Week 10 of my Practicum

This week I worked on two videos.  I thought they were both going to go fairly quickly, but I had some technical difficulties.

The first video I made was on how to add a quiz to your video in Camtasia.  My main problem here was trying to get the quiz to work properly while I was trying to record the screen.  I thought I would get this video done in several takes, but it took me closer to seven or eight. I also spent more time editing the video then I thought I would. I had some issues with getting the closed captions in the video as well.
So...I went back and added two pictures with information to the video on adding a quiz. I kept feeling like I needed to add something else. It was good information and it would take too long to say it all and it would be much easier to read the information. So, skip the first video if you like and just watch the second video.

Here is the video on how to add a quiz:

Same video as above with the added pictures with information:

The second video I made was on how to import media to Camtasia.  This is a simple process but it took me a little longer because my 15 month old decided he wanted to be very noisy right next to the computer room.  I also seemed to have a problem talking and kept stumbling over my words, but I eventually got the video right.

Here is the video on how to import media:

I think I might be getting close to being finished with all of the tutorials.  I'll find out this week if there is anything I have missed and I'll go from there.

Week 9 of my Practicum

For the last few weeks I have been putting aside some time to work on a video describing my practicum experience for one of my professors. It was supposed to be between ten and fifteen minutes long. This not only sounds like a long video, it is a long video :) Unless you make a lot of videos or speeches, you never really know how much information you need to fill fifteen minutes. It is more than I thought.  When I finished writing what I thought would be around seven minutes of material, I timed myself. I did not even have five minutes. I got a little nervous about the time, but the video ended up being almost fourteen minutes.

The hardest part for me always is getting started. I usually have a tough time finding that one thing that will springboard me into the work. I have too many ideas floating around and I have to slow down and focus.  I decided to make a list of what I wanted to talk about and then make an outline. After I had my list, I went back and looked at the videos and tried to find ones that were shorter and did a good job of highlighting some of the capabilities of Camtasia 8.  I narrowed it down to two videos that would last just under three minutes in total.

Now that I had my videos, I began to plug in the details that explained my story.  I began by briefly talking about how I ended up with this practicum during this semester.  Next, I talked about how my semester began and how I was relaying information to my professors because both stories are probably not what you would think. The last two-thirds of the video were on Camtasia 8. It includes information about Camtasia 8 and two video tutorials that I made.

The actual making of the video went pretty smoothly, in my opinion.  I did not get past the first two minutes in the first five takes.  However, I ended up with my completed version by take eight. The editing process took a while. I inserted the two tutorial videos after I made the practicum video by simply splitting the recording and inserting the videos. This did cause a problem with my audio and visual being lined up, but I was able to fix that after a little tinkering. I also had to adjust the zoom when my tutorials were playing and adjust the size and location of my webcam.

I hope you enjoy the video:

Week 8 of my Practicum

This week I only made one video about Camtasia 8 because I am focusing on a 10-15 minute video I am making about my practicum experience.

The video I made this week was a more extensive look into using callouts in Camtasia 8.  The original video I made only showed one option because it was more about introducing the concept and I did not want to put too much in the first video.  I showed the viewer how to use a callout from each section and how to lengthen or shorten the duration the callout stays on the screen.  Callouts can be beneficial to the viewer because they can show the viewer where to focus their attention.

See the below video on more callouts:

I am excited and nervous about my practicum video.  I think I have a good base of information and should be able to fill the needed time.  The main issue will be not talking to fast and taking my time when showing different information that I have learned.  I will be very happy when I finish the practicum video.

Week 7 of my Practicum

This week I produced three videos for my practicum relating to Camtasia 8. The first two videos were pretty short and the third video was around the normal time frame for my videos.

The first two videos were short because I was displaying general terms for use in Camtasia 8.  I was able to some splitting of screens in one video so that you could see the terms and a short explanation of the functions on the left and then see where those were located on the Camtasia screen on the right.  For the other video, it was the same concept but it was all in one screen as opposed to two different screens.

See the two videos below displaying general terms of use in Camtasia 8:

The third video I made was showing how to produce and share a video to YouTube.  This can allow you to upload your video to canvas or other software programs. First, I had to figure out how to do that myself. It is not that complicated, but did take a little time because there are quite a few steps in the process. As always, figuring out how to do it was much simpler than trying to explain the process on a video. I had a good bit of dead time in the video that I had to cut because of waiting for functions to complete and I also lost my train of thought once.  I am so glad you can cut the video instead of having to start over!

See the below video on producing and sharing to YouTube:

I have a couple more basic videos that I think I need to make.  Once I finish those, I will start working on videos that dive deeper into what Camtasia can do. 

Week 6 of my Practicum

This week I worked on making a video on how to use the playhead in Camtasia 8 and how to do some basic editing. The playhead is a cursor that can move you back and forth in your video. It can also be used with editing functions such as cutting some of your video and splitting a clip. I have found that when making instructional videos there can be a lot of dead air because you are waiting for a file to upload or save. The ability to cut this dead air makes the video more streamlined which will help keep the attention of the viewer.

Splitting a clip can also be beneficial when trying to add material to your video.  For instance, you can split the video at a certain point and insert transitions, title slides, or graphics between scenes. This makes the making of the video a little easier because you can go back and add these after you have made the video instead of trying to quickly add them during the recording.

See video on using the playhead and some basic editing functions below:

I also went back and added a title page to all the videos I have made and saved in Google Drive. This will give a better visual representation of what the video is about. I tried to use word, but could not get the documents to upload for some reason. I ended up using the Paint software on my computer and saving the pictures as a jpeg file.

Week 5 of my Practicum

This week I continued my exploration of Camtasia 8 and made two videos.  One new thing I learned was that I can cut out parts of the video where I am waiting for files to upload.  I am glad this is an option because thirty or forty seconds is a lot of time to fill when nothing is really happening. I also learned how to delete audio from a recording that I was using as background for my new video. 

The first video I made was on how to add closed captions to the video.  It is pretty simple, but the speech to text on my computer is not the best in the world.  I used the "train your computer" option twice.  I have not seen any real improvement in my opinion.  So, I basically have to go back and edit each box.  It is not hard, just time consuming because you have to play the box as many times as it takes so the text matches what you are saying. 

See the below video about closed captions:

The second video I made was on how to produce and share your recording.  It is a pretty simple function to perform on Camtasia 8, but as with most things, showing someone how to do it in a video is a little more difficult.  Within Camtasia 8, you can share to YouTube, Screencast, Google drive, and others.  This makes sharing your video easier. 

See the below video on how to produce and share:

I have also begun working on a 10-15 minute video describing my practicum experience.  My main focus this week has been to make an outline of how I want to begin and trying to figure out how best to incorporate some of the videos I have made.  You do not realize how long 10-15 minutes are until you are trying to make a video.  You can say a lot in 10-15 minutes. 

Week 4 of my Practicum

This week has been more about trying to organize my videos and manuscripts.  Now that I have become a little more proficient with Camtasia 8, I am going to work on not only making the tutorials, but putting them in an order that will benefit a new user of Camtasia 8. 

In order to do this, I have created a folder in Google Drive to store all my videos and manuscripts.  As I was going back over my videos, I noticed a couple of errors in the closed captioning and was able to correct those before sending them back to my professor. 

I made one video this week.  It is a basic introduction video that shows the main components of Camtasia 8. This video did not go into any detail because I just wanted the viewer to be able to see the different functions that Camtasia 8 will allow the user to perform. 

Introduction video for Camtasia 8:

This week I was able to use what I have learned in Camtasia 8 to assist a professor at my school.  The professor needed to know how to have their webcam displayed on their screen and also how to enlarge and move the webcam picture. It felt good to be able to provide that information and save the professor some time trying to figure out how to perform this function.

Next week, I plan on making several videos that deal with general terminology, adding captions, and how to produce and share.  Should be a busy, but fun week.