Light & Mirrors

Screencasting Delivers Video Based Demonstrations & Lectures.

Teachers know the problem is not content the problem is delivery. They know what they need to teach. Their challenge is to ensure higher content retention in the time available. Screencasting allows lectures on-line providing more class time spent on homework.

Richard E. Mayer’s cognitive theory of multimedia learning suggests maximum performance occurs when visual & verbal materials are presented together. His book Multimedia Learning examines research on instructional based design and if we learn more deeply when ideas are expressed in words and pictures rather than by words alone.

Sales & Marketing’s problem is to deliver presentations, lectures, video based demonstrations and step-by-step instructions, delivering content “asynchronously”, at the audience’s convenience, regardless of their time zone, and “unattended” without a lecturer present and without the travel & expense costs. Successful screencasts are remembered and repeated.

Every organization is a learning organization, every student & employee needs to be kept up to date. Equipment and processes change, you can’t stop the factory and put everyone into a lecture hall. It is everyone’s problem. On-demand, just-in time multimedia learning is much more productive as it can focus on those who need it, when they need it.

Screencasting start with a Script.
Successful screencasts are re-written many times. When draft is written, consider how it may be reduced to essential ideas. What will it sound like when spoken? Could three points tell the story in 140 characters? Guy Kawasaki uses a 10-20-30 Rule of 10 Slides, 20 Minutes and a Font Size 30 for start-up funding presentations.

Editing allows segment distillation by cutting recorded elements and allows voice over & background music adjustments. Graphic call-outs and zoom & pan effects can be added to call attention to specific information.

Rendering edited projects allows completed video screencasts saved in a range of sizes & formats. Uploading of projects to YouTube, Vimeo and other hosting services such as Screencast.com or MediaCore. Provide iTunes podcast subscriptions, render in multiple video formats and embed completed videos on your website.

Examples of Screencasts:

A video letter idea for CBC TV to consider improvements to their iPad app.

Ideas to improve School Zone Safety.

PDF Portfolios can contain a wide range of documents in a single portfolio + Send large files via Acrobat.com.

Snagit is screen capture & image editing software . This screencast shows how to use the Send tab to share images with Skype contacts.

Another Sending Files tip. Try free XOOMFILE software.

A missing tip for Corel VideoStudio ProX4 made in Camtasia 16:9 format.

Collection of Historical Travel Films. On-line on Screencast.com or iTunes.

Power Point to Video:
Convert presentations into video, don’t leave them on your desktop.

For Power Point 2010 & Camtasia power tips click here: PPT to Video
Camtasia & Power Point Add-In: click tutorial screencast or see below.

All Camtasia tutorials here: TechSmith

Audio – Sounding Good:

Good audio starts with a good microphone and a quiet room.
Record script dialogue with free Audacity software.
A recorded voice track serves as a guide to production length.
Completed voice recordings can be into Power Point or Camtasia before rendering a video.
Adding royalty free background music on a second audio track fills blanks & maintains listener interest.
When recording Voice Tracks, if you make an error, pause then repeat.
Record using a Dog Clicker to help you see audio errors for easy editing & deletion post recording.

Before using Audacity see Ian Ozsvald’s Audio Recording Screencast below.

For in-depth Audacity screencasts see Lisa Hartwell’s YouTube Channel.

In-Depth Tutorial:
Ryan Eash Instructional Designer for Camtasia Studio has an excellent 30 minute tutorial on his screencasting process with dynamic Table Of Contents.

Lecture Presentations: Recording & Playback
Two camera set ups, where one records the screen and the second a presenter, are easy to blend into single video recordings with Singular Software Presto. This is a low-cost seamless method for blending video recorded elements of lecture presentations. For examples click here For equipment & set up info on recording lectures click here. Click below to see a 2 minute notated example of blended video with Steve Jobs introducing the iBook app for the iPad.

TechSmith’s Camtasia Relay is an excellent lecture capture system for Teachers. Permanent installations with rich media integration of PTC (Pan Tilt Cameras), document cameras, PC output feeds and microphones are more expensive due to hardware needed. Options to consider are Sonic Foundry and Winnov

Web Meetings: Remote Groups OnLine
There are many options, most include post meeting playback of recorded events, click here for a current list of software & service providers

Video in WordPress has differences WordPress.com Vs WordPress.org

This screencast a shows Windows 7 search tip & plays on VideoPress.
VideoPress seems to compresses videos reducing image quality playback creating blurred images not present in the original. There seems no default control to force the HD setting to stay on, so original rendering quality is reduced and looks fuzzy in standard playback.

Compare with the original screencast below:

To integrate & auto size video on WordPress sites see Chris Coyier’s screencast

CSS Tricks #103 Integrating FitVids:js into WordPress

Hosting Screencasts & Video – There are many options.

YouTube free, but visually noisy & distracts viewers with links to other sites.
Vimeo has free & paid versions all of which work well.
Screencast.com allows a range of viewing flexibility with public, private, or viewer password log-in options in 25 gigabyte+ accounts.
MediaCore provides outstanding end-to end site control with noise free customisable web pages & detailed analytics.

This topic to be presented at WordCamp Victoria BC Jan 14th 2011.
Tickets are on sale now, to register click here.

Warning: Portions of the presentation are prerecorded ; )

Light & Colour – Conversations:
For insights on conventional light sources vs. LED sources and their colour rendering performance for Film & DSLR video see these tests.

I. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Science & Technology Council Solid State Lighting Project

“The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Science and Technology Council has identified a need for an unbiased investigation of solid state lighting (SSL) technologies, which includes LED emitters, for motion picture production. Issues with SSL have been identified regarding its ability to supplement and integrate with existing lighting technologies such as tungsten, fluorescent, HMI, and Xenon that are currently used in the production of motion pictures. The primary purpose of this investigation is to provide the industry with data needed to properly evaluate the impact of using SSL, as well as to provide a framework for the evaluation of future light emitting technologies as they are developed. The Council’s current efforts are focused on providing the motion picture industry with accurate and previously unpublished radiometric and photometric measurements (e.g., spectral power distribution, radiant flux, luminous flux, etc.) typical of various LED light sources currently in use.”

AMPAS test set-up click here: AMPAS Test Set-up

Video lecture & tests click here: Science & Technology Council Projects

Seven Symposium Videos:

Jonathan Erland Speaks on the Science of Color
Perception of Color
Reproduction of Color
Council Studies
Measurements
Emulsion and Color
Summary

Six Lighting Test Shoots:

IIa. Zacuto 2010 Shoot Out – Film Vs DSLR 2010 (episodes 1,2,3)

Zacuto Films presents, “The Great Camera Shootout 2010: a three part web series where gunslinging HD DSLRs face-off against legendary 35mm Film.” The webisodic series showcases the top performing hybrid HD-DSLR cameras: Canon: 5D MKII, 7D, 1D, 550D/T2i Rebel, Nikon D3s, Panasonic GH1 and compares the image quality of these cameras against the gold standard of 35mm film. In addition, the Canon 5D MKII test includes the new 24p firmware. “This was an enormous undertaking,” says Steve Weiss, Web Series Director, “and great care was to make this an apples-to-apples test with scientific accuracy behind it.”

Each webisode of the series features various controlled camera assessment tests which include: resolution, latitude, sensitivity, speed & ultra high speed, noise, color & green screen. The battery of tests were administered under strict controls and conducted by Robert Primes ASC, Gary Adcock, Philip Bloom, Jens Bogehegn and colorist Ryan Emerson.

See the reactions to this test following 2K screenings, where “HD DSLR is compared to 35mm Film”. The test results were projected in a 2K theatrical environment at three screening locations: Stag Theater at Skywalker Ranch, LucasFilms Ltd., AFI (American Film Institute) Theater in Hollywood and the FilmWorkers Astro Color Timing Theater in Chicago. Hear commentary from the screenings by top ASC, Hollywood, Indie Film and Event & Convergence Photographers.

IIb. Zacuto 2011 Shoot Out – Film Cameras Vs High end Digital Film Cameras (episodes 1,2,3)

The 2011 shoot out includes new cameras & tests of Single Chip Camera Evaluation (SCCE) which is a large scale technical camera comparison administered by Robert Primes, ASC. Side by side comparisons of the newest cameras manufactured by Sony, Canon, Panasonic, Phantom, Weisscam, Nikon, Arri, RED as well as the gold standard of 35mm film are included.