Setup
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Set up the Learning Glass (lightboard) on a table. The side with the white border around the glass should face your chair.
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Place the camera on a tripod on the opposite side of the lightboard.
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Turn the camera on and move the tripod until the image in the camera matches the frame of the lightboard.
* You don’t want to be able to see the frame, just the glass.
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Plug the lightboard into an outlet.
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Turn the control knob on the lighboard’s cord clockwise until it clicks. You can then turn it further clockwise to increase the lightboard’s brightness if you wish. However, any brightness value should work fine with the camera if all the lights in the room are off.
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Flip the viewfinder of the camera so that you’ll be able to see it from where you’re sitting.
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Adjust the height of your chair until your head is entirely in the camera’s frame.
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Flip the viewfinder of the camera back to where it was before (otherwise the viewfinder may reflect on the lightboard and produce a glare spot in the video).
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Turn off all the lights in the room.
Recording/usage
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Make sure you use the provided neon markers — regular dry erase markers will not work properly. This is critical!
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If needed, you can receive specific instructions on camera usage from Learning Environments.
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The provided eraser cloth may leave smudges on the lightboard. Don’t worry, they won’t be visible to the camera.
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Wear a dark, solid color shirt. A light or patterned shirt may make some of the writing on the board harder to read.
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To record, press the red button on the camera.
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Check on the viewfinder to ensure that it’s recording. This is also critical!
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You can then write on the screen normally, just like it’s a whiteboard.
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When you are finished, press the red button again to stop recording.
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Check the viewfinder to ensure recording has stopped.
Editing (Mac required)
Because the camera is looking at the other side of the glass, everything you write will be backwards. To fix this, follow these instructions:
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Turn off the camera.
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Remove the SD card and insert it into the SD card reader (an external reader may be required).
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Open iMovie (it’s in the Applications folder). If you can’t find it, download it from the App Store by clicking this link.
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If there’s a “projects” button in the top-left corner, click it. If a popup appears, click OK.
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Click “+ Create New”.
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Click “Movie”.
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Click the big downward-pointing arrow right above “Import Media”.
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Find the SD card in the “Cameras” section of the sidebar in the window that pops up. You may also have a flash drive, which would be under the "Devices" section. They are often titled “NO NAME.”
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Click on the clip you want to import.
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You can click the play button in the preview window to review the clip before importing it.
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Once you’ve picked the clip you want to use, click “Import Selected”.
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Once the clip finishes importing, drag it down into the timeline below (the section that says “Drag and drop video clips and photos from the browser above to start creating your movie”).
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Now, let’s flip the video so the text is oriented correctly:
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Above the preview window, click the Filters button
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Click the box next to “Clip Filter” that says “None”.
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Click the “Flipped” option (it’s the second one from the left in the top row).
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Next, let’s clean up the audio. This should only be necessary if you used the camera’s internal microphone rather than an external one.
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Above the preview window, click the Noise button
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Check the “Reduce background noise” checkbox.
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You can usually leave the slider next to the checkbox at 50%, although you can increase it if there’s still background noise.
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Next, let’s trim the video.
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You can trim out the beginning and end of the video clip so you only end up with the content you want to keep by dragging from either end of the clip in the timeline.
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If you want to remove a section in the middle of the clip:
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Hold down the R key.
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Click and drag to select the section you want to remove.
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Let go of the mouse button and the R key.
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Press the delete (or backspace) key to delete the section.
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Finally, let’s get this video exported.
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Go to File → Share → File…
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You can alter the title of the video by clicking on the large text saying “My Movie”.
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You can also alter the description and tags if you want.
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Click “Next…”
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Enter a file name, choose a folder, then click “Save.”
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It may take a few minutes for the video to export. A small pie chart-style progress bar will show up near the top-right corner of the iMovie window, which will allow you to see how the export is progressing.
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You may work on other tasks while the export is occurring, as a notification will pop up when it’s done.
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When the notification appears, click “Show.” This will take you to the exported video file, which you can use however you’d like.
If any of these steps don’t work or further assistance is needed, contact Learning Environments at x6438.