MediaStorm Methodology Workshop to be held January 10-15, 2011

We will be holding a MediaStorm Methodology Workshop January 10-15, 2011, at our offices in Brooklyn, NY. This workshop is targeted specifically at educators looking to create curricula based on our approach, for organizational leaders tasked with creating and leading multimedia departments, and for professionals looking to start their own media company or integrate MediaStorm concepts into their organization. Over this five-day course, attendees will participate in a collaborative, fast-paced, hands-on overview of what it takes to produce successful multimedia projects. They will work closely with MediaStorm producers and interactive designers to learn the essential elements of multimedia post-production, project organization and storytelling concepts. There will be intensive business-oriented discussions as well, critiquing aspects of developing business models that support multimedia and interactive storytelling. Attendees will leave the workshop with an understanding of all the areas they need to create a comprehensive multimedia plan and to educate others on the approach. If…

Continue ReadingMediaStorm Methodology Workshop to be held January 10-15, 2011

MediaStorm welcomes Pam Huling and Tim McLaughlin

We are excited to welcome Pam Huling and Tim McLaughlin to MediaStorm. Pam will lead our Business Development efforts, and Tim, or first intern back in 2008, returns as a Multimedia Producer. Prior to joining MediaStorm, Pam Huling owned Gaslight Media Consulting, LLC, with clients in Switzerland and New York City. She currently serves on the Executive Board of EZArchive, Inc. and Our Favorite Moments, which are online subscription-based cloud services for consumers. As the former Director of Photo Services at Discovery Communications, Inc., the #1 non-fiction media company in the world, Huling oversaw more than 400 photo and multimedia shoots each year on location around the world, the licensing of millions of dollars in stock content and the management of more than one million media assets. Pam Huling has a background in art and music, holding a degree in graphic design and a Bachelor of Music in bassoon performance from the…

Continue ReadingMediaStorm welcomes Pam Huling and Tim McLaughlin

MediaStorm releases updated Multimedia Gear Guide

One of the most frequent questions we're asked is "what gear do I need to do multimedia?" While there's no quick and easy answer, we've put together a revised MediaStorm Gear Guide, detailing the equipment we use and recommend for gathering multimedia. With technology changing so frequently, it's often hard to keep up with the latest and greatest gear, so I've also tried to give insight into why each type of equipment is ideal, and to provide different options when there are multiple versions available. If you have any questions, or suggestions of combinations that have worked well for you, we'd love to hear from you in the comments. See our Gear Guide.

Continue ReadingMediaStorm releases updated Multimedia Gear Guide

MediaStorm projects nominated for three Emmy Awards

MediaStorm is thrilled to announce that three of our 2009 projects have been nominated for the 31st Annual Emmy Awards for News & Documentary.   Driftless: Stories from Iowa, by Danny Wilcox Frazier, was nominated in the New Approaches to News & Documentary Programming: Documentaries Category. Once at the center of the U.S. economy, the family farm now drifts at its edges. In Iowa, old-time farmers try to hang on to their way of life, while their young push out to find their futures elsewhere. Driftless tells their stories.   Times of Crisis was nominated in the New Approaches to News & Documentary Programming: Current News Coverage Category. In Times of Crisis, Reuters charts 365 days of global financial upheaval to see how lives have changed as a divergent world embarks on an era of historic challenge.   Surviving the Tsunami: Stories of Hope was also nominated in the New Approaches to…

Continue ReadingMediaStorm projects nominated for three Emmy Awards

MediaStorm’s Guide to Using Apple’s ProRes 422 Codec

One of the questions I'm asked most frequently about Final Cut is, "When do I use Apple's ProRes 422 codec?" To tackle this question it's first necessary to understand a few things about codecs. Shooting video is a very intensive digital capture process. It requires cameras to capture lots of information in a short amount of time. To handle so much raw data, most cameras need to compress what they capture. A codec is essentially a compression scheme, a way to encapsulate so much material into a containable format. Standard DV footage, for instance, uses a compression scheme referred to as the DV codec. Similarly, HD footage -- 1080i60, 1080p, etc. -- uses the HDV codec. Codec takes its name from “encoder” and “decoder” since your computer must now decode the encoded file during playback. When you create a new sequence in Final Cut, you are building what will become a new…

Continue ReadingMediaStorm’s Guide to Using Apple’s ProRes 422 Codec