SchoolArts - May/June 2010

Software Reviews
Cindy Hasio

Adobe Photoshop Elements and Pre-
miere Elements 8 Bundle. ©Adobe,
2009. $149.99.

This Adobe software bundle covers a broad range of easy-to-use programs with the most complete photo and video editing software available.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 is a user-friendly, easy-to-navigate program that makes editing pictures simple. Users can edit photos and videos, and create collages, movies, greeting cards, photo books, calendars, and interactive DVDs. Elements 8 also allows users to share their online album, e-mail attachments, burn to CD and DVD, create Blue Ray, import to mobile phones, and upload to the Web.

Adobe Premiere Elements 8 allows users to easily perform the basic photo retouching, create montages, and import video clips. The Auto-Analyzer feature processes clips and detects camera shake and audio track volume. It will also analyze if the shot is long, medium, or a close up. The Create tab allows users to create collages, calendars, and greetings cards with still images.

Adobe Contribute CS4 is a Web productivity program that allows users to add content to their Web pages in a user-friendly, easy-to-navigate interface. The program allows users to modify a Web page, edit images or links, preview, publish, and test Web pages. One of the interesting features of Contribute CS4 is its blog feature, which allows users to create entries, add video, edit, connect to a server, and publish their blogs.

Adobe Soundbooth CS4 allows users to create audio files and multi-tracks. Users can record audio and

add effects such as sound distortion or sound dynamics, as well as create sound loops, correct the volume, and change the pitch and timing of their audio files. In addition, Soundbooth CS4 can clean up audio, remove sounds, and add audio and video tracks.

Adobe Acrobat 9 allows users to download entire websites and import them as PDFs. Users may create PDFs that include text documents, spread-sheets, e-mail, images, and video, and compress all of the files in a PDF Portfolio. There are also options for adding password and encryption for security.

Overall, this bundle is highly recommended for any educator or any novice user who would like to achieve professional images and videos with special effects in just a few simple clicks.

—Cindy Hasio is a Ph.D student in art education at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.

Web Reviews
Rebecca Arkenberg

Between the Folds www.pbs.org/independentlens/ between-the-folds/ index.html For a long time, I have searched for an origami site to review. Then in December 2009, the Independent Lens film Between the Folds was shown on PBS. This is a fascinating film, spotlighting ten individuals, including artists, mathematicians, theoretical scientists, and educators who work with origami in traditional and nontraditional techniques. The website that accompanies the film provides a wealth of supporting information and extensions to classroom use.

Click on “The Film” for an introduction and three short video clips. As a subhead, “The People” introduces each artist through a short biographical paragraph with a link to his or her website, and in some cases, photo galleries or video clips on TED or You-Tube.

“History of Origami” discusses the invention of paper in China, the first written instructions for origami from eighteenth-century Japan, and the art and science of paper-folding from Moorish Spain, as well as modern applications.

“Match the Folds” is an interactive quiz that invites you to match the finished origami object with its fold patterns, then download the fold pattern to make that particular shape.

“Learn More” lists additional sites, including The Origami Resource Center with hundreds of models suitable for classroom use ( www.origami-re-source-center.com/index.html). Other sites provide more information on the history of origami and a timeline of folded paper. “Get Involved” includes PDFs of a facilitator’s guide and a discussion guide that could be used for classroom discussions.