The purpose of this blog is to compile and share news, events and other video, film & media stories.  There will be sections on Smith College technology, another will highlight work created by faculty, students and staff.  I hope you will find some of these of interest and maybe find some inspiration to create your own media stories.

Much has changed in the world of video over the past 10 to 15 years.  We’ve gone from analog video to digital video,  from Standard Definition to High Definition and then came 2K, 4K and even 8K.   I bought the first High Definition camcorder for the college in 2007.

Technology is changing at very rapid pace.   I tell people  that whatever software or hardware you are using today already has a replacement being created and that replacement is also being engineered for replacement.

The iphone came out in 2007.   When the iPhone came out we didn’t really understand or foresee all the implications and new ways to use this new technology.

On the subject of iPhones here is an interesting article about a feature film shot on an iPhone by Steven Soderbergh.  This is not the first film shot with an iPhone.  Today you can find classes on shooting with an iPhone at major film Universities like UCLA.  https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-steven-soderbergh-high-flying-bird-20190131-story.html  When the iPhone came out did anyone think that feature films would be shot with an iPhone?

AV-over-IP

We’ve been hearing about  AV-over-IP for several years now.  The benefits are obvious but…  Nearly everyone out there is misleading you about AV-over-IP. It’s not easy, it’s not lossless compression and it’s not going to happen overnight. But, it IS the future of AV signal distribution. There is no standard that everyone has adopted for sending AV signals (video, audio, control and power) over the network – there are multiple ways of doing it and none of the different options are interoperable. So, buyer and adopter beware.

This article addresses IP and video.  Exactly what I have been thinking about lately >> https://www.provideocoalition.com/why-everyone-is-talking-about-ip-in-video/

I guess I am not the only one thinking about these things.  On April 1, 2019 Vizrt acquires NewTek.  https://www.redsharknews.com/business/item/6251-vizrt-buys-newtek-in-one-of-the-biggest-disruptive-moves-for-decades     “The combined company represents one of the most disruptive changes for the video industry in decades; however, the goal remains the same—to build a new world of IT-based video technology to grow the reach and impact for anyone with a story to share.”

The next technology I want to look at is call NDI.  It stands for Network Device Interface.  It has so much potential and there are so many uses we don’t even yet know.  See NDI

-Jeff Heath