Prior to moving to 212 Rider II Building, the staff at the Faculty Multimedia Center (FMC) did not have a facility in which we could videotape faculty delivering introductory messages or course content for their Web sites. We always had to schedule a conference room and lug our equipment there. Now that we have a new facility for videotaping, we can do a much better job of controlling the quality of our end product.
Although we knew we were not going to achieve a professional TV studio environment, given our location, we were able to do a pretty good job of planning a "pro-sumer" quality studio. Here are some of the things we considered in the planning stage:
Size-We knew we wanted at least a 20'x30' room to give us enough space for the video camera and lighting. For more flexibility in lighting, we had hoped for walls that were at least ten feet high, but in the end we had to make do with walls that are about eight and a half feet high.
Noise level-Although we could not achieve a sound-proof room, we did take steps to make sure it was as noise-resistant as we could get it. This required extra insulation in the walls and sealed walls that continued up past the level of the dropped ceiling tiles to keep out as much sound as possible. We weren't able to control the noise level of the heating and ventilation system, however, but it hasn't been too bad.
Access-Our studio had to have a Web connection to allow us to access our network, so we could possibly offer live Webcasts.
Electricity-We had to plan for sufficient electrical service to handle all of our lighting and video equipment needs. We supplied the architect with an itemized list of all the electrical requirements of our equipment.
Multi-use-Not only would our studio provide us with a place to videotape, but it also would be able to double as a conference room, complete with an RGB projector mounted on the ceiling and folding tables and stackable chairs that could easily be stored along the wall. A large room-dividing screen would be installed and could be pulled across a section of the room to hide our equipment.
Once we started using the video room, we found that, in some instances, the projector can be used as a kind of teleprompter. We can project our subject's slides onto the large screen behind the video camera, and the subject can read from the screen instead of looking down at paper notes. The video room also houses our digital camera copy stand for making digital copies of large printed items.
Most of the equipment in the video room can be set up and left in position for the next shoot, which saves us a lot of setup time and helps us to position the lighting correctly every time. Although we had to make some compromises due to budget and architectural constraints, we ended up with a pretty nice studio in which to shoot video-a controlled environment where we can maintain a consistent level of quality.
To see a QuickTime Virtual Reality view of our video studio, go to http://tlt.its.psu.edu/fmc/qtvr/ksw_fmc_studio.mov.
Tech Tips are provided on a monthly basis by the staff of the FMC. These tips are free to members of the Penn State community and available via the FMC Web site. The FMC is Penn State's resource for faculty to learn about the methods and benefits of incorporating multimedia into the classroom environment. Staff members at the FMC offer consulting and training on the various multimedia tools that are available, via the FMC, to faculty members at all Penn State locations. To learn more about the FMC or to schedule an appointment, visit http://tlt.its.psu.edu/fmc/ or call 814-865-7051.