JISC Digital Media Blog Archive
March 2010

A word in your ear - new headphone guide

We have just published a new Headphone Guide.

There is an ever-expanding range of designs to choose from when selecting headphones to use for listening to music and monitoring audio from your computer, stereo, phone or media player, or for use when recording digital audio and video.

Headworn, in-ear, circumaural, supra-aural... which is the right one for you? Our new Headphone Guide looks at all the various types of headphones, their strengths and weaknesses, and their suitability for the various roles which headphones perform in the audio lifecycle.

So, whether you're looking to improve the sound from your MP3 player, find suitable phones for monitoring a voice-over recording or a live performance, or to invest in a pair of audiophile headphones to enhance enjoyment of your music collection, this is the place to start.

listener wearing Beyerdynamic headphones

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Time to unplug

Eye-fi have recently released their new (and the first ever) range of memory cards fitted with wireless technology that allows you to upload photos and videos directly to your computer or the web.

With four different standard cards available for the photographer or film maker in you - or more realistically four cards dependent on your budget - extras include lifetime geotagging and year of hotspot access. At the top end of the range the X2 cards automatically sync with your computer or desired photo sharing website, and then delete the file locally, thus creating a 'never-ending' memory card.

Further more, iPhone owners can also enjoy similar functionality with an iphone app exclusively available to Eye-fi card owners. Time to say goodbye to that forever impending flashing icon that says 'Media Capacity Full'.

Brasilianische Architektur #3 - photo by Leo Uehara
Photo by Leo Uehara on Flickr - used under a Creative Commons licence

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Interesting photography apps for the iPhone and iPod touch

Posted by Steve Hull on Tuesday 30 March 2010 at 10:14am
Tags: equipment | photography | time-lapse | white balance |

Of the very many photography apps for the iPhone that exist, two have struck me as particularly nice, DOFMaster and DSLR Camera Remote Professional Edition.

DOFMaster is a simple depth of field calculator. It does one thing and does it well. It has been available for some time for Windows and the Palm, but the iPhone implementation is particularly attractive.

DSLR Camera Remote is a much more sophisticated tool. Hook your DSLR up to a WiFi-enabled laptop and your iPhone becomes a powerful remote control. You can control shutter speed, aperture, white balance and focus. You can view the image in the viewfinder on your iPhone before you remotely take your picture and you can review the shots you've already taken. You can also set up time-lapse photography within the app.

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New training dates and details released

Posted by Antony Theobald on Monday 29 March 2010 at 11:39am
Tags: news | training |

We've just published our new training programme.

Full details for all courses between April and August 2010 are on the Training page.

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Instant film makes a comeback

Posted by Nigel Goldsmith on Tuesday 23 March 2010 at 12:09pm
Tags: cameras | photography | pinhole |

In 2008 the Polaroid Corporation stopped manufacturing their instant film products.

Devotees of the media have been forced to stockpile film or go on a frantic search for rapidly diminishing global stocks.

Often desperate Polaroid enthusiasts had to purchase overpriced, out of date film with less than pleasing results. However, thanks to the Impossible Project we should soon be able to buy instant film again. At present the range is designed for the most popular Polaroid cameras but there are plans to introduce larger film formats such as 10"x8" in the future. The Impossible Project also sells a range of Polaroid compatible cameras including the classic SX70 and the Holgaroid.

Polaroid camera
Photo by mpclemens on Flickr - used under a Creative Commons licence

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CHARM sound search engine

A new music repository from King's College London, the CHARM Sound File Search engine allows the user to browse and search a library of around 5,000 individual sides of 78s, digitised to a high standard.

Gramophone

The Centre for History and Analysis of Recorded Music (CHARM) has been busy with their Transfer Project, digitising and cataloguing a section of their archive of 150,000 78rpm records, and the first stage of their project has just gone online. Their repository offers a flexible search engine, streaming MP3 and downloadable FLAC options, as well as a thorough metadata schema including photographs of disc labels and full technical records of the digitisation process. The site also documents some of the technical workflow used in digitising these artefacts, and explains decisions on choosing which items to digitise, digital restoration policy, and target file formats.

The search engine also accesses the JISC funded Musicians of Britain and Ireland, 1900-1950 project - an extension to the original CHARM transfer project.

CHARM Sound File Search presents a high quality and well conceived resource, and it's a great example of how to execute an audio digitisation project, as well as a fascinating archive of less common early recordings.

We have just added CHARM to the history section of our newly-published advice document Finding Subject-Specific Digital Media Resources.

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Using a digital SLR for video

There's a very interesting article in Creative COW about the Canon 5D Mk II, a very advanced digital SLR (or HDSLR) that the author has been using to shoot video with.

I was particularly interested in the video clips. A sequence in a night club was remarkable for being shot without any additional lighting (although some artefacts were visible) and the quality of another sequence shot in a shopping mall was remarkable, particularly since it used absolutely top-class still photography lenses. Love that bokeh!

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Where to find video, images or sounds?

Our latest advice documents look at the most useful sites for finding digital media resources online.

Silvertone, SuperiorSonic, Gala, and Nobility Radios. Photo by alexkerhead on Flickr
Photo by alexkerhead on Flickr - used under a Creative Commons licence

The first - Finding Video, Audio and Images Online - looks at tools and strategies for finding digital resources, and highlights some of the general sources you can use to find images, video and audio to use in teaching, learning and research.

The second - Finding Subject-Specific Digital Media Resources - provides advice and pointers on where to look for particular types of still images, moving images and sound files. We have divided the guide into the following categories: art and architecture; news and current events; history; maps; and science, technology and medicine.

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You are listening to…

Our new advice document Creating an Audio Ident provides information on what an ident is, desiging an ident, and how-to create an ident using Audacity software.

Ideal Audio - photo by robinfeder on Flickr
Photo by robinfeder on Flickr - used under a Creative Commons licence

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Vinyl up close

Posted by Steve Hull on Friday 05 March 2010 at 1:12pm
Tags: analogue collections | music |

For anyone who's ever wondered what the grooves on a vinly recording really look like, here's your answer.

Remarkable photos that, amongst other things, illustrate the importance of getting the dust off before you play the recording.

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How to photograph or scan those tricky objects

We have just published a new advice document on scanning and photography.

The document is called How Do I Digitise Difficult Objects? and it shows some simple ways to photograph or scan one-off atypical objects including glass plate negatives, small reflective objects and scans from magazines or books.

Axial lighting set up used to photograph coins or medals

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Google snaps up online photo editor

Posted by Antony Theobald on Tuesday 02 March 2010 at 11:04am
Tags: image editing | photo sharing | photography |

Google has acquired Picnik an online photo editing site.

Cozumel street (Lomo-ish). Photo by Sandy Redding on Flickr
Photo edited using Picnik by Sandy Redding on Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons licence

Picnik is a web-based application that allows users to crop, resize and add effects to their images - all through their existing web browser without the need for additional software.

Picnik has also been available to users of Yahoo-owned photo sharing site Flickr for a couple of years - it will be interesting to see how Google and Yahoo get on with this new partnership. The official Google Blog announcement does not mention Yahoo, but states "we'd like to continue supporting all existing Picnik partners".

Picnik is one of many options for editing photos - see our Image Editing Software for more information.

Online photo editing is likely to become more and more popular - there's already an online version of Photoshop. Have you used Picnik, Photoshop.com or any other online image editors? Would you be tempted to in the future?

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JISC Digital Media Blog ArchiveMarch 2010

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JISC Digital Media Blog Archive
March 2010