251 Project 3 Resources

Digital Tools

While both Movie Maker and iMovie have limited audio editing features, you may find yourself needed something more robust. I recommend Audacity, which is a free, open source program available for a number of operating systems including Windows, MacOS, and GNU/Linux. Audacity is easy to use and quite powerful for a free program.

Here are some image editing tools you my find useful. Some are online tools and some are free, open source programs to download.
72photos (Online)
Adobe PhotoShop Expres (Online)
GIMP (Windows–Alternative to Photoshop Elements)
Gimpshop! (Windows, MacOS. A free, open source version of GIMP made to look more like Photoshop.)
Graphita (Online)
Inkscape (Linux, Windows, MacOS–Alternative to Illustrator)
Paint.NET (Windows–Alternative to Photoshop Elements)
Phixr (Online)
Pixenate (Online)
Pixer.us (Online)
SeaShore (MacOS–Alternative to Photoshop Elements based on GIMP)
Vuvox (An online editor that allows you to make collages with hotspots)
Wilber Loves Apple (MacOS–Alternative to Photoshop Elements based on GIMP)

PortableApps.com offers (for free) a number of portable applications which, as I briefly explained a few class sessions ago, are open source software programs that you run off of a portable drive such as a flash drive, iPod, etc. [Read more about portable apps.] These are great for those of you who want to work on projects both at home and on campus but don’t want to go out and buy the software on campus machines. Of particular interest for our course is GIMP Portable (an image editor–think Photoshop or PhotoElements), Audacity Portable (audio editor), and VirtualDub Portable (video processing and capture). Each of these programs also have non-portable versions as well. While many of these open source applications aren’t as robust as their commercial counterparts, they’re usually free.

Three options for creating video from the activities on your screen (great for making tutorials), are the open source program CamStudio (Windows), the free program Jing (cross-platform), and the commercial Camtasia (Windows), which is available for a free 30-day trial.

A number of free, online slideshow tools. Some make slideshows out of images, some allow you to share PowerPoint slideshows on the web, and some do both.
Roxio Online
Slide
Slideroll
Slideshare
Vuvox

Here are some resources for editing video clips. I haven’t tested these, so I can’t promise they’ll meet your needs:
Editing Within Movie Maker 2 (A tutorial on how to remove unwanted material from video clips within Movie Maker.)
Jahshaka (Windows, Linux, MacOS–free open source video editor alternative to AfterEffects.)
Jumpcut (An online video editor.)
Viddix (An online video editor that allows you to mix video with web-based content.)
VirtuaDubPortable (Windows–free, open source video editor.)
Vuvox (An online media editor that allows you to add hotspots.)
YouTube Remixer (This may or may not meet your needs, but does let you do some editing to YouTube videos.)

Zamzar, a free online resource, offers near universal file conversion, supporting images, audio, documents, video, and compressed files. Did your anti-Microsoft friend send you a .odt file using Open Office and all you have is MicrosoftWorks? No problem. Do you need to convert a .pcx image file into .bmp format? Zamzar’s got you covered. Want to play a .wav video file on your iPod? Zamzar can do it. You get the idea. The downside is that Zamzar can take a few hours to convert a file–it will send you an email once the conversion is done.

Source Material for Projects

Below are a number of sources for audio. Some are in the public domain, some come with Creative Commons licenses, and some are under copyright. Remember to keep track of where you get files and to pay attention to copyright/Creative Commons licenses
ccMixter
Creative Commons Audio
DMusic
Dogmazic
The Freesound Project
Frogstar.com
Internet Archive: Audio
Jamendo
Library of Congress: American Memory: Sound Recordings
Opsound
Ourmedia
podOmatic
Podsafe Audio
SoundClick
SoundTransit

Below are a number of sources for images. Some are in the public domain, some come with Creative Commons licenses, and some are under copyright. Remember to keep track of where you get files and to pay attention to copyright/Creative Commons licenses.
Creative Commons Images
Daily Kos: Compendium of Public-Domain Image Links
everystockphoto
Flickr
Flickr Creative Commons Pool
Free Images
FreePhotosBank
Library of Congress: Prints and Photographs Reading Room: Online Catalog
Library of Congress: Prints and Photographs Reading Room
morgue File
OpenPhoto
New York Public Library Digital Gallery
PD Photo.org
Photobucket
stock.xchg
Vintage Pixels
Wikipedia: Public Domain Image Resources

Below are a number of sources for video. Some are in the public domain, some come with Creative Commons licenses, and some are under copyright. Remember to keep track of where you get files and to pay attention to copyright/Creative Commons licenses.
Creative Commons Video
Google Video
Internet Archive: Open Source Movies
MOD Films
ourmedia
PIXnMIX Candy Jar
YouTube

Tutorials

For quick introductions to Audacity, see Jenny Edbauer Rice’s Audacity Tutorial, the Audacity Manual Tutorials, the Audacity Quick Reference Guide and User’s Manual, and/or the Audacity Wiki. You might also try visiting YouTube and using the search term "Audacity tutorial". And don't forget, Creighton's BlueTrain offers a number of Audacity tutorials.

McLuhan Resources