MTD2 class 6
In class
- Transducers/Microphones
- Connectors
- Audio Levels
- DAT Demo
- Scan Demo
Contents
Audio Levels
Good Level Audio Levels
- Mic level - The level (or voltage) of signal generated by a microphone. Typically around 2 millivolts. Compare this with the two normal line levels (1.228V:+4dBu and .316V:-10dBV)
- Phono Level - little larger than mic level also has equalization based on standardized RIAA curve. use phono input a line
- Line Level - . There is an international standard for the level of inputs; it is around -10dBV(.316V) for semi-pro equipment, and about +4dBu(1.228V) for "pro" equipment. Line level outputs can come from tape decks, CD players, tuners, DAT decks, effects, etc.
- Speaker level - higher voltages for speakers
Audio Level Links
Meters
Analog VU meter - nominal level 0dB
Digital Meter - nominal level -12dB - 16dB
Red line shows last Peak. Numbers at the top show loudest Peak.
Audio connectors
- 1/8" (3.5mm) Connectors Jack Plug Connectors Tip ring sleeve mono stereo
- 1/4"(6.35mm) Connectors
- Banana Plugs
- Binding Posts Bayonet Neill-Concelman/British Naval Connector type of signal varies or BNC
- RCA-Type video left audio right audio
- XLR Microphone XLR
Bluffers guide to WIRES AND CONNECTORS
Transducers
Transducer = a device that converts one type of energy to another. A microphone converts acoustic energy to electrical energy. A speaker converts electrical energy to acoustical energy. They are both transducers.
Microphones
good readin Audio Technica Guide to Microphones
Types of microphones
- Dynamic
- Condenser
- Ribbon
- piezo electric (contact Mic)
other (Stereo, binaural, PZM- pressure zone microphone http://www.crownaudio.com/mics.htm)
Ribbon Mic
The first type of mic was a Ribbn Microphone. Basically a light wieght ribbon that conducts electircty the is suspened in between two magnets. Older ribbon mics usally have a reduced frequency response.
Dynamic Mics
A light weight diaphragm is connected to a coil that is suspended between a magnet.
A very light weight diaphragm is suspended in front of an electrically charged back plate. The two plates basically act as an open air capacitor. As the air pressure changed the distance between the plated the capacitance between the plates also changes. Condenser microphones need Phantom Power to work.
Our stereo mic: Audio Technica AT825 [1]
Microphone Comparison
Parameter | Dynamic | Condenser | Ribbon |
Frequency Response | Good | Best | Worst |
Dynamic Range | Good | Good | Worst |
Durability | Best | Good | Worst |
DAT Machine
DAT Machine Demo
Tascam HD-P2 [2]
Recording Demo with DAP1 DAT or HD-P2 compact flsh recorder
Scanners
Image Scanner via wikipedia
An image scanner is an input device that uses a CCD to obtain an image.
Modern flat bed scanner typically scan 24 bit RBG color. A scanners resolution is measured in pixels per inch or ppi knows as dots per inch when displayed on a computer monitor. Most computer modern operating systems display 72 or 96 dpi.
Many scanner can scan up to 300 dpi. Really nice drum scanners can scan up 14,000 dpi.
Since we will be displaying or final movies on a computer screen it is fine to scan @ 72 dpi.
Scan, color correct, and crop boards
Scan, color correct, and crop boards demo
- Scan borads into Photoshop/Gimp
- Use Photoshop/Gimpto correct color (we don't want color just rclean black and white)
- Use Photoshop/Gimpto crop frames to correct size and aspect ratio
- Save as a series of uncompressed images
In Class Articulate Cuts from storyboards what motivates each cut
- What visual changes are there in the scene?
- What audible changes are there?
- What is the time reference?
Homework
Read Chapter 2 in Sound Design for IM
Scan, color correct, and crop boards
Start Audio Search
- Make a list of all the effect you will need for you animation
- Start to search library/web/record for sound effects
Quiz 2 next week MTD2 Quiz 2 Review
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird [3]
for Annette's class, the following is in place of the next quiz:
THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING AT A BLACKBIRD PRESENTATION DUE IN CLASS WEEK 9: 3/29/07
Explanation of student presentations using Thomas McEvilly’s “13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” http://www.smcm.edu/users/lnscheer/mce.html
Each student will give a 5-10 minute presentation explaining the meaning of a work of art (loosely defined – painting, sculpture, land art, internet piece, song, film, game, etc.) of your choice based on which “way” you have chosen or have been assigned. Presentations should be in the form of a power point file with no more than two slides and which includes an image or representation of the work discussed. List sources.
This should be based not only on your opinion, but on background information you find on the work.
The assignment is meant to explore how we find meaning in art. Where is the line between art and political action, what role does intention of the artist play in the making/understanding of a work of art, why is XYZ art? This assignment is useful in thinking about the various contexts within which art can be understood and experienced.
Following are McEvilley’s ways, in bold, and my sketchy notes that are intended for clarification or amplification follow.
1. Content that arises from the aspect of the artwork that is understood as representational. LIZ His point – we see nature based on how we have seen it represented in art.
2. Content arising from verbal supplements supplied by the artist. NATHAN Title, what the artist says/writes
3. Content arising from the genre or medium of the artwork. AARON
4. Content arising from the material of which the artwork is made. DAVID When, for example, a jeweler works in some other medium than gold, because gold mining is damaging to the environment and does not return profits to the miners themselves.
5. Content arising from the scale of the artwork. ANDREW Especially relevant for land art, earthworks. What about works at the nanoscale?
6. Content arising from the temporal duration of the artwork. ROXANNE Film, video, performance, music?
7. Content arising from the context of the work. EDDIE His eg – site specific work
8. Content arising from the work's relationship with art history. JENNY For eg., Hermine Freed, Art Herstory, 1974
9. Content that accrues to the work as it progressively reveals its destiny through persisting in time. ALLEN His eg. - Duchamp added content to the Mona Lisa
10. Content arising from participation in a specific iconographic tradition. KATY Certain colors or forms, or even subjects, have a particular meaning (very similar to context)
11. Content arising directly from the formal properties of the work. JASON He says: A Pollock drip painting asserts flux and indefiniteness of identity as qualities that can be found in the world
12. Content arising from attitudinal gestures (wit, irony, parody, and so on) that may appear as qualifiers of any of the categories already mentioned. WARREN criticizes that content at the same time it states it, and alters the charge of meaning. (for eg., Natural Born Killers, which tells the story of a pair of mass murderers while parodying various media forms like TV sitcoms
13. Content rooted in biological or physiological responses, or in cognitive awareness of them. ADAM Sexual arousal, disgust, visual responses like persistence of vision (when you stare at an image composed of complements and then look at a white wall and still see it, but with colors reversed) op art
You will certainly find that there are interactions/overlaps among categories, and that any work you choose may be relevant to more than one.