PE3_iMovie

My brain is feeling a bit overwhelmed after spending much of today learning about iMovie '09 and trying out some of its features.  I decided to try to put some of this new knowledge to use by creating a short video tour of my Aunt Vonnie's award winning flower gardens.

I have never created an iMovie video before by just using photographs or the photo frame theme in iMovie.  So for this example project I decided to import some of the photos I took last summer during a visit to my Aunt Vonnie's house in my hometown of Green Bay, Wisconsin.  After importing photos into iPhoto I was able to use the media browser in iMovie to scan through the 130+ photos I took that day and select the ones I wanted to showcase in this video project.  I decided to let iMovie insert transitions automatically, at least for the first pass.  I then made some adjustments to those transitions by deselecting the automatic transitions feature and editing the framed photo transitions to include the specific photos I wanted to appear in the transition.

I also used the music media browser to select the royalty free "Buddy" track and dragged it to the background of the video project panel.  The track was not quite long enough to keep playing for the entire movie, so I merely inserted another copy of the track - not the greatest solution, but the best I could do given my time constraints.  After editing the text for the titles and adding a second credit slide at the end of the movie, I was ready to preview and then exported the project to my Mobile Me gallery.  I also exported the movie as a Quicktime file which I attempted to embed into this blog posting.

Even though the video was only 2 minutes and 14 seconds in length, after more than 15 minutes of uploading the file into the blogger editing tool, I got an error message saying that the file could not be uploaded.  So I decided to go back to the Viddler option and then embed the code into blogger.  Please add a comment if you have other suggestions for including video files into blog postings.

Obviously this is just a "rough cut" but it gave me an opportunity to practice using some of the lessons I learned today about creating an iMovie video by just using still photographs.  When I have some extra time I will add some sound effects and a bit of voice-over narration, as well as experiment with other transition effects besides the default Ken Burns effect.  But that fun stuff will have to wait for another day - I have articles to read, a concept map to create and a literature review to write.  So long for now - I hope to see you again soon.

PE2_iMovie

Screen shot from http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=450

One of my resolutions for 2011 is to become more organized - so there is no better place for me to start than by developing a system to keep my video projects organized so that I can find clips and projects easily.  The iMovie '09 Essentials Training video suggested the use of an external hard drive that is dedicated to my video project library.  So after consulting with my friend Sue who is one of the business consultants at my local Apple Retail Store, I decided to get a 1TB "My Passport SE for Mac" because it has a large storage capacity, is light weight, extremely portable, fits easily in the palm of my hand and matches the silver color of my MacBook Pro and my 24" iMac.

As you can see from these screen shots, I connected the drive to one of my computer's USB ports and labeled it as "Dr Jude's Videos" in order to distinguish it from my other external drive called "Full Sail EMDT."  I also created two folders - one for Full Sail Video Projects and another for UWM Video Projects.  Within the Full Sail Video Projects folder I added sub-folders for each of the first four courses in the EMDT program.  I will add folders for the other courses as soon as each course begins.  Note that I also labeled the folders with a number - "01" for month one, "02" for month two and so on - so that even if I forget the acronym for the particular course, the folders will show up in sequential order in the finder window.  I still need to copy the video files I created in the first three courses to their respective folders - but that will have to wait for another day.  Right now I will just make sure that all of the video projects I create from this day forward will be saved in the proper folder on my dedicated drive for video files.

Screen shot of Dr Jude's Videos - dedicated hard drive

Screen shot of Full Sale Video Projects folder

Screen shot of Month 04 ETC Video Projects folder

Some of the other tips I took away from the training had to do with using keywords to label video clips so that I can later search or filter my clips by entering desired keywords and then selecting search for all or search for any of those key words.  The use of keywords will also help when I insert comment or chapter markers into my clips and/or video projects.  Another great feature is the ability to add keywords to multiple clips at once through the AUTO APPLY feature or add them individually in the INSPECTOR panel.  Now all I have to do is import some new video footage into my computer and get started experimenting with these new found ways to keep my clips and videos well organized.  Stay tuned for reports on my progress.

PE1_iMovie

As you can see from the "Certificate of Completion" shown above, this morning I finished watching the iMovie '09 Essential Training videos at www.lynda.com.  The process of watching the videos, taking notes and trying out some of the features reminded me of the final reflection I created in the TMD course.  Once of the insights I gained in the TMD course was that I prefer to read instructional manuals when learning a new software program or becoming familiar with a new technology gadget, such as a camera or smart phone.  However, when I was trying to figure out how to use iMovie for the first time, the digital instructional manual was not very helpful because I did not know the proper terminology for the various techniques I was trying to learn.  Now I realize I could have saved myself many hours of frustration, confusion and mistakes if I had gone through the iMovie '09 Essential Training video a couple of months ago.  Better late than never, I guess.

One of the features that I am curious about has to do with the various methods for sharing completed video projects.  In previous courses we were asked to upload our videos to www.viddler.com - however, one of the downsides of using that website is that video content is removed from their servers after approximately 30 days.  I discovered this the "hard way" when a video I posted for one of the courses I teach suddenly disappeared and I started getting emails from frustrated students who could not go back and watch the video before the first exam.  I ended up posting subsequent videos to You Tube, yet I feel uncomfortable about having course related videos out there for the world to see.  According to the essentials training, another option might be for me to share video files through my Mobile Me Gallery or through a dedicated channel on iTunes.  I haven't had the opportunity to test out these options yet, but will do so before posting any videos for the upcoming semester than begins on January 24, 2011.

I was also surprised to discover that some of the features and techniques that were described through the training videos, were things I stumbled upon through my own trial-and-error approach as I experimented with the software in previous courses.  In many instances I did not know what I was doing and had a hard time replicating actions, such as using the precision editor to trim clips or using the "ducking" function to reduce the volume of music so that narration could be heard more clearly.  These are some of the same issues or problems with which my students have struggled, so now I know what language to use to point them in the right direction or offer quick tips on how to resolve the issues. 

The iMovie project that I am working on to include later in this blog, will help me demonstrate to students some ways to improve the quality of their videos - for example, stabilizing shaky clips, adjusting the volume of audio and slowing down the credits that roll at the end of the production.  I am looking forward to experimenting with some of the advanced editing tools as well, such as customizing the images or clips that appear during transitions in the "Photo Album" theme and incorporating key words to help me organize clips for easy retrieval.  Stay tuned to future posts to see how I am able to utilize some of the many fun features that were highlighted in the iMovie '09 Essentials Training.

BP1_Welcome to my blog

Hello Full Sail colleagues and welcome to my blog.  My name is Jude Rathburn and I have just returned to Full Sail and the EMDT-MS program after a three month leave of absence.  I am looking forward to getting to know you and learning with you through the remainder of the program.

The image I have included with this entry is the "career wordle" I created a few months ago to capture the values and goals that have guided me through the past twenty years as an educator.  I hope that my return to Full Sail will enable me to continue living these values and help me improve my teaching practice.

Even though it appears as though I have quite a few followers already, many of them are colleagues who started the program with me back in June and are now in month 6 of the program.  I hope that some of you,  my new classmates, will be willing to follow my blog, too.

Thanks for stopping by and I am looking forward to continuing the Full Sail adventure with each of you.  Happy new year!