Snippets from Previous Meetings
(Proposed date Saturday 24 May - should be confirmed by AUGC this coming week) Barry asked for further suggestions of topics for workshop sessions for the proposed visit to South Canterbury by some members of AUGC.
Earlier suggestions were:
- Photoshop
- Cross-Platform Ð sending/receiving files between Macs and PCs.
- MacOS X - further information on the system structure and use.
- Computer Graphics - various formats, manipulation.
- MYOB ('Minding Your Own Business') software.
- Genealogy software.
- Internet Security and Firewalls.
FOR SALE
Steve Morse has for sale:
- iMac: 400MHz, 10GB hard drive, 320 MB RAM, slot-loading CD drive, grape coloured.
- Zip drive: 100MB, SCSI connection.
Sheryl has (as usual) for sale a range of equipment, including:
- 6360 Mac Power PC
- 5200 Mac Power PC
- SCSI Scanner
- iMac 333MHz strawberry coloured computer
DIGITAL CAMERAS
Following a discussion between several members about digital cameras, John Payne suggested that other members might be interested in these sites:
www.expressgroup.co.nz : a Gore camera firm www.dcresource.com: a great site for getting camera reviews.
Thank you John for the info on these sites. Another digital camera site that we have visited in the past is that of our local Timaru firm, Langwoods Photo Centre: www.discountcameras.co.nz/digital.htm
SESSIONS
LEARNING WITH I.C.T. CONFERENCE
Before Easter Sheryl, Kim and Tony attended the Learning with ICT Conference at Christ's College, Christchurch. This conference, usually held annually, is hosted by Apple and Infovision Technology (Christchurch), and is primarily for teachers and other educators to keep abreast of developments in both technology and learning practices using computers, and to improve their skills in selected areas. A variety of 'strands' are offered, each comprising a series of workshops. Sheryl and Tony reported on their experience in the Advanced Movie Making Strand, which involved both movies and animations:
Using iMovie:
Given the topic of 'Telling Lies' (using the camera to portray an event which didnÕt really happen), Tony, Sheryl and Chelley had to plan, script, gather props, rehearse and film a movie, all in the space of an hour! A frantic, hilarious session ensued, using a plot centred on a pair who blithely disregard the 'Keep Off the Grass' signs posted on the sacred turf of the Christ's College quadrangle, and decide to picnic thereon! Needless to say, they are caught in the act:
With the film captured, they used iMovie 3 to edit the footage, using cropping, transitions and titles, and then added background music tracks. iMovie 3 has facility to import music directly from iTunes, and also enables volume control of any parts of the audio-clips. However, it also seems to have a number of glitches, and they reverted to using iMovie 2 for some effects.
Music tracks were accessed from a CD database compiled from the www.freeplaymusic.com site. The CD contains hundreds of audio music clips, each available in either 10, 15, 20, 30 or 60 second MP3 files.
If members are interested in this CD contact Sheryl: E-mail s-roberts@xtra.co.nz Phone 03 689 4824
Animations
The group also experienced the process of making animations using several shareware applications:
- BTV-Pro for capturing a sequence of frames through a video camera directly into the computer.
- Frame Splicer to convert the sequence of frames to a QuickTime movie, then to convert the movie to a DV stream, ready to be imported into
- iMovie for editing for presentation, and sound added via
- iTunes, using the CD described above.
Although the process involved using four different applications, each was user-friendly and the results were quite impressive. In the educational context there are many ways in which animations could be used to enhance learning in the classroom Ð apart from the technical skills, if children have the task of using animations to present their knowledge or findings, they have to understand the topic thoroughly.
Photo to Movie
We may be familiar with capturing still frames out of a movie, but at the workshop an interesting shareware application was used for doing the opposite: As its Help Menu says:Photo to Movie enables you to create a movie by zooming and panning over a photo. It presents a simple interface to specify the starting and ending frames and generates full quality QuickTime or DV Stream files (compatible with iMovie). PhotoÊtoÊMovie only runs on Mac OS X.
NEW VERSION OF iPOD
Sheryl gave us some information on the just-released new iPod model, which has several new features:
As well as using the iPod for its design function as an MP3 music player, Sheryl also outlined the way it can be utilised as a very handy extension firewire hard drive.
iTUNES 4
Kim demonstrated the latest version of iTunes, which also has several new capabilities, including enhanced audio file formats. Visit www.apple.com/hotnews/ for further information on both iTunes 4 and the Music Store for downloadable music.
REMINDER
Next AMUG Evening meeting will be replaced by the Geraldine Workshop Day proposed for Saturday 24 May(confirmation and further details shortly).
Next AMUG Daytime Meeting has yet to be arranged - date will be announced later
[Committee Meeting on Mactropolis: possibly Tuesday 13 May at 9:00pm - To be confirmed
Regards to all.....
Tony Climo
Secretary, Aoraki MacIntosh Users Group
Phone 03 693 9215