You probably are and this site is for you. It’s a site that will introduce and talk about cool, and free, technology tools. That will include websites and web services and software that you can obtain for . . . um . . . free. So check out Stuff for Starving Students – it’s highly nutritional.
Tags: newmedia, Technology, tools
Photo by ivan castro guatemala
We live in interesting times (both a blessing and a curse) when it comes to digital video. The first step of any video project is to gather footage of your subject matter. For the past several decades video cameras have been using tape cassettes to save the video onto. In the mid-1990’s, a digital version of tape came into existence to facilitate the transfer to a computer for editing. As I write this in the summer of 2008, there are new storage forms that are gaining traction that do not use tape at all. We also are going through a transition of video resolutions from what is known as standard definition (SD) to high definition (HD). This article will attempt to sort out the storage and resolution issues you should be aware of. When you’re ready to shop for a camcorder, check out the article on what to look for in a camcorder.
Let’s begin by talking about the ways in which cameras store the video that is recorded. We’ll start by mentioning what is thankfully fading into the past, and that is analog video. That means VHS (including S-VHS) and 8mm (including Hi8) videotape. I say thankfully because of the difficult nature of working with these formats in the digital world that we live in. The difference between these older analog formats and the relatively new digital video (DV) format is that a more complicated digitizing step needed to occur to get the video in a form that can be readily edited with a computer. With digital camcorders, video is already in a format that the computer can understand. The DV format also has the advantage of being higher resolution than either VHS or S-VHS (or 8mm and Hi8).
The disadvantage of the DV format is that there is no high speed transfer of the video to the computer. The digital information is on a linear tape. The video is all transferred in real time, meaning if you took an hour of video on the camcorder, it will take an hour to transfer it to the computer before you can edit it. That’s where some of the new storage formats shine.
In addition to the DV format, there are camcorders that store the video on mini-DVD (a smaller version of the standard DVD), on a hard disk drive similar to a computer hard drive, and on what is known as SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) flash memory cards which are removable. The advantage of all three of these formats is that you are simply transferring a file to the computer that has already been written to the DVD, hard drive, or SD card. Therefore transfers take fractions of the time it takes DV footage on tape to be transferred.
The disadvantage of these new storage formats is that you can quickly run out of space to store these digital files. A typical mini-DVD will hold up to an hour’s worth of video which is equivalent to a DV tape, but it is at lower quality. A typical hard drive camcorder might hold 5 hours of high-quality video, or an SDHC memory card may hold an hour or two, but what do you do after that. You can’t buy a new hard drive and insert it into the camcorder, and each SD card costs much more (at this time) than a DV tape does. DV tape does have an “archival” advantage over these other digital storage forms.
Other disadvantages come into play when you go to edit the video. Not all editing programs (especially the free ones) recognize the MPEG2 format from the recordable DVD, or the h.264 (aka AVCHD) codec from the SD cards, so be sure that you think about investing in an editor that can handle these formats.
Finally, don’t forget that many digital still cameras and even cell phones can do video too. However, you can only hold as much video as the storage in the camera or phone allows. Also, the video quality will not be nearly as good as DV or h.264 and it will probably be a slower frame rate.
As we move forward in the digital media era, the question of using the high definition (HD) level of video is one that comes up a lot. It generally has a higher cost in terms of more expensive cameras, and it is more time consuming and expensive to work with in editing. Both of those issues are constantly being reduced and soon “hi-def” will be the norm.
So what is high definition video, what are the benefits, and what are the issues? Well, good if somewhat technical information is available on Wikipedia. Generally it means video, in digital form, that has at least 720 vertical pixels of information. In most cases it also means a wide aspect ratio, so 1280×720 pixels would be common dimensions. Before hi-def came along, TV screens had an aspect ratio of 4:3. The screen was slightly wider than it was tall, but it looked square. Now with HD, the video has an aspect ratio of 16:9 which is more rectangular. There are also two levels of HD video. The 720 vertical pixel video, known as 720p (the “p” stand for progressive scan), and 1080 vertical pixel video, known as 1080p. There is also an interlaced version of the 1080 pixel resolution (1080i), and good information about the differences between progressive scan and interlace is also available at Wikipedia.
The benefits are clearer detail in what you are watching. You essentially have more information packed into a given space. The negative aspect is that HD files are bigger, and therefore take up more storage space. Also, if you were to download an HD video from the Internet it would require more bandwidth, or it would take longer to receive the file. You also need the right display device to watch HD video. Only the relatively new wide-screen digital LCD or plasma screens show you the advantage of HD video. A normal TV won’t show you the added detail.
Again, in the very near future, HD video will be the norm. You will need to decide whether to go with HD video for projects based on your audience. In June 2009, major television stations completely switch their broadcast signals to a digital form. They aren’t required to broadcast in HD, but the older analog TV sets will not work without a cable or satellite box, or converter box. Consult Wikipedia once again on the digital television transition.
For more information, see our article on what to look for in a camcorder.
HD photo by pietel
Tags: hd, hdtv, Technology, video
Using new media means using online resources. The more we use online resources, especially ones dealing with sensitive information like bank accounts and student data, the more we need to think about creating strong passwords to protect those resources. If you’ve ever had trouble coming up with a password that was considered "strong", but would then have trouble remembering that password, then I have the resource for you. The Password Generator is a website that not only creates strong passwords for you, but gives you a way to create passwords you can remember. If you just want to create a random password, you have that option.
However, if you want to use a password that you can remember more readily, you can choose the "leet password" option (ask a geeky friend where the word leet comes from *). The key is typing in a phrase that you will remember like "I graduated from Mary Washington University in 08". The password generator will then create a password with letters, numbers, and special characters that looks something like this – !6FmwU!08 . Notice how the characters aren’t the obvious choice. The ! stands for capital I, the number six is used for the small letter g, capital f for from, and so on. More and more sites will begin to ask for these strong, fortress-like passwords. When they do, you’ll be ready.
* – find out about leet.
Tags: encryption, howto, IT, Technology
When you need a technology gadget for your computer, or for creating digital media, where do you start? Well, we in Teaching and Learning Technologies recommend you start at Cnet reviews. Cnet is a technology website and they do accept advertising, but they are very independent when it comes to their reviews. If the readers at Cnet don’t agree, there is a user review section that will provide some possibly alternate viewpoints. The best thing about Cnet is the one stop shopping resource. You look for the category of device that you want, like digital cameras. Then we recommend you start with the editors picks (ex. Editor’s Top Digital Cameras). You can then drill down into types of devices within the category (Best Compact Cameras). Once you have a few candidates to choose from you can read the individual reviews. From there you can also see how the aforementioned users feel about the device. Cnet will also provide links to vendors who carry the product so you can purchase it right away. How much easier could it be? Well, it’s true you need to know what to look for and whether features are worth the money, but Cnet’s reviews generally spell this out for you. They also provide a “buying guide” for many types of products that will help you sort out the terms (ex. Digital Camera Buying Guide). Cnet’s review site is a great place to start your electronic shopping spree.
Tags: buy, digital, howto, Media, purchase, Technology
Welcome to the University of Mary Washington New Media Center. The UMWNMC is a sub-division of the Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies (DTLT), and as part of its mission, provides research, oversees development, and offers production assistance and consultation for new media approaches to supporting technology-enhanced and online learning at UMW.
The University of Mary Washington is a member of the New Media Consortium, which we joined in 2007. The NMC provides programs and services that foster the exploration of new media and new technologies. The NMC provides an annual Horizon Project that reports on the emerging technologies in education.