Category: Media Center

Media Center, Students

Media Center Hiring Student Consultants!

Jeremy Polk

The Media Center is now hiring student consultants for the Fall 2017 academic year. Consultants provide support for students, faculty and staff who visit the media center, offering expertise in Adobe Creative Suite, image scanning, audio recording, and large-format printing. Media Center consultants should enjoy the creative process, and possess an interest in storytelling, video editing, photography, audio production, graphic design, or animation. Above all, consultants should be enthusiastic teachers, excited to share their skills with peers – whether explaining the technical aspects of an Adobe program, offering a critical eye to a friend in need of design advice, or leading a workshop on photo editing. Being tech-savvy is a must, and … Continue reading Media Center Hiring Student Consultants!

Academic Technology, Media Center, Students, Workshops and Training

Best Visual Effects (on campus)

Jeremy Polk

If you watched the Oscars on Sunday night, you’ll know The Jungle Book took home Best Visual Effects (see link for two behind the scenes videos on the film’s creation). What you may not know is that some of the same technologies used by those Hollywood artists are available in Swarthmore’s own Media Center. Before you get carried away and show up asking for help with your next animated feature, it’s important to remember that major film work requires a sound stage, some proprietary technology, and a large team of visual artists. While we can’t claim to be a satellite office for Disney Studios, we do encourage folks to stop by … Continue reading Best Visual Effects (on campus)

Academic Technology, Faculty/Staff, Media Center, Students

Arduino Inventor’s Kits Now Available for Checkout

Andrew Ruether

Arduino is an open source electronics platform that you can program to interact with the real world: make lights flash, buzzers buzz, and motors spin.  You can use Arduinos to build an invention, animate a sculpture, or automate your house.   ITS has purchased several Arduino-based SparkFun Inventor’s Kits now available for checkout from the Media Center.  These are great for learning about Arduino and come with lots of fun stuff like motors, LEDs, an LCD display, temperature and light sensors, a buzzer, and supporting electronics.  The kit also includes an excellent guide with 16 sample projects starting from the basic blinking … Continue reading Arduino Inventor’s Kits Now Available for Checkout

Greening, Media Center, Students

Green Advisors to monitor energy usage in the Beardsley Media Center

Mike Jones

ITS, Media Services and the Office of Sustainability’s Green Advisors Program are currently working on a project aimed at reducing computer energy usage across campus. The first stage of the project will be to monitor energy usage in the Beardsley Media Center. We will collect quantitative data on our electricity usage while implementing strategies to reduce the electricity demand from computers in the lab. We aim to create behavioral changes in how students interact with computers (i.e. ensuring students/staff turn off machines at the end of the night or leaving inactive machines in sleep mode). Additionally, we will explore potential … Continue reading Green Advisors to monitor energy usage in the Beardsley Media Center

Academic Technology, Conference, Media Center

3D Printing Data

Ashley Turner
red 3D printed triangles that make a pie chart
Photo by Jen Grayburn

Last month I attended The Humanities and Technology Camp also known as THAT Camp for the first time. THAT Camp Philly is an unconference where humanists and technologists of all skill levels learn and build together in sessions proposed on the spot. I attended a very compelling workshop about critical making and the use of 3D Printed Data. Continue reading “3D Printing Data”