Jacob’s QuickTips

Jacob Woolcock

How to create an Augmented Reality Book Review

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https://youtu.be/zAKOxugYRV4

Video Transcript

Let’s have a look at how we can use Images to create some Augmented Reality experiences based around real world objects – in this example an AR book review.

In Keynote I’ve made a really simple template for a book review. You can download this here.

I’m going to open up Reality Composer now and I’m going to create a new project. I’m going to choose the Image as my anchor point this time and when it opens I’m going to delete that blue shape on top. I don’t need it so I’ll tap on it once to select, then again to delete. Then you’re left with a placeholder for an image. Tap on there once to select it and then in the Inspector on the right hand side you can choose your source for the image. This will open up the Files browser and I’ve downloaded an image of my book cover which I’m now going to select and it’ll drop it straight into Reality Composer.

This book is now actually far bigger than the real book would be so when I tap on the object I can adjust the Physical Width and Physical Height sliders in the Inspector. Get these a bit closer to what they ought to be in order to make your experience even more realistic.

Then I’m going to swipe up to show the Dock and I’m going to drag Keynote over as a popover window. With my book review on the screen I need to tap and highlight all of the objects to make sure they’re grouped into one single object. Then I’m going to tap and hold and when it’s selected I’m going to slide it across into Reality Composer and let go on top of the book. From here I can adjust the scale of this object to make it match the book underneath. I can obviously zoom in and out and rotate but we’re working on a flat plane this time so you don’t need to worry about rotating through all 3 axis.

Finally, once we’re happy that everything is lined up and at more-or-less the same scale we’re going to press the Play and the AR buttons in the top of the toolbar. When it realises that my actual image (which is the book cover) is in the shot it’ll then snap into place and anchor itself to the cover. That means however I move the book, or the camera on the iPad, I’ll get that Augmented Reality experience right over my book.

There are so many ways you could use this in your classroom. Imagine making a display board of pupil work come to life. The book review is just one idea.

How to create Head Tracking Scenes

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https://youtu.be/4A2GlmNNkvs

Video Transcript

Let’s have a look at how we can use Reality Composer to create some Augmented Reality content linked to our faces.

To start with I’ve used Keynote to draw these very stylish and fashionable sunglasses. I’m going to swipe this page away for now and open up Reality Composer. Now, as long as you’re using a device with a TrueDepth camera, (so one that has FaceID), you can create a new document with the Face as an Anchor Point.

Tap onto here and you’ll get a new document – a new workspace – with a face mask in the middle. There’s a speech bubble in the top corner, but we don’t want that for now, so you’re going to tap on the bubble once to select it, and then tap on it again and press delete.

At this point I’m going to drag up from the bottom to show the dock, and I’m going to slide the Keynote window over as a popover window. I can now see Reality Composer and Keynote so I’m going to tap on my sunglasses once, and then I’m going to tap and hold to select them and lift them off of the page. I can now slide my finger across and drop it straight into Reality Composer.

From here I can adjust the position and size of my glasses. On the right hand side in the Inspector I’ve also got a Scale option so I’m going to make the sunglasses a bit more of a normal size and then position them above the bridge of the nose. So when I tap on the arrows I get three different colour arrows, one for each of the X, Y and Z co-ordinates I can tap and drag to move the object around, or rotate them by using the circles.

When your glasses are in place and looking good you can go to the top corner and press the AR and Play buttons. This will get rid of all the interface from the program and it’ll just show you wearing your very stylish new glasses!

It’s a bit of fun making some novelty summer sunglasses, but imagine using it in the classroom to recreate your favourite book characters, such as Harry Potter with his glasses and lightning-bolt scar. Or perhaps you might even have a role-playing exercise where you dress up as different characters using Augmented Reality. It’s great fun!

There really are so many possibilities for using the Face Anchor in Reality Composer and I’d love to see what you come up with. So if you make anything interesting share it in the comments down below or tweet it to me on Twitter @JacobWoolcock. I’d love o to see what you’re making in Reality Composer!

Use Snapseed to create photographic clones of yourself on your iPad

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https://youtu.be/TTFg2J12_aU

Video Transcript

Here’s something fun to try on your iPad with your pupils, why not Clone yourself to make multiple versions of you in a photograph? Here’s how:

First up we’re going to open up the Snapseed app and then tap to import your first picture. I’m going to take all my pictures using the Hands-Free Selfie guide I posted a few weeks ago and I’m going to make sure I don’t move my camera at any point – so the background will be the same. I’m going to choose my base picture, import it, and then press the Pencil to add an adjustment.

From here I’m going to tap onto Double Exposure. In Double Exposure mode I’m going to press Open Image and then I’m going to select the second picture. This will be of me in a different position but sat around the same table. At this point you might notice that the picture is kind-of half transparent and you can see both as ‘ghostly’ images – that’s not what I want.

Go to Transparency and move it to 100% so you can only see your new picture. From here you’re going to tap onto the Edit button at the top and then go to View Edits then you can see the second layer with the Double Exposure on it. Tap on there and then you can mask a shape around the area that you want to keep on that particular layer.

I’m going to carefully use my finger to mask out an area around my person and then hopefully when you press Done you’ll see both images on the same photo, side-by-side. Of course I can repeat this process as many times as I like by tapping on to the Edit button and then Double Exposure and then importing a new photo.

I’ll do it one last time so you get the idea. Make sure you’ve got your transparency up to 100%, so that it’s completely opaque on top of your original image, and then when you press Edit and View Edits you can tap onto that second Double Exposure and again you can use the masking tool to mask around the area you want.

It really does create a very interesting effect and it’s very easy to do!

Oh, and if you’re wondering who won the game of Monopoly Deal? It was me, of course!

Live Demo: Making a QuickTips Video (from Start to Finish)

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Right, let’s do this.

Every week since the 2019 Institute I’ve made a 60 second(ish) Quick Tips video – designed to teach my colleagues a new skill or tip for their iPads.  They’ve grown since then and are now shared widely within our community and beyond.  I’m thrilled that these little videos have taken on such a life of their own and at the time of writing they’ve been viewed over 65,000 times on Youtube.

So I thought (given I’m making one anyway), why not live-stream the process from start to finish?  We’re taking from the initial recording of the Memoji and the iPad screen itself to bringing both into Final Cut Pro X and going through the process of editing, tweaking, altering, polishing and exporting.  If people are still hanging around I can go through the thumbnail creation process in Adobe Photoshop CC too and even the uploading and keywords tagging on YouTube.  Literally from start to finish.  All my secrets shared (most of them anyway!).

I reckon this will take around an hour and a half.  It might be boring and nobody might come. Or there might be a few of there for a nice chat as I work.

I might have had a lot of coffee and be buzzing and talking nonsense.  Nobody knows.  But that makes it a little more exciting, right?

So yeah, if you’ve nothing else to do this Sunday or if you just fancy learning a bit about how I use Final Cut Pro to create these videos then add this to your calendar.  I can’t promise a slick and smooth presentation but you will see the entire process.  Maybe you can even help me choose the subject of the video (let me know in the comments if you’ve any ideas!).

Event will take place on Sunday 12th July 2020, starting at 1.45pm BST. Please send me a DM on Twitter for the Zoom link and password.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am not a Final Cut Pro wizard. I will probably be doing things in a very awkward way and and sort of expert would probably laugh their head off watching me.

How to Install Custom Fonts on your iPad or iPhone using the free Fontcase App

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https://youtu.be/FaccGvPXu6A

Video Transcript

Let’s take a quick look at how we can install some custom fonts onto our iPads and iOS devices.

Installing fonts on iOS devices is always a little bit tricky but the new Fontcase app (which is free to download), it makes it a little bit more straightforward.

First of all I’m going to find a font that I want to install -you can get this from any source you like, I’m going to use Google Web Fonts.

I’m going to search for one called Varela which I use quite a lot from here I’m going to download it straight into my iCloud Drive in the downloads folder.

When you’ve got that font file into the Files app on your iPad, or iOS device you can then open up the Fontcase app.

From here go to the top left corner and choose Import and navigate to that font file.

When it shows up in the list you can tap on it to get a preview and you can add as many font files as you like at this stage.

Then, when you’re happy, go to the top right corner and press Install.

Here you’re going to choose Download Fonts And then you’ll be told that it’s installing a profile (this is okay).

You’ll need to go to the Settings app now where you can then choose ‘Profile Downloaded’ and iOS will let you decide if you’re happy to have that running on your device.

If you want the font press Yes and Install and that should be the whole process complete.

Now you’ve installed your custom fonts you should be able to access them from other apps.

If I go into Pages now and highlight my title, that new font, Varela Round, will show up in my Font library.

This is a really great way to customise the work you’re making on your iPad and it’s a little bit cumbersome, but when it works you’ll be using these new fonts all the time.

Hey, thanks for watching that video!

Now if you enjoyed that and you want to find some more QuickTips for your iPad or to use in your classroom, then do me a favour and press the Subscribe button down below.

That’ll really help me out and it’ll help you keep up to date with all the latest tips and tricks on my Youtube channel.