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Video Resources for Schools |
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- The rapidly changing features of digital cameras makes it difficult to recommend any particular brand or model from one monteh to the next!
The information on this page provides a brief overview of some of the options. Specialist magazines and online reviews provide an up-to-date comparison of the features of different models.
Reviews & comparisons
- DV Spot
Retailers (Australia) - Teds
Digital City
Camera Store
Digital Camera Warehouse
eBay
Storage devices (Australia) - Zytech
Harris Technology
Manufacturers- Canon, Epson, Fuji, HP, Kodak, Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Ricoh, Sony, etc
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- When shopping for a video camera, the two main features you should consider are: port connections and recording media/format. Some other considerations are listed below.
Ports
- Any video camera you purchase must have a FireWire port (also known as IEEE1394, or iLink).
USB ports (including USB 2) still don't have the throughput speed of Firewire, though this will most likely change with the next incarnation of the USB standard.
Analogue IN and OUT is also a useful feature. While most cameras have analogue OUT, analogue IN will let you import and digitise video from VHS tapes or TV.
Recording Media Format - While tape has traditionally been the best quality media format for digital video cameras, built-in hard disk, DVD, and memory-cards are now the dominant storage media available in digital video cameras.
Give the DVD option a miss! Go for a camera with a HD, and preferably removable flash-card storage. The latest video-editing software produces good results from the compression techniques used in this format.
Of course, mini-DV tape is still great, if you can find a camera that supports it.
Picture Quality- For general school use, the picture quality of any "entry level" cameras is fine.
Some manufacturers are now marketing very affordable 3CCD cameras. These cameras use a a separate CCD for each of red, green and blue, similar to the technology used in professional broadcast equipment. Definitely worth the additional expense if your budget permits!
Definition- HD (High Definition) cameras produce fantastic quality, but are still relatively expensive. But they are getting much cheaper!
Camera Size- The physical size size of a video camera is worth consideration. Smaller is not always better in a school environment. Besides security issues, some smaller cameras are difficult to keep still, particularly if zoomed.
LCD Screen Size- Some models include larger LCD screens than others. Not a critical factor, though big is always better!
Zoom- Put this at the bottom of your list of priorities. Unlike photo cameras, zoom on a video camera is not terribly important.
The DV Spot has heaps of reviews of digital video cameras. |
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- In General - Biggest,Fastest, Best!
- Digital video, in particular, needs lots of RAM, a big HD and a fast processor. The bigger and the faster, the better!
Although not essential for editing movies, a DVD burner gives you the option of distributing your movies in a convenient format.
In general, use the best computer you can afford!
Specifically....- For importing digital video, your computer MUST have a FireWire port.
USB is fine for still pictures, but not suitable for video.
All Macintosh computers include FireWire ports as standard equipment, while FireWire cards are available for PCs for a modest cost.
So far as software goes, Apple's iMovie set the standard for entry level video editing, and is included on all new iMacs, though Microsoft's Movie Maker 2 now provides similar features and is available free from the Microsoft site.
For more upmarket software, Apple's Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro provide budding Spielbergs with more than enough options, as does Pinnacle Studio on the Wintel platform.
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- Apple iMovie (Mac)
- Latest iMovie software updates, plus effects, transitions, sounds etc. (Included with iLife).
iMovie 06 HD- If you have installed iLife '08, and need the '06 features! Free.
The Unofficial iMovie Site - Heaps of iMovie tips, tricks tutorials, links to useful related sites, etc.
iMovie Plug-ins (Commercial)- eZedia
GeeThree
Virtix
Stupendous
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Avid Free DV - A trimmed-down version of the Avid video and audio editing software.
Celtx (Mac & Win) - Provides support for the entire pre-production process.
DivX & AVI Files (Mac)- Links to software for playing AVIs on Mac OS X.
DVDreamtime (Mac & Win)- Stock video clips for schools, setup in KLA areas. Mac & Win, on CD
DVD Ripping, etc- DVDBackup (Free - Mac)
Copies DVD to HD
DVD2one (Shareware - Mac/Win)
Choose which parts of a DVD to image. Compress 7.4G DVDs to one DVD.
DVDImager (Free - Mac)
Make a DVD disk image
FastDVDCopy
One-click copying, compressing, unencoding of any DVD. (Mac)
DVD FAQ
All your questions answered!
Final Cut Express (Mac)- Provides a wide range professional video editing tools. Good intermediate software, if you have outgrown iMovie, but don't need (or cannot afford!) the top-of-the line Pro version.
Final Cut Pro (Mac)- The "bees-knees" for digital video editing on the Mac, though FCP is a complicated piece of software with a steep learning curve!
- Flip4Mac (Mac)
- A free plug-in that will play wma and wmv files in QuickTime Player and a web browser on your Mac.
Movie Montage (Mac & Win)- Cataloguing application, similar to iPhoto, but just for QT movies.
MPEG StreamClip (Mac & Win)- Converts a wide variety of formats, including QT to DV.
MS MovieMaker 2 (Win XP)- Free movie editing software, from Microsoft.
Pinnacle Studio (Win XP)- Commercial software which provides more options than Movie Maker.
- Sound Dogs (Mac & Win)
- Over 160,000 sounds online - wav, aiff, mp3 & wma.
VideoLan Client (Mac & Win)- VLC is a free cross-platform media player which supports a large number of multimedia formats, without the need for additional codecs.
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A video camera can be used to setup a "live" Internet/Intranet WebCam.....
EvoCam (Mac) - Upload locally or with FTP, update using "page refresh" or Java using the included templates. Also provides captions, picture badges, clocks and effect items, all floating on top of live video from your camera.
Macam (Mac)- Software for USB webcams on Mac OS X. Allows hundreds of USB webcams to be used by many Mac OS X applications.
WebCamXP (Win)- Popular webcam software. Lets you broadcast / manage your video sources with up to 5 video sources per computer.
Webcam Timershot (Win)- Windows Powertoys software includes free webcam timer software.
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- Apple Learning Interchange
- Includes some ideas for using digital video resources in the classroom.
Claymation- Claymation how-tos, software, and a showcase .
Dan's Unofficial iMovie FAQ - More suggestions for repairing corrupt iMovie projects.
David's iMovie Tips & Tricks (pdf)- As presented by David Emery at the 2002 ASTD at Port Kembla GC.
Doug's Visual Literacy Stuff- Huge collection of links relating to the use of video in an educational environment.
iMovie 08 Video Effects- Using QuickTime to work around iMovie 08's video effects shortcomings.
iMovie Discussion List- Apple discussion list.
iMovie Corruption - Fix 1 - Suggestions for repairing corrupt iMovie projects which report "stray clips".
iMovie Corruption - Fix 2 - Another suggestion for repairing corrupt iMovie projects.
Ulead Learning Centre- A comprehensive range of tutorials introducing video basics.
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- These sites showcase a variety of amateur videos, and give some ideas of what can be done with a DV camera and a computer:
- Atom Films
Claymation
Tropfest
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