Fair Use - Center for Social Media

The Center for Social Media has developed a great series of tutorial on the doctrine of Fair Use under the Copyright law.
The site also contains sets of Best Practices for using materials for Media Literacy, using Online Video, using materials in Documentary Filmmaking, and many other areas.

Of particular interest might be the video "Remix Culture" which addresses best practices in Fair Use for Online Video.

Marco Images in Webcamera

There are lots of web-cameras on the market, but I was able to find a bunch of Hue webcams on clearance, and I grabbed a bunch.

The camera has a manual-focus ring, and I tried dialing it all the way out (for closest focus). I found that I could get it into a "super-macro" distance (within 1/2 cm of the item). Here is an example of my F1-Help key on my keyboard.

The application is that the lens of the web camera could be mounted into a telescope or microscope to capture the images for those optics.

Adobe Offers Free Curriculum in Digital Video

I just stumbled upon a site within Adobe which offers a free curriculum in digital video. Follow the link above for more information.

Quoting from the Adobe Website:

The Digital Video project-based curriculum develops career and communication skills in video production, using Adobe tools. You can use the Digital Video curriculum in career and technical education courses as well as courses involving video use in academic courses.

The Digital Video curriculum develops knowledge in storytelling, capturing and editing video and audio, and finalizing content for DVD or web through emphasis on design, communication, project management, and video technology. Key skills are developed in a spiral as each project adds more challenging skills on foundation proficiencies.

The Digital Video curriculum aligns to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Students (2007).

Do It Yourself (DIY) Lighting

Martin Catt posted a great DIY article on how to create your own video lights out of aluminum cake pans. The advantage of the cake pans is that they can be grounded for safety. Also - they are light weight for easy mounting to light stands.

Richard Wright demonstrates how to rebuild "brooder" style clamp lights into video lights which can mount to traditional light stands.

Cool Lights provide a demonstration for adding barn-doors to outdoor halogen and clamp lights.



The site CreativityToSpare.com has posted a YouTube video on how to create easy DIY lighting.

Video "Helicopter" Overhead Shots

I did a bit of video atop a paint-roller extension pole. I strapped the camera to the top of the pole and did a few quick overhead clips to demonstrate the potential for this project.

The video is a bit shakey because I'm walking and also the wind was gusting to 15MPH. On a warm, still day - the quality could be much better.

Video / Photo Shooting Table

Shooting Table Setup and Lighting - Video shows the setup and use of a video and photography shooting table constructed out of 3/4-inch PVC plumbing pipe and a translucent white portable filing box (for hanging file folders).

Overhead Laboratory Camera Mount - Video shows the setup and use of an overhead "tripod" for mounting a small camera or video camera to document laboratory procedures from an overhead view.

Video Equipment Projects

Professional video gear is outside the budgets of most instructors.
Here are some innovative projects for "home-brew, do-it-yourself" construction of projects to extend your filming tools.

Radio Control Pan / Title Rig -- RC controller moves camera for aerial shots.
$14 Camera Stabilizer - shoot handheld video without the roller-coaster results
PVC Fig Rig stabilizer - shoot handheld video
Underwater Housing - for small video cameras (plans)
Underwater Camcorder Housing - Larger cameras
Near Infrared Filter - heat signatures'
Helmet Camera - Hands-free recording for point-of-view videos
Camera Crane for $60 - for very lightweight DV cameras
Camera Jib Crane and Tripod for $200 - for heavier cameras.
Track Dolly System for $100 - smooth "rolls" of camera along a path
Homemade Dolly for $50 - another version using PVC
Make a Greenscreen for Chroma Key - substitute background images (weathermap)
Timelapse Panning using an old clock motor
Microscope Video in Macro Mode
In Car Headrest Camera Mount
Dash Cam Mount
Bicycle Camera Mount
Motorcycle Camera Mount
Giant Tripod
Tripod Dolly - Rolling base for video
Camcorder Clamp Rig - clamp your video camera to most surfaces
USB Webcam Telescope - Turn an old USB camera and a Zoom lens into web-telescope
Build a Teleprompter - Less than $50 requiring software
Microphone Blimp / Boom - less noise and wind on your recordings

Effective Demonstration of Video - FreeDrumLessons.com

I am not a fan of "talking head" uses of video in online and hybrid courses. I feel that audio is a better vehicle if you aren't demonstration a process or procedure.

However, video can be essential to the success of students in an online course.
View a great set of FREE videos which are very effective at teaching techniques to students at FreeDrumLessons.com. The videos have the instructor explain the process, then demonstrate the process, and then provide sheet-music instructions for viewers.

Even if you've never drummed before, this site will get your fingers tapping!

Voki is a Talkie

Get a Voki now!

This is an incredibly cool tool for online. Voki.com allows you to create an avatar, record some audio, and then combine the two to create a talking character for your online course site. Use these characters as introductions to case studies to add interest and engagement. I'm trying to figure out if there are ways to capture the video of separate characters to build up a story line which goes back and forth between characters (as a normal video would). I'll post later if I come up with a simple solution.