Friday
Dec311999
116 - Editing a Movie at The Office; More Trouble with Higher Education
December 31, 1999
1. Editing a Movie at The Office: High Powered Editing Options at the
Desktop: I spent a good part of Sunday as a digital editor on my desktop.
Our new speaking bureau has requested that I submit a clip tape of
presentations that I have given on various topics, so I thought that it
would be a good moment to try my hand at desktop video editing. We
purchased Avid Cinema for $259, which includes a high powered video card and
multiple input/output switching devices.
I was amazed at how quickly I got into the project, assembling two to five
minute clips from 8 different videos. The program allowed me to add music,
compile special effects and provide the subtitling that my speaking agent
requested. I was able to import from our VCR, shoot one clip live from our
Video Conferencing machine, include music from a royalty free collection we
already owned and even do some graphics in PowerPoint and import as a JPG
file.
We did need a lot of memory and storage. My machine is a high end IBM
ThinkPad that is augmented by a docking station to handle the video card and
a 9 G Hard Drive. But, it worked like a charm. In less than 4 hours, I
had edited a fairly smooth video that can be exported to video tape, CD-ROM
or formats for streaming. The longest wait is for the various effects to
actually be compiled, which it is doing as I write this TRENDS at home.
But, the ability to do this level of video editing at my office was
astounding. Check out this genre of software, starting in the $100 range
(without the video card). Avid is at http://www.avid.com
It was cool, helpful and saved us hundreds of dollars for an editing suite.
While not professional quality, it sure got the job done here.
2. More Trouble with Higher Education: California Virtual University Hits
Pause: There is more trouble on the higher education front for on-line
learning. The latest story is about the fate of the California Virtual
University. CVU was to have been the digital center of the universe for
higher education in California. Now, the staff has been cut, the plans cut
back and the mission under re-consideration. There is a detailed article in
the Los Angeles Times on this latest development:
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/BUSINESS/CUTTING/OTHTECH/t000031667.html
3. Learning Decisions: Submit Key Issues for Robert Reich We are honored
to have Robert Reich as the keynote speaker at our upcoming retreat for
training managers and officers (Learning Decisions - May 12 to 17th - Las
Vegas). I have been asked to put together a set of key issues facing the
learning and training field for Secretary Reich to use as he builds his 1/2
day presentation: The Economics of Learning. If you would like to submit a
short note with your views of the key issues we face in the training and
learning world, I will forward these on to Secretary Reich. We will also
include a summary of his comments after Learning Decisions '99. Send your
comments to reich@masie.com (There are only about 65 spaces available
left for the retreat.... info at http://www.masie.com/decisions/
4. Knowledge Management Pushes Forward as Theme and Process: In the past
eight weeks the heat has been turned up on the Knowledge Management (KM)
burner. We have been tracking the use of the Knowledge Management term and
it seems to be appearing in more articles, press releases and business
plans. We have seen about a 20% increase in the use of the Knowledge
Management phrase in our scans. This reflects a good number of large scale
consulting efforts that have been funded in the past few months in the KM
field. Each of the major business consulting groups, as well as large scale
technology companies, are organizing service offerings under the Knowledge
Management banner. We are also seeing the rise of Knowledge Departments in
larger organizations and a few CKO (Chief Knowledge Officers).
5. Dorothy Masie, Web User, Hits 89! I have written about my mom, Dorothy
Masie, in previous TRENDS. This weekend she turned 89. Mom has become
quite the emailer, with turn around times of only a few hours for messages
we send her. If you are so inclined, send her a birthday greeting at
mother@masie.com (Please, no virus messages, as I have to do her Technical
Support.) Thanks!
Desktop: I spent a good part of Sunday as a digital editor on my desktop.
Our new speaking bureau has requested that I submit a clip tape of
presentations that I have given on various topics, so I thought that it
would be a good moment to try my hand at desktop video editing. We
purchased Avid Cinema for $259, which includes a high powered video card and
multiple input/output switching devices.
I was amazed at how quickly I got into the project, assembling two to five
minute clips from 8 different videos. The program allowed me to add music,
compile special effects and provide the subtitling that my speaking agent
requested. I was able to import from our VCR, shoot one clip live from our
Video Conferencing machine, include music from a royalty free collection we
already owned and even do some graphics in PowerPoint and import as a JPG
file.
We did need a lot of memory and storage. My machine is a high end IBM
ThinkPad that is augmented by a docking station to handle the video card and
a 9 G Hard Drive. But, it worked like a charm. In less than 4 hours, I
had edited a fairly smooth video that can be exported to video tape, CD-ROM
or formats for streaming. The longest wait is for the various effects to
actually be compiled, which it is doing as I write this TRENDS at home.
But, the ability to do this level of video editing at my office was
astounding. Check out this genre of software, starting in the $100 range
(without the video card). Avid is at http://www.avid.com
It was cool, helpful and saved us hundreds of dollars for an editing suite.
While not professional quality, it sure got the job done here.
2. More Trouble with Higher Education: California Virtual University Hits
Pause: There is more trouble on the higher education front for on-line
learning. The latest story is about the fate of the California Virtual
University. CVU was to have been the digital center of the universe for
higher education in California. Now, the staff has been cut, the plans cut
back and the mission under re-consideration. There is a detailed article in
the Los Angeles Times on this latest development:
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/BUSINESS/CUTTING/OTHTECH/t000031667.html
3. Learning Decisions: Submit Key Issues for Robert Reich We are honored
to have Robert Reich as the keynote speaker at our upcoming retreat for
training managers and officers (Learning Decisions - May 12 to 17th - Las
Vegas). I have been asked to put together a set of key issues facing the
learning and training field for Secretary Reich to use as he builds his 1/2
day presentation: The Economics of Learning. If you would like to submit a
short note with your views of the key issues we face in the training and
learning world, I will forward these on to Secretary Reich. We will also
include a summary of his comments after Learning Decisions '99. Send your
comments to reich@masie.com (There are only about 65 spaces available
left for the retreat.... info at http://www.masie.com/decisions/
4. Knowledge Management Pushes Forward as Theme and Process: In the past
eight weeks the heat has been turned up on the Knowledge Management (KM)
burner. We have been tracking the use of the Knowledge Management term and
it seems to be appearing in more articles, press releases and business
plans. We have seen about a 20% increase in the use of the Knowledge
Management phrase in our scans. This reflects a good number of large scale
consulting efforts that have been funded in the past few months in the KM
field. Each of the major business consulting groups, as well as large scale
technology companies, are organizing service offerings under the Knowledge
Management banner. We are also seeing the rise of Knowledge Departments in
larger organizations and a few CKO (Chief Knowledge Officers).
5. Dorothy Masie, Web User, Hits 89! I have written about my mom, Dorothy
Masie, in previous TRENDS. This weekend she turned 89. Mom has become
quite the emailer, with turn around times of only a few hours for messages
we send her. If you are so inclined, send her a birthday greeting at
mother@masie.com (Please, no virus messages, as I have to do her Technical
Support.) Thanks!
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