Words You Can Use: The BAVC BLOG

by Carl Weichert, BAVC Training & Resources Strategist

At the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Las Vegas this week, Adobe is previewing some exciting new functionality in the upcoming CS4 version of Premiere, its editing software – automatic transcription of the audio track of video files.

This is exciting in so many ways I could practically faint –

First, instead of sending off hours of documentary footage to a transcription service, you can now do it yourself.

Second, although not mentioned in the CNET article where I read this, I’m sure that it’ll be able to generate closed captioning and subtitles based on that transcription.

Third - Aargh, I’m so excited I can barely type anymore – as it says in the article, it will make video searchable by text while editing. No more shuttling back and forth looking for a particular word or phrase.

Fourth, this frame-based metatagging will not only be available while editing, but also in the finished product, making web video searchable by names or other terms. As the article says:

For example, a person could search a CNET video review for a product name and a specific feature, such as camera zoom.

All right, I’m going to go sit in a quiet corner of BAVC and hyperventilate a bit. Anybody have a paper bag?

Generally speaking, we think we’re pretty smart, but we are also big believers in the idea of collective intelligence (i.e. how communities can often interact and be more effective problem solvers than individuals) . . . So, we’ve got a problem, and we need your help to solve it in a way that works for everyone. Here’s the thing . . .

For each of the more than 650 classes we run each year, we have a handout that accompanies the class instruction. Last year, in an attempt to work more efficiently AND make good on our commitment to become a green business, we started sending these packets as PDF’s (rather than large photocopied paper packets). (more…)

By Zoe Banks, BAVC Training Advisor

For the second installment of FOCUS, the BAVC Interview Series, we sit down with photographer, instructor and multimedia artist Liz Hickok. Gaining worldwide attention with her landmark San Francisco in Jell-O photography series, Ms. Hickok’s work will be featured in Rohstoff, BAVC’s first digital imaging exhibition which opens February 20th. If you want to meet Liz and see some of her work, you can also join us at the opening reception of Rohstoff on Thursday, February 28th from 6pm to 8pm here at BAVC.

What you do is so unique. Can you tell me about your process?

First, I make balsa wood or foam core buildings and carve little elements out of the balsa wood like windows and doors. Then we paint them up with jesso and seal them up with gel wax so that they’re completely sealed. Once those are finished, I make a little mold of them. To cast the mold using silicone rubber, it’s a two-part mixture, and when you mix it together it starts to activate and harden. So the models are sitting in a tray, and you just pour the silicone on top. It hardens overnight and then I put in the Jell-O. Some of my pieces are made out of clay, for Scottsdale, for instance, I made cacti out of clay.

I didn’t know you did Scottsdale and landscapes outside of San Francisco?

That’s the only one, so far. Scottsdale Public Art commissioned me to come do a piece there. They commissioned me to come down and I made two very large sculptures of two different areas of Scottsdale out of jell-o. They were actual sculptures, and in the background I had a very large print of Camelback Mountain, this iconic mountain range in Scottsdale that looks like a camel.

Do you shoot here in this studio?

I’ve only been in this studio for a few months, so I do my newer shoots here. I was at Blue Studios on Mission & 17th, so most of my work I put together in my studio and shot there, but a few of them were down for a show so they were shot on site, like at the Exploratorium, or my current show at Marin Headlands. (more…)

by Mindy Aronoff, BAVC Director of Training & Resources

People, Places and Things – Thirteen Highlights

1. Adobe CS3! Oh, how we love a sexy software upgrade. Also, Ableton Live, Autodesk Maya and we now have AutoCAD and MotionBuilder!! We also got Maxon’s Cinema 4D. Roar! Oh, and Adobe Lightroom and Apple Aperture. And we upgraded Final Cut Pro. Yummy. So yummy.

2. Beth Pielert donated an awesome PD170 video cam to BAVC—you’ll use it when you take Video Production and Lighting. Thanks again, Beth!

3. We started building a really, really big, gnarly database. Why do you care? Enrolling will be so much easier (and accurate). You’ve put up with our archaic systems long enough, doncha think? Oh, and yes, it will talk to the new website that will launch in April. Heavenly. Only waited ten years for that. :-I

4. Zoë Banks came on in August as our enrollment advisor and she’s quick, hilarious and knows what folks want. Powerhouse. Loves puttin’ custom classes together.

5. Carl Weichert came on in September as our training and curriculum strategist and he has thrown himself into the melee, dedicating his very existence to making your experience relevant and exciting and btw, did I mention he’s hilarious? Alter ego is Ming the Merciless. He’s been teaching here for years.

6. We learned to Twitter. (more…)

by Zoe Banks, BAVC Training Advisor

Since 2001, Christopher Willits has taught audio classes including Pro Tools, Ableton Live and Max/MSP/Jitter, at BAVC. He has toured internationally with his ground-breaking, genre-defying solo releases and critically-acclaimed collaborations . His most recent collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto, titled “Ocean Fire”, releases this week on 12K. In the first installment of the new BAVC Interview Series FOCUS, training advisor Zoe Banks sits down with Mr. Willits on a rainy Friday to discuss BAVC, Barack, Bernal, and the moons of Jupiter.

Tell me about BAVC…

BAVC’s amazing. If you look at the way the audio department’s evolved in the last 7 years it’s amazing. When I first started working at BAVC in the beginning of 2001 I was a grad student at Mills and Sharon Cheslow (former member of Chalk Circle, first DC all girls punk band) was teaching and invited me to come help out at an experimental sound class, a pilot class, or demonstration. I don’t really remember the specifics. But after that the education coordinator, Chris Gee invited me to come in and do an Intro to Digital Audio class and I was like “hell yeah”.

(more…)

by Mindy Aronoff, Director of Training & Resources

I really, really wanted to write something smart about Macworld but what can you say about the ubiquitous black t-shirt, grown white men sportin’ pony tails and bright orange iPod covers that hasn’t already been said? Really, the coolest thing that came from this year’s Macworld was Steve Bayes, who had just recently come back from the Editors Retreat in Puerto Vallarta looking enviously well rested, and who came for a tour of BAVC before he hit Moscone for his mini-keynote on Friday afternoon. (more…)

By Mindy Aronoff, Director of Training & Resources, BAVC

Missing Dexter
Contemplating free online classes at BAVC
Amazed at some people’s children on IMDB
Layin’ low thru xmas
Wondering how our new Python class for ILM will go
Lusting after a better digital camera
Anticipating The Wire
Wondering about

a kitty cam
Curious how I can clean my lap top monitor
Sick of the NY Times Sunday newspaper
Succumbing to thoughts about buying an HD TV
Worrying over my broken tooth
Excited about seeing The Savages

How’d you make out?

by Wendy Levy, Director of Creative Programming at BAVC

On January 21, 2008 at 12:30pm at New Frontiers on Main at the Sundance Film Festival, BAVC will be moderating what will hopefully be a memorable discussion about storytelling for next generation platforms.

In the current digital environment, you can’t really talk about “content” production or storytelling without also talking about funding, marketing, and distribution. Everything is wrapped up together, which is why it is so important to have the people who give or invest money, the people with the passion and skill for storytelling, and the people with the brain for technological innovation in the same room, next to each other, riffing off each others’ ideas and inspirations. (more…)

By Zoe Banks, BAVC Enrollment Advisor

I have never been a big fan of Zeitgeist. It’s a really popular bar because it features about a zillion picnic benches in a giant backyard, six or seven sketchy Port-A-Potties, and a dominant black-hoodie-wearing aesthetic. You can vertically park your bike against a fence, order a pitcher of moderately-overpriced beer and cozy up with your fifty best friends and all of their best friends too, while sitting outdoors on an un-sunny Sunday all day long. These are the reasons Zeitgeist is popular.

These are also the reasons I hate Zeitgeist. (more…)

By Dannie Delvos, BAVC Education Recruiter & Outreach

Every year thousands of students take advantage of BAVC programs and services. They learn video production, editing, web design, or game development, or they get their film ready to go to festivals. One of those students is Denise Minter. Denise was not new to the field when she first came to BAVC. She had a great career under her belt, working with PDI/DreamWorks, in the animation division. Through DreamWorks, she was able to take advantage of BAVC’s ETP program, a state-sponsored training program free of charge to qualifying companies and employees.

Denise ended up finishing two BAVC certificates and made her already remarkable resume even more impressive. Her credentials made it possible for Denise to land the fantastic position of Head of Production at Tippett Studios in Berkeley, where she currently works on projects like the Spiderwick Chronicles. (more…)