The Recording Studio, located in Taubman 622, is a space where faculty and staff can create high-quality video content tailored to the diverse needs of their courses and other projects. The EdTech team will work with you through every step of the process, ensuring professional-quality video content.
- Recording Studio Features
- Recording Options
- Booking the Studio
- Recording Academic or Lecture Videos
- Before Recording in the Studio
- After Recording
Recording Studio Features
- High-quality equipment: Equipped with cameras, lighting, and sound systems to ensure a quality video production.
- Ease of use: Designed with faculty in mind, the studio offers user-friendly technology that doesn’t require extensive technical knowledge.
- Versatile space: Suitable for various types of recordings, including introductory videos, demonstrations, lectures, and more.
- Recording and technical support: A member of the EdTech team will operate the camera and guide faculty through the recording process, as well as provide technical assistance as needed.
- Editing services: Post-production services are available to edit and enhance the videos, making them ready for integration into online classes or other use. EdTech will include a transcript with all finalized videos that can be uploaded to YouTube, Canvas Studio, etc. for captioning.
Recording Options
There are several options available to you while recording content within the Studio. These include:
Shot Styles
- Medium shot: Captures the speaker from the waist up, allowing for natural gestures and audience connection. Perfect for presentations and lectures.
- Close-up: Emphasizes the subject’s emotions and expressions with a focused shot on the face. Great for conveying passion and highlighting key points.
eGlass
The eGlass acts as a digital white board, where an instructor can write out key concepts, which will be recorded.
Backgrounds
Background options include black, white, grey, or greenscreen. Using greenscreen can allow for a virtual background, enhancing professionalism and adding visual interest.
Additional content
While we are unable to record everything directly in the studio, you can provide us with the following, which can be edited into the final video:
- Slides and other images
- Audio-only recordings for lectures or podcasts
- Pre-recorded screenshares with annotations
- Live streams for the online audience
- B-roll footage for visual interest and context
- Wide shots and moving shots
EdTech does not offer off-site recording services. However, we can incorporate or edit off-site recordings provided to our team into the final video.
Booking the Studio
Fill out the Recording Studio Booking Form to book a time in the studio. Please note that we prioritize videos for academic courses. We will review any non-academic requests, determine capacity, and reach out to let you know if we can take on the project. For non-academic projects, we only offer recording and basic editing, ensuring you get a clean video and audio, but will not offer advanced editing services, such as adding in assets, motion graphics, or titles.
Please schedule your recording date at least four weeks before your final deadline. The editing process can require significant time, and completion dates are subject to current team capacity and existing project priorities. Please be aware that we may be unable to take on or complete certain projects if the requested timeline conflicts with existing commitments.
Recording Academic or Lecture Videos
If you are interested in recording a video or a series of videos for an academic course, the EdTech team can help you plan out the content you are interested in recording. Our Video Production Template helps us map out video topics as well as collect materials you will need for the studio, and track video production.
Tips for recording effective academic or lecture videos include:
- Your lecture videos should be fully integrated into the course and learning objectives. If the students can successfully complete your course without watching your videos, you may need to re-think them.
- Videos should interact with your other course materials, meaning they should relate to their assessments, as well as their interactions with you and their classmates.
- Chunk your videos into short, digestible segments. Aiming for 15-20 minutes at most is recommended.
- Videos should be highly structured, organized, and clear. State your learning objectives, the outline of the segment, and then stick to it. It’s easy to get nervous in front of a camera and go off on tangents.
- You don’t need to be an actor or video editor to produce effective videos. The most important thing is for students to be able to hear and see you clearly. Do your best and laugh off the mistakes.
- Be conversational and animated in voice and gesture. Try to look directly at the camera and try not to read verbatim from a script. (Although do prepare and practice!)
Before Recording in the Studio
Prior to your recording date, please provide EdTech with any materials needed for your recording. If you will be reading from a script or using slides, please provide us with these materials at least one day in advance so that we can set up the teleprompter. If you would like slides edited into the final video, please provide those to us prior to your recording.
We can provide you with water and tea in the EdTech office on the day of your recording! Please bring any snacks or food you’ll need, especially if you are recording a lot of video content.
We suggest considering each of the following for your recording:
What to wear
- Wear clothes that you feel comfortable in and that show off your personality!
- The studio can get warm, so you may want to dress in layers.
- We’d recommend wearing comfortable shoes if you will be standing for your videos.
- If you’re unsure about colors, jewel tones and neutral colors work well on camera.
What to Avoid
- If you will be using the greenscreen, do not wear any green, as this will cause difficulties in postproduction. Even a little green can affect your shot!
- If you will be using the black backdrop, we would recommend you do not wear black, as this will create a floating head effect.
- Avoid large or geometric patterns, as they can be distracting. Fine patterns like houndstooth, small checks, or fine stripes should also be avoided.
Makeup
Your everyday makeup is fine. Avoid makeup that is very sparkly or shiny, like glitter or highlighter. Avoid green makeup if using the greenscreen.
After Recording
The EdTech team will complete an edit of your video within the agreed upon timeframe, and send it back to you for review. Based on your notes, the team can complete an additional round of edits.
In order for the team to be more precise with your video’s initial edit, we recommend that you highlight sections of your video script with notes on where you would like slides or other visuals to appear.