J198: Equipment and software choices

Part of a continuing series of posts about JOUR 198, our first foray in multimedia reporting here at Lehigh …

I already wrote that we’d chosen to use for our class, but I wanted to complete that thought with a word about how we’re working video. As we planned the course last fall, my department chair and I talked about different ways we could do things. The easiest thing to do would have been to buy a bunch of iMacs with iMovie and put Final Cut on there and use that. But because we haven’t done this here before, it was a question of need. If these are baby steps in multimedia, does it make sense to roll out all of the nicest tools until we see how much we actually will use them? In addition, the entire production process for other classes and the student newspaper was already PC-based, so did it make sense to go out and by a bunch of iMacs just for video editing?

For us, video will consist of cutting, splicing, titling, and some work with sound. We could do more (a LOT more) but we are focusing on the basics for this first foray.

So we both agreed that sticking with the new Dell PCs that we have was just fine and that buying a lab full of Macs didn’t make sense. I did check into Sony Vegas as a Final Cut type of program, and because it’s priced at different levels it actually isn’t cost prohibitive to use it. We decided, though, to stick with Windows Movie Maker, which comes free with Windows and has all of the basic features we need for this course.

One issue with going the WMM route, though, is that we have to deal with file conversion once the files are downloaded from the camera. The Kodaks generate movies in .MOV files, but it doesn’t work with Windows codecs and so we have to use the Prism converter to turn them into .ASF files that we can work with in WMM.

So far, we’ve spent about about $1000 on six cameras and about $300 in the necessary file conversion software licenses, plus another $100 or so on cases and mini tripods for office interviews. Everything they’re using to edit video comes pre-installed on a PC, so really we’re talking about $1500 or so in startup cost to outfit four groups of three students.

This decision to go the low-cost route will have detractors, I bet. It wasn’t made for lack of resources but rather a sense that we should be wise with them. And I think there’s another cool thing about this, and that is that from a research standpoint I am interested in coming up with a model that can be replicated by other small programs interested in doing what we’re doing.

And really, the fact that we agreed this was the best route is really why I’m here at Lehigh. Sometimes I see journalism programs that don’t do multimedia rushing so hard toward change that they focus too much on equipment. The storytelling, the very reason we’re doing this to begin with, can get lost in the process. I didn’t want to be part of the problem, and I think we’re striking the right balance between what students need to know in terms of basics and still making sure that the heart of the course is built around journalism.

I may yet order a copy or two of Vegas and see if we can do a couple sessions with some more advance software that looks and feels like Final Cut. But for now, we’re just wanting to take our first steps and teach them how before we look closer at specific equipment needs. There’s no use buying a Corvette if you’re just commuting down the street, after all.