General Schoolwork
Google Classroom
All student work in the Keyboarding and Digital Media classes is assigned and collected through Google Classroom. Students can only sign up for classes if they have the correct code and their BUSD email information.
Google Drive
Google Drive has storage and an online office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, et cetera). Google Drive is free for everyone, but students should sign in with their school email for maximum compatibility with Google Classroom. Student accounts should only be used for schoolwork.
Microsoft Online
All BUSD students have a free Microsoft Online account. The account gives them access to several useful tools including:
- Office365, an online version of the Microsoft Office Suite
- OneDrive, one terabyte of online storage. Student accounts should only be used for schoolwork.
Your login name or Microsoft Online is the same as your school login with “@stu.burbankusd.org” on the end, and your password is your school login password.
Library Lookup (only works on campus)
Find out what’s available in our library!
Burbank Public Library
Los Angeles Public Library
AR – Renaissance Learning (only works on campus)
Go here to take AR & STAR tests.
Renaissance Home Connect
Check your AR progress at home.
AR Bookfinder
Search for Accelerated Reader books.
Typing
Typing.com
6th grade students participating in the keyboarding section of the wheel will use this site to practice typing skills.
Digital Media Software
Adobe
Unfortunately, we cannot provide student versions of any Adobe software. However, Adobe does have trial versions of their software available. They are fully functional for 30 days. You can also purchase a student Creative Cloud license. It’s $9.99 for Photoshop (which we use a lot) & Lightroom (which we never use, but it’s part of the bundle). You can also lease the full Creative Cloud bundle (including Premiere Pro, After Effects, Dreamweaver, and Audition) for $19.99 a month. Note: Students are not required to have any software at home. They will have plenty of time to complete all assignments during class.
Photopea
Pixlr
Sumopaint
These free alternatives to Photoshop run in your web browser. They do not have all of the power of Photoshop, but they can do a great deal of work, and each one has some unique features.
Canva
Canva is a drag and drop video editing site. A basic account is free, but they charge for featured content.
DaVinci Resolve
DaVinci Resolve is a powerful video editing suite that has a almost fully functional free version. The learning curve is steep, but the program is incredibly strong.
Blender
Blender is a free, open source 3D project editor.
Fonts
1001fonts.com
1001freefonts.com
dafont.com
fontsquirrel.com
Tons of free fonts.
Typography Resources for Printing
Sound
Purple Planet
Royalty free music for personal projects.
Fesliyan Studios
Royalty free music for personal projects.
Freesound (blocked on campus)
Thousands of free sound effects and samples.
Free Music Archive
Music that’s free for personal use, and usually for public use as well!
Internet Archive Audio
Lots of free music here, but be careful- some of it requires a license to use it.
Incompetech Free Music Archive
digccMixter
Bensound
Beatpick
PacDV
BentenSound
Tons of royalty-free music. Just give credit!
Josh Woodward
Josh Woodward has recorded dozens of royalty free albums. Just give credit!
FreePD
A curated collection of public domain music.
Creative Commons Sources
Multiple sources of royalty-free music. Be careful- there are different licenses! Make sure you can use the music you pick.
Beepbox
Make your own chiptunes!
Filmmaking Resources
https://www.filmcrux.com/blog/free-film-resources is a curated collection of free digital materials and apps for media creation. Many are blocked on campus, but are available elsewhere.
Texturelabs is an amazing resource for free digital media tutorials and image textures.
Images and Video
Wikimedia Commons
Library of Congress Pictures
Pics4Learning
Smithsonian Open Access
Public domain images. Students can use other web sites for images (Google Images is the most popular choice), but the sites above offer images that can be used without fear of copyright issues.
NASA Image and Video Library
Copyright free images and video from NASA.
Los Angeles Public Library Photo Search
A good source for historical photographs.
Digital Public Library of America
Digital collections from libraries across the United States
Calisphere
Digital collections from Universities and libraries throughout California.
Tutorials
Video
Workbench Tutorials
A YouTube channel full of After Effects tutorials. Some of them are complex, but lots of them are quick and easy to follow.
Realistic Fire in After Effects
An advanced tutorial to help you light things on fire.
Animation
Walk Cycles with Character Animator
Straightforward instructions for importing a puppet from Photoshop into Chaacter Animator.
After Effects Animation Tutorial (Puppet Warp)
A detailed but easy to follow tutorial about animating in After Effects using puppet warp without using plugins. This link is to the first of four parts.
Coding
Scratch
Scratch is an excellent way to learn the basics of coding using preformatted code blocks.
Code.org
Code.org is very similar to Scratch. It has pre-written lessons to guide self learners.
Snap
Snap is a variation of Scratch with some more mature features.
Woof
Woof is a step between Scratch and pure coding. It is a Javascript library with code snippets that emulate Scratch blocks.
Codecademy
Codecademy moves beyond preformatted blocks and teaches learners to manually write code. Students can learn everything from the basics of web page creation to implementation of databases with Ruby on Rails.
Writing/Creating
Celtx
Celtx is a script writing tool. Their is a pay version with tons of bells and whistles, but the free one will help you create and properly format a script.
BBC Writers Room
Learn how to write a script. Do well and you could be writing for the BBC! BONUS: Tons of free scripts!
dictionary.com
An online dictionary.
merriam-webster.com
Another online dictionary.
BibMe
EasyBib
BibMe and EasyBib are two sites that do the same thing: help you create a proper bibliography/works cited page. You put in the information, and they put it in the right location!
Twine
Twine is a free program for creating non-linear stories. Think “Choose Your Own Adventure.”
Write Rhymes
A rhyme finder.
Power Thesaurus
Find synonyms and antonyms. Don’t go crazy with this. Synonyms usually mean approximately the same thing as each other, not exactly the same thing.
Shakespeare’s Words
A glossary a words used by Shakespeare.
Movie Titler
A silly thing I made that comes up with (mostly terrible and/or nonsensical) movie titles.