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Heather MacDonald Greene Multimedia Center

Home  |  Hardware and Software | F.A.Q. and Help | Policies | Reservations

Frequently Asked Questions and Software Help


General note of caution: make sure to both save and export your video files so they will play once you leave the multimedia center.  Please ask the multimedia center staff for assistance if you are not sure how to do this or see the Exporting Videos tutorials below.

Click on one of the following services to access help:
Books
Compatible Formats
Adobe Photoshop CS3
Adobe Premiere Pro CS3
Camtasia Studio 5
Corel Paint Shop Pro X2
Windows Movie Maker

Sony Handycams
Online Tutorials

Books:

The handbooks and training books listed below are available for use in the multimedia center.

  • Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium Classroom in a Book by Adobe Creative Team
  • Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 Classroom in a Book by Adobe Creative Team
  • Adobe Flash CS4 Classroom in a Book by Adobe Creative Team
  • Adobe Illustrator CS4 Classroom in a Book by Adobe Creative Team
  • Adobe InDesign CS4 Classroom in a Book by Adobe Creative Team
  • Adobe Photoshop CS3 Classroom in a Book by Adobe Creative Team
  • Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 Bible by Adele Droblas and Seth Greenberg
  • Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 Classroom in a Book by Adobe Creative Team
  • Photoshop CS3 Bible by Laurie Ulrich Fuller and Robert C. Fuller
  • Picture Yourself Learning Paintshop Pro X2 by Diane Koers
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Compatible Formats:

  • SM
  • XD
  • CF/MD
  • SD/Mini
  • MMC/RS
  • MS/DVO/DUO
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Adobe Photoshop CS3:

  • Open picture file:
    After opening Photoshop, click on File -> Open. In the navigation window, navigate to the file you wish to open.

  • Save file: File -> Save As. Navigate to the location you want to save (your flash drive) and then type in the name you want to give the file in the filename box. Select the format you want to save your project in. By default it saves as a PDS file; Photoshop's default file format.  Files in this format can only be opened with Photoshop. If you are wanting to save the picture so that others can view it, first save a version in the Photoshop format (so you can edit later) then save as a jpeg or bitmap file.

  • Simple way to convert a color picture to black and white:
    Image -> Adjustments -> Desaturate.  Or Image -> Mode -> Grayscale.

  • To switch to the paint brush tool:
    Hit the "b" key on the keyboard. Otherwise, select the paintbrush icon on the toolbar, it is the 8th one down.

  • To switch to the paint bucket tool (used to fill in large areas with color):
    Click and hold on the paint bucket icon (the one below the eraser). Then select paint bucket from the two choices that pop up.

  • To switch to the eraser tool.
    Press "e" on the keyboard. Or click on the eraser icon in the toolbar.

  • To add text to your project:
    Switch to the text tool, either by pressing "t" on the keyboard or by selecting the text tool from the toolbar; an uppercase T.

  • To zoom in:
    Use the zoom tool. Either press "z" on the keyboard or select the magnifying glass icon from the toolbar.

  • To change the color of the paint for the paint brush:
    Double click on the top little square at the bottom of the side toolbar. A box titled color picker (Foreground Color) opens up and you can choose your color. Move the vertical slider along the spectrum of colors to the part that most closely matches the color you are looking for. Once you have done that, you can pick the exact color you are looking for in the box to the left of the slider. You will notice that when you move your cursor over the box, it becomes a small circle. Place this circle over the hue that you are looking for and then hit the left mouse button. This will change the current color. The small box in the upper right hand side of the window shows the color you had previously on the bottom with the new color on the top part of the box. Once you are happy with your selection, hit ok. The paint brush and paint bucket will now use your chosen color until you change it.

  • For other questions there is an extremely useful help function in Photoshop. It is quite extensive. To access the help you can either go to Help -> Photoshop Help. or hit F1. The information is displayed in the right hand pane. Any text that is blue can be clicked on to expand that topic.

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Adobe Premiere Pro CS3:

  • After opening Premiere, you have to chose to either make a new project or open an existing one. If you have already started a project, select that choice. In the window that opens, navigate to where your project is located or select new project. In the window that pops up, you have to choose the type of output you are going for. Select wide screen or full screen by clicking on the option in the available presets pane. Next, select where you want to save in the location bar. You will need to hit the browse button beside the location bar and then navigate to where you want to save. (Remember, you can save to the computer while editing, but as soon as you sign off, your data will be erased from the machine. Make sure you save to your flash drive.) Give your project a name by typing the name into the name bar. Once your project has been named, you can hit the OK button.

  • To save:
    File -> Save.
    Note, this only saves the project to the location that you told it to save to when you created the project. If you want to save to a different location, you need to select save as.


  • Save as. Use this to select where you are saving:
    File -> Save As.
    Navigate to where you want to save.  If you want to open your project elsewhere, you must Export.

  • Exporting:
    Save your project first, then File -> Export -> Movie.  You can choose "Settings" and change the file type to Quicktime, AVI, etc.


  • For other questions, there is an extremely useful help function in Premiere Pro. It is quite extensive. To access the help you can either go to Help -> Adobe Premiere Pro Help. or hit F1.  The information is displayed in the right hand pane. Any text that is blue can be clicked on to expand that topic.

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Camtasia Studio 5:

  • To start a project:
    Choose an option on the Welcome window or choose File -> New Project.

  • To save your project:
    File -> Save As.
    In the "Source Clips" drop down menu, choose "Move source clips to project folder".  Save the project to your flash drive.

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Corel Paintshop Pro X2:

  • To open a file:
    File -> Open.
    Navigate to where your file is located. Select the file you wish to open and hit Open.

  • To Save:
    File -> Save As. (If you use the regular save, it will overwrite your original, rarely what you want.) Select the place you wish to save your file. (Remember you cannot save to the hard drive, if you do, once you sign off, your file will be lost.) Navigate to where your flash drive is located by using the "Save in" drop down menus at the top or "My Computer" in the left pane. Once you have selected your save destination, give your file a name by entering the name you wish to use for the file into the File Name box. After you have done this, you must choose the file format you wish to save as. You will choose PSPImage if you plan to continue to work to work in Paint Shop Pro. Saving in jpeg or bitmap formats will allow you to edit and view your file in other programs; you will most likely want to save in jpeg or bitmap format.

  • General help:
    Paint Shop provides a help menu inside itself that covers most general questions. To access this, go to Help -> Help Topics. In this help menu, you can use the tabs in the left pane to either browse by topic, index, or you can choose to search the help. You can select any topic by clicking on it. Anything in blue type with an underline on it can be clicked on to bring up more details about that subject.


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Windows Movie Maker:
  • Saving:
    First, save your project using File -> Save As.  You will have to save it to "My Documents".  Next, save your project using File -> Save Movie File, make sure to save to your flash drive.  This will allow your movie/project to be played in any number of media players.
  • Compatibility:
    If you have created a Windows Movie Maker file on your own computer using Windows Vista, it will not open in the multimedia center. Please make sure you only bring in files that have been created in Windows Movie Maker for Windows XP.

Sony Handcams:

  • Transferring files to a flash drive:
    Plug the gray cable from the wall into the camera, then push the left USB button on the camera screen.  After this, all the transferring will be done on the computer.  Choose Sony Picture Utility from Start > Programs.  Click on Import Media Files and then choose Handycam/Computer Disc.  From here you can preview the video files and see what is saved on the mini-disc.  Select the video file needed or click on select all if you need all the files.  To transfer them to your flash drive, browse for a new device and choose your flash drive.  Click on Import and wait for the video to transfer.
  • When clearing the files off a Handycam MiniDisc, make sure to reset the disc to standard mode instead of HD mode.
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Online Tutorials and Help:


Adobe Photoshop CS3 Photoshop Support Center from the Adobe official website
Getting Started with Adobe Photoshop tutorial from University of Texas-Austin School of Information
Adobe Photoshop help from Tutorialized.com
Tutorials for Photoshop CS3 from Photoshop Support.com
Adobe Systems, Inc. Photoshop bookmarks on del.icio.us
Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 Premiere Pro Support Center from Adobe official website
Adobe Premiere Pro help from Tutorialized.com
Adobe Premiere Pro tutorials from Media College.com
Richard's Premiere Pro CS3 Tutorials from Missouri University of Science and Technology
Adobe Systems, Inc. Premiere Pro bookmarks on del.icio.us
Camtasia Studio 5 Camtasia Studio Tutorials from TechSmith Learning Center
How to Use Camtasia Studio from Institute for Distance and Distributed Learning at Virginia Tech University
Camtasia Video Tutorials from Web Reference.com
Corel Paintshop Pro X2 Paintshop Pro Photo Tutorials from Corel.com
Corel Paint Shop Pro Essentials Tutorials from VTC Computer Software Training
Windows Movie Maker Getting Started with Windows Movie Maker from Microsoft
Creating and Sharing Great Movies from Microsoft
Windows Movie Maker tutorials and articles from Windows Movie Makers.net
Exporting Videos Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 (wmv file)
Windows Movie Maker (wmv file)


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suggestions/contact | updated 8/28/2009