JISC Digital Media Blog Archive
May 2010

Cast your screen - new Screencasting Workflow advice

Posted by Gavin Brockis on Wednesday 26 May 2010 at 9:12am
Tags: audiovisual | e-learning | microphones | news | presentations | screen capture | screencast | software | sound recordings

Screencasting Workflow gives a detailed overview of the workflow for creating screencasts - videos of computer screen activity with voice narration and additional content.

With the rise and rise of the computer as a teaching tool, elegant and effective ways of sharing and explaining on-screen activity are of rapidly growing interest throughout the education and training community. Everything from software demonstration and training, through web tours and walkthroughs, to pre-recorded presentations can be delivered as screencasts.

Composite image - Dish image by CSIRO under Creative Commons, combined with original material

In our new Screencasting Workflow advice document we take a detailed look at all stages of the screencast production and delivery workflow, with explanations and demonstrations of techniques, tips on software and hardware selection and use, planning, performance and more. Designed as a thorough introduction to screencast production, this new resource also features several embedded screencasts which explore different areas of the screencast lifecycle, and numerous links to further documents and resources.

Invaluable for the beginner wanting an overview of the process, as much as the experienced screencaster after advice on more advanced techniques, this is a comprehensive introduction to the technical business of broadcasting your screen.

Google’s open source web fonts

Posted by Antony Theobald on Tuesday 25 May 2010 at 12:01pm
Tags: fonts | open source | typefaces | web services | web fonts

Last week we published our Introduction to Fonts and Typefaces which included a look at recent developments in the use of web fonts.

Web fonts let you use a far greater selection of typefaces on web pages. Although it has always been possible to put any typeface on the web by included it in an image, web fonts make your text selectable, scalable, editable, searchable and accessible.

Following the publication of our introductory guide, Google announced its new Google Font Directory and Google Font API. This allows anyone to use their collection of open source fonts freely on the web by adding a couple of lines of HTML to their web page.

Here is an example of text written using the Lobster font

The above line should appear in the Lobster font available from Google Font Directory. We have set Arial as the fallback font for browsers that may not support web fonts.

For more on web fonts have a look at our Introduction to Fonts and Typefaces.

Animated robots show how we can help

Posted by Sue Atkinson on Monday 24 May 2010 at 2:25pm
Tags: animation | e-learning | event | news | teaching | video

The JISC Digital Media team have produced a short video to briefly explain the fundamentals of what we do: provide advice relating to the use of digital media within teaching, learning and research.

The film not only showcases what we do but also offers an example of how information can be presented in an innovative way to engage a viewer, in this case through the use of animation (JISC Digital Media benefit from in-house expertise in video production and animation).

The short film ‘Robotz’ was the result and you can watch it here:

JISC Digital Media - Robotz Promotional Film from JISC Digital Media on Vimeo.

The principles embodied in the film can be applied to any informational media. Powerpoint, VLE design or even selecting video clips to illustrate ‘real world’ lectures might all benefit from the approach we took when making ‘Robotz’.

You can read more about the making of ‘Robotz’ in our latest Intermedia newsletter.

Find out more about fonts and typefaces

Posted by Antony Theobald on Thursday 20 May 2010 at 9:23am
Tags: accessibility | fonts | news | typefaces | web services | web fonts

Our latest advice document is an Introduction to Fonts and Typefaces.

Photo by atomicShed on Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons licence.

Our introductory guide to fonts shows you where you can find legitimate free fonts and defines some of the terminology used in typography. It is aimed at readers with little or no prior typographic knowledge who are interested in using fonts other than those supplied with their computer. It also looks at the recent developments in the use of non-standard fonts on the web.

Read our Introduction to Fonts and Typefaces here.

How to get attention on Flickr

Posted by Zak Mensah on Friday 14 May 2010 at 8:54am
Tags: flickr | photo sharing | photographs | photography | web services

Once you have produced a collection of multimedia resources, it is typical to hope that many people will visit and view said resources.

Image credit: slimmer jimmer on Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons licence.
Search terms: neon light

Thomas Hawk, a power user of Flickr, has written 10 ways to get attention on Flickr and it is worth a look for anybody using this type of public web service. One point worth stressing, is that this kind of activity requires regular engagement and involvement with the service. Enjoy.

Online image size calculator

Posted by Antony Theobald on Wednesday 12 May 2010 at 9:41am
Tags: bit depth | calculator | compression | file formats | news | photographs

Our latest addition to the website is a Print Size and File Size Calculator.

Photo by ansik on Flickr. used under a Creative Commons licence

Use our Print Size and File Size Calculator to work out maximum print sizes you can expect from digital images. It will also work out approximate file sizes for Raw, TIFF and JPEG images.

The problem with live video

Posted by Zak Mensah on Monday 10 May 2010 at 12:31pm
Tags: delivery | event | mobile | video

Over at Techcrunch, Michael Seibel of Justin.tv highlights several problems with live video on the web.

Two of the problems that Michael mentions are:

“Being tethered to a computer is the single biggest problem in live video today.”

and

“Getting viewers.”

How can we make live video and how can we attact viewers if it is going to be live?

From The Trenches: The Problem With Live Web Video And How To Set It Free

Latest issue of newsletter now available

Posted by Antony Theobald on Friday 07 May 2010 at 12:00pm
Tags: news | newsletter

We’ve just published the third issue of Intermedia.

Film preservation at the Library of Congress

Posted by Steve Hull on Thursday 06 May 2010 at 12:45pm
Tags: analogue collections | audiovisual | digital preservation | digital preservation policy | repositories | restoration | storage

Creative Cow has published a wonderful article from Ken Weissman, supervisor of the Film Preservation Lab at the Library of Congress in the US.

Weissman is responsible for literally millions and millions of feet of irreplaceable film, much of it in very delicate condition.  In addition to discussing such things as storage conditions and expected lifetimes, he has a few surprising things to reveal, such as the importance of paper as a storage medium for movies and why digital is a long, long way from being the preferred method of preservation at the Lab.

New lens document just released

Posted by Nigel Goldsmith on Thursday 06 May 2010 at 8:52am
Tags: equipment | lenses | news | photography | slr | tips | video

We have just released a new introductory document on lenses, it describes the main components of the lens and what you should consider before choosing a lens for a task.

The document also explains focal length, aperture size and depth of field and how they contribute to the appearance of the picture. It also contains some frequently asked questions on the subject.

Read our Introduction to Lenses.

Camera lenses fitted with lens hood to reduce the risk of lens flare.

Workflow by Thomas Hawk

Posted by Zak Mensah on Tuesday 04 May 2010 at 8:00am
Tags: photography | workflow

One of the key tools needed to produce resources is the use of various workflows.

Photo credit: Thomas Hawk - used under a Creative Commons licence.

Here Thomas Hawk gives us his 11 steps from shooting to publishing his images. A must read for anybody getting into photography AND will probably have points of interest for the seasoned photographer too.