Jaycut Podcast/Vodcast

You can hear my podcast at the following url: http://pnhale.podomatic.com/

I decided to add screenshots and music to my podcast above, creating a vodcast to share with teachers in my district.

Podcast Planning

For my Lamar 5363 course, we had to create a podcast about one of the open source video editors that we evaluated. I did mine on Jaycut. Here is my initial plan for my podcast:

Opening statement (with music): "It's a great day to learn something new!"
Episode 1: Today we will look at Jaycut, a free open source video editor.

Following are the different features I want to point out for visitors:

1. Login (jaycut.com) Register
2. Start Demo
3. Create Video
4. Go to Help/Support for Getting Started video, Library help, and Timeline help
5. Most important function: Add Media, next to Help button
6. Have video saved on computer and Browse for it
7. Upload
8. Next Episode-Timeline
9. Thanks for watching!

Video Editing Software Evaluation Chart

Masher Video: Twins Birth

Here's the link to watch on the site: Twins Birth

Editing Software Evaluations

The two open source video editing software applications I chose to evaluate were Masher and Jaycut. I went to my Social networking site called Delicious and did a search for video editing. I knew that I bookmarked several and decided on those two. I have not used either software applications before this course, but enjoyed working in them and creating several short videos that I shared on my blog and wiki. My experience with video editing is very limited and not until I received Camtasia for my office, did I create a tutorial to help teachers in my district learn how to use programs. I have also used the Flip camera software to edit a video I created in Bible class at church. After working with both Jaycut and Masher, I think that my experience with Audacity and Camtasia helped me work through some of the features readily. I don’t think that I would use either one at work, since we have purchase Camtasia, but I think that I’d use them at home for personal use. I thought Masher was limited, however I liked the finished product. It created such a crisp, clear video and I liked their visual effects that you could add such as confetti, or an old movie reel. I think that in my current position, sharing the various video editing software applications with teachers and students in our district would be beneficial. Now that most schools have felt strict budget cuts this year, open source software is a big plus! My two choices are simple enough for students to use. I would recommend Masher for even the primary grades to use in school.

Video Editing with Jaycut

EDLD 5363 - Week 2
This is an open source video editing software program that I was exploring for a Lamar course. I wanted to find a couple that would be easy to use for beginners. Many features on the software was recognizable like the different tracks. They had one for transitions, one for audio, and then one for images.  I wasted a lot of time learning how to use the program. It was fairly easy, but I wish it had an undo feature. I had to recreate it several times while learning how to add text, transitions, audio, and images. Everytime you closed out, you would lose your work and had to start over. You had to make sure to publish it, or you will do like I had to and recreate the entire video again. Learning new technology usually has its ups and downs like this, but it's in your mistakes that you learn the most.          My Jaycut videos
This will take you to two videos. The first one is called Granna's girls and is about my two granddaughters who were born two months apart. Many people thought they were twins, because we would dress them alike. The second video underneath is the remix or one I edited and made changes. I put a new song, changed out the pictures and text. This one is about all five of my grandchildren. I now will decide on a second open source editor to compare to Jaycut. I think that I would recommend this, since the video came out pretty clear and had the same look and feel as a YouTube video.

Digital Storytelling Reflections:

Digital Storytelling is a great tool to use in any class. I enjoyed learning how to create a personal digital story. I had several ideas to use as my topic and ended up using the topic that was suggested by my daughter and a close friend. I think the process is a form of therapy and helped me get my thoughts and feeling on paper as well as in a story. The process made me realize that there's a story in everything you do. I think I will use this new skill to help me capture some memories of my father. It's been three years since he passed away, and I think it will help me in my grieving process. One suggestion I would give to someone tackling this would be to familiarize yourself with the software before creating the story. I used Photostory 3 and became frustrated when I typed all me script that I wanted to say in the available boxes. I did not realize that you lose it all if you do not record the narration before closing. I think using Photostory is simple, but it took me some time to learn the software. I wanted to add music, but I felt it took away from the voice narration. I hope to do many more stories, and to share this with teachers in my district.