Pixorial, Inc. » Video in the cloud

Creating Videos In the Classroom: Common Craft Style

admin — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 17:15:11 +0000

Creating videos for teaching subjects can be a great way to explain complex subjects succinctly in a style that can be watched over and over again. Your free Educators Pro Account allows you to import your own audio files and add voice overs to videos. This opens up a lot of opportunities to incorporate technology in the classroom.

There are a few styles that utilize voice overs to make creative and interesting videos. Today we’d love to tell you about the Common Craft Style. This style can be used for just about any project, whether it is the fall of the Ottoman Empire or the examples of duality in The Tale of Two Cities.

The Common Craft style uses a single camera shot from above with the action happening on a white background placed on the floor. The graphics are drawn on paper cut outs that are manually placed and picked up by people off camera. This gives teachers flexibility to be creative whether they want to use words, drawings or photos. This is a great opportunity to let students help build visuals and they can also help in the execution. With just a little video editing you and your students can create a shareable video about any subject.

Check out this behind the scenes look.

Once you’ve shot all your raw footage, use Pixorial to add transitions, credits and voice overs to make a more polished product.

To add the voice over just record an audio file while playing back you finished video. With a Pro account just choose “Add a Song” from here you can upload your audio file.

Once you have the audio in place, click “Finalize Video” and we’ll get to producing it.

Sharing the finished product is as easy as copy and pasting your videos unique URL in an email or posting it on your classes website. Free video sharing is at your fingertips.

Need more video editing help? Check out this article!

Check out these examples and let us know what you come up with in your classroom!

What does spicy bean dip have to do with video sharing?

admin — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 22:06:47 +0000

At the risk of making you hungry, visualize the following scenario:

You arrive at a friend’s BBQ, and are immediately greeted by a massive spread of food. It’s all there: the grilled meat, chips, four varieties of nicely chilled beer, desserts – the works. You have your own addition as well: some spicy bean dip for guests to munch on. You’re a picky eater, but there’s plenty here to choose from. Time to chow down.

Such is the beauty of the typical potluck. When everyone brings something to the table, there’s more variety and everyone comes away happy.

Now…take this familiar concept, apply it to video, and you’ve got a album .

An album is a collection of videos that you can share anywhere. That can help you save time and hassle when you want to share multiple videos at once – for example, a collection of clips from that weekend BBQ.

But here’s where it gets really cool. An album can also have multiple collaborators. Just like a potluck, everyone can contribute. You can pick and choose the best of the bunch, create a video showing the best parts, and share it with anyone. Your friends and family can do the same.

This video smorgasbord gives you the power of instant collaboration. The possibilities are endless. Cobble together a best-of from a family outing, concert, or even that BBQ.

So how do you create a album?

Well, there are two ways, depending on whether you’re on your laptop/desktop, or your smartphone.

Using MyHub, our online video platform:

First, login. Find the albums tab on the left of your screen. Under that tab select “Add album.” Name it, describe it and fill ‘er up!

On our Pixorial mobile app.

First install the app on iOS or Android. Then open the Pixorial app, and click the plus sign (+) in the top-right corner on iPhone or choose ‘Add album’ in the Android menu. You’ll be prompted to “Create a New Album” and select whether your album will be public or private. Enter a name and description for your album – and that’s it!

Once you have a album filled with videos, you can take those clips and put them together using Movie Creator – our free online video editing tool. Or just share that collection of videos to family and friends, via social networks or with a shareable URL. Super-easy. (Chips not included.)

Set Your Videos Free: 3 Ways to Upload

admin — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 19:20:45 +0000

Here at Pixorial, it’s our mission to liberate your videos from the stuffy confines of computers and mobile devices. Once they’re in our safe and secure cloud, you can share them with anyone, anywhere – or even edit the videos online using Movie Creator.

Here are three fast and easy ways to upload your videos. (If you don’t already have a Pixorial account, sign up for free here).

From a file on your computer

Let’s say you’ve just recorded a webcam video and want to share it online. Simply sign into your Pixorial account and click “Add Video” at the top of the screen. Hit “Upload A Video” and select your webcam-recorded masterpiece. Voilá.

From a folder on your computer

Here’s another scenario you might be familiar with: you’ve just downloaded a metric boatload (that’s an official measurement) of videos from your digital camera. Usually they all wind up in a specific folder on your computer, where they’ll sit and wait for you to do something with them. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could automatically upload those videos?

You can, using our free uploader app. Simply download and install Uploader on your Mac, PC, or even Linux computer. Then you can select your camera download folder as a “Watch folder.” Any new videos that are placed in that folder will be automatically uploaded to your Pixorial account.

Uploader is also a great option any time you have lots of video on your computer. Simply choose then files you want to upload, then we’ll take care of everything in the background.

From your smartphone

OK, so you’ve just had a busy weekend that included a family BBQ and a crazy night out with some friends. You’ve wound up with plenty of video on your phone. So how can you get it uploaded?

Install our Krowds app for iOS and Android. Then click the upload button in the lower right corner of the app. Once the upload from your camera roll is finished, you can add it to an existing Krowd or a brand new one. That video is now safe in our secure cloud, and ready to be set free and shared.

Sharing and editing video online is really that easy.

One other cool thing: since you’ve uploaded those videos to Pixorial, you can now safely delete them from your devices, freeing up valuable space and making more room for your life’s moments and memories.

Kids Say the Darndnest Things: How to make a Great Father’s Day Video

admin — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 20:26:29 +0000

Want to create an outside-the-box surprise for the father of your children? Here’s a great idea, courtesy of NPR: interview your kids about what makes a great dad, then combine the best answers for a wonderful video. Ready? Let’s get started. 1.) Start by interviewing your kids about their dad, and capturing their responses with your phone. Get creative with your questions and watch the fun responses flow. Within minutes you’ll have plenty of great footage. 2.) Next, it’s time to upload those interview clips to Pixorial, where you’ll turn them into an awesome movie. To do that, download the Pixorial app on iOS and Android. Then select the clips you want to upload. They’ll quickly appear in your Pixorial library, where you can use your computer to transform them. (By the way, the other cool thing about uploading videos from your phone is that they’re now safe forever; no worries about losing those memories to a stolen or broken device). 3.) Log into your Pixorial account and click on “Create Movie.” 4.) Use Movie Creator to add your interview clips, along with credits, transitions, and even background music. (If you’ve never used this video transformation tool, it’s super-easy; here’s how.) 5.) All done? Finalize and share everywhere: not only with the lucky dad, but with your family and friends via email, Twitter, and Facebook. Dad will love it. Guaranteed!

MobileMe users: Meet your new video home in the cloud

admin — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 09:27:16 +0000

As of last week, Apple has discontinued MobileMe iDisk, iWeb Publishing and Gallery. Everything that’s been uploaded to these online print and video galleries will no longer be available. We understand that this is a huge bummer for anyone who uploaded large files through their MobileMe account…but if you’re looking to relocate your video files, we have a quick and easy solution for you! With Pixorial, you can upload or digitize any video, in any format. Once uploaded to Pixorial’s cloud-based platform, you can edit and share those videos – anywhere. We’re also fully integrated with Google Drive, which makes it effortless to upload your entire video library to your Drive account as well. As you move your videos to their new home, we strongly recommend using our Pixorial desktop uploader. The uploader makes it ridiculously easy to get those files uploaded to your new account, automagically. Here’s how to get started: 1. Click here to create a free account 2. Download the Pixorial Desktop Uploader (wicked fast video uploads) 3. Download the iPad and iPhone App 4. Create, edit and enjoy your videos!

Infinite Possibilities: Creative Commons and Video

admin — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 05:48:26 +0000

Want to get creative with your video projects? Check out Creative Commons. You might’ve heard of Creative Commons, or “CC”, before. It’s a version of copyright for the digital age – a world where everyone and anyone can be a creator. It can be applied to music, words, video – pretty much anything that would be subject to normal copyrights. The difference is that it gives creators an easy way to license their work for use by others – free of cost. This video sums it up nicely. Using CC, countless people have licensed their work to be used in other creations. This has opened up a whole universe of content. What does this mean for video? Well, it gives you an endless palate of clips and content to choose from. Here are just a few ideas: - Find “b-roll” clips to add atmosphere to your videos - Download dialogue or a soundtrack - Add CC photos to your videos (no cheesy stock photo site necessary) - Collaborate with friends on a project You can also license your own work, customizing to your exact needs. No paperwork needed here. As CC puts it: “There is no registration to use the Creative Commons licenses. Licensing a work is as simple as selecting which of the six licenses best meets your goals, and then marking your work in some way so that others know that you have chosen to release the work under the terms of that license.” So where can you find CC material for use in your own productions? Well, there’s a vast reservoir of content out there, just waiting to be tapped: Here are just a few links to check out. A list of several CC media sites Another great list of CC-focused sites An excellent resource for CC-licensed audio A thorough FAQ to help you get started with CC Have fun creating! And if you make something with CC media and want to share it, let us know; we’ll feature it on our social channels!

Is Your Smartphone Filled to the Brim?

admin — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 08:05:59 +0000

Maxed-out storage – it’s the bane of our modern existence. No matter how many Gigs of memory manufacturers add to their devices, the dreaded “you are out of storage” warning seems to appear at the worst possible time – like when you have a priceless moment you want to record. You know the drill. After fiddling around frantically for a few precious seconds, you find some photos or videos that you’re okay with trashing. Then, you hit record again, ready to take that video of the priceless moment. Aaaand…it’s gone. We want to make sure this horrible fate never happens to you again. That’s why we make it easy to transfer your videos from your smartphone to the cloud, where they’ll be safely stored. First, download our iOS or Android video app. Then hit “upload” after you’ve selected the video you want to move to your online video library. To make things even easier, you can queue several videos to upload at the same time. This works great at the end of the day, after taking lots of movies. Hit the + button to add videos to your queue, and we’ll take care of all the uploading in the background. Once your videos are uploaded, you can safely delete them from your device. Storage problems solved! Pixorial Ninja Tip: Once you’ve uploaded your videos to your own personal library in the cloud, you can also edit them to perfection, adding personalized text, credits, music, and more – and then share those creations anywhere.

How to put your iPhone or iPad videos into Google Drive

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 07:53:07 +0000

One of the great things about Google Drive is that you can sync up files, effortlessly, in the cloud. Now, harnessing the power of our free iOS mobile app, you can automatically sync the videos that you’ve taken with your iPhone or iPad – not only to your Pixorial library, but also to your Drive. Again, it’s completely automatic and ridiculously easy. We’ll take care of everything in the background. Here’s how it works: 1.) Download our iOS app here. 2.) Use “Sign in with Google” to connect to your Google Drive account and accept the Terms of Service. 3.) Kick back and enjoy a cool drink as your Pixorial videos start syncing to your Drive automatically. The great thing is that those synced videos will also appear in your Pixorial library, where they can be edited and shared anywhere. Your videos will enjoy a much happier life once they’ve been liberated from the confines of your iOS device. So…download that app and set them free!