NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual
talk or tell a story while this speaker transition is occurring. It is hard to capture clean recordings
when one presentation runs right into the next one.
•
Session Length – If the cameras are recording a backup copy of the sound and video (which is a
really good idea) the MC must know that MiniDV tapes only record for an hour (or some other length
of time) and need to be changed at some point.
•
Discrete Units – The webcast file recording should be broken up into discrete units by topic or
speaker so that the file lengths remain manageable and viewers can download or view only the
material of interest. A continuous three or four hour conference recording is very difficult to manage
or post-process. The MC must plan for some breaks.
•
Speaker Order – If the MC plans on changing the order of speakers or presentations, the recording
crew needs to be informed so that the proper sequence of overlay graphics can be readjusted.
10.3.3. The Conference Speakers
If possible, the recording crew should talk to the speaker(s) prior to their presentation and make the following
points:
•
Use a microphone – Even if the room audience can hear the speaker well, non-use of a microphone
can be a disaster for the webcast or recording. The proper microphone must be on and functioning,
period.
•
Stay near the podium – The speaker should stay near the lighted area of the podium and not wander
up and down the front of the room.
•
Don’t stand in front of the projection screen – Talking in front of the projection screen leads to video
backlighting problems and should be avoided.
•
Start of Talk – Ideally, the presenter’s discussion should start once the proper graphics are being
projected, and no sooner.
•
Repeat the Question – If there are audience questions or comments, the speaker should repeat
them or summarize them for the viewing audience.
10.3.4. The Conference Audience
The conference audience should be informed that a webcast/recording is underway and that a few rules
need to be applied:
•
Audience microphones – The audience needs to use the audience microphones any time a question
or comment is being given. The MC and/or speaker needs to help enforce this directive.
•
Public audience – Comments provided by the audience are being recorded and archived so that any
type of inappropriate comment, personal attack, sexist joke, or other outburst should be avoided.
10.3.5. Summary
Fixing these problems in post-production is very time-consuming and expensive and recompression
degrades the quality of the captured material.
With these relatively minor changes and help from the organizers and the MC and perhaps a little training for
the speakers the recordings will be captured well and become great historical archives worthy of the effort.
10.4. V
IDEO
P
OST
-P
RODUCTION
If there is a need to do some minor editing on an archive file, there are tools which can clip and trim the
archive file without recompression of the material.
10.4.1. Streamclip
One such tool is a free utility called “Streamclip”. This program may be obtained at the following website:
http://www.squared5.com/
NCast Corporation
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