Reworking Media

Some Thoughts on Using Media for Teaching

In order to use media, you first have to obtain it, then manipulate it. Many older people are not aware of the ways in which media can be spread or manipulated, though students are usually very savvy. First, in order to obtain media or sometimes software, you need to be aware of the file sharing or P2P (Peer-to-Peer) networks. This might be something you would wish to research to understand how the system works, and problems with it. We will assume that we are working with public domain files. Forms of Bit Torrent do most of the work here transferring files. I recommend U-Torrent (technically, this is mu-torrent). The download is free, here: http://www.utorrent.com/. After you have a Bit Torrent client, you need a torrent, which is a file with information on where the client will find connections to the file you are seeking. You could use Google, but a specific torrent search engine is preferable. Some P2P sites are private and require invitations. Try these to start:
http://torrent-finder.com/
http://torrentpond.com/
http://thepiratebay.org/
http://btjunkie.org/.

Freaky Flicks (http://freakyflicks.proboards.com/index.cgi?) can also point you to a number of rare films not easily found. There is a large collection of public domain video at archive.org. Some sites require you to maintain a minimum download/upload ratio. When you have located the torrent that interest you, download it, then click on the file. U-Torrent will load it, and you merely have to configure things (download space, etc. U-Torrent will do the rest, downloading sometimes in a matter of minutes, sometimes over a number of days. Be sure to look for a torrent with the highest number of Seeds. Read the comments on the torrents, as many are defective, damaged or fakes. After you have your download file, you will need to burn it to a DVD, or edit it. ConvertXDVD (http://www.vso-software.fr/products/convert_x_to_dvd/ )is good for burning. Your students would probably hunt for a a torrent for it, and download it. The same is true for MagicISO (http://www.magiciso.com/) or PowerISO (http://www.poweriso.com/). ISO is a format you will run across, as is daa. Nero (http://www.nero.com/enu/index.html) should be able to burn ISO's also. daa's would need to be converted. Freeware converters (http://aluigi.altervista.org/mytoolz.htm) are available. Freeware (http://www.artzend.com/Video%20Programs.htm) DVD burners, copiers and rippers are also out there. You simply need to hunt for them.

I like Pinnacle Studio (http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Home/) for video editing. For the Mac, there is Final Cut (http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/finalcutpro/). Adobe Premiere (http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere/) is available with educational discounts, and there is, or used to be, a free version of Avid (http://www.avid.com/). In order to make archive copies of some of your DVD's you may need DVD Decrypt (http://www.dvddecrypter.org.uk/), which copies all the files. You would then copy them to a DVD with DVDShrink (http://www.dvdshrink.org/). To obtain video to edit for your classes, you need a ripper. AoA DVD Ripper (http://www.aoamedia.com/dvd_ripper.htm) is good, and they have other media utilities. I recommend the .avi format for files, as the quality is higher. Once you have you file loaded for editing, you can clip out what you don't want to show, add intertitles if necessary, and have a video at substantially higher resolution than YouTube. You may wish to collect a variety of fonts for your titles. For audio work, Audacity might be helpful (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/).