Notes on Recording Editing and Thinking About The Central Park Memorial Video Piece

On the 5th Dec 2016, fifteen days ago, I found and paid for the PowerDirector video editing App by Cyberlink.

I was delighted, as after many failed attempts to edit on mobile I had albeit given up.

This post is a timeline in a method I adopted to create one video, ‘The Central Park Memorial Mother and Child’.

The Open Camera Resource Page and Other Ideas

There are two core features that a still camera or video camera needs to do: Lock Exposure and Lock Focus - Open Camera performs these two beautifully (get Open Camera App in Play Store).

Back in the day, here were was no ‘auto exposure’ or ‘auto focus’. A photographer would have full control over what ended up on the film.

The Android RecForge II Resource Page

RecForge II collage

Recording decent audio is a vital, and as such a necessity. Get it wrong and your audience will leave you faster than a child when the ice cream runs out.

If a video is pretty rubbish to look at, but has great audio - it's watchable. If a video has fantastic looking cinematography but terrible audio where you cannot hear a mumbled word an actor says - you have big problems.

The PowerDirector Android App Resource Page

Update 11 Dec 17 - As the new lead slide shows, it's been ONE YEAR since I started using PowerDirector on Android.

In that time I've made around 200 videos using this App and all for a Grand Total of £10.74, see the breakdown:

• 5 Dec 16 - PowerDirector AndroidApp £5.00
• 27 Feb 17 - Fly Pack Vol 1 at £0.99
• 27 Feb 17 - Slide Pack Vol 1 at £0.89
• 8 Apr 17 - Slide Pack Vol 2 at £0.99
• 18 Apr 17 - Popup Pack Vol 1 at £0.99
• 1 Sep 17 - Transition: 3D-Like Pack 1 at £0.89
• 26 Sep 17 - Transition: 3D-Like Pack 2 at £0.99

timeline dec 16 to dec 17

Total Spend = £10.74 in one year

• There are now 43 videos on the playlist, see below
• After one year I am STILL using PowerDirector and would be lost without it
• PowerDirector is easy and fast to use
• The Voice Over feature is brilliant, clear and effective
• I use text, slides, recording video, recorded android screens to make a decent message get out to people
• However, I also use Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 13.0 on windows 10 too as some edits are better suited on desktop
• Which also means I can easily make a short video by using Google Photos, Create a Movie thereby making PowerDirector a perfect middle ground between one click fast and in depth desktop video editing. 

Lead image for video 25 12 May 17

12 May 17, update - There are now 25 help video that I've made, all on the playlist.

Image on the left, with the reflected tree in cinematic widescreen shows how far we have come.

As I wrote today in the video 25 youtube description, 'This cements PowerDirector as a really powerful video editor. Just perfect. If I were you - make a 100 videos using PowerDirector on Android and see where it takes you.

It's all about creating the right recipe of the tools, the features and  the careful combinations of fine tuning that will help you, quite easily, make videos and films you are more than proud of.'.

Update 20 April 17, All videos on playlist now titled PowerDirector Android App 01 to 21. This is in line with official Cyber Link YouTube Help Channel also using the 'PowerDirector Android App' wording (see their 11 video playlist).