Ethnography Studio/Anthropology project in VR

This Interdisciplinary project with students from Anthropology, Religious Studies, Visual and Dramatic Arts, Mechanical Engineering, History, and Bioengineering is a VR experience assembled in Unreal Engine. 3D models were created using photogrammetry from photos taken on 3 location: Rice tunnels, Natural Bridge Caverns, and the Houston Cistern. This exercise was part of the Ethnography Studio/Anthropology project taught by Andrea Ballestero with Johannes Birringer and Marie Saldaña.

The DMC assisted with loaning out cameras, audio recorders and projectors through its checkout program. After the media was captured on location, the DMC assisted students in processing the photos using photogrammetry software and editing the audio and video. Students collaborated to make a multimedia installation with their final edited multimedia and a VR experience.

Virtual Reality assistance for ARCH 650

In Spring 2019, the DMC helped students in ARCH 650 visualize their architecture models in a virtual reality environment. Students exported their models from Rhino to Unreal Engine where they added textures and lighting. The exercise was part of the Design Studio “Existenzminimum” taught by Juan José Castellón. Student models included: 0:00 Ling Sha, 1:43 Kejia Lu, 3:28 April Zhang 5:04 Denise Yee.

Visualizing 2018 Library Survey of All Students Data with Tableau

  • The 2018 Library Survey of All Students Data includes three surveys: undergraduates (SAS), exiting seniors (SES), and graduate students (GRSAS). Users are able to filter responses by the three groups.
  • Since all of the multiple-choice questions had a five-point scale, we assigned values of 1 (most negative response) to 5 (most positive response) to each student response to assign average values to each option. This helps us show what in Fondren is most and least important to students.
  • The open text responses were coded into general categories (i.e. positive, neutral, and feedback), which can also be filtered and browsed.

If the embedded Viz doesn’t work well, click on the following link to view it.

https://public.tableau.com/profile/jane.zhao#!/vizhome/FondrenLibrary2018SurveyofAllStudentsReport/Fondren2018SASReport

 

ELEC 305 Spring 2017 Videos in Rice Digital Scholarship Archive

The DMC staff had the pleasure of assisting the Spring 2017 “Intro to Physical Electronics” (ELEC 305) class in creating instructional videos! In the “whiteboard animation” videos the students created, you will see various clever utilizations of software and hardware available in the DMC. Examples include our AverVision document camera, Nikon DSLR, and using Microsoft OneNote in conjunction with screen capturing software. All the videos have been made available in Rice Digital Scholarship Archive.

The “Thermoelectrics” video was made with AverVision document camera and can be viewed here.

“The Ugly OLEDuckling” video was with OneNote and OBS screen capturing software. It can be viewed here.

Click here to see the rest of the videos deposited in the Archive!

Please refer to the previous blog post to get more information on how to create whiteboard animations like these!

Several Approaches to Creating a Whiteboard Animation

A “Whiteboard Animation” is a great way to bring some fun into instructional material. Although it may seem daunting, creating a whiteboard animation can be easy – and you don’t need to be an artist to make it effective. Here at the DMC, we’ve created some guides and examples on how to create a whiteboard animation using various methods.

PowerPoint

You can use PowerPoint to make a whiteboard animation without ever leaving the application. PowerPoint has built in drawing, animation, and recording functions. To learn more, you may read the guide here.

We have also put together a two-part video tutorial that you can watch below:

Document Camera

In the DMC audio studio, we have an AverVision document camera that can be used to quickly capture drawing and voiceover. There is a written guide here and a video tutorial you can watch below:

DLSR Camera

The most advanced way of creating a whiteboard animation would be to use a DSLR camera with studio lighting. Although it is the most difficult method, using a DSLR allows for higher quality and more control over lighting.

 

There are many more methods than the three listed above. You can see a brief overview of these other methods here. Please visit our YouTube channel to view example videos we’ve created, and feel free to contact us for further assistance or questions!

DMC Supported Houston Folk Music Archive Oral Histories Project

The video interviews with musicians were recorded in DMC Video/Photography Studio using studio equipment.

DMC staff helped to set-up the equipment, background, and lighting for each interview conducted. Training on video editing with Final Cut Pro X and iMovie was offered to the staff at Woodson Research Center. Consultation on media transfer, editing, exporting, compression, transcoding was provided when requested.

Below is the equipment set-up in the studio:

For more information about the project and the video interivews, please see https://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/94056

 

Media Coverage of the DMC