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Digital Video Production
Tools For Schools

by John Bickerton
Creative Director
UniqueTracks.com

Digital recording tools have allowed educators to produce their own radio shows with just a personal desktop or laptop computer and microphone. With the addition of a video camera, you can produce educational videos that will continue to instruct students for years to come.

Tools

Cameras

Most newer computers come with a camera built into the machine. If you’re using a laptop, look at the upper middle portion of the screen. Do you see a small camera lens? If you do, your computer is already equipped with a camera and you already have the ability to create educational videos. Built-in cameras do have their limitations and drawbacks though. It’s difficult to carry a laptop on a field trip for the purpose of recording some video. Fortunately, there are some really great camera choices for under $200. They’re easy to handle and produce HD quality video. One that I particularly like is the Flip UltraHD Video Camera video camera. This little camera does a good job recording and is easy to handle. It also has a mount at the bottom for a tripod if you need the camera to remain still. But, one really nice thing about this design is that it’s shaped like a box. So, if you forget your tripod, any flat surface can serve as a way to stabilize the camera.

Video Creation

Once you have your raw video recorded, you’ll need to import it into your computer and work with it in a video processing software. While that sounds high tech, it’s a rather easy process with some of the video creation software packages available. If you have a Mac with the iLife package, then you probably already have iMovie installed. If you’re on a PC, you’ll likely have Movie Maker. Both of these programs come with a variety of built-in features to spice up your videos. They have unique transitions, royalty-free audio, intro and exit text, and more, that can easily be added to any raw video footage you’ve recorded.

Screen Captures

One of the features educators often add to their videos is screen captures. This is especially true when you need to teach students how to use a certain computer software or navigate a specific website. Recording your computer’s screen and all your movements is a great way to visually instruct students. There are several tools to get this done. Mac and PC users alike will find Camtasia to offer everything they need to create professional grade screen casts. You can see Camtasia in action here. Of course, it won’t take you long to get a sense of sticker shock at the $300 price tag for Camtasia. Mac has another tool that’s just about as feature-rich but is only $100. That tool is Screenflow. The price is much more reasonable for a tight budget and it can do nearly everything Camtasia can. Of course, Techsmith has a free tool, Jing, which does a functional job of screen recording. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of Camtasia or Screenflow, and it only allows you to record in 5 minute clips. Still, with a little creativity Jing, combined with your movie making software, make a very functional combination.

File Formats

When your video is finally produced, you’re ready to share it. But what format should you use? You can, of course, save the video in iMovie or Movie Maker’s native format. That works fine if you just need to save it for class presentation. However, saving in one of the industry standard formats will allow you to do much more with the video. You’ll be able to share it on the internet, send it home with students, allow it to be viewed from your school’s website, and more. My suggestion for formatting your video is to save the file as an mp4 (filename.mp4) or as an m4v (filename.m4v). These file formats can be uploaded to any of the video hosting sites on the internet and can be played from a variety of devices. If you’re sharing your video to the hosting sites like YouTube, you might have to play with the format a bit. For example, YouTube doesn’t allow files bigger than 2 GB to upload. If your file is bigger than that, but still within YouTube’s 15 minute length restriction, you can adjust the settings and save the file in a format that takes up less space. IMovie, for instance, allows you to export a movie using Quicktime. There’s an “options” button that allows you to change the video and audio quality. As you make changes, you can literally watch the file size change to match your needs.

Sharing

There are countless ways to share your videos on the internet. The first one that comes to mind is, of course, YouTube. YouTube is not only the biggest video hosting site on the internet, but is second only to Google in the number of searches performed every month. So, if you want to get your video in front of a big audience, YouTube is the place to be. YouTube does have some fairly tight restrictions though. At first, a 15 minute video might seem like an eternity, but as you produce more videos, you’ll soon find out how small that really is. Plus, YouTube is really set up for mass video sharing rather than quality. Vimeo and BlipTv allow for much bigger uploads and much higher quality. Vimeo was designed as a platform for film producers to get exposure for their work. As such, it’s very high quality and allows for large files. If you want to make some money off your videos, BlipTv has an advertising program. Finally, if you want to post your videos to a bunch of sites all at one time, check out Tube Mogul. Setup your Tube Mogul account once, and from then on you can distribute your videos to more than 15 sites with a single click.

Putting Video in Every Teacher’s Hands

Video is great way to educate young minds because it touches on so many different learning styles at the same time. With these tools and more available to them, educators can get involved in digital video education for very little money and still produce and distribute some fantastic material.

How to Use Music As An Aid to Digital Storytelling

The role of a music soundtrack in a multimedia presentation is similar to the use of spices in cooking. Used correctly, adding just the right spices brings out the flavor in a dish and enhances its overall taste. Spices shouldn't dominate, but they should be a presence, contributing to the overall effect.

The soundtrack is not the main ingredient in a media project either. Its role is to support and to bring out the drama already built-in to the production's story. Using music soundtracks expands the story's power to communicate.

UniqueTracks "Royalty Free" Music CDs provide music that can be used in your school's visual or multimedia presentations without further licensing or royalties to be paid.

Listen to our music - you'll see that the ability to legally use these tracks as often as you like in your classes more than earns back what you spend for the initial purchase. If you have questions regarding music licensing or your rights regarding the use of royalty free music, please call us toll free at
888-400-2149.

Educators receive over 15% off of UniqueTracks regular pricing (regular pricing is the pricing you'll see next to the products on this site). Please download our free 19 page Pricing and Information Guide which lists our music products along with the Educator discount pricing pre-calculated for each item.