Media Team Takeaways from Vegas Conference

In April, Office of Digital Learning Media Production Manager D.D. Garbarino and Media Technologist Jim Shaw attended numerous sessions and hands-on workshops at Post|Production World (PPW), a training conference held in conjunction with the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) annual event. The PPW conference provides training for video editors, content creators, and motion designers, connecting the tools displayed on the convention floor with the skills needed to use them.

Eager to identify ways the latest video technology and production practices could be applied to instructional media at FSU, Garbarino and Shaw said artificial intelligence (AI) was the dominant trend at the conference. Speakers held panels about dissolving the myths of AI, the ethics of AI usage, and the security aspects of using AI for footage, scripts, and other content. AI applications were especially prevalent in software and programs built for editing content and improving media production processes.

Garbarino shared that she left the conference with a renewed focus on ways her team could improve workflows and leverage the latest AI technologies to streamline the organization and cataloging of footage.

Shaw was also interested in identifying techniques to enhance the production process, as well as ways to apply AI. “I went to some more practical demo sessions for things like audio and color editing … I want to utilize the things I learned about focusing on audio capture during production so it’s not an issue in post-production,” he said. “AI is in the field, everyone’s utilizing it. Now it’s just: what’s best for our purposes?”

For Garbarino and Shaw, staying current on innovations in video production practices and tools enables them to bring fresh perspective to the development of instructional media at FSU. Their main takeaway from the PPW conference was a deeper understanding of how emerging video technologies can help streamline workflows and provide online instructors with instructional media that’s not only aligned with the latest advances in media technologies but adaptable to the next generation of students.

The ODL media team visited Las Vegas for a post-production training conference. At left, an attendee interacts with a display on the NAB convention floor.