[Greg Sage]

update: did some checking, and there’s tons of cat5 running through the ceiling, so I suppose I might be able to tap into that and straight to the projectors somehow if it beats using the ethernet connections and running through the computers.

[Greg Sage]

Good stuff. Thx.

Have to look into RF feed to classes. It’s over a dozen rooms, so using whatever is in place likely wins in the end. It wasn’t built as a school. School is leasing church property and they’ve never done any kind of cc “broadcast” before that I’m aware of.

Definitely mindful of student privacy issues. Waivers are in place, but well aware of varied attitudes on the subject. (I’m one of those over-protective parents myself)

Don’t mind going the camcorder route, just though the dslr might also be useful to loan out for teachers to get shots of sporting events, do our yearbook photos, etc. I can likely get more budget if I show them how to save it elsewhere. Would prefer to be able to do 2 camera shoot. Don’t think they’ll spring for 2 decent DSLR’s. They’re checking a connection at local news channel currently to see if they can get some gear donated.

Whatever we go with, I won’t be covering events after school, so it needs to be simple enough to hand it off to someone, have them collect the footage and submit it.

I’ve got chinese kino’s at home, but they still get hot enough to cause harm and/or fire, and we’re talking kids who will likely trip over them, so I’m thinking one of those spiral bulb diffuser 5 point kits. Might not be the ideal amount of light, but should help with the heat in a crowded classroom, and nothing is directly exposed, so the kids won’t burn themselves. Something like 5 of these and a boom for the hairlight:

https://fancierstudio.com/lenses/1000-watt-softbox-lighting-kit.html

I’m also thinking I should insist on heavy-duty stands and some sort of sandbag or other stabilizing solution to ward off the inevitable.

Looking into audio solutions currently… likely get boom and external recorder to sync in post.

I’m working on a fairly pimped octo-macpro at home, so maybe spoiled. I think they’re trying right now to see if they have access to a decent enough computer through barter or other means, but in either case, I should have a base spec in mind and some guidelines.

Don’t need to get too heavy with the software, but want to at least be able to do newscast style overlays, PIP, crawlers, etc. Looking into Adobe Creative cloud as that may keep the cost down and I’m already familiar with Illustrator, After Effects, Photoshop, so I can give the kids a bit broader look at digital media creation in general vs just producing the same segment over and over.

All ears, though.

Keep it coming.

[Greg Sage]

Thx. Will start by looking at your link. I’m not search averse by any means, and am beginning to familiarize myself with color management issues, but to clarify:

I’ve sunk every dollar I have into other aspects of this project (mac pro, audio equipment, software, etc), so I really don’t have any choice at this point but to work with the tools on hand. I am using a fairly cheap 1080p tv with only very basic color correction tools. There are other hdtv’s, and an ipad handy, but I simply do not have access to a properly calibrated monitor, and need to do what I can quickly with what’s available.

I’ve worked with Photoshop for years,and know my way around Illustrator, but am only recently getting into the video side with AE. I have CS 6, and have been reading up on media encoder, etc.

Specifically, though, even the dvd played back on the same monitor is blown out an grossly over-saturated in comparison to the file being played within AE. I also have been doing some website design, and regularly see images in that screen vs the same image on an ipod, android phone, etc… and am clear that this is not a difference in calibration from screen to screen.

While I’m sure my calibration is far from ideal, I’m seeing something else here. Somehow, between the AE project file and the DVD, it’s getting blown out. It makes me suspect something like too many bits of color being truncated down or something like that which is why I’m asking if there is an immediately obvious thing to check for in this situation.

thx.

[Greg Sage]

Loaded a half dozen images to test the tutorial, and it’s working like a charm so far. I guess I’ll see if there are rounding/scaling issues at the extremes once I get enough stacked, but overall, the system of parenting the scaling functions is what I was looking for.

Much better and more flexible than the few suggestions I had found floating around the net.

thx

[Greg Sage]

Z space was my first thought, but my guess is that it would screw up all the boundries since you’d get paralax shift between the inner edge of the larger image, and the outer edge of the smaller image.

Could be cool if you want that, and if there’s enough overlap to cover it, but if you don’t want it, or are trying to keep from noticing the boundries, it would draw attention to the boundries, and may cause some artifacts as the different pixel sizes slide over each other as the perspective shifts their relationship.

Again, it’s a guess. Haven’t tried it.

Will check out the link. thx