- For best results, you should not hand-hold your device; rather, try to mount it on a tripod or at least stabilize it by putting one edge of your device against a fixed object (eg, a table or chair) to prevent camera shake
- While the app lets you choose the brightness of the Santa image that is superimposed on your video, a dimly lit room will most closely match the available lighting options
- If you choose to save videos to your iOS device, the resolution of the video will be 1280x720; while it is technically high definition, full HD (1920x1080) would have been nicer
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Santa In Your Pocket
Just for kicks, I decided to test out the Kringl app to see if I could provide evidence to my 5-year old daughter that Santa Claus really did visit our home and drop off a present for her on Christmas Eve. Basically the app lets you record a short video of your own home, and it superimposes a video of Santa so that it looks like Santa had actually visited your home. There is some general information on the Kringl web site about features and functions, but here are a few tips that you might not have learned from their official site:
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Lee Family 2014 Year In Review
Greetings! We hope you enjoy our annual Lee Family 2014 Year In Review. For prior editions of our Year In Review newsletter, click here. Also check out my YouTube channel.
Happy (holidays + new year)!
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
DIY Calendars on a Mac
Since we are in the last month of 2014, many of us may be looking for 2015 calendars either for personal use or to gift to a friend or family member. While many companies allow you to upload your photos and customize your own calendars, there are do-it-yourself options that can save you a lot of money. Additionally, given that many online calendar services have very clunky tools, the do-it-yourself options may also save you a lot of time. In this post, I will discuss 2 different options for making your own calendar on a Mac and a budget (note the application of zeugma here).
Option #1: Calendar with Photos
Assuming that you bought your Mac within that last several years, you likely already have iPhoto installed. If you don't, then you can probably find the installer on your backup/installation disc. And if that option fails, then you should be able to download iPhoto from the App Store for free (or possibly for a small price, depending on which version of Mac OS X came with your Mac--I have not verified this recently, as Apple's policies may have changed and they may be offering free downloads for any version of Mac OS X).
Making photo calendars in iPhoto is very simple and intuitive, so at the risk of overstating the obvious, I'll briefly walk you through the process. Start by making sure you have imported photos into your iPhoto library if you don't already have them stored there. If importing photos exclusively for making a calendar (eg, you store your photo originals somewhere other than iPhoto), make sure you import at least 13 photos--that's one photo for each month, plus one for the front cover. Import more photos if you want to put one on the back cover and/or if you want to insert multiple photos per month and/or if you want your calendar to have more than 12 months.
Once you have your photos imported, make sure they are all stored in the same event, select the event, and then select File > New Calendar. That's really the hardest part. From there, you enter a calendar wizard that guides you through selecting a theme, inserting national holidays and/or personal calendar events/birthdays, editing layouts, dragging and dropping photos onto existing layouts, etc. While Apple gives you an option to buy the calendar (they will print, bind, and ship to you), I prefer to print out my calendars on regular letter-sized paper using my laser printer, and I get great results.
If you prefer to print your calendar at your local print shop, just "print" your calendar to a PDF file. All versions of Mac OS X have PDF technology (Quartz) built in, so you can select File > Print, and from the Print dialog box, select PDF > Save as PDF. From there, copy your PDF file to a USB drive (or upload it to your local print shop if that's an option) and off you go.
Option #2: Calendar Only (No Photos)
Again, assuming that you bought your Mac within the last several years, you likely already have the Calendar or iCal application. Simply launch Calendar (or iCal) and select File > Print. From there, simply configure all the options you want such as View (eg, month, week, day), Paper (eg, US Letter), time range, etc. and print. There you have it--a no-frills, no-cost (well, except for the minimal price of paper and ink/toner) calendar.
Option #1: Calendar with Photos
Assuming that you bought your Mac within that last several years, you likely already have iPhoto installed. If you don't, then you can probably find the installer on your backup/installation disc. And if that option fails, then you should be able to download iPhoto from the App Store for free (or possibly for a small price, depending on which version of Mac OS X came with your Mac--I have not verified this recently, as Apple's policies may have changed and they may be offering free downloads for any version of Mac OS X).
Making photo calendars in iPhoto is very simple and intuitive, so at the risk of overstating the obvious, I'll briefly walk you through the process. Start by making sure you have imported photos into your iPhoto library if you don't already have them stored there. If importing photos exclusively for making a calendar (eg, you store your photo originals somewhere other than iPhoto), make sure you import at least 13 photos--that's one photo for each month, plus one for the front cover. Import more photos if you want to put one on the back cover and/or if you want to insert multiple photos per month and/or if you want your calendar to have more than 12 months.
Once you have your photos imported, make sure they are all stored in the same event, select the event, and then select File > New Calendar. That's really the hardest part. From there, you enter a calendar wizard that guides you through selecting a theme, inserting national holidays and/or personal calendar events/birthdays, editing layouts, dragging and dropping photos onto existing layouts, etc. While Apple gives you an option to buy the calendar (they will print, bind, and ship to you), I prefer to print out my calendars on regular letter-sized paper using my laser printer, and I get great results.
If you prefer to print your calendar at your local print shop, just "print" your calendar to a PDF file. All versions of Mac OS X have PDF technology (Quartz) built in, so you can select File > Print, and from the Print dialog box, select PDF > Save as PDF. From there, copy your PDF file to a USB drive (or upload it to your local print shop if that's an option) and off you go.
Option #2: Calendar Only (No Photos)
Again, assuming that you bought your Mac within the last several years, you likely already have the Calendar or iCal application. Simply launch Calendar (or iCal) and select File > Print. From there, simply configure all the options you want such as View (eg, month, week, day), Paper (eg, US Letter), time range, etc. and print. There you have it--a no-frills, no-cost (well, except for the minimal price of paper and ink/toner) calendar.
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