For this week's Sandbox activities, I explored some website for creating videos. I already have some experience with Windows Movie Maker because my students create amphibian metamorphosis movies each year when we cover different phyla of vertebrates. I provide them with a pile of Play Doh, some digital cameras, and the laptops, and they run with it! They make Play Doh models of the different stages of egg, tadpole, young adult, and adult frog and take pictures of each stage. The students then put the photos into a filmstrip and add effects, titles, and credits. Movie Maker has been my only experience, so it was fun to explore other sites.
I first visited animoto.com. I didn't want to commit to an account, but I was required to in order to use the program. I identified myself as a teacher and got extra time for my movies--bonus! The site was easy to use--just upload your photos and add the pizazz! My students would probably love this site, and I could see us using it for our amphibian movies instead of Movie Maker. We could also use the site to make videos of different processes in life science, such as mitosis, DNA replication, or photosynthesis.
I next visited photopeach.com and found a very user-friendly site. T doesn't have much in the way of special effects, so after you put in your photos and add some captions, you have pretty much exhausted its capabilities. My students would probably find this site to be very limiting.
I tried out Pixiclip because it seemed like a fun site for creating drawings/illustrations/pictures instead of video. I saw from the site that I could add video with a webcam or record my voice. I chose to just use the drawing tools and create an illustration of the cell cycle. I found the drawing tools to be somewhat limiting (only two thicknesses of pencil and marker), limited color choices, and no preloaded shapes to drop into the picture. I felt like a kid using an Etch-A-Sketch to get the drawings to somewhat resemble cells during replication! Thank goodness for the "text" tool so I could add a label!
My last visit was to powtoon.com. I saw this program used in a training but have never used it myself. I watched the tutorial and found it very easy to use! I was making a movie within three minutes of opening the site. My first attempt at a movie came to a halt when I tried to save it and was told I have to upgrade my account because I had used "premium" images. My bad! Instead of changing out all of the images, I just started from scratch--lesson learned! I steered clear of any themes that included the word "premium" and was good to go.
Check out my movie below:
References
Powtoon (2014). http://www.powtoon.com
Animoto (2015). http://www.animoto.com
Photo Peach (2015). http://www.photopeach.com
Pixiclip (2015). http://www.pixiclip.com/beta/
Hi Jessica-- Very nice video! I, too, had the message pop up that said I used premium features... ugh!! I guess I have to go back as well and change out the images/themes. I wish it had been more clearly labeled from the beginning!
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI think you made a great point about Pixiclip not having preloaded shapes to use. For those that are challenged artistically, like myself, that option would be very nice to have.
Jessica, I loved your powtoon, I have chosen that one to make my movie as well, and it is frustrating to have to set up an account for everything we have to do . I find my list of websites and access names and passwords is becoming overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great you use Windows Media Player already to create videos with your students. You give me some inspiration to try creating videos myself. I've never been one to create videos, and reading and learning about different video tools has made me very interested in creating new videos! I really like your video from Powtoon!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteShe was looking to record fun videos using objects and props around the house. She wanted the flexibility of using custom themes without the custom prices that others would pay. She enjoying using the free Movie Maker to create great reports for school and work too. She is now thrilled to share her passions with video to the world now.
ReplyDeleteArnette Rivers @ Choice TV