New Media
This section is designed to give useful tips and links to help you create and understand aspects of NEW MEDIA in a reasonably cost effective way.
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Digital photography
Software:
Picasa - Free from Google, browser and software that will download, organise,enchance and attach/export your images.
Photoshop elements - An excellent affordable version of Photoshop. Downloads your pictures, edits and effects them, the save for web option is particularily useful.
GIMP - Gimp is freeware image program that allows you to edit and enchance your photos.
As a general guide when adding your images to a website, they should be jpegs at roughly around
300x225, make sure you have constrain proportions selected, so your images don't look out of proportion, however depending on what you are using it may be done automatically for you.
Digital video
Digital video can be used in many ways. In can be used as invaluable tool to document yourselves. If you have a funding bid that lasts a year, then document it. This can be invaluable to use as evidence to show your funders, as a documnet to attract new funding and a way of showing the sucess of the project.
You can make your film into several formats, which could play on DVD, the internet, phones, hand held pc. The more formats they are in the better chance you have of being seen or heard.
Software:
Windows movie maker - comes with every version of Windows xp. Go to programs - accessories. Basic editing, it will allow you to export your movies for the web.
Adobe premiere elements - A great program that will take you comfortably through all the stages of making a film. Capture, edit, effects, titles and Dvd.
Tips.
You can pick up a DV camera for under two hundred pounds now, or just borrrow one. Alternitvely use the movie function on your digital camera, this is automatically a small file, so will go straight on to a web page.
Use Youtube to either showcase your film or embed the code from it on to your own web page. Create your own account, upload your video, then copy the code from it on to your own web page.
Blogging
A blog is like an online journal - a place where you can write about anything you feel like and meet new people with interests as you. Within companies it can be used in many ways. For colleagues that are on the go, it may be way for them to keep thier colleagues up to date with developments and activities. It can work espicially well for companies that are based in different areas of the country and are all working on the same project, by creating a blog with many users it allows everyone to communicate effectively.
Blogger - popular and free.
Wordpress - Free, slighlty more powerful than blogger, enables the user to create something more like a website than just a blog post.
Tips.
Why not create a link to your blogger page on your website.
Podcasts
A podcast is a media file that is distributed over the internet in various different ways. Imagine it as a snippet of radio.
It can be a truly innovative way of communicating; keeping people up to date with current projects and showing a human side to your organisation without people having the read large blocks of text.
Regular viewers can be notified of a new podcast on your website via an RSS feed. See our page about RSS feeds for more information.
Podcasts can be downloaded by people on your website, or they can be streamed through an MP3 player, which is embedded in your website.
Cd Roms
Rom (read only memory) is a very versatile and altogether different way of promotion. It acts as a platform to include diferent types of media, such as; film, animation, audio.
You are able to create a navigational area, much like a website. But one of the great advantages of creating a Cd rom in our experience is when using it for a funding bid. You are able showcase with pictures, words, movies, a portfolio of previous experience and sucesses. This can be envaluable in attracting the funding you oh so need, by giving evidence in a workable, hard copy.
Creating a Cd Rom is a little harder to produce yourself. It is possible to create them with web design software. Alternatively there is software such as Director.
Websites
An obvious choice you might think, but with all these developments in New Media, the website is the perfect platform for them. In the age of ever faster broadband, viewing and adding different content to our websites becomes more and more feasible.
Why not add any of the above; film, a podcast, a blog or even a Vlog - a video blog. Adding any of these elements to your website will allow you to communicate yourself and your cause to a wider audience, it shows you are not afraid to be in touch with modern changes and are open to communicating in innovative ways.
Dvd Authoring
If you have a copy of Nero and a Dvd writer then you are half way there.
Nero offers a basic form of Dvd authoring. Open Nero - start smart. In the 'start smart' menu, select video - 'Make your own Dvd'. Once you are in the program, import your video file and follow the steps; you are able to add buttons, use existing templates or just have an auto run Dvd, the last stage is burning it on to disc. Once you have done that, stick it in your Dvd player and watch it play.