iMovie Projects

By now you already completed Lessons 3 and 4 of the iLife 06 Textbook. You organized your albums in iPhoto by creating the following folders: Biz Owner, Dad and Student. Mrs. Feld also asked you to create slide shows of your albums (Sgraffito, Company Press, Birthday Party and Ceramic Process) and to put them in the folders with their respective albums. You also created two "Books" - one called "Cool Pieces" using the finished products from the ceramic shop mentioned in the textbook and another with pictures of your choice. These books were converted into PDF files - which you will download in the Server into your Digital Applications folders as soon as Mrs. Feld tells you they're ready.

iMovies:

First you will create a small movie using still photos, to learn the newer versions of iMovie. You will select 10 or more pictures of your choice and drag them directly into your movie. Mrs. Feld will explain in class how to do this. You can also select pictures from iPhoto by going to Window and selecting Photos. You'll see your iPhoto albums and your iPhoto Library on the bottom right of your iMovie window (interface). When you find the ones you like, or the album you like, drag it directly into the Project area of iMovie.

You must learn to add transitions, change the timings, add text and music. Once you have this small slide show ready you will learn to convert it into a QuickTime Movie by going to Share and selecting Export Using QuickTime. This movie will be saved later in the Server.

Sgraffito Technique iMovie: Please review the instructions carefully and ask Mrs. Feld any questions you may have. After this slide show is completed you can start working on "The Story of My Life" Movie.

The idea is to create a fun iMovie with pictures of yourself when you were growing up (Baby Pictures and Others, ages 0 - 17 or 18), and hopefully to make you reflect on your life, your story (to date) and the story you want to create for yourself (what strengths, talents, weaknesses and dreams do you have?). I believe that all of us have the potential to create our own lives with our thoughts, our dreams, our intentions, our motivations, our desires and our attitudes. Hopefully, you will always embrace a positive outlook on life and believe in your dreams (I really hope so...) It's up to you to create a wonderful life for yourself! No matter what! And self-knowledge is a person's most important asset to live a full life.

So, ideally, you should have at least 15 slides (clips) in your iMovie (including black screen with text). If you check the Rubric, you can have a better idea about what information goes on each slide. The first slide should be a Title Slide with your name on it ('The Story of My Life" and your name). You can put a picture of yourself on your Title Slide if you want. You can also create collages with your pictures and use your pictures more than once (it's easy to create a collage using PowerPoint and then you can use the Command-Shift-No. 4 keyboard shortcut to take a picture of your collage-slide - the picture will be created on your desktop). Just get creative! The pictures in iMovie must be JPEGs; if you download a Photoshop image (extension ".psd" into iMovie) the image will be red (at least this used to happen with older versions - I will check what happens with newer versions and let you know).

If you wish to organize your thoughts using a Word document or PowerPoint before you enter the text on your movie/slide show you can do that too. Whatever is easier for you. The final movie must look very professional. Add music of your choice and convert into a QuickTime movie when completed - like mentioned above. Trim the music and ask for help if you need it! Your classmates can help you too.

Also, please be careful with your timings. Make sure you have enough time to read the text and to see your photos. Also pay attention to your transitions, they shouldn't move too fast!

Ask Mrs. Feld any questions you have and also ask her how to scan your pictures. There are two different type of scanners in the Mac Lab and they work differently. The project is due October 14, 2011 (hopefully!).

iLife 06 Textbook - Lesson 2

Lesson 2

First, you will learn generalities about the iLife Suite of products: iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand. What are these applications? How are they important in manipulating digital media? What can we do with these programs? I already gave you a handout.

iPhoto – The first program that you will learn is iPhoto. You will learn to download, organize, edit, and share digital photos; you will be able to create your own albums, books, slide shows, web pages and movies. You can also store and organize photos for use in your digital movies (using iMovie). You will also learn to select music from iTunes to accompany a slide show and to create special sound and visual effects.

We will start using the iLife 06 Textbook, pages 58 - 70 (Lesson 2). Most of the computers in the Mac Lab have the 2006 Version (or higher versions) of the iLife products. I will guide you through all of the exercises and teach you the differences between the different versions. We will learn mostly by putting in practice what the textbooks, my presentations and my explanations teach you. The more we practice, the faster we will learn...

Read pages 58 - 70 very carefully and follow the first exercise (L2 Student roll1 - which will be called "Student roll 1" later on). You have to work individually to complete this one. Do not hesitate to ask me any questions. The important thing is to follow the instructions carefully and to fully understand the exercises before continuing with the next ones. DO NOT RUSH, work on each exercise slowly and attentively; it is important that you understand the different steps - like how to download the pictures, how to organize them, etc.

Class Homework – for your iPhoto Notes:

Copy the following: The Command key is the "apple" key on the Mac Keyboard, and type the Tip on page 69 (practice this so you understand what they’re talking about).

Also, answer the following questions - you can work in groups of two to answer these:

1. Where are the “Sources” in the iPhoto Window? What’s in there?

2. What is an “album” in iPhoto? How do you create an album? Mention 3 ways. (Check Lesson 3 – pg. 76)

3. How are iTunes and iPhoto similar? (Mention at least three similarities)

4. What happens to the photos when you import them in iPhoto (where do they end up)?

5. When you are importing pictures from a digital camera, how do you know iPhoto is ready to import them?

6. How are the Library photos organized in iPhoto?

7. What do you do to view your photos by “Film Roll” (or “Event Title” in newer computers)?

8. How do you open and close a roll or title?

9. Where is the roll label (title label)?

10. How can you change the roll name (or title)?

11. How do you delete unwanted pictures?

12. How do you rotate or reorient your photos?

13. How do you change the default direction in which the Rotate Button rotates your photos?

14. How do you select consecutive multiple shots at once?

15. How do you select shots that aren't next to one another (non-consecutive)?

You will have to study these notes and questions for your First Quiz - September 22. Also review your notes on “What is Digital” and the iLife handout.

* If you complete the exercise and the class homework before other students, you can do the following practice (like the one we did in class before: download pictures of your choice (one theme, ie. flowers) - from the Internet or from your digital camera (you can also connect to the Server and download photos from the iLife 06 folder - ask me for more directions). Organize them all in one film roll (or event title). Change the name of the roll to the "theme name". Delete unwanted photos, rotate the ones that are not right side up and create a slideshow (by pressing the plus sign at the bottom, selecting slideshow, naming the slideshow, selecting music of your choice and going to settings (for transitions, etc.)

Welcome Digital Applications Class!

Welcome Class! I'm very excited about having smaller classes this year - we can learn better and I can help you more.

First you will learn generalities about Digital Technology (What is Digital? - I gave you a handout and you must review the movie shown in class, click the link on the upper right hand side). I will also show you a presentation the next few days, and you will type notes - check the vocabulary below. Later you will learn about the iLife Suite of products (iLife applications): iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand. You will learn to download, organize, edit, and share digital photos using iPhoto; while creating albums, books, and slide shows - you will use the iLife 06 Textbook. You will also learn: What are pixels? What are file formats? How can you use the iLife applications to manipulate digital media? What can you do with these programs? Be patient! You have to learn the essentials. The faster you learn the faster we can work on interesting projects and fun hands-on activities.

Then, you will start working with each iLife application more extensively, following exercises and learning how each one works and how we can integrate all of them when we are creating digital media projects.

The first program that you will learn is iPhoto. iPhoto is the photo software (I will give you a handout). iPhoto makes it easy to download, organize, edit, and share digital photos; allowing you to create your own Albums, Books, Slide Shows, Web pages and Movies. You can store and organize photos for use in your digital movies. iPhoto is organized much like iTunes (I know you're familiar with iTunes!); on the left side of the screen (window) are the "sources" - a Photo Library and a bunch of Albums. With iPhoto you can automatically import content from your digital camera - which is copied onto your hard disk and organized in your Library - and you can print photos. You can select music from iTunes to accompany a slide show (the program connects automatically to your playlist in iTunes.) iPhoto can play one song or an entire iTunes playlist to accompany a slide show. You can also add motion to your still photos in iPhoto using the "Ken Burns Effect."

Read the iLife handout - you will have to study this information and your notes on "What is Digital?" for a quiz on Thursday, September 22nd.

You will learn to download, organize, edit, and share digital photos; you will be able to create your own albums, books, slide shows, web pages and movies. You can also store and organize photos for use in your digital movies (using iMovie). You will also learn to select music from iTunes to accompany a slide show and to create special sound and visual effects.

You will start with page 58 in the iLife 06 Textbook: "Getting familiar with iPhoto." Read pages 58 and 59 (skipping for now "Importing From a Camera") - please try to understand what you are reading; if you have any questions, please ask Mrs. Feld. Then, go to page 61 and read "Prepare for the Lesson." You can find the iPhoto application in the Finder under Applications (or on you dock). You will download the entire folder called L2.Student roll 1 into your open iPhoto window (or just drag it into the iPhoto icon on the dock). This folder is located in the Server in the iLife06 folder. iPhoto will automatically start importing the folder of photos. Continue reading the whole chapter to page 70 and follow the book instructions.

Copy the following questions and answers in your notes:

1. How do you import pictures into iPhoto from a folder on your computer? Just dragging the folder into the main iPhoto window.

2. Name two things you should do right after you import photos: Deleting bad images and rotating the remaining images so they're properly oriented.

If you complete the instructions in Lesson 2, you can move to Lesson 3, page 73 ("Organizing and Refining your Photos). Read and follow the instructions of the whole chapter, up to page 109. Also copy in your notes (type) the Lesson Review on that page - Questions and Answers.

Vocabulary:
Digital, Digital System, Digitize, Binary Numbers (or Binary Digits), Bit(s), Byte(s), Kilobyte(s), Megabyte(s), Gigabyte(s), iLife, iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand.