General Information
- Please repeat questions from your students for the Web-viewing audience.
- Please remember to wear and turn on the wireless microphone, no matter how small the classroom. Check that audio is coming through on the touch panel. Check that the microphone battery is not low (it should be at least 2 bars)
- Check the confidence monitor for a preview of what is being recorded. It should show the screen and camera feed side-by-side.
- If you would like an orientation session please fill out an orientation request to setup an appointment. For information on your classroom, please check out our classrooms database.
- During the first two weeks of classes please announce to students that the class is being recorded for Course Capture and how you plan to share the recordings.
Video Recording Recommendations
What to Wear for the Camera
- Solid colors such as medium blue or gray and light pastel colors are excellent choices. Muted prints also work well. The camera has some trouble focusing patterns such as herringbone, pinstripes or other stripes, small dots and small checks.
- Non-shiny jewelry works better on camera than the shiny variety.
- Please wear clothing to which you can clip the lavalier microphone battery unit and the microphone itself (button-down shirts are helpful).
Screen Recording Recommendations
- If possible, please connect your computer to the classroom projection system before you begin lecturing
- Hook up your computer or tablet PC using the HDMI or VGA cable which can be found in the classroom media cabinet. Refer to the classrooms database for additional information.
- Turn on the projector. After the projector comes on, boot up your computer.
- Suggested resolution is: 1024x768 at 60 Hertz.
Preparing Slides and Overheads
Slide presentations used for compressed video follow most of the same guidelines as any slide presentation. The main thing to remember in creating slides for compressed video is that students will be seeing your slides on a computer monitor. Simple and readable visuals work best.
General Slide and Overhead Suggestions
- Imagine a television screen when planning the layout/format. Use a horizontal or landscape format.
- It is recommended to use five lines of type and five words per line. Slides with too many words are hard to read.
- San-serif fonts are easier to read on-screen (Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, etc.).
- Align text to the left margin. Type is easier to read flush-left. If only one or two words are used, centering the text is fine.
PowerPoint Slide Formatting
- Use simple graphics. Elaborate graphics are difficult to see.
- Contrasting colors are easier to distinguish from each other than those that are too similar.
- Limit only one idea per slide.
- Leaving space around the slide’s border will ensure that images or text won’t be cut off or skewed when converted for television screens.
- Avoid using sound. When used in compressed video presentations, sounds are often distracting or annoying to the viewer.
- Avoid using animations unnecessarily. Movement does not translate well on the compressed video screen because there is a delay in the signal. Tablet PC’s should be fine.
Suggestions for Easy-to-Read Slides
- Upper and lower case letters are easier on the eyes than all capital letters.
- As a rule, red is not a good color for television.
- Gradient backgrounds make reading the slide difficult.
- Underlining and punctuation are difficult to see on television.
- Script or fancy fonts are hard to read even if they are enlarged.
Overheads for Use with a Document Camera
- The slide suggestions apply here. Keep the fonts simple, the format horizontal, and use contrasting colors.
- Print your overheads on plain paper. Transparencies cause a glare, which makes them hard to read.
- Keep the overheads organized and in the order they will be presented.
- Handwritten slides should be printed neatly.
- Letters should be at least ½” tall.
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