Recently we
were assigned to present an education concept with any tool or media of our
choosing. First, I decided to create an actual old fashioned video of myself
with posters and my daughter as a physical example of the concept. After about
ten video takes with a GoPro and the video software that came with my computer I
realized that this idea was not going over well. The audio on the GoPro was
terrible and the video software wasn’t doing what I wanted. I threw the GoPro
back into my husband’s office.
Next I tried
making a PowerPoint. It has been a few years since I used this program but it’s
pervasive so I didn’t think it would be that difficult. Apparently, the program
has changed quite a bit since I last used it and I was a bit lost. I managed to
make the most uninteresting and characterless PowerPoint presentation in
history. My husband even told me that it was terrible. I was getting
frustrated.
Then, I
investigated a number of animation websites. I watched demonstration videos of
how to use the websites’ interface and discovered that even though most were
free to make a basic video it would be better to have a paid subscription. I
narrowed down the websites to two choices- www.moovly.com
and www.powtoon.com. Moovly’s editing
features seemed a bit more complicated so I chose to pursue Powtoon. I managed
to create the content I desired and even added a bit of animation. It was the
timing of each slide and manipulation of the duration bar that was the most
challenging. Also, a few animations ended up floating around the video when I
played it from the beginning. I was getting impatient and frustrated again. I
decided to email Powtoon’s tech support to help me with the floating image
problem.
The next day
I received an email indicating that Powtoon’s website functions best on a Chrome
browser. I had just realized that Canvas actually works better on the Internet
Explorer browser. I am just now understanding that different websites and
software work differently on different browsers. This is valuable information
for someone such as myself who gets impatient easily with technology. Once I
opened Powtoon in Chrome it was clear how much easier the websites interface
was in this browser. I completed my assignment and my computer is still intact despite
my temper.
