'tis the season!

It's that time of year again - it seems like teachers are assigning video projects to students left and right and the Center's video camera kits are flying off the shelves. Here are a few tips to make your upcoming video project as quick, painless, ans successful as possible!

• Plan ahead. Start with the Student Multimedia Design Center's online Video Project Calculator. Enter the due date and type of project your working on to get a sense of how much time you'll have to plan, storyboard, film, edit, and finalize your project.
• Get the right equipment. Whether you're a beginner or an expert, the SMDC has the camera and accessories to make your project shine. We carry memory-based and tape-based cameras, tripods, lighting kits, microphones, green screens, and more to provide you with the right tools for the job.
  
• Edit your video collaboratively. Having trouble crowding all your group members around a single laptop with outdated software? No problem. Simply reserve time for one of our studios where you can edit your videos on dual-monitor Mac or PC platforms running Windows Movie Maker, iMovie, and Final Cut. The studios are also great for voice over work as well as group collaboration.
• Save early, save often. Can't fit your video on your old 1Gb flash drive? The service desk on the lower level sells flash drives, DVDs, CDs, and BluRay discs for saving all your files. We also have external hard drive kits available for loan for storing your work-in-progress.

Good luck and happy filming!