Copy of email sent to Helen Moore from Anna Cavinato.

Helen,

I have had a chance to talk to Kevin in regards to his proposal and he just sent me a paragraph that can be shared with the committee.  I support his request for an upgrade since the current cameras only allow for very short (6 minutes) footage.  I believe the upgrade will enhance the usage of the current equipment.

Please let me know if there are additional questions.

Anna Cavinato

Chair, Division of Science, Mathematics and Technology

Enhancement of an existing capacity available to students:

Currently there are Panasonic HD cameras located in the Media Loan Library which sit somewhat idle. I've determined that there is really only one main reason for this. There is not enough video storage capacity when the student uses the camera for convenient HD production. These cameras use a specialized storage RAM drive, much like a flash memory drive. Currently the flash drives can only store approximately 6 minutes of HD footage. Students who want to use the professional  HD camera have voiced their concerns to me regarding the difficulty of using the system because of it's lack of storage capacity. Once they film six minutes of footage they have to transfer it to a computer with appropriate hardware that has an updated non-linear editing system. Not all students have access to this specialized software and hardware and imagine filming your movie and having to run back to the lab to transfer your footage to free up space on the flash drive. Students end up choosing the non-professional model because of the convenience of working with it. This however is problematic because they are denying themselves the opportunity to work with industry standard equipment and limits their experience and preparedness. This also undercuts the initial investment of the cameras. Tech fee purchased those cameras to be used by students, not sit idle in the Media Loan Library and at the time I did not anticipate that this limitation would emerge or the purchase of the Canon consumer HD cameras a year later.

An upgrade to a firestore drive will eliminate these outlined problems and put these cameras into greater circulation. Students who will be effected are mainly Media Arts, Multimedia, and Art students. With a proposed Film Production concentration in Media Arts, I expect there to be even greater demand.