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A New Kind of DDMC

By: Scott C Frey

Bryan Center Studio 1

We had great attendance for this DDMC meeting! Featuring a lineup of big hitters and an all-star cast in the gallery at Studio 1 made for a great event. A big thanks to everyone for your support!

Richard Mitchell made his return to the DDMC, wearing a well fitted Biamp Vest, to give us a rundown of the new Parle’ VCB2500 video bar that is shipping! He also provided overviews of Biamp’s new AV control product line, Video conference cameras, Devio conferencing, and an easy to use classroom designer. The Biamp product line does an excellent job of covering all of your educational technology needs.

Michael Greene and Chris Lorch from Duke Learning Innovation discussed the impact of digital learning technologies on the classroom and other learning environments and showed how active learning helps students think, create, discuss and solve problems rather than passively sitting in a class receiving information. They highlighted the use of whiteboarding to promote brainstorming and group work. Reducing the need for podiums, providing good sound and visuals, and promoting more instructor interaction with online students are all components that should be considered in this new landscape of HyFlex teaching at Duke University. DLI is Duke’s resource for faculty and staff to tap into the opportunities that hybrid teaching tools can provide.

John Ballinger and Tim Hunnicutt with Panasonic brought an impressive array of PTZ cameras, video switchers and auto-tracking technologies to studio 1. John spent some time featuring Panasonic’s auto-tracking, which uses high-performance motion detection and high-accuracy facial recognition. These features allow precise tracking of the subject with minimal tracking errors, regardless of the direction the person is facing, even when the lecturer has his/her back to the camera. In addition, since this function provides detection/tracking with streaming video from the camera, the video capture board typically needed for capture on a PC is no longer required. This reduces the processing load for video capture, thereby eliminating the need for a high-performance PC. I also want to note the new PressIT 360, an easy to use plug and play conferencing camera ideally suited for small collaboration spaces.

Finally, our own Stephen Toback presented a topic near and dear to his heart: How to build a 4k studio for under $4,000. Knowing that the Bryan Center Studios will not always be convenient or the right place to shoot your video, Stephen put together a concise list of features your 4k studio should have in order to be successful. Room size, shape, acoustics, and lighting should all be considered before purchasing cameras and microphones. Stephen’s 4k studio equipment list details everything you need to outfit a studio of your own.

 

For more detailed information, please check out our Panopto recording of this event.

 

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