Joined on 03-27-2007
TechSoup Member
The remaining three topics are all related - so we'll take them on together.
A bunch of very useful information has already been put out there by participants in this discussion. Please see Jennifer Gilomen's post and resulting thread for all kinds of low-cost/no-cost software and web-based applications for creating digital stories.
We teach workshops on macs and pc's at CDS, and use a whole range of software. In general, our stance is that a good story resides in the script, not in the gadgets.
That said, the technology gets the story made. This is what we use:
Hardware:
scanner
hard drive
digital camera (one that takes video clips is great)
some form of recording the script - It's worth it to make sure that the recording is of good quality. We use a $40 mixer and mic with an adapter for recording into a mac, but a usb microphone works well to.
SOFTWARE
First, let me repeat what a number of folks have said and recommend Audacity for voiceover recordings. Audacity is available for both Mac and PC platforms.
Software for Macs:
Our favorites are the software packages that are one-step above basic. They are not the cheapest, but multiple tracks on the timeline do wonders for expanding the editing possibilities.
Some options: Final Cute Express and rumor has it that Adobe will come out with Premiere for Mac again.
We also have wonderful stories come out of workshops taught in iMovie.
Our favorite image editing software is Adobe Photoshop Elements, although again almost anything will do. As the video editing software becomes more advanced we use the image editing software less and less.
For PC's:
We normally use Adobe Premiere Pro - this is what we have access to.
I also really like Sony Vegas - a piece of software that is not often mentioned. It's very easy to use. It also uses much less memory than Adobe products, making it easier to install in older PC labs.
Teachers and schools often like Pinnacle Studio Plus - it has enough tracks to do compositing, and Pinnacle has a good support program for schools.
I've also used MovieMaker and PhotoStory. MovieMaker is OK, although not the equivelant of iMovie on the Mac. PhotoStory makes if very difficult to do narrative driven digital stories. Unless it's been upgraded since I used it last year, it does not allow the storymaker to lay the voiceover down first, and then integrate the images.
Finally, for anybody teaching a workshop, an LCD projector is very, very useful - for showing example stories and for teaching tutorials. Also, remember to pack speakers so folks can hear the sample stories!
Cheers to all,
Andrea