Learning Unit 12: Experimenting w/ Audio & Video

For this learning unit, we were asked to do several things w/ video and the internet. More specifically, we looked at several different video formats, created different videos, and tried out a few video streaming & conferencing websites.

Activity1: I viewed some high definition videos at both the Microsoft Website and Apple Website. At the Microsoft site, my two favorite videos were the Coral Reef Adventure (viewed in 720p) and The Magic of Flight (viewed in 1080p). For the Apple site (which I thought was much better than the MS site), my favorite high definition videos were BBC Motion Guide-Japan & BBC Motion Gallery Presents CCTV (China Central Television).

Activity2: I created a video of my nephew playing with blocks using my digital camcorder. Since my camcorder captured both the audio and video on the same file, I did not have to perform any file manipulation to get the video on my computer; I simply dragged and dropped the movie clip from my camcorder to my computer. My camcorder saves all videos as a Windows media audio/video files so all I had to do was upload that file to the Vimeo website; the video of my nephew playing with his blocks can be found there.

Activity3: I used my digital video camera to create a live recording of myself and posted it on the web. My first attempt at this did not go so well. I tried using the Upstream website to create a TV Channel entitled “The Practical Engineer”, however I was only able to record audio. I could not get this site to recognize my video camera. I then tried uploading my live recording on the Livevideo webiste. After experimenting with the capabilities of Livevideo, I was successful in uploading my profile video on this site. I chose the livevideo website for uploading my recording because it was listed right after Upstream. I simply worked in order, and did not get a chance to experiment with the Stickam website, so I cannot comment on how good it was.

Activity4: I registered on the Wiziq website; I can be found under the username callen. I received several invitations from fellow classmates as well as my teacher for this site, however when I accept them, I still cannot see them as my friend/contact on this site. I think there is some type of architecture issue going on with this site because I have been monitoring my class website on NING, and it seems as though other classmates are experiencing this problem as well.

Activity5: I signed up for the Seesmic website; I can be found under the username callen. I uploaded an initial profile video on this site, but I had a great deal of trouble finding it on the site. I really do not like this site, as I had a lot of issues with navigating around on it. Maybe I’ll like it a little better after I use it a little more.

There was also a reading assignment for this learning unit; the articles/opinions were very informative.