Differences between revisions 12 and 13
Revision 12 as of 2005-03-15 14:05:17
Size: 6490
Editor: 198
Comment: Added where I'm staying while at PyCon+
Revision 13 as of 2005-03-15 23:38:52
Size: 7585
Editor: adsl-68-95-227-25
Comment:
Deletions are marked like this. Additions are marked like this.
Line 63: Line 63:
Still undecided is who will step forward and help with the post-processing. I think it may be
best to distribute the raw material to a few volunteers and competitively see who can produce
the best work. Failing that, I'll be post-processing my own recordings.
Still undecided is who will step forward and help with the post-processing. I think it may be best to distribute the raw material to a few volunteers and competitively see who can produce the best work. Failing that, I'll be post-processing my own recordings.
Line 163: Line 161:

==== Jeff Rush <jeff@taupro.com> ====

 * Equipment:
   * (2) KuroHG w/ 60GB hard drives
   * (2) [http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic/index.php iMic USB audio I/O device] from Griffin Technology.
   * (1) [http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powerwave/ PowerWave USB audio I/O]
   * (1) [http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-SPSB-1 mic battery module] for phantom power
   * (1) [http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-3 SP-BMC-3] omnidirectional stereo microphone
   * (1) [http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-2 SP-BMC-2] omnidirectional stereo microphone

 * Arrival/Departure Dates:
   * Arriving 18 March (evening)
   * Departing 25 March (evening)
 * Geographic Home:
   * Dallas, TX

= PyCon 2005 - Allocation of Responsibilities =

 * Pre-conference setup/testing

 * Dissemination, collection and tracking of presenter release forms

 * Coordination of volunteer use of cameras on a selective basis

 * Morning setup

 * Evening teardown

 * Evening duplicate of day's recording

About the Audio and/or Video Recording of Presentations

List of Volunteer Recording Coordinators:


Legality and Obtaining Permission

The conference organizers are, in general, in favor of recording the sessions but we need each presenter to either sign a release or verbally agree on tape at the start of his session. Personally I think a paper release is better as it spells out the usage, and that such a paper should be included in the paperwork given to the presenters at the registration desk.

However, someone needs to coordinate with whomever has the list of presenters and check off names as forms are received, and nag those who haven't returned one yet. And indeed someone needs to be formal holder of those pieces of paper.

Technically speaking, I hope and believe that we can record *all* of the sessions and only remove those for whom we lack permission during the post-processing phase. It just makes life easier than trying to turn on/off recording equipment at the right time.


Distribution of Material

After post-processing, I presume the material would be freely available to the participants and to the public. Another possibility is to charge a small fee for the benefit of PSF or to keep it simple, just ask donations to the PSF if you enjoy the recordings.

No reimbursement of expenses should be expected. Everyone is donating their time and equipment.


Contact Information for GWU Staff

(someone has already been in touch with GWU. Can they post their info?)

The Manager of Audio-Visual Services for the Cafritz Conference Center is Anthony J. Arrington <anthonyj@gwu.edu>.


Duration of Recordings

There are a total of 26 hours of presentations, 10 hours the first two days and six hours on the last day. I don't think it worth the effort to start/stop the recording around lunchtime to save time.

There are three tracks, plus the open track, for a maximum of 104 potential hours of material.


Post-Processing

Still undecided is who will step forward and help with the post-processing. I think it may be best to distribute the raw material to a few volunteers and competitively see who can produce the best work. Failing that, I'll be post-processing my own recordings.

The first step of post-processing will be to chop up the recording into presentations and tag them with information about the presentation.

The second step will be to adjust the signal for quality and clarity.


Approaches Taken

Some want to record just the audio and some want to record video as well. Some want to record by hooking into the room audio system "the board" and some detached. Now there's nothing wrong with some redundancy in case of mishap but obviously we can't have multiple people hooking into the audio system and trying to coordinate with the GWU staff.

I think there is no issue with having multiple free-standing recorders in the rooms and then perhaps sharing material afterward to obtain the best quality signal.

My Approach (Jeff Rush)

I know nothing about the issues of video recording and am just planning on capturing audio. I also am unsure of the capabilities of the room audio system, and besides I thought it a good idea to try to capture audio from the audience when the questions start flying. Perhaps foolish and noisy.

I don't particularly want to babysit a pointable microphone or start/stop recording for each presentation. I'd rather be off enjoying the conference. So my approach is to drop a "black box recorder" in the presentation rooms, leave them running all day and pick them up each night for storage and perhaps offloading if sufficient space/bandwidth can be found. I would place each box off to one side of the podium, with a stereo pair of omnidirectional mics clipped to the wall/curtain in some manner. From such a position I hope to capture both the speaker and audience.

Each box is a Kuro Box (www.kurobox.com) running Linux, with a 60 GB or larger harddisk. Plugged into it is an [http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/imic/index.php iMic USB audio I/O device] from Griffin Technology. For microphones I chose the [http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-BMC-3 SP-BMC-3 omnidirectional]. I have two such boxes; not enough to cover three tracks and the open talk area.

Still open is the question of capture sample rate, resolution and storage format (i.e. whether to compress and risk quality loss, or not). For those interested in the details, I'm using the PyALSA extension, and keeping it _very_ simple. The software will switch to a new storage file every few hours, so that we don't have to edit one huge file and provide some safety in case of file corruption/deletion.

(other approaches???)

PyCon 2005 - Anticipated Equipment / Owner

LD Landis <ldlandis@gmail.com>

  • Equipment:
    • Panasonic GS-14 MiniDV
    • Tripod
    • Sony U170 (?) Firewire/USB DVD writer
    • ThinkPad w/firewire PCMCIA, CDRW

  • Arrival/Departure:
    • Staying at Hilltop Hostel (on Metro) in North corner of DC
    • Friday Mar 18 (afternoon)
    • Saturday Mar 26 (~7am)
  • Geographic Home:
    • St Paul side of Minneapolis, MN (in "exile")
    • Las Cruces, NM

Nick Bastin <nick.bastin@gmail.com>

  • 2x Octava MK-012 condenser mics (requiring phantom power)
  • Audio Technica AT-4050 condenser mic (requires phantom power)
  • DigiDesign Mbox USB audio interface (2x XLR input)

  • Various stands and cables as required
  • 250GB firewire hard disk
  • CD/DVD writer for masters

Mitch Chapman <mitchchapman@earthlink.net>

  • Equipment:
    • Sony DCR-TRV 220 Digital8
    • Tripod
    • 250GB firewire hard drive
    • CD/DVD writer for masters
  • Arrival/Departure Dates:
    • Arriving 22 March (evening)
    • Departing 26 March (mid-day)
  • Geographic Home:
    • Santa Fe, NM

Peter Kropf <peterk@bayarea.net>

  • Equipment:
    • KuroHG w/ 100GB hard drive
    • USB 200GB hard drive
  • Arrival/Departure Dates:
    • Arriving 21 March (evening)
    • Departing 26 March (morning)
  • Geographic Home:
    • San Jose, CA

Jeff Rush <jeff@taupro.com>

PyCon 2005 - Allocation of Responsibilities

  • Pre-conference setup/testing
  • Dissemination, collection and tracking of presenter release forms
  • Coordination of volunteer use of cameras on a selective basis
  • Morning setup
  • Evening teardown
  • Evening duplicate of day's recording

PyConDC2005/TalkRecording (last edited 2008-11-15 14:01:17 by localhost)

Unable to edit the page? See the FrontPage for instructions.