Remove Background Noise in Your Video

Research suggests that audio is actually more important than visuals when perceiving the overall quality of your movie. Unfortunately, even when recording in a proper video studio, low levels of background noise will sneak into your recording. It’s usually caused by things we tune out in our daily lives, such as air conditioning or the hum of a computer fan.

screenshot showing where to click to reduce background noise of a video clip

Fortunately, most video editing programs have an audio filter to reduce background noise. Let’s take iMovie for instance, the video editing program that comes standard on all Mac computers. Once you’ve dragged your clip down into the timeline, click on it to make sure Continue reading

Compress Video Before Upload

Once you’ve finished editing your video, you’ll likely export it as a high quality mov, avi, or mp4 file ready to share with the world. It’s done and it’s beautiful, but the file size is HUGE or perhaps you need to have it specifically in mp4 format. Never fear, MPEG Streamclip is here!

This free program does a great job of converting your mov or avi file into an mp4, which makes it compatible with just about any software such as Powerpoint or streaming service such as YouTube. Even if the file is already Continue reading

Save or Transfer an iMovie Project

Although iMovie makes it easy for beginners to create a movie, saving a copy of the project to keep with you or open on a different computer isn’t exactly intuitive. This tutorial is specific to using iMovie on a computer, and does not apply to iMovie for iPhone or iPad. Instructions were written based on the assumption that the project is being saved to box.osu.edu OR a USB drive. However, steps are the same whether you use box.osu.edu or other cloud storage such as Google Drive, and whether you use a USB drive or other physical storage such as a portable hard drive.

Create your movie as usual. Follow the steps below to save a copy of your project. This allows you to open the project on other Macs and continue working on it next time. Continue reading

Easy Screen Recording on Mac

Screen recording window w/ red record buttonDespite the misnomer, Quicktime Player actually does a lot more than play videos. You can use it to make screen recordings, and it’s oh so easy! Here’s the method I recommend, which involves recording and saving your video using Quicktime, then compressing to an mp4 of reasonable file size using MPEG Streamclip.

Install this software to record from your computer OR reserve time to use the Digital Union recording studio, where we have all the software, hardware, and staff assistance to help you get the job done. Either way, here’s what you’ll need to do. Continue reading

Learn Photoshop Fast

Image open in Photoshop window. Image is of a mature couple laughing and holding each other at a beach with white sands fading into green water and sunny blue sky.Photoshop CS6 Essential Training is one of many complete video tutorial courses offered on Lynda.com. Need Photoshop Creative Cloud training? That’s offered now too! You can access the tutorials for free one of three ways, then choose to watch only the videos that apply to you. No more hunting around on Youtube to find out exactly how to do what you need. All the Continue reading

Record Your Lecture with Mediasite

Video camera set up in the back of a lecture hall, recording the lecture.Mediasite is OSU’s free, supported lecture capture solution. It allows you to easily make a video of your lecture, including the content on your computer screen, as well as video of yourself lecturing. There are two flavors of Mediasite: the Desktop Recorder is free software you can download to use from your computer. The Hardware Recorder, installed in large classrooms around campus, will automatically record your lecture by request. Here are three ways Continue reading

Image Sizing Explained

Small image of a cowboy next to a larger, blurry version of the same image.

This image demonstrates what happens when you upsample an image.

At some point, you’ve probably tried to make a Twitter icon, a handout, a web banner, or image for your presentation, and just got frustrated with all the weird image sizes and how things just don’t quite size up. This pic looks great on my phone but it prints blurry, or tiny! I want to make this image my twitter icon but it’s huge! How do I find the right size image for my Powerpoint slide? What’s all this business about pixels, resolution, dpi, and ppi anyway? What does it all mean, and how does it translate between cameras and web and print? Well good news; today is the day you understand all that Continue reading

Record Powerpoint w/ Quicktime Player on Mac

Quicktime Player Screen Recording windowMost people just use Quicktime Player to watch videos, but did you know it can also make videos?The program comes free on Mac computers, and I just tested out its screen recording capabilities. Easy peasy and exports excellent quality video! Complete instructions are available online under “Record Your Screen.” To record a Powerpoint presentation for instance… Continue reading

Making a Video @ OSU

My grade school teachers always said, “For every person who raises their hand, there are probably 10 people who have the same question.” So when 3 different people in a week emailed me asking how to make a video, it’s time to write an article for you all!

Plan

  • Zoom out and think about the arrangements you’ll need to make. Read 12 Steps to Making a Video.
  • Create a storyboard or some sort of simple outline of your video as a whole. This is essentially a map of your video, and will guide you in deciding what you need to shoot and record. Continue reading