Meet Google Vids

Meeting Notes by Gemini

Summary

Innovator Academy Returns to Australia
The Google Educator Group (GEG) session introduced Google Vids and announced the return of the Innovator Academy to Melbourne, coinciding with its 20th anniversary. Applicants must now be Level 1, Level 2, and Gemini certified, representing a major change in program requirements.

AI-Powered Collaborative Video Editing
Google Vids was presented as a sophisticated, in-browser video editor integrated into Workspace, praised for simplifying the workflow from capture to rendering. The tool leverages AI features for video creation, including converting Google Slides into videos with automated narration and music tracks.

Vids Collaboration and Utility
Advanced features highlighted included automatic audio ducking, integrated screen recording, and new closed captioning capabilities. The scene-based model makes Vids highly conducive to collaborative editing, allowing educators to assign project sections to students for independent work

Workshop Notes

• Introduction and GEG Canberra Session Overview: The session marks the first for the year for the Google Educator Group (GEG) of Canberra, titled "Meet Google Vids, your clever collaborative video editing tool". The session hosts included Chris Betcher, who teaches English, ICT, art, and connected learning at Galilee School, and Andrew Heffernan, an executive teacher working with the 5/6 cohort at Florey Primary School, who mentioned they recently used Vids to create a staff introduction video (00:14:29). Alex Galland, who works with Google for Education across Asia-Pacific, was also introduced as a participant (00:16:16).

• Purpose of Google Educator Groups (GEGs): GEGs are community-led, volunteer-driven groups of teachers and educators interested in using Google tools in their schools. The core purpose of these groups is to share ideas, strategies, successes, and wins achieved in the classroom using these tools (00:16:16).

• Four Pillars of GEGs and Agenda: The four pillars supporting GEGs are learning about tools, sharing different ideas, connecting and networking with local peers, and inspiring people to discover new possibilities for teaching. The agenda for the day included an acknowledgment of country, a discussion about Google Vids, and a Q&A session. Participants were directed to gegcanberra.com for more information, as the QR code was incorrectly leading to the Sydney GEG website (00:17:09).

• Acknowledgement of Country: The GEG Canberra acknowledged and paid respect to the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, who are the traditional owners of the lands on which the participants live, work, and learn. They also honored the connection to land and community and recognized the strength and resilience of Aboriginal peoples (00:18:03).

• Announcement of Innovator Academy Returning to Australia: Jim Sill from Deploy Learning announced that the Innovator Academy is returning to Australia, with a Melbourne date scheduled, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the academy. The academy started small in 2006 but expanded globally in 2008 (00:19:04).

• Details on the Melbourne Innovator Academy Location and Virtual Options: The Melbourne academy will utilize a brand new Google office with a beautiful view located across from the train station. For those with travel or budget limitations, there are two virtual academies available, with the second one in October being more Australia time-friendly (00:20:04).

• Innovator Academy Application Requirements and Webinar: The application for the Innovator Academy this year requires being Level 1, Level 2, and Gemini certified, which is a change from previous years that only required Level 2 certification. A webinar was scheduled for Wednesday to discuss the application process, program details, and include insights from current innovators (00:20:59).

• Global Reach of the Innovator Academy: The Innovator Academy has successfully spread its dates around the globe, with sessions in Dubai, Japan (in English), Atlanta, Brazil, and Melbourne (00:21:57). Chris Betcher and Jim Sill both shared that becoming a Google certified innovator was a life-changing experience that profoundly altered their career trajectories (00:22:45).

• Introduction to Google Vids as a Collaborative Video Editor: Chris Betcher expressed excitement about Google Vids, noting that it is a video editor finally integrated into Workspace that operates in the browser. Andrew Heffernan shared that they used Vids to cut together a staff introduction video and appreciated the seamless process of uploading video from their phone to Google Drive and importing it into Vids (00:23:36).

• Chris Betcher's Experience Using Vids for Tutorials: Chris Betcher mentioned that they produced a series of video training tutorials on how to use Vids, performing the entire process—capture, editing, publishing, and rendering—using Vids end-to-end (00:24:25). They were impressed by Vids' sophisticated capabilities for handling object movement and transitions (00:25:18).

• AI Features in Google Vids and Education Access: Many of the AI features in Vids, indicated by a star icon, are currently available to Education Plus users for a limited time, specifically until May or June (00:26:17). Vids utilizes AI features for creating videos, including conversion from Google Slides, and can generate voiceover scripts and background music automatically (00:27:04).

• Converting Slides to Video with AI Features: Vids can convert an existing Google Slide deck into a video, allowing the user to select which slides to include. With a single checkbox selection, the AI can automatically include narration, music, and soundtrack, providing a starting point for video creation, which is helpful for those new to video making (00:27:53) (00:29:41).

• Using the Stock Library and Establishing Shots: Following the film-making principle of using an establishing shot, Vids offers a large stock library where users can find videos and images by filtering their searches (00:30:38). When adding content, the object is placed onto the currently active scene, and multiple videos or images can be added to the same scene, which will then play simultaneously (00:34:02) (00:35:48).

• Advanced Scene and Timeline Control: Unlike high-end video editors, Vids allows users to place multiple video tracks on a single scene, which simplifies the process of making objects play simultaneously (00:35:48). The scene's timeline automatically expands to match the length of the longest clip on that scene, and users can adjust the scene length or the duration of individual clips (00:36:37).

• Generating Video with Veo and Incorporating Stickers: Users can add fun elements like stickers and GIFs from the stock library to any active scene (00:37:27). The Veo tool, Google's video generation model, uses Gemini's multimodal capabilities to create video clips based on a written description, such as "a clip of a cow wearing a blue sombrero and dancing" (00:38:24).

• Advanced VOeoGeneration and Consistency: When generating a video with Veo, users can select the orientation (landscape or portrait) and can add specific elements, or "ingredients," to ensure consistency of characters or settings across multiple generated clips (00:39:22). Once generated, the video can be inserted, and Vids automatically adds a Veo watermark in the corner to acknowledge that it is AI-generated (00:41:12).

• Audio Control and Avatar Creation: The audio of any clip can be muted directly from the clip's icon panel (00:42:07). Vids also allows users to create an avatar by selecting a face and writing a script for it to speak (00:42:50). After hitting the "generate" button, Vids performs a proper synchronization of the avatar's lips to the spoken syllables, although the available avatars are currently limited to humanlike faces (00:43:43).

• Built-in Screencasting and Tool Utility: Vids incorporates image generation, screen recording capabilities, and a teleprompter feature, making it a comprehensive tool for creating different types of videos (00:44:36). Andrew Heffernan confirmed using the screencast feature for staff training, and they appreciated the trim function in the transcript for easily removing verbal fillers (00:45:25).

• Video Editing Model and Closed Captioning: While the scene-based structure of Vids is different from the standard timeline of other editors like Premiere Pro or iMovie, Chris Betcher noted that once understood, the scene model is powerful for tasks that are difficult in other editors (00:46:25). As of a few weeks prior to the meeting, Vids now includes a closed captioning feature with various style options, which can be applied with a single click (00:52:23).

• Adding Music and Automatic Ducking: Music can be easily added from the stock library and adjusted in length by splitting the audio track at the playhead (00:53:59). A key feature is the "balance sound" option, which performs automatic ducking by lowering the music volume when someone is speaking, ensuring the dialogue is audible (00:55:54).

• Collaborative Editing and Educational Application: Vids enables collaborative editing, which addresses the issue of having only one person editing a film project, as noted by Jim Sill (00:57:52). The scene-by-scene idea is conducive to collaborative projects, allowing teachers to assign a scene to each student or group for them to work on independently (00:58:37).

• User Feedback and Time Savings: Aaron Partridge, who had previously used multiple tools like Canva, Windows screen capture, and Gemini for captions, noted that Vids' all-in-one capability would save significant time when creating instructional videos (00:59:43) (01:05:56). They also appreciated the ease of adjusting music and balancing sound, which is crucial for student-produced content (01:00:33).

• Future Video Projects and School Plans: Andrew Heffernan shared that their school is planning a film festival in term three, where students will be taught how to use Vids and then given time to create their own videos (01:03:42). Aaron Partridge, working at a new school, plans to encourage teacher librarians to use Vids for creating short book trailers in term three, leveraging the collaborative aspect of the tool (01:04:27).

• New Feature in Google Classroom for Feedback: Chris Betcher demonstrated a new feature rolling out in Google Classroom that allows teachers to record audio, video, or screencasts directly into announcements or as feedback when grading student work (01:08:25). This feature is particularly useful for students who struggle with literacy or are disengaged, allowing for communication via voice instead of text (01:09:17).

• GEG Canberra Future Plans and Survey: Attendees were encouraged to keep track of new events on the gegcanberra.com website and check for emails, including those about events run by other GEGs (01:10:07). The GEG Canberra expressed a strong interest in hosting future events as face-to-face gatherings in local schools and circulated a survey asking participants what they would like from the Google educator groups (01:11:03).