Camcorders, microphones, tripods, audio recording decks, and various cords can be checked out at the Art+Design Facilities checkout window, located on the 3rd floor of the Art+Design building (room 318). Students can call 333.5839 to reserve equipment in advance or inquire about equipment availability.

If you are planning to check out camcorders from the A+D checkout window, some recommendations and advice:

• Panasonic 300 or 500: these are older camcorders that use mini DV tapes (available almost everywhere: Best Buy, Staples, Walgreens, etc). If you are using an older laptop, be sure to also ask for a “4 to 6 pin” firewire cable–you will need this for connecting the camcorder to your laptop when you’re ready to transfer clips. If you are using a new mac laptop, you will need to ask for a “4 to 9 pin” firewire cable instead.
• Canon FS100: this is a newer camcorder that uses SD cards instead of tapes. If you have a fairly new laptop and are running recently released editing software (such as iMovie ’09), then these camcorders would be a good choice. If you check out one of these models, you should also check out a Multi Card Reader, which attaches to your laptop and allows you to transfer video files from the SD card to your computer. SD cards are widely available (Best Buy, Staples, Walgreens, Amazon). Currently, an 8GB card can be purchased at Amazon for about $10, and roughly translates into 2 hours of video capture (this is an estimate and can vary depending on camcorder technical settings). For convenience, you might consider purchasing your own multi card reader (> $20).
• You may encounter a situation where your video editing software does not seem to recognize the file format from your camcorder. If this happens to you, try using Miro Video Converter. This is free video conversion software that can input almost any video format and convert it to an output format that your software can recognize (i.e. converting to Quicktime for editing with iMovie). There are both Mac and PC versions available.

More tips for checking out other A+D equipment:

• Tripods: be sure to ask for a small video tripod (not a “still camera” model)
• Audio recorders: the ZOOM audio recorders are recommended for their small size and ease of use. These decks record onto SD cards (which you need to provide). You should also check out a multi-card reader, which you can connect to your laptop when you’re ready to transfer your audio files.
• Microphones: one of the most common microphones used in WwV is a hand-held omnidirectional mic that picks up sound in a spherical pattern in all directions
• Another popular mic is what’s called a shotgun mic, which is a directional microphone that picks up sound in a tight pattern in front of the mic (it requires a AA battery).
• Additionally, there is a limited quantity of lavalier mics. This are very small microphones that clip to a person’s shirt. They can be helpful for interview footage.
• YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT A CABLE TO CONNECT YOUR MIC TO YOUR CAMCORDER. Ask for an ‘XLR to mini’ cable. The XLR is the fat end and connects to the mic. The mini is the small jack and it connects to the camcorder.
• If you’d like to learn more about how microphones work, visit the audio-technica site, and here’s a link to information on basic sound principles.