by Donald Simpson | Oct 20, 2016 | Adobe CC, Capture, Comp, Innovation Foundry, Spark Video
The past two days, John Kaczmarek and I have tag teamed in presenting Adobe Mobile Apps: Capture, Comp, and Spark Video, to Dr. Anita Broxson’s Nursing students. They have been given the task of creating media for a project. The task of the Innovation Foundry was to provide them with some introductory information, along with sparking their imaginations as to what they can do with some of the Adobe tools they have access to. It is always amazing to see and hear the students be somewhat amazed at what they have access to and then create with those tools. The past two days were no exception to this. Beyond capturing and manipulating images with Adobe Capture, and storyboarding and/or finding the specific template a student might want to design in with Adobe Comp – the crowd favorite seems to be Adobe Spark Video. This was my third time in showing others what it can do (looking forward to showing a group of faculty on November 17th), so I had a little fun with it this time and actually created a video right in front of them, in about two minutes. Of course…it is totally random, but you could really tell that many of them were going to start using Adobe Spark Video right after class. Looking forward to seeing what they create!
by Donald Simpson | Sep 22, 2016 | Adobe CC, Spark Video
Today I was able to sit in on Dr. John Weaver’s BIBL 101.HT1 course, with about 30 freshman students at Abilene Christian University. My role was to give some basic guidance and instruction in using Adobe’s Spark application to help the student’s fulfill a video assignment called “The Gospel-Shaped Community.” By using Spark, the students will tell their own unique experiences with church(es) in Abilene, in a video which incorporates recorded voice, generated text, and the use of at least 10 original images created by the students. Dr. Weaver has created other guidelines to help them focus their content, so my role was to provide some imagination and tools to help them meet their goals while still highlighting their own story.
Some tips for the students:
- When logging into Adobe Spark, be sure to login using the Enterprise Login. This will allow you to use your ACU login information, as well as being able to use all of Adobe’s Creative Cloud applications…for free.
- The book, Presentation Zen, is a wonderful resource to help with any visual or oral creation – Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning should all be incorporated into what you are creating. Make it uniquely yours!
- Storyboarding is crucial in helping you think through the story you are wanting to tell – especially if you have a time constraint in the creation process and in the length of your presentation.
- If you are creating images, be sure to change the perspective as you create the images:
- Ask yourself, “How would someone taller or shorter see what I am seeing?” In doing so, you can stand on something or even stoop down to take your images. Mix things up.
- The Rule of Thirds. Do not always center the main thing you are photographing in the image. Move it towards one of the sides, or the upper or lower third of the frame. Again, this will change the perspective.
- If you are using a camera where you can change the aperture, allow more light to enter into the lens by changing the aperture to a lower number (2.8/f, 2.0/f, 1.8/f, 1.4/f, etc.), and this will blur out the surroundings of whatever you are focusing on. You will want to review your images closely as you take them to make sure you have not blurred out the focal point. Many smart phone applications will allow for a similar effect in the edit functions.
- And…with Adobe Spark, you can use your phone, tablet, or computer to begin, edit, or finish up your project. Adobe CC allows you to switch back and forth between devices so you can capture and create on the go, while fine tuning on a larger screen when you have the time.
- If you need some Adobe Spark Inspiration, go here
I am really looking forward to seeing what they create!
