Here is a list of my favorite tools and resources that I use to help me work smarter and more efficiently. I anticipate using even more AI tools in the near future to help expedite rapid development for my clients.
AI
Used for research, writing improvement, and grammar.
Cool tool that automatically turn audio and video into transcripts and creates searchable key words. Collaboration cloud-based tool between client and customer.
Takes your own descriptions of graphics you desire and produces the graphics automatically in a variety of different art and carton styles.
Free tool with purchase to upgrade package that uses AI assist to create professionally sounding audio narration tracks. Takes the text you write and turns it into audio files. You can select a variety of voices and pitches
Client Collaboration
Wonderful collaboration to for working on projects that let’s you send messages, voice calls, and post files. I like its immediacy.
Great tool for collaboration, screen sharing and annotation. If it is a production design and development meeting, I will often record it (with everyone’s permission) so that I have a record and capture of exactly what was said and desired by the client. This review helps me clarify and understand exactly what the client’s needs are and helps me pinpoint the execution of the deliverable.
Great cloud-based collaboration tool for a team to use to revise custom video that recently recorded. Let’s multiple reviewers put time stamps on posted videos and share comments so that me and the video editor can easily make edits where applicable as directed by the client.
eLearning
Another COT’s eLearning authoring tool that is exceedingly popular to use.
Storyline and Rise are a great commercial off the shelf (COTS) eLearning authoring tool to use. It is widely adopted globally and is constantly improved. Good for meeting 508 compliance.
I use this site to get creative ideas for games and interactivity
Instructional Systems Design
My hero, Mr. Bob Mager, was a pioneer and influence on instructional design theory and practice. He is the father of the performance-based learning objective.
I love this site because it is so homegrown and a labor of love. I use it to refresh my instructional design chops every now and then for reference.
Photo Manipulation and Art Creation
This is my favorite go to. This tool will take stock and personal photos and instantaneously and cleanly remove the backgrounds and save the photos as sharp pngs. Great photo editor
I give the AI description box of a graphic I need, and it spits out a variety of art in assorted styles. We will always need graphic artists, but this is an inexpensive way of generating art for certain requirements.
The most used tool in my arsenal. Where would I be with it? I am constantly snipping different graphics and photos to amalgamate and produce creative images and storyboards.
I use this Google Playb Store tool to change facial imaging.
I use this Goole Play Store to create carton art from photos of people
Love this free tool and give you free logo images and the option to use a variety of different elegant fonts for your taglines.
Professional Associations
The Learning Guild is a community of practice for those supporting the design, development, strategy, and management of organizational learning.
The International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) is a non-profit association for performance improvement professionals dedicated to improving individual, organizational, and societal functioning, productivity, and accomplishment in the workplace.
The Association for Talent Development (ATD, formerly ASTD) is the world's largest association dedicated to those who develop talent in organizations. These professionals help others achieve their full potential by improving their knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Stock: Photos, Video, Illustrations & Icons
Great stock house for high resolution photos and video. Not free.
Wonderful stock photo and graphic library but images cost a pretty penny.
Great website that offers a variety of free high-resolution photos.
I download images and art from Chrome all the time and then alter them significantly so that I am not infringing on copywritten material.
Video & Audio Production
Great cloud-based collaboration tool for a team to use to revise custom video that was recently recorded. Lets multiple reviewers put time stamps on posted videos and share comments so that me and the video editor can easily make edits where applicable as directed by the client.
I use their Lame encoder too reduce video files sizes often.
Great free tool for editing sound files with some decent voice and sound altering filters.
Free tool with purchase to upgrade package that uses AI assist to create professionally sounding audio narration tracks. Takes the text you write and turns it into audio files. You can select a variety of voices and pitches.
3D Models and Environments
I love this site and use it a lot. This site contains pre-built 3D models that are produced using Lightwave and Maya typically. Reasonable prices for most models. A vast variety of different objects to choose from.
Websites
I use this tool all the time given it is open source. Comes with so many plug-ins and a great global community or developers that share information and code strings. Fairly intuitive to use on the back end as an administrator to make updates instantaneously to a website. Has good responsive design protocols.
I have used this tool only on one occasion. Produces nice results but I have not found the customer support very responsive and timely