SiOnyx Aurora is an Action Camera that ‘Turns Night Into Full-Color Daylight’ via PetaPixel

November 22, 2018 by Douglas E. Welch

SiOnyx Aurora is a new action camera that claims to be the world’s first day/night camera for consumers. It’s ultra-light sensitive, allowing you to shoot full-color images in low-light conditions.

The Aurora is “the only HD action video camera with true day and night color imaging,” SiOnyx says, noting that it has received over 40 patents related to the camera. SiOnyx was founded back in 2006 by Professor Eric Mazur and Dr. James Carey of Harvard University.

Read SiOnyx Aurora is an Action Camera that ‘Turns Night Into Full-Color Daylight’ via PetaPixel

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Tips for Building DIY Lighting Setups for Under $100 via The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat

October 28, 2018 by Douglas E. Welch

Here are some great ideas for upping your photography and videography lighting quality on the (relatively) cheap using off-the-shelf materials and products. See my link below for an inexpensive lighting kit I purchased a few years ago, too. — Douglas

Don’t have enough funds to purchase high-priced lighting kits? Try out using some of these cheaper methods to get your lighting right.

One of the core principles of a skillful shot is the use of good lighting. Here’s the problem, though – lighting equipment can be pretty expensive. When you set up a typical interview shot, you’ll probably use 3 different lights to set your key, back, and fill. Each of those lights can cost around $200 each, which will stretch your budget to more than some people can afford.

Not to worry, though, my wonderful penny pinchers. The folks over at ShareGrid have a few ways to incorporate everyday lighting systems to achieve quality light production by using cheap work lights, foam board, and even Christmas lights.

Read Tips for Building DIY Lighting Setups for Under $100 via The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat

My inexpensive lighting kit from Amazon

An interesting link found among my daily reading

Samson Go Mic Mobile Review: Wireless Microphones for All! via SomeGadgetGuy

October 25, 2018 by Douglas E. Welch

What wireless microphones do you use for your podcasting and video production? Share your gear in the comments!

Oddly enough, I was struggling with some older wireless mics today as I was recording a presentation by my wife. Sometimes this hand-me-down set works well and at other times the audio fades in and out as the presenter moves about the room. It is long beyond time to get a “real” set of wireless mics so I will take a look at this Samson unit as one possibility for replacement? — Douglas

Read Samson Go Mic Mobile Review: Wireless Microphones for All! via SomeGadgetGuy

An interesting link found among my daily reading

New grant will support up-and-coming female streamers on Twitch via Polygon

October 14, 2018 by Douglas E. Welch

A charity organization is partnering with Twitch to promote promising female streamers on the platform, offering them a series of financial grants to help sustain their channels.

The 1,000 Dreams Fund launched in late 2015, and defines itself as a non-profit organization that supports the “dreams of talented young women in need by providing access to critical funding, resources and meaningful mentor relationships. Now, it’s teamed up with Twitch for the 1,000 Dreams Fund Twitch BroadcastHER Grant.

The organizations will award the grant to at least two high school or college students every semester, with funds ranging from $500 to $2,000. The grants are supposed to be used for conference travel, equipment upgrades, workshops and other tools that align with the 1,000 Dreams Fund’s mission, Twitch said in a press release.

The goal is to help illustrate the gender gap women often face in specific fields, including streaming, which is still predominantly male. A 2016 study reported that women make up 35 percent of Twitch’s streaming landscape, and there aren’t any female streamers in the current top 10 list.

Read New grant will support up-and-coming female streamers on Twitch via Polygon

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New Media Gear: Beyerdynamic FOX USB Studio Quality Microphone Unveiled At NAMM 2018 via Geeky Gadgets

October 9, 2018 by Douglas E. Welch

During the 2018 NAMM Show in Anaheim, USA this week a new studio quality USB microphone has been showcased in the form of the beyerdynamic FOX, which combines a microphone, preamplifier, converter and headphone amplifier in one handy desktop system. The beyerdynamic FOX microphone will be available later this year during April 2018 from specialist stores and the official beyerdynamic online store priced at €179.

Features of the beyerdynamic FOX studio microphone include front controls that provide access to the headphone amplifier, microphone signal to the headphones volumes providing instant control. While a button on the rear of the microphone regulates, the gain enables the use of the FOX for, especially loud sources. The microphone also includes the obligatory mute button, and a range of accessories are also available including a pop shield, mounting base, clamp and more.

Read Beyerdynamic FOX USB Studio Quality Microphone Unveiled At NAMM 2018 via Geeky Gadgets

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New Media Gear: Spire Studio is a recording studio that fits in your hand via The Verge

October 8, 2018 by Douglas E. Welch

iZotope is best known for creating mixing and mastering audio software, but a couple weeks ago, I got to check out Spire Studio, the company’s first piece of hardware. Spire Studio is a palm-sized device that musicians can carry with them to record professional-grade multitrack audio anywhere they are.

While there are lots of gadgets on the market for portable recording, most interfaces I’ve seen need to be plugged in to your phone, cater to recording a specific type of instrument, or need lots of dongles. Spire Studio, on the other hand, has a lot of use in a very small footprint, and connects to your phone wirelessly. On the front is a built-in mic and headphone jack, while the back has two XLR/TS combo jacks with Grace Design preamps, another headphone jack, and a 48V phantom power button for powering your own condenser mic. The top of the Spire Studio has recording control buttons, and the option to perform a soundcheck, where it will listen to the audio you’re playing for 10 seconds and then adjust the input levels accordingly. Of course, it all comes with an accompanying app.

Read Spire Studio is a recording studio that fits in your hand via The Verge

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New Media Gear: Roland R-07 Audio Recorder via Bless This Stuff

August 29, 2018 by Douglas E. Welch

With all the choices audio and video recorders these days, there really isn’t any exceed for getting your New Media project — be they audio podcast or full-fledged video shows — up and running at a level of quality only dreamed about in the past. This Roland R-07 is yet another excellent entry into the market and a great place to start recording whatever you do today! — Douglas

Your iPhone is pretty handy for making quick audio recordings, but unfortunately, the quality of the recordings isn’t good enough for actual music making. Roland´s new sleek and ultra-portable audio recorder works with iPhone and Apple Watch, allowing wireless listening and remote control. The Roland R-07 gives you the quality of a proper recorder with stereo mics, and the convenience of an iPhone app. But the best feature is that you can control the recorder from your Apple Watch. You can lay the recorder wherever you like, and trigger it from your wrist. For example a guitarist could place it next to an amp speaker, sit down on the other side of the room, and record interesting ideas at will using the remote.

Read ROLAND R-07 AUDIO RECORDER via Bless This Stuff

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13 ways to come up with fresh content ideas via The Next Web

August 20, 2018 by Douglas E. Welch

In the world of New Media you have to constantly be banking new ideas lest you fall behind in just a few days. When the ideas aren’t flowing as fast as you might wish, try out these ideas to see if they turn up anything. Most of thee ideas are also tactics you can use in an on-going manner to make sure the well doesn’t run dry again any time soon. — Douglas

You’ve heard it before: Content is king. Crafting valuable content can help hook new customers and keep your current ones engaged. But coming up with fresh, new ideas can be challenging, especially if your product or service falls within a narrow market.

To help prevent your content from becoming stale, I asked 13 members of YEC the following question:

What is one unconventional way your content team sources ideas for creating fresh content?

Read 13 ways to come up with fresh content ideas via The Next Web

New Media Gear: $20 photo lightbox sure comes in handy via Boing Boing

August 5, 2018 by Douglas E. Welch

I often have need to photograph or video objects and this could come in very handy. It is especially useful if you want “knock-out” the object from its background so you can composite it with a different background. — Douglas

This is simply a white plastic box with some very white LED lights and two foam backdrops. There is nothing to it. You can fold it up to the size of a legal pad if you want to put it away, or take it someplace.

Read $20 photo lightbox sure comes in handy via Boing Boing

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An interesting link found among my daily reading

Great Looking Interviews – 2 minute filmmaking tutorial via Tom Antos

August 4, 2018 by Douglas E. Welch

I subscribe to Tom Antos’ YouTube Channel and find useful new media information there all the time. Check it out!

Lots of info on setting up a good interview shot even when you are pressed for time and don’t get to choose your locations. — Douglas

See in 2 minutes how I setup an interview that works in any situation. In this video I show 5 different lighting setups.

Full article on my website

The project we filmed is a documentary about Canadians soldiers in World War I. It’s produced by Spinning Rabbit Productions. If you’d like to see the finished documentary, please follow their Facebook page.

Great Looking Interviews - 2 minute filmmaking tutorial via Tom Antos

Mentioned in this video

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Elgato’s Cam Link turns your DSLR into a souped-up webcam via Engadget

June 17, 2018 by Douglas E. Welch

I’ve been thinking about getting one of these so I could use my camcorder with a good lens to live stream bird footage from the garden and other sites. — Douglas

Most of the time, I buy cameras for specific purposes. My DSLR exists to capture vacation photos and product shots for Engadget reviews. When I go on hikes or long bike rides, I pull out a GoPro Hero4. For some reason, however, I just can’t bring myself to buy a dedicated webcam for Twitch streaming or YouTube vlogs. I already have a handful of great consumer cameras — shouldn’t I be able to use one of those? In reality, that’s easier said than done: Most cameras simply aren’t designed to push a live feed out to a PC. It’s a problem I’ve spent hours trying to solve, but never did. Then, I heard about the Elgato Cam Link, a USB capture device that can turn any camera with HDMI output into a functional webcam.

Read Elgato’s Cam Link turns your DSLR into a souped-up webcam via Engadget

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The Top 10 Best Audio Interfaces for Your Recording Needs via The Wire Realm

January 15, 2018 by Douglas E. Welch

Great overview of the wide variety of computer audio interfaces available and their features. Raise your production levels for your music recording and podcasting. — Douglas

So you’re looking to solidify your studio with the best audio interface? To us, this is one of the most important parts of making music and we consider it to be the star on top of the Christmas tree. Without an audio interface, you simply can’t record optimally. Your gear is essentially missing half of its power and capabilities without one of these in your studio. The best audio interfaces help us with sound quality, phantom power and amplification, more overall control of our gear, organization of all of our inputs\outputs into one device, and lastly make the pesky concept of latency disappear. Today we highlight our top 10 audio interface picks available in the market and give you some info to help ease your shopping adventures.

Read The Top 10 Best Audio Interfaces for Your Recording Needs via The Wire Realm

Mentioned in this article

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An interesting link found among my daily reading

A Device That Turns Almost Any Camera Into A Webcam via Gizmodo

November 6, 2017 by Douglas E. Welch

I have been looking for something like this for a long time — since I lost the ability to directly connect my older camcorder to my computer via Firewire. The Cam Link is an HDMI to USB bridge that plugs directly into your computer. The computer then sees it as a standard webcam input.

With all the options available for today for live streaming, I want to set up my camera and use its great, optical zoom to stream the animals and birds in my garden. It seems this would work for Twitch, Facebook and other web-based streaming services and allow me share some of my garden with the world. — Douglas

Game capture hardware maker Elgato made streaming a little bit fancier this week with the release of Cam Link, a $129 USB device that allows users to use any camera with an HDMI output as a webcam. Plus it also does game capture. It’s pretty nifty.

Read A Device That Turns Almost Any Camera Into A Webcam via Gizmodo

Easily connect your DSLR, camcorder, or action cam to your PC or Mac
Go live on any platform in No time thanks to ultra-low-latency technology
Broadcast in stunning quality up to 1080P at 60 FPS
Shoot and produce within your favorite tools
Record footage directly to your Hard Drive without time restrictions

An interesting link found among my daily reading

Even Amateur Filmmakers Can Afford This Tiny Motion Control Camera Rig via Gizmodo

November 4, 2017 by Douglas E. Welch

I can foresee some instances where I could make great use of a rig like this, especially for cooking and cocktail videos.— Douglas

Motion control rigs capable of repeatedly recreating smooth, controlled camera movements usually cost tens of thousands of dollars, and they require trained operators to set up and use. But Edelkrone’s new SurfaceONE costs just $690 and apparently can be configured in just a few minutes using a smartphone app as a remote control.

The rigs used in Hollywood, often for complicated special effect shots that require multiple takes, aren’t going to be replaced by the SurfaceONE anytime soon. Edelkrone’s creation can only move in two-dimensions as it rolls around on a flat surface, the camera itself can’t autonomously tilt or swivel. But thanks to a built-in laser pointer that makes it easier to set up a shot, you can ensure your subject will always be in frame as the camera slowly arcs around it.

Read Even Amateur Filmmakers Can Afford This Tiny Motion Control Camera Rig via Gizmodo

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New Gear Review: Raspberry USB Microphone from Blue via SonicScoop

October 21, 2017 by Douglas E. Welch

Another microphone from Blue which includes compatibility and recording with iPhone and iPads and PCs. — Douglas

Blue has created a new USB-powered microphone for podcasters, voice-over actors, and songwriters in need of an on-the-go recording solution.

This new Raspberry mic is their most compact yet, with some new patent-pending technology under its memorable retro-futurist casing.

Features

The Raspberry is a bus-powered cardioid condenser microphone with a built-in headphone amp, featuring A/D conversion at 16 and 24-bits and 44.1 or 48kHz, with Lightning USB connectivity.

Blue has implemented their patent-pending “Internal Acoustic Diffuser” (IAD) technology, a key feature that is meant to set the Raspberry apart from other USB microphones geared toward the podcasting and portable voiceover mic markets.

The IAD technology is much like the acoustic diffusion you might see in a concert hall or recording studio. It has been designed to fit inside the microphone to help minimize the ringy or boxy sound that so often goes along with capturing audio outside of a well-treated professional studio environment. Through this feature, Blue claims the mic should allow for a clearer, more present and more focused-sounding recording, regardless of the limitations of the room itself.

Read New Gear Review: Raspberry USB Microphone from Blue – SonicScoop via SonicScoop

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An interesting link found among my daily reading

Recently Liked YouTube Videos – October 4, 2017

October 4, 2017 by Douglas E. Welch

A playlist of videos I recently watched and liked on YouTube. From here you can get an idea of my wide viewing preferences on YouTube and how I use it to replace much of my traditional television viewing — Douglas

Recently Liked YouTube Videos – October 4, 2017

Click the Playlist button in the upper-left corner to see a scrollable list of all videos.

Timbre is a totally free app for editing video and audio via Android Authority

October 2, 2017 by Douglas E. Welch

Another mobile audio/video tool to check out for your new media kit. — Douglas

Good audio and video editing tools are somewhat hard to come by on mobile — a sentiment shared by app developer Xeus. The dev was prompted to create the Timbre: Cut, Join, Convert mp3 app after failing to find a “decent” tool for doing the same in the Play Store. And what Xeus has come up with is certainly an effective tool.

Despite the name, Timbre lets you do more than just edit mp3s: you can split and join audio or video, remove sections within a range, and combine files together, as well as remove the sound from your videos or create audio tracks from them.

Read Timbre is a totally free app for editing video and audio via Android Authority

Learn more about podcasting with this book

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Available of the LA Public Library (9 books/1 ebook)

An interesting link found among my daily reading

Three History Podcasts That Aren’t “Hardcore History” via Lifehacker

October 1, 2017 by Douglas E. Welch

Three great podcasts to add to my already crowded playlist. I am a history geek and have several shows that give interesting, insightful looks into history we might not know well. These will be a great addition — Douglas

Three History Podcasts That Aren’t “Hardcore History” via Lifehacker

Nothing against Dan Carlin’s “Hardcore History,” but it seems to eat up all the publicity for history podcasts. That’s a shame, because the podcast format is a fantastic way to dive into a thirty-hour history of the French Revolution, or snack on a 12-minute account of how Warren G. Harding, betrayed by his corrupt Cabinet, publicly projected all his feelings onto his dog Laddie Boy.

Read Three History Podcasts That Aren’t “Hardcore History” via Lifehacker

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!

Roland GO:MIXER for iPhone/iPad via Bless This Stuff

July 6, 2017 by Douglas E. Welch

This could be an excellent addition to your New Media audio kit, whether for music or podcasting. Record direct to iPhone or iPad. — Douglas

Roland have released a compact audio mixer that allows users to perform, mix audio, and record video with your smartphone, all at once. Go:Mixer allows users to capture a high quality audio track at the same time the video is recorded, and mix in vocals, instruments and backing music on the fly. Simply plug in the pocket device to capture a pristine stereo soundtrack directly to your video as you perform. With multiple inputs available, you can connect a mic, musical instruments, and media players and mix them all together live while you shoot. Instead of relying on your phones noisy mono mic or recording external audio tracks that you have to sync later in a video editor, you can now record top-quality audio in one quick and easy step.

Read ROLAND GOMIXER via Bless This Stuff

* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!

An interesting link found among my daily reading

Apple creates video series to help iPhone users take better pictures via The Next Web

June 2, 2017 by Douglas E. Welch

For those of you who don’t know to take good photos with the iPhone’s camera — and I’m one — Apple has made some videos to help you improve.

In a series of tutorials posted on its site, Apple demonstrates how to take well-composed, beautiful pictures with the iPhone 7’s camera. the company has also posted some — but not all — on it’s YouTube channel.

Read Apple creates video series to help iPhone users take better pictures via The Next Web

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Careers in New Media

Helping to Build New Careers in New Media

Category Archives: Shared

SiOnyx Aurora is an Action Camera that ‘Turns Night Into Full-Color Daylight’ via PetaPixel

Tips for Building DIY Lighting Setups for Under $100 via The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat

Samson Go Mic Mobile Review: Wireless Microphones for All! via SomeGadgetGuy

New grant will support up-and-coming female streamers on Twitch via Polygon

New Media Gear: Beyerdynamic FOX USB Studio Quality Microphone Unveiled At NAMM 2018 via Geeky Gadgets

New Media Gear: Spire Studio is a recording studio that fits in your hand via The Verge

New Media Gear: Roland R-07 Audio Recorder via Bless This Stuff

New Media Gear: $20 photo lightbox sure comes in handy via Boing Boing

Great Looking Interviews – 2 minute filmmaking tutorial via Tom Antos

Elgato’s Cam Link turns your DSLR into a souped-up webcam via Engadget

The Top 10 Best Audio Interfaces for Your Recording Needs via The Wire Realm

A Device That Turns Almost Any Camera Into A Webcam via Gizmodo

Even Amateur Filmmakers Can Afford This Tiny Motion Control Camera Rig via Gizmodo

New Gear Review: Raspberry USB Microphone from Blue via SonicScoop

Recently Liked YouTube Videos – October 4, 2017

Timbre is a totally free app for editing video and audio via Android Authority

Three History Podcasts That Aren’t “Hardcore History” via Lifehacker

Roland GO:MIXER for iPhone/iPad via Bless This Stuff

Apple creates video series to help iPhone users take better pictures via The Next Web