Liz's Multimedia Apps and Tools Blog

 I mentioned in my last post that week 12 was dedicated to video editing. We were encouraged to use Windows' built-in video editing app. I have used this app before and I was looking forward to trying it out again and seeing if there were new features.  I chose to take my animation video from week 11 and edit out the Moovly tag at the end. I also added a filter, just to practice changing things up a bit. Check out the results! My animation went from 27 seconds, to 18 seconds by removing that tag at the end. This makes the video much more likely to be watched on a platform like Facebook or Instagram. The shorter the videos, the better. People rarely want to take the time to watch an ad for more than a few seconds, if they even make it that long. Personally, I usually look at the play time to decide if a video is worth watching. Anything over 30 seconds is unlikely to be viewed by me, unless I am extremely interested in the subject.  Another thing I've noticed about myself ...

 In week 11, we were tasked with creating an animation through Moovly, Vyond, or another animation creator of our choice. I chose to use Moovly because it didn't require a free trial.  My animation is designed as an advertisement for the company I manage, Guest Memorials. The goal is to raise awareness of our TikTok account during the winter months when cemeteries aren't open. Enjoy! The only major drawback I found to Moovly is that there is the tag at the end. I don't mind the logo in the corner of the video, it makes sense to have it if I'm not paying for the service. But adding an extra 9 seconds to the end of an 18 second video seems a little overkill.  Fortunately, in week 12, we work on video editing, and I can remove that 9 seconds!  I can't say I would use Moovly, or any basic animation software for many projects. It's just not appealing to me, I can leave animation to the artists who worked for that skill. But I appreciate knowing that this is an option...

      In week ten, we learned about podcasts, what they are, what makes them unique, and how to create one. We were then tasked with creating our own podcasts.       I chose to talk about ADHD in women because I was recently diagnosed and have learned so much about myself in a short time. I never understood why I struggled with certain things in a way that seemed different. I couldn't understand why the basic tasks of life were so incredibly hard for me. All of this led to feeling like I was lazy or useless; very negative self-esteem.       I don't pretend to know everything about ADHD, I only ever speak to my own experience. But others sharing their experience helped me a lot, and I can only hope my experience helps someone else in turn.  Liz's Podcast on ADHD in Women

       In week nine of Multimedia Apps and Tools at CCV, we were introduced to Audacity and asked to make a short recording to familiarize ourselves with the software.      I chose to read Baby's Santa Mouse by Michael Brown. It is a short children's book that my parents read to me and I now read to my kids. Please enjoy! Baby's Santa Mouse by Michael Brown, read by Liz Merritt        I enjoyed getting back into the swing of using Audacity. I had used it a lot when I was in high school (10+ years ago) to record the audio from YouTube videos of my favorite songs. Basically, the updated version of recording a song from the radio, and the old school version of... whatever kids do now to pirate terrible copies of music.      The basic controls in Audacity are clearly labeled and easy to use. When you hover over a button, it tells you what that button is for. This is fantastic for anyone who isn't entirely sure what the li...

In week seven, we were each given a program to learn about and we had to use screencast software to teach our fellow students about the program.  I chose to use Screen-Cast-O-Matic for my recording. The downloadable software was user friendly and had all of the features I needed. The video editor had to be used online because I didn't have a subscription for the offline version. This wasn't an issue for me.  Here is my presentation on MailChimp! The only thing I didn't like about this project was that it had to be under five minutes, and that didn't feel like enough to me. Here is the entirety of the information I found about MailChimp.  MailChimp is and all-in-one marketing platform for small businesses that was founded in 2001 by Dan Kurzuis and Ben Chestnut. Dan and Ben had a full-time business and started MailChimp on the side; it was nothing more than an email marketing service. By 2007, Dan and Ben realized that MailChimp was much more lucrative than their prima...