Pulpmotion Advanced is really worth a look at. It is a photostory style package and complements the original software called Pulpmotion which is mention in a previous post (sample outcome from PodKids). The company Aquafadas have created a number of packages that are worth downloading as demos.

Screen Capture Packages

iShowU works in OS 10.4 +

Thes next two packages only work in OS 10.5

ScreenFlow

Snapz Pro

Hardware

Easi-Speak Microphones

Excellent for capturing interviews around school and then placing mp3 files into Garageband for production. Please ensure that file name had .mp3 in lowercase!!!!

Korg Nano Key & Kord Nano Pad

If you are interested in finding out more about these, particularly if you are an Apple RTC, then please contact joemoretti@mac.com

I have just had a quick look at these and they look and feel really good. They won’t improve my musical ability but will mean that I can carry around a set of 6 keyboards and Macs to do projects without have to spend a week in hospital afterwards. The Key and Pad models plug straight into Garageband and are very simple to set up.

FlipVideo

There is only one way of describing this – Excellent, easy and an important feature is excellent sound quality.

At the CLC we have recently come across the resource called Miro.  I have copied this introduction to the free package so that you an simply understand what it is.

Quite simply, Miro is a free application for channels of internet video (also known as ‘video podcasts and video rss). Miro is designed to be easy to use and to give you an elegant fullscreen viewing experience.

There are thousands of free internet video channels that you can watch. You’ll be able to download all the videos that each channel offers and when new ones are released, Miro will grab them automatically.

Unlike tiny videos on websites like YouTube, Miro videos are usually very high quality and look great when watched full screen. Since Miro downloads videos completely before you watch, your videos will never skip or stutter while they are playing.

The downloaded films can be taken into iMovie and used either to practice editing or to use the footage to change the outcome.  Please remember that the work is copyright and make sure that when you use it you remember to credit the film makers.

We think that this package is really worth working with, so please comment on ways that you can see yourself using it in the classroom.

The software is available for both Mac and PC.

The second piece of software is specifically for those people like me who are beginning to create websites with iWeb. One difficulty was managing a number of websites and this small application enables you to manage your sites and removes some of the confusion. I love iWeb and am really looking forward to the new release that is promised. This is how Chris Greg describes iWebsites:

iWeb normally stores a user’s websites in one folder (or package) called “Domains.sites,” in the user’s home library located at “~/Application Support/iWeb/”. It expects this package to be present, but if it isn’t, it will create it when launching iWeb. iWebSites manipulates “Domains.sites” to create more than one website package (a “.sites” file) in the Application Support/iWeb folder. Simply, iWeb opens up “Domains.sites” when it launches, and whatever website happens to be in that package is the website that iWeb uses while running. iWebSites renames “Domains.sites” when creating a new site, and it leaves the newly named “.sites” file in the Application Support/iWeb folder. iWebSites enables the user to switch between sites (by creating the appropriate “Domains.sites” package), delete sites, create new sites, and duplicate sites.

The software appears to be free but Chris is asking for donation/sponsorship for running the Boston Marathon. If you are into using iWeb this is a must.. try it out here.