New Media Tips, New and Info – Follow @newmediatips on Twitter

Filed under: New Media, Social, Tips

Tip: Video Lighting Technique: Turn a Hard Light into A Soft Light from Izzy Videos

Israel Hyman has been producing great video technique tips for years. I met him a couple of times at PodCampAZ and he is a great guy.

Take a moment to visit his site, Izzy Video. There is a huge amount of information there to help you improve the quality of your videos.

Learn how to turn a hard light into a soft light. Also, learn how to tell the difference between a hard light and a soft light. Check out the full article to read all the details about how to do that.

Filed under: Hardware, New Media, Tips, Video

Elsewhere: Why is Video Hard? Five Shots and Patterns

Never heard of this method before, but it sounds liks something that could jumpstart a lot of beginning new media people. Give it a read! — Douglas

Why is Video Hard? Five Shots and Patterns

[…]

“One of the most famous, and useful of these, is Michael Rosenblum’s “five shot” method that he developed training journalists from the NY Times to the BBC. It’s actually something he’s preached since the late 1990s, and those who are fortunate enough to learn it get an insight into shooting better video, immediately.

I’ve successfully used this in the classroom to teach visual literacy, because it hones in immediately on what’s important. The five shot method always prescribes these, shot in this exact order (my handout here):

1. A closeup on the hands of a subject – showing WHAT is happening
2. A closeup on the face – WHO is doing it
3. A wide shot – WHERE its happening
4. An over the shoulder shot (OTS) – linking together the previous three concepts
5. An unusual, or side/low shot – providing story-specific context”

Read the entire article

Filed under: Elsewhere, In The Field, New Media, Tips

[Tip] For superior video, regardless of the camera, use a tripod…

[Tip] For superior video, regardless of the camera, use a tripod — even a mini tripod. It dramatically improves things.—
  (@newmediatips) May 23, 2011

Filed under: Tips

[Tip] Record short audio and video tips…

[Tip] Record short audio and video tips directly into your smartphone when inspiration strikes. Upload and get the word out immediately.—
  (@newmediatips) April 11, 2011

Filed under: Tips

Super Happy Vlog House – This Saturday – Ojai, CA

SHVH Update for Saturday Jan 22, 2011

Here’s an update of schedule and activies for this Saturday’s Super Happy Vlog House.

This is an open and free event where we learn, share and play with web video, blogs and the like. Come and geek out for the day at the beautiful Ojai Digital Dojo with others who are passionate about making video. All levels are welcome, beginners to experts.

There are both scheduled and unstructured activities. Feel free to come for the whole day or just the parts that interest you and fit into your schedule. Drop-in’s are welcome.

Likely Activities (it’s up to you what we do):

• 8am - Jim Joseph‘s coffee and morning geek talk.  Jim makes the best coffee. Truly.
• 9am – Alicia’s Ojai Guest House breakfast for those who stay over Friday night or come early on Saturday.  Fresh eggs from our chickens. UPDATE: belgium waffles!
• 10am – Welcome and introductions. Self organize the day’s activities.
• 11am – What’s new with HTML5 video? Lots of fun examples.
• Noon – Pot luck lunch and BBQ, hot dogs (beef or vegie), sausages, burgers.
• 1pm – How to add fun video-related features to your web pages using HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery.
• 2pm – Meet the vloggers. Jim Joseph, Chris Ritke and Tyler Suchmann. Chris will be sharing his experiences making the Ojai Artists Video and Jim will be leading a demonstration around ball room dancing music. UPDATE: Social media pioneerDouglas E. Welch said he’s hoping to join us!
• 3pm – Internet Archive Cleanup Day – A tour of the Internet Archive, new features and a call to action.
• 3:30pm 4pm - Vlog walk. Join us for a video walk and visit with local vlogger friends like artist Uta Ritke, plus a stop for a snack or tasty beverage in Meiners Oaks.
• 5pm – Dinner, pot luck. Tri-tip, chicken, pulled pork, fried rice, beans, salad.
• 6pm – Open video and web clinic. Get help with your projects; collaborate with others.  Edit and post that cool video you shot today.
• 7pm – Next to Heaven: vlog screenings. Whiskey and cigars, ports and chocolate.

This is a free event. We’ll organize some sort of pot luck lunch and dinner; please bring something or toss a few bucks into the kitty if you can. This is an adult friendly event with wine, beer and frank discussions. Children are welcome if accompanied by an adult.

For additional information, please leave a comment, email markus.sandy@gmail.com or call 805-798-0436.

Overnighters are welcome. First come, first serve on rooms, beds, couches and the RV. Pleanty of room for camping if that is your style and weather permits.

Rain or shine.Labels: ojai digital dojo, supper happy vlog house, vlog

 

Filed under: Elsewhere, Events, New Media, Tips

[Tip] Before following people on Twitter fill out your profile info. Help people to follow you back, not ignore you!

Get more New Media Tips via Twitter – Follow @newmediatips

Filed under: New Media, Tips

New Media Gift Guide #10: Blue Microphones Yeti USB Microphone

NMI Founder, Douglas E. Welch, is running a New Media Gift Guide on his Careers in New Media blog. Here is #10 in the guide, with links to all the past items.

#10 Blue Microphones Yeti USB Microphone

I was reading the Podcasters mailing list this week and saw mention the the Blue Snowball mic I mentioned earlier is being discontinued. This new USB microphone, the Yeti, is taking its place in the product line and has some good reviews. One major enhancement is the inclusion of an headphone jack to allow real-time monitoring when you are recording. This is a limitation of USB mics in that trying to monitor them through the computer induces a delay in the audio and makes it nearly impossible to listen to yourself while you record.

Certainly worth checking it out and I plan on doing that as soon as I can.

All Gift Guide Recommendations:

• # 9 Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone
• # 8 Apple Final Cut Express Video Editing Software
• # 7 GoPro HD HERO Camera – Wearable 1080p HD Video and Still Photo Camera
• # 6 Samson C01U Condenser Microphone
• # 5 Podcasting for Dummies
• # 4 Blue Microphones Snowball USB Microphone
• # 3 Joby GP1 Gorillapod Flexible Tripod
• # 2 Flip UltraHD Video Camera
• # 1 Zoom H1 Handy Portable Digital Recorder

Filed under: Elsewhere, Hardware, New Media, News, Tips

Ignore ALL New Media advice — maybe even this

From Careers in New Media with Douglas E. Welch

After 6 years of podcasting and a deep immersion into the New Media world I find myself wondering if we all need to stop listening to New Media pundits and just GET ON WITH IT!

As with any new trend, meme, idea, service, product, whatever — there will always be those who think themselves experts in exactly how it should be done. You must post 1.4 Twitter messages each day, each being only 120 characters (to allow for Retweets and blog 2, 500-word blog posts each day, each with a call to action and comments specifically written to your target niche., etc, etc, etc.

Talk about sucking the life out of something!

My own advice, which you are — of course — free to ignore, is to “DO” New Media in whatever way seems fit, in whatever method seems fun or useful, on whatever time frame fits your schedule, directed at whatever audience you care to address. JUST DO IT!

Following too much advice can be more damaging than following too little. Each new pundit, each new expert hones and grinds New Media in their image. They take all that was new and exciting about New Media and turn it into yet another widget that can be commoditized and sold. They reduce the power of these new tools down to a lowest common denominator that seeks to serve everyone, but only seeks to serve them with mediocrity.

What good is it if you simply get better and better and doing what everyone else is doing? If you use New Media tools like everyone else in the crowd you become just one more anonymous figure within that crowd. New Media gives us the ability to stand out from the crowd, find our audience and make a difference in the world. Why squander it being the same as everyone else?

Every new idea goes through this phase? Goth was cool and edgy, now it can be bought in the mall. Punk music was loud and downright dangerous, now its commoditized just like Top 40 pop. Blogging used to be cool and cutting edge, now many do it with the same energy and excitement as a burned out accountant might bring.

Start with yourself when you develop your New Media projects. Sure, you can find some interesting ideas among the pundits, but when the advice starts to make everything look the same you would do better to think about how you can make your work different. Different is where new things happen. Different is where big success lies. Different is what keeps you from being swallowed by the big ocean of mediocrity.

What do YOU want out of New Media? How are YOU going to achieve it? What are YOU going to do? After all, if you are just going to do the same as everyone else — why do it at all?

Filed under: Elsewhere, Member, New Media, Opinion, Tips

Question: Should I stay on Facebook?

Originally from Careers in New Media with Douglas E. Welch…

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been asked this question more than a few times, both face-to-face and via email/Twitter. The on-going privacy policy battles with Facebook have turned off a lot of people on the large (and growing larger) service, but for the foreseeable future, if you leave Facebook, you might just be reducing your social media effectiveness.

First, let me say that I haven’t had a large problem with Facebook privacy settings for two important reasons.

1. I joined Facebook after it had opened up for everyone, not just limited groups of high school and college students so I never developed an assumption of privacy there.

2. As with any social media, I consider anything and everything I post there to be public by default, so changes in Facebook’s privacy policy didn’t really effect me or the way I used the service.

For most people, you want (and perhaps, need) to be on Facebook for one very important reason…it is where the people are. In shear numbers, Facebook far outweighs any other social network and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Removing yourself from that mass of people will limit the effectiveness of any social media campaign, both person and professional, that you might care to create. You need to connect with the quorum of people that exist on Facebook to spread your message as far as possible. Deleting your Facebook account might make your feel better, but your online relationships and business will suffer.

Will Facebook always be the big event in town? No. History has shown that companies ebb and flow over the years and sometime, somewhere, someone will create a new and better service and will do to Facebook, what it did to Myspace (and others). Until then, we all need to “dance with those that brought us.”

That said, if you want to continue to have private conversations via Facebook, you need to look elsewhere. Facebook has shown every indication that they will be “public by default.” Even if you manage your Facebook Privacy Settings perfectly, you will be exposing your “private” updates to any number of people. Look towards closed email lists or other services which promise closed communications and leave Facebook for your public-facing activities. Remember, though, that even then information can leak out of these so-called “private” realms very easily. A forwarded email, a Twitter message, a casual mention by a fellow group member over the phone show you just how fragile privacy can be. In some cases, the only way to truly private about something is to be the only person who knows about it.

You need to engage on Facebook, publicly, if you want spread your message and thoughts to the widest audience possible. Move your private conversations elsewhere. Facebook isn’t going back so you need to do what is best for you.

Filed under: Member, New Media, Opinion, Tips

Show recommendation: FilmRiot from Revision3

This post originally appeared in “Careers in New Media“…

I had some open time in the last few days and I have spent some time finding sites and shows that can help you make your New Media projects even better.

The first show I am highlighting is FilmRiot from Revision3. The production quality is quite high and the content is very good. There is a bit of silliness in each episode, but in reviewing several episodes I found some really good hints, tips and tricks you can put to use today. Embedded below is a recent episode entitled “Turn Your Tripod Into a Dolly or Jib!: Learn how to use your tripod as a dolly or jib, then learn about using different camera techniques to enhance your story.” These are simple hints, but for those of us working on small budgets and with heavy time constraints, they can quickly bump up the quality of our projects.

You can subscribe to FilmRiot and download previous episodes from the FilmRiot site.

Filed under: Elsewhere, New Media, podcast, Show, Tips, Video

Video: Different methods of presentation – 2 vacation videos

This post originally appeared in Careers in New Media, written by NMI Founder, Douglas E. Welch.

We recently returned from a trip to the UK and I took several videos while we were there. The 2 videos below show 2 different methods of presenting a location to your viewer.

The first is this time lapse video of a “flight” on the London Eye. It seemed to me that presenting clips from the slow moving ride, or posting the entire ride in real time wouldn’t really give the feeling that I was looking for.

To capture this footage, we immediately placed our Flip Mino HD on a table top tripod on the floor of the capsule. You may notice that there was at least one time when we adjusted the few, but for the most part the video was just captured as we enjoyed the view. The movement of the boats and cars offers a nice contrast to the slow movement of the Eye itself.

In order second video, we did the opposite. Instead of speeding up time, we slowed it down…at least figuratively. Using the concept of a “long picture” I took 3 views of Stonehenge, again using the tripod, but rather than moving around like most videos would, these are 2 static shots.

I believe this gives a great feeling of what it would be like to be sitting there on the grass with us. The audio was captured from a group who were chanting nearby and I thought this added an important element, too.

You can see more examples of these “long picture” videos in this Places UK: Cardiff Bay and Water in Millard Canyon.

Videos don’t have to be like every other video on the Internet. Experiment with movement, stillness, profiles, interviews and any other videos that you can imagine. You never know what you might discover.

Filed under: In The Field, Member, New Media, Tips, Video

New Media Tip 20100519 – Don’t leave live streaming as an afterthought

Don’t leave live streaming of your event as an afterthought. It takes time to get familiar with the various services and choices you need to make.

Watch New Media Tip 20100519 – Don’t leave live streaming as an afterthought – High Quality

Subscribe this podcast and receive each new episode automatically (via iTunes)

Filed under: New Media Tips, podcast, Show, Tips, Video

Elsewhere Online: [Tip] New Media Assignment: Capture your great ideas

From Careers in New Media…

When I am talking New Media, one question that always arises is, “…but what do I have to say that people will be interested in?” That fact is, we all have something interesting to say. We just don’t take the time to recognize it for what it is. We let it slip away instead of turning it into the powerful new media it is.

Assignment #1: Capture your great ideas!

Everywhere you go, take notepad or journal. This is both your capture device and your reminder to be aware of opportunities to gather great ideas. The act of carrying it around, setting it on the table when you sit down at the cafe, putting it your bag is like tying a string to your finger or snapping a rubber band on your wrist.

Now, whenever you are talking with someone, be aware of when you and they are particularly enjoying the conversation. Are you laughing out loud? Are you ranting? Are you commiserating over some lost opportunity, job, lover?

Now, write down in your journal the topic of your conversation. It doesn’t have to be a detailed reconstruction of the conversation, just a quick line noting the topic and perhaps why it was so interesting.

Before you know it, you will have a whole series of pre-vetted ideas for blog posts, audio podcasts, videos and even books. You already know these topics are interesting to you and at least one other person, so you can turn them into something more without worrying about whether they are interesting enough — a common pitfall of folks just getting started in New Media.

Do you accept my assignment? Start doing it today! Share your stories about how it works for you as comments here on the blog of on the New Media Interchange Community site. I’d love to hear what your are capturing and how this tip works for you.

Filed under: New Media, Opinion, Tips

Video: Podcast Double End Recording with MP2 Transfer for Multitrack Editing

NMI Member and longtime fellow podcaster, George Starcher has posted several great technical videos to the New Media Interchange Community Site and I will be highlighting them here in the blog, too.

This first one deals with recording a podcast “double ender” — a remote interview where each person records there end of the conversation and then it is assembled in an audio editor to create a high quality interview.

George is a fellow member of the the Friends in Tech podcasting group, too.

Filed under: Community, Member, New Media, New Media Tips, podcast, Show, Software, Technology, Tips, Video

New Media Chat Transcript – November 24, 2009

douglaswelch: Welcome to New Media Chat sponsored by New Media Interchange at http://newmediainterchange.com.
douglaswelch: The conversation continues 24/7 on the New Media Interchange Community site at http://community.newmediainterchange.com. Post your questions and comments there in the days between these chats.
douglaswelch: With that said, the chat room is open for your questions, and comments. How is everyone tonight?
guest-13678 entered the room
junglejenny: excellent!
guest-13678 changed nickname to meganenloe
rockwanderer: thumbs up
douglaswelch: Things seem to be settling down/getting crazy as the holiday approaches
meganenloe: A little?
douglaswelch: If you didn’t get a chance to watch/participate in Fabulous Find Fridays this week, I invite you to check things out on the NMI Community site
michaelcuetta: is this show still happening?
douglaswelch: Start collecting your favorite finds for this coming Friday
douglaswelch: This is just a text chat tonight Michael
junglejenny: I have a question, who uses worpress?
douglaswelch: Ooo Ooo ME Me…but you already knew that
meganenloe: I do but I’m always lost on it.
junglejenny: Doug, your a god, thanks for helping me the other night.
rockwanderer: is there a benifit to using wordpress over blogger?
douglaswelch: Glad to help. I got a great post for Careers in New Media from your quandry
michaelcuetta: is there a top blogs link for wordpress?
junglejenny: I’m using wordpress as my website actually.
douglaswelch: @michael Somrthing that shows the top links on the given blog?
michaelcuetta: of the wordpress blogs, the most read
douglaswelch: @rockwanderer these days I lean towards WordPress for a couple of reasons but I still have 3 blogs on Blogger which were created years ago
junglejenny: not sure.
douglaswelch: @michael I think that the WordPress.com home page http://wordpress.com has a list of the top blogs hosted there, since they can see all the stats from these hosted blogs
guest-13837 entered the room
douglaswelch: @rockwanderer I like that WordPress blogs can start on wordpress.com and then migrate up to a self-hosted WordPress blog pretty easily
guest-13837 changed nickname to tracypattin
douglaswelch: Also, you can only get all the features of blogger now if you host on Blogspot. My Blogger blogs are actually hosted on my web site using the old fto method
douglaswelch: Hey Tracy!
tracypattin: hey doug!
tracypattin: been busy dealing with my FTP site and thinking up Qs for the chat
douglaswelch: WordPress is powerful and with that power comes a complexity which can be intimidating
douglaswelch: @Tracy Cool
guest-13874 entered the room
guest-13874 changed nickname to facebook_user
douglaswelch: The plugin interface of WordPress also allows you to easily add features with little fuss

Filed under: Chat, Events, Live, Meeting, New Media, New Media Tips, Social, Tips

Elsewhere Online: Tread carefully when editing WordPress themes (and how to recover when things go awry)

From Careers in New Media…

Tread carefully when editing WordPress themes (and how to recover when things go awry)

by Douglas E. Welch

I received a WordPress emergency email from a friend/client last night and I wanted to share both the problem, and the solution, with you. Now, I am far from a WordPress expert, but having faced some issues myself, her problem was one that I could solve.

Read the entire post

Filed under: Community, Elsewhere, Software, Tips

Screencast: Forwarding GoDaddy Domain to WordPress.com Blog

I had a question from a member of New Media Interchange the other day about how to forward a custom domain to point at a blog set up at WordPress.com. Here is a screencast video showing the process. While this is specifically for GoDaddy users, the principle will be the same for most other domain and web hosting companies.

iPod Ready Video

Filed under: New Media, podcast, Show, Tips, Video

Cokin MAGNE-FIX lens adapters for small cameras

At PodCampAZ this weekend I ran into an old friend who had one of these magnetic adapter lens for his Flip Video camera. In his case, it was a wide angle attachment that allowed him to shoot himself more easily for video blogs. The built-in lens on the Flip Video makes you extend you arm almost all the way to get your entire head and shoulders in the frame, but this adapter expands the view of the camera and makes it much easier.

They also have telephoto and filter attachments that work with a variety of point-and-shoot camera. These adapters attach to your camera using a magnetic ring that is stuck to your camera body which that connects to the adapter. This allows you to easily attach/detach the adapter depending on the shooting situation.

Amazon.com: Cokin Magne-FIx Products

Filed under: Hardware, News, Technology, Tips

New Media Chat Transcript – October 27, 2009

[19:00] douglaswelch: Welcome everyone to this New Media Chat sponsored by New Media Interchange at http://newmediainterchange. Our community site is at http://community.newmediainterchange.com.
[19:00] douglaswelch: A transcript of tonight’s chat should be available on the web site when we are done. This is one reason we are using TinyChat tonight as our online living room.
[19:01] joliveroconnell: @Andrea–good to see you!
[19:01] joliveroconnell: And everyone
[19:01] douglaswelch: The goal of these chats is to share our New Media knowledge and learning. As I mentioned in the email invite, reach out to the less tech saaavy among you and iontroduce them to the chat so they can learn more.

Filed under: Chat, Community, Events, Live, Meeting, New Media, Tips