iMovie Storage

Earlier today, I made a small but important change to iMovie.  If you use or intend to use iMovie, please be sure to read this.

Previously, iMovie would try to store to your account's space on the servers.  While that is great for Word or PowerPoint, it makes iMovie terribly slow.  And it fills your disk space, which breaks other things.  And it slows the server down, making the computers slow for everyone else.  Not good.

Now, iMovie will store recordings on the computer that you're sitting at.  This means a few things:

1. Its not slow.
2. Its not "killing" the computers for everyone else.
3. You will be leaving your work behind on that computer UNLESS you export it and copy the movie file to your Documents folder.  (See below)
4. Anyone else who sits at that computer can see, edit, and delete your work.  (See below)

These changes make iMovie work on hundreds of our computers.  Before today, it only worked on a handful.  So this was an overall good change.

If you or your students want to keep a video after you finish editing it in iMovie, please follow these steps:

1. Go to the "Share" menu and select "Export".
2. Next to the name of the file, click on the small blue square with the triangle in it.  This will expand the window and allow you to save to a new location.
3. Select "Macintosh HD" --> "Temporary Storage".
4. Select the file size that you want.  Use the guide to help you pick.
5. Name your file.
6. Click "Export".
7. You now have a video file in the "Temporary Storage" folder on the hard drive.  Copy this to your Documents folder so that you can keep it when you logout.
8. You should now be able to logout, login somewhere else, and keep your finished/exported video.

Lastly, please note the only real down side of this change.  Since its on the computer itself and not the server, that means that the students must sit at the exact same computer as the last time they worked on their project.  For example, if your class is editing video on Monday and Wednesday this week, have each student note the computer that they're using on Monday and return to it on Wednesday.  That will let them continue working without disruption.

Try to avoid very long video editing projects, too.  The longer the project, the greater the chance of a student deleting the work on Tuesday.  (This might happen due to malice or just confusion.)

Also, various computer problems may be fixed by replacing or erasing the computer.  So please be sure to mention any iMovie projects on that computer when reporting problems.

Sale on Apple Computer for Students

Apple just posted a sale on new computers.  In addition to the usual academic discounts, you can get $50 or $100 in iTunes credit.  That lets you buy music, TV shows, movies, books, iPhone or iPad apps, Mac software, rent movies, and more.

More details on their web site.

Saving Google Docs

You may find that you (or your students) want to save all of your Google Docs files.  This can be useful for any number of good reasons:  graduation, retirement, leaving Cairo-Durham schools, or just wanting a backup.

To download your Google Docs files, try the directions from Google themselves:
http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=49115&topic=1153350

Alternately, if you want all of your files in one shot, try this:

• Go to the Start Portal and click on Google Docs.
• Login.
• Hover your mouse over any random document so that "Actions" shows up on the right-hand end, next to the date the file was last changed.
• Click on "Actions".  This will show a pop-up menu.
• Click on "Download..." in that menu.  This will show a new window named "Convert and Download".
• Click on the "All items" tab near the top of the "Convert and Download" window.
• Select the type of computer file that you want each type of Google Doc to convert into when you download it.  For example, you might select "PowerPoint" for "Presentation".
• Click the "Download" button.
• Now wait.  If you can't wait, click the "Email when ready" button and check your email later.
• After a few minutes, your computer will download an archive of your files.  If this doesn't begin automatically, you should have a link that you can click on.

Find "Download" in the "Actions" menu.

Select "All items" and converted file types.

Wait while it "packs up" your files.

When the archive is made, you can download it.
If the download doesn't begin automatically,
click "click here to download".