My virtual christmas card for you all

 Hi All,

I spend some blurry hours this week making a virtual Christmas card to share with you all. It combines hand drawn sketches, a 100 word story that I wrote, some royalty free images and audio tracks.  Watch mine and see how you could make one just like it. Just click on the picture below to be impressed (or not)

Now over to you

1. First you need a story

a 100 word story will make a video of about a minute duration. Write your story, rehearse and then record it on Audacity.

Export it as an MP3 file and remember where you have saved it. I would suggest that you save it in a folder on the desktop.

2. Add some sound effects to the story.

Hunt down some sound effects from the BBC sound library https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/

Of click the picture below.

Save the sounds as Mp3 in the same folder as your mp3 story

3. Use Audacity to put the sounds int he right places in your story. Remember to import the audio to add extra tracks then drag them along the timeline to make a believable story. export this again as an MP3 with a new name

4. Use PowerPoint to make some picture slides to illustrate your story. The use the export feature to make a movie that you will use with your mp3 file.

5. Lastly use ShotCut to combine the video file with the audio file to make your own superb video! More on this in our session!

If you can get to part 4 then all is well! - Good luck

Snowtime assistance, more snow tutorials and tasks

 As promised here is the weekly challenge to the session. I have taken the opportunity to make up some PowerPoint for the snowflakes which I hope will help those struggling. I will re-record the first of the tutorial videos shortly since the sound was not up to scratch, click the snow picture to get a helpful tutorial

I attach the other challenges which should not be too much of a stretch once you get the hang of the snow.

Make up an animated Christmas tree card. I have attached some help for this first task. Click here

Advanced

Incorporate up dancing santas, reindeer, and other festive elements into an animated card.

Very advanced

Add some music to your card! 

How to use PowerPoint to make a falling snow image

 Its nearly Christmas time and so falling snow would be a seasonal image to put out there as a virtual Christmas card or similar entry on Facebook or other social media. You can choose your own images, music etc for your version.

I have put together 4 videos to help along the way and will have a tutorial to show everyone too. Click the links to see the videos

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Video 4

Once you have made the video effect and created a single slide with the effect then you can use the File>Export feature to save as a video. Click the picture below to see my efforts!

See how you can apply your new skills of copy and paste!

 Here is a funny half hour that I spent to give you an idea of what might be to come

Please don't ask me what the ducks are about!

Monday morning session with additional guide to making collage pieces

 Hi All

I will add the google meet session details on Monday Morning.

However some perople already said that they had difficulty making the collage pieces so here is a quick guide that you can print out. Click the puppy to get the pdf file.

The Saturday challenge of copy and paste - the cat mystery

 Good morning folks. You will need a PowerPoint file for today so

1. Click the pussycat to download the file

2. Find the download symbol (arrow into tray) in the top right corner and save the file somewhere you know where to find it.

The meeting details will be along soon!

And now for something completely different - using PowerPoint to make a collage on your computer

 Hi All. 

As promised here is a real challenge when making a Christmas card or greetings card.

Watch the video  of how to virtually collage an image.Watch my YouTube video by clicking on the turkey image below.

 This not just a turkey for Christmas! click it for the full video on how to collage

With PowerPoint we combine an image with a custom shape to make virtual paper. we can use many different images make a pieces of virtual paper of different colours.

Insert an image - find an image on your computer to use for coloured paper. I am looking here for a mottled sky piece. This will be used as the background image.

Insert a freeform scribble shape. Draw it out with the mouse and as it closes it will automatically fill with blue.

Click to select the background image, hold down the shift key and select your freeform scribble shape so that both are selected.

From the drawing tools>format menu select merge shapes >intersect and you should be left with the two images combined to form virtual paper

Use the virtual paper piece to cover images using copy/paste or ctrl+drag to duplicate. Use an icon like the turkey or another of your own choosing. 

Have fun - I did!

walk in the woods pictures

 https://photos.app.goo.gl/AuFa5hQVnv9U4bC27

this is the link for the walk in the woods pictures

 here is your commission piece

Use this story to create an audio experience

Missed you!

Soapy closed the door and stepped into the chilly night. Mist swirled all around him and he gasped as it spun around his head. He waved it away, running towards the village green. The fog seemed alive, thickening, tightening and squeezing. Soapy couldn’t breathe, choking and gasping,  he fell to the ground. The fog hesitated, in the headlights of the late bus it glowed blood red. The bus was late as it sped through the village. It tangled with the fog dragging along poor soapy. Rear wheels bumped his body but the bus felt nothing and disappeared into the night

Using Don to cure poverty and hunger

Well after this unusual morning in the Queens Head I had to have a go myself at making the mighty Don tell all. Follow this link to see my efforts along with a powerpoint explaining it all ( the video is saved onYouTube) 

Click this link https://youtu.be/SKqXT7hrotk 

 I wonder how you will do with the challenge yourself?

The logo challenge to end all logo challenges - well almost!

Click the image below and download the instructions

 

There is a worked example after the brief for you to follow