EDIM504+WEEK+1+WEB2

=Topic A: Origins of Digital Storytelling= The Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS) in Berkeley, California is generally credited with starting and naming the digital story telling movement (www.storycenter.org). Co-founders Joe Lambert and the late Dana Atchely combined their community activism and performance art to create a format that empowered local people to share inspiring moments from their lives with others. They recognized the power of simple, non-linear computer programs to help their workshop attendees tell and preserve their stories without having to become video production experts. Their workshops have been offered worldwide and even been supported in the U.K. with several initiatives by the BBC. Education has embraced that empowerment and philosophy and applied the term digital storytelling to a wide range of class projects that integrates simple video technology into subject specific learning. In addition to the CDS's personal narrative format, book reports as movie trailers, commercials for scientific break-throughs, documentaries, and news reports from historic events, etc. all harness the appeal of technology to help students express a deeper understanding of the material they may be studying. Writing and the planning associated with good writing are the foundation for any good digital story regardless of the amount of text that might actually be in the script or spoken onscreen. Few educators have a background in media production, but we have all been formally taught to write and can coach our students and colleagues to apply that skill in their storytelling projects. Whether composed entirely of still images or video, or a combination of both, a good digital story employs some sort of introduction, explication, and resolution to make its point. =Topic B: Software & Personal Computers=

Presentation/Slideshow Software
Slideshow programs enable you to assemble still images, video segments, on-screen text, and voiceover narration into a resource that plays automatically. We will use this application for The Door Scene project in Unit 03. More generally, you may find this the easiest production path to use with students in the classroom. You should have at least one of the following applications:
 * **iMovie** (Mac – recommended) Available free in the iLife application suite.
 * **Photostory 3** (Win – recommended) Available free at www.microsoft.com.
 * **Powerpoint** (Win/Mac) Included in Microsoft Office suite.

Digital Video Editing Software
Digital video editors can import video, cut long videos into clips, and then reassemble them with transitions (ex. fade-in, crossfades) to make a new video presentation. Both Mac OSX and Windows Vista/XP computers come with free digital video editors that will server well in this course. You should have at least one of these applications:
 * **iMovie** (Mac – recommended) Available free in iLife application suite.
 * **Movie Maker** (Win – recommended) Available free in WinXP and Vista operating systems, or at www.microsoft.com.

Audio Editing Software
Most of the multimedia authoring tools described above allow you to record audio narration directly into the presentation, but sometimes you will need to carefully edit your narration or mix it with music or sound effects. For this you need audio editing software. Max OSX computers come with the Garageband application. For both Mac OSX and Windows computers you can also use an open-source program called Audacity. You should have at least one of these applications:
 * **Audacity** (Win/Mac – recommended) Available free at audacity.sourceforge.net.
 * **Garageband** (Mac – recommended) Available free in the iLife application suite.

Personal Computer
You should have access to a Windows or Macintosh computer meeting the following requirements. Please note you must have account permission to install required software if necessary.

Windows

 * Operating system: XP (SP2) or Vista
 * Processor: minimum Intel P4 1.7GHz or equivalent
 * Memory: minimum 512MB; 1GB strongly recommended
 * Free hard drive space: minimum 2GB

Macintosh
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 * Operating System: Mac OSX (10.4+)
 * Processor: minimum Intel G5 1.9GHz
 * Memory: minimum 512MB; 1GB strongly recommended
 * Free hard drive space: minimum 2GB

=Topic C: Hardware for Capturing Images, Sound & Video=

Hardware for Capturing Images, Sound & Video
The pictures and videos for your stories can come from a wide range of places. The Internet and especially Discover Education streaming may provide copyright friendly photos and video, but it is always preferable to create your own. Here is a review of capture technologies that you may use for the course.

Digital Video Camcorder
You should have a digital camcorder that can be connected to your computer to import video to the digital video software. Any camcorder storage format (tape, hard drive, DVD, or flash memory) is acceptable, only note that some storage formats may require importing by playing the video on the camcorder while others may require transferring files. You should test your camcorder, personal computer, and software for compatibility at the beginning of the course.

Using Digital Cameras to Film Video
Most current digital cameras have a video capture mode that could be used to record digital video for your class projects. If you intend to use a digital camera for this purpose you need to make sure that:
 * 1) The camera has sufficient onboard memory. 1GB should be a minimum.
 * 2) The camera microphone records clean audio. Digital camera microphones are often inferior to camcorder microphones. Test yours to make sure it will record good enough sound for a class project.

Webcam
Some video projects might be produced using a webcam instead of a digital video camcorder. Both iMovie and Movie Maker are able to capture webcam video directly into the application for inclusion in video projects.

Scanner
You should have an inexpensive flatbed scanner to digitize still photographs for inclusion in some projects.

Computer Microphone
Laptop computers usually have an onboard microphone, but the quality of these devices is poor. Buy a computer microphone or headset with microphone that will plug into your computer.

Tripod
If it is available you should use a tripod with a digital camcorder or digital camera when recording video.

Firewire or USB Transfer Cable
Some digital camcorders and cameras require a Firewire or USB cable with specially sized plugs to connect to your computer. If you need a cable make sure it has the correct plugs for your device.

=Topic D: Basic Video Production Path= In this first week you need to learn and proof the production path for filming, editing, and compressing digital video files. The requirements for the associated assignment (u01a2) are very basic--creating a digital video file of a 30-second scene containing motion and audible sound. But don't be deceived by this apparently simple assignment. You should give yourself plenty of time to work out all the small problems that inevitably crop up when you are learning new equipment or software. Even if you have no experience with the tools we are using, completing this week's assignment will give you the confidence to become a self-guided learner in mastering digital video. There are five basic steps in the process we are learning: Here is a brief description of what you'll do in each step.
 * 1) Filming/Recording
 * 2) Launching software
 * 3) Importing/Capturing
 * 4) Editing
 * 5) Exporting/Rendering

Filming/Recording
Your tool here is the digital video camcorder, camera, or webcam. Camcorders and cameras will require connecting the device to your computer and importing the digital video later on. Webcams can usually be found as a video source on the computer so that the digital video editing software can record video directly from them.

Launching software
In this step you will launch your video editing software. In most applications the software prompts you to create and name a new project. A project is where you create a movie. When you transfer your camcorder video onto the computer or record a video stream from a webcam it becomes a video clip inside a project. Projects can hold dozens of video clips, as well as digital audio files and digital photos or images. All the work you do to create a digital video file happens inside a project.

Importing/Capturing
After you open a new project you'll want to import your video from the camcorder to the project. This step always begins with connecting your camcorder to the computer with a Firewire cable and turning on the camcorder in Play or VTR mode. Back in the video editing software you will click a link to begin importing, select your source (the camcorder usually appears by name), and begin and end the capture. When a clip is captured the software displays it in a clip library or media resource list. The software will also automatically separate different scenes from your videotape into separate clips.

Editing
To create a movie you add clips to a timeline in the desired sequence. Once assembled you can play the timeline to see what your movie will look like. For this unit's assignment you will only add one clip to the timeline, which will make things a lot simpler. When use more advanced video editing, all the additional work will happen during the editing step. The other steps will remain largely the same.

Exporting/Rendering
A movie in a timeline can only be viewed by opening the project in the video editing software. To create a digital movie file that can be shared with others we need to export or render the file. During export the editing software puts together all the clips plus special effects and audio into one continuous stream of digital video. Then it compresses that stream to create a file small enough to move around. Whenever you export you'll be asked for settings that determine the image size, quality, and the smoothness of the mo

Compression Settings
For all projects in this course you should use the following settings:
 * **Format** - either Quicktime (.mov) or Windows Media File (.wmv)
 * **Screen size** - 360 x 240 pixels