Digital Asset Management

AV Meta Control

March 3rd, 2023

AV Meta Control is a centralized platform for controlling and monitoring AV devices across a campus. With this technology, IT administrators can easily manage and automate the control of all AV devices, including projectors, speakers, and displays, from a single location. The benefits of AV Meta Control on campus are many. Firstly, it allows for easier and faster setup of AV devices, resulting in a more streamlined and efficient process for instructors and staff. Additionally, it enables IT staff to troubleshoot issues with AV devices remotely, reducing the need for on-site support, and increasing uptime for classrooms and other spaces.

Another significant benefit of AV Meta Control on campus is the ability to gather data on how AV devices are being used across the campus. This information can be used to optimize the usage of these devices, as well as to identify areas where there may be a need for additional resources. With the use of AV Meta Control, IT administrators can create reports and analyze data on usage patterns, allowing for better planning and allocation of resources. This can result in cost savings for the institution, as well as an improved overall learning experience for students and staff. Overall, the implementation of AV Meta Control on campus can lead to a more efficient and effective use of AV resources, resulting in a better experience for all users.

For todays edition of the DDMC, Dr. Joe Way spoke about the benefits of AV Control and Meta Control that included easier and faster setup of AV devices, remote troubleshooting, and the gathering of data to optimize usage and identify areas for additional resources. It could lead to cost savings for the institution and an improved learning experience for students and staff by streamlining AV device management and creating more efficient resource allocation.

Check out our Panopto recording for more details!

Wolfvision CYNAP Pro

November 8th, 2022

App-free dongle-free screen sharing!

Connect and share your screen using the wireless technology that’s built into your own mobile device. Our wireless BYOD solutions suit all iOS, iPadOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows and Mac devices – with full support for AirPlay, Chromecast, and Miracast screen mirroring.

Record your content

Cynap Pro lets you record all your multi-window, multimedia content. Everything is captured in high definition and saved internally – perfect for use as part of your online educational program. The included Capture feature pack enables operation as capture agent for Panopto, and other compatible video management platforms.

Multi-platform web conferencing

Cynap Pro‘s multi-platform web conferencing solution runs directly on the device itself, and is designed to solve many of the issues most commonly experienced with BYOM web conferencing systems.

Complex multi-step setup, and bandwidth issues are eliminated, and Zoom, MS Teams or WebRTC-based wireless conferencing sessions are easily started and controlled, using a simple workflow, from a touchscreen, or any laptop, smartphone, or tablet.

Stream & record to mobile

Our unique vSolution App for iOS, iPadOS, Android, and Windows lets your audiences receive and record a live stream of presentation or lecture content from Cynap Pro onto their own smartphones and tablets.

Freedom to present

Cynap Pro plays, displays, records, and streams all commonly used media at the same time, giving you unlimited choice of materials during presentations, lectures, and active learning classes.

Access your data easily via cloud, network drive or from mobile devices – even your laptop is no longer essential – you can simply bring your content on a USB stick, or download it directly from the cloud!

Annotate over any open window

Add to your content material using our built-in annotation features – or note down your ideas using the digital whiteboard, and save the output of both for future use.

If you are looking for an all-in-one with only needing to add audio processing? The CYNAP line of products is a good way to go.

Audio Engineering Society

October 24th, 2022

AES New York 2022

What is three days in a crowded convention hall full of audio engineers like?

It’s a completely immersive experience!

Abbey Road Studio 2

The theme of this years edition of the AES convention was clear. Immersive and spatial audio is going to be the wave that propels the future of audio industry. The range classes covered the entire work flow of how to plan, set up, record, mix, binauralize and distribute audio for the masses. Middleware like Wwise, Dolby Atmos and game engines like Unity and Unreal Engine will give audio engineers the tools they need to transition their audio tracks from stereo to an immersive aural experience.

Some of the highlights of the show floor that will be of interest include a sit-stand ready made podcast table and Ultra Low Profile Adjustable Mic Boom from Forecast and O.C.White Co.

Magewell Capture & Combine USB Fusion is a multi-input USB video capture devise with integrated sourse switching and layout control. Offering two HDMI inputs and one USB webcam input, USB fusion can switch between sources or combine two inputs simultaneously into one output (picture-in-picture or side-by-side) for capturing into popular software via its USB 3.0 interface.

Magewell Fusion

The Klover Mik 09 parabolic microphone is by far one of my favorites of the show! Engineered for the modern videographer, the KLOVER MiK 09 parabolic microphone is known as our “shotgun killer.” Attach it to the camera’s shoe mount, mount it to a light pole, attach a pistol grip, or even hang it from the ceiling, for long-range audio that’s always ready. By far the most comprehensive and effective demonstration I have ever been apart of!

This mic rig deserves an award all by it self!

KLOVER MiK 09

Over the years I found that going to gathering like this often reward us with information that you never knew you needed or simply not aware of. Conversations with peers lead to things you simply cannot live without.

Like Krisp’s AI-powered, bi-directional Noise Cancellation eliminates background noise from your microphone and your speaker.

krisp With Krisp toggled “on,” you can rest easy knowing that your voice—and your voice only—is heard clearly. But Krisp doesn’t stop there. Sounds on the other end of the line are identified and eliminated, so there are no distractions to break your focus during that important meeting.

For more information about these products and more.

Please contact me via Teams

Crestron

July 28th, 2022

We had great turnout for our July 27th DDMC presentation with the kind folks at Crestron Electronics. Representatives Ryan Bernt and Greg Coddington showed up with a wealth of information. New and improved online and in person training, camera tracking, BYOD product updates, and cloud based control platforms.

Be sure to check out the recording for more details!

Crestron at the DDMC

The DAM Search Is On

September 18th, 2019

I always refer to Duke as a large collection of very independent schools and departments under one giant blue flag. While this approach creates a very successful environment for innovation and tools that solve specific problems, bringing everyone together and sharing information, or assets, can be challenging. Each school and department generates a large amount of media assets each year to serve their particular programs. If you know someone, giving a call over to this person at the business school can probably get you that stock image that you need, but more and more, even the individual schools and departments can’t find their own stuff – especially when someone retires.

A few years ago, Duke started a project to build a learning object repository. This was essentially a digital asset management system that would hold “learning objects” – bits of media that could be reused and pieced together to make new courses and/or help instructors not have to create their own media for every lesson. This was a great idea that unfortunately didn’t come to fruition. One of the challenges was around tagging and contribution of the media. The enterprise systems we looked at were cumbersome and overly complex to say the least. We don’t want to repeat that with this project.

So, the search is on for a lightweight digital asset management system that could allow schools and departments to manage their own media as well as curate collections to be shared throughout the enterprise.

Our University Communications department recently spun up an instance of WebDAM which I like very much. The challenge is that it is cloud hosted and since 99% of our customers will be on the Duke network, it doesn’t seem wise to pay for storage and bandwidth when we have that in abundance in our data centers. Pixabay is another site I really like in its absolute simplicity. I reached out to them to see if they license their platform since it seems that Pexels is running the same platform.

We’re going to have a meeting next month with our Communicator community here at Duke to float this idea to see how interested people would be in having this sort of a service. I’ll keep this updated as to our search.

If your a higher ed organization that found the perfect solution or if you are a software developer that thinks you have the perfect solution, comment below. 🙂