Notes from the Multimedia Trenches

A good day to build and fly dreams.

 

To create we take in experiences and give back an interpretation of that experience. Lately I have been trying to cut the time down between the experience and the interpretation. Speeding the process up requires both better techniques, and tools. I have listed some of the resources used this week.

• Good Creative Commons music is hard to find. Jamendo is one of the better sites for free music. I have used it to find music for several videos.

 

http://www.jamendo.com

 

• It is time to upgrade my multimedia tool box. The Panasonic Lumix GH1 is on the top of my shopping list for July 1^st.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/technology/personaltech/30pogue.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

 

• Journalism is the place to go to learn about multimedia software and hardware used in storytelling. Journalists are inventing the genre. Adam Westbrook is a respected name in the industry.

 

http://adamwestbrook.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/great-free-apps-for-multimedia-journalists/

 

• I started to get excited about the idea of having one device that would accomplish all my multimedia needs, especially for video, sound and images. Here is an article that has got me thinking.

 

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2345163,00.asp

 

• Twitpic from the Tweetdeck

 

I began to use Tweetdeck at the VSS conference and am continuing to discover its many features and general usefulness. I also have been using Twitpic to share photos. These two applications are incredibly easy to use.

 

• I have been using this Firefox add on to download video clips. It’s great for public domain material.

 

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3006https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3006

 

• Jing allows a user to capture and annotate multimedia content. It is free and relatively easy. It is good for creating mash-ups or explaining concepts to others. It’s made by the company that makes Snagit.

 

http://www.jingproject.com/

The Panasonic DMC-GH1 is a game-changer that provides video power to the people.

The Panasonic GH1

Often the corporate game-changers aren’t the big players. Big players like Canon or Nikon have too much invested to risk radical change, whereas a company like Panasonic doesn’t have the same legacy. Panasonic is more able to offer a radically new product and that new product is the GH1. The GH1 looks like a small SLRD. But it is much more! It can capture digital video at 1080p24 to an inexpensive SD card for fast and easy transfer to a computer. It has a built in stereo microphone, but more importantly it has a microphone input. This means a quality 3^rd party microphone can be added for professional sound.

 

Because of its unique engineering the GH1 is arguably the smallest SLRD with video capacity on the market. It represents the leading edge of the new micro four thirds lens standard. The ability to use a range of lenses allows professional quality video to be shot at a price most people can afford. Its lens standard also allows extremely functional cameras to be built at a fraction of their microwave-sized brethren offered by the other manufacturers. Bigger is not better when you have to pay for it and then lug it around.

 

The DMC-GH1 has a 3 inch LCD screen and a viewfinder. More importantly it offers full manual control when shooting. This feature can give a skilled operator’s video a professional look. The camera also operates in fully automatic mode which is great for introducing students to videos.

 

The camera and kit lens will cost something over $1000; not chicken feed, but a bargain when you consider that you get both an excellent 12 MP still camera and a high-quality video camera. The GH1 will be in the stores by early summer, a good time to buy one and learn how to use it.  You would be ready for an eager new cohort of students in September.