Multimedia Tools #2
Adobe Captivate
Adobe’s website tells you that with their program, you can “Go beyond screen capture,” but that was the main use that I had for it. I chose to use Captivate for my second tools project because I needed screencasts for the website I was developing for my 795A project. Though it can do so much more, I found it to be very effective for my simple, narrated screen casts that show the visitor how to use the web site I created.
It allowed me to first record the screen as I clicked through the various locations, and record audio at a later time. The audio recording feature offered some flexibility as well. I was able to either record the narration for the entire video at once, or record for individual sections (slides) that Captivate automatically created for me as I recorded. This was a nice feature because I could go back and record over spots where I made a mistake instead of recording the whole thing again.
I also used the automatic call-outs to point out to the user what I was doing as I used the site and why. Captivate automatically inserts a text box indicating where you are clicking as you record, and allows you to edit those boxes later, as well as insert new ones or other types of call-outs.
Because I only needed a simple how-to video, I didn’t use Captivate to its potential. It also has many interactive features, such as quizzes and games, as well as the ability to pause the instruction to allow the user to perform some kind of practice sequence before continuing. Learning all of these features was a bit beyond the scope of what I had time for in this project or in my 795 class.
Multimedia Tools #1
Pinnacle Studio Plus
I chose to use Pinnacle for my multimedia tools project because I needed to familiarize myself with a video editing application in order to create my EVW assignment. I wanted an application that was versatile as well as being straightforward to use, and was having difficulty getting Adobe Premiere to run properly on my PC.
Pinnacle Studio Plus is designed to be easy to use for a novice video editor or for when you just want to whip out a quick little video to share with family or upload to youtube, but it also contains a variety of sophisticated tools for manipulating your video project in many ways. It can capture video from a variety of formats, including video cameras, memory cards, dvds, etc, and is able to manage large HD files as well as standard resolution video. Editing of clips is done in the timeline and the video can be previewed as you work on it. I liked that it seemed to be designed for the PC user-by right cilcking on video or audio clips, I could open the properties of the clip, and make fine adjustments to levels or customize my transitions.
I liked the way I was able to animate my still clips by zooming the camera in to particular spots in the photos. In this way, you can add visual interest to still images and make them seem a little less out of place in a live video.
In the timeline, you are able to scrub audio, record voice overs, add canned music or sound effects, or import your own audio tracks, which I did. The audio editing tools are also quite versatile. Separate music, voice over, and audio tied to the video clips are shown in the time line, and levels for can be dragged up and down in the time line or in a separate window if you wish.
The program comes with stock themes that you can use, although the look a little scrapbookish, they could be cool for family videos. Titles can be added to any of your clips or still images in a variety of premade fonts and designs and menus for DVDs are also available to be added to your finished product.
Finally, there are a huge variety of ways to export a finished movie with options for differing resolutions and differing destinations. I have exported a sample video I made to youtube directly, and also in medium resolution for this site here: (otay-eco-preservemed), and in HD format where I will upload it to Vimeo. I like the HD version as the scenery in the video doesn’t look as good in the other formats, particularly the low resolution youtube version.
