Making Home Movies on your Computer

If you have a Windows computer, search for the program called, Windows Live Movie Maker. If you have a Mac, search for the program called, iMovie and follow the steps below for either program.

 Windows Live Movie Maker is a free program that comes with the Windows Live Essentials suite of programs available from Microsoft.  Visit this link for more information: http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker?os=mac  With Windows Live Movie Maker, you can turn your photos and videos into ovies. Add special effects, transitions, sound, and text to help tell your story. Sharing with friends and family is easy—whether on the web, or DVD.  DVD burning in Movie Maker is dependent on Windows DVD Maker, which is only available in Windows 7 and Vista.

Chances are, you have a camcorder, a digital camera, or an iPhone — and maybe all three. That means one thing: You have a ton of great video. iMovie puts it all in one place and organizes it for you so your video is easy to browse and fun to watch. Just plug in your device, open iMovie, and start importing your video. It appears in your Event Library — the one place you’ll find everything you’ve ever recorded.  When you're ready, share your movie with iDVD (already installed on your Mac) and give to family and friends.

To make a movie with Windows Live Movie Maker, you'll need some photos and videos on your computer. You can import photos and videos from your digital camera, a flash memory card, DVDs, or your mobile phone.
Step 1: Connect a camera to your computer

Connect the camera to your computer by using a USB cable, and then turn on the camera.


Step 2: Start importing in Movie Maker

Click the Movie Maker button, and then click Import from device.
If the Photos and videos will be imported into Windows Live Photo Gallery message appears, click OK.


Step 3: Choose the device

Click the device you want to import photos and videos from, and then click Import.


Step 4: Import any new photos and video

On the New photos and videos were found page, click Import all new items now, type a name for all the photos and videos, and then click Import.


Step 5: Select the photos and videos to use in your movie
In Windows Live Photo Gallery, select the check box in the upper-left corner for each photo or video you want to use in your movie. On the Create tab, in the Share group, click Movie.
When the photos and videos appear in Movie Maker, you’re ready to start making your movie.



iMovie:
After you create a project,  you add video clips to it that you’ve already imported (transferred) from your camera to your computer.
All of your imported video appears in the Event Library. From there, you select specific video and add it to your project by dragging it to the project in the Project browser, which is your project workspace. As you add video and other elements to your project, they appear immediately in the Project browser, where you can edit them, rearrange them, delete them, and so on.
Add video to a project

1. Open an existing project by double-clicking it (don’t click the project’s name directly) in the Project Library.
   If you don’t see the Project Library, click the Project Library button.
   
   
2. In the Event Library, select an Event whose footage you want to add to your project.
   If you don’t see the Event Library, click the Event Library button, which is typically located in the lower-left corner of the iMovie window.
   
   You select an Event by clicking its name once. The Event footage appears in the Event browser to the right of the Event Library.
   
   
3. In the Event browser, select a range of video frames or an entire video clip.
   To select an entire video clip, hold down the Shift key and click the clip once, so that it’s outlined in yellow.
   To select a portion of a clip (called a frame range), drag across any clip while you hold down the button on your mouse or trackpad. Selected frames are outlined in yellow.
4. Drag your video selection to the Project browser.
   You drag by holding down the button on your mouse or trackpad as you move the selected clip to the Project browser. You can drag it anywhere: to the beginning or end of the project, or between clips you’ve already added. A vertical green line, along with a green Add (+) symbol, appears anywhere you can place the clip.
   The image below shows how the Project browser appears when you add your first video clip to a project.
   
   Video that’s been added to a project is marked along the bottom with an orange stripe in the Event browser, so that you can see at a glance which video you’ve used. You can add the same video to multiple projects, and you can use it more than once within a project.

Continue adding video in this way until you have all the video you want in your project. Next, you can enhance your project by adding music, photos, titles (text that appears onscreen, over your video), and more.

Follow the PC Teacher at www.thepcteacher.com for more information and help.  Have fun making your own home movies!

Automatically Backup Photos & Videos from your Camera, Phone or Handheld Gadget

Instant uploads from your camera wherever you are – that’s the power of the Eye-Fi Mobile X2 wireless memory card.

Automatically upload photos and videos to your iPhone, Android or tablet, whether you’re at the beach or on travel. Never run out of space with Endless Memory Mode. And that’s just the beginning! 

http://www.eye.fi/products/mobilex2

features

• 8GB memory. Store up to 4,000 photos or 3h of video with top-notch Class 6 speed. Works just like your SDHC memory card!
• Wireless. JPEG photos & videos sent through your Wi-Fi network thanks to built-in 802.11n speed.
• The flexibility of anywhere. Not within Wi-Fi range? With Direct Mode, the Eye-Fi card can send JPEG photos & videos directly from your camera to your iPhone, iPad or Android device.
• Endless. Get the only card that can free-up space for you after pictures are safely delivered. Never worry about running out of space again.
• Automatic back-up. Wirelessly upload JPEG photos and videos to folders of your choice on your computer, or even directly into iPhoto for Macs.
• Organized. Photos and videos can automatically land in date-based folders, so memories are organized effortlessly.
• Compatible. No need to buy a new camera. Click here to see if your camera is compatible:

http://support.eye.fi/product-info/camera-compatibility/compatibility/is-the-eye-fi-card-compatible-with-my-camera/

• Effortless sharing. Wirelessly send your JPEG photos and videos to a popular website. Click the link above to see the complete list you can choose from, which includes Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, MobileMe, and YouTube.
• Pick your pics. You can select which photos and videos are uploaded.

For more information and help with getting your pictures from camera to computer (or from phone to computer), check out the next PC Teacher class. www.thepcteacher.com

Happy clicking,

Betsy

The PC Teacher

What Are Hashtags ("#" Symbols)?

Used with Twitter, the # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.

Hashtags: helping you find interesting Tweets

• People use the hashtag symbol # before relevant keywords in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets to show more easily in Twitter Search.
• Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category.
• Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet.
• Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics.

Example: Below, @VegNews added the hashtag before the word "vegan" in their message. The word is now a link to search results for all Tweets containing "#vegan" in the message

Using hashtags

• If Tweet with a hashtag on a public account, anyone who does a search for that hashtag may find your Tweet.
• Don't #spam #with #hashtags. Don't over-tag a single Tweet. (Best practices recommend using no more than 3 hashtags per Tweet.)
• Use hashtags only on Tweets relevant to the topic.

Some examples:

Business: #jobs, #business, #networking, #retail, #shoppers, #consumer, #sales, #economy, #technology, #luxury, #news, #internet, #mktg, #marketing, #webmarketing

Celebrities: #50cent, #aplusk, #bieber, #britneyspears, #charliesheen, #ladygaga, #obama, #oprah, #osama, #perezhilton, #ryanseacrest, #the_real_shaq, #theellenshow

Education: #edapp, #edtech, #education, #elearning, #lrnchat, #mlearning, #teachers

Environment.Justice: #humanrights, #poverty, #hunger, #aid, #sustainability, #health, #green, #eco, #earthtweet, #humantrafficking, #climate, #solar, #fairtrade

Social.Change: #socialgood, #cause, #volunteer, #4change, #giveback, #dogood, #crisiscommons

Entertainment: #bones, #dwts, #glee, #gossipgirl, #graysanatomy, #idol, #lrnchat, #mlearning, #sharktank, #survivor, #teachers, #theoffice, #thevoice, #xfactor

For more help with Twitter, check out the next PC Teacher class.  www.thepcteacher.com

Happy clicking,

Betsy

The PC Teacher