Digital Project Resources

If you choose to work with video and make a “digital story”…

Below are some tools that are either free or have free versions (with limited functionality) that will allow you to upload images, audio, and/0r video, and to then embed what you produce on Blogs@Baruch.

It is a good habit to keep copies of what you’ve done locally and not to depend completely on a third party site to retain your work. Keep a copy of your images, and, if possible, record your audio narrations as MP3 or WAV files that you then upload to the site and integrate with your slides.

Documentation for how to use each tool exists on each site.

When you’re done, you’ll want to get embed code that you’ll then paste into the HTML view of a post your write on Blogs@Baruch (when you click into the “Add New Post” page, click on the “HTML” tab instead of the “Visual” tab in the space above where you write your post, and paste the content there). You MAY run into difficulty since some sites send out bulky embed code that other software does not like. If this is the case, send Luke me an email (lucas.waltzer@baruch.cuny.edu) and I’ll help you embed your slideshow.

But remember… keep local copies of everything you produce so that if something goes wrong you won’t have much trouble reproducing it!

Here are the tools:

Video Tools

YouTube Editor: http://www.youtube.com/editor
Allows basic editing– clipping, remixing, adding soundtrack (including approved audio from the YouTube music library) , transitions, adding titles. Check out this guide:

Slideshow Tools

Slide Share http://www.slideshare.net/
Upload PPT, PDF, and then upload accompanying MP3.

Slide Six http://slidesix.com/
Import presentations (PPT/PPS, PDF, ODP/SXI, MOV) and then layer audio over

Show Beyond http://www.showbeyond.com/
Max of 24 images, 30 seconds of audio per image
Can upload audio files in MP3 or WAV format

Photo Peach http://photopeach.com/
Upload photos, easily arrange into a slideshow, but requires premium account for upload of MP3s ($3 a month)

Animoto http://animoto.com/
Analyzes an uploaded set of images and creates a “professional” music video based on a secret artificial intelligence logic.
Pricing comparison for the plans: http://animoto.com/pricing

One True Media http://www.onetruemedia.com/
Upload images and audio for story track. Embed in blogs or directly post to YouTube/Google video, mySpace, Google Groups. A range of choices.
Pricing comparison for plans: http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/subscription_benefits

For additional tools, visit http://50ways.wikispaces.com/Tools+A+to+Z

Perspiration:

North by Northwest

Inspiration:

Video Essay Tutorial

For entire assignment specifics and a couple of examples go here. In short, you need to select several scenes from your favorite film (or one of your favorites), and edit them together and comment on some of the filmic elements of the scenes? Why do you like these scenes? What strikes you about them? What makes them good cinema? Is there a subtext at work in this film? In short, construct an essayistic commentary on the scenes as a narrator explaining to your audience what you find important about the scenes and why. What’s more, what do the details you have pinpointed say about the film more generally.

Getting the digital video

Downloading media from the web

It may so happen that you can find a good number of the scenes you need for this assignment from video sharing sites like YouTube, etc. This would probably be the easiest solution (though quality varies greatly, and terrible quality videos certainly detract from the experience) and the following tools should be a great help in downloading them:

Recording Segments of a DVD with VLC

Alternatively, Andy Rush also blogged about using VLC to record segmets of a DVD straight to your hard drive on a Mac or PC. This could be an easy and useful alternative for those of you who still own DVDs, like me. That said, like all things video whether this will work for you depends on a wide range of variables depending on installed codecs, your computer, etc. Try it out, if it works, good for you, if not, look for another solution.

Ripping DVDs

If YouTube and/or VLC is not your solution, you can also rip scenes directly from a DVD. Here are a few useful tools for that:

  • DVD Fab (PC) -Recommended free ripping tool for PCs
  • MacTheRipper (Mac) – Allows you to rip entire DVDs as well as extract particular chapters
  • Mac DVDRipper Pro ($10) –Not sure you’ll need the pro version, but just in case.
  • Handbrake (Mac/PC)

I already have my media in a usable digital format on my desktop

Good for you, hoss, if you have your media in a digital video format on your computer (i.e., mpeg4, avi, divx, mov, etc.) then jump to the next section, you’re done here.

Preliminary Editing and Compression

Getting the specific clips you need out of a longer clip or even an entire DVD could be resource intensive and time consuming in an editing program like Movie Maker, iMovie, or some other program. So, to save you time and effort, we recommend you trim and compress the particular scenes before you import them into your editing software.

Once you have gotten the digital video of the film you will be commenting on, you will need to both get the specific clips you want to talk about and compress them. We recommend you use a tool like MPEG Streamclip (PC/Mac). Important: When using a Mac or PC and working with video editing/conversion tools like MPEG Streamclip (or any of the others listed above) it is highly recommend that you make sure to install Perian (for the Mac) or the K-Lite Codec Pack (for the PC)—both of which are free utilities that add a series of codec recognition tools across the various video applications on your computer.

What MPEG Streamclip will allow you to do is select and trim exactly the clips you want to discuss from the longer scenes. Doing this in MPEG Streamclip will save you time and energy before importing it into a video editor like Moviemaker or iMovie, both of which bloat video unnecessarily and take a lot more time and resources to work with. Note that you may have to cut a longer scene up into various clips that you will then edit together in your final version. Also, when converting the clips, make sure they are the same aspect ratio as the original, and that you are saving them in the proper codec for your video editing software. (Note: MPEG Streamclip will convert files to Windows media format.)

  • For a tutorial for using MPEG Streamclip go here or here. Note you may be asked for the MPEG2 Playback component while using MPEG Stream Clip to edit .VOB files, let me know if you need it.

When you Export the file from MPEG Streamclip, you have the option to save as an assortment of file types. Save as mpeg4 (H.264) for working with iMovie and Wondows Media format if working with Movie Maker.

Important: If you are having problems with MPEG Streamclip reading your AVI or VOB files (in other words no image and/or audio when you bring the files up) you may need to use Quicktime Pro (Mac/PC) to convert the files to a different format. Given Quicktime Pro costs $$ and is for compression and format conversion of files only you should save yourself some precious time if you get stuck at this point and come see me in duPont 310, or email me. For a tutorial for using Quicktime Pro (compression only) go here.

Editing and Narration/Voice Over

Most of you will have one of two basic video editing tools: Moviemaker (PC) and iMovie (Mac). I will expect you have some basic competence in either of these. If not, there is this thing called Google…. What you will need to do here is import your clips, organize them accordingly to the logic of your commentary, and then record your commentary on top of the clips (which can be done in either of these applications).

Here is a quick tutorial for adding a voice over commentary in iMovie:

And here is a tutorial for adding commentary in Windows Live Movie Maker:

Note, if these videos aren’t useful, there are tons more, just search your tool and voice over and/or commentary.

Also, if you don’t have either of these tools and are looking for an online editor, check out Jaycut, it is free but there are also some real limitations. Also, Videospin might be a good free alternative for PC users.

Upload it to the Video Hosting Service of your choice

Finally, be sure to save a copy on your computer or external drive and then upload a copy of your finished video to a video service of your choice. Here are some recommendations if you don’t have one already:

3D Printing Resources:

If you choose to try your hand at creating a physical object that represents the same “solution” to a bioethical problem that your research paper investigates, you will need to draft a 3-D object to edit and print. Here are a few sites that are user friendly and will help you to generate the appropriate .stl file:

A great place to find .stl files that other users have worked with, for you to edit to your own liking:

Here is a link to Tim Owens’ class at the University of Mary Washington–Makerbots and Mashups. His students are working on 3D projects and they post their process notes here.