Last October when Craig bought the MacBook Pro laptop for me he also bought a one year subscription for the Apple One to One program at the Apple store. I've been using Macs for years and at the time I did little with the computer other than using search engines, email, and Blogging. I knew how to use my image capture to get the pictures out of my point and shoot Canon, and could do basic Photoshop manipulation.
I used the One to One membership to go to a couple of basic introductory workshops, but never did anything beyond that.
But when we bought the Alfa, Craig also went out and bought a pretty nice camcorder. We used it to record several hours of our walk thru. Craig downloaded the video onto the laptop using iMovie. But it really needed to be edited, organized, and put onto a DVD for future reference.
Guess who got to do that! I bumbled my way thru some of the editing and then came to the decision that since I still had a few weeks left on my One to One membership I would go in and get some help.
I really like the Apple Store. There is so much energy and if you have an appointment or a product question there is a smart young person ready and willing to help you. They even speak English as their first language!
At my first session, a personal projects table, (That’s where for two hours, up to six people work on their own and an Apple person circulates to answers individual questions.)
The Apple guy helped me start the editing process and set up the iDVD file. But when I took it home, I made a real mess of it!
So I went back for the second personal projects session, and it was decided that the best thing to do was to trash the whole thing, go back to the raw video, and start over.
Again I took it home, and everything seemed to go much smoother. Until it came time to burn the DVD. I got a warning message that all was not right, so I booked and individual session. Just me and an Apple guy.
It turned out the warning was not a problem. I had chosen not to include some clips on the menu pages. I was working on the KISS principle. (Keep It Simple Stupid) Functional, not fancy.
For the rest of my hour he showed me a number of things I could do with the iMovie program. How to navigate and use shortcuts.
I did not really want a video camcorder. We have some really bad, boring home movies from the 70's.
But now that I have been introduced to iMovie, I think it might be a lot of fun to work with. The movies may still be boring, but I might have fun making them.
I have about three weeks left on my One to One membership. I can use it anywhere there is an Apple Store. I think I will renew it. I know I could muddle thru learning how to use iMovie, but I also know that if I made the effort to take advantage of the One on One training I will make much better videos. It could be a fun hobby and doesn’t take up any room!
Do you click on and watch videos in blogs?
I do watch some of the videos on blogs, but not always. I guess it depends on my mood of the day.
ReplyDeleteSometimes. More often I don't. It seems to depend on how much I've used up of my aircard allotment for the month. Sorry to say, many of the ones I watched were pretty bad. :(
ReplyDeleteI usually watch the videos, especially if I am at home as I have fast internet there. I figure if someone went to the trouble to post it I may as well see what it's all about. Good luck with yours. I sure like what I learn about Apple - just can't bring myself to make the move.
ReplyDeletegood for you for learning something new!..and yes, I do click on the video..I figure if someone went to all the trouble to load it on their blog it must be worth viewing!!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to say I rarely click on them, but its because of the data limit on our mi-fi. Most months we come pretty close to using the 5GB without watching video clips :(
ReplyDeleteI'm like some of the others -- it depends on how much time I have on my aircard, but good for you learning something new -- helps keep the brain strong!
ReplyDeleteYes, I do watch some of the blog videos.
ReplyDeleteIt would definitely be easier to learn with an instructor than trying to figure it all out on your own.
Good for you learning something new. I know I watch some of the videos, but like others, if we're on the MiFi, I may pick and choose what I look at.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have a Mac. My son-in-law, is the web master at Indiana University and Mac is the way to go. I use video all the time but I never thought about the limits to air cards and such. That makes alot of since to me............
ReplyDeleteI'm like everybody else. I pick and choose my videos and a lot depends on the mifi usage. But you are really out there learning great stuff. People who have that Mac sure do love them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I catch up on reading them, most of the time I will watch them. Most of them are short, so why not?
ReplyDeleteWe are big fans of MAC computers and the Apple One to One sounds great. We have never been close enough to a Mac store to do things like that. I haven't played with the iMovie stuff yet, you may just be the motivation I need to look at that program. Have fun!
ReplyDeleteGood for you in taking advantage of the one on one training, it's a great way to learn.
ReplyDeleteI'll watch videos if they are kept short - under 15 seconds or so.
Oh cool on the new camera & video learning curve. If I have a good connection, I'll watch. But if it stalls, then I try to go back later to view. I do have a lot of vids on youtube, so if they are very big, I'll just send the specific youtube link to a video leaving others the option of viewing it by following the link or not. I have put two up on my blog so far, but they weren't big vids. I am a youtube junkie! I watch RV & travel vids mostly.
ReplyDelete