Here are some things to check and some things to do to prevent some headaches with your iPad:
Reboot
Do the iPad reboot dance – DON’T just shut it down, you MUST swipe out of all your running apps. THEN shut it down, wait 20 seconds, crank it back up again.
Clear it out
You always need to leave some working room on your device. Running out of space causes quite a few really weird symptoms. CLICK HERE for details on how to check and what to do.
Update your OS
If you have an operating system update pending, that it taking up room on your iPad, AND often the system update fixes bugs and adds new features. PLUG IN YOUR IPAD and the open up Settings –> General –> System Update, and install it.
LANDSCAPE ORIENTATION – over 90% of the time you should be shooting in Landscape orientation [a.k.a. SIDEWAYS]. The ONLY time Portrait Orientation is preferred is if 99% of your audience will be looking at the video on their phone, AND they don’t know how or are too lazy to turn their phone sideways.
GOOD AUDIO IS IMPORTANT. After all, without it you just created a silent movie. Talk louder than you think, and be aware of all the noise that it around you [try closing your eyes and listening to the sounds around.]
PLAN what is going to happen – it will save time. What shots do you want? What sounds? Where? Who is going to be in it?
Here’s a good process to follow when creating a video
Shoot your footage.
Get too much video – it’s easier to delete extra material than to stretch out material because you don’t have enough.
Put the clips in rough order.
Add titles.
Record your voiceover, if you are going to add one.
After recording bump the volume up as much as you can – avoid a lot of red in the waveform, though a bit is usually OK. Your ears will tell you.
Watch it 5 times – look for problem spots and fix them.
Export the movie and send it on its way. Google Drive is a good place to stash video.
Gestures, Split View, and More make the iPad even more useful.
Most of this information covers IOS 13 – so if you have not updated, GET IT DONE tonight at home. Some of it also applies to IOS 12 and 11, which is as far as some of the older iPads on campus can go. In any case, give these features a try – they just might work!
VIEW APP DOCK
Swipe up from the bottom of the screen, roughly an inch. The dock will appear – and then you can switch apps. You can also drag app icons to either side of the screen to split your screen and use 2 apps at a time.
NOTIFICATION CENTER
Swipe down from either the Center top to quickly access your Notifications. A suggestion from MDS Tech: fewer notifications are better than having more. YOU have control over what you get – check in the Settings App.https://www.cnet.com/how-to/16-gestures-that-will-make-you-love-using-your-ipad/
Control Center
Swipe down from the Top right corner to see the Control Center. That’s a good way to check wifi settings [is wifi REALLY on?], change your screen brightness, change volume. pause and start playback, and the like.
By the way – you can customize Control Center to show exactly what YOU want. See settings –> Control Center and pick what settings you’d like to have, and even what order you want them in.
Today View
Swipe from the left to the right as if switching screens. When you get all the way to the left and swipe once more, you’ll see the Today View. YOu cna load several widgets into that view.
You can customize what widgets are on the today view by clicking on the Edit button at the the bottom of Today View.
Quickly get back to the desktop
When you have an app running, you can quickly get back to the desktop by swiping up from the bottom of the screen.
App Switcher
The App Switcher is the equivalent of Alt-Tab on Windows or Command-Tab on Macs. On those operating systems you get a list of icons or windows showing you all of the open apps running at that moment.
On IOS, swipe up from the bottom of the screen AND THEN HOLD YOUR FINGER for a second. You might have to swipe left or right – but you’ll see windows with every running app.
You can also force-close apps by swiping up on the app window. This even works when swiping several at the same time.
