Posts Tagged training
How to Make a Music Video : Learn the skills at a DMA Course
Digital Media Academy News + Events | February 26th, 2009 by Philip Harding
Have you ever wanted to know how to make a music video like professionals in the music industry?
Digital Media Academy is offering a week-long Music Video Production training course at many prestigious universities across the U.S. Get involved with the multi-billion dollar music industry. Get a jump start in your career! Mix beats, record samples, and create a sweet video production in just one week. This 5 day class will teach you the techniques of making music and making videos – then mixing the two skills together.
Learn the skills to make music videos like you’ll see on MTV and VH1. Work on the latest computer equipment, video equipment, audio recording equipment, production software and cameras. The only limit is your creativity at DMA summer camps!
Check out the Music and Video Production Course.
Digital Media Academy offers teen film camp experiences, film camps for kids, and professional level video production and digital filmmaking courses for adults.
Computer Camp for Teens
Computer Camp for Kids
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Using Training Courses for Art, Web, Film, Print, Marketing : Improving my business!
Digital Media Academy News + Events | February 26th, 2009 by Philip Harding
Written by Artist / Designer Robert S. Lindsey : DMA Alumnus
WOW! I had an amazing and intense learning experience at DMA! From the moment that I stepped onto the Stanford campus I new that this event would change my life forever. Digital Media Academy gave me the ability to create my own website (www.bettermurals.com) and portfolio. After returning for multiple years I have been able to design all my new art on my iMac that I bought through DMA for an amazing discounted price.I don’t wast any time or supplies when I am working on my art due to my expertise with Photoshop and Flash.
Last summer I spent a week invested in learning Final Cut Pro and mastering my HD camera so that I can introduce streaming video onto my site with time-laps promos of my murals. This video technique has been a feature that my clients love. Clients can now see how I work, and my company has the professional, impressive edge that I need in this economy.
I actually spend most of my time in front of my Mac. If I am not designing… I am designing. I am also a partner in the very successful marketing and design firm : www.redefinedesign.com. We specialize in building and maintaing company identities and ongoing branding through various medias: web, print, interactive, promo, etc… Our ground breaking relationship plan is specifically designed and tailored to each client. I am signed up for After Effects courses this summer and we are sending a few of our designers to get some training with DMA’s Pro courses.
Hands-On Digital Filmmaking: Collaboration is Key! Film Camp
Digital Media Academy News + Events | February 26th, 2009 by Instructor
By Katy Scoggin – Lead Instructor Hands On Digital Filmmaking for Teens
Last August, I taught Hands On Digital Filmmaking for Teens at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The class was a really successful exercise in collaboration and one of the highlights of my summer. I think everybody realized during that week that what you can accomplish as a group is a lot bigger than what you can create on your own.
It took me a lot of years to realize the value of teamwork. As a high school student, I loathed group projects because they always meant the same thing: I would end up doing all the work for several people. What a drag.
Since becoming a filmmaker, though, I’ve learned that teamwork is not about a bunch of slackers and the over-achievers who pick up after them. Real teamwork is about getting a bunch of creative minds together, bouncing ideas off one another, distributing work evenly and according to different folks’ strengths, and eventually coming up with a project that is bigger—and far cooler—than what any member of the group could have created alone.
That’s what my Philly students did last summer in the film camp course. They began by working individually on script ideas, which they later pitched to the class. Everybody got really excited about one student’s thriller idea. The story is about a girl who reveals the identity of a serial killer by posting a video of his latest murder on YouTube. After developing the script to suit everyone’s taste, we cast the project with some of our more performative members and broke the script down according to location.
Everyone who was interested in shooting—including the actors—had the opportunity to get behind the camera. Other students learned how to slate each take as camera assistants; lock the set down and watch for oncoming pedestrians as production assistants; and hold the boom pole as sound recordists. Everybody always had a job to do. And if each individual hadn’t held his or her own weight, we would not have completed the movie in such a short time span.
They say each movie is made three times: First you write it. Then you shoot it. Then you edit. After our two-day production period was over, we hunkered down and started to put the movie together. If you’ve ever written a paper, you understand that editing is basically rewriting. It’s the same in the cutting room: once you put the images you’ve captured into order, you can reorder them in a thousand different ways. Finding the best way to tell a visual story is one of the most challenging and, ultimately, most gratifying aspects of filmmaking.
In our digital film class, we decided to keep things collaborative through to the end: Each student picked one scene to edit, after which we cut the entire story together. At the end of the week, when we screened our short film for parents, I think everybody was happily surprised to see how much they’d been able to accomplish as a group in just one short week. The experience was a great one, and I look forward to having more like it this summer!
Learn more about DMA Teen Film Courses and Summer Computer Camps
Extreme Sports Filmmaking Courses : Film Camps
Digital Media Academy News + Events | February 26th, 2009 by Travis
There are a couple reasons why one of my first blogs is about DMA’s Action Sports & Media Combination Courses (Skate Boarding & Filmmaking / Surfing & Filmmaking). The first reason is that this is where I got my start with filmmaking. Upon Graduating from the UCSC film school, my first completed film was a 30 min snowboard and skateboarding film. I traveled to Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Colorado to premiere the film. It was such an incredible feeling to have my work up on the big screen and evaluated by my peers. The second reason why I write about these courses is because that is what I am working on right now. In fact I my house is covered with snow and I have been getting some amazing footage.
The idea came up for these courses when Dave Livingston – DMA’s Director of Instruction – asked me if there were any filmmaking courses that I wish I could have taken in college that weren’t available. Immediately, I thought it would be so cool to have taken a video production class with curriculum that taught actions sports cinematography and editing techniques. The classes were born and they have been a huge success. In these classes we teach students how to plan, shoot, edit, and produce their own action sports videos. At the end of each course the students even get the chance to premiere their film on the “big screen”, in front of classmates, family, and friends. It is really just awesome what they accomplish in 5 days while having so much fun!
Check out a couple of videos that one talented student Evan created while taking one of our DMA’s Action Sports & Media Combination Courses.
Until next time,
Travis Schlafmann
DMA Instructor/ Cinematographer & Editor
Tips from DMA Pros: TextEdit Creative Tricks in Apple OS X
Digital Media Academy News + Events | February 26th, 2009 by Ben
In this movie, I’ll be showing you some features in TextEdit that can increase your productivity.
Here’s a recap of the keyboard shortcuts I cover in this movie.
Cmd-T: Fonts Window
Cmd-Shift-W: Wrap to Page
Cmd-Shift-T: Toggle Plain/Rich Text
Cmd-R: Toggle Ruler Bar
Hold Option to Select Rectangular Blocks of Text
Tips from DMA Pros: Navigation in OS X
Digital Media Academy News + Events | February 26th, 2009 by Ben
In this movie, I’ll be showing you some navigation shortcuts in OS X that can increase your productivity.
Here’s a recap of the keyboard shortcuts I cover in this movie.
Exposé:
F9: Display All Open Windows
F10: Display Windows From the Current Application
F11: Show the Desktop
The SwitchBar:
Cmd-Tab: Change Applications
Cmd-tilde (above Tab): Change Windows Within Current Application
Hold Shift to slow down Exposé animations.
Apple, Can You Give my new iMac a Battery Pack?
Digital Media Academy News + Events | February 20th, 2009 by Philip Harding
I love the new black and aluminum Apple iMac. It looks great, and it works great. Awesome design. At Digital Media Academy our courses are always taught with the latest technology (software and hardware – Mac or PC). We used a hundreds of the latest Intel iMacs in our summer courses this year. We ran a lot of Macs as PC’s running Bootcamp in many of our Video Game Design courses across the country.
I am amazed whenever I see an older, white G5 iMac. The old iMacs look gigantic compared to the new, sleek model. The new iMac is small enough that I have actually taken it with me across the country on plane flights and road trips, to coffee shops and hotels. Yes, I love my 15″ Apple MacBook Pro, but sometimes the iMac becomes my mobile computer of choice. I have been stopped by airport security and stared at by fellow Starbucks drinkers.
The iMac has become so sleek that it fits into this odd category. It’s not really a full desktop computer (as we’ve known them) size, and it’s a little too big to be considered laptop size… but it’s getting close! Sometimes I just have to take it with me. Until I can get my 8″ iPhone… (cough, cough Mr. Steve Jobs) I guess I just have one request…
Can someone make a battery pack for my iMac?
No, this isn’t my black iMac. This is the birthday cake my wife Rachelle made for my party last year. She made an iPhone cake this year. Oh yes. Stay tuned for that!
Maya Training + Video Special Effects Courses at DMA
Digital Media Academy News + Events | February 20th, 2009 by Philip Harding
Do you know about the Maya training courses and video special effects courses that are being taught at Digital Media Academy? Learn 3d video game design, animation, character modeling, and more at DMA’s summer computer training sessions at prestigious universities and schools around the United States and Canada. DMA offers separate programs, summer computer camps, and digital art & technology camps for adult professionals, teens, and kids.
The video below talks about some of the exciting tech concepts students learn at DMA (wait until the end!)
Check out some of the 3d, video game, animation, modeling, and special effects courses taught at DMA:
3d Game Design Courses and Summer Camp Experiences for Teens:
Professional Level 3d Game Design Computer Training:
Also, check out the Maya Training Courses:
Check out a few DMA Special Effects Courses:
3d Game Design Computer Camps for Kids:
Apple Motion Special Effects Tip with Instructor Mark Spencer
Digital Media Academy News + Events | February 19th, 2009 by Philip Harding
Mark teaches Motion Training Courses (FCS 101) at Digital Media Academy, is a Bay Area editor, and has written several books on Motion. Mark has also taught the Final Cut Studio Integration course at DMA. Mark’s website is an amazing resource for tips and inspiration in using Final Cut Studio.
Mark Spencer gave us a Motion tip at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco where DMA teamed up with the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus to offer hands-on computer workshops. This video was shot on the bus. Check it out!
Video Compression for Producers and Editors : How Big is It?
Digital Media Academy News + Events | February 19th, 2009 by Philip Harding
Written by Jeff Sobel of the John Lennon Bus
A video producer often needs to be able to estimate the size of a video file before that video has been recorded, imported or exported. Do you need a magic crystal ball to predict how large a video file will be before you hit that Export button? Nope. You just need a 5th grader’s grasp of basic math. Here’s how:
Let’s take the example of exporting a video using Apple’s Compressor which comes standard with Final Cut Studio 2.
The first thing you should know is that digital video is encoded at a certain datarate, commonly called the bitrate. Higher bitrates generally produce better quality video (less “pixelation” or graininess) but will create larger files. You need to be sure that you choose a bitrate that’s high enough to achieve satisfactory quality but not so high that the video can’t be streamed on the web, downloaded in a reasonable amount of time, emailed, or however you intend to get it to your audience. Compressor has presets which are great starting points for making this decision.
The screenshot below shows Compressor’s stock presets for iPod, iPhone, and AppleTV:
You’ll see that there are two different presets for iPod/iPhone. The 1st is “h.264 video @ 600kbps” and the 2nd is “h.264 video @ 1500kbps”. Now, it’s safe to assume that the 2nd preset will produce better quality video, but how big will the files be? Let say we have a 2min long video and we’re hoping to compress it to a small enough filesize to be able to email it. Will the 600kbps setting do that for us? Let’s figure it out.
The 1st thing you need to know is that “600kbps” stands for “600 kilobits per second”. Now, we’re all pretty used to hearing about kilobytes, megabytes, even terabytes. But what’s a kilobit? A bit is the smallest piece of data there is. We represent bit with a lowercase b and byte with an uppercase B. All you need to know is:
There are 8 bits in a byte.
There are 1024 bits in a kilobit.
There are 1024 kilobits in a kilobyte.
There are 1024 kilobytes in a megabyte.
It’s not nearly as complicated as it might seem at first. It’s just like measurements you make in a kitchen. You know, 16oz in a pint, 2 pints in a quart, 4 quarts in a gallon, etc…
So let’s figure out how big our 2min video is going to be after we compress it using the 600kbps preset in Compressor:
600kbps / 8 = 75 kilobytes per second
75KB/s * 60 = 4500 kilobytes per minute
4500KB/m / 1024 = 4.4 megabytes per minute
Our 2min video is going to be about 9megabytes when exported with this preset. Small enough that you might be able to email it.
Now what if we compressed it using the AppleTV preset? That’s a 5mbps bitrate (5 megabits per second) so:
5mbps * 1024 = 5120 kilobits per second
5120kbps / 8 = 640 kilobytes per second
640KB/s * 60 = 38,400KB per minute
38,400KB / 1024 = 37.5 megabytes per minute
At this setting our 2min video will be about 75 megabytes. Much larger. But it’s going to look much better as well, even on an HD TV.
In our next installment we’ll talk about how you can estimate how much disk space you’ll need before capturing or importing your footage from a video camera.
