DKC Training Site

Author: Angela

  • 3D Printing a Custom Name Tag

    For this project, I learned how to 3D print. The last and only time I had ever 3D printed was in seventh grade, so I had no memory of what to do or what software we used. This time, I used Tinkercad in the design process and I designed a name tag for myself. For my name tag, I wanted to make it personalized, and I wanted to incorporate things I like into it. Some things I like are pigs and SpongeBob, so I decided to make the shape of the name tag an outline of a pig and the text style the same type as the one they use in SpongeBob. Overall, I thought Tinkercad was a cool tool, but it was a bit difficult for me since I had no experience using it before. I went through a lot of the tutorials they had on their website, and then I watched two additional videos to help me create my design. One of these videos was about turning 2D images into 3D objects. This was helpful for me because I was able to take a 2D image of a pig and convert it into a 3D pig. I also watched this video about downloading and importing text into Tinkercad. Because of this video, I was able to add my special SpongeBob font into my design. To get the measurements for my name tag, I actually measured some of the other DKC consultants’ name tags! This is my design below:

    Screenshot of Tinkercad website showing nametag design of pig with SpongeBob text saying, "Angela dkc consultant"

    In order to print my name tag, I made a 3D printer training appointment with the DKC. This was actually my first time booking an appointment on the DKC website and Ally was my consultant. I had briefly done a training at the beginning of the year for 3D printing, but this was a nice refresh. I was able to print a tiny pink dinosaur. I think I’ll give him to my sister. She’ll like that.

    tiny 3D printed dinosaur

    I finally printed on April 22nd. At first, my print failed because I cut the layer in the wrong place. My pink pig started to turn white!

    3D printed pig partially colored pink and white.

    I had to start over which was annoying, but it was okay since the print did not take long to do. Here is the final image!!

    3D printed pig with "Angela DKC consultant" written on it.

  • Making my own Workshop

    Title card of my wrorkshop

    On Friday, April 12th, I presented my workshop. I chose to do my workshop on designing YouTube banners with Canva. Overall, it went well. Below is the general schedule of my workshop:

    • Introduction: 2-3 minutes
      • Introduce yourself 
      • What will be doing today: designing a YouTube banner using Canva 
      • Introducing the tool: Canva  
    • 10-15 to do it! 
      • Log into Canva and choose blank YouTube banner template 
      • Setting Canva canvas to appropriate size 
        • Using the middle portion 
        • This site has good tips on format: https://www.wyzowl.com/youtube-banner-size/ 
        • File –> settings –> show rulers and guides or shift+R 
        • Horizontal ruler lines: 508 & 932 
        • Vertical ruler lines: 507 & 2053 
      • Make a design – show what your channel is about 
        • Background color 
        • text 
          • Add channel name/logo 
          • Slogan/what site is going to be about 
          • Frequency of content releases
        • Images related to your channel 
      • Export it as png 
      • YouTube creator studio –> customization –> branding 
      • Upload image  

    One thing I found difficult about the workshop was balancing instructing and giving time for the people to design. I tried my best, but I think as I do more workshops, I will get more comfortable.

  • Top-Secret Video Project Final Cut

    Based on the feedback I received, I made a few changes to my final video cut. Below is a list of the critiques and suggestions on my original video:

    • Jaunty music 
    • Static for tv transition, maybe longer?  
    • Text a bit bigger on slides 
    • Play around with font choice to convey sentiment 
    • Screaming?
    • B-roll tie in with the narration 
    Picture showing "Hello Comrades!" written in stencil text.

    Starting with the first suggestion, I did end up adding music. Since I used Canva as my editor of choice, I went through the available music and tried to find one that fit my video’s theme. I decided to go with music called “Advertising”. It was upbeat and inspirational, and I thought it paired well with my video. I also did end up adding a static sound effect and making the static transition a bit longer. Another thing I changed was my font choice and the size of the text on some parts. I decided to go with a font called stencil because it reminded me of the font used in old propaganda pamphlets. On a couple of slides, the font was a little small, so I made it bigger.

    I did not incorporate two pieces of feedback. One suggestion was that I add screaming to the video, but I felt like it wouldn’t really go with it. The purpose of the video is to create an illusion that the ADC is amazing, and the people are brainwashed except for Winston who gets disappeared. I did not want to add Winston’s scream because I thought it would blatantly break the illusion, and I thought the cut to static was enough. Another piece of feedback that I did not incorporate was the b-roll tie in with narration. Redoing the b-roll would take a long time to do and I already liked the b-roll I captured. Though it may have not matched perfectly with my narration, its overall purpose was to show off the DKC and that is what it did.

    Now, what you all have been waiting for… MY FINAL VIDEO!

    Thank you so much to all the people who helped in its creation. Again, I used Canva to edit this video. While there were limitations, I enjoyed the experience for the most part. I am definitely getting more comfortable using the editor.

  • Top-Secret Video Project Rough Cut

    For the past few weeks, I have been working on a top-secret video project about the Analog Disinformation Center. This is just the rough cut, but soon I will receive feedback and create the final masterpiece. To create this video, I used the Canva editor. Since most people coming to the DKC will probably be using Canva, I figured I should use it more to get familiar with it. Overall, I have had a fun time making this video. I hope everyone enjoys it, and I am so excited to see everyone else’s videos!

  • Sites@UMW

    Today, I created a subsite using Sites@UMW. I made my subsite about pigs because they are my favorite animals, and it is almost National Pig Day. National Pig Day is on March 1st in case you were wondering. If I had to describe the difference between Sites@UMW and DoOO, I would say that Sites@UMW gives users less freedom in the creation of their sites in comparison to DoOO. Sites@UMW is more structured which means it may be easier for new users to create their sites, but they also have less creative control. For example, there are only 26 themes to choose from using Sites@UMW which makes it less overwhelming for new users but also limits their creativity in the design of their site. For someone totally new to web design, Sites@UMW may be the better option to get started on. As they get more comfortable though, I would recommend using DoOO.

  • Storyboards and Video Creation

    Over the past couple of weeks, I have been working on making a trailer for the ADC (Analog Disinformation Center). The first step in this process was making my storyboard. I was inspired by the book, 1984, to create my storyboard. I also used Canva to make and edit it. Through this process, I learned that it is okay to change and even start over your projects. At first, when I was making my storyboard, I had a very dramatic theme. After working on it for a while, I realized this theme just wouldn’t work for the project, so I had to pretty much start over from scratch. It was annoying, but at least I hadn’t begun videoing my project yet. As a result, I switched the theme of my project to be happy and inviting. It is a trailer for people to visit the ADC after all!

    After the storyboard was finished, I began videoing my project. Arden and Ally helped me learn how to use the tripod kit, audio kit, and video kit. Lee, Katy, and Oli also helped in the creation of my project by being actors. I now feel much more confident in using the microphones and the DSLR camera. I have never used either before (besides my first day of training), so I learned a lot! I can’t wait to show everyone my trailer and to see everyone else’s trailers. But first, I have to go edit my videos together!

  • Learning about Accessibility in Web Design

    Today, I learned about designing a website to be accessible. One thing I learned is that text should be at least 16 px or larger. I knew that text should be easy to read, but it’s useful knowing the exact size which it needs to be. Additionally, I learned about linking using descriptive text. This means that when you link a site, you can’t just say “click here”. Instead, you need to describe the site which you are linking. One thing I have a question about is writing alternative text for gifs. I tried looking it up and writing code for it, but I think I was doing it wrong. I’ve never coded before, so I had no idea what I was doing. The accessibility checker gave me a warning about my gif, but again, I couldn’t figure out how to solve the issue.

  • Introduction to Video Editing Process

    This was my first time using Canva to create a video on YouTube. I have made YouTube videos before, but I have always made them on iMovie on my phone because I did not have a laptop until college started. Overall, Canva was a useful tool in creating this video. I liked how you could select a cute template to add your work onto. I also liked how you could add music, sound effects, and voiceovers easily. Personally, I added my voiceover by recording on my phone, transferring it to my laptop, and then uploading it onto Canva. One problem I had with Canva was editing my voiceover. When I would go to a certain part in my video, the audio would start late which would mess up where I wanted to edit my video. To solve this problem, I just had to re-click a couple times where I wanted to start listening to the audio. It was an easy fix, but still annoying. Another problem I had with Canva was with the transitions on my photos. I wanted the transition to just be at the beginning, not the beginning and end of the photo entering and exiting the video. Well, when you add another video clip after the initial one, it automatically changes your photo’s transition to be at the beginning and end. It was easy to change it to just the beginning, but I wished it would stop doing that. On the other hand, I appreciate the variety of transitions Canva has. I mainly used the pop effect on my text and the tumble effect on my photos, but they have lots of options. Also, Canva has a variety of clipart on their website that you can use to add to your videos. I found that really helpful!

    Unrelated to Canva, I found the YouTube uploading process fairly simple. I have done it before, so I am familiar. One thing I hadn’t done before was add captions to my videos. Since I wrote a script for this video, it was easy to add them into the video. Also, YouTube automatically knows where to time the captions, so that was really nice. It was like magic the way the captions were synced with my voice!

    The media I incorporated into my video were either my personal photos of my cat or clipart featured in Canva. The one photo that wasn’t was the photo of the Skippyjon Jones Book. That came from this website. Below is my personal video proving that I am not a robot ↓.

  • Customization and learning about WordPress

    One thing I’ve customized on my site is the menu section. There you can find: Home (links back to the homepage), Angela’s Personal Blog (links to my main domain), and Blog Posts (a page containing all of my blog posts). I have learned a lot about WordPress! My favorite part about creating my website was learning how to pick a theme and making it my own. One video I have recently watched is this one below. It really helped me create my website!

  • Installing my first plugin

    I installed my first plugin, Weglot. The purpose of this plugin is to translate my website into different languages. I only know English, so before my website was only accessible to people who spoke English. Now, my website is accessible to people who speak other languages with Weglot. It’s also easy for people to find where they can translate the site (there is a little button at the bottom).

    As a DKC consultant, I am looking forward to learning more about the 3D printer. I’m excited to create something! Also, I have definitely improved my website making skills, so I am looking forward to teaching other students how to create and edit their website.