Has story time video-editing become a tedious hassle? It doesn't have to be.
Matt Mazur, co-founder and director of Turtle Dance Music, shares five free video-editing apps that can help make your virtual story times a breeze. No more hunching over a laptop to figure out complicated software; these phone-friendly apps are so easy, you can walk your dog and edit at the same time. And they’re free! Below, Matt covers the basics of each of these apps in a 6-minute video, or scroll down to read highlights.
Adobe Premiere Rush (free for the first few videos)
Adobe Premiere Rush is the quickest and easiest app to edit your virtual story times. Simply take your photos of the book and select them. To make this easier, save your book photos into their own separate folder within your camera roll.
Once your photos are uploaded, the app allows you to record your voiceover directly over the sequential images of the book pages.
VLLO (free with advertisements)
Most of these apps follow a similar process. With VLLO, you can simply upload the photos and do your voiceover. A great feature with VLLO is that you can put a picture-in-picture. For example, you can record a video of you speaking and acting out motions of the story and place that video in the corner of the book page. This feature is great for sign language story time opportunities!
InShot (free with advertisements)
InShot is a great app for direct social media sharing! You can choose from a variety of filters, effects and free music. This app also allows you to record your story time voiceover directly over your photos.
Video Editor (free with advertisements)
With Video Editor, you can incorporate fun transitions and a large library of fonts and emoticons.
Video Leap (free with advertisements)
Video Leap has unique effects and texts that you can use in your story time videos. With this app, it’s very easy to add text directly over your images.
If your library has the budget to do so, paying for premiere versions of the apps will get rid of advertisements and unlock other features. At the basic level, however, the free versions of these apps are all easy and accessible. Try out each app to find which one works best for your needs.
Matt Mazur is co-founder and director of Turtle Dance Music. He is the co-author of the children’s book "Scrak’s Big Adventure," written with and illustrated by Tim Shaw, an autism advocate and artist and Matt’s brother-in-law. Proceeds from the book go toward scholarship funds for adults with autism to attend local colleges. Follow Turtle Dance Music on Facebook for more. Mr. Matt would be happy to offer a free in-depth virtual story time webinar to your library staff/county-wide system; e-mail him at TurtleDanceMusic@gmail.com for more info or if you have further tech questions.
