Because much of future posts will refer to Blackboard resources, you should read the course blog on Blackboard. Those posts will no longer be duplicated here.
The Thing in the Basement blog is on hiatus until further notice.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
RTFM: Digital Photography
See the blog entry on Blackboard for details, including links to Course Materials.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Study checklist for Digital Photo lab practical
___ Digital still camera __ good batteries __ External hard drive
___ Check batteries__ imaging file format__ image resolution__ data cleared__
___ Disable flash__, set camera to “Easy” settings__
___ Position camera to compose subject level & square__ and using rule of thirds__
___ Press shutter button halfway to lock settings__, then press rest of way to take picture__
___ Use LCD screen to review picture
___ Change ISO to lowest number__, shutter speed to 1/30 second__, f-stop to lowest number__
___ Set Autofocus On
___ Position camera to compose subject level & square__ and using rule of thirds__
___ Press shutter button halfway to lock settings__, then press rest of way to take picture__
___ Use LCD screen to review picture
___ Change ISO to highest number__, shutter speed to fastest__, f-stop to highest number__
___ Set manual focus for moving object’s path__, position camera to capture moving subject__
___ Press shutter button halfway to lock settings__, press rest of way to capture moving subject__
___ Use LCD screen to review picture
___ Move image files from camera to day’s folder on external USB drive
___ Open images in Photoshop
___ Check focus__ and noise__ at 100%
___ Check level/square__ at Fit on Screen__, and repair with Ruler tool and Image Rotation|Arbitrary__
___ Try Auto Tone__, Auto Contrast__, and Auto Color__; if no improvement, undo each
___ Crop images using Rectangular Marquee tool|Image|Crop
___ Save As TIFF to external hard drive
Digital Photo Basics
Sensor = the part of the camera that responds to light; equiv. to film
pixel = contraction of picture element, one dot on screen or sensor
resolution = width x height in pixels
megapixel = 1 million pixels
ISO = sensitivity (50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600)
Metaphor of filling a bucket from a faucet:
ISO is the size of the bucket to be filled
aperture or f-stop is the size of the faucet opening
(how far you turn the handle)
light level is the water pressure coming out of the faucet
shutter speed is how long you keep the faucet open
Overexposure (too light) = bucket overflows
Underexposure (too dark) = bucket isn't full enough
Given a light level, what ISO, aperture and shutter speed will fill the bucket?
ISO too high = video noise (film grain), too low = underexposed
Keep the ISO as low as possible; only raise it when the best other settings are still too dark
Shutter speed needs to be 1/30 second or faster to freeze action.
Faster action needs higher speed. Too low shutter speed makes motion blur, especially handheld
Depth of Field/ Depth of Focus = DOF = distance from closest sharp focus to farthest sharp focus
Pinhole aperture = maximum DOF (Flip is a pinhole camera with a fixed lens)
Wide aperture = shallow DOF
Shallow DOF is good to emphasize subject, deemphasize foreground and background; shallow DOF requires more attention to focus, usually manual focus
Low light requires wide aperture, which gives shallow DOF; if you need deep DOF, you need more light or a higher ISO
File formats: JPEG lossy, RAW proprietary, TIFF lossless but large, PNG lossy
RGB red, green, blue color channels
24-bit color is 8 bits (256 levels) per color channel
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Digital Audio
Sound is analog. The sound of a guitar string being plucked is a smooth, continuous, curved wave, close to an ideal sine wave.
The pitch or frequency of sound is measured in Hertz, Hz, or cycles per second (cps). Humans can normally hear sound in the range of twenty to twenty thousand cycles per second, 20 Hz to 20kHz (kiloHertz).
Digitizing (or quantizing) means taking a series of measurements of the sound wave, and converting those measurements to a series of numbers.
Digitizing requires samples to measure. Sampling accuracy determines the fidelity, or how closely the digitized data resembles the original sound. Sampling accuracy depends on the frequency or sampling rate (how often a sample is taken), and bit depth, or how accurately each sample is measured.
The Nyquist limit states that the sampling rate must be at least twice the original sound frequency. To accurately digitize the highest pitch humans can hear, 20 kHz, the sampling rate must be at least 40 kHz. The sampling rate for audio CDs is 44.1 kHz; camcorders usually sample at 48 kHz. The lab's R-09HR recorders can sample up to 96 kHz. The higher the sampling rate, the better the fidelity, but the larger the data file.
Digitizing must produce a set of numbers a computer can read. Computers use binary, a series of ones and zeros, representing the on or off state of a switch. Each digit is called a bit.
Since a switch has two states, binary numbers are based on powers of 2. Each digit represents another power of two. The first ten powers of two equal 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024. (These numbers are also used to measure memory capacity, so some of them will be familiar from the labels on flash drives or other computer media.)
Bit depth is the number of bits that can be used to measure a sample. A bit depth of 3 (2 to the 3rd power, or 2x2x2=8) would only have 8 levels between silence and maximum. This would give very poor fidelity. A bit depth of 10 (2 to the tenth power) would have 1024 levels, and give much better fidelity. Camcorders generally sample sound at 16-bit. The lab's R-09HR recorders can sample at either 16-bit or 24-bit. 16-bit has 64k, or over 64 thousand levels; 24-bit has 16M, or over 16 million levels. Like sampling rate, the larger the bit depth, the better the fidelity, but the larger the data file.
Resampling is the process of changing a digitized sample from one bit depth or sampling rate to another. For example, you might have to resample a CD audio recording from 44.1 kHz to 48 kHz to make it compatible with a video project you are editing. This usually causes a loss of fidelity, so it is important to make the original recording with settings that will not require resampling. Generally, you should record sound at the same settings as the video camera you will be using. 16-bit, 48 kHz is the most common setting at present.
Digitized sound data can be stored in a variety of file formats. WAV is a common audio file format that can be used on both Windows and MacOS platforms. WMA is a Windows format that must be converted before it can be used on MacOS. AIFF is a native MacOS format that can be imported by Audacity on Windows as well. All these formats have the option of being uncompressed, that is, all the original data is intact.
Another common audio file format is MP3, which is a contraction of Moving Picture Experts Group - Level 3, or MPEG-3. This was originally developed to encode sound on DVDs. It is a lossy compression format, which means it throws away part of the sound data so the file size will be smaller. Once a digitized sound is compressed in the MP3 format, the original sound is lost and cannot be reconstructed. If an MP3 file is edited and saved again, it loses even more data to compression, like making a photocopy of a photocopy.
You should always make original recordings in an uncompressed, lossless file format so you can edit them without losing fidelity. Lossy compression formats like MP3 should only be used for distributing your finished work. The lab's R-09HR recorders can record in both WAV and MP3; make sure you set the recorder to WAV for your recordings.
The pitch or frequency of sound is measured in Hertz, Hz, or cycles per second (cps). Humans can normally hear sound in the range of twenty to twenty thousand cycles per second, 20 Hz to 20kHz (kiloHertz).
Digitizing (or quantizing) means taking a series of measurements of the sound wave, and converting those measurements to a series of numbers.
Digitizing requires samples to measure. Sampling accuracy determines the fidelity, or how closely the digitized data resembles the original sound. Sampling accuracy depends on the frequency or sampling rate (how often a sample is taken), and bit depth, or how accurately each sample is measured.
The Nyquist limit states that the sampling rate must be at least twice the original sound frequency. To accurately digitize the highest pitch humans can hear, 20 kHz, the sampling rate must be at least 40 kHz. The sampling rate for audio CDs is 44.1 kHz; camcorders usually sample at 48 kHz. The lab's R-09HR recorders can sample up to 96 kHz. The higher the sampling rate, the better the fidelity, but the larger the data file.
Digitizing must produce a set of numbers a computer can read. Computers use binary, a series of ones and zeros, representing the on or off state of a switch. Each digit is called a bit.
Since a switch has two states, binary numbers are based on powers of 2. Each digit represents another power of two. The first ten powers of two equal 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024. (These numbers are also used to measure memory capacity, so some of them will be familiar from the labels on flash drives or other computer media.)
Bit depth is the number of bits that can be used to measure a sample. A bit depth of 3 (2 to the 3rd power, or 2x2x2=8) would only have 8 levels between silence and maximum. This would give very poor fidelity. A bit depth of 10 (2 to the tenth power) would have 1024 levels, and give much better fidelity. Camcorders generally sample sound at 16-bit. The lab's R-09HR recorders can sample at either 16-bit or 24-bit. 16-bit has 64k, or over 64 thousand levels; 24-bit has 16M, or over 16 million levels. Like sampling rate, the larger the bit depth, the better the fidelity, but the larger the data file.
Resampling is the process of changing a digitized sample from one bit depth or sampling rate to another. For example, you might have to resample a CD audio recording from 44.1 kHz to 48 kHz to make it compatible with a video project you are editing. This usually causes a loss of fidelity, so it is important to make the original recording with settings that will not require resampling. Generally, you should record sound at the same settings as the video camera you will be using. 16-bit, 48 kHz is the most common setting at present.
Digitized sound data can be stored in a variety of file formats. WAV is a common audio file format that can be used on both Windows and MacOS platforms. WMA is a Windows format that must be converted before it can be used on MacOS. AIFF is a native MacOS format that can be imported by Audacity on Windows as well. All these formats have the option of being uncompressed, that is, all the original data is intact.
Another common audio file format is MP3, which is a contraction of Moving Picture Experts Group - Level 3, or MPEG-3. This was originally developed to encode sound on DVDs. It is a lossy compression format, which means it throws away part of the sound data so the file size will be smaller. Once a digitized sound is compressed in the MP3 format, the original sound is lost and cannot be reconstructed. If an MP3 file is edited and saved again, it loses even more data to compression, like making a photocopy of a photocopy.
You should always make original recordings in an uncompressed, lossless file format so you can edit them without losing fidelity. Lossy compression formats like MP3 should only be used for distributing your finished work. The lab's R-09HR recorders can record in both WAV and MP3; make sure you set the recorder to WAV for your recordings.
Journalism: Audio from your community
For your audio packages, you will need nat sound – natural sound, the audio environment or background sound that is natural to your community.
Without nat sound, your packages will sound dead and artificial.
Everywhere you go in your community, whether it’s for an interview, an event, background research, or maintaining contacts with your sources, you should record and log clear nat sound elements.
Logging elements means editing, naming, and organizing the digital files so you can find them easily when you are under deadline pressure.
As you build up a nat sound library, you can use those elements to mix into your packages, making them more lively and interesting.
You should also design a sound ID for your packages, an intro, bridge pieces, and exit that you will use consistently to alert your audience that they are about to hear one of your pieces.
Be careful not to use any part of anyone else’s existing sound ID in your own ID.
Without nat sound, your packages will sound dead and artificial.
Everywhere you go in your community, whether it’s for an interview, an event, background research, or maintaining contacts with your sources, you should record and log clear nat sound elements.
Logging elements means editing, naming, and organizing the digital files so you can find them easily when you are under deadline pressure.
As you build up a nat sound library, you can use those elements to mix into your packages, making them more lively and interesting.
You should also design a sound ID for your packages, an intro, bridge pieces, and exit that you will use consistently to alert your audience that they are about to hear one of your pieces.
Be careful not to use any part of anyone else’s existing sound ID in your own ID.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Audio Basics lecture notes, 9/6/11
deciBel dB unit of measure for sound intensity (Alexander Graham Bell)
inverse square law - the loudness of a sound drops off as the square of the distance from the source. 2x as far = 1/4 the loudness, 1/2 as far = 4x loudness
+6 dB is twice as loud, -6dB is half as loud.
dB is a logarithmic or log scale, NOT a linear scale.
+6 dB is twice as loud, +12 dB is four times as loud, +18 dB is eight times as loud, +24 dB is sixteen times as loud.
Basic Rule: Get your microphone as close to the source as you can.
Signal, Noise
S/N ratio
Signal is the sound you want, noise is everything else.
You want a strong, clear signal, and as little noise as possible. That’s a good signal-to-noise ratio.
Measure the dBs of room tone or ambient sound; that’s noise.
Measure the dBs of the voice or other sound you want the audience to hear; that’s signal.
The difference between the two should be as large as possible. Less than 24 dB is pretty much unusable.
Sound is messy, it bounces around. You can't block sound. There is no such thing as a zoom microphone. A 'directional' mic simply hears a little better in one direction than another.
You need to keep the mic close to the signal source, and far away from noise sources.
The mic on the Flip phone is the little hole beside the lens. You need to get that hole as close to the subject's mouth as possible, it doesn't hear very well.
You have to monitor the sound you are recording through headphones.
If your ears are open to the air, your brain is processing everything you hear and eliminating a lot of the noise. When you listen through headphones, you hear exactly what the microphone and recorder are getting, including all the noise.
If you do not monitor sound, you will get unusable sound - and unusable sound means unusable video.
Supplemental Reading: PGSDV 1 How Sound Works, in Course Materials
inverse square law - the loudness of a sound drops off as the square of the distance from the source. 2x as far = 1/4 the loudness, 1/2 as far = 4x loudness
+6 dB is twice as loud, -6dB is half as loud.
dB is a logarithmic or log scale, NOT a linear scale.
+6 dB is twice as loud, +12 dB is four times as loud, +18 dB is eight times as loud, +24 dB is sixteen times as loud.
Basic Rule: Get your microphone as close to the source as you can.
Signal, Noise
S/N ratio
Signal is the sound you want, noise is everything else.
You want a strong, clear signal, and as little noise as possible. That’s a good signal-to-noise ratio.
Measure the dBs of room tone or ambient sound; that’s noise.
Measure the dBs of the voice or other sound you want the audience to hear; that’s signal.
The difference between the two should be as large as possible. Less than 24 dB is pretty much unusable.
Sound is messy, it bounces around. You can't block sound. There is no such thing as a zoom microphone. A 'directional' mic simply hears a little better in one direction than another.
You need to keep the mic close to the signal source, and far away from noise sources.
The mic on the Flip phone is the little hole beside the lens. You need to get that hole as close to the subject's mouth as possible, it doesn't hear very well.
You have to monitor the sound you are recording through headphones.
If your ears are open to the air, your brain is processing everything you hear and eliminating a lot of the noise. When you listen through headphones, you hear exactly what the microphone and recorder are getting, including all the noise.
If you do not monitor sound, you will get unusable sound - and unusable sound means unusable video.
Supplemental Reading: PGSDV 1 How Sound Works, in Course Materials
Study checklist for Portable Sound lab practical
This is your rehearsal checklist for the lab practical test on using the R-09 recorder.
___ Headphones __ AA batteries __ External hard drive
___ From R-09 kit, check batteries__ file format__ sampling rate__ data cleared__
___ Check environment for noise sources ___ choose least noisy location
___ Plug recorder into wall power (if possible)
___ Plug headphones into recorder
___ Check sound signal from recorder through headphones
___ Position recorder to minimize popping__ while maximizing signal__
___ Do sound check, set levels for recorder for good signal__ no clipping__
___ Record good 30-second take while monitoring recording through headphones__
___ Review take on recorder, listen through headphones__ and judge whether re-take is necessary
___ Correctly power off__ unplug__ and stow__ recorder
___ Connect external USB drive to computer
___ Create new folder for current day’s recordings on USB drive
___ Connect recorder to computer using R-09 kit USB cable
___ Power up recorder__ and select USB mode__
___ Locate recording file__ then drag-and-drop recording file from recorder to new folder
___ Eject__ and disconnect__ recorder from computer
___ Clear files from recorder using R-09 menu
___ Stow recorder for return to lab inventory
___ Plug headphones into computer
___ Open recording in Audacity
___ Evaluate recording dynamic range__ signal/noise ratio__ and clarity__
___ Headphones __ AA batteries __ External hard drive
___ From R-09 kit, check batteries__ file format__ sampling rate__ data cleared__
___ Check environment for noise sources ___ choose least noisy location
___ Plug recorder into wall power (if possible)
___ Plug headphones into recorder
___ Check sound signal from recorder through headphones
___ Position recorder to minimize popping__ while maximizing signal__
___ Do sound check, set levels for recorder for good signal__ no clipping__
___ Record good 30-second take while monitoring recording through headphones__
___ Review take on recorder, listen through headphones__ and judge whether re-take is necessary
___ Correctly power off__ unplug__ and stow__ recorder
___ Connect external USB drive to computer
___ Create new folder for current day’s recordings on USB drive
___ Connect recorder to computer using R-09 kit USB cable
___ Power up recorder__ and select USB mode__
___ Locate recording file__ then drag-and-drop recording file from recorder to new folder
___ Eject__ and disconnect__ recorder from computer
___ Clear files from recorder using R-09 menu
___ Stow recorder for return to lab inventory
___ Plug headphones into computer
___ Open recording in Audacity
___ Evaluate recording dynamic range__ signal/noise ratio__ and clarity__
RTFM: Edirol R-09HR High-Resolution WAVE/MP3 Recorder
For audio recording, this is one of the most powerful yet easy to
use tools in the lab inventory. Download and read the following
PDF documents to prepare for the lab practical. At least read all of
the TurboStart and Quick Start; read as much of the Owner's
Manual as you can.
R-09HR TurboStart (2 pages)
http://cms.rolandus.com/assets/media/pdf/R09HRts.pdf
Quick Start, or Practical Guide to the Edirol R-09HR (28 pages)
http://cms.rolandus.com/assets/media/pdf/r_09hr_practical_guide.pdf
or
http://media.rolandus.com/manuals/R-09HR_QS.pdf
Owners Manual (124 pages)
http://media.rolandus.com/manuals/R-09HR_OM.pdf
use tools in the lab inventory. Download and read the following
PDF documents to prepare for the lab practical. At least read all of
the TurboStart and Quick Start; read as much of the Owner's
Manual as you can.
R-09HR TurboStart (2 pages)
http://cms.rolandus.com/assets/media/pdf/R09HRts.pdf
Quick Start, or Practical Guide to the Edirol R-09HR (28 pages)
http://cms.rolandus.com/assets/media/pdf/r_09hr_practical_guide.pdf
or
http://media.rolandus.com/manuals/R-09HR_QS.pdf
Owners Manual (124 pages)
http://media.rolandus.com/manuals/R-09HR_OM.pdf
Jay Rose audio books
Jay Rose has written some of the best books on audio recording,
especially for video production. Here is a link to his latest. Highly
recommended!
http://www.dplay.com/book/pgs3e/index.html
especially for video production. Here is a link to his latest. Highly
recommended!
http://www.dplay.com/book/pgs3e/index.html
Audacity sound software
From the site: "Audacity® is free, open source software for
recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft
Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems." I highly
recommend Audacity for learning about how sound recording and
editing works. It is basic enough for anyone to use, and with the
many plug-ins available, powerful enough for more challenging
projects.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft
Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems." I highly
recommend Audacity for learning about how sound recording and
editing works. It is basic enough for anyone to use, and with the
many plug-ins available, powerful enough for more challenging
projects.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Friday, September 2, 2011
Computer Requirements
You will be using your computer to edit video. This is some of the hardest work you can ask a computer to perform. Video data files are very large, so moving them around strains the data bus. The chip memory or RAM must be large enough to hold all the data. The processor or CPU must be fast enough to perform all the calculations. The hard drive must be large enough to hold all the incoming and outgoing data. The display must be large enough, and clear enough, to accurately show the video and the editing software. The display driver chip or GPU must be fast enough to process and display the video.
The minimum processor speed is 2.0 GHz (GigaHertz); faster is better.
The minimum Intel processor family is i5; i7 is better, i3 is inadequate.
The more processor cores, the better.
The minimum RAM is 4 GB; 8 GB is better, 2 GB is inadequate.
The internal hard drive should be at least 120 GB to hold applications and swap space.
You should have at least 500 GB of free hard drive space to hold your video files, on either an internal or external drive.
The larger your display, the better, and having a second monitor is very useful.
The display driver should have at least 256 MB of dedicated memory or VRAM; more is better.
The operating system you choose can make a difference in your overall costs.
If you choose the MacOS, you will be limited to buying software directly from Apple; they recently cut off software sales through the Computer Connection at the bookstore.
You will be able to perform basic video editing on the bundled iMovie software.
For more advanced video editing, you may choose to buy Final Cut from Apple.
You may also choose to edit your advanced projects on the lab iMacs.
If you choose the Windows OS, you have a wider selection of vendors for hardware and software.
You will be able to perform basic video editing on free or bundled Windows software.
For more advanced video editing, you may choose to buy additional or upgraded software.
You may also choose to edit your advanced projects on the lab iMacs.
The Computer Connection has a number of laptops that meet the minimum requirements:
The cheapest MacBook will not work.
Any of the MacBook Pro laptops will work; prices are $1,099, $1,399, and $1,699.
The cheapest Windows laptop, the Dell Vostro, will not work.
The other Windows laptops will work; prices range from $1,189 to $2,199.
There are several financing options for students, but you need to be aware that they may affect your other financial aid. You need to talk with financial aid and get all the information before making a decision.
There are, of course, other vendors for computers. Take the specs above and do your research.
Once you've narrowed down your options, I'll be happy to look them over and advise you.
The classic production triangle is: time, money, quality; choose any two.
You can choose to spend more money and have the convenience of working on your own equipment and schedule.
You can choose to save money and sacrifice more of your time in order to use the lab equipment.
You may not choose to sacrifice the quality of your work to save both money and time.
The minimum processor speed is 2.0 GHz (GigaHertz); faster is better.
The minimum Intel processor family is i5; i7 is better, i3 is inadequate.
The more processor cores, the better.
The minimum RAM is 4 GB; 8 GB is better, 2 GB is inadequate.
The internal hard drive should be at least 120 GB to hold applications and swap space.
You should have at least 500 GB of free hard drive space to hold your video files, on either an internal or external drive.
The larger your display, the better, and having a second monitor is very useful.
The display driver should have at least 256 MB of dedicated memory or VRAM; more is better.
The operating system you choose can make a difference in your overall costs.
If you choose the MacOS, you will be limited to buying software directly from Apple; they recently cut off software sales through the Computer Connection at the bookstore.
You will be able to perform basic video editing on the bundled iMovie software.
For more advanced video editing, you may choose to buy Final Cut from Apple.
You may also choose to edit your advanced projects on the lab iMacs.
If you choose the Windows OS, you have a wider selection of vendors for hardware and software.
You will be able to perform basic video editing on free or bundled Windows software.
For more advanced video editing, you may choose to buy additional or upgraded software.
You may also choose to edit your advanced projects on the lab iMacs.
The Computer Connection has a number of laptops that meet the minimum requirements:
The cheapest MacBook will not work.
Any of the MacBook Pro laptops will work; prices are $1,099, $1,399, and $1,699.
The cheapest Windows laptop, the Dell Vostro, will not work.
The other Windows laptops will work; prices range from $1,189 to $2,199.
There are several financing options for students, but you need to be aware that they may affect your other financial aid. You need to talk with financial aid and get all the information before making a decision.
There are, of course, other vendors for computers. Take the specs above and do your research.
Once you've narrowed down your options, I'll be happy to look them over and advise you.
The classic production triangle is: time, money, quality; choose any two.
You can choose to spend more money and have the convenience of working on your own equipment and schedule.
You can choose to save money and sacrifice more of your time in order to use the lab equipment.
You may not choose to sacrifice the quality of your work to save both money and time.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Blogger
We'll be using Google's Blogger to manage your community reporting blog this semester. In preparation, please read this post about changes to Blogger:
Blogger Buzz: Blogger’s fresh new look.
Blogger Buzz: Blogger’s fresh new look.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Hardware advice
Yes, it's expensive.
Yes, it's necessary.
The faculty and staff don't make any money off these sales.
We wouldn't require it if it wasn't necessary for the course.
No, cheaper 'alternatives' won't work, or won't work as well.
You go cheap, you buy problems.
Buy the recommended models and you'll have fewer problems.
I have had good experiences with Western Digital hard drives. My own external drive is a WD Elements SE 1 TB ($80 at Amazon), which is powered from its USB 2.0 connection. It plays back true HD video without dropping frames. The drawstring bag is completely inadequate, spend the $20 or so for a good hard case for your drive. Do NOT buy a hard drive that has a separate power supply! You will get very tired of dragging the extra weight and wires around, and especially annoyed at not being able to work from a laptop running on batteries. USB power only! 500GB is the minimum, more is always better.
You need around-the-ear isolation headphones. Earbuds won't do it for editing. The industry standard is the Sony MDR-7506, whether for studio or field work. Ask any working pro, these cans are an incredible value at $100. People use them for so long, Sony sells replacement pads for when the originals wear out. Don't fall for a similar model number, get the MDR-7506 exactly.
A very good tripod substitute is the UltraPod, made by Pedco and available from many vendors including Amazon.com for around $15. You can use the tripod by itself on a tabletop or other surface. You can use the velcro strap to fasten the closed tripod to a stick or other object. You can use the V-leg to stabilize the tripod on an edge such as a car window. If you want to try one of these out, I have my own UltraPod in the lab, just ask to see it. More information here:
http://www.pedcopods.com/specsup1.htm
For a laptop computer, the minimum standards are just that, the absolute minimum that will work (sort of). When editing HD footage, the computer has to work VERY hard - it's pretty much the toughest job for a computer. You need the fastest processor you can afford, and multi-core really does help speed up the processing. You need 8GB or more of RAM - 4GB is barely adequate and slows things down. You need 500GB or more of hard drive space, or you will need an external hard drive; HD footage fills up a drive very quickly. You need the largest screen resolution you can afford: 1920x1080 is the resolution of the High Definition video frame, and if you can't see it all at one time, it will be more fuss and bother for you, especially when you are checking for sharp focus.
The lab cameras record full High Definition (HD) video at 1920x1080i resolution. A lower-resolution form of HD is 1280x720p. Anything below this is not really usable HD. Any frame rate below 30 frames per second (fps) is not really usable, either. Your backup personal camera should be small enough to carry everywhere with you, but capable of shooting HD video at 30 fps. Some smartphones can do this; some point-and-shoot digital cameras can do this; and the now-discontinued FlipHD line of cameras was designed specifically to do this. Read the manual, check the specifications, and make sure of the camera's capabilities before you buy. Any questions, ask me.
If you will be using a smartphone as your camera, you should also buy a compatible phone tripod adapter.
It's a VERY good idea to get a gear bag that will hold and protect (padding is good) all your gear while leaving your hands free.
Yes, it's necessary.
The faculty and staff don't make any money off these sales.
We wouldn't require it if it wasn't necessary for the course.
No, cheaper 'alternatives' won't work, or won't work as well.
You go cheap, you buy problems.
Buy the recommended models and you'll have fewer problems.
I have had good experiences with Western Digital hard drives. My own external drive is a WD Elements SE 1 TB ($80 at Amazon), which is powered from its USB 2.0 connection. It plays back true HD video without dropping frames. The drawstring bag is completely inadequate, spend the $20 or so for a good hard case for your drive. Do NOT buy a hard drive that has a separate power supply! You will get very tired of dragging the extra weight and wires around, and especially annoyed at not being able to work from a laptop running on batteries. USB power only! 500GB is the minimum, more is always better.
You need around-the-ear isolation headphones. Earbuds won't do it for editing. The industry standard is the Sony MDR-7506, whether for studio or field work. Ask any working pro, these cans are an incredible value at $100. People use them for so long, Sony sells replacement pads for when the originals wear out. Don't fall for a similar model number, get the MDR-7506 exactly.
A very good tripod substitute is the UltraPod, made by Pedco and available from many vendors including Amazon.com for around $15. You can use the tripod by itself on a tabletop or other surface. You can use the velcro strap to fasten the closed tripod to a stick or other object. You can use the V-leg to stabilize the tripod on an edge such as a car window. If you want to try one of these out, I have my own UltraPod in the lab, just ask to see it. More information here:
http://www.pedcopods.com/specsup1.htm
For a laptop computer, the minimum standards are just that, the absolute minimum that will work (sort of). When editing HD footage, the computer has to work VERY hard - it's pretty much the toughest job for a computer. You need the fastest processor you can afford, and multi-core really does help speed up the processing. You need 8GB or more of RAM - 4GB is barely adequate and slows things down. You need 500GB or more of hard drive space, or you will need an external hard drive; HD footage fills up a drive very quickly. You need the largest screen resolution you can afford: 1920x1080 is the resolution of the High Definition video frame, and if you can't see it all at one time, it will be more fuss and bother for you, especially when you are checking for sharp focus.
The lab cameras record full High Definition (HD) video at 1920x1080i resolution. A lower-resolution form of HD is 1280x720p. Anything below this is not really usable HD. Any frame rate below 30 frames per second (fps) is not really usable, either. Your backup personal camera should be small enough to carry everywhere with you, but capable of shooting HD video at 30 fps. Some smartphones can do this; some point-and-shoot digital cameras can do this; and the now-discontinued FlipHD line of cameras was designed specifically to do this. Read the manual, check the specifications, and make sure of the camera's capabilities before you buy. Any questions, ask me.
If you will be using a smartphone as your camera, you should also buy a compatible phone tripod adapter.
It's a VERY good idea to get a gear bag that will hold and protect (padding is good) all your gear while leaving your hands free.
RTFM?
RTFM is an acronym for "Read The F***ing Manual". This is a standard response in many technical fields (including broadcast journalism) to questions about basic operations of a new piece of equipment. It is not an insult (well, not always), but simply a reminder that good professional practice is to read the manuals for the equipment your job depends on.
If you make a habit of reading (and remembering) the manuals, you will find the technical parts of your work go more quickly and smoothly, and you will be a more valuable asset to your organization.
If you make a habit of reading (and remembering) the manuals, you will find the technical parts of your work go more quickly and smoothly, and you will be a more valuable asset to your organization.
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