Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference
Teaching, Learning, & Technology
The Connected Classroom
April 7-9, 2002
Producing Industrial Videos in the Classroom
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By: David Baird |
Proceeding
ABSTRACT
Producing industrial videos in the classroom has proven to be popular with both technology students and local industries. The Industrial and Engineering Technology department at Southeast Missouri State University has employed this approach to teaching Non-linear video editing for the past three years. Video production has focused primarily on safety. But, process and promotional forms have also been produced.
Equipment and software costs coupled with rapidly expanding capabilities of both have made it feasible for schools to teach this technology. It has also become more prevalent in mid sized and small industries. It is being incorporated into the traditional in-plant printing facilities.
Introduction
Cameras, welders, and other more complex pieces of equipment are frequently packaged with information videos. They focus on equipment operation, safety, and invariably a bit of self-promotion. Increasingly, manufacturers are finding it cost effective to include these videos with new equipment. They have found that it reduces the pressure on help lines and almost eliminates the number of functional products returned as defective. Until recently video production was outsourced to a specialty video production company.
Now traditional in plant printing departments are being required to expanded well beyond ink and paper into video production to be delivered on VHS tape, CD, and DVD. Not long ago video production was beyond the typical in plant printing department. However, with the rapid increase in the capabilities of desktop computers, and software, video production costs have dropped drastically. Many plants now find in house video production a cost effective approach to delivering information to customers. They have also begun to produce videos for use within the production facilities as well. In particular, safety training has benefited from videos produced in the exact environment where employees work.
In house production has expanded from safety to include operational, training, orientation, and promotional videos. Hardware and software required for this type of production have both experienced dramatic price reductions in recent years along with increased capabilities. Thus, making it very cost effective to produce all of these types of instructional and informational videos within the manufacturing environment.
Video for industry is interesting and challenging to the students. Especially, when the final product is for a company that will use it daily in their business. The real (not contrived) connection helps to get the best from the students, who seem to appreciate the outside, corporate, guidance. It also provides them with invaluable industry contacts for potential future employment.
Industrial Connection
For the classroom, the first order of business is to locate industries that are in need of short video productions. For TG472 at Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) this means final productions in the vicinity of 10 minutes in length. This limit is imposed due to production times and the amount of video storage available on the editors. One minute of video, depending on the compression, takes up about 1 gigabyte of hard drive storage space. Digital audio and music add to this space requirement. Extending this 1 minute = 1 gig requirement and adding audio requirements of as much as 1 gig. per minute, it quickly becomes evident that with 20+ students in each class, mass storage space is at a premium.
Companies that have taken advantage of video production from Southeast's class include; a plastics company, a wood truss manufacturer, a wire company, and an original equipment automotive manufacturer. Currently in production are videos for an electrical power generating plant. Four separate safety videos are being produced during the spring semester for an electrical power generation plant. Also in the works is a promotional video for the Technical Graphics program at SE MO.
Equipment
Non-linear digital video editing equipment is used to import raw footage, still images, animation, music, voiceovers and to create digital effects. Equipment capable of performing all of these tasks varies greatly in capabilities and cost. Matrox and Pinnacle are two major brand names that are readily available. Both are in daily use in the Graphic Technology program at Southeast Missouri State University.
Two varieties of Pinnacle digital video capture cards are represented in the program. First are 3 RealTime Nitro dual monitor systems. Six additional editors use DV1000 Cards in Silicon Graphics workstations.
Two camcorders and tripods are available for students to capture original video footage and audio for their projects. Both are digital. Each camcorder is equipped with a wireless lapel microphone to capture high quality audio. Increasingly, students come to this class with their own digital camcorders. These consumer grade camcorders will work but are not capable of the high quality video needed for most of the industrial production.
An audio recording/editing studio is used by the students to finetune the audio tracks and record voiceovers. This audio editing is performed with CakeWalk software. After editing, the digital WAV files are accessible through a fiber optic network directly from any of the editing stations.
The Nitro systems run Premier 5.1 while the DV100s use Premier 6 software. Additionally, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are loaded on the editors to facilitate the creation of still graphics for inclusion in productions. Character generation for titles is done with either Title Deco, within Premier, or with Illustrator and imported. After Effects is also available for special effects when the students deem necessary or desirable.
Costs
Appendix A lists the complete specifications of each of the editing stations used at Southeast Missouri State University. However, in general, the Nitro systems cost $45,000.00 each, while the DV1000s run approximately $5,000. Keep in mind however, the DV100s are single monitor systems with few peripherals. Even then their prices can be higher than that listed depending on the amount of RAM and Video hard drive space specified. One note of caution, make sure hard drives selected for video storage have fast data transfer rates. Typically, a 10,000 rpm SCSI drives with sustained data transfer rates of 35 meg. per second will be required. If the drive is too slow dropped frames will occur, with the result being unusable video files. The size of the video drive depends on the amount of video capturing and editing to be done. However, it is recommended that the largest size affordable be purchased, with nothing less than 70 gigabytes.
Procedures
Production groups are selected at random from within the class. Depending on the size of the class and the number of industrial projects planned, they include either three or four students each. Each student is expected to perform camera work, audio editing, and video editing as part of their overall industrial assignment.
Early phases of each new class are spent learning camcorder functions and features and the capabilities of the video editors. The editor features are learned in a two- stage process. First, the students are required to complete a tutorial. Then, they are given an assignment to produce a 5 to 10 minute video of their choice, which must include specified features of the software. The features are: capture digital video; digital audio; include transitions; superimposing; compositing; and applying a filter. Each student must produce this individual assignment related to camcorder operation and video editing prior to any work on the group industrial project. The students are encouraged to have fun with this project and produce something of personal interest. Past productions have run the gambit from sports, to dog training, to a video portfolio, to a spoof of the TV show Cops.
A class in animation is a prerequisite for the TG 472 class. Each student can then have input into the creation of an animated intro for a fictitious video production company. When multiple videos are produced for the same company, each production team creates their own animated introduction and the class votes to select the one to be used in the final videos. Whichever team's animation is selected will have their names included in the credits for all of the videos using it.
Initial arrangements for the number of videos and contact persons for each industry are made by the professor. A group field trip is usually arranged for the class to get acquainted with their assigned industry. However, following this initial introduction, each production group is responsible for making arrangements with their assigned industry to obtain direction for their production. They will either get the script produced by the industry or they will write the script based on the company's wishes. They will also discuss the kinds of video shots desired by the company, things to avoid and things to be sure to include.
After the initial meeting with their assigned industry each production group holds several meetings to determine their approach to the video. Several storyboard versions are normally required before the group can come to consensus. Once the storyboard is complete a meeting is arranged with the industry representative to get feedback for revisions to the approach. The teams then meet to revise the storyboard and determine a production schedule. Raw video footage is then shot as required by the storyboard. Much of this footage, naturally, is on location within the industry. Narration may be recorded at that time depending on the specific video requirements. Background sounds are also recorded during visits to the industry for inclusion in the final project.
In the editing studio, segments of the raw footage are selected for inclusion in the final video and imported into the project. The script for the voice over is then recorded and imported into the project. Background sounds and finally, appropriate background music are selected and downloaded.
After all of the selected components are in the project they are then assembled on the time line in a sequence determined by the storyboard. At this stage, the video is considered a rough cut.
After the rough cut is complete, the industrial representative is contacted for a viewing. Suggestions and concerns are noted and final revisions are made. After the video is in it's final form, copies are made for the industry in their preferred format, either VHS tapes, SVHS tapes or DVD disks. The students also make copies for inclusion in their professional portfolios.
Conclusion
After several years of teaching with this kind of project it has proven to be well worth the extra effort it takes to coordinate with industry. It has proven to provide students with invaluable industry contacts. It has also provided local industries with the opportunity to find out more about our school and department. The school benefits in that it provides continuous contacts with industry to help in staying current with industrial trends.
Appendix A
Pinnacle RealTime NitroEditors
Dual Pentium Zeon 500 processors
76 gigabyte SCSI video drive
140 gigabyte SCSI video drive
750 meg. RAM
Pinnacle Nitro edit/capture card
30 gig. Tape backup
Sony DVD burner
Dual 21" monitors
NTSC monitor
Theater sound speakers
SVHS tape deck
SGI Pinnacle DV1000 stations
Dual Pentium 1gig. processors
Single monitor
DV 1000 edit/capture card
40 gig. hard drive