This week's assignment was a bit challenging. I have not used Windows Movie Maker or Audacity. I had to do a lot of research before I started this project. Both programs were very fascinating once I understood how to use them.
Windows Movie Maker has great special effects to use with picture transitions. I went through all of them several times before choosing the right transition effects. Adding audio was a bit challenging at first. I didn't realize I could record my story, save as an MP3 file, and add as a "music" file to the movie. My daughter, the genius she is, figured it out. The first recording I did was with the sound recorder on my laptop. I didn't like the echo sounds it produced. I decided to use Audacity for the audio portion of the video.
I was so proud. I had photos transitioning and voice over telling my story. Then.... I decided to add some music to the background. I was having problems since that program will only allow one audio file. You can add multiple MP3 files, just not on top of each other. So, to Google I went searching and I found it! Here are the steps: you save your video with either the music or voice over as a movie. Open Windows Movie Maker to create a new movie. You will add the movie file you just created and then add your music. It works the same as adding pictures and music or pictures and voice over. It’s awesome. Here is the link I found explaining it better: http://youtu.be/X0XhF60KoR0
With my new found knowledge, I add music to my video of pictures and voice over. Ut oh! Both the music and my voice are the same volume. Google here I come again …. searching how to adjust volume for both in Windows Movie Maker. Phew! Well, I tired out from searching and trying. While I was searching, I came across instructions working with Audacity. Hmmmmm ….. I haven’t worked with this program before. More research needed.
Audacity is a pretty cool program. After lots of research, I was able to learn how to combine voice over and music. I learned how to add several music tracks, trim the music, and fade the music in and out. I was able to adjust the music volume very low while my voice was loud enough to hear. I ended up with a small glitch at the beginning, but I am happy overall with my first attempt to write, direct, and produce a “movie”. The last challenge I faced was clicking that darn “public” button when uploading to youtube.com. I hovered for a few seconds over private, then public, back to private, then finally submitting public. Throwing ourselves out there is very scary. Don’t you just love that huge orange banner exclaiming this video is public! UGH! I’m proud of myself for submitting publicly.
Please take a moment to watch my video. http://youtu.be/bBFkl3to8aU
Please feel free to critique. I welcome all comments and suggestions. Thank you. :)
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