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CS2C: Multimedia Production

Course Details for 2009-2010

Learn to use various popular multimedia technologies like Photoshop, GarageBand, and digital camcorders to complete a number of hands-on projects in image, audio, and video editing. There will be weekly homework assignments that will each take at least 2-3 hours to complete, as well as a Final DVD Portfolio project.

  • Senior Instructor: Kenneth Chan, 650-799-9220.
  • Class Times: For Fall 2009, Fridays 3-5PM (includes lab) in Meyer 220. For Winter 2010, Fridays 3-5PM (includes lab) in Meyer 220 with alternative lab sections held in various residential clusters.
  • Office Hours: Fridays 2-3PM in Multimedia Studio (Meyer Library, 2nd Floor) or by appointment with your section leader.
  • Prerequisites: None. CS1C and familiarity with the Mac OS X is a plus.
  • Credit Basis: Satisfactory completion of all creative production assignments (1-2 units). No Credit given if less than 50% work is received by end of quarter.
  • Materials: Course materials will be made available to you through http://coursework.stanford.edu once you are registered.

Register for the Fall 2009 offering of CS2C by going to Axess (listed under Computer Science as "2C: Multimedia Production"). For Winter 2010 section, check with your RCC to see if CS2C will be offered in your own residence. The main section of the class is held at Meyer Library, which promises to move along at an accelerated pace and teach you about even more interesting multimedia technologies than we can cover in the residences. Please RSVP to Kenneth Chan if you are interested in registering for this class, as enrollment is limited.

The Final Project will be a DVD Portfolio which consists of a short feature video (under 3 minutes) showing off some aspect of what you did in CS2C over the quarter. You are encouraged to try doing the video in a creative format or genre, like a mockumentary or action flick. Your actual multimedia projects and source files will also need to be archived to the DVD-ROM portion of disc for the project to be considered complete.

Sample section topics follow:

Welcome to Multimedia Production

  • Entrance Survey (15)
  • Overview of Curriculum (20)
  • Course Expectations (15)
  • Copyright and Citations (15)
  • Best of CS2C 2008-2009 (20)
  • HW: Collect examples of techniques you want to learn (photo enhancement, audio mixing, video effects, DVD menu specials). (60)

Music Composition in GarageBand

  • Building a Song: Recording your voice, Software Instrument vs. Real Instrument tracks, Loop Browser, cycle region, recording multiple takes (5)
  • Editing and Arranging Your Song: Region editing, track management, Arrange Regions (5)
  • Mixing Your Song: Track controls (mute, solo, gain, pan), audio effects (5)
  • Sweetening Audio (10)
  • Exporting Files (10)
  • HW: Find examples of audio/video commercials that make great use of audio effects. (45)
  • HW: Music Composing Assignment (60)


Photo Enhancement in Photoshop


Audio Editing in GarageBand

  • Audio Editing and Podcasting in GarageBand (60)
  • HW: Create a 15 to 30-second CS2C commercial or mock voicemail announcement message using GarageBand, complete with background music and sound effects. (90)


Image Compositing in Photoshop


Video Production


Video Editing in iMovie '09

  • Getting Started with iMovie '09: Connecting your camcorder, Event Library, skimming, editing, adding titles, transitions, background music, themes (10)
  • Trimming Edits Between Video Clips: Precision Editor, audio offset (5)
  • Adding Photos: Crop / Ken Burns effect, Clip Adjustments (5)
  • Adding Music: Jingles, Pinned Audio (5)
  • Adding Sound Effects: Audio browser, Audio adjustments (5)
  • Picture-in-Picture: Remember to enable iMovie Menu > Preferences > Show Advanced Tools (5)
  • Common Video Export Compression Formats (15)
  • Final Cut Pro vs. iMovie (15)
  • HW: Shoot CS2C video, applying the shooting techniques you learned. Avoid having just "talking heads" and remember that it may not be an infomercial. (90)
  • HW: Edit CS2C video. (90) Upload to YouTube.


DVD Portfolio Production

  • Creating Custom iDVD Projects: Including photo slideshows, Drop Zones, DVD Preview. (10)
  • Additional iDVD features: Adding submenus, DVD-ROM content, burning IMG files (10)
  • HW: Compile portfolio items and build iDVD project with major project as main feature. Must contain DVD-ROM content section with all CS2C project files. (60) Burn as Disk Image (IMG).


Showcase

  • Final Project Showcase (45)
  • Exit Survey (10)
  • What now? Overview of features we didn't cover and other multimedia applications: Dreamweaver, Flash, Illustrator, Keynote, After Effects and Motion (30)

Grading

Tutorials are learning materials for your benefit and you are responsible for knowing and applying the material contained within, but they will not be graded. Your original projects will be graded on the basis of content and presentation in the following areas:

  • Completion: Submitted all work required for assignment as specified.
  • Planning: Did the necessary planning / storyboarding before recording and importing content.
  • Good source material: Clear audio, high-resolution images, well-lit and stable video.
  • Originality/Creativity: Work represents fresh ideas and sufficient efforts in exploring the tools. (Infomercial videos are generally not considered original. Applying a single filter to a photo is not considered sufficiently creative.)
  • Technique: Applied techniques learned in tutorials.
  • Continuity: Story forms a cohesive whole.
  • Pacing/Timing: Parts that don't contribute to the story are edited out.
  • Citations: Non-original work is only used with permission and properly credited.
  • Polish: No obvious errors (flubbed dialogue, audio pops, typos).
  • Organization: Project files were easy to find. Files and layers were labeled clearly.

Students with Documented Disabilities

Students who may need an academic accommodation based on the impact of a disability must initiate the request with the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) located within the Office of Accessible Education (OAE). SDRC staff will evaluate the request with required documentation, recommend reasonable accommodations, and prepare an Accommodation Letter for faculty dated in the current quarter in which the request is being made. Students should contact the SDRC as soon as possible since timely notice is needed to coordinate accommodations. The OAE is located at 563 Salvatierra Walk. Phone: 650-723-1066

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What kind of work will we do in this class?
A: This is a multimedia production class, with a focus on learning new technologies and creating original work. There will be weekly homework assignments that will each take at least 2-4 hours to complete. You will be required to complete all of the creative production assignments to pass the class.

Q: How is the class graded?
A: You will receive credit for the course when all of the creative production assignments are completed according to the grading rubric outlined above in the Grading section and turned in via CourseWork and/or DVD image file (IMG). Effort will be strongly considered in the grading, as we believe all students are capable of vastly improving on their ability to learn and harness multimedia technologies, regardless of the background one comes in with. In some cases, if the work you do does not fulfill the requirements of the assignments due to lack of apparent effort or careful reading of the instructions, you will have to improve your work and resubmit it.

Q: Do I have to do original work, or can I make remix videos and music, etc?
A: Any work for which you do not own the copyright will not be considered as part of your projects for the purpose of grading. For example, if you decide to incorporate movie clips from box office hits into your video project, none of those portions would be counted as actual work by you, and if more than 10% of your submitted video is suspected to contain copyrighted work for which you do not possess a license to use, you will not receive credit for the assignment and will be asked to redo the assignment. Similarly, if music or soundtracks you submit contain more than 10% copyrighted work for which you do not have license to use, you will be required to resubmit for credit. Similarly, an image of a box office movie poster with a few Photoshop filters applied to it will not be accepted as adequate project work. So our recommendation is that you just start with original source material to avoid all of this hassle. You can always check with the lead instructor, Kenneth Chan to see if there may be any problems with the project you have in mind. http://library.stanford.edu/libraries_collections/copyright_reminders is also an excellent resource for more information.

Q: Can I work with a partner or a group?
A: Yes, but please pay attention to the following guidelines for group work. Due to the learn-by-doing nature of the class, we require every student to do their own original editing work. So it's fine for you and your friends to go out and shoot your big musical number together, but every CS2C student is expected to create their own "interpretation" during the editing phase. So you can record the footage together, but each person must submit a different video based on their own edits to the same footage. Of course, don't forget to include the appropriate credits at the end (or in a separate text file)! Group projects that diverge from this plan must be pre-approved by the senior instructor to ensure that everyone does their fair share of multimedia work to receive credit.

Q: Is there a lab fee?
A: There is currently no lab fee for the class. We will be teaching you about various free Stanford resources prepared for your use. However, some students discover that they would prefer to purchase their own external hard drive, discounted software, and even a new Mac as they get more involved with multimedia projects!

Q: I'm having trouble uploading my projects to CourseWork. What's wrong?
A: Image, audio, and video files are often huge, and CourseWork limits web-based uploads to 40MB. One alternative to consider is to use a web-based storage service suggested at https://stucomp.stanford.edu/wiki/Free_Web-Based_Multimedia_Tools and just submit the URL in the CourseWork assignment. Each section leader will also have an external hard drive to collect a backup copy of your projects on a regular basis.

Q: I'm an RCC / Section Leader. Where can I store teaching notes?
A: Please document your work for the class in the CS2C Teaching Guide.

Q: I'm loving this stuff! Where can I learn more?
A: In addition to the wealth of information available by just searching Google for things like "Photoshop tutorial", you have access to tons of full electronic versions of textbooks if you are a Stanford affiliate. From the Stanford Library'sE-Books and E-Texts page, check out Books24x7 and Safari Tech Books!

 © 2009. Stanford University.

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