows licenses. I think I can thank Kurt Lorey for this find, but have been using it for years. On the surface it seems very suspicious: Windows licenses at &lt;%20 of retail. All my research has led me to - yes they are legit. Also: there’s no way they’d be able to operate this long (at least since 2017). You need to consume licenses within 30 days of purchase. Can recommend.

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### Canal Sound &amp; Light

</td><td>Audio/Grip/Lighting Purchases

</td><td>A small NYC store that doesn’t publish an online inventory but has a lot of the things you might need in a pinch. Cables. Lights. Displays. Speakers. Their return policy is, without exception: no. Surprising discounts that make you a little suspect. I’m not saying their gear fell off of a truck, but it is a confusing situation. Canal SoHo / Chinatown

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### Digi-Key

</td><td>Parts

</td><td>Online-only retailer of electronic parts, sensors, switches, and micro-controllers. More blue-collar than Adafruit; very utilitarian. Shipping is never free, so order in batches when possible!

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### Fotocare

</td><td>Film/Photo/Video Purchases

</td><td>NYC based film/photo/video/grip/lighting company. Smaller. Weekdays only but follows general corporate calendars so is open when Ado and B&amp;H are not. They get stock of new products faster than the big boys. They also do photo printing / processing and carry all kinds of film. Quick turn around on in-house repairs. Have had sensors cleaned here and can recommend. Staff is fantastic. Try to support these guys over the big ones. Chelsea.

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### FullCompass

</td><td>Film/Photo/Audio/Video/Grip/Lighting Purchases (specializes in AVL)

</td><td>Online only A/V retailer. Like Sweetwater but with more of an emphasis on video and corporate installation gear. Also decent projector and display inventory,. Fun fact: I bought my first projector from FullCompass in 2006. Believe it was a BenQ. Time flies and then you die!

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### K&amp;M Camera

</td><td>Film/Photo/Video Purchases

</td><td>NYc film/photo store that’s like Fotocare, but with hardware store vibes. Some would call it “the set shop of Fotocare.” Has helped me with rando grip over the years. Downtown. Moved in the last couple years to one of the Villages. Can’t remember which!

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### Miyar Adventures

</td><td>Gear

</td><td>West coast retailer of outdoor gear with very competitive pricing. Kind of like REI but carries a lot more photo things for gearheads. Best pricing on Peak Design gear by a significant margin. Can recommend.

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### Mouser

</td><td>Parts

</td><td>What’s the difference between these guys and Digi-Key? Marginal pricing, I guess. Shipping is never free, so order in batches.

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### Rentex

</td><td>AVL Rentals

</td><td>AVL rental house.

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### Sam Ash

</td><td>Audio/Support Purchases

</td><td>Like guitar center but quieter and not as many locations. Speakers, instruments, audio things in general. They carry some video things as well but limited to cables and there is a premium. Helpful and knowledgeable staff. Great place to get cabling. They also stock a decent selection of lighting, though mostly of the ADJ variety.

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### Set Shop

</td><td>Grip/Lights/Electrics

</td><td>NYC based grip and (I think former) scenic fab company. They’ve got the gels, the paper, the clamps and a very NYC hardware store vibe. Chelsea.

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### SimplyNuc

</td><td>Custom Computers

</td><td>Online retailer of NUCs. Wide variety of specs and chassis to choose from. Great pricing. Lots of upgradeable options that have been well thought out. Have purchased about 30 from them in 2022-2023. Great build quality. Particularly like their fanless units.

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">##### Sweetwater

</td><td>Film/Photo/Audio/Video/Grip/Lighting Purchases (specializes in AVL)

</td><td>Mostly audio online-only retailer. Some video things but not as much as FullCompass. Great sales engineers.

[![image.png](http://tech-almanac.org/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/scaled-1680-/Lmoimage.png)](http://tech-almanac.org/uploads/images/gallery/2025-04/Lmoimage.png)

</td></tr></tbody></table>

# Stock Directory

### What is Stock and How Does It Work?

Stock can be incredibly expensive or it can be free.

There are several models for stock - you can:

- Get “royalty free” for free all over the place (sound, video, photo)
- Pay per item
- Pay for a batch or package
- Pay for “credits”
- Pay for a library unlimited / subscription license

#### License Types

There are a bunch but what you want is: to use something however you want (modify, composite, throw poop emojis in front of it) without having to credit the source. Unless it’s theater or whatever, then throw that shit in the program and no one cares.

Some clients will ask for “*warranties*” with the product you deliver that uses stock. I’m not really sure what this means, but many subscription and/or free stock sites don’t offer this level of protection. My guess: this is why GETTY is so spendy. Most clients DGAF about this - that being said, proceed at your own risk. In a decade plus of using Stock, and with at least 100 clients, this has happened to me 3 times. People don’t really care as long as you have the rights in general to the footage. In my experience: the odds that someone is going to sue you or the end client is incredibly low - because there’s a building in the background that’s somebody’s intellectual property (like the Eiffel Tower at night, for example). Can you imagine the people that troll through all the stock? Don’t sweat it dude. Buy it, make some assumptions, hope for the best. That said: want to do something potentially offensive on top of a face? Make sure you’re covered.

“Royalty-Free” does not mean a clip is free, it means you don’t need to pay additional royalties for use of the stock item. It also often but not always means that you don’t need to provide attribution. A clip can be both “free” and “royalty-free” but they are not the same thing.

### Video Stock Resources

<table id="bkmrk-art.grid-%C2%A0-paid-subs" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100%;"><colgroup><col style="width:21.4541%;"></col><col style="width:15.9867%;"></col><col style="width:62.5592%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>##### [Art.grid](https://artgrid.io)

</td><td>Paid subscription model

</td><td>The quality is consistently 💯. Less spendy. I’ve used this and people are surprised it wasn’t shot by me haha. Unfortunately- Can only buy it annually. I think $600. Worth it if you’re doing a lot of stock edits. All things you download you own forever. You have to dig a bit but this why I have hundreds of high quality flares and burns all organized in a PR file. I cannot “resell” this…

</td></tr><tr><td>##### [Beachfront B-Roll](https://www.beachfrontbroll.com/)

</td><td>Free

</td><td>Some B-Roll this guy used to give away for free

</td></tr><tr><td>##### [Mitch Martinez](http://mitchmartinez.com/free-4k-red-epic-stock-footage/)

</td><td>Free

</td><td>Everyone and their mom has used a Mitch Martinez clip in something at least once

</td></tr><tr><td>##### [Pexels](https://www.pexels.com/videos/)

</td><td>Free

</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>##### [Storyblocks](https://www.storyblocks.com) (formerly Videoblocks)

</td><td>Paid subscription model

</td><td>Generally a wider net, but the quality is lower. You can engage monthly (cheaper annually tho). Make sure you get a bigger license than a personal if your company is paying for this.

Think it’s biz license. If you’re paying for it and you’re using it as a freelancer then it doesn’t matter. Videoblocks also has tons of Mograph templates with varying degrees of quality. All things you download you own forever.

</td></tr><tr><td>##### Your Own Library

</td><td>Free

</td><td>Start keeping track of all of your footage so you can use it your projects!

</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Image &amp; Textures Stock Resources

Start your engines and start downloading and organizing royalty-free, free stock.

You can pay for things if you want to save time. There are dozens of options: all are “just fine” - Getty, iStock, etc.

Here's some mostly free stuff:

<table id="bkmrk-free-images-free-%C2%A0-p" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100%;height:754.95px;"><colgroup><col style="width:21.4541%;"></col><col style="width:16.2248%;"></col><col style="width:62.3211%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height:72.7px;"><td style="height:72.7px;">##### [Free Images](https://www.freeimages.com/)

</td><td style="height:72.7px;">Free

</td><td style="height:72.7px;">pretty shitty but you can get lucky

</td></tr><tr style="height:72.7px;"><td style="height:72.7px;">##### [Life of Pix](https://www.lifeofpix.com/)

</td><td style="height:72.7px;">Free

</td><td style="height:72.7px;">pretty good but search is bad

</td></tr><tr style="height:72.7px;"><td style="height:72.7px;">##### [Lost And Taken](https://lostandtaken.com/)

</td><td style="height:72.7px;">Free

</td><td style="height:72.7px;">Mostly textures - grain, grunge, paint, vintage - if this site ever goes down, I’ve saved most of these packs in my personal Utility folder. Very useful.

</td></tr><tr style="height:80.2px;"><td style="height:80.2px;">##### [Loc.gov](https://www.loc.gov/pictures)

</td><td style="height:80.2px;">Free

</td><td style="height:80.2px;">old shit

</td></tr><tr style="height:64.85px;"><td style="height:64.85px;">##### [Morgue File](https://morguefile.com/)

</td><td style="height:64.85px;">Free

</td><td style="height:64.85px;">pretty good but not a lot to choose from

</td></tr><tr style="height:181px;"><td style="height:181px;">##### [Pexels](https://www.pexels.com/videos/)

</td><td style="height:181px;">Free

</td><td style="height:181px;"> pretty good bad search tho - [textures](https://www.pexels.com/search/paper%20texture/) and photos

</td></tr><tr style="height:80.2px;"><td style="height:80.2px;">##### [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/)

</td><td style="height:80.2px;">Free

</td><td style="height:80.2px;">Real nice

</td></tr><tr style="height:130.6px;"><td style="height:130.6px;">##### [Vecteezy](https://www.vecteezy.com/)

</td><td style="height:130.6px;">Free &amp; Paid

</td><td style="height:130.6px;">Great source for free vectors - if you’re worried about using something commercially and don’t understand the terms for free usage, you can buy a license. Also, there are paid assets in here, too. I always have a few credits in my account here for an emergency.

</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Music and Sound Resources

<table id="bkmrk-free-music-archive-f" style="border-collapse:collapse;width:100%;height:754.95px;"><colgroup><col style="width:21.4541%;"></col><col style="width:16.2248%;"></col><col style="width:62.3211%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>##### [Free Music Archive](https://freemusicarchive.org/home)

</td><td>Free

</td><td>I’m pretty sure this is what Nathan Fielder used for Nathan For You. The music in [this](https://player.vimeo.com/video/511733888) video is exclusively from here. Great for making things interesting, but not necessarily objectively good

</td></tr><tr style="height:72.7px;"><td style="height:72.7px;">##### [Free Sound Project](http://freesound.org)

</td><td style="height:72.7px;">Free

</td><td style="height:72.7px;">For all soundscapes, sound FX, and texturing, I always recommend Freesound. incredible library. Donate to them if you can!

</td></tr><tr><td>##### [Marmoset](https://www.marmosetmusic.com/)

</td><td>Paid

</td><td>Stock music - Really easy to navigate and find things for the vibe you need.

</td></tr><tr><td>##### [MusicBed](https://www.musicbed.com/)

</td><td>Paid

</td><td>Stock music - Really easy to navigate and find things for the vibe you need.

</td></tr></tbody></table>

# Jobs

# Job Boards & Creative Company Directories

Below are some places to begin or continue your job search.

<table border="1" id="bkmrk-awesome-creative-tec" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"><colgroup><col style="width: 33.3711%;"></col><col style="width: 66.6269%;"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="vertical-align: middle;">##### [Awesome Creative Technology](https://github.com/j0hnm4r5/awesome-creative-technology)

</td><td>A Git Repo with lists of Creative Technology organizations, museums, vendors, agencies (and more) broken out by category and location. There are also company-specific job pages. Good stuff.

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align: middle;">##### [Dexigner Directory](https://www.dexigner.com/directory/)

</td><td>This is a design news website that has a pretty good directory of design and design related companies. It's a good place to find specific companies that do specific things.

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align: middle;">##### [Futurespaces Job Board](https://futurespaces.com/jobs)

</td><td>Creative tech jobs manged by creative tech people. Seems pretty good.

</td></tr><tr><td style="vertical-align: middle;">##### [Interactive Immersive HQ Job Board](https://jobs.interactiveimmersive.io/jobs/)

</td><td>A pretty good Creative Technology job board with high quality, relevant roles at companies you've probably heard of.

</td></tr></tbody></table>