Capstone Checkup Sheet

On Wed, March 24 students interviewed a partner to determine their project and their progress on their project. A few concerns were uncovered.

1) Time...Beta presentations are coming April 5 and final presentations happen starting April 21. Just a few Multimedia Capstone classes away, and a few weeks away to the real deal!! Time will not go slower, you must work efficiently and effectively to get it done.

2) Creating an interesting presentation:

* KNOW YOUR SUBJECT...you are the expert.

* SHOW YOUR RESEARCH in your website/video/print/audio.

* GO FOR THE SIZZLE!! Make it visually appealing interesting and easy to access
o visuals: photos, videos, charts, colors, patterns, movement
o Functionality: layout, links/buttons (make sure they work)

3) Be a Good Presenter

* Enthusiasm and Energy!!!!

* Dress well, stand straight, look them straight in the eye and speak loudly with authority. Smile when appropriate :o)

* Hook - the audience with your opening statement (a shocking fact, or anecdote)
* Book - Give them information that substantiates your thesis.
* Took - Give them something to take home and do or think about.

4) Promoting your website and/or video:

* On YouTube, use the describing Meta Tags to help people locate your video with search engines and within the youtube site.

* On your websites, using HTML allows search engines like Google to place you in their rankings.

When your site is ready:

* Submit it to Google at http://www.google.com/addurl.html.

* Submit a Sitemap using Google Webmaster Tools. Google uses your Sitemap to learn about the structure of your site and to increase our coverage of your webpages.

* Make sure all the sites that should know about your pages are aware your site is online.

Design and content guidelines from Google's Webmaster Central
back to top

* Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link.

* Offer a site map to your users with links that point to the important parts of your site. If the site map is larger than 100 or so links, you may want to break the site map into separate pages.

* Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content.

* Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it.

* Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content, or links. The Google crawler doesn't recognize text contained in images. If you must use images for textual content, consider using the "ALT" attribute to include a few words of descriptive text.

* Make sure that your title elements and ALT attributes are descriptive and accurate.

Not so good: Alt is blank



Better: Alt give you the subject



Best: Alt describes the image



* Check for broken links and correct HTML.

* Keep the links on a given page to a reasonable number (fewer than 100).

* Use good quality images...not blurry.

* Not all users scroll to the bottom of a page, so consider putting your images high up on the page where it can be immediately seen.

Accumulating Sources and Creating Content

Students have put up their schedules on their blog (or should have) and have been accumulating the materials they will need to produce their multimedia portion of their capstone.

I have been checking with them each day to see if they are staying on task and on shedule.

March 24: Students will fill out a Capstone Checkup Sheet with a partner to discuss their projects and progress.

They will receive a printout of how their presentations will be evaluated so they will know what to expect on both the beta and final Capstone presentation days.

Friday's class

Students put a link to their photoshop website in their link list.

Students added an Html/JavaScript gadget to their layout and copied the Capstone Class Agenda to it. Now important dates are listed on their site.

Homework Assignment: Develope a timeline of production for their Capstone project using the Capstone Agenda as a framework.

Add A Gadget for HTML/Javascript & enter code

You will have to copy this from the board.

Wednesday's class

Some students continued to catch up on missing assignments, while others went out to capture some video for a yearbook project.

I will have to give your grade status report into the HS office and your status grade will reflect any missing work.

Friday you will continue to capture more video and begin editing the footage and adding text and effects work.

Friday you will put a link to your photoshop website onto your link list gadget...instructions to be given in class.

Catch Up & Capstone Changes

We've spent the last two classes finishing up the After Effects video and finishing class work that was outstanding.

Your current assignment is to make a post restating your capstone topic, your focus and the method of presentation (media) you will use. Please indicate if these are unchanged or if you are adding or changing something in your capstone project.

Next class we will work on the video yearbook.

Today we practiced creating a video in After Effects.

HealthySnacks Video

Video Practice

This is for practice with video--combining
videos in After Effects--adding text; layer
styles; effects; and outputting as a QT movie.

Creating a Web Gallery on your Blog

Six students are needing to post their web gallery onto their capstone blogs. Here is a step by step guide, if you need to catch up.

1. Find 5 images that have something to do with your capstone topic.
2. Open the Bridge either from Photoshop (the brown BR in a square at the top) or from the Programs list under Adobe/Bridge.
3. Find and select your 5 images. Click on output and select web gallery.
4. Name the Gallery, set the colors, size of images, size of thumbnails, and whether you want it to automatically play as a slide show and how long each image should show.
5. Set the Destination for it on your student folder on the D:// drive in a folder called webgallery and click OK to create the gallery.
6. Open your FTP account using filezilla and copy the entire webgallery folder into your student folder.
7. Log onto your blog and in Layout add a new Gadget: Link Lists. You will call the link: Photos, under the URL you will give the entire path for your ftp folder/webgallery, ie;

http://www.mmlab2.rlc.dcccd.edu/imed1191n15/web(your number here, ie;)5553/(the name of your gallery)webgallery, then you will give this particular gallery a name such as Chubby Kids Freakshow. Whatever is appropriate to your website and create link...save.

8. View your blog and click on the link to see if the webgallery is working properly.

Color Palette

ASSIGNMENTS so Far

You should have completed the following things:

1. Create a blog on Blogger.com

2. Your First posting "Statement of Intent" should have your description of your capstone project and the media you are thinking of using to present your project.

3. You should have downloaded a small image (<50 k) from the internet having to do with your subject. Save it 2 times...1) as a jpg compressed to very lo quality/size, 2) as a jpg compress to a very high quality. Save all 3 into your ftp Account. (quality & size are interrelated)

4. You should have downloaded a large image (>200 k) from the internet having to do with your subject. Save it as a jpg at 300 dpi, but a smaller size in pixel dimensions suitable for print. This will keep the FILE size the same but will boost the resolution by putting the information into the dpi from the file dimensions. Upload both into your ftp Account.

5. Type with effects: Take an image you've downloaded or find a new one and add text over a shape layer. Make the shape layer beveled and embossed. Add a layer effect with an outer glow.

6. Type on a path: Add a path with the pen tool (make sure no layer is selected when the pen tool is chosen). Select the type tool and click on the path...type in text. Use the arrows to adjust the start and end of the text on the path.

7. Warp Type: Type a word and under Layer/Type/Warp choose a method to warp the text.

8. Save the image with the type as a .jpg and insert the image onto your blog.

9. Export for Wed: Take your image with all the text, cut up with the slice tool. With the slice select tool, dbl click and add a url and insert into _blank frame. Export to web and devices and under optimization drag select all and choose medium quality .jpg as the file type. Save html and images as index to a folder you create called "website" on your D:// drive folder. Upload both the html and the images folder to your ftp folder.

10. Make a website in Word...by inserting a table with 3 rows and 2 collumns. Type a title, place an image, and insert a text box of verbage. Create a link with Insert/Hyperlink and pasting a url in the dialogue box. Save as a webpage called home on your D:// drive.

11. Make a posting of the 3 descriptors for your website (if you aren't doing one...just do it as if you were).

12. Create a color palette in Photoshop and upload to your blog.

13. Create a mocked up home page in either Dreamweaver or on http://www.webs.com. Put the link on your blog.

TEXT

Today we practiced using text in Photoshop.

Resolution, File Size and File Formats

One of the less glamorous topics we'll cover but necessary to understand.

File Formats:

jpg = great for photographs, allows for compression
gif = great for graphics and animations, allows optimized palettes
png = Used for online but less than previously, allows for compression
bmp = format started by Microsoft, used on their machines

RESOLUTION:

72 dpi for computer and television screens
150 dpi for newsprint
300 + dpi for printing on coated glossy paper

Usually the larger the file size, the larger the pixel dimensions.

Two jpgs both with 72 dpi and same quality of compression but with a different pixel dimension ... The larger one will have a bigger file size.

Two jpgs both 72 dpi with the SAME pixel dimension but a different file size...one is more compressed with a lower quality than the larger sized file.

You can easily make a high dpi (300) image smaller in resolution by changing the dpi to 72 if it will be on the internet. The image size can remain the same or made larger. The extra dpi can be exchanged to a larger dimension.

However an image with 72 dpi cannot be made to be 300 dpi unless you reduce the final document size by changing back the pixel dimensions to what they had been prior to stretching it from 72 to 300 dpi.

WHY IS RESOLUTION IMPORTANT?

For images to be clear when you print them, they have to have a high enough dpi. Stretching images are a bad idea because it causes pixelization and blurring. This is very important to avoid for items to be printed.

For images to be small enough to download quickly in a browser, they need to be compressed in a file format compatible with browsers.

QUALITY OF IMAGE AND FILE SIZE ARE LINKED TOGETHER.
When one rises so does the other.

RESOLUTION (DPI) and SIZE ARE LIKE A TEETER TOTTER...A huge image can be shrunk down to be 300 dpi and still not lose any quality. A small image can be stretched larger as long as a high dpi is exchanged to a low dpi.

File Resolution and Blog Creation

Students signed up for their Capstone blog on blogger and pasted in their Statement of Intent from their digital file as their first post. Welcome to the bloggosphere!

Resolution of files:

72 dpi or ppi (dots/inch or pixels/inch) -> Computer monitors and Televisions
150 ppi -> print on newsprint
300 ppi or more -> print on coated stock (like photographic paper)

Size and resolution are related.

I can take a 72 ppi image and change it into a 300 ppi image in Photoshop if I change the Image/Image size from 72 to 300, click unlock proprotion and re-enter the initial pixel dimensions. Now the image will appear smaller when printed than it did on the screen, but the image will remain crisp and smooth. If I only stretched the image to 300 and did not readjust the pixel size to match the original dimensions, the final image would essentially be blown up 4.2 times. An image that is stretched up in pixel dimensions will look pixelated and blurry.

We will continue a discussion of resolution next week and do an image to place as the main image on student's capstone blog. We will also learn how to do cool things with TEXT in Photoshop.

Class Intro

Today students had a chance to share what media they are thinking of using for their capstone project.

They practiced downloading an image onto their computer harddrive and then uploaded it into their ftp account on the Multimedia server with Filezilla.

The syllabus was passed out and read over and students signed their acknowledgement that they understood the requirements of the class and gave permission for Richland College's Multimedia Department to use things they create to show other students or to promote the school. They agreed to attend class and complete work and notify the instructor when they are unable to attend class.

* HOMEWORK FOR FRIDAY - Create a description of your Capstone Project...the topic and the things you will need to do to create it in your medium/media of choice. This should be in digital format...because we will load them up in our blogs on Friday.