Across the state, there are many Media Commons locations that have existing studio spaces that are seeing less and less use as students take increasingly simple video gear – Sony Bloggie Touch or iOS devices – out into the field. An idea that’s come up for re-energizing these rooms is conversion to One Button Studios. A brilliant concept, as it maximizes existing campus room allocations and creates more usability in a familiar environment.
But imagining further out, I’m intrigued by the idea of providing graduated levels of functionality in the converted rooms. One Button Studio could be level one: completely automated, preset and ready to roll. Level three is also easy: bring in the traditional studio lights, backdrops, etc and use them in the space, even in conjunction with the OBS lighting bar. But level two is where it gets interesting. What if we deployed something like Philip’s new Hue lighting system in the space? What is Hue? WiFi enabled, color shifting, iOS controlled bulbs that can do this:
In my imagining, students could take out an iPod touch or iPad mini, record video and audio in the field, bring it back to the OBS and set up lighting wirelessly for more scenes, interviews, etc and then plunk down in a comfy chair in the Knowledge Commons at their campus to do touchscreen editing before sharing online. And teaching studio use would be more fun than ever with an iPad mini as my primary tool, wirelessly switching between lighting presets and beaming iMovie training to the projector in the room.
Tags: conversion, hue, ipad mini, one button studio, philips