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Resource Center Home

Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC)

The Multimedia Presentation Center has 21 dual core iMacs set up as multimedia editing workstations, and can be used to produce a variety of digital content, as well as standard word processing.

Available Resources

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Camera Loan
  • Camera Loans Camera Loan The Camera Loans service point, is located within the Help Desk on the third floor of Burke Library. We have a variety of digital video cameras, digital still cameras, tripods, and digital audio recorders. Hours of Operation Equipment checkout and return through the Help Desk Monday-Friday 8:30 AM - 10 PM, Saturday & Sunday 10 AM-10 PM. Camera Loan Assistants will be available for questions & equipment overview 8-10 PM, seven days a week. Camera Loans will be closed during: Semester breaks (including Summer) College holidays Fridays proceeding a break Sundays students return from breaks This equipment is reserved for students in advance by a sponsoring faculty member and members of ITSST. For additional information please email mpc@hamilton.edu. Camera Loan Policies Patrons are allowed to checkout equipment for a period of 72 hours. On the third day, loaned equipment must be returned by 10 PM.  We have instituted a "Two-strike policy" that helps ensure timely returns, and provides equal access to equipment for patrons depending upon these resources. How strikes are issued If a patron fails to return equipment by 10 PM on the due date, a strike is issued. Please note that if there are missing components  to the equipment, the return is incomplete and thus, not returned. If a patron fails to return the equipment by 10 PM the following day, a second strike is issued. The patron is then banned form Camera Loans for a period of 30 days, and Campus Safety is contacted. The equipment is considered as stolen, and will remain as such until all components are returned to the Camera Loan desk
Image
  • Image Capture iOS Media Transfer Image Transferring an Image From an iOS Device Using Image Capture On a Macintosh computer, open the Applications folder and launch Image Capture. Connect the iOS device to the Macintosh via the USB-to-30 Pin cable. iTunes will launch by system default and will seek to synchronize your device with the local iTunes library. You will see two window prompts asking to synchronize the iOS device with the iTunes library, click Cancel on both window prompts.  In Image Capture, you will see your iOS device on the left side. Your images will be displayed in the main viewing area on the right.  You can individually select and transfer specific images or all image files. To transfer a single image, click on the specific image and click "Import". To transfer all images, click "Import All". Any images that are transferred will be placed within the Pictures folder, located within the local user directory. (e.g. jdoe/Pictures/)
Instruction
  • Faculty Media Workstation Instruction The Faculty Media Workstation, located within ITS on the third floor of Burke Library, is a development and production workspace specifically for faculty use. In this space, faculty can explore multimedia software (e.g. graphics, audio & video). This space is intended for multimodal project development and production independently or in consultation with instructional technologists. To make an appointment or reserve time to work in this facility, just email mpc@hamilton.edu. Faculty Media Workstation Policies Camera & Peripheral Equipment Loan – Faculty can borrow peripheral equipment for academic project development from the Faculty Media Workstation (FMWS) for up to two weeks at a time.  Students may borrow from a separate group of course support cameras with faculty permission emailed to mpc@hamilton.edu. Project Storage and File Management – Projects created on the faculty media workstation are the responsibility of the creator.  We attempt to back-up all projects on the FMWS scratch disk to another local hard drive.  We will maintain a copy of all project work we have a backed-up for 4 months.  We  suggest that an archive quality copy of each project be made and taken by the author as soon as the project is finished. All projects older than 4 months will be deleted from the workstation and back-up drives.
Labs
  • Multimedia Presentation Center Labs What is the MPC The Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) is a state-of-the-art computing facility equipped with cutting-edge hardware and software, as well as a full range of support services, specifically designed for authoring multimedia-enhanced presentations. The Multimedia Presentation Center, located on the ground floor of Burke Library, has 21 quad core iMacs running Mac OS X Lion. The Macintosh workstations are set up as multimedia editing workstations, and can be used to produce a variety of digital content, as well as standard word processing. Color laser printing is available for academic purposes only. MPC Location and Hours of Operation The MPC is located on the first floor of the Burke Library and follows the same hours of operation, available here.  An Overview of MPC Services The MPC is equipped to support a wide variety of multimedia-enhanced presentation formats including: Large format, photo-quality printing Medium format color laser printing Web content with audio, video and animation PowerPoint with audio and video Mini DV, CD and DVD Please direct any questions or inquiries about large format posters to the MPC professional staff. mpc@hamilton.edu, x4888. To request a large format poster appointment, click here.
Large Format Printing (LFP)
  • Connecting to the Academic Server Large Format Printing (LFP) Connecting to the Academic Server To connect to the Academic Server on a Macintosh, click on the desktop. Click on the "Go" Menu and select "Connect to Server". Type "Academic" into the server address area and click "Connect". Select the "MPC" volume and click "OK". Drag your poster PDF file into the "LargeFormatPrinting" folder. Think of this as a dropbox for all poster files.
  • Large Format Poster Page Setup & Printing Large Format Printing (LFP) LFP Station Login and Academic Server Access Login to the LFP stations (A &/or B) by using the following credentials: Username: lfp Paswword: lfp Connect to the Academic Server by using your Hamilton username and password credentials. Select the "MPC" volume, and open the "LargeFormatPrinting" folder. Locate and open the poster PDF using Acrobat. Large Format Poster Page Setup & Printing Once the file is open in Acrobat, you will need to verify and match the document page dimensions prior to printing. Go to the File menu and select Print. The print dialogue pane will appear and you will notice that the default page size is 8.5" x 11" (Letter size). To adjust the page size setting, click "Page Setup" in lower left corner. The Page Setup pane will appear, select "33 x 43" from the dropdown menu. Click OK. The page setup will reflect your current paper size. Click Print. Creating Custom Page Setups for Large Format Posters If you need to print a poster that is not the standard LFP size (33" x 43"), you will need to create a custom page setup. To create a custom page size setting, click "Page Setup" in lower left corner. The Page Setup pane will appear, select "Manage Custom Sizes" from the dropdown menu. Click OK. Next click the " " and select the "Untitled" page. Name the setup with the page dimensions (e.g. "42 x 96"). Enter the page dimensions within the Paper Size area. Please note that you will need to transpose the width and height, in order to accomodate printing in the most effective orientation. Enter zeros into the upper, lower, and side margins, click OK. Your page dimensions should be reflected above the page preview. Click Print.    
  • Science Summer Research Large Format Printing (LFP) Poster Printing Important Dates Monday, October 1 - Open Lab to proof posters (6-8pm in the MPC) Friday, October 12 - Last day to submit request for printing appt. Thursday, October 25 - Last day to print posters (morning ONLY) Friday, October 26 - Poster Presentation Documentation How-to documentation on creating a large format poster can be downloaded here.  All posters should be formatted at 43"x33" (or 33"x43") and created in PowerPoint. Please visit our Large Format Poster Printing support site for more information. Printing Appointments All students MUST schedule printing appointments to gain access to the large format printers.  Appointments will be given on a first-come-first-serve basis and generally fill up very quickly.  To schedule a poster printing appointment please fill out the appointment request form. If you wish to print an 11"x17" proof of your poster before your printing appointment, please attend the Open Lab on Tuesday, October 19 at 6-8pm in the MPC. Microsoft Office Compatibility Issues We recommend that you avoid creating posters with Microsoft Office 2003 or 2004. If you do use Office 2003 or 2004 to create your poster, it is likely there will be formatting and printing issues.  The newest versions of Office (2010 on Windows & 2011 on Mac) are available in all ITS computer labs on campus. Questions can be directed to mpc@hamilton.edu.
Mobile Device
  • Image Capture iOS Media Transfer Mobile Device Transferring an Image From an iOS Device Using Image Capture On a Macintosh computer, open the Applications folder and launch Image Capture. Connect the iOS device to the Macintosh via the USB-to-30 Pin cable. iTunes will launch by system default and will seek to synchronize your device with the local iTunes library. You will see two window prompts asking to synchronize the iOS device with the iTunes library, click Cancel on both window prompts.  In Image Capture, you will see your iOS device on the left side. Your images will be displayed in the main viewing area on the right.  You can individually select and transfer specific images or all image files. To transfer a single image, click on the specific image and click "Import". To transfer all images, click "Import All". Any images that are transferred will be placed within the Pictures folder, located within the local user directory. (e.g. jdoe/Pictures/)
Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC)
  • Camera Loans Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) The Camera Loans service point, is located within the Help Desk on the third floor of Burke Library. We have a variety of digital video cameras, digital still cameras, tripods, and digital audio recorders. Hours of Operation Equipment checkout and return through the Help Desk Monday-Friday 8:30 AM - 10 PM, Saturday & Sunday 10 AM-10 PM. Camera Loan Assistants will be available for questions & equipment overview 8-10 PM, seven days a week. Camera Loans will be closed during: Semester breaks (including Summer) College holidays Fridays proceeding a break Sundays students return from breaks This equipment is reserved for students in advance by a sponsoring faculty member and members of ITSST. For additional information please email mpc@hamilton.edu. Camera Loan Policies Patrons are allowed to checkout equipment for a period of 72 hours. On the third day, loaned equipment must be returned by 10 PM.  We have instituted a "Two-strike policy" that helps ensure timely returns, and provides equal access to equipment for patrons depending upon these resources. How strikes are issued If a patron fails to return equipment by 10 PM on the due date, a strike is issued. Please note that if there are missing components  to the equipment, the return is incomplete and thus, not returned. If a patron fails to return the equipment by 10 PM the following day, a second strike is issued. The patron is then banned form Camera Loans for a period of 30 days, and Campus Safety is contacted. The equipment is considered as stolen, and will remain as such until all components are returned to the Camera Loan desk
  • Connecting to the Academic Server Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) Connecting to the Academic Server To connect to the Academic Server on a Macintosh, click on the desktop. Click on the "Go" Menu and select "Connect to Server". Type "Academic" into the server address area and click "Connect". Select the "MPC" volume and click "OK". Drag your poster PDF file into the "LargeFormatPrinting" folder. Think of this as a dropbox for all poster files.
  • Faculty Media Workstation Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) The Faculty Media Workstation, located within ITS on the third floor of Burke Library, is a development and production workspace specifically for faculty use. In this space, faculty can explore multimedia software (e.g. graphics, audio & video). This space is intended for multimodal project development and production independently or in consultation with instructional technologists. To make an appointment or reserve time to work in this facility, just email mpc@hamilton.edu. Faculty Media Workstation Policies Camera & Peripheral Equipment Loan – Faculty can borrow peripheral equipment for academic project development from the Faculty Media Workstation (FMWS) for up to two weeks at a time.  Students may borrow from a separate group of course support cameras with faculty permission emailed to mpc@hamilton.edu. Project Storage and File Management – Projects created on the faculty media workstation are the responsibility of the creator.  We attempt to back-up all projects on the FMWS scratch disk to another local hard drive.  We will maintain a copy of all project work we have a backed-up for 4 months.  We  suggest that an archive quality copy of each project be made and taken by the author as soon as the project is finished. All projects older than 4 months will be deleted from the workstation and back-up drives.
  • Image Capture iOS Media Transfer Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) Transferring an Image From an iOS Device Using Image Capture On a Macintosh computer, open the Applications folder and launch Image Capture. Connect the iOS device to the Macintosh via the USB-to-30 Pin cable. iTunes will launch by system default and will seek to synchronize your device with the local iTunes library. You will see two window prompts asking to synchronize the iOS device with the iTunes library, click Cancel on both window prompts.  In Image Capture, you will see your iOS device on the left side. Your images will be displayed in the main viewing area on the right.  You can individually select and transfer specific images or all image files. To transfer a single image, click on the specific image and click "Import". To transfer all images, click "Import All". Any images that are transferred will be placed within the Pictures folder, located within the local user directory. (e.g. jdoe/Pictures/)
  • Lab Consultant Home Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) MPC Information Problem Log
  • Lab Consultant Manuals Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) The following manuals are intended to be used by students employed by ITS, managed by the Instructional Technology Support Service Team (ITSS). About ITS Appendix CLA Policies and Procedures DAL Policies and Procedures Intern Policies and Procedures LC General How-To Guide LC Policies and Procedures
  • Lab Consultant On-Going Training Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) Fall 2011 Place all projects within specified folders on MSS by 5 PM on due dates Fall Training Project: Rough version 2 8/26 Final version  9/2 Public Screening Event TBD Project 1 & Scheduling Meeting: 9/4 7-9 PM SCCT 3039 9/11 First Drafts Due 9/18 Final Drafts Due Project 2: 10/9 7-9 PM SCCT 3039 10/17 First Drafts Due 10/23 Final Drafts Due     Project 3: 11/6 7-9 PM SCCT 3039 11/16 Final Drafts Due
  • Lab Consultant Schedules Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) The following schedules are for students employed by ITS and managed by the Instructional Technology Support Services team. Service Point Locations: Camera Loans - Burke Library, Third Floor (within Help Desk area) Digital Arts Lab - LIST 220 (Arts Lab use only) Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) - Burke Library, First Floor If you have other service related questions, please contact MPC Professional staff.
  • Large Format Poster Common Issues and Problems Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) Printing Appointments It is very important to contact the MPC staff early to reserve time for printing. Printing appointments are required. There is often much competition for resources (workstations, support staff, large format printers, etc) at the end of the semester and we want to ensure that everyone has access to the resources that they need to complete their assignments.  25% o students did not attend the workshop scheduled for their course.  20% o appointments are rescheduled, cancelled, or no shows.  20-25% o students are late or unprepared, causing appointments to run over 1-hr. File Formats We recommend that any images placed in the poster are JPEG, TIFF, PDF, GIF or PNG file formats to avoid printing and compatibility problems. Authoring Software We have standardized on Microsoft PowerPoint as the layout tool for creating large format posters.  While it is possible to create the poster on a Windows computer we recommend that the poster is opened and checked on a Mac BEFORE the scheduled printing appointment to ensure there are no changes in color and formatting.  We DO NOT recommend that you create the poster using Open Office on a Linux computer. We recommend that you avoid creating posters with Microsoft Office 2003 or 2004. If you do use Office 2003 or2004 to create your poster, it is likely there will be formatting and printing issues.  The newest versions of Office (2007 on Windows & 2008 on Mac) are available in all ITS computer labs on campus. If you plan on using an application other than PowerPoint to create the poster it is important to speak with a MPC professional staff member ahead of time to avoid compatibility and printing problems. Image Resolution Because the posters are printed at such a large scale the quality of the image that is placed into the poster is important.  Often images that are grabbed from Google searches do not have a high enough resolution for print reproduction and can appear very pixelated and/or blurry when printed.  It is usually best to scan images from books, take digital photos or speak with a reference librarian about high-quality image databases.
  • Large Format Poster Page Setup & Printing Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) LFP Station Login and Academic Server Access Login to the LFP stations (A &/or B) by using the following credentials: Username: lfp Paswword: lfp Connect to the Academic Server by using your Hamilton username and password credentials. Select the "MPC" volume, and open the "LargeFormatPrinting" folder. Locate and open the poster PDF using Acrobat. Large Format Poster Page Setup & Printing Once the file is open in Acrobat, you will need to verify and match the document page dimensions prior to printing. Go to the File menu and select Print. The print dialogue pane will appear and you will notice that the default page size is 8.5" x 11" (Letter size). To adjust the page size setting, click "Page Setup" in lower left corner. The Page Setup pane will appear, select "33 x 43" from the dropdown menu. Click OK. The page setup will reflect your current paper size. Click Print. Creating Custom Page Setups for Large Format Posters If you need to print a poster that is not the standard LFP size (33" x 43"), you will need to create a custom page setup. To create a custom page size setting, click "Page Setup" in lower left corner. The Page Setup pane will appear, select "Manage Custom Sizes" from the dropdown menu. Click OK. Next click the " " and select the "Untitled" page. Name the setup with the page dimensions (e.g. "42 x 96"). Enter the page dimensions within the Paper Size area. Please note that you will need to transpose the width and height, in order to accomodate printing in the most effective orientation. Enter zeros into the upper, lower, and side margins, click OK. Your page dimensions should be reflected above the page preview. Click Print.    
  • Large Format Poster Support Models Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) We have several support models available for large format poster assignments in courses.  Faculty can work with instructional technologist to find the model and process that best suits their needs and assignment goals. Model A Large Format (34x44) posters for assignments including visual literacy learning goals.  Faculty member is offered a coordinated support meeting with members of HILLgroup to plan project and timeline.  Faculty member works through poster authoring process and project assigned to students.  Faculty member is offered the following planned support from ITS: Workshop on visual literacy and design. Workshop or authoring lab on PowerPoint (PPT) for Large Format Printing (LFP).  Open lab for scanning images. Open lab for proofing posters. Printing appointments for students. Model B Large Format (34x44) posters based on a clearly defined outcome – science posters, templates, etc. Faculty member is offered a coordinated support meeting with members of HILLgroup to plan project and timeline. Faculty member is offered the following planned support from ITS: Workshop or authoring lab on PowerPoint (PPT) for Large Format Printing (LFP). Open lab for scanning images. Open lab for proofing posters. Printing appointments for students. Model C Tiles or small posters (11x17).  Tiles may work well for groups working on a poster if each person in the group is responsible for a tile and also for coordinating their work with others submitting tiles to the group. Faculty member is offered a coordinated support meeting with members of HILLgroup to plan project and timeline. Faculty member is offered the following planned support from ITS: Workshop or authoring lab on PowerPoint (PPT) for Large Format Printing (LFP). Open lab for scanning images. Open lab for final printing. Model D Large Format (34x44) posters printed by Instructional Technology Support Services Team (ITSST) staff but students are trained on authoring by their faculty member. The faculty member sends ITSST burned CDs of the student’s final posters in PDF format. Faculty member will meet with ITSST professional staff and work through the process of poster creation in large format posters. This step can be waived if the faculty member has been through the entire process with us in the past year. In this step, we will provide information on our procedures, available printing dates, and “how to” documents to be distributed to their students.  We will establish a timeline for printing posters for their course. The final product of this step will be a written agreement recording the production timeline for the course, and the number of posters to be printed. A CD of final PDFs will be delivered to ITSST for printing.  No printing or proofing appointments will be scheduled. ITSST will not reprint or troubleshoot files if errors occur. Model E We will research outsourcing options. Definition of Planned Support "Events" Workshop on Visual Literacy and Design This is an interactive workshop on graphic design principles in terms of visual literacy and communication in the medium of a large format poster.  Students get tips on ways to present their research so that their posters reflect scholarly effort, and visual communication design and are aesthetically pleasing.  The workshop covers the use of color, images, graphs, text, etc. in a poster project. (1.5 hrs) Workshop on PowerPoint for Large Format Printing Students learn how to setup and author a poster in Microsoft PowerPoint.  This workshop focuses particularly on the special considerations and differences in using PowerPoint to create a poster as opposed to a slide show. (1 hr) Authoring Lab on PowerPoint for Large Format Printing An authoring lab can be offered in place of a workshop (see above) as a time for students to ask questions of the Instructional Technology Support Services Team (ITSST) staff, their faculty member and their reference liaison. Since the goal in these sessions is to have the students leave with a draft of their final poster, they are only effective if most of the students in a particular course have already researched their topics, drafted the text components of their poster and begun selection of the types of graphics they wish to use.  These labs are dependent upon the faculty member being present to help guide the students and answer discipline based authoring questions. (1.5-2 hrs) Open Lab for Scanning Images These open labs are selected blocks of time when students can come in to the MPC and receive 1-on-1 assistance in scanning images for their poster.  The scanning labs focus on proper image size, resolution, scanning settings and basic editing. (2-3hrs) Open Lab for Proofing Posters These open labs are selected blocks of time when students can come in to the MPC and receive an 11"x17" proof of their final poster. Proofing labs generally occur one week prior to the assignment due date.  This gives the students an opportunity to make corrections and consult with their professor before the final printing appointment. (2-3 hrs) Printing Appointments for Students One hour time slots for printing appointments are scheduled for the students to print the final copies of their posters.  Students are expected to arrive at the appointment on time, with a completed PowerPoint file, saved to their SSS account.  At the appointment, an ITS staff member will convert the PPT file to a PDF and print an 11"x17" proof of the poster.  Once the student has approved the proof, the staff member will print the final large format poster. (1-hr/student or group)  
  • Large Format Posters Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) The process of developing a poster presentation requires careful planning and coordination with the MPC's Professional Support team or the HILLgroup.  Courses in which all enrolled students will be expected to create a poster require advanced notice and can include instruction from a memebr of ITSST, ITS's Training Coordinator and/or Reference Librarians. On average, 350 students create posters through the MPC during the academic year. Appointments are required to gain access to the large format printers in the MPC. Faculty should contact a professional staff member early in the semester or prior to the start of the semester if they are thinking about such assignments. We will accept requests for support until our resources are fully committed or we reach a point in the semester when our timeline for support can no longer be executed. Detailed information on large format printing policies, procedures, processes and workflow can be found in the links below. General Policies and Procedures Models of Support Common Issues and Problems Example Project Timeline Large Format Poster Documentation Large Format Poster Printing Appointment Request Form Please direct any questions or inquiries about large format posters to the MPC professional staff. mpc@hamilton.edu, x5MPC (5672)
  • Large Format Posters General Policies and Procedures Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) Poster Presentations/Large Format Printing Hamilton's Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) offers support for large format poster presentations for academic and scholarly use. Poster presentations are an effective way for students in all disciplines to demonstrate their knowledge using both traditional and visual elements. Faculty and students alike frequently use large format posters to present research at professional meetings and conferences. As instructional tools, posters can be used to present complex data in visual form. The process of developing a pedagogically sound poster presentation requires careful planning and coordination with the MPC's Professional Support team and/or the HILLgroup. Courses in which all enrolled students will be expected to create a poster require advanced notice and include instruction from a member of ITSS,  ITS's Training Coordinator and/or Reference Librarians. Additionally, appointments are required for the final print using the MPC's equipment. Posters authored by faculty for classroom teaching aides and professional presentations usually require a 1-2 week notice to schedule an appointment. Additional time may be necessary if layout consultation and instruction are required. We also offer full support for Microsoft PowerPoint, the preferred authoring tool for poster presentations, Adobe Photoshop for presentations with a heavy artistic focus and limited support for Adobe InDesign. Although the MPC doesn't support large format printing for advertisement, announcements or personal use, we can act as a liaison between you and an outside printing vendor to ensure your needs are adequately met. Detailed documentation on large format printing policies and procedures can be found in the ITS Documentation System. Coordinated support timelines are also available to provide a visual representation of the poster assignment development process for an entire course. For questions or inquiries about poster presentations or large format printing, please contact the MPC.
  • Multimedia Presentation Center Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) What is the MPC The Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) is a state-of-the-art computing facility equipped with cutting-edge hardware and software, as well as a full range of support services, specifically designed for authoring multimedia-enhanced presentations. The Multimedia Presentation Center, located on the ground floor of Burke Library, has 21 quad core iMacs running Mac OS X Lion. The Macintosh workstations are set up as multimedia editing workstations, and can be used to produce a variety of digital content, as well as standard word processing. Color laser printing is available for academic purposes only. MPC Location and Hours of Operation The MPC is located on the first floor of the Burke Library and follows the same hours of operation, available here.  An Overview of MPC Services The MPC is equipped to support a wide variety of multimedia-enhanced presentation formats including: Large format, photo-quality printing Medium format color laser printing Web content with audio, video and animation PowerPoint with audio and video Mini DV, CD and DVD Please direct any questions or inquiries about large format posters to the MPC professional staff. mpc@hamilton.edu, x4888. To request a large format poster appointment, click here.
  • Science Summer Research Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) Poster Printing Important Dates Monday, October 1 - Open Lab to proof posters (6-8pm in the MPC) Friday, October 12 - Last day to submit request for printing appt. Thursday, October 25 - Last day to print posters (morning ONLY) Friday, October 26 - Poster Presentation Documentation How-to documentation on creating a large format poster can be downloaded here.  All posters should be formatted at 43"x33" (or 33"x43") and created in PowerPoint. Please visit our Large Format Poster Printing support site for more information. Printing Appointments All students MUST schedule printing appointments to gain access to the large format printers.  Appointments will be given on a first-come-first-serve basis and generally fill up very quickly.  To schedule a poster printing appointment please fill out the appointment request form. If you wish to print an 11"x17" proof of your poster before your printing appointment, please attend the Open Lab on Tuesday, October 19 at 6-8pm in the MPC. Microsoft Office Compatibility Issues We recommend that you avoid creating posters with Microsoft Office 2003 or 2004. If you do use Office 2003 or 2004 to create your poster, it is likely there will be formatting and printing issues.  The newest versions of Office (2010 on Windows & 2011 on Mac) are available in all ITS computer labs on campus. Questions can be directed to mpc@hamilton.edu.
  • Video Common Issues Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC)   Things to consider about video . . The length of the video is a major consideration. Videos of more than 5 minutes in length have technical and logistical issues not encountered in shorter video projects. And, a video novice can expect to spend 3 hours/minute of final project length editing original video.  Camera settings are critical to success when shooting original video. They can have effects on your project that are nearly impossible to fix with the computer.  Be certain to ask about setting, audio bit rate, white balance, and special effects when you borrow a camera from the MPC. Special storage arrangements must be made in advance of any editing. Video requires 3.6 mb/sec hard drive storage.  As an example, five minutes of raw unedited video requires over 1 GB of storage space.  Edits to the video, compression formats, and delivery can require up to three times the storage space necessary for the amount of raw video being manipulated. Video should be stored, or copied to, a Firewire Harddrive or an MPC video storage account at the end of each editing session. File management is critical to the editing process. Digital video is composed of multiple files that must remain in a specific relationship.  Digital video must be properly prepared and compressed for the intended delivery before it can be used in a presentation.  Consult an MPC instructional technologist, mpc@hamilton.edu, to develop a video workflow that will meet your project needs.  Storage Capturing and editing video requires large amounts of high-speed digital storage – much more space and speed than that of a floppy disk, zip disk, the student storage server (SSS) and even some computer hard drives. Video storage, whether a firewire harddrive or MPC video storage account, is determined by characteristics of the intended video project.  Longer video projects or multiple projects within the semester are usually better handled by firewire harddrive storage.  Short single video projects are often handled through specially set up MPC storage accounts.  These accounts are provided in planned support efforts and should be used while working in the MPC or Burke 001.  Accounts for students working in groups are set up differently from those for individual projects. File Management An understanding of video file structure and how to manage files between storage area and authoring area is one of our most frequently encountered “gotchas”.  Because the MPC is a public lab facility, the "Scratch disk" on MPC computers is intended as an editing area but not as a storage area.  Projects left on the scratch disk are not backed up and can be deleted by anyone who sits down at that computer.  While actually editing video, the video project folder should be on the Scratch disk. Working from the Scatch disk ensures that pieces of your project will not be lost in transit ("dropped frames") between an external drive/network account and the computer. Students must attend storage account appointments and understand their video project file structure to successfully complete video projects using our public lab resources.    Delivery The desired output (delivery/display) method has a significant effect upon the number of steps included in the overall assignment design.  There are also technical considerations associated with compression formats that may be dependent upon the characteristics of the footage being used.  And, the actual time it takes for the files to be converted to the desired output format can be up to three times the actual duration of the final video. A 3 minute video can take 9 minutes to export/compress and another 9 minutes to burn to disc.  Allowing time for a trial presentation run on a lectern system is advised. Video Home 
Policy
  • Faculty Media Workstation Policy The Faculty Media Workstation, located within ITS on the third floor of Burke Library, is a development and production workspace specifically for faculty use. In this space, faculty can explore multimedia software (e.g. graphics, audio & video). This space is intended for multimodal project development and production independently or in consultation with instructional technologists. To make an appointment or reserve time to work in this facility, just email mpc@hamilton.edu. Faculty Media Workstation Policies Camera & Peripheral Equipment Loan – Faculty can borrow peripheral equipment for academic project development from the Faculty Media Workstation (FMWS) for up to two weeks at a time.  Students may borrow from a separate group of course support cameras with faculty permission emailed to mpc@hamilton.edu. Project Storage and File Management – Projects created on the faculty media workstation are the responsibility of the creator.  We attempt to back-up all projects on the FMWS scratch disk to another local hard drive.  We will maintain a copy of all project work we have a backed-up for 4 months.  We  suggest that an archive quality copy of each project be made and taken by the author as soon as the project is finished. All projects older than 4 months will be deleted from the workstation and back-up drives.
Posters
  • Large Format Poster Common Issues and Problems Posters Printing Appointments It is very important to contact the MPC staff early to reserve time for printing. Printing appointments are required. There is often much competition for resources (workstations, support staff, large format printers, etc) at the end of the semester and we want to ensure that everyone has access to the resources that they need to complete their assignments.  25% o students did not attend the workshop scheduled for their course.  20% o appointments are rescheduled, cancelled, or no shows.  20-25% o students are late or unprepared, causing appointments to run over 1-hr. File Formats We recommend that any images placed in the poster are JPEG, TIFF, PDF, GIF or PNG file formats to avoid printing and compatibility problems. Authoring Software We have standardized on Microsoft PowerPoint as the layout tool for creating large format posters.  While it is possible to create the poster on a Windows computer we recommend that the poster is opened and checked on a Mac BEFORE the scheduled printing appointment to ensure there are no changes in color and formatting.  We DO NOT recommend that you create the poster using Open Office on a Linux computer. We recommend that you avoid creating posters with Microsoft Office 2003 or 2004. If you do use Office 2003 or2004 to create your poster, it is likely there will be formatting and printing issues.  The newest versions of Office (2007 on Windows & 2008 on Mac) are available in all ITS computer labs on campus. If you plan on using an application other than PowerPoint to create the poster it is important to speak with a MPC professional staff member ahead of time to avoid compatibility and printing problems. Image Resolution Because the posters are printed at such a large scale the quality of the image that is placed into the poster is important.  Often images that are grabbed from Google searches do not have a high enough resolution for print reproduction and can appear very pixelated and/or blurry when printed.  It is usually best to scan images from books, take digital photos or speak with a reference librarian about high-quality image databases.
  • Large Format Poster Support Models Posters We have several support models available for large format poster assignments in courses.  Faculty can work with instructional technologist to find the model and process that best suits their needs and assignment goals. Model A Large Format (34x44) posters for assignments including visual literacy learning goals.  Faculty member is offered a coordinated support meeting with members of HILLgroup to plan project and timeline.  Faculty member works through poster authoring process and project assigned to students.  Faculty member is offered the following planned support from ITS: Workshop on visual literacy and design. Workshop or authoring lab on PowerPoint (PPT) for Large Format Printing (LFP).  Open lab for scanning images. Open lab for proofing posters. Printing appointments for students. Model B Large Format (34x44) posters based on a clearly defined outcome – science posters, templates, etc. Faculty member is offered a coordinated support meeting with members of HILLgroup to plan project and timeline. Faculty member is offered the following planned support from ITS: Workshop or authoring lab on PowerPoint (PPT) for Large Format Printing (LFP). Open lab for scanning images. Open lab for proofing posters. Printing appointments for students. Model C Tiles or small posters (11x17).  Tiles may work well for groups working on a poster if each person in the group is responsible for a tile and also for coordinating their work with others submitting tiles to the group. Faculty member is offered a coordinated support meeting with members of HILLgroup to plan project and timeline. Faculty member is offered the following planned support from ITS: Workshop or authoring lab on PowerPoint (PPT) for Large Format Printing (LFP). Open lab for scanning images. Open lab for final printing. Model D Large Format (34x44) posters printed by Instructional Technology Support Services Team (ITSST) staff but students are trained on authoring by their faculty member. The faculty member sends ITSST burned CDs of the student’s final posters in PDF format. Faculty member will meet with ITSST professional staff and work through the process of poster creation in large format posters. This step can be waived if the faculty member has been through the entire process with us in the past year. In this step, we will provide information on our procedures, available printing dates, and “how to” documents to be distributed to their students.  We will establish a timeline for printing posters for their course. The final product of this step will be a written agreement recording the production timeline for the course, and the number of posters to be printed. A CD of final PDFs will be delivered to ITSST for printing.  No printing or proofing appointments will be scheduled. ITSST will not reprint or troubleshoot files if errors occur. Model E We will research outsourcing options. Definition of Planned Support "Events" Workshop on Visual Literacy and Design This is an interactive workshop on graphic design principles in terms of visual literacy and communication in the medium of a large format poster.  Students get tips on ways to present their research so that their posters reflect scholarly effort, and visual communication design and are aesthetically pleasing.  The workshop covers the use of color, images, graphs, text, etc. in a poster project. (1.5 hrs) Workshop on PowerPoint for Large Format Printing Students learn how to setup and author a poster in Microsoft PowerPoint.  This workshop focuses particularly on the special considerations and differences in using PowerPoint to create a poster as opposed to a slide show. (1 hr) Authoring Lab on PowerPoint for Large Format Printing An authoring lab can be offered in place of a workshop (see above) as a time for students to ask questions of the Instructional Technology Support Services Team (ITSST) staff, their faculty member and their reference liaison. Since the goal in these sessions is to have the students leave with a draft of their final poster, they are only effective if most of the students in a particular course have already researched their topics, drafted the text components of their poster and begun selection of the types of graphics they wish to use.  These labs are dependent upon the faculty member being present to help guide the students and answer discipline based authoring questions. (1.5-2 hrs) Open Lab for Scanning Images These open labs are selected blocks of time when students can come in to the MPC and receive 1-on-1 assistance in scanning images for their poster.  The scanning labs focus on proper image size, resolution, scanning settings and basic editing. (2-3hrs) Open Lab for Proofing Posters These open labs are selected blocks of time when students can come in to the MPC and receive an 11"x17" proof of their final poster. Proofing labs generally occur one week prior to the assignment due date.  This gives the students an opportunity to make corrections and consult with their professor before the final printing appointment. (2-3 hrs) Printing Appointments for Students One hour time slots for printing appointments are scheduled for the students to print the final copies of their posters.  Students are expected to arrive at the appointment on time, with a completed PowerPoint file, saved to their SSS account.  At the appointment, an ITS staff member will convert the PPT file to a PDF and print an 11"x17" proof of the poster.  Once the student has approved the proof, the staff member will print the final large format poster. (1-hr/student or group)  
  • Large Format Posters Posters The process of developing a poster presentation requires careful planning and coordination with the MPC's Professional Support team or the HILLgroup.  Courses in which all enrolled students will be expected to create a poster require advanced notice and can include instruction from a memebr of ITSST, ITS's Training Coordinator and/or Reference Librarians. On average, 350 students create posters through the MPC during the academic year. Appointments are required to gain access to the large format printers in the MPC. Faculty should contact a professional staff member early in the semester or prior to the start of the semester if they are thinking about such assignments. We will accept requests for support until our resources are fully committed or we reach a point in the semester when our timeline for support can no longer be executed. Detailed information on large format printing policies, procedures, processes and workflow can be found in the links below. General Policies and Procedures Models of Support Common Issues and Problems Example Project Timeline Large Format Poster Documentation Large Format Poster Printing Appointment Request Form Please direct any questions or inquiries about large format posters to the MPC professional staff. mpc@hamilton.edu, x5MPC (5672)
  • Large Format Posters General Policies and Procedures Posters Poster Presentations/Large Format Printing Hamilton's Multimedia Presentation Center (MPC) offers support for large format poster presentations for academic and scholarly use. Poster presentations are an effective way for students in all disciplines to demonstrate their knowledge using both traditional and visual elements. Faculty and students alike frequently use large format posters to present research at professional meetings and conferences. As instructional tools, posters can be used to present complex data in visual form. The process of developing a pedagogically sound poster presentation requires careful planning and coordination with the MPC's Professional Support team and/or the HILLgroup. Courses in which all enrolled students will be expected to create a poster require advanced notice and include instruction from a member of ITSS,  ITS's Training Coordinator and/or Reference Librarians. Additionally, appointments are required for the final print using the MPC's equipment. Posters authored by faculty for classroom teaching aides and professional presentations usually require a 1-2 week notice to schedule an appointment. Additional time may be necessary if layout consultation and instruction are required. We also offer full support for Microsoft PowerPoint, the preferred authoring tool for poster presentations, Adobe Photoshop for presentations with a heavy artistic focus and limited support for Adobe InDesign. Although the MPC doesn't support large format printing for advertisement, announcements or personal use, we can act as a liaison between you and an outside printing vendor to ensure your needs are adequately met. Detailed documentation on large format printing policies and procedures can be found in the ITS Documentation System. Coordinated support timelines are also available to provide a visual representation of the poster assignment development process for an entire course. For questions or inquiries about poster presentations or large format printing, please contact the MPC.
Video
  • Video Common Issues Video   Things to consider about video . . The length of the video is a major consideration. Videos of more than 5 minutes in length have technical and logistical issues not encountered in shorter video projects. And, a video novice can expect to spend 3 hours/minute of final project length editing original video.  Camera settings are critical to success when shooting original video. They can have effects on your project that are nearly impossible to fix with the computer.  Be certain to ask about setting, audio bit rate, white balance, and special effects when you borrow a camera from the MPC. Special storage arrangements must be made in advance of any editing. Video requires 3.6 mb/sec hard drive storage.  As an example, five minutes of raw unedited video requires over 1 GB of storage space.  Edits to the video, compression formats, and delivery can require up to three times the storage space necessary for the amount of raw video being manipulated. Video should be stored, or copied to, a Firewire Harddrive or an MPC video storage account at the end of each editing session. File management is critical to the editing process. Digital video is composed of multiple files that must remain in a specific relationship.  Digital video must be properly prepared and compressed for the intended delivery before it can be used in a presentation.  Consult an MPC instructional technologist, mpc@hamilton.edu, to develop a video workflow that will meet your project needs.  Storage Capturing and editing video requires large amounts of high-speed digital storage – much more space and speed than that of a floppy disk, zip disk, the student storage server (SSS) and even some computer hard drives. Video storage, whether a firewire harddrive or MPC video storage account, is determined by characteristics of the intended video project.  Longer video projects or multiple projects within the semester are usually better handled by firewire harddrive storage.  Short single video projects are often handled through specially set up MPC storage accounts.  These accounts are provided in planned support efforts and should be used while working in the MPC or Burke 001.  Accounts for students working in groups are set up differently from those for individual projects. File Management An understanding of video file structure and how to manage files between storage area and authoring area is one of our most frequently encountered “gotchas”.  Because the MPC is a public lab facility, the "Scratch disk" on MPC computers is intended as an editing area but not as a storage area.  Projects left on the scratch disk are not backed up and can be deleted by anyone who sits down at that computer.  While actually editing video, the video project folder should be on the Scratch disk. Working from the Scatch disk ensures that pieces of your project will not be lost in transit ("dropped frames") between an external drive/network account and the computer. Students must attend storage account appointments and understand their video project file structure to successfully complete video projects using our public lab resources.    Delivery The desired output (delivery/display) method has a significant effect upon the number of steps included in the overall assignment design.  There are also technical considerations associated with compression formats that may be dependent upon the characteristics of the footage being used.  And, the actual time it takes for the files to be converted to the desired output format can be up to three times the actual duration of the final video. A 3 minute video can take 9 minutes to export/compress and another 9 minutes to burn to disc.  Allowing time for a trial presentation run on a lectern system is advised. Video Home 
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