[H-GEN] Big ticket spending [was: The lca movie.]

[Arjen Lentz]

Hi Matthew, all

On 22/06/2009, at 2:56 PM, matheist76 at westnet.com.au wrote:
> Okay here is the deal. There has been talk about getting a video  
> camera. Please see the minutes of the last exec meeting. http://www.humbug.org.au/ExecMinutes 
>  As a result Mark and I went looking for video cameras. We saw a  
> nice JVC video camera can't recall exact details but it had iee1394  
> (ilink) output. Took stills as well and looks to be a really good  
> camera both from the usability point and the functions that it had.  
> Cost $299.


Speaking from experience, for that price I don't think you get a  
camera that works adequately in bigger rooms - there are lighting and  
effective resolution issues with that, as well as audio reach. You'd  
need external microphone input, which means a microphone (lapel type  
preferably) and appropriate cable back to camera. This will need some  
amplification possibly, and so on.

In addition, what happens once you've made a recording...
  - video processing
  - encoding
  - putting online (storage/bandwidth)
Who is going to do these tasks, and is the storage/bandwidth capacity  
available?
It's a package deal, you have to cover all these aspects to have the  
individual parts make sense.


Now, I understand you've received an offer to get a camera on loan;  
that seems to me like a *fabulous* opportunity to get more familiar  
with the technology in smal(ler) venues and do the whole trail from  
recording to online availability.
I'd humbly suggest that any further discussion on purchasing is  
deferred until that experience and the additional insight has been  
gained.


I am personally aware of recordings from quite a few good talks at  
different occasions that have just never made it online.
Done by good capable people and everything....

Cheers,
Arjen.
-- 
Arjen Lentz, Director @ Open Query (http://openquery.com)
Affordable Training and ProActive Support for MySQL & related  
technologies

Follow our blog at http://openquery.com/blog/
OurDelta: free enhanced builds for MySQL @ http://ourdelta.org