A Remix Remix

I am sure you have already listen to a remix where you can hear a song interrupted by someone saying something. This is exactly what the tutorial is about.

I will create this kind of remix and by that telling you about the foundations of Audacity which is a sound editing software and which you can download for free. But first listen to the example.

I have used a song I created for a different tutorial and I will record me saying one of the many definitions on remix.

The following 8 but short tutorial videos will tell you about all. Just before watching them download and install Audacity. Note that I am a PC user, Shortcuts I mention may be different with a Mac.


The Audacity interface, loading an audio file and previewing it:

Select, copy and paste to a new track, remove clipping noises:

Generating new audio parts and moving them.

Recording and noise removal.

Taking parts of the speech and remixing it with the song. 

More parts of the speech will be remixed with the song.

Exporting as mp3.

Music Production and Sharing

A series of tutorials about how to produce pieces of music and how to share them on Soundcloud and Tumblr.

The first video shows you how to find the download page from a great free sound editing software called Audacity.

The next video shows you how to produce a beat with the free online software Soundation. When have created the beat it is opened in Audacity where a voice track is recorded. (You could record in Soundation, but not in the free version.)

The third video is about sharing a Soudcloud track on a Tumblr blog.



Steps for making an Artful Video

Get an idea and start planning!

First for any artwork production is the idea. You might already have one. If not you might know about various brain storming techniques. However, even then you need a start.

This can be a question, for example:

I want to show my artist friends something really awesome. What would impress them?

Often we got ideas from assignments a school provides.

You may follow the idea I provide here, which is to juxtapose the visual (photograph) to the audible (narration) in a video and to share this in the Internet.

Please note, this is not just about creating a video. You need this steps for any kind of artwork, although the term pre-production is normally used for the video production process.

When you got your idea, write it down. One sentence may be enough.

I want to make a photograph of white hands on a dark background and add the narration “I am Hanna from Ghana”.

Say something about the meaning you want to convey.

I want people wondering about the juxtaposition of the visual and the audible to make them think about their ideas from skin color and origin of a person.

(you may choose any other picture like the mouth of a bearded man sounding like a child and saying: I am Hans from a Grimm fairy tale. Or you show the back of a woman's head with braided hair saying in a man's voice “I am Jimmy from Pimp Town.” - Sorry for this, but art sometimes must be provocative to make people think.)

After this for visual ideas you should do any kind of sketch. For a video you might create a story board. For our purpose you can use any form you like. Look at my one frame story board.

 

You can do something similar for music and sound, like a time line or musical notation.

Now you have to explore what you need for your production. Compare it to what you have. Write it down. If you do not have what you need write down an alternative.

 

I need	I have
time, about 2 hours	I actually have two hours of time this Saturday.
hands	I will take my own hands.
a dark background	I have a cardboard box I will use.
camera to shoot the picture or the hands	I ow one myself and will use it. (You may lend devices.)
a microphone to make the narration	I do not have any microphone. alternative: I have my zoom recording device and will use it for a microphone. (You may have a microphone, which I recommend for a better quality, or you use your build in microphone.)
a software where I can make the narration with	I know I can add a narration to a video in the Movie Maker. I will use this option for my production which anyway results in a video. (You may have to download it: Click to get the Movie Maker Or use any other software you know.)
a software where I can produce my video with, which is combining visual and audible and export this as a video	I will use the Windows Movie Maker.
a platform where I can share my video	I have heard tumblr is a good place to share. I will get an account there and share my video via this account.

Now go on and produce!

This will be the production part of your work. For the idea we are following here it will be just taking the picture you need. You can also see the narration as part of the production.

The following picture shows how you can shoot for example and eye of yourself. I have to mention that I can take single pictures with my video camera. You may have any other device and an appropriate tripod construction.

I also show you a picture that displays how I have set up my microphone which I have connected with an USB plug. You may have a microphone that uses a jack plug, which also can be connected to your computer.

Next I will show you how to load the picture to the Movie Maker, how to make the narration and how to export your work as a video you can share, which can be called the post-production.

 

Share your artwork!

The next video shows how to share your artwork on a tumblr blog. (Naturally you can use any other blogging page.

 

Gimp Rotoscoping Tutorial

This tutorial I am doing aside an assignment idea I've posted on ds106's assignment bank.
I'm going to explain how you can contour something in Gimp with the Path Tool to gain an exciting animated gif. You also can use a tablet and pen, it is just not what I'll show here. I thought people without a tablet should also be able to do this assignment.

For this tutorial you need to know how to make single images from a video clip and how to import the images into Gimp. You can read about this in the ds106 handbook. Or go to a different tutorial I have created and look for a video on this.

Once you have imported the images do the following:

Choose Shift + the eye symbol of the bottom layer in the layer tab to make only this layer visible.

Next create a new layer by clicking the New Layer symbol (1) in the layer tab. Choose a white background (2) and name the layer 0001 (3).  (The next will be 0002 and so on.)

After This set the Opacity of the layer to 50%..

Now it is a good idea to zoom in where you want to start drawing the outlines. Just enough to keep an overview.

(Zoom Tool or Ctrl + Mouse Wheel together with Space Bar + Left Mouse Button)

After you have selected the Path Tool, click along the outlines. (If possible don't move the mouse while clicking, you may come into the edit mode, where you can shape the path.)

If you reach the edge of the screen just use the Space Bar together with the Left Mouse Button to move the visible part or just use the scroll bars.

Don't overdo this, we are going for the motion, not for the detail. Maybe I've already set too many points.





When you've finished your first outline, click Stroke Path (1)  at the Tool Options palette of the Path Tool. Then choose a Line Width (2) and confirm.  (I've chosen 3 appropriate to the resolution of my image. You may need a different width.)

Normally the stroke will appear in black, which is the default foreground color. For changing the stroke color, change the foreground color.



To position the path tool anew you have to select another tool first and then again choose the path tool. (There may be a better ways which I don't know.)
For the ball you can use the Ellipse Select Tool plus in the Edit menu Stroke Selection.

When you've finished the outline of your first image set the layer opacity back to 100%. The result should look something like this.

You now can delete the layer with the original image or you can do it when you've finished all images.

Go back to the start of this tutorial and do the same with any of the imported images.

When you've removed the original images you can play back the action.

Go to Filters in the menu bar and choose Animation -> Playback.

Maybe you have to scale the image now. For an animated gif the image should not be larger than 800 in width. In the end this is up to your choice, but note if you save something as a gif file the file size is restricted. The more images you need the smaller they have to be.

Just try to save your work as a gif file now (File menu -> Export to -> Filename.gif). If it is too large you will have a pop up window which tells you about this.

Don't forget to check the option As Animation.

You should also experiment with the delay between the frames, to find out which speed is the right for your animated gif.

Go to your gif file and open it in any preview. I personally open it with the internet explorer. If you're fine with the result you're done. If not correct what ever you want, but don't forget that there are many more assignments to do.



Gimp & Masks

Here I provide a Gimp  tutorial according to the visual assignment Multiply Yourself.

First open two of your pictures you have taken to show yourself repeated on one photograph:

• Go to the File Menu and choose Open.
• Again go to the File Menu and chose Open as Layer.

Now you have two pictures on two layers. On your screen you can see the picture on the top layer. We now want to make part of the underneath picture visible. For this editing software solutions are providing Masks. You can add a mask to any picture and manipulate which part of the picture is visible and which not.

For this tutorial it is important that you use a mask of white color, which means the picture is fully visible. If you now paint with black color on you mask, you make part of it transparent, which means part of the picture underneath becomes visible.





 Now we will add a mask:

• Right click on the top layer and choose Add Layer Mask. (You can also find this in the Layer Menu)
• In the pop up window choose white (full opacity).
• Click the Add button.

Next we will choose the brush tool and we will make sure that the chosen color is black. You also have to set the size of the brush.
Then you reduce the opacity of the top layer, so that you can see something of the underneath picture.
(Don't forget to reset the opacity to 100% when you have finished the masking.)
Finally you will paint on the mask to make parts of the picture transparent which causes that parts of the underneath picture become visible.

• Go to the toolbox and choose the Brush Tool.
• Make sure the foreground color is Black, which is also the color of your brush.
• Set an appropriate brush size.
• In the layer window set the opacity to 70%.
• In the picture window with the brush paint over the parts where you are in the second picture, so that these parts become visible. (This will appear black on the mask.)
• (Be sure you have clicked the mask preview in the layer window, not the picture preview. Otherwise you paint black on your picture.) 

To make one picture out of the two layers you have to merge them. (You may like making further adjustments to make the two pictures look more alike in color and/or light before merging them.)



• Set the opacity back to 100%.
• Right Click the top layer and choose Merge Down.
• Save.