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Video in eLearning ain't what it used to be... it's better!

My friend Jenise Cook over at Ridge View Media turned me on to this interview between Gabe Anderson on Articulate's Word of Mouth blog and Mark Dorosz of Knowledge Screen.  The interview spotlighted Mark's use of video in eLearning.  

I wanted to turn you on to it, as well, for its insight to the relative ease these days of incorporating video in our online training solutions.  Now, I don't want to give the impression that "have camera will travel," and your video will seamlessly complement your instructional design.  Nah, I think most instructional/video designers will say there's a little more to it.  But, once said, I think most of us would also say that it isn't a skill that can't be honed (sorry for the double-negative, there) in a lot less time than it used to "back in the day."

When done right, video provides the missing link between the passion of a classroom instructor and the scalability of self-paced elearning. People sharing their ideas on camera is the norm...A polished video script combined with a well-rehearsed presenter can add a new level of personal engagement and credibility to elearning that we just can’t achieve with Flash animations.

~Mark Dorosz

You can read the transcript of the interview on Articulate's blog here.  Meanwhile, I've included a sample of Mark's production below, showing his use of Articulate Presenter 2009 as the rapid eLearning development platform.

Have you used Articulate's Presenter package? Care to share your experiences about video embedding in elearning? Please share in the comments below.

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A peek into the world of video editing for live broadcast.

Those of you who cut and produce video content, whether you do it as a hobby, for training, eLearning or broadcast productions, then you know how involved the workflow can be.

What from ingesting video, loading it up in the timeline, editing, splicing related media, color-correcting, audio overlays and especially, especially rendering out the final production. It can be quite involved. Depending on your efficiency and technology, it can also be quite time intensive.

I think I work pretty fast when I cut video. (My preferred non-linear editor? Final Cut Pro.) But, I've always been amazed at the guys and gals who do this stuff for live broadcast TV.

Quite often, they're putting clips in the timeline for editing even as the video streams in via a satellite feed. I understand it's not uncommon for these pros to begin working on the feed at 5 p.m. for a playout at 6 p.m. That's nuts! Also, very impressive.

The video link below of Apple's interview with Peter Wiggins is worth a look.  Peter is a Pro video editor who has worked in live broadcast environments for the Tour de France, among other gigs.

For those of you who use Final Cut Pro, or cut video, you'll find some nice little tips and tricks.

Crowdsourcing as a tool for new media marketing, stories and plot development

Here's a brilliant use of crowdsourcing in the process of movie creation.

Take180.com is a web site featuring shows that are created from audience participation. It's brilliant.

In response to "challenges" posed by the producers, folks like you and I are invited to submit videos, artwork, plot direction, and so on to guide the direction of stories--each no longer than 3 minutes in duration--produced by Take180's staff and cast members.

Audience participation is solicited in the form of "challenge's" on each show's website for members to respond. Members then submit ideas, while producers and other members vote on the submissions. In addition to winning prizes, the winner also gets her/his concept included in the next episode.

For example, at the end of Episode#2 of the popular series "I <3 Vampires" ("I Heart Vampires"), Corbin, one of the protagonists, ends the episode with a vlog-type entry (a video-blog) asking viewers to help her with ideas about how to win back her friend, Luci, whom she just miff'd. In response, 79 submissions were made. The grand prize winner submitted this entry suggesting that Corbin be placed in the role of baking "vampire cupcakes" for her friend. The concept was subsequently baked-in (pun intended) to Episode #3.

A Bloody Mess from I Heart Vampires on Take180.com

The concept got me thinking about audience/consumer engagement for marketers. For example, creating a story line with consumer input to drive plot development over a series revolving around a brand.

I don't know if you remember the old Nescafe Gold Blend coffee commercials back in the 80s?

I'm obviously dating myself by revealing memory of the series above. But, think about taking the same concept and then bringing it forward to today.  Then use the crowdsourced power of social media to engage consumers in the direction of the story.

Could it work? What do you think?

Week-ender post: Web video...using still images

I learned a few things today.  I love it when that happens. 

These are some creative videos with source images using time lapse stills shot from a digital SLR camera.  Ross Ching is the artist.  A recent graduate from San Diego State University's film program.  (He's looking for gigs, in case you can use this kind of talent in an upcoming project.)    

Eclectic 1.0

Eclectic: My First Time Lapse Experiment from Ross Ching on Vimeo.

Eclectic 2.0

Eclectic 2.0: Earth, Water, Sky from Ross Ching on Vimeo.

Eclectic 3.0

Eclectic 3.0: The Roads Less Traveled from Ross Ching on Vimeo.

Open wide! YouTube looks a little different today. Does it mean anything?

After a bit of speculation in recent weeks about whether or not YouTube was going to switch its player to the widescreen format, the guessing's finally over. Today they pulled the trigger on that.

So this morning I'm a little like our cats after moving their food dish. (Something has changed..? My "regular stuff's" still there, but something changed...?)

Widescreen was actually viewable on YouTube even before today. By tweaking the video URL (the "http:" address in your browswer's address bar) and adding "&fmt=18" at the end of the address, we were able to switch between "normal" quality and high def.

Where wide screen was available in the high def version, it was shown. But to get it to fit within the old player (termed "4:3" for the ratio of width:height), the wide screen videos (16:9, again that ratio-thing) were shown with black bars across the top and bottom. Also the video shrunk to get the width of the 16:9 video to squosh into the old 4:3 player. Got all that? Well, here are "a thousand words" more to describe it.

The difference after today is that a video that was created in widescreen (16:9) format will fill the entire display area of the new player.

Meanwhile, videos that were created in the "normal" (4:3) format will now populate the center of the new player such that vertical black bars appear along the sides .

But here's the deal. It's worth keeping in mind that, even with the new widescreen format on the YouTube site, you'll still have to think about how you that video displays on your website. For example, many (most? some?) of you know that to embed the video into your website, blog, etc. you'd simply grab the embed code from the video's page on YouTube. But, notice that even though the video displayed on YouTube is in widescreen format, the associated embed code is configured for "normal". (See below.)

Below is the same widescreen movie above but using the embed code provided. Notice the difference. It reverts back to the old wide-movie-in-a-normal-player scenario.

For my part, I welcome the changeover. I don't think it's huge news but , like any new change, it will require us to think and maybe act a little differently about the formats we create our movies in and to be a little more conscious about the way in which we want to have our YouTube videos displayed on our web sites.

Quick question: Do you know of a way to get widescreen video to show as widescreen on your web site? I'm sure there's a way, I just haven't tweaked around with it yet. If you've got the answer, share!

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