At the same time, COOL 3D offered 3D text and object animation that rivaled high-end 3D software at a fraction of the cost.
“Ulead MediaStudio Pro combined with COOL 3D is more powerful than the far more expensive video editing systems that were typically in use at local TV stations when I was still working as a broadcast journalist,” says Jones, who draws heavily on his eleven years of experience as a television reporter and anchor in Idaho television news.
The City of Boise Public Works Department provides a wide array of environmental services such as wastewater treatment, geothermal heating, and solid waste management. Jones creates videos about Departmental projects, Boise's mayor, and city council members. To convey information about the Department’s services and tips for a cleaner environment, he shows his video productions to neighborhood professional association meetings and local school classrooms.
“We have successfully displayed our MediaStudio Pro productions in public meetings using projectors connected to laptop computers that are equipped with drives that read DVD discs,” says Jones. “This allows us to project the videos to both large and small audiences.”
Jones has observed that video is a more effective vehicle for communication because of its ability to project sound and moving pictures as opposed to silent, static slide images that are the standard fare of public meetings. “In my experience, a well-produced video that lasts five or ten minutes tells a more compelling story than a person who drones on and on behind a podium without any visuals,” comments Jones.
Ulead MediaStudio Pro and Ulead COOL 3D provide Jones with powerful tools for creating professional video productions with quality titles, graphics, audio narration and special effects. Jones is particularly pleased with COOL 3D’s ability to integrate with MediaStudio Pro and create and import 3D text, objects and shapes that can be animated for use in video production, Web pages, and printed materials.
“We use COOL 3D's extensive text capabilities to create motion video graphics that are every bit as sophisticated as those produced by competing programs costing far more money,” enthuses Jones.
COOL 3D was particularly useful when Jones needed to show Boise residents which home waste products were eligible for pickup at curbside and how to properly separate and prepare recyclable materials for curbside collection.
Jones used COOL 3D to create a 3D recycling bin, 3D soda and food cans, 3D newspapers, 3D magazines, and many other 3D objects to illustrate precisely which items are eligible for pickup at curbside. Using the animation tools provided in Ulead COOL 3D, he was able to rotate the recycling bin and illustrate how eligible materials should be separated into individual brown paper bags for collection.
“Our video shows in just a few seconds what normally would take several minutes to explain verbally in the absence of video,” he explains.
After a devastating range fire in 1996, the Boise Public Works Commission became especially concerned about the potential for flash flooding in the Boise foothills due to a loss of vegetation.
Using MediaStudio Pro to create a video with edited sequences of historic flash flooding, Jones and his colleagues at the Boise Public Works Commission persuaded citizens to approve funding for improvements to the city’s flood control system.
For video acquisition, Jones uses a Sony DCR-VX1000 Mini DV camcorder, a Studio 1 XLR adapter, an Audio Technica shotgun microphone, and a Gitzo boom pole. He edits on a Dell Dimension 8100 desktop computer with an Intel Pentium 4 processor.
In the future, Jones plans to display the Boise Public Works Commission’s productions on a government-access cable channel and create high-quality public service announcements for broadcast on local commercial stations. Moreover, he hopes to create and distribute a series of video news releases for distribution to local news outlets.
“With affordable Ulead software, today's fast computers and new generation Mini DV camcorders, almost any public or private enterprise can make video an important element of a public communications strategy,” Jones concludes.
|
