Mirroring with the iPad

Have you been working on your iPad and want to record the iPad screen? Try using the Reflection app for Mac. When an iPad & laptop are on the same wireless network, and you launch Reflection App on the laptop, the laptop becomes an AirPlay device for the iPad. On the iPad, you double tap the home button, swipe right, chose the AirPlay icon, pick your laptop from the list, and choose to mirror the iPad screen.The iPad shows up on the computer screen and, through the app, you can record everything you do on the iPad and save it as a movie file for demo and/or class presentation.
 

This is not a perfect system though, sometimes the AirPlay icon does not show up on the iPad. Which means the two devices do not see each other. So test the wireless network you use to see if it prohibits you from seeing another devices. If it does below are two possible solutions. 

Solution 1:
Create an ad-hoc or computer-to-computer network between the Mac desktop/laptop and the iPad. It is easy! 

• Simply go up to the WiFi symbol on the taskbar on the desktop or laptop.
• Pick "Create Network" and you get the "Create a computer-to-computer" network box. 
• Give it a name, pick either channel 1, 2, or 11, and secure it with a password if you want to. 
• On the iPad, go to Settings:Wi-Fi and pick the ad-hoc network from the list to connect to it.

Next start up the Reflection app on the desktop/laptop, double tap the home button on the iPad, swipe right, chose the AirPlay icon, pick your desktop/laptop from the list, and choose to mirror the iPad screen and you are in business! Keep in mind during this time you will not have Internet access so, restart to disconnect the "wi-fi" on the laptop. 

Solution 2:
Use CloudFTP to create an ad-hoc network based on Daniel Chin's instructions here to access digital content on any USB storage device connected to CloudFTP. 

An alternative for the Reflection app is called AirServer. The documentation states it will work over an ad-hoc network, too, so follow the directions for creating the Mac ad-hoc network above and find out how to create one in Windows 7 here.



Additional Reading:
http://peachmac.com/blog/2012/11/reflection-app-airplay-directly-to-your-mac-screen/
http://www.wired.com/reviews/2012/07/cloudftp/
http://www.maclife.com/article/reviews/airserver_review