Sessions about Video

State U. plays their arch rival this Saturday in football. No tickets? No problem. You watch it on TV – or maybe not. Video is the next best thing to being there, and in 2007 you don’t have to wait until you get home to watch. Online video sites, smaller and better cameras and portable viewers can give most anyone what they need to not only be a viewer, but also a producer, broadcaster or even “podcaster.” Do you have a story to tell? A message to send? Then fire up that video camera, get some software and prepare to share it with the world. This session will offer tips on how to make a quality video presentation above and beyond those funny things you see on YouTube. Experts from the University of Tennessee and Kansas State University will offer advice on production and editing techniques, the art and style of video photography, and script writing – including the “full circle” effect of storytelling. We will focus on where video is going in the future, and discuss web video, iPod usage and satellite technology. We also offer the perspective of an ACE member “bamboozled” into video, and how the experience is going.

Designed as a hands-on workshop, video editors will learn tips on streamlining the editing process and exploring aspects of Final Cut Pro. Workshop will include: basic user interface, logging and capturing, trimming clips, keyboard shortcuts, and advanced methods of color correction and sound editing. This practical overview of Final Cut Pro will provide participants with industry tips and tricks to increase work flow and final product quality. Participants should have some video editing experience in other digital programs or beginning level experience with Final Cut Pro. Stephanie Dove is an independent documentary filmmaker and editor based in Southern California. Stephanie’s editing experience includes projects for USDA, NASA, Cinevegas Film Festival, Discovery Channel, and PBS. She is currently a Final Cut Pro and Video Production instructor at the Art Institute of California – Inland Empire.

The Gardening in a Minute radio program was developed through University of Florida Extension to reach out to the gardening community in an innovative, edutainment format. Gardening is the number one leisure activity in the U.S. and research shows that gardeners seek information. Edutainment utilizes a variety of media to incorporate educational messages within an entertaining format. In a short, fun format, Gardening in a Minute shows educate listeners through a variety of seasonally appropriate issues related to water, plants, pests, and wildlife; each show explores a different home gardening or lawn care topic. Along with the radio program, an integrated marketing communication approach was implemented to reach a broader audience. An interactive Web site allows program listeners and other site visitors to have hands-on learning experiences. Gardening in a Minute is currently being broadcast in 19 counties in Florida with plans to syndicate throughout Florida by 2008. More than 15,000 people listen to each broadcast. The interactive format of the program and the collaboration with county faculty has made the program very visible within internal and external audiences.

This hands on session will cover 3D modeling and animation basics using Newtek's Lightwave 3D. Although the session will be software specific most of the techniques can be applied to any 3D animation package. The session will be broken into three sections. The first section will cover software basics and navigation. The second section will cover basic and intermediate modeling techniques. The third section will cover texturing, lighting, and animation techniques. This session is open to all skill levels.

Recognizing that public radio is an underutilized outreach method for Extension, University of Florida launched a project to develop a two-minute gardening radio show at the campus NPR radio station. A team of communicators, horticulturists, and Extension faculty undertook the task to develop something appealing for today’s quick-paced society. Initially set to launch in April 2006, the launch date was pushed back until July to give time for focus group studies of homeowners and Extension agents. A week before the new launch date, research results were compiled, which showed that the program format needed work and the topics were too technical. Although more than 70 shows had been recorded and were ready to air, we went back to the drawing board and began the process over. The program was reformatted into a one-minute show, new music was developed, and a marketing campaign was begun. Gardening in a Minute launched October 2 and has generated outstanding results. The team has plans to syndicate the program throughout the state and the coastal gardening southeast. Through trial and error, a great product was developed that helps to bring attention to UF Extension.

Are you tired of the same old backdrops for videotaping interviews? Are you lacking a studio? Serious Magic Visual Communicator 2 Studio is self contained green screen software that allows you liven up video interviews for taped presentation, or live! In this presentation we'll learn about what the software is capable of doing.

Learn how to make studio quality pictures without the studio. Using a minimum amount of small portable lighting equipment we will set up portraits and product shots that look slick and polished and can be done quickly wherever you happen to be. We will walk through each set up as a group live before your very eyes. The presentation will feature and explain small wireless TTL flashes, reflectors, backgrounds, and light modification devices you can make yourself. The presentation is geared towards digital photography but would also apply to video.

The kind of writing we do—writing for the public about public institutions—has a relatively recent history and has been largely ignored as either journalism or literature. Yet there is a strong literary quality to the best of our writing. And the stories we tell are essential to gaining support for these public institutions. Story-tellers provide the building blocks for all communications. This panel of ACE writers represents several types of storytelling, including feature writing, scriptwriting, and web writing. We will discuss how to create a story from a message; how to deliver a message through a story; and how to create the most effective vehicle to carry the story. We will dissect examples across media to show how “content” is created and crafted into stories with power. And we will share examples of good stories, compiled and distributed to those attending the session.

Apple's iDVD program makes it easy to produce professional DVDs for simple videos. You'll learn how to take movies created in iMovie into iDVD, create chapter markers, customize the interface, and publish a DVD.