IT Workshops Information Page

for Oriental Institute Language Instructors

Session One PowerPoint; Oxford Beta WebLearn

Session Two Hot Potatoes; Podcasting and Sound and Video Recording

for

Audacity Sound Editor and Windows Movie Maker

Audacity Downloading    Recording    Editing   Saving files

Windows Movie Maker (WMM) Editing video clips   Making movies    Adding titles    Saving files

Audacity is a sound recording and editing programme. It is very simple to use and it can produce reasonable good quality sound materials. It is much better than the “sound recorder” that comes with your PC. (Click here to listen to the audio material that I recorded earlier with Audacity using a very basic microphone.) Audacity is free software, which can be downloaded from the following website.

When you are on the AudacityStore.com, click on the following link

and follow the steps below

1. → click on "Download"
2. → click on Audacity 1.3.7. installer
3. → save the zip file on your computer by clicking on “Save File” (and make sure that you remember the location of the file on your computer)
4. → double click on the icon of the saved file to run the programme

After going through the above steps you should have the Audacity software on your PC. However, you will also need to install MP3 encoder. MP3 is the recommended file type for Podcast and iTune. Because of software patents, Audacity cannot distribute MP3 encoding software within their downloading process. You will have to go through a separate download process. Follow the instructions to download the MP3 encoder for Audacity.

1. Go to the LAME download page.
2. Under "For Audacity on Windows", left-click on the link "Lame_v3.98.2_for_Audacity_on_Windows.exe" and save the zip folder to anywhere on your computer.
3. When you have finished downloading the ZIP folder, unzip it and save the file lame_enc.dll that it contains to anywhere on your computer.
4. The first time you use the "Export as MP3" command, Audacity will ask you where lame_enc.dll is saved.
5. In case of difficulty, please view our more detailed instructions on the Audacity Wiki.

Recording (You will need a microphone)

1. → double click on the Audacity icon to launch the programme
2. → click on the red recording button ● to start recording
3. → click on the stop button ■ to end the recording
4. → click on the play ► button to listen the recorded material

1. → click once on the grey area under the time scale and click on the play ► button to listen to the selected area
2. → hold down left button on the mouse and drag on the grey area under the time scale to highlight a section of the recording (the highlighted area will be in dark grey)
3. → press “Delete” or “←” key on the keyboard to delete the highlighted section
4. → click on “Effect” to amplify, to change pitch, to change speed and to boost bass of your recording

When the editing is completed, please follow the steps below to save the sound file.

1. → click on “File” and select “Export”
2. → put appropriate info into “Edit Metadata” and click “OK”
3. → insert a file name
4. → make sure that the file is saved as an MP3 file
5. → make sure the file is saved into an appropriate folder

Windows Movie Maker (WMM) can be used to edit video clips from a digital video camera or from your computer. The WMM software normally comes with new PCs, so you should find the programme under the “Program Files”. Double click on the icon to launch the programme.

First of all, you should bring the file that you would like to work with onto the desktop of the WMM.

1. → click on “Import Video” under “Capture Video”
2. → find the video file on your computer or a digital video camera
3. → click on “Import”

The video file should be on your WMM desktop.

1. → click once on the icon of the video clip that is located on your WMM desktop and click on the play button ►under the video player on the right. The video clip will start to play. You can edit material by cutting and clueing the clips into a movie version that you world like to see.
2. → when the video clip reaches an appropriate position, click on the pause button ║ and then use the “split” button which is located on the bottom right of the video screen. (The icon of the button looks like a vertical doted line placed between two film strips.) Click on the “split” button once.
3. → you should have two video clips on your desktop. One has the original file name and second one has the original names and (1)
4. → click once on the icon of the second clip (which has the original names and (1)) and then click on the play button ►under the video player on the right. Split the video clip by using the same method above.

The "Split" tool allows you to chop your video clips into many sections, so that you can get rid of the sections that you don't want to use in your film and keep the ones you need.

1. → drag the edited clips (in the correct order) one by one onto the “Storyboard” below the WMM desktop.
2. → click once on the icon of first clip on the “Storyboard” and then click the play button ►under the video screen. You should be able to watch the video that has been edited by you.

When you have finished making your video, you can add a title at the beginning and the credits at the end of the film by clicking on “Make titles and credits” under “Editing Movie” on the left of the screen. You just have to follow the instruction on the screen.

When you are satisfied with your editing, you should save the film file

1. → by clicking on “File”
2. → select “Save Movie File”
3. → you can then save it either onto a CD or onto you computer, just follow the instructions on the screen.

All the files will be saves as the WMM file which is not compatible with Podcast and iTune. However, the OUCS Podcasts unit should have the software to help you to convert the WMM files into the MP4 which is the recommended video files for Podcasting and iTune.