Video & Me

There are many web sites and software available to edit, publish and share video – some are readily accessible on your own computer. Mac users have iMovie and PC users have Windows Movie Maker. Both software are easy to use and have editing and publishing features. There are a lot of web sites that allow you to edit, store and share your movies. Most are free with an opportunity to upgrade your features for a price. Sites like Kaltura allow you to upload your video, store it on their site and embed a movie player on your web site or blog but do not provide an editing function. MotionBox, Shwup and JayCut are sites that allow you to edit your video, customize transitions or provide special effects in addition to storage and publishing options. 

I created a video about my granddaughter using Movie Maker and published it with Kaltura. I found Movie Maker to be very user-friendly and easy to use. The software allows you to be really creative by editing clips and being able to apply cool transitions and/or slide effects. Kaltura provides step-by-step instruction for uploading videos and publishing to your web site or blog. You can also send e-mail with a link to your video. I enjoyed the process and look forward to creating and sharing more videos!

VoiceThread

VoiceThread is an online resource for sharing photos and videos. What makes their service unique is that the site allows you to add an audio narration to your media presentation. The software is very user-friendly and allows you to share your “masterpiece” via e-mail or uploaded to your blog/wiki. Your media is stored on their web site so there are no downloads and you are able to access your “threads” from any computer via the Internet.

There are many valuable uses for this application. I used VoiceThread to create a slideshow of my grandson’s third birthday to share with family. A colleague created a presentation demonstrating the progress one of her students made in his reading skills over the course of the school year. VoiceThread is a very effective tool for sharing multimedia online and I encourage you to check out their web site for your personal or professional use.