Swivl and Handbrake

What is Swivl and Handbrake? 

Swivl is a robotic mount for an iPad, camera, or phone.  Swivl is designed to track the video of a moving person, as long as they are holding the marker, as they walk around during a presentation.  Swivl also has an app that saves your video to your account immediately.  Handbrake is a free video software that can convert videos to any format.  Handbrake can also compress video files, change the quality and formats, and add subtitles.   Handbrake is available for Windows and Mac computers.

How to use Swivl and Handbrake 
To use Swivl make sure the free app is downloaded onto the device you will be using.  Before you can begin recording you must log into your Swivl account.  After you log in it will take you to the recording area. To change the settings before you record you can press the X in the top left corner to go to your video library.  From there you can access your settings on the right side of the screen.  The settings menu is where you can turn on the option to be able to flip your camera.  This is an important feature because you will not want your students to be able to see the video and get distracted.  To begin recording a video click the record button.  Make sure the maker is clipped to your shirt, so the Swivl will follow you and pick up good sound.  After you are done recording you have the option to change the file name and trim the video before you save it to your library.  Once you click done in the top right corner you will be taken back to your library where you can upload the video to your Swivl website, that you can access on the computer.  To do this click the three dots and click upload.

To download Handbrake visit the official Handbrake website and click download. Once Handbrake
has been downloaded open the Finder icon on your Mac computer.  On the download menu you should see the Handbrake icon and then to open the app just double click the icon.  Once you open Handbrake it should automatically ask you what video you want to work with.  Once you have chosen your video all you need to do is change the preset on the left side of the menu to lowest fast option.  Then click start at the top of the page and your video will be compressed and saved to your desktop.

Advantages 
The advantages for using Swivl and Handbrake are that both of the apps are free and simple to use.  Using a Swivl makes recording presentations easy because it tracts the movement of the presenter. The recording will also have good sound quality if the marker is clipped onto the shirt.

Disadvantages 
The actual Swivl robotic mount is very expensive, around $1000 dollars.  The chances of a school being able to afford many of these devices is low. Another disadvantage is that the sound quality will not be good in the recording if you hold the marker because you will be covering up the microphone. Also, if you have a newer iPad you will need to have an adaptor to connect to the Swivl.

Personal Experience 
Unfortunately, I have not had any experience using a Swivl.  Since I did not do this blog before Spring Break I was not able to check out a Swivl to play around with. In my math class with Dr. Dissler, she gave us a quick tutorial of a Swivl, so I have seen one being used. I have however used Handbrake before to compress a video file.  I recorded myself teaching a small group language arts lesson that was around twenty minuets.  To submit the video to Blackboard I had to compress the file first.  So, I am familiar with compressing video files.

References
Store - Swivl - Video observations that strengthen and inform teachers. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.swivl.com/store/

HPU edTPA Video Tips - Tips for Video Recording. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/view/hpuedtparesourcesite/tips-for-video-recording