‘Deja vu,’ I’ve seen this before
Posted on June 15, 2007
In the film Deja Vu with Denzel Washington, the government found a way to use many different satellite video images to pull together a 3-D image that took place exactly four days in the past.
One of those movies that requires you to ’suspend reality’ for a few hours, right?
Well, maybe not. Blaise Aguera y Arcas has co-created an application called Photosynth, which grafts together a variety of images into a multidimensional space that can be viewed from different angles and magnifications (minus the time travel portal … for now).
Search for commonly shot things such as Notre Dame, and the application builds it for you based on all the photos found on the Web.
Says Arcas:
“We can do things with the social environment; this is now taking data from everybody from the entire collective data, link them together and create something emergent that’s greater than the sum of its parts.”
Check out this video demo at TED and this one via Microsoft Live Labs to see it for yourself.
So you’ve seen how cool it is for photos. Do the same thing with video, and we’ve just made a seemingly far-fetched sci-fi movie a reality.
(TED link found via MultimediaShooter)
Soundslides Plus is here!
Posted on June 15, 2007
Joe Weiss has treated us to an early Christmas gift: Soundslides Plus is available for download (and he’s only charging an upgrade for those who have already purchased the older version).
I got a chance to test this one out in beta, and it is NICE. You’ll like the changes:
>> Image Movement (Pan and zoom)
>> Image-only, click-through slide shows
>> Individual transitions
>> Built-in lowerthird subtitles
>> Built-in thumbnail menus
And I have to note that Joe’s customer service is SUPERB. Forums, a wiki and a quick response to help requests makes the “ridiculously simple storytelling” a ridiculously enjoyable experience all around.
2006-2007 SND.ies, The Best of New Media Design Competition
Posted on June 15, 2007
Entries for the SND.ies, The Best of New Media Design Competition — which honors excellent multimedia journalism — are due by July 1.
This competition rewards skill, innovation and high-quality visual journalism in Web and other new media design with monthly and annual prizes. Entrants receive expert feedback from judges and the opportunity to earn monthly and annual awards, including Awards of Excellence and Silver or Gold Medals. The winning projects are posted online to share with the world.
2007 ONA awards
Posted on June 15, 2007
Entries for the 2007 Online News Association awards are due by June 30. (There will be no extensions, they say.)
* Judges will be invited to place special emphasis on entries that are original to the Web. Entries that were first published in another medium are still eligible for entry (except for the Online Commentary category), but emphasis will be placed on entries that demonstrate mastery of the special characteristics of the Web.
Multimedia News Producers Workshop
Posted on June 15, 2007
The Institute for New Media Studies at the University of Minnesota is running another session of the Multimedia News Producers Workshop August 16-18.
Registration will be limited to 36 people and there will be a choice of one of two tracks: Audio slideshows and video production for the Web.
Sign up early, last year’s workshop sold out in two days, according to organizer Nora Paul.
Animated infographics checklist
Posted on June 12, 2007
In the Online Journalism Review story quoted below, Cairo also shares a checklist for deciding if an animated infographic is the best option asa multimedia component for a given story:
>> Can the story be explained using a map, a statistical chart or a diagram? If you need to show the “where” of the story, you definitely need a map.
>> Are there size, length, distance, amount comparisons involved? Then, you need a chart.
>> Is there any process or procedure hat can be better understood by means of a visual display? Create a diagram.
>> Do you need to recreate the scene where the story took place? In this case: do you have enough information to recreate it accurately, without making up details? This is crucial. The old infographics motto says: if you don’t know how it is, don’t draw it. I’ve added my own corollary to that motto: if you don’t know how it moves, don’t animate it.
Focus first on breaking news
Posted on June 11, 2007
Alberto Cairo, elmundo.es’s former infographics expert, answers some questions by Noral Paul and Laura Ruel about visual journalism in “Animated infographics and online storytelling: Words from the wise.”
This quote struck me (emphasis is mine):
“Among the best recent multimedia coverage, I would highlight the Times’ interactive about the Virginia Tech shootings. The combination of audio, video and information
graphics makes this breaking news coverage one of the best I’ve ever seen. You see, ALMOST ANY PUBLICATION CAN CREATE A GOOD LONG-TERM, FEATURE PROJECT ONLINE. IT IS MUCH, MUCH MORE DIFFICULT TO DO THAT IN A TIGHT DEADLINE.“With their most recent hires, The New York Times is trying to emulate the model we used at elmundo.es back in 2000-2005. The are focusing more on breaking stories, rather than on features. Don’t get me wrong, features are great, but A NEWSPAPER SHOULD FOCUS FIRST ON UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION.”
Is this a no-brainer? Maybe so, but my first reaction to reading this was: OK, so we’re upping the ante on these interactive packages now. Anyone can do a good feature project, huh? So let’s put a timer in the mix and see what the REAL journalists can come up with?
But I do think Cairo makes some good points, and there are lessons to be learned here:
You can’t plan for breaking news. You have to be able to put everything else aside and quickly, efficiently, accurately build an interactive graphic. Cairo is right in that it’s much more difficult to produce on deadline.
And readers’ appetites for latest developments and explainers during a breaking news event can be huge. The Virgina Tech shooting described above is an excellent example.
So by focusing resources in that area, you’re serving those readers — and, let’s admit it, you’re increasing page views during an high-volume opportunity.
Since I said the dirty words (page views), it seems to me that focusing on breaking news may be time better spent, too. You’re liable to get much more return on your time investment for a breaking news or news event (ie, election coverage), than you are a special package feature because you’re going to have better odds that the readers are going to actually see the breaking news — they’re seeking out the news during those times.
Quote of the day
Posted on June 11, 2007
One of the best parts of my job: Introducing the world of multimedia to print reporters.
Last week, an experienced reporter said to me as she handed me her first audio clip:
“Now that I know how to use my recorder, I’m in love with it. I’m going to take it with me everywhere.”
Music to my ears.
Audio ethics
Posted on June 7, 2007
I met with photographers at my paper last night as they all gathered to talk about their photos. The discussion several times moved to how they could turn their projects into online audio slideshows/galleries/projects, which is so great for a multimedia editor to hear.
An interesting debate came up at the end of the night: What are the ethical guidelines to editing audio?
These are some issues they wondered about:
>> Do the photos and audio HAVE to match in time? For instance, if you record a prayer one night when you’re visiting a church group but you get the best photos the second week you visit that same group, is it OK to use that original recording?
>> If something rattles loudly in the background while recording, or the person you’re interviewing gets caught in a coughing fit, can you ask them to repeat themselves?
>> Is it OK to leave background sounds in the background, even if those sounds weren’t occurring when the interview happened?
Herald-Tribune Director of Photography Mike Lang found this link to the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) Code of Ethics. One section says:
“TRUTH: Professional electronic journalists should pursue truth aggressively and present the news accurately, in context, and as completely as possible.
Professional electronic journalists should:
* Continuously seek the truth.
* Resist distortions that obscure the importance of events.
* Clearly disclose the origin of information and label all material provided by outsiders.Professional electronic journalists should not:
* Report anything known to be false.
* Manipulate images or sounds in any way that is misleading.
* Plagiarize.
* Present images or sounds that are reenacted without informing the public.”
I searched today to see if there are any ethical guidelines for sound. I found a slideshow tip sheet put together by Josh Meltzer, of The Roanoke Times, and Scott Sharpe, of the News & Observer. It has some great tips about how to get the interview, including the following:
“Transfer good photojournalism ethics to recording audio
o NEVER ask a subject to do something or say something
o NEVER edit your project in such a way that is no longer accurate to what you observed
o Indicate who is talking when needed
o NEVER edit someone’s words to make them say something with a different meaning from what they actually said”
At the bottom of the page, someone asked exactly what we were wondering last night:
“It’s a given not to ask a subject to do something or say something for you, but, can you ask them to repeat something if someone sneezed or something distracting happenend in the background. Comment by Jeff — June 5, 2007 @ 10:26 am”
Obviously we’re not alone in this debate/questioning. Any advice from anyone out there?
The making of IbisEye.com
Posted on June 6, 2007
Christopher “Chip” Scanlan blogs about HeraldTribune.com’s IbisEye today.
In a Q&A with Maurice Tamman, idea-generator and co-creator with Charlie Szymanski, Tamman says the following about updates to the project this year:
“The entire site was built up from scratch. We consider last year to be beta and this year v1. Our primary goal was to make the application as fast as possible. Last year’s version was cool but damn slow. Many of the same features return but they are all improved and much easier to find.
“I think we’ve succeeded.
“In addition, we found a much better database of windfields and we’ve significantly improved how we display those windfields. We also added calculations for the southeastern population and cities exposed to hurricane force winds along with our analysis of Florida property exposed to hurricane force winds.
“The alert system is also much improved.
“The damage reporting system works for any area hit by hurricanes: search for an address, click on the icon and report damage. All the reports are tied to a latitude and longitude or a parcel ID number (in Florida).
“We’ve also added an alert system that can either be tied to a parcel or a point on the map (or a weather alert zone); anytime a selected alert is issued an e-mail is sent out. In addition, the system (and we haven’t tested this yet) should send out alerts if the point is exposed to hurricane force winds, is forecast to be exposed or is inside the “cone of death.”
“We also expect to add alerts for people who want reports of damage or lost people and pets near a particular point.
“There is more, but that’ll do.”
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