Creating Video with Sound on the Lumens DC 166 Document Camera

It’s relatively simple to create a video file using the Lumens DC 166 document camera. It’s not as easy to create a video file that includes sound. So here is the way I did it. The first step is to click the video record button in the Ladibug software. You have to click the advanced button to see the video button. I do it this way so that I can choose where to save the file. I don’t want to save the video file on the hard drive of the video camera. The video is saved as an avi file. The next step is to open the video in a minimized window. This will open in Windows Media Player. I moved it the bottom half of my computer screen. I plugged in my headset (microphone/headphone combination) and double clicked the sound icon in the system tray to make sure my speaker and microphone was not muted. I opened Audacity. I played the video from the document camera and narrated the video while I recorded my voice in Audacity. Audacity has many options to edit the sound recording so it’s ok if you make a mistake. When I was happy with my sound recording, I exported it as a wav file. Then I opened Windows Movie Maker. I’m only going this option because Movie Maker is free. It wouldn’t be my number one choice, but that’s ok. Import your video file and your audio file into Movie Maker. Make sure you switch to the timeline mode of Movie Maker. Drag your video file to the video area of the timeline and the audio file to the audio/music area of the timeline. Save the project. You don’t have very many video editing options in Movie Maker. You can only cut part of the beginning or the end but keep in mind it is a free program. You would have a lot more options if you used Adobe Premiere Elements but that would run you about $50.00. The last thing you need to do in Movie Maker is to save the file so that it can be played on any computer. The file is saved as a wmv file and can be played in Windows Media Player. If you are going to record your lessons and place them on your website be sure to break up the video files so that they are not so memory intensive.

How To Add Audio To Your Video Recordings Using The Lumens Document Camera DC 166

If you have used the document camera in your classroom you know what an invaluable piece of equipment it is. It offers you the capability to zoom in on flat or 3 dimensional objects so that someone in Kansas could see what you are talking about. The document camera can even be turned up to show the students in the class. Of course you are going to have to rotate the image so that they are not hanging from the ceiling. You also have the ability to freeze images and capture them for current and subsequent viewing purposes. However, what I'm going to tell you in this blog deals with recording video with the document camera and in particular recording the audio with it. All you need is a mini plug to mini plug cord. Radio Shack and other places sell this cord 6 feet in length for $4.00. Of course you probably only need a 3 foot length. The mini plug is the same end as the head phone cord you plug into your ipod or mp3 player. You just need to have the mini plug on both ends. Plug one end into the RS232 port which is the audio port of the document camera. Plug the other end into the ALD out of the Lightspeed 850iR Audio System component (which is #5 in the diagram) and turn the volume all the way up (also shown in the diagram). It's not going to be easy to get to the back of the Lightspeed Control box. It might be easier to unscrew the back of the classroom cart for easier access. Now when you record your video using the document camera you can use the wireless mic to record your voice as well. Remember if you are in the document camera mode, you must insert a SD card and save to it. However, if you are in the computer mode, you can save the video to a place of your choosing such as a thumb drive. Now you have the capability of recording your lessons with amazing visual and audio clarity. Enjoy the technology and remember to involve your students in your lessons.

Adding Video or Audio to CPS Questions

We always create questions in the assessments we give to our students to test their knowledge of the content we hope they have learned and understand. What if we could add audio or video files to those questions to give them a deeper understanding of the content we are asking them about? You can add a video or an audio file to the questions in CPS. Here is how that is accomplished. Open CPS, (version 5.6) and click on the prepare tab. For this example, I’m going to go with the fact that you already have typed your questions. Click on the lesson (test) name you want to edit the questions in. The questions in that test will be listed on the right side of the window. Double click the question you want to add the audio or video file to. In the options area choose “notes and media” from the question drop down. Click on the audio/video tab in the question note window. Click browse and navigate to your audio or video file and double click it. Click “ok’ in the CPS – fine details window. Then click “save & close”. Click save and close (two separate buttons this time).

Now you are ready to give the test. Click on the engage tab. Put a check next to the name of your lesson (test). Click the engage button. The test will have to be teacher lead since the students will have to either hear the audio or watch the video. Click on the notes button and select your video (or audio). The video will play and your students will then answer the question.