Logging and Capturing Strategies from DV Magazine: ”[U]nlike linear, logging for NLE became an integral part of editing methodology. As the logging process moved to the computer, it also became a selection process, the first culling of the video, often quite severely, perhaps down to a finished ratio of 10:1. This may seem like a high ratio, but when you start with camera operators shooting cheap videotape (as opposed to shooting on expensive film), source-to-final ratios of 50:1 or 100:1 are not unusual. That first culling of footage became a substantial commitment to the direction, focus, and even structure of the final product.” A cogent explanation of a vital but often tedious process. A must read.
Wired 10.02: The In Crowd: “The In Crowd – Need a metafilter to make sense of your info-soaked world? Meet the minds behind five elite email lists.” Though it isn’t specifically related to DV or education, this Wired article talks to five people who use the communication capabilities of the web in powerful ways.
Yesterday’s QuickTime Announcements have generated a lot of reportage on the various news sites, but little comment other than about the MPEG-4 licensing issue. Bill Bernat at Streamingmedia.com covered the crux of the controversy in an interview Larry Horn, VP of Licensing with MPEG LA, last week:
“The use fee of two-cents per hour of content served/streamed has generated the most heated debate….”
So, rather than a one-time fee, it’s an ongoing assessment, even on educational use of MPEG-4 streams:
“When asked about more complex scenarios such as education streams or free streams with in-stream or near-stream (HTML surrounding a stream) advertising, Horn repeated the axiom, ‘If there’s remuneration, then the patent holders should be paid.’ For education streams, if part of a course costs money to take, then the fee would apply.”
So, if you charge tuition for the class, you’d have to pay the licensing fee for using their codec, which means keeping track of hours of (possibly on-demand)streaming and paying off the licensors…. A problem, no doubt. Read the article and make sure you understand the issues. Submit comments to the MPEG-4 Industry Forum here.
New Architect: The Crime of Sharing by john Perry Barlow: “For instance, lending a book to a friend is still all right, but letting him read the same book electronically is now a theft.” Though college students have led the way in utilizing/exploiting Napster and other sharing programs, the rigid rules and their enforcement may have sever effects on educators who depend on multimedia and its creation.
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