Need to scan photos for a book, slide show, or multimedia presentation, and don't know a dpi from a pixel? Luckily you can find plenty of good tutorials online about everything from scanning old photos and recording telephone interviews to mastering various pieces of software and editing tools. Learn about Adobe Acrobat, Audacity, camcorders, Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, digitizing analog recordings, time coding video, editing for the Web, and other mysteries of technology from sites listed below. And a few things more . . .
Acrobat 9 Tutorials (Lynda.com, which many rely on for guidance)
Alpha Geek: How to digitize cassette tapes by Rick Broida (Lifehacker)
Audacity training. Two helpful guides: Simple guide to editing in audacity (text with visuals, from Steeple), and, even better, Using Audacity (a multimedia presentation, one of many useful Teacher Training Videos from Russell Stannard (http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/). See also: Top Tutorials & Tips (an Audacity wiki).
BBC Tips for Radio News (useful for anyone gathering and editing audio)
BBC training and development (free online courses)
BlogTalkRadio 101 (screencast tutorials and live training to help get started as a host)
Capture analog video using a digital camcorder (VideoHelp.com)
Creative Cow (peer to peer support community for media production professionals)
Editing for the Web (Thom Lieb, skip ahead to basics on images and sound)
Edit Smarter (Master Mac's Final Cut Studio and Digital Media with Larry Jordan)
Elizabeth Arnold on Interviewing (The Transom Review)
Family Legacy Video Producer's Guide (CD-ROM)
Journalism 2.0 (a digital literacy guide for the information age, Knight Citizen News Network)
JournalismTraining.org (searchable database of journalism training that meets your needs)
Journalists' toolkit (Mindy McAdams training site for multimedia and online journalists)
Ken Stone (about Apple's Final Cut Pro editing software)
Knight Digital Media Center tutorials (KDMC tutorials on audio, computing, data visualization, Flash, mashups, photography, public records, reporting, social media, video, and Web development), seminar archives (rich in material--browse by year or by topic), and blogs.
Knight Digital Media Center Multimedia Workshop (regular workshops and online tutorials)
Lifehacker's Step-by-Step Guide to Digitizing Your Life
Lynda.com (self-paced hands-on learning for software such as Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Final Cut, InDesign, Photoshop, $25 a month) -- a lot of people swear by this site!
No Fear Guide to Multimedia Skills (Mindy McAdams handout for National Writers Workshop)
Photo Organizing Software Review (from TopTenReviews.com - organize, archive, re-size and publicize your digital photos)
Recording phone interviews:
• Going Digital (Jordan Raphael, Online Journalism Review 1-12-04)
• Recording Phone Calls (Jeff Towne, Jay Allison, transom.org, 2-26-09)
• How to Record Skype Conversations: Tools, Resources, Tips (Amit Agarwal, Digital Inspiration 6-7-06)
• How to Record Phone Calls to a Hard Drive Automatically (Alexander Poirier, eHow, 11-5-10)
Photoshop: 60 Photoshop Tutorials for Photo Touch-Ups (Vandelay's Web & Graphic Design Blog) and 60 Photoshop Actions for Photo Touch-Ups and Enhancements (Steven Snell, DesignM.AG)
Scanning old photos? Tutorials and explanations of how to make a digital file of an old photograph:
• Scanning Basics 101 (Wayne Fulton's wonderfully useful site), which includes pages such as Scanning and Printing Resolution Calculator.
• Preparing Stills in PhotoShop for Import into Final Cut Pro (FCP) (Ken Stone).
• ScanCalc (a little helper to calculate image scan resolutions when working with video)
Strobist (learn how to light your photographs
There’s Lots of Tech Help, Yes, on the Internet by Azadeh Ensha (NY Times, 12-24-08). A good list of online-help sites.
Time-Coding Transcripts. This blog from the Audio Transcription Center provides a good argument for going to the extra time and expense of time coding a transcript, using this interesting recording and transcript from the Kentuckiana Digital Library as an example.
Tip Sheets on Photojournalism (David Shedden, Poynter Institute)
Transom.org (tools page with equipment reviews and tutorials on how to use the equipment)
2-pop (digital filmmaker's resource site, including forums)
Vermont Folklife Center Field Research Guides
Video Editing (Tutorials):
• Edit Smarter, Master Final Cut Studio and Digital Media with Larry Jordan (sign up for free newsletter)
• Knight Digital Media Center video tutorials, including tutorial on Editing in Final Cut Pro.
• The Basics of Video Editing: The Complete Guide (Adam Dachis, Lifehacker Night School)
• Multimedia Shooter's tutorials
• How to fail at online video (Glen Canning's tongue-in-cheek guide to how to do it wrong)
• Ken Stone's Final Cut Pro resources, including all this on video editing
• Media College Video Camera Tutorials
• Apple tutorials
• Editing Resource Library (Edit Smarter, with Larry Jordan)
• GeniusDV tutorials, including Learning to Use Modifier [shortcut] Keys in Final Cut Pro (GeniusDV.com)
(Recommendations courtesy of Alan Haburchak, a panelist at the ASJA 2011 conference, with Michael Cervieri and Dave Cullen; tips also from Dave Morrison.
Web 2.0 top tools and resources
When This Guy Talks, NPR Listens (Paul Farhi, Washington Post, quoting media trainer David Candow about how to come across better in front of a microphone).From Paul Farhi's story about media trainer David Candow ("When This Guy Talks, NPR Listens") Farhi: "In radio, 'the big adjective is a verb'... a single punchy verb can describe someone better than a string of flowery adjectives. For example, Candow recalls a radio story about a 105-year-old woman named Alice. The reporter told her listeners that upon their first encounter, Alice 'flits' into the room. 'Flits!' repeats Candow. That one verb is 'more powerful than any description I can make up.'"
Leave a comment if something useful is missing!
Acrobat 9 Tutorials (Lynda.com, which many rely on for guidance)
Alpha Geek: How to digitize cassette tapes by Rick Broida (Lifehacker)
Audacity training. Two helpful guides: Simple guide to editing in audacity (text with visuals, from Steeple), and, even better, Using Audacity (a multimedia presentation, one of many useful Teacher Training Videos from Russell Stannard (http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/). See also: Top Tutorials & Tips (an Audacity wiki).
BBC Tips for Radio News (useful for anyone gathering and editing audio)
BBC training and development (free online courses)
BlogTalkRadio 101 (screencast tutorials and live training to help get started as a host)
Capture analog video using a digital camcorder (VideoHelp.com)
Creative Cow (peer to peer support community for media production professionals)
Editing for the Web (Thom Lieb, skip ahead to basics on images and sound)
Edit Smarter (Master Mac's Final Cut Studio and Digital Media with Larry Jordan)
Elizabeth Arnold on Interviewing (The Transom Review)
Family Legacy Video Producer's Guide (CD-ROM)
Journalism 2.0 (a digital literacy guide for the information age, Knight Citizen News Network)
JournalismTraining.org (searchable database of journalism training that meets your needs)
Journalists' toolkit (Mindy McAdams training site for multimedia and online journalists)
Ken Stone (about Apple's Final Cut Pro editing software)
Knight Digital Media Center tutorials (KDMC tutorials on audio, computing, data visualization, Flash, mashups, photography, public records, reporting, social media, video, and Web development), seminar archives (rich in material--browse by year or by topic), and blogs.
Knight Digital Media Center Multimedia Workshop (regular workshops and online tutorials)
Lifehacker's Step-by-Step Guide to Digitizing Your Life
Lynda.com (self-paced hands-on learning for software such as Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Final Cut, InDesign, Photoshop, $25 a month) -- a lot of people swear by this site!
No Fear Guide to Multimedia Skills (Mindy McAdams handout for National Writers Workshop)
Photo Organizing Software Review (from TopTenReviews.com - organize, archive, re-size and publicize your digital photos)
Recording phone interviews:
• Going Digital (Jordan Raphael, Online Journalism Review 1-12-04)
• Recording Phone Calls (Jeff Towne, Jay Allison, transom.org, 2-26-09)
• How to Record Skype Conversations: Tools, Resources, Tips (Amit Agarwal, Digital Inspiration 6-7-06)
• How to Record Phone Calls to a Hard Drive Automatically (Alexander Poirier, eHow, 11-5-10)
Photoshop: 60 Photoshop Tutorials for Photo Touch-Ups (Vandelay's Web & Graphic Design Blog) and 60 Photoshop Actions for Photo Touch-Ups and Enhancements (Steven Snell, DesignM.AG)
Scanning old photos? Tutorials and explanations of how to make a digital file of an old photograph:
• Scanning Basics 101 (Wayne Fulton's wonderfully useful site), which includes pages such as Scanning and Printing Resolution Calculator.
• Preparing Stills in PhotoShop for Import into Final Cut Pro (FCP) (Ken Stone).
• ScanCalc (a little helper to calculate image scan resolutions when working with video)
Strobist (learn how to light your photographs
There’s Lots of Tech Help, Yes, on the Internet by Azadeh Ensha (NY Times, 12-24-08). A good list of online-help sites.
Time-Coding Transcripts. This blog from the Audio Transcription Center provides a good argument for going to the extra time and expense of time coding a transcript, using this interesting recording and transcript from the Kentuckiana Digital Library as an example.
Tip Sheets on Photojournalism (David Shedden, Poynter Institute)
Transom.org (tools page with equipment reviews and tutorials on how to use the equipment)
2-pop (digital filmmaker's resource site, including forums)
Vermont Folklife Center Field Research Guides
Video Editing (Tutorials):
• Edit Smarter, Master Final Cut Studio and Digital Media with Larry Jordan (sign up for free newsletter)
• Knight Digital Media Center video tutorials, including tutorial on Editing in Final Cut Pro.
• The Basics of Video Editing: The Complete Guide (Adam Dachis, Lifehacker Night School)
• Multimedia Shooter's tutorials
• How to fail at online video (Glen Canning's tongue-in-cheek guide to how to do it wrong)
• Ken Stone's Final Cut Pro resources, including all this on video editing
• Media College Video Camera Tutorials
• Apple tutorials
• Editing Resource Library (Edit Smarter, with Larry Jordan)
• GeniusDV tutorials, including Learning to Use Modifier [shortcut] Keys in Final Cut Pro (GeniusDV.com)
(Recommendations courtesy of Alan Haburchak, a panelist at the ASJA 2011 conference, with Michael Cervieri and Dave Cullen; tips also from Dave Morrison.
Web 2.0 top tools and resources
When This Guy Talks, NPR Listens (Paul Farhi, Washington Post, quoting media trainer David Candow about how to come across better in front of a microphone).From Paul Farhi's story about media trainer David Candow ("When This Guy Talks, NPR Listens") Farhi: "In radio, 'the big adjective is a verb'... a single punchy verb can describe someone better than a string of flowery adjectives. For example, Candow recalls a radio story about a 105-year-old woman named Alice. The reporter told her listeners that upon their first encounter, Alice 'flits' into the room. 'Flits!' repeats Candow. That one verb is 'more powerful than any description I can make up.'"
Leave a comment if something useful is missing!