Week 1 :Create a short piece of 360 video that explores a local landmark or place of interest .
The first assignment was more than a challenge and one that I learned my greatest lesson from that was going to my emotional crutch throughout the course.
DON'T PANIC!
My brief against that of the assignment
I already had my heart set on what I was going to do for an assignment when I signed up for it.
This was my brief
My home town of Croydon is a large town in south London, England, 9.5 miles south of Charing Cross. The principal settlement in the London Borough of Croydon, it is one of the largest commercial districts outside Central London, with an extensive shopping district and night-time economy.
The main reason I have chosen it is because the landscape is about to change drastically. A new £1.4bn Westfield shopping complex is about to be built which will mean that shops, buildings, streets and homes will change in style and appearance.
I hope this work will document the changes and help educate students in the digital future.
The assignment was to create a short piece of 360 video that explores a local landmark or place of interest
No Problem until I saw the example. He was talking!
Footage
I had made mistakes in the past just trying trying to learn how to use the camera. Seeing the examples I knew this wasn't a mistake, it was an option
Option A :Create your 360 video using some of our example footage. We’ve included both 4k footage and HD footage (for less powerful computers). You can create your project in either video quality.
Option B : Shoot and use your own footage to create your 360 video.
Well I panicked because my footage had know narration so I went with option A
Things I learnt
I wanted to use my own footage, but I wasn't talking in any of them. (If you can images you must be able to add sound after)
My premiere pro control panel was set up different than than the instructors (Create a cheat sheet for the control panel)
Searching in effects was difficult as I already had a number of effects. ( Organise your current effects maybe even clear out the one's you don't use)
Trust was a big issue had a done it right?
Week Assignment
Using Adobe Premiere Pro, develop your 360 video from last week - or create a new one if you prefer - by adding text and graphics to enhance the narrative structure. You should aim for your video to be no longer than 1 minute long.
Having got over my initial shock of changing what I wanted to do, I came up with a plan!
I went to : Questions for Instructors (Virtual Reality in the Classroom)
Message : Good morning I wanted to use some footage that I did for my first assignment, however, it was only local landmarks and I wasn't in it talking. For the final submission could I use the footage and add voice over plus the other requirements to complete the task?
Sjaani van den Berg replied: Sounds like a good approach to me Daniel
Dyslexia has been my companion throughout my teaching career, so with this information I was off like a shot storyboarding everything that I wanted to do. My key word for this assignment was : Differentiation especially for my dyslexic, deaf and hearing impaired students.
Adobe updated premier to 2019 during the course so a new learning curve was about to take place.It was one of the best things to happen as it meant I had blank canvas with new features.
Assignment structure
I decided to use footage from the example with my own and turn the learning objective of the assignment into a cross-curriculum links project.
First clip
- Rather than use text I decided to use titles that I had in the essential graphics panel. I could edit vector graphics directly from within the Essential Graphics panel, or by using the Effect Controls panel.
- Added a video of the dutch flag utilising a lamp post for positioning.
- Added a image that read 360° and gave it a light flare to focus on the learner to turn the video.
Second clip
- Kept the original sound track to reflect the reality of the shot
- Used Ultra chrome key on the UK flag
- Embedded a video of a Dutch tram to show relationship between the tram links added a little twist by placing it into a notice board.
- Showed images of Dutch tram and London tram to reinforce the historical link
- Positioned the footage of the last tram video and image between the buses and tram to show change.
- Closed the scene with the historical fact decided not to use an image so that a question could be asked or reflection.
Final clip
- I made to this piece as short as possible so that the focus would be on the message and not view.
- Couldn't get rid of the black parts of the deaf signing scene so put the images as close together as I could.
- Showed the equipment used in the footage and gave the cameraman a speaking part.
Reflection
My VR Skills
"What I know about VR , how I use it and and my experience is for ever changing".
In my position as a digital technologist ( what some call an evalangist,) It's my job to know what is new in order to advice, teach and test. When I started the course I thought I knew a lot until faced with both assignments.
What I found the most challenging thing about the course was that even after working with VR & AR for more than 3 years, growing digitization, advancement of technology, increasing demand for head mounted displays was going to push VR really quickly to the masses in a way that is going to revolutionise how we use it.
Equipment
Firstly let me explain what I mean, Virtual Reality is not a new phenomenon, at Learning Light we saw our first headset in 2006, if you look at the image each one tells a story about VR
- Top left image: An iPhone 6 with IOS 11 using RICOH THETA app that was first introduced in 2015 representing 1% of total action camera sales it has been updated several times right up to Oct. 02, 2018 Version 2.1.4. With each year there is a learning curve, someone buys, learn and above all be had to be patient (not much has Changed)
- Top right: A 2018 HP VR set aimed at the medical profession graphics are amazing the only problem was the pack was strapped to your back weighed loads and the headset was chunky.
- Bottom left: The camera is RICOH THETA but notice due to finance we used our own tripod. Great for taking VR shot but wrong tripod meant more editing, eventually bought the correct one. Now we can add circular logo that covers the tripod, normally on the floor.
- Bottom right: The VR Kit our latest purchase. We have been looking at cost effective solution and as we we already had a camera it made sense to look at a lens using 4K the features on an iPhone 7 plus great idea except that the iphone 7 plus has a double lens, so our lens didn't fit, Solution sell the phone and get an iPhone 8.
So why am I telling you this?
Technology moves really fast and can be very costly or cheap. I have learnt it's important to not to rush into buying equipment when you could play around with it first. Take a smart phone for instants, it can film in 4K but takes up a lot of space, so although the course is to bring VR into the classroom it more about identifying your own skills set and budget in order to be the most effective. Notice I said effective and not the best at filming.
This technology isn't going anywhere but up you don't have to be the best only the best that you can. One thing to remember If the system is too sluggish to react to head movement, then it can cause the user to experience virtual reality sickness, a kind of motion sickness. You don't want your students to have to wear wristbands, soaking their feet in ice water or having to chewing ginger.
Teaching
I have found that once you have tackled the problem of equipment then comes the hard part, getting your voice heard in school. That's when your assignment/ projects works, I'm no afraid to show of my work good and bad as it offers me new and unique opportunities to create more effective learning experiences.
Unlike paper textbooks, VR technology can customize layouts, font styles and sizes, and background colors according to the needs of any student, which is what I intend in doing.
Today
Now Adobe has bought out even more tools to help you with VR we work with even more projects.
VR & AR is forever growing and here is some of the things and people we are so proud to know or work with.
- Mark Anderson is an Apple Distinguished Educator, Google Certified Innovator, Microsoft Certified Educator and expert in mobile learning and associated pedagogies. He is known as the ICT Evangelist and his blog won the Education Blog of the Year award in 2015 and numerous other accolades over the years
- Steve Bambury is Head of Digital Learning and Innovation across the JESS Dubai schools where he works with staff, students, parents and school leaders to help them develop their use of education technology https://www.virtualiteach.com/
- Patrick Price & Imamul Choudhury heads above the cloud and his team of designers, technologists, researchers & testers.
- Premiere Rush CC : A new app for creating and sharing online videos.
- Adobe Captivate 2019: You can now create virtual reality-based learning scenarios using 360° media assets