Saturday, December 18, 2010

EDIT 556 - A video tutorial with captions

I used Camtasia to create an online video tutorial for Google Docs, specifically for documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. In order to get the flow right, I had to write a script that I could follow while I did my screen clicks. Just like a movie, I did take after take to get the presentation right. It was easier to get it all right in one take versus editing the short pieces together. I added zooming in certain parts to help the user "see" what I was doing. I realized after inserting the captions that I chopped up my footage to the point where I couldn't continue my effects on my clips. I did not figure out how to merge my clips to get around it.


Friday, December 17, 2010

EDIT 540 Wiki

The wiki houses all of my projects for the class. I had fun learning about educational and performance visuals. I look at advertisements, graphics, and websites in a whole different way using the principles I learned in Linda Lohr's book, Creating Graphics for Learning and Performance: Lessons in Visual Literacy.

EDIT 540 Wiki - here is the main student page

My Web Activities - Chapters 1 - 11















My Challenge Activities - Chapters 1 - 11















I used Adobe Illustrator to create all of my web and challenge activities for the class. I feel like I am only just beginning to understand how to use Illustrator from the projects I created and playing around with all of the functions.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Setting up for the Interview Video





EDIT 554 - Video Project #2

The project is a video interview with sommelier, Tim Robertson. I used to hate to drink wine or even think about wine, but after a few wine tastings I changed my mind. I have come to appreciate wine and wine culture. The video is just a short introduction to wine through a sommelier's eyes and nose.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

EDIT 554 - Video Project & Narration #1

The first project in EDIT 554 required us to record a narration with video or pictures. I choose Shakespeare's sonnet 18 for my project. I used photos and videos from San Francisco and Zion National Park in Utah. The guitar music that plays throughout the video was performed and recorded by me.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

EDIT 554 - Video Technology Class



Here is my set up for the 1st project. I bought a USB microphone from Guitar Center, so I could do some high quality recording, both voice and musical. I may need to dampen the materials around the microphone to get the sound I want for the narration. I have a screen so the p's won't pop in the condenser mic.

I tried using Audacity with this microphone with very poor results. During each talking part, i could hear what sounded like tape hiss. Once I started recording in Garageband, it went away completely. In addition, I can record multiple tracks and import them into iMovie without having to separate all my tracks out into iMovie.

There are three steps I want to do for this project. One, find and record a poem about clouds or nature. Two, I want to record an original composition to add an undertone to the narration. Three, I will add some short video and pictures of clouds that I have taken over the last 2 years.

Once I have all of those parts together, I can add the title screen. The video needs to be around 30 - 45 seconds in length. I am shooting for about 40 seconds of narration. The fade in and fade outs will add a second or two when I am finished.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Liam Jon Reed - 3/18/10


My son, Liam, was born on March 18, 2010 at 6:53pm. One of the most surreal and happiest days of my life.

On March 30th, I start a new class at Cal State LA after taking a quarter off to have my son and finish the requirements for National Board Certification.