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It's a Jib

In the world of movie making there are a lot of tools used to help videographers capture the perfect shot. One of the best video camera tools is undoubtedly a Jib.

So what's a Jib you might ask?

A Jib consists of a boom pole mounted typically on a tripod, with a video camera positioned at one end and a counter weight at the other. Jibs come in all sorts of sizes and are fit for different applications. Jibs provide smooth and sweeping video motion.

image credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jib_(camera)

Sample of jib brands or names: Porta Jib, Long Valley, Ez Jib, Jony, Comely

What do you love?

We'll Google's at it again. . . . Search across numerous Google products from one place.

http://www.wdyl.com/

High Dynamic Range (HDR)

You may have heard the acronym HDR thrown around and wondered what it is? HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and is a set of applied techniques that enhance the luminance range of images and video. This range more correctly renders the natural range of luminance as seen by the human eye. While some people do not like HDR (considered to be too enhanced) images or video , there is a certain je ne sais quoi that adheres people to them.

The most definitive site for learning more about HDR is Trey Ratcliff's website, Stuck in Customs.

Check it out http://www.stuckincustoms.com/

UD Athletics Hires First Multimedia Director

A sign of the multimedia times: Announced recently in UDaily, the university now has a multimedia director for athletics. Click to read the article. Of course UD football and basketball will still be broadcast on "old media" like WVUD radio.

Grunge Textures

If you are looking for textures to use in a project, here's a great site that has free--Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial--licenses for images. This site also pulls files from other free image sites like MorgueFile. Note, some of the images (at the bottom) are linked to sites that require a fee to download.

http://www.grungetextures.com/

10 Free Online Image Editing Tools

In Richard Byrne's blog, "Free Technology for Teachers," he lists 10 online image editing tools that students can use for their multimedia projects. The editing tools range from simple resizing tools to full image-editing suites. If you're on a tight budget and don't have the time to stop by the Student Multimedia Design Center (where you can find a plethora of multimedia editing tools at your disposal), the list is definitely worth checking out.

3D Animation

In the Student Multimedia Design Center we have the open-source 3D animation program called Blender. There are many others out there in the 3D world. Here's a few:

3ds Max
Blender
Cinema 4D
DAZ 3D
Houdini
iClone
K-3D
Lightwave
Maya
Poser
Quidam
Softimage XSI
Strata
Unity
Xara 3D

Spotify hits the US

European music provider Spotify is currently allowing US residents to sign up for an invite queue for the free service! You can skip the waiting line if you purchase the premium service for $4.99 USD a month.

Spotify is a music service that has a large library of music that can be accessed with few limitations. The paid service is required to get Spotify on mobile devices but the free version can be used on computers. The service has some neat features including LastFM integration if you use that service or have playlists on your LastFM account.

Here is a Wiki page explaining some basics of Spotify.

Historypin

Back in 2008 a geographic wiki was being developed that gave users the ability to add historical data to an atlas. The site was called Concharto (www.concharto.org) and was excellent. For some reason it appears to have stopped functioning. Today, there is a new site that boasts similar functionality. . . and is somewhat of a cross between Concharto and Footnote (www.footnote.com). The site is called Historypin. . . check it out.

http://www.historypin.com/

The New Swiss Army Knife

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/767326-REG/VICTORINOX_5301SG16_Swiss_Army_Secure_Flash.html

Just don't forget to take the drive part out for traveling!
Shelly

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~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Shelly McCoy
Head, Student Multimedia Design Center
University of Delaware Library
Newark, DE 19717-5267
302-831-6363

Cartoon Animation

I was asked by a student yesterday what programs were available to do basic cartoon animations. Here is a small list of programs, including some that are very basic and free and those that are much more robust and come with a price tag.


Free Programs

Pencil [Windows and Mac]

Stykz [Windows and Mac]

Stickman [Windows]

Pivot [Windows]


For Purchase Programs

Anime Studio

Toon Boom

Sketchers Studio [Mac Only]

Sketchbook Pro

Keith Monks

While LPs are not "modern" technology, they are technology. In the industry, even today, the machine that nearly everyone wants for maintaining their LPs is a Keith Monks, the "Original Record Cleaning Machine."

They are still being hand-made in Great Britain and sold to the public.

http://www.keithmonks-rcm.co.uk/index.html

Need a Part Time Job? Apply to be a Multimedia Student Assistant!

Do you love helping people? Do you have experience making movies, creating soundtracks, or working with computers? Do you want to make money while having fun and gaining valuable experience at the same time? Then apply to be a Multimedia Student Assistant at the Student Multimedia Design Center! We're looking for proactive, tech-savvy students who would like to work in a dynamic, public service driven environment. We have quite a few positions available (ten, to be exact!), so if this sounds like the job for you, what are you waiting for? Fill out the Library Student Employment Application Form (.pdf or .docx) and send it, along with your resume, to Jeff Burger at jeffb@udel.edu. For more information about the position, check out the official job description.

Tagxedo: Create visual word clouds

Most of you have probably seen word clouds (and have created some of your own) using Wordle. Here's one that I made using the text in the "Production" section of our Getting Started page:

To add a little spice to your word clouds, try using Tagxedo, a visual word cloud creation tool. Choose a shape, add some text, and you might end up with something like this:

 

Enjoy!

TF Card?

So you are in the market for. . . let's say a new tablet . . . and you see that the device supports a TF card. You wonder . . . what is a TF card?

First, there are a lot of acronyms flying around in the multimedia world, some of which you have already heard about and others have yet to be "discovered." In the Student Multimedia Design Center you have by now become very familiar with the term "SD card." The SD stands for Secure Digital and describes a storage format that is non-volatile or can retain data even when there is no power source. In other words, when you take a photo with your digital camera the photo is retained on the card even when removed from the camera.

Now back to the TF card. Like the now standard SD card, the TF or TransFlash card is also non-volatile memory. In fact a TF card is an SD card only in a smaller size. The more common name for a TF card is microSD.

A brother to the TF or microSD card is the miniSD.

image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital