Practical Experience 2 with iMovie Day 3

The 3rd day was focused on learning some of the more advanced features!

Today I started more with music and learned about ducking, adding sound effects, and even taking sounds from other video and adding them to other videos that lack some noise (press shift + command key and drag).

Adding photos to my video will apply the "Ken Burns" effect giving movement to otherwise stagnant photos. It really is a nice touch to making movies.

The precision editor really allows for some very nice tool for fine tuning the video. I had no idea that you could get so detailed on your videos just with iMovie. I also learned about adding "beat markers" (can press the m key while trimming the clip). As long as you have the automatic transitions deselected on your project properties. The photos or even clips will snap to the beat of your music! A pretty cool feature if you ask me.

Under the Inspector Feature, I learned about how to add effects to my clip, which will help me personalize my videos even more! (You have to double click on the clip in order to choose an effect.) Also in the inspector, you can change the speed of the video: slow down, speed up or reverse it!

Freeze frames are cool as well! It's like taking a picture in the middle of your video. (Note: Freeze fram will not work if the video has been stabilized due to the zoom feature.)

I remember having a tv that would allow you to watch two shows at once through picture in picture. Well guess what, iMovie does this too! Also, I movie has a whole "advanced" features that you have to activate in order to use picture in picture as well as some other tools. (You will find this under iMovie preferences and you will need to select the box activating the advanced features.) The cutaway tool is similar except that it only allows you to see one video at a time, but one video will intersect with the main video.

Applying and editing a map, allows you to show travels to various destinations which would be great for geography or vacation videos.

I made it through the entire essentials training, now I hope I can find time to learn even more about imovie!

Practical Experience 2 with iMovie Day 2 (9-22-2010)

Day two-
Today I learned that if you press the option key + command key, it allows you to trim +1 or -1second of your clip on your project. For extreme fine tuning skills, you can click at the beginning/ending of your clip (in your project), then press and hold the option key while adjusting with your arrows. (this allows you to add or delete frames. Pretty cool huh!

I also was reminded that with a transition we want to add cohesiveness. The speaker made a good point, "How often do commercials/tv shoes use these exotic transitions? It shows signs of a beginner." He also made a good point to use the transitions for special occasions or when you really want to emphasize a point.

I learned about "pinning" music to specific clips so that the music goes with the clip as it is moved around on the project box.


(I must admit, I really wish I had watched this during the first month. It would have saved me a lot of time! And, I think I would have better understood how to make a project in iMovie. What a valuable resource Lynda.com is. I am thankful for the opportunity to for the chance to pick a topic of my choice to learn more about.)

Reading

For week 4-

I printed off a large chunk of my articles, and have them scattered on my desk/floor. I am working on organizing them into a logical way for my literature review. I have almost all of my articles for the review. But I am still doing a little last minute searching.

I also want to note that today it was so nice to stop by the library, log on to my google account and everything that I needed at the click of a button! I was also able to save the articles to my google docs to view from home! I was pretty excited. Just wanted to share that little bit of info with you!

Stay tuned for more info on how my action research project is going! I will be starting cycle one next month!!! (This year, is going by ever so quickly!)

Practical Experience 2 with iMovie Day 1 (9-20-2010)

So, as you all know, I am new to the Mac world and am determined to learn as much as I possibly can! I am so very thankful for the Lynda.com subscription for the year. This time around, I choose to check out and learn more about the iMovie application.

I have been working with imovie for the last 3 months, and have learned probably the bare minimum to do what I need to do. But I must admit, I have seen some pretty awesome videos that my classmates have made and am jealous. I know I will be using imovie in the upcoming months so I am taking this time to invest in learning more about the application.


For the first day, I am learning about the storyboard and various functions/shortcuts.

Did you know that you can switch your project screen with the library screen to create more working space for your projects?

This little button right here, located around the right hand side of the screen towards the middle. 

More to come tomorrow!

Practical Experience with Flash (Day 3) 9-20-2010

(This was a project in process, from the exercise files with the Lynda.com training)

Ok, so now that I have moved beyond "basic shapes, drawings, and colorings" I am finding the shortcuts more difficult to remember. Flash truly has a tool for EVERYTHING! You can change gradient patterns, color match objects,or really do anything one's little heart desires! I know that I will not be an expert within the three days of watching some of these videos, but I still feel like I have gained more of an insight on how Flash works. (To be honest with you, I truly thought Flash had to do with the camera Flash and to add effects to various photos and artwork. Boy was I wrong, Flash does so much more!)

I also found a great free resource called HeyFlash.com. You can find several videos online from this source.

Flash is such a fun tool. I think students and teachers who were exposed and able to interact with this program could really enhance lessons. Things of the wealth of knowledge that some of the students could convey through the use of a flash movie, drawing, etc. I encourage everyone to check out Flash and spend some time getting to know this amazing program. It sounds like in month six of our program, we will be working quite a bit in Flash.

I am by no means an expert in this program now, but I do have more of an idea on how to navigate the screen and to do a thing or two! :)

Practical Experience with Flash (Day 2) 9-19-10

Today, I had the chance to work some more in Flash. As I learned some of the the ins and outs of the tools for Flash, this program now reminds me of an artist's drawing board. (To be honest, I an also see myself using some of these same tool concepts for my digital scrapbooking layouts! I am very excited about this!) I think that the shortcut keys so far seem to make sense, but there are so many of them, I'm just not sure I'll remember them all at first.

I had the chance to play (yes, you read right, play) with some of the tools that the video covers and I like what I see! Check out my picture below of some of the various tools that I tested.

Pretty cool Huh!

Look for one more post on Flash tomorrow, then I will be checking out another program!

Reading

I am finding much more information after searching not just interactive websites, but yet the components that should make up an interactive website, such as blogging. I will be honest with you and tell you that I am more of a hands-on-learner. I do like the Diigo site for organizing websites ans sharing with others, but when it comes to sitting down and writing my lit review, pulling what is important and organizing my thoughts, I will be printing off these articles and lay them in order for me organize my thoughts. I like to write on the paper, cross out ideas, highlight/combine thoughts. I guess you could call me old fashioned on this one. But, I will be using Diigo to post the PDF's of articles that I have found so that my critical friends can view them and give me feedback. As usual, I have myself here a work in progress, but here a few of the many articles that I did find. Still trying to rework my wording for my searches to find some other articles. I will keep you posted!


Kebritchi, M., Hirumi, A., Kappers, W., & Henry, R. (2009). Analysis of the supporting websites for the use of instructional games in K-12 settings. British Journal of Educational Technology, 40(4), 733-754. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2008.00854.x.


Kong, K. (2009). A comparison of the linguistic and interactional features of language learning websites and textbooks. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 22(1), 31-55. doi:10.1080/09588220802613799


Sang, A. (2009). The Creation of the ‘Hong Kong Visual Arts Education Web’ and the Use of the Inquiry-Based Teaching Approach. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 28(2), 215-224. doi:10.1111/j.1476-8070.2009.01608.x


Damico, J., & Baildon, M. (2007). Examining ways readers engage with websites during think-aloud sessions. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(3), 254-263. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.


Fancovıcová, J., Prokop, P., & Uşak, M. (2010). Web-Site as an Educational Tool in Biology Education: A Case of Nutrition Issue. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 10(2), 907-921. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.


Moorthy, D., Cappellano, K., & Rosenberg, I. (2008). Nutrition and Crohn's disease: an update of print and Web-based guidance. Nutrition Reviews, 66(7), 387-397. doi:10.1111/j.1753-4887.2008.00048.x.






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