The Road to Wellville

The familiar flow of event work was upended when COVID-19 restrictions brought in-person production to a screeching halt and virtually everything went virtual. Mutually recognized production standards were among the first things to go. 

When to Ditch the Webcam

I produce most of my live training with a webcam because the quality delta between a webcam and other options is negligible when presented in postage-stamp-sized videos. But what setup should you use for a really important conference or a call that will be distributed to many viewers live or on demand? That's where things get interesting.

School Announcements on Ice(cast)

Some schools are moving to newscast-style video announcements. Icecast offers an effective way to deliver them efficiently and effectively.

Protect Yourself: Predict Your Production Costs

For your sake and your clients', spend extra time predicting and planning your production process to avoid cost overruns

Tips for Teaching with Video for the First Time

As COVID-19 shuts down universities and school districts, streaming video can save instructors and their students. Here are some tips for how to use it right.

Flash's Last Hurrah

Most content publishers have already moved on from Flash, but those who need ultra-low latency have stuck with it. Now that Adobe is ending support for Flash, it's time to move to WebRTC, but it won't be easy.

Squashing the Bugs: 6 Steps for Solving Video Streaming Problems

As a video solutions architect, our columnist has a lot of experience dealing with streaming issues that others created. Here's how he goes about solving them.

5 Best Practices for Using a Lightboard in Instructional Videos

Lightboards are great resources for online video learning, and they can be built for under $200. Here are five tips for getting impressive results every time.

5 Low-Cost Ways to Provide Closed Captions for VOD Streams

Attaching captions to on-demand videos can be simple and low-cost, but doing the same for live video is a little more involved. Here are the options.

What Teachers Need to Know When Upgrading an Instructional Camera

For teachers, the most important feature is versatility—a sneaky way of saying the most important feature is having as many features as can be packed into the camera before rendering it uncontrollable.

For Thought-Provoking Video, Forget About Slick Production Values

In a previous age, videoconferencing was bright, sterile, and unpleasant. It lacked the multi-sensory input that makes face-to-face meetings valuable.

Modern Times: Getting Live Video Right Demands a Special Skillset

It wasn't easy for silent film directors to make the jump to talkies, and it isn't easy these days for video producers to get the hang of live streaming.

Work in Parallel to Streamline the VQ Measurement Workflow

There's a long way to run video quality measurement tasks and a shorter way. As our columnist learned, it's never too late to learn a more efficient system.

Project Managers Are Essential for Any Video Development Project

It's a thankless job, but PMs keep projects moving forward in a thousand ways. When projects don't have a PM, things can get seriously out of whack.

Today's Teachers Need to Learn to Perform in Front of a Camera

Teaching is a performance, but when teachers have to perform to a camera rather than a roomful of students, that performance can go awry.

Interactive Tools Make Classroom Video More Active Than Passive

New offerings from both young and established companies let educators create elaborate personalized videos, and students learn in a more natural way.

Looking to Improve Educational Video? First Improve the Audio

When schools go shopping for video production hardware, they should make audio quality a priority. Here's what to look for when buying new mics.

Educators, Prepare With This Supply List for Teaching With Video

Bringing video into the classroom doesn't have to be expensive. Read this helpful list to discover the seven basic items every classroom should have.

Writing Text for Video: Did Someone Say 'Autumn Aided Cap Shins'?

Maybe, but they probably said "automated captions." Creating reliable captions is a challenge, but educational video has a desperate need for it.

The Time to Prepare for Recovery Is Before Video Files Go Missing

Accidentally deleted a crucial video file? The good news is it might still be recoverable. Here are steps to take for recovery and to prevent loss from happening in the future.