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This article guides St. Thomas employees and students to prepare for the creation of high-quality, accessible multimedia recordings when working with the St. Thomas O’Shaughnessy Education Center (OEC) Multimedia Studio team. Please see the OEC Multimedia Studio: Frequently Asked Questions article for additional information and instructions for reserving a time.
Attire recommendations
Avoid wearing clothes with many small lines or plaid-like patterns
These kinds of patterns often appear less than ideal on camera as it is hard for a camera to distinguish between so many fine lines. We want sighted learners to be able to focus on you and your message; and some learners need a sharp contrast between the foreground and background.
Clip-on microphones should be placed near the collar of a shirt or jacket
A microphone should be close to the presenter's mouth to ensure the best sounding audio. For this reason, scarves and other clothing/accessories that block or lack a collar are not recommended as it makes it difficult to place the microphone in an ideal location.
Avoid wearing some jewelry, such as necklaces and noisy bracelets or earrings
If you like to wear jewelry or other accessories, consider the following when deciding what to wear: Necklaces can rub against clip-on microphones and add unwanted noise to a video. Bracelets and earrings that jingle or make other noise can cause similar unwanted sound issues.
Pay attention to where your hair is in relation to your clip-on microphone
For people who have shoulder length (or longer) hair, be aware of the following: Like necklaces, if hair is brushing up against a clip-on microphone, then it might distort or muffle the audio and cause unwanted noise. If you have longer hair that is worn down past the shoulders, keep this in mind and push your hair back to avoid contact with the microphone.
Avoid clothing that is any shade of green if you are using a green screen
In the studio there is a large green drape that users can stand in front of while recording videos. The use of a green screen allows for unique backgrounds to be composited into a video that would otherwise not be possible to achieve when recording in the studio. If any part of the body is covered by green in front of a green screen, then that part of the body will likely disappear and blend in with the background.
Describe visual aids
In some cases, perhaps you will just be talking in a recording. However, in cases where you have PowerPoint (PPT) slides or other visuals that you want your audience to learn from, these are tips on how to describe your visuals. Remember to describe what is in a photo, explain the title, axes, and scale of a graph, list the columns and rows that make up a table. Clearly point out what you are referring to or where the information you are describing can be found. For example, if you are showing a link to another resource, explain where that is located or read aloud the URL.
Keep this in mind
If someone is listening to your video but not watching, will they be able to understand the concepts just as well as someone who is watching and listening?
Tips on using slide presentations and scripts
Email any presentations, such as PowerPoints (PPT's) or Google Slides, and scripts you want to use to Studiocontrol@stthomas.edu
Use this PowerPoint template
The university provides a template for in-brand PPT, and it is accessible in nature. Download the university's templated PowerPoint via this link
Follow Microsoft’s PowerPoint best practices
If you are creating your own PPT not that does not have St. Thomas branding, please follow Microsoft’s best practices on accessible PowerPoints
Presentation slides should be 16:9 wide-screen, not 4:3 standard
Video in the studio is recorded in a wide-screen format, and a presentation with 4:3 square slides will result in large borders on either side of the presentation slides to accommodate the difference in width between wide-screen video and square slides. For this reason, we recommend 16:9 slides which will match the wide-screen format of the video recordings.
Remove slide and element transitions
For editing/post-production purposes, it is best to avoid including effects and transitions in a presentation.
Using the teleprompter
If you are preparing a script you want to use for your recording, then the studio team can load it into the teleprompter before your recording. The teleprompter is manually controlled by a studio staff member and can be read while looking directly into the camera. If you or another user you know requires additional accommodation or assistive technology for using the teleprompter or reading a script, let a studio staff member know and they will work with you to come up with a solution.
Playing videos within a recording is not recommended
It is not recommended to play YouTube or any other videos during a recording session unless you are describing the video action. Copyright laws sometimes prohibit users from playing back videos from other sources. Additionally, if you are not describing the video in action, some users will not be able to fully understand what is in the video and its intent.