GSTC Toolbox/Audiovisual

This is a list of tools and materials to consider for audiovisual creation. Please add more resources to improve this page.

Photography - Taking a picture[edit | edit source]

Taking a photo is something that most everyone has performed, quite often with mixed results. Taking a candid photo is a different skill than taking an eye-capturing subject-focused image like a professional photographer.

Basic concepts of photography[edit | edit source]

As you begin to explore the terminology of photography, greater explanations on settings, focal length (camera lens choice or zoom), depth of field (sharp or blurry background), and composition (does it draw your attention?) can be found here:

The art and science of photography in hand surgery. - good overview of photographing a hand surgery with example or good photos to have ("shot list")

Camera's settings - the different modes and how to apply them[edit | edit source]

Focal length[edit | edit source]

Composition - what will your picture look like?[edit | edit source]

Introduction to photographic composition[edit | edit source]

Backgrounds - what is the focus of the picture?[edit | edit source]

Panoramic photos - "extra wide" photos[edit | edit source]

Smartphone use[edit | edit source]

iPhone[edit | edit source]

Editing (Post-processing)[edit | edit source]

Once you have captured your photos, some editing can occur by software (or phone app) manipulation. (Often, it is faster with better results “during the shot” instead of post-processed. It is great to make small changes; however, creating something from nothing in software is often more time-consuming than a physical retake.) Post-processing (software manipulation) still has its place for things like blurring the background, cropping an image smaller, or another quick task. For more information on post-processing software and apps:

Software for editing[edit | edit source]

Apps for smartphones[edit | edit source]

Tripods[edit | edit source]

Support your camera to stabilize (remove vibration) and provide a constant point of view.

How to make a phone tripod[edit | edit source]

Camera mounts[edit | edit source]

Lighting[edit | edit source]

How to add light to a picture or video (remove dark and make scenes even contrast)?

Techniques for lighting[edit | edit source]

How to control lighting?

Lighting gear[edit | edit source]

How to add light?

Diffusers/reflectors[edit | edit source]

How to redirect lighting or soften harsh lighting?

Softbox - diffused lighting[edit | edit source]

Video[edit | edit source]

Video clips are commonplace with social media and numerous phone apps. Taking video for sharing with friends is vastly different than trying to apply video as an educational tool. Video for education requires clear subject focus, deliberate lighting, and a clean background to draw attention to exactly where the education is occurring. Videography can be learned quickly with excellent outcomes since you get instant feedback as you change lighting, focus, position, and other items.

Educational video recording and editing for the hand surgeon. - good overview of the entire video effort and equipment

Basics on video[edit | edit source]

Editing (Post-processing)[edit | edit source]

Once you have your video, editing sections together, trimming sections out, or adding items into your video can be found here:

Software[edit | edit source]

Apps for smartphones[edit | edit source]

Audio[edit | edit source]

Audio is rarely a standalone function in today’s digital world. It is often coupled with video as an included “benefit” to video capture. However, audio that is for instruction is slightly different than that of social media. In an instructional setting, the audio should be clear without background distractions, loud enough for the listener to hear the dialogue (i.e., dedicated microphone), and potentially with subtitles for easier comprehension.

Guides on audio capture and presentation[edit | edit source]

Screen capture[edit | edit source]

OBS Studio is the open source tool that most people use for streaming.

Closed captioning[edit | edit source]

The use of closed captioning increase understandability, allow for more accessible translations, removes the ambiguity of a speaker's accent.

Translation[edit | edit source]

Guide to translation services and best practices.

Audio editing[edit | edit source]

Ocenaudio - Download - cross-platform, audio editor
Audacity - Download - cross-platform audio software
- Removing background noise on Audacity
Descript - allows editing audio through an automatically-generated text transcript. This can speed up and simplify producing audio narrations.

Open-licensed content[edit | edit source]

You can search for images, audio or video footage to develop your learning materials in the Wikipedia:Public domain or under a Creative Commons license. If attribution is needed, you may create an attribution section for your module to list the authors and original content.

Images[edit | edit source]

Wikimedia Commons —content can be used as native images on Appropedia.
Creative Commons Search
Example of content search on Appropedia
Harvard Library public domain content guide
Help:Finding open licensed images#Finding CC-licensed images

Audio[edit | edit source]

Video[edit | edit source]

Page data
Authors	Ed Yeh
License	CC-BY-SA-4.0
Language	English (en)
Related	0 subpages, 12 pages link here
Impact	550 page views
Created	January 19, 2021 by Ed Yeh
Modified	July 25, 2023 by StandardWikitext bot
Cite as	Ed Yeh (2021–2023). "GSTC Toolbox/Audiovisual". Appropedia. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
API queries	basic, semantic, html, files, more