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FILM MAKING
WITH THE DIGITAL BLUE CAMERA
Please
note before reading:
if you are thinking of buying a camera for use with children then I do
not recommend that you buy a digital blue unless you can pay significantly
less than its rrp. I believe that for the same money you can get a much
better camera. However, if you have arrived here, then the chances are
that you are stuck with one or more already - don't despair, kids can
have a lot of fun with this camera and are able to produce some great
films. So, read on..
Introduction
I've been helping out at a primary school ICT club and would like to share
some of my experiences of film making using digital blue cameras. When
I started out I had little experience of film making or of working with
children other than my own; I have made many mistakes along the way! But
the kids have had lots of fun and we managed to pick up a couple of awards
in a county run competition.
First
a word about the cameras themselves. Digital Blue cameras ("affectionately"
known as digiblues) were originally developed by Intel and came onto the
market in 2001. This was a time when digital cameras and camcorders commanded
high prices and kids didn't really get a look in. At $99 (it cost more
like £100 in the UK), Intel's "toy" camcorder for kids
was revolutionary; robust, easy to install, easy to use and loads of fun.
Technology has moved on a lot since then, but sadly the digiblue has not.
The
digital blue camera is into its third version now. I have had the "pleasure"
of using all three versions at some stage and list my thoughts on them
below. It may also help you to identify any camera that you have found
stuffed at the back of a cupboard (they often are).
Digital
Blue Version 1
There
were two revisions of this camera and both will only work with version
1 of the software (Digital Movie Creator). One is marked on the side with
INTEL PLAY, and the other with "Digital Blue".
Recording
time away from the computer is very limited and the picture quality is
poor. However, I have done a lot of stop motion with this camera and the
results are acceptable. Here are two examples of animations done with
a version 1 camera with just normal classroom lighting:
Chinese
New Year paper shape animation
Fuzzy
felt animation
and here
are a couple done with lighting from below (lightbox)
A
Forest by Night silhouette animation
Halloween
silhouette animation
I found that
plasticine animation was disappointing with this camera; the colours were
not vibrant enough.
These cameras
occasionally appear on ebay - I got mine for about £5. For anyone
interested in reading about the design and development of the original
Intel camera take a look here.
Digital
Blue Version 2
This one has been around since about 2005. It has a slightly longer recording
time than version 1 and the video quality is slightly better. The software
is much the same but not compatible with Version 1 cameras; you can however
install both versions on a single machine without problems. For stop motion,
the only differences that I have noticed are that colours are picked out
better and it can work slightly better in lower light conditions. Otherwise
not hugely different to Version 1. These cameras crop up on ebay for about
£30.
Digital
Blue Version 3
Version
3 of the Digiblue boasts superior image quality and longer recording times.
However, it still costs around £100 and these days you can get a
better quality digital camera capable of recording videos for much less.
This camera comes with a flip out screen and the ability to play back
stored video. The user interface for this playback feature is basic and
imho quite horrible, however, the kids seem to manage ok with it. There
is a new zoom facility which is truly awful; the camera zooms in discrete
steps rather than smoothly and it is performed by a physical switch which
clicks - the click is picked up by the camera's microphone rendering the
zoom facility useless. And the zoomed shot is only shown in the flip out
screen and not through the view finder. Build quality is appalling - at
least versions 1 and 2 had a good feel to them and could suffer knocks
and drops without too much worry. Version 3 is made of some really cheap
plastic (well the blue version is, haven't tried the gold/brown one) and
is badly finished. And finally, they have added a memory card slot so
that you can make much longer recordings - this is an improvement but
the software (movie creator) that comes with the Digital Blue takes absolutely
ages to download and 'convert' the clips so don't expect to film and edit
in the same club session. If you do have these cameras and are doing live
action filming rather than stop motion then my advice would be as follows.
After filming, transfer the memory card to a memory card reader (dirt
cheap) and copy directly into your computer. This is much faster. Edit
your footage with Windows Movie Maker (free with windows) - my daughter
coped well with this software at the age of 8. I think that Digital Blue's
Movie Creator was never designed with lengthy movie clips in mind and
suffers as a result.
Digital
Blue Movie Creator Software
A new version of this software was produced with each camera and is not
backwards compatible. However, you can install all three versions of the
software on the same computer. The software is basic and once you go beyond
basic editing it is extremely frustrating to use, especially if you are
used to more sophisticated editing software. However, if you are aware
of its limitations then you can work well with it. For stop motion, keep
your clips short - it is easier to combine several clips than it is to
shorten long clips. Make sure you know how to add sound, narration, background
tracks - some sounds carry across all clips, others end when the clip
ends. The software comes with its own sound effects but can be enhanced
by adding your own - I tend to add small collections relevant to the projects
we are working on and then remove them when we have finished - otherwise
it all gets a bit cluttered. Kids can add their own sounds if they know
how to traverse directories and are given clear instructions on how to
import the sounds into Movie Creator. The kids love the video effects
that come with the software (version 3 added quite a few more) but can
go a bit crazy with them. I let them have a session of just playing around
with the video effects in the hope that they will learn "less is
more" when it comes to creating their projects. If you are looking
for more conventional video editing software then give Windows Movie Maker
(free with Windows) a go - digiblue videos can be imported and edited
easily in this software.
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