Mac Meeting iMovie Tutorial
As I’ve mentioned before Jim Heck did a great job on the iMovie tutorial: instigating it, putting it together, and executing it — it was no easy task.
We will do a review — as quickly as we can — and cover questions, which there are plenty of; seems we had no idea what can of worms we were opening.

Before we do the review, we have MATT VANDERPOL to discuss Password Management; He will cover both Keychain Access (built into the OS) and 1Password (purchased add-on). This is an important topic and should not be missed.

A visual tutorial of the iMovie tutorial is put together for your viewing — it’s not the best, but it will help you refresh your memory on what we covered.

WEBSITE POST: http://www.sierramousetrap.org/?p=306
TUTORIAL POST: http://sierramousetrap.org/smmug/20100503-meeting/

I will go over this in some detail in the review.

Review topics for iMovie Tutorial for JUNE 14th meeting:

√ Setting up iMovie’s preferences for optimal performance.
√ Overview of the application, such as, its window layout, buttons, and features.
√ Importing media: pictures, movies, and music.
√ Inserting the media into the time line.
√ Making edits with video.
√ Adding motion to stills — (called the Ken Burns Effect).
√ Inserting transitions: dissolves, fades, ripples, and more.
√ Inserting and adding music and sound effects.
√ Exporting to web, dvd, movie, and others.

So bring your laptops, computers, and yourself to participate in this in depth coverage of the built in — so to speak — video editing application for Mac.

Any version of iMovie will work, but we will be doing the tutorial using iMovie 09 — so don’t be shy thinking we will not cover anything you can use; don’t be quiet if you don’t understand or have a question; and don’t be square by not showing up.

The post by Jim and a sample of the movie he showed at the last meeting is located http://www.sierramousetrap.org/?p=261

NOTE: If you need more help — in the form of one on one; you can either call me, email me, or check with Jim and we can walk you through some difficulties you may be having, or there are many sites that have some answers to questions you maybe having like many others do — do not think you are the only one and don’t feel compelled to ask your question: iMovie — or for that matter anything — any application or activity is no fun when you get stuck and frustrated.

July 5th Meeting
I know it is right after the fourth and you may be tired from the long holiday — or still be on it for that matter — so we will make the July meeting one of not so complicated, as I will not have time to put something together

• Greetings (5 – 10 min)
• Q & A (15 min)
• Matt Vanderpol will do a demo on Web Page Reading Tools – focusing on Readability (http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/) and Instapaper (http://www.instapaper.com/)
• Demo on working with iCal and other calendar programs (send me list of one’s you use) to create to do’s, appointments, and notifications.

August 2nd meeting

• Greetings (5 – 10 min)
• Q & A (15 min)
• New items and some not so new but still work great on the Mac.

September 6th meeting

• Greetings (5 – 10 min)
• Q & A (15 min)
• Possible guest speaker and demo of: http://macvideotraining.com/

Matt Vanderpol has an older 19″ CRT (iiYama VisionMaster Pro 450 – Review: http://www.anandtech.com/show/407) that he’s not using.

"It’s still a great monitor with fantastic color and display but it’s just too big for my desk since I got an LCD. I’d love to find a new home for it by giving it to someone rather than recycling it as ewaste.

-Matt"

Well, it has been an adventure trying to get the tutorial put together: I do not have iMovie installed on any of my Mac’s (4) — reason to be explained later — Jim has been busy working on his end of the tutorial along with his daily activities — busy man, but I finally got a hold of a computer, my daughter’s, and reenacted — for the most part — the tutorial that was done on May 3rd.

Anyway, we have a start that you can view at http://sierramousetrap.org/smmug/20100503-meeting/ please keep in mind that it is a start — it has been a few weeks and more will be added, but if you feel there is something left out or would like to more, let us know.

or you can download the pages in PDF (Portable Document File) form.
#1) 20100503_iMovie-INTRODUCTION
#2) 20100503_iPhoto_QUICK-TUTORIAL
#3) 20100503_iMovie_TUTORIAL

KEEP IN MIND:
The June meeting is JUNE 14th, and there will be a quick review of iMovie by Gerald Davenport; we will go over what Jim did so well on and just cover some of the most common and important points, as well as, go over some not so easy or well known features that will speed up your work flow.

• Also we will have Matt Vanderpol go over Password Management; He will cover both Keychain Access (built into the OS) and 1Password (purchased add-on).
This is not just useful but very important for you and your information on your computer, if you use the internet — and who doesn’t?

M³: (May Mac Meeting)
Well Jim Heck and I got together and created a nice tutorial class for the May meeting on iMovie until we discovered an issue with connecting his Intel MacBook Pro to the projector — seems we need a "Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter" to do this and we may have found one.

To be prepared — cause we know we will find away to connect to the projector — we are asking you to download the files from http://www.sierramousetrap.org/?p=285 (please follow directions on downloading)

TOPICS COVERED:
   √ Setting up iMovie’s preferences for optimal performance.
   √ Overview of the application, such as, its window layout, buttons, and features.
   √ Importing media: pictures, movies, and music.
   √ Inserting the media into the time line.
   √ Making edits with video.
   √ Adding motion to stills — (called the Ken Burns Effect).
   √ Inserting transitions: dissolves, fades, ripples, and more.
   √ Inserting and adding music and sound effects.
   √ Exporting to web, dvd, movie, and others.

So bring your laptops, computers, and yourself to participate in this in depth coverage of the built in — so to speak — video editing application for Mac.

Any version of iMovie will work, but we will be doing the tutorial using iMovie 09 — so don’t be shy thinking we will not cover anything you can use; don’t be quiet if you don’t understand or have a question; and don’t be square by not showing up.

The post by Jim and a sample of the movie he showed at the last meeting is located http://www.sierramousetrap.org/?p=261

Meeting agenda

• Greetings (5 – 10 min)
• Q & A (30 min)
• iMovie tutorial (1.2 hours – want to get as much time in as possible)

NOTE: And as soon as I finish it, there will be a questionnaire, kind of like the census, but about you and your Mac(s).  Nothing to provacative or revealing, just want to know how you use your Mac and what are your favorite apps and the one’s you would like to have an update for.  Again, this is coming soon and it will help us get to know what our members are doing with their Macs and how we can help them.

June Meeting (second Monday, June 14th)
The June meeting has been moved to the following monday, the second monday which is the 14th. We hope you can make it as it will be the follow up meeting to finish the iMovie tutorial.

• Greetings (5 – 10 min)
• Q & A (30 min)
• iMovie tutorial (what ever is needed)
• Q & A about iMovie, media, pictures, and ????

July meeting
As a heads up and trying to figure out what can be given as prizes, if any, I am giving notice that we will have a photo and video contest — two separate things — that will begin in July and end in August; one month, and the theme most likely will be the Fourth of July.

I want everyone to take pictures and do what you want to do to them in photoshop, iPhoto, GraphicConverter, or just leave it as is.

For those into video, make a short 3 min production either will stills and video or just video and using iMovie make it great! This is the class assignment after iMovie has been covered.

Anyone have an idea for prizes?

• Greetings (5 – 10 min)
• Discuss the Photo and Movie contests
• Q & A (30 min)
• Working with iCal or other calendar programs to create to do’s, appointments, and notifications.
• New items and some not so new but still work great on the Mac.

And in conclusion
May meeting is MONDAY the 3rd
June meeting is MONDAY 14th
July meeting is MONDAY 5th
All meetings are from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Madelyn Helling Library, Nevada City The Madelyn Helling Library: 980 Helling Way, Nevada City 95959

peace – SMMUG Officers

Demo movie garden2 37.8mb

I-movie jpeg files (called Archive Zip) 57.3mb

Demo i movie garden xx 76.6mb

To download:

Firefox right click on link , select ‘Save Link As…’

Safari: Right Click on link, select ‘Download Linked File.’

These may take awhile. After download, Un-zip the ‘Archive.zip’ and drag the jpeg picture and movie files into iPhoto. Name the ‘untitled event’ “iMovie Demo”. Merge events if needed.

P.S. best to download files to desktop.

Thanks

Have you ever performed a ‘repair permissions’ on your hard drive. Ever gotten a message [Warning: SUID file...] or [Permissions differ...]? After a trip to the Mac store and some research I discovered these messages are ‘ok’. Well, according to Apple. Here’s a list of some of the ‘ok’ ones. “http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448″

Gerry and I are working on a beginners Class for the May meeting; we will be showing how to use iMovie to put together a DVD slide show;  this will be a hands on demo.

Some pictures and a short video clip will be supplied, so bring your laptop to follow along. If you don’t have one I am sure you can look over someone’s shoulder to see how it is done.

We will keep this to the basics: importing the pictures and video, adding transitions, adjusting slide duration, adding music, etc. and exporting to a video DVD or other format.

The Disney movie clip was put together by my son as a first try with iMovie. When you view the short clip please note the use of transitions, Kens Burns effect (which is taking a still photograph and adding movement to it), integration of music, and the transitions in and out of the light parade video. Any questions please e-mail me (Jim Heck) or Gerry.

imovie Disney sample clip

clip credit: Jeremy Heck  WHAT THE HECK PRODUCTIONS ©2008

This months’s meeting is about Keyboard Shortcuts and Living without an Intel Mac.

You can follow along with the files and my notes at: http://sierramousetrap.org/smmug/20100405-meeting/

I already sent out the newsletter and have a correction: it was Jeremy Heck, Jim’s SON, that did the video.  Many apologies.

YES, yes, there is another error in the newsletter as well, many of you have asked about the —  and some have sent me the answer — well I know what it is I just used it — just like there.  The newsletter allows me to type my text in VISUAL MODE, any text I type is converted to code, I can also look at that code and type in there; since there is no shortcut for the EM DASH, it has to be coded in html ASCII code, so I do that in HTML VIEW —  I sometimes forget which view I am in and type in code, which I normally do anyway, it just so happen I was in Visual Mode and typed the code and forgot to convert that in code mode cause in code mode it looks like this: —  SO I WAS IN A HURRY cause I am heading out Thursday to go to NAB in Las Vegas, I wanted to get the notes and newsletter out before I forgot everything.

SOLD

17 inch iMac for sale: $350. Contact: Katie Guilliat • 272-8678 • katie@theunion.net(WIKI) • (Apple History)

• with system 10.5.8
• Processor: 1.8 GHz PowerPC G5
• Memory: 1.5 GB DDR SDRAM
• Hard Drive: Maxtor 7Y250M0
  • Capacity:  233.76 GB Hard Drive

Software included:

• Microsoft Office 2004
• iLife 09
• iWork 09
• + many more (or less) depending on what you want — if I have it, you can have it.

Available mid April, or sooner.  I just need to swap info into new computer.

Greetings Mac Users, Enthusiasts, and friends

After I sent the last newsletter it was brought to my attention by a member of the past about a subject that has been on my mind ever since joining SMMUG back in 2008. Please read part of the email below.

As much as I would love to go to the Mac user meetings again I find it hard to do so. This is mainly due to the fact that I do not have the means to upgrade beyond my G4 with OS 10.4.11 right now. When I was going to the meetings last year I found it rather frustrating that more and more of what was taught and/or talked about was computers, gadgets, software and an OS that I could not afford or use. Because of this (and until I find a full-time job again) I just couldn’t justify the time or gasoline to go. I think there are a few others that may be in the same boat as I am in.

I definitely miss going to the Mac Users meetings but have other things I need to do to bring in enough to survive instead of learning things I can’t afford to use or buy in the near future and will be all changed again by the time I can. Will anything in the upcoming SMMUG meetings this next year ever be compatible with Tiger and software of that era?

This sent me in a defensive tizzy to try and protect my reputation as a concerned individual for all and to protect the group as a whole not because of selfish feelings but because I feel the same way at times and have had a feeling in the back of my mind when I demo things:

* AM I GOING TOO FAST OR TOO SLOW?
* AM I BORING ANYONE?
* IS THIS SOMETHING MEMBERS WOULD USE OR DO?
* IS THIS SOMETHING MEMBERS HAVE AT THEIR DISPOSAL?

I understand the need to have a topic, discussion, and information that covers the basics to the advanced, as well as, making it interesting to keep peoples attention, but we also have to keep in mind that not everyone in the group has an Intel Core, 10.6, or fast internet connection, let alone the same applications.

The group is for all types of users needing help, information, and guidance; but there needs to be a balance so not to bore the members with the new toys and not to discourage the members that are still using OS9 — this is a MAC USER GROUP.

So my proposal for the group, which I was secretly working on putting the group in the direction any way, is that THIS newsletter will be the informative guide as to what is coming up in the future; I have looked at many other Mac User Group websites, been to some meetings, and talked with their members and I am working on letting members know, well in advance, what the topic of discussion will be and what will be demoed — this will let help you decide on which meetings you would like to attend, but it does not excuse you from coming and asking questions if you ever need help on something, sending the board an email and suggesting or recommending topics of discussion, or paying you dues to keep such a service readily available to you and others.

A meeting format change will be instituted in April; we will start with a question and answer period before we begin any demo or discussion.

I will try and put a key to what level of expertise is needed, what applications can be used, and what OS and hardware is needed so you can make a more informed decision on whether to attend the meeting — this is a work in progress; please be patient as we work out the kinks.
APRIL MEETING

I’ll (Gerald) will be going over some basic TIPS, TRICKS, and SHORT CUTS for the operating system and some applications I call this segment Becoming A Power User. (pdf guide will be available at meeting)

* OS = all
* Hardware = all
* Applications = Mail, Safari, Firefox, Finder, Address Book, and others.

If there is time I will discussing the longevity of pre 10.6 (snow leopard for those that speak that langauge) operating systems and their hardware counterparts. Some may have the question “I have a G4 running 10.4.11 how long am I good for?” That will be answered, as well as, photograph storage and filing, and new apps, tools, and websites of interest. MEETING LOCATION, DAY, and TIME.

What’s is in store for MAY?
Jim Heck and I are working on putting together a HANDS ON TRAINING session at the MAY meeting for those who want to bring their computers to follow along with it, the subject is creating a slideshow / movie project with iMovie (no need for photoshop and so forth). We will have pictures, video, and the project files available for everyone to be on the same page — just like a classroom feel. If interested or not, we need feedback, please drop us a message to smmug@sierramousetrap.org.

RSS our newsletters
Needing a forum of sorts that works to ask questions or answer them then head on over to the NEW SMMUG GOOGLE GROUP
We have a TWITTER Account to follow, but this may not be a needed thing as you can view the info with this newsletter and on our website, so it is still in the testing phase, let us know what you think.

Happy computing

- gerald davenport