16/01/14

This morning I had to decide what it was I wanted to do as a final project of New Media. After writing down a few ideas during the week, and having a chat with my course leader, it was still a hard decision for me to make, but my course leader, Neil, seemed very happy with my ideas, especially where I would make a series of detailed Maya tutorial videos. I realised I needed to make a decision, so I decided to look further into the tutorial videos, and how to make them, what software and equipment I would need, and how much it would cost.

I found a brief YouTube video explaining how to record on screen videos on a Mac (or in my case, a Macbook Pro. Although I can use the Macs at college, I much prefer using my Macbook Pro.) The video used Quicktime Player, a program that fortunately is already pre installed on my Macbook Pro, so  that doesn't seem like too much of a problem, and Neil said that college have headsets I can use to record sound/audio, so initially it looks like I might not need to pay too much at all. I just hope that, because I have never used Quicktime Player before, and even though I tested it this morning briefly, that I will have no problems using the software and that it will be sufficient enough to complete this potential project. I also need to decide what I will make in Maya to show in these tutorials. I think I should make something quite simple, but shows all the areas I know in Maya, so that Maya newcomers will clearly see how they can make what they like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJbYGcOlj_k

After some consideration I decided that I will work on the video tutorials of Maya for my final project, as I thought it will give me a skill I could easily use after my time at college, both as a hobby and professionally in whatever career path I choose. It is also relevant to my career goals, which right now is to help others, and this can be easily done by making fun videos. Video editing is also something I have always been interested in, but have never really understood how to do it, or where to start. I have found this website which discusses the best video editing software I can access for free.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-6-free-video-editors-mac-os/

It was also quite exciting talking to Neil about this project, and he suggested that I could borrow from college a headset to record my voice, which certainly sounds intriguing. It would also be ideal for people considering coming to college to study a course which would involve Maya, such as the BTEC in Interactive Media, or, of course, the course I am on now, the Foundation Degree in New Media.

For next week, I must finish my project proposal, as well as think about what product I will actually make in my video tutorials.