Chapter Twelve: Audio Production

Sound can be what we hear inside or outside, in a large or small environment, or it can be what we hear from radio stations, podcasts, or songs. For sporting games that are televised on television, it is often enjoyable to be able to hear the sound of the ball dribbling on the court or the sound of a bat hitting a baseball. Sound is formally defined as a phenomenon that occurs naturally, that involves pressures and vibration. This chapter emphasizes that learning and understanding how sound works will aid in creating better sound quality for content. Sound waves are generated through energy and can travel through solids, liquids, or gases.

Amplitude is defined as the sound wave’s height, and amplitude indicates the intensity of the wave, and it is measured from the crest of the wave to the trough. It is measured in decibels that quantify the sound pressure level, which is denoted as SPL. The level that causes pain in the ear starts at 140 decibels, and repeated exposure to this level of loud sound can lead to ear damage and ultimately hearing loss. I realized while reading this

that my music is most likely too loud in my earphones or in the car. My 16th birthday gift was extra 12-inch speakers for my car, and perhaps it is time to retire these so that I do not get hearing loss from listening to music so loud.

Frequency is a sound’s low or high pitch and people can hear frequencies starting at 20 Hz, up to 20,000 Hz. The range is divided into subgroups denoted as bass, midrange, and treble. Microphones are used to record sound waves and they convert the sound waves into electronic format. Then, the sound can be transmitted and played out loud. There are different types of microphones. Dynamic types use acoustical energy and don’t require a power source, while moving–coil microphones are attached to a coil that works with a magnet to submit current to the microphone chord. Plus, microphones can be omnidirectional, which means that there is a sphere around the microphone which picks up sound from all directions. Or, they can be bidirectional, which means that the sound is picked up equally from the front and the back.

The common microphone styles, according to the chapter, are handheld, lavalier, shotgun, and boundary. Lavalier microphones are designed to be used with no hands. It is also important to place the microphone in the right place to capture the optimal sound quality. Handheld microphones may have a windscreen which helps to decrease unwanted noise when outside. Microphones can be built–in or external. Computers have built-in microphones, which, according to the chapter, are used for speaking or having conversations, and not for recording audio. I have worked with wireless microphones before, and these are the most common that we see performers and entertainers use on a stage.

Audio connectors are used to connect microphones and audio device. A balanced cable microphone is equipped with three wires that send information back and forth in a continuous loop. There are also adaptors, which can be used to hook cables up to incompatible connectors. It is important to learn how to manage all of the cables so as to not feel overwhelmed or trip over cables while out in public. Sound checks are also a part of this, and audio will sound professional if the proper steps are taken so that the sound quality is adjusted as necessary when conducting an interview, for example. Having a good set of headphones is important as well so that capturing audio is done without making mistakes and errors. From this chapter, I learned that having the proper equipment throughout every stage and knowing how to use it is key to having successful audio production!

 

Chapter Eleven: Recording Formats and Device Settings

Learning how to operate a digital audio recorder or camcorder in order to interview people or take videos of events is important. I was surprised to learn that recording technology came after live broadcasts, as I did not know that live broadcasts were done first out of necessity. I thought that shows broadcasted live in order to intrigue the audience, and I learned from the chapter that video technology was not developed until after people realized that television could be a valuable thing. The first tape delayed show that was recorded was The Bing Crosby Show, which, according to the chapter, was the first tape-delayed broadcast that was released in the entire country!

The first videotape recorder that was for commercial use was released at the National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters’ Convention in 1956. Videotapes are composed of regions that are divided into separate parts. The video track stores the picture part of a program. The audio tracks are for audio. The control track is in charge of advancing each frame of film to the next frame, because video is constantly moving.

The 1970s gave us our beloved VHS tapes, which were in the analog format. As technology progressed into the 1980s, things started to be recorded digitally. The 1990s brought HD formats. Technology is still progressing, and now we have tapeless technology in which videos can be saved to solid state drives or flash drives. Encoding is a method that software uses to numerically convert multimedia into binary form. When sound is plugged into a computer, it has to convert into a digital form, and Pulse-code modulation is used to record audio as binary data. I found this interesting to learn as I did not know this prior. Audio sample rates are measured in Kilohertz, and a 50 kHz sample rate would mean that the recording was sampled at a rate of 50,000 times per second. Sample rate also impacts the frequency response of digital recordings. Bit depth on the other hand, impacts the amount of noise and distortion in the noise of a recording. Conversely, bit rate concerns the speed of an audio stream when the sound is being played back.

Open standards are rules that companies follow when publicly releasing the design of certain products. This is very important because if we did not have these sets of standards, according to the book, we would have to carry around an adaptor to use common household electronics! MP3 was developed in 1993, and thanks to this we are able to store music files digitally on a device. I remember my first iPod well, and never called it an MP3 player like my other family members. Below is an example of an MP3 player:

 Audio compression was enhanced through MPE-2, and MPEG-4 are recent standards that determine compression. MPEG-4 also allowed us to develop a universal format for encoding HD video on digital recorders, and for when we went to share a video online to YouTube or other video sharing websites. Plus, we also have high efficiency coding H.265, and we can use this for high definition videos. An impressive camera that was developed by Sony in the early 2000s was the XDCAM which could store up to 50GB of data. The SxS camera was developed in 2007, and now most of the Sony cameras use SxS media for recording. RED digital cameras use solid state drives to store up to 4K of recordings, and AVCHD is a format that was released by Panasonic and Sony that lets the camera user set the video quality.

There are many different ways to transfer and store files, which are important when saving the film or memories that have been recorded. Memory cards or Memory Sticks can be used or removed, or an SD card can be used. Digital cameras and audio recorders also have settings that the user can use to program certain functions and settings. Video encoding settings can also be changed by the user, and you can also change the resolution, scanning method, frame rate, and the bit rate as well. Autofocus and zooming are other popular features on cameras that make them easier to use. The FWIGSS can help people remember basic camera functions: Focus, White Balance, Iris, Gain, Shutter Speed, and Sound. I also found it interesting to learn that some cameras have what is called a Zebra feature, which display lines across an image to help adjust the iris. Once the iris is adjusted properly, the zebra stripes will almost disappear, which means that the image has been set to the proper exposure.

Camcorders come with a built in microphone which can be used for recording the natural sounds in an indoor or outdoor environment. External microphones can be connected and are great for conducting interviews. The chapter is helpful to learn how to connect an external microphone and set it up properly for optimal sound. All of these different aspects of recording formats are beneficial to know, and it is also good to know how to change the different settings on a device!

Chapter Ten: Photography

Photography is the process of fixing an image in time through the action of light (293). When photography is digital, the images are instantaneous. Traditionally, photos were chemically processed and created through the use of exposing the images on the film to light. Digital cameras became the primary way to take photos in the last twenty years, and there are different types of cameras available for consumers, prosumers, and professionals. The distinction means that the types are rated by low medium and high depending on the type of equipment and the type of user. It was also interesting yet sad to read that the well-known Kodak company field for bankruptcy in 2012 due to the decline in people acquiring and using photographic film.

Consumer cameras are at the low end of the spectrum and are designed for people that do not have a professional background in photography. Called point-and-shoot cameras, these tailor focus and exposure setting automatically for the user. Most of the functions of the camera can be accessed by the menu, and they are very easy to learn and use. Others are called DSLR cameras, and these direct an image to focus while the viewer is looking through a lens.

The term “prosumer camera” are the terms professional and consumer blended together. These types of cameras are typically tailored for people who have more experience than the average consumer but less expertise than the professional user. These cameras are DSLRs and it is easy to control the exposure. Plus, these cameras have interchangeable lenses and are easy to use and navigate. Professional level cameras have all of these same features and more, and have a better quality of lens. Video cameras also share in some of the controls and modes as photo cameras.

DSLR cameras have what are called imaging chains, which have four different parts: the lens, the iris, the shutter, and the image sensor. The image below is similar to the one that was provided in the book, and it explains that the lens focuses on what the camera sees and the iris regulates exposure. The shutter is in charge of the time of exposure and the image sensor is what captures light.

To further explain, lenses can be prime lenses, which can be wide-angle or telephoto. Wide-angle lenses have a short focal length and give a wide angle of a view. Telephoto lenses have a long focal length which gives a narrow angle of a view. On the other hand, normal lenses have a medium focal length. One type that I found interesting is the fish eye lens, which can make the view 180 degrees. It is interesting to see a video that is filmed with a fish eye lens. The iris is in charge of regulating the amount of light that hits an image sensor, which is a small chip that registers electronically the amount and intensity of color and light that is coming into the camera. According to the chapter, exposure is what creates the image because it exposes the image sensor to the light. It then depends on the intensity of the light, which is determined by the iris, and the duration that the light is in contact with the image sensor. Exposure can be calculated by multiplying the intensity by the time, and cameras have a built in meter for exposure,

The image resolution depends on the pixels that the image sensor produces, and options of these different parts of a camera can vary depending on the company by which the camera was produced. The exposure triangle is interesting, as it is used to determine the components that a photographer needs to adjust on the camera in the areas of aperture, form speed, or shutter speed. All of these work together so when the photographer changes one she or he must also change the other.

White balance can be set on a camera by shooting a white object and pressing the white balance button. This is done so that the light source that the electronic sensors in the camera are exposed to capture the accurate color of objects. Setting a camera to auto-white balance is an easy way to make sure that this is set on a camera. The camera can also be focused so that the objects that the photographer is shooting are sharp and clear.

The depth of field is the area that is in front of and behind the main subject of the photograph. Portrait mode is another intriguing thing in this chapter, as the camera on my phone has this option. Portrait mode is when the controls of the camera are optimized to shoot close-up images. This is a really popular option for people to easily shoot pictures that look somewhat nicer than regular ones that are taken on a cell phone. I also enjoyed reading about the different ways that cameras can be kept stable, which is through tripods, monopods, or other methods that decrease the shakiness of the camera.

Solid state memory cards can be used to store the photographs that are taken on a camera, and images can also be downloaded to computers and then edited using different software programs. This, along with USB ports, make transferring, storing, and putting images into folders easy. All of these different aspects of photography make using a camera and then editing images easier and more enjoyable. After all, capturing memories is what photography is all about!

Chapter Nine: Graphics

Graphics are visuals that can be displayed on a physical surface. Examples of where you see graphics are on computers, on paper, on walls, on posters, on billboards, and on flyers. Graphics can be created by hand or they can be created using software on a computer. Logos, illustrations, drawings, figures, and symbols are all examples of things that graphic designers could create to use in print of electronic form.

Images can be two-dimensional or three-dimensional representations of people, animals, objects, forms, or other images. According to the chapter, images can be still, which include photographs, maps, or charts, or images can be moving, which include videos. Digital images can be used to record scenes and graphics are reduced to a number so that the image can be altered on a computer.

Raster Images are created when an image is divided into rectangles that are made up of pixels, which are square areas of light representing points. Thousands of points are arranged to form the entire image. Some important characteristics of raster images to consider are resolution, which is used to determine the image quality. The resolution applies to the size of the pixels and the amount that are used to make up the picture. The more pixels, the higher the image’s resolution will be.

Pixel dimensions can be explained like this: (800 x 600). According to the chapter, this means that there are 800 pixels across the image from the left to the right and 600 pixels across the top to the bottom. To determine the pixel count, you multiply the horizontal and vertical dimensions. When considering the pixel density, the rule is that the more pixels per inch, the smaller each individual pixel will be. When scaling an image to adjust the edges, you must take into account that raster images are resolution depending, so they have a fixed number of pixels. Thus, when you are scaling the image, you can ruin it if you do not redefine the structure and pixel count. Resampling changes the size of an image through changing the pixel count, which can be increased or decreased, and anti-aliasing smoothes out the edges of a raster image. Lastly, raster images can be saved in different formats depending on preference: GIF offers 256 colors of transparent pixels, JPEG offers 16.8 million colors but no transparency, and PNG offers 16.8 million colors and transparency.

Vector Images form a picture using paths that are composed of points, lines, curves, and shapes. Images in this form can be scaled without losing the clarity of the picture, and lines are usually sharp and crisp. Plus, aligning the photo is easy because the picture is not composed of thousands of little pixels.

Tv’s, smartphones, and computers all have a fixed number of pixels, which is called the native resolution. The display settings can be changed for visually impaired people or for people who prefer the size of text to be larger. Interpolation is when a computer generates values for each of the pixels so that the image is scaled to fill a larger space. Aspect ratio, according to the chapter, indicates the proportion of the relationship of the width and height of the screen and is indicated as x;y. 4:3 and 16:9 are the most common.

Moving images can be found in TV, computers, games, cell phones, and navigation systems. Raster scanning is when the images are scanned and reproduced on the screen. Progressive scanning is when the lines are scanned from top to bottom, and interlaced scanning is when the frame of the image is captured into two separate parts and transmitted as such. Odd lines are scanned first and even lines are scanned second.

I found it interesting to learn about television and cinema standards. Digital television, known as DTV, offers advantages because the content that is created for it is more fluid and can be easily distributed. Plus, it also gives the option of using the 16:9 format and high definition, which makes the content very high quality. I also was intrigued to learn that Raleigh’s very own WRAL was the first television station in the country to broadcast using high-definition signals. The Digital Cinema Initiatives standardized the specifications for digital production for movies in theaters, which I did not know prior to this chapter. All of these different facets of creating graphics are important to consider when creating content and images that are of the highest quality.

Chapter Eight: Text

Text is the visual representation of thoughts that are expressed through the human language. Ways in which we use text are: mobile texting, emailing, snail mail, and Tweeting. One of my favorite ways to manipulate text is to change the font of a document that I have written for fun to cursive or otherwise silly text to see how it looks. This leads into the topic of type, which is defined in the chapter as being the character that is created to communicate written information.

Letterform applies to letters and characters, and typography is the practice of creating and arranging type. Fonts and typeface are different, because typeface concerns the design, while font concerns executing the design in a certain size. The appearance of typeface should be unified, while font concerns the style and size of the words on the page. The book explains that Times New Roman is a typeface, while Postscript 12-point Times New Roman is a font. Fonts are arranged into font families, which include all of the styles of a specific typeface.

Johannes Gutenberg is credited for inventing movable type, which had to be arranged by hand by the user. The type was organized into horizontal rows and ink would be applied to transfer the text to a piece of paper. However, this very time-consuming, and thankfully we now have electronic and digital type that can be chosen by the user based on the chosen or intended aesthetic.

It is also important to consider legibility and readability. Legibility are the characteristics of the typeface and readability is how easy the text is to read once it has been typed. There are other aspects of typography as well, such as stroke, contrast, and stress of the text. Stroke is noticeable in curved letters, and it is when a pen moves horizontally, vertically, curved, or diagonally. The change between thick strokes is called the contrast, and stress is the location of the transition in the letter from thin to thick lines. Other characteristics are when the text is made bold or italic, and the proportions of text should be taken into a account for readability as well. When text is made bold, the thickness is adjusted to match the increase in the stroke thickness. Italic typefaces are intended to make the text look handwritten. Serifs are decorative accents that are added to the end of a stroke, according to the chapter, and can make the text look more visually appealing or interesting.

Sans serif typefaces are designed without serifs. This type is ideal for title headings, and are best when designing webpages or other electronic mediums, which I did not know. Keeping this in mind is important for creating websites and webpages so that the text appears uniform on the page. You can also chose between decorative typefaces or script typefaces. Script typefaces are slanted and look similar to cursive writing.

The keyboard also has the capability to insert special characters such as the ones below:

You can customize the font style, strike through certain words, put things in capital letters, and emphasize certain words using the Bold and Italic settings. True font styles are when the designer changed certain aspects of the text while designing it, and faux font styles are computer generated. Changing the font size can also be done to subheadings to emphasize certain images on a page. Plus, underlining can be used to emphasize words of phrases as well. You can also customize font color, and highlight certain words on the page. Superscript characters are smaller characters that are above a letter and subscript characters located are below the characters:

Leading is the amount of space that is between lines of text that are vertically adjacent, and lines must be placed strategically together so that they are not too far apart or too far together. It is also necessary to consider alignment, justification, and distribution when aligning the text on a page. Distribution is when you make sure that the page is equally distributed from each corner, and when the page is aligned equally the page is justified. All of these must be precisely done to scale so that the text is visually accurate on a page, and a tip is to use a grid to map out where the text is going to go. According to the chapter, grids can be accessed through software programs, and grids make aligning text efficient and accurate.

Text can also be altered to make it more visually appealing and interesting, which is called font transforming. An example of this is warping, which is when typeface is distorted or manipulated to create variety. Another example is stroke, which is when colored outlines are added to type to add variety and interest. One thing to keep in mind for this chapter is that less is always more, and making sure that the text is not too overdone or silly looking is important to having text that communicates ideas effectively to the intended audience. All of these aspects of text are interesting to consider, and must be taken into account when designing webpages and other forms of media.