The Future of Media Technologies

Hardware changes - 

In my opinion, the first pieces of hardware that should definitely be upgraded and changed are the cameras.

Here is my opinion on what should be purchased -

 

Year 1 -

 

 This camera costs about £1100. In the plan, between 3-7 could be purchased to increase availability to student.

I feel that the most suitable thing to do is purchase more cameras such as the canon XA10 to widen the amount available to be distributed to students to use. This would increase the quality of work in ways that the people hiring these would have more of a chance to film in a way that they will not have to worry as much about unavailability and therefore increase the quality of what they do. By having more time with a camera, the amount of filming time is increased and then mistakes can be fixed and there will never be problems of a shortage of clips when it comes to editing.

 

Year 2/3 -

 

 

 This is the Canon EOS-1D C. These cost roughly £8000 each but this price would drop when more of it's kind get released or when later models are released.

The main reason that I think this camera should be purchased is because it can film in 4k. Slowly falling into the industry are these type of 4k cameras and they are professional in a way that they produce super high quality footage suitable for professional films.

 

I also feel that this solution would be suitable for 2 years as the industry grows ever closer to using cameras like this on a regular basis. I also feel that the price of these cameras could drop significantly across time as more companies start producing and selling them.

 

 

Year 4 -

 

 This is a RED camera. This is an example of what I feel can be invested in and saved financially for in year 4. This particular example costs roughly £57,000. Other models are available for cheaper prices.

 

In the penultimate year of this plan I feel that there should be an aim for a very professional camera to be available for use in the live studio. A camera that shoots in 4k+ would be essential and this camera could cost a large amount of money to ensure that quality is high and of a professional level. This could be used alongside current cameras or to replace one in a show or any live production. The only problem that the department would face is the financial aspect of buying a camera such as the one pictured above, as these could cost in advance of £50,000.

 



 

Year 5 -

 

In year 5, if financially viable, I would suggest buying some accessories for the camera mentioned above. These could involve displays, lenses, cables and much more. I feel like this would be suitable because this could mean that more can be done with the very expensive camera and the department could also produce more effective products.

 

Another thing that this could lead to is industry standard pieces of work that can be produced either for or with companies. This could help fundraise for other expensive pieces of equipment and lead to a lot more professional work and real life experience for students. This could therefore lead to positives for both students, lecturers and definitely the college and the media department.

 

http://www.red.com/products/accessories - This link will take you to a page that shows the accessories you can buy for RED cameras.

 

 

 

Software Changes -

 

Year 1/2 - Final Cut Pro X - $299.99

 

I feel that the first software change should be the upgrade in Final Cut Pro. As we are currently using Final Cut Pro 7, I feel that the upgrade will be needed across 2 years. The software we currently use in the Media Department suits all the needs of the course and therefore we can get an upgraded version to replace this slowly.

 

Year 3/4/5 - Adobe Premiere Pro CS5/CS6

 

This program would be a good upgrade for the college as it is an advanced piece of software that would be suitable for use by all students and this could also be used throughout the college and further than just the media department. Currently on the Mac's at college we have Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 but it is not in use as much as it could be. With this upgrade we could introduce the program further into the learning areas. Also after this software might be getting out of date, the upgrade into CS6 could happen in the 4th year for the same reasons that I have just explained for CS5. I feel this transformation could be done across 3 years due to the amount of copies needed and also the amount of time it will take for the programs to be installed on the many Mac's at college.