Working with transitions

I worked on a movie that had a lot of transitions using Pinnicale to see what other features I could include with this program. I was able to use some new ones this time and found that the program is getting easier to use. There are still some frustrating things about this program such as not being able to put a fade on the end of a clip, but I think it might be able to be accomplished if I were to purchase another download. This movie is not about service learning as it was difficult to find ones that I wanted to use in my final project, so I filmed my son’s band. To say the least it was a challenge as they actually played for over 10 minutes. The edit is now just over three minutes.

Audacity Gone Bad

I have been working with Audacity for awhile and it has turned into a disaster. I’m thinking it might be the actual problem as to why I’m having so many problems with my computer. As soon as I started to work with the program again, my computer started acting up. I get a message that says it detects another copy of Audacity is running and that two copies can’t be running simultaneously even though only one copy is open. I’m thinking that possibly something else might have been dragged with the download. I’m going to try to uninstall it and then reinstall to see if it will correct the problem. With luck this will solve the problem.

Take the Challenge

Working with Audacity becomes easier each time you employ the software. It has many features that enable you to perform different functions, and the best was to discover what it is the program can do is to make a copy of what you have and then try out the features. I found that by cutting and pasting tracks where I wanted them over an existing piece was an easy fix. I have enjoyed working with this software and would like to see what other possibilities it has.

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Choosing to Participate in Service Learning Projects

I finally figured out an easy way to embed audio into blogger with an audio bar that does not play automatically upon opening the page. Since I needed a host to store the files, I used HDDweb.com. Once I had the code, I was able to alter it for blogger. I needed to change the autostart code from “true” to “false”, and get rid of the noembed, changing it to embed. I also had to get rid of some of the other code that didn’t matter, but once that was done, it worked.

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Service Learning

Trying to figure out the best way to insert audio was an interesting process. I did use Audacity, saving my files as .wav files. I then had to convert. I used Itunes to make them into Mp3 format. Once I had that format, I was able to upload them into an online storage site. I know there are some free ones out there, but quite frankly, I’m getting tired of having a bunch of stuff added to my computer. So I did pay for this one figuring I will have to use it for the rest of my program. I used HDDweb.com. This enabled me to get the URL and the codes I needed to add to blogger.com. With some manipulation I was able to add an audio bar and play on command.

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Service Learning Video

Here is a video edit I did of a service learning project that a middle school is involved in. It is unique in that the students are the ones teaching the teachers about technology. It is a great way to infuse technology into classrooms and make it assessable to both students and teachers. By putting students in charge of the teaching, it gives them the opportunity to show how savvy they are with the current technology and guide their teachers through the sometimes daunting task of learning the skills needed to keep up with new advances. It is a great way to begin a service learning project within the school site your at to advance the skills of educators and give students an opportunity to demonstrate their skills and aptitude for technology.

Regarding the editing process in making this clip – I began with Windows Movie Maker, which proved to become very unstable on my computer. After much research, I found that many other people had had similar experiences. System restores, and installations of service packs seemed like the only answer. Unfortunately for myself, none of these answers proved to be a long term solution to preventing the program from continually crashing. I ended up purchasing Pinnacle, a movie maker program that included a converter for mpeg3 and mpeg4, avi, along with a bunch of others. The programs basic features were very easy to use. I still have some feature to figure out, but overall I’m very satisfied with the program.

Using Audacity

Working with Audacity for the first time was a new learning experience. My temperament is to dive in, create something to have a starting point; once I do that, I keep trying different features to see what the different commands do. I make sure to make a copy of the original so I can keep going back to it.

My first try was with three tracks: intro music, voice recording, ending music. Since I was in the lab, I was only able to play the music through my computer and have my built in microphone pick up the sound. This meant that I had to have two windows open, Audacity, and Mediaplayer or idtunes, it didn’t matter where the music was coming from at this point. Doing it this way is not recommended as the quality is very poor. For my final recordings, I plan on recording directly into Audacity by some other means.

If you fail to align your recording before you record them, or want to make changes in the order of them, I found two ways to align your recordings. First, place your curser at the end of you last recording before you begin your next. Second, place your curser on the track position where you desire it. Go to menu, select project, then align track, align with cursor. The track will move to the new position.