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..to
the February 2005 Issue of MediaVaultNEWS |
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Issue
seven of the Newsletter for members of "The Media
Vault"
The Media Vault is the European Regional Development Fund
(ERDF) Project, managed by the Technology
Innovation Centre (tic) and designed
to assist West Midlands Screen-Based Media Companies.
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In
this Issue:
1. Your Last Chance for
FREE Support from The Media Vault *DONT
MISS OUT*
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The funding
for The Media Vault project finishes in March 2005.....
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2.
COMING
UP
- Monthly CREATIVE Networks Event No 4
*DONT MISS OUT*
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Collaborative
Networking Event for Creative Industry Profesionals
Wednesday 23rd February - From 6.00pm 'til LATE
at tic
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3.
The CREATIVE
NETWORKS Portal Goes LIVE!
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4.
COMING UP
- The Final Cut Pro Users
Group *DONT
MISS OUT*
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The tic will host the third meeting of
the Final Cut User Group on 17th February
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:: tic's eMedia Centre and its Clients
go to 'VideoForum 2005'
:: tic's eMedia Centre visit 'Curation'
Media Art Seminars
:: tic's eMedia Centre exhibits at the
'Creative Business Fair'
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6.
Get the most from your business –
FREE management courses available this Spring
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- Could
you be making more?
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Cost of
i4 courses is supported by European Social Fund/Learning
Skills Council co-financing which means they
are fully subsidised!
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7.
The Media Vault: Work-in-Progress
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:: Toppatop
Studios - Corporate Identity and Design
:: Antidote Produxions - Website Design and Development
:: Crush Music - Virtual TV Studio Hire
:: Lali Productions - Equipment Hire
:: Sound Factory - Digital Asset Management
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We’d
like to hear from you!
Contact Paul Trigg, The Media Vault’s administrator
with your news and views:
:: phone 0121 331 5400
:: email paul.trigg@tic.ac.uk
:: or post to Technology Innovation
Centre, Millennium Point, Curzon Street, Birmingham,
B4 7XG
Do you know someone who'd
benefit from our help?
The
Media Vault is ‘open’ now and
ready to support your screen-based media activities.
If you know of anyone who would benefit from these
support-funded services, please contact us via The
Media Vault Website at www.tic-online.com/mediavault
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1. Your
Last Chance for FREE Support from The Media Vault
*DONT MISS
OUT* |
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Please be aware
that Media Vault’s current European Regional Development
Funding ends on 31st March. This is your last chance to
sign up for FREE access to the Digital Asset Management
facility.
A year’s subscription is included in this assist,
the ability to archive and distribute your digital media
assets could make all the difference to
your business.
From April 1st, all the support you expect from Media Vault
will still be available on a competitive commercial basis
and via other funded projects and free training that this
Centre and the tic continue to offer.
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2. COMING
UP - Monthly CREATIVE Networks Event No 4 *DONT
MISS OUT* |
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Collaborative
Networking Event for Creative Industry Profesionals
Wednesday 23rd February
- From 6.00pm 'til LATE at tic
Technology Innovation Centre (tic),
Millennium Point, Curzon Street,
Birmingham, B4 7XG
Visit www.creativenetworksonline.co.uk
for more information
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Thank
you to all those who attended the last ‘Creative
Networks’ Event on 26th January - again
it proved to be an extremely successful and productive
event, with well over 130 attendees. Our next event
is scheduled for Wednesday 23rd February
starting at 6pm at the Technology Innovation Centre.
There will be an opportunity for you to network and
pitch your products and services, as well as forming
partnerships and collaborations with other colleagues
from the Creative Industries Sector. |
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NOTE:
Advance notice is recommended for those who wish to
pitch.
The focus for this month's event is: Improve your
Business Know-How - gain a competitive edge, and stay
'business-healthy'. |
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Agenda |
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6.00pm - 7.00pm |
Networking
and Hot Buffet |
| 7.00pm
- 7.30pm |
Client
Pitching Session |
| 7.30pm
- 8.00pm |
'How to
Improve Your Business' in half an hour! *speaker
to be announced* |
| 8.00pm
'til LATE |
Networking
at 'The ibar' (Millennium Point)
- opportunity to get involved in 'speed networking' |
If you would like to attend please
email (with any dietary requirements) Mandeep Chana –
mandeep.chana@tic.ac.uk
or call Ha Vu on 07967 706445
So please come and join
us
For more information take a look at the reviews
from our past events on the Media Vault website:
17th
November - launch event and 15th
December - No 2
*Make a note of the following
dates for forthcoming Creative Networks Events*
Wednesday 30th March - No 5
Wednesday 27th April - No 6
Wednesday 25th May - No 7
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3. The
CREATIVE NETWORKS Portal Goes LIVE! |
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The
Collaborative Networking Portal for Creative Industry
Professionals
Visit www.creativenetworksonline.com
The Creative Networks Portal (www.creativenetworksonline.com)
is the online partner of the Creative Networks events
held at the tic. The events and the portal
aim to bring together suppliers from the creative industries
to encourage communication, collaboration and co-operation.
The CN Portal supplies you with current information
affecting your industry, a business review tool, interpersonal
messaging with discussion forums and a directory archive
of funding agents, public service deliverers and events
in the region.
The business review tool stands out as a centrepiece of
the portal, enabling you to objectively evaluate your
business. Once you have completed a simple questionnaire
the review will take place and offer you advice and guidance
on how to build your business. It will also point you
in the direction of support organisations in the Region
to help you with the areas of your business that need
it.
Creative Networks Online is an independent activity supported
technically by the Technology Innovation Centre.
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4. The
Final Cut Pro Users Group |
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Thursday
17th February - from 6.00pm 'til 8.00pm
Technology Innovation Centre (tic), Millennium
Point, Curzon Street, Birmingham, B4 7XG
This, the third regional Final Cut Pro Users
group to be held here at the tic is packed
with guest speakers coming from around the country, talking
on the following topics:
Designing Your Own Menus in DVD SP 3
– Chris Roberts (tic’s resident
FCP guy) will be looking at how you can design your own
DVD menus, looking specifically at overlays and layered
menus
MultiCam for FCP – at last multicamera
editing arrives for Final Cut! UKFCUG founder Rick Young
will be here demo-ing the latest plug-in from the Digital
Heaven stable.
See more information on the plug-in at www.digital-heaven.co.uk
Getting Started with Motion – a
real treat this one!
Apple Certified Trainer Richard Atherton will be giving
us a guided tour of Motion, Apple’s latest Pro Application
for designing motion graphics and effects for Final Cut
and DVD Studio Pro.
See Richard’s website www.visiontraining.tv
for more information.
Look forward to seeing you there!
Entry is free, but registration
in advance is essential. Please email
Chris Roberts – chris.roberts@tic.ac.uk
- for details.
For information about other Final Cut Pro User Group regional
meetings in the UK, visit: www.ukfcug.co.uk |
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tic's Centre of eMedia
and its Clients go to 'VideoForum 2005'
Tuesday 25th - Thursday 27th January - Earls Court,
London
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The
Show Videoforum is the UK’s biggest dedicated
technology exhibition for everyone in production,
post production and new media. The creative sector
has undergone massive changes over the last five
years. And so has Videoforum. It's always been the
UK's biggest technology event for video and AV.
But now it's also become a central date in the calendar
for everyone in new media, broadcast and streaming.
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It featured all
the leading manufacturers and suppliers, demonstrating
an incredible range of technology solutions from DV to
HD, from DVD to 3G. For many leading suppliers, VideoForum
2005 represents the UK launch of HDV technology.
The Videoforum also incorporated for the first time i-deliver
2005 and TV Tech 2005.
i-deliver is the UK's new event for communication and
media professionals. It featured the latest in encoding,
authoring and distribution tools and services designed
for the streaming of rich media (video, music, interactive
content) over digital TV and IP networks, including DSL,
CAN and 3G.
The realtime delivery of rich media, whether locally or
globally, offers organisations enormous opportunities
to communicate cost-effectively with its key audiences.
For broadcasters, content owners, corporates, educational
establishments, retailers, artists and producers - there
is huge benefit in developing and implementing strategies
to give audiences the ability to access the media they
want in the manner they choose.
i-deliver gave opportunities to assess the power of the
latest delivery systems and enabled you to gauge the importance
of this technology to the future of your organisation
and to the people you want to communicate with.
TV Tech focused on HDTV and AV-IT, two technologies that
are re-invigorating the broadcast and post sectors. With
the move away from tape and film, the industry is re-inventing
itself in every way.
TV Tech gave you the opportunity to get to grips with
the new ranges of technology that are enabling this dramatic
breakthrough to occur.
Peter Rigg, Assistant Technology Transfer Consultant
with responsibility for Interactive TV developments, attended
Videoforum for the whole three days, concentrating on
attending the i-deliver seminars in order to conduct further
research into streaming technology. Chris Roberts, tic
Post Production Professional, attended on the day the
latest Apple developments were rolled out, networking
with Final Cut Pro experts with a view to securing their
participation in tic’s next FCP
Users Group meeting (Feb 17th please see above).
tic’s Centre for eMedia were well
represented on the last day of the show, travelling to
London on the specially chartered coach which had been
arranged for our clients. Steve Smith – Centre Manager,
Paul Trigg - i4 Project Manager, Ha Vu – Business
Solutions Analyst and Dave Taylor – Media Vault
Project Manager accompanied the following guests:
Mark Burgess & Neil Gregory
– Big Button Media
Alexa Torlo – Freelance Producer
Raj Sidhu– Head On Media
Marie-Paule Graham & Susie Sharma – Dreaded
Little Films
Steven McLean – Shoes for Orphans
Errol Davis – Life Organic
Mark Pressdee – Macoy Media
Aston Walker – Central City Cartel
Sandeep Singh Chahil - Good Punjabi Boy
Satinderpal Sohal – Saint Media
Billy Jackson – Open Mind Surgery
Phil Cooper – Big Theme
Gary Davies - Panaseer
On the journey down to London, everyone had the opportunity
to give a brief overview of their businesses and an outline
of their current projects. We all had a particular interest
to pursue at the event and travelled back to Birmingham
tired but feeling that the time had been well spent, a
great trip!
tic's eMedia Centre
visit 'Curation' Media Art Seminars
Saturday 29th January - 10.00am
to 6.00pm
Bournville College of Art and Design, Bournville, Birmingham
A Media Vault representative attended the final Seminar
in the Hothaus series run by VIVID and UCE (the series
will be published by Article Press this summer), held
at BIAD’s Bournville campus. A number of speakers
examined the challenges of curating and presenting media
art. The day was valuable and naturally of interest to
tic given that we are working with a
number of organisations and clients to develop state of
the art electronic means to search collections and services.
Visit www.vivid.org.uk
tic's eMedia Centre
exhibits at Business Insight's 'Creative Business Fair'
Saturday 5th February and
Saturday 12th February - 10.00am to 4.00pm
Birmingham Central Library, Chamberlin Square, Birmingham
The tic's eMedia Centre exhibited at
the Creative Business Fair at Birmingham's Central Library
on 5th and 12th February.
Creative
Business Fair is one of a series of business support
events hosted by Business Insight. Business Insight
is funded mainly by Birmingham City Council and is
a non profit making service, in existence to help
provide business support to the creative industries.
During the day there were a
series of workshops taking place in various rooms
on topics from starting a business to finance. Speakers
included Tonya Bolton, Dionne Curd, Norma Murrain,
Paul Brooks, Scott Dale, Dawn O’Brien, It’s
About Time, Paul Leather, Jon Hickman, Dan Davies
and John Mostyn. |
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6. Get the
most from your business – FREE management courses
available in 2005 |
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Introduction
The tic’s i4 Project offers training in both Management
and Technology skills. These courses are fully funded
by ESF funds from Birmingham & Solihull Learning Skills
Council, and are completely free to creative businesses
and freelancers within the West Midlands who meet all
of the eligibility criteria.
Courses Include:
:: Digital Video Editing
:: Cameras, Lights & Sound
:: Virtual Set Design
:: Digital Asset Management
:: Business Planning
:: Commissioning Tactics
Dates For Your Diary
A series of training courses designed to grow young creative
screen-based media businesses has been planned for 2005.
They are FREE of charge to those who are working for SMEs
or are self-employed.
| *These
courses are very popular, and early booking is advised!* |
| Digital Video Editing
Courses: |
12 – 14 July 2005
27 – 29 September 2005
01 – 03 November 2005 |
| Cameras, Lights
& Sound: |
12 – 14 April 2005
10 – 12 May 2005
07 – 09 June 2005
12 – 14 July 2005
09 – 11 August 2005
27 – 29 September 2005
18 – 20 October 2005
01 – 03 November 2005 |
| Virtual Set Design: |
09 – 11 May 2005
06 – 08 September 2005
01 – 03 November 2005 |
| Digital
Asset Management: |
14 – 16 February 2005
11 – 13 April 2005
13 – 15 June 2005
12 – 14 September 2005
07 – 09 November 2005 |
| Business Planning |
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| Day 1 |
22nd March 2005
24th May 2005 |
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| Day 2 |
29th March 2005
30th March 2005
20th April 2005
31st May 2005
1st June 2005 |
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| Day 3 |
05th April 2005
06th April 2005
27th April 2005
07th June 2005
08th June 2005 |
| Commissioning Tactics |
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| Day 1 |
24th March 2005
26th May 2005 |
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| Day 2 |
31st March 2005
21st April 2005
02nd June 2005 |
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| Day 3 |
7th April 2005
28th April 2005
09th June 2005 |
For further information about
eligibility criteria, a full list of courses and to take
advantage of this outstanding opportunity contact Paul
Trigg tel: +44 (0)121 331 5400 email:
paul.trigg@tic.ac.uk
or visit the i4 website at www.tic-online.com/i4 |
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7. The Media
Vault - Work in Progress |
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Check
out some of the work we've done so far and what our clients
have said about it. For more information on other clients
we've worked with visit our website at www.tic-online.com/mediavault
and click on the case studies link.
Toppatop Studios
:: Corporate Identity Design
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Toppatop
Studios is a professional digital recording studio
with video production centre located in the heart
of Birmingham. It combines a professional yet relaxed
approach to digital and video recording. The company
is constantly developing its range of services as
their clients' needs evolve and develop.
Toppatop Studios seeks to offer the region’s
most vibrant recording facility well ahead of the
competition, whilst developing a distinctive brand.
Toppatop Studios’ William Heathcoat approached
tic’s Media Vault to develop
a corporate identity enabling the business to be
professionally marketed using an extensive promotional
portfolio.
Toppatop Studios is a relatively new company that
required a corporate identity which distinguished
it from competitors and emphasised its 'freshness'.
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Crisp, bold colours and fonts were used to give the company
a contemporary, yet professional feel and to convey the
creative essence of the business. Whilst the identity
projected a simple, cool image it was also kept flexible
for use on the web and on print work.
The Client's Quote: “Everybody
I met at The Media Vault was extremely helpful and polite.
The service was very professional.”
William Heathcoat, Toppatop Studios
Antidote Produxions
:: Website Design and Development - www.antidoteproduxions.co.uk
Corporate advertising, music promos
and film producers, Antidote Produxions won the ‘Most
Promising Business of the Year’ accolade at Birmingham’s
Creative City Awards 2004 - sponsored by ITV.
Antidote
works with a wide range of corporate clients producing
top-notch promotional videos and advertising. In music
the team works with record labels across the UK and
has had credits on MTV base, MTV 2 and Kerrang!. They
especially focus on the creation of original and conceptual
music videos. Antidote has also produced several short
films including 2 Digital Shorts for Screen West Midlands
and the UK Film Council. Antidote is currently developing
a feature film. The business works in collaboration
with a wide range of talented writers and directors.
Antidote’s Marie-Cecile de Faucigny and Ben
Lister approached tic’s Media
Vault to create a website to highlight their areas
of expertise and showcase their work portfolio. |
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Their brief was to create a ‘cinematic/urban’
feel to the site, having a ‘scratchy’ and
‘raw’ feel – rather in the style of
old fashioned film stock. They asked Media Vault to use
their existing warm reds and orange colour scheme. The
site is both striking and inviting. It can also be easily
updated.
The Clients Quote:
“tic
has been fantastic in getting our website designed and
uploaded in a very short space of time. It has also been
done to a high standard. The team was very happy to amend
and improve the design as we went along.”
Marie-Cecile de Faucigny, Antidote Produxions
Crush
Music
:: Virtual TV Studio Hire
Providing access to music-making opportunities for Young
People, is the key objective of Crush Music. However,
the business also has talents able to compose music for
Film, TV and Theatre.
Image: Restaurant man discovers the jar |
In a
recent project, Jeremy Collins of Crush Community
Arts used tic’s Media Vault
facilities to develop a music video called Music
Is My Heroin for the “My Dad Hitla”
group.
The story line follows a child’s discovery of
a jar inside which is the band. It has extraordinary
powers that can spread inspiration, passion, health
and love. But these are accompanied by addiction,
reliance, greed and desperation. The film uses a black
and white set and has a strong comic book/pop art
feel.
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This is accentuated by obscure angles and out-of-proportion
design elements. Costumes are also much exaggerated, but
use vibrant colours. The characters in the video express
the story through the use of theatrical dance. Directed
and produced by Kelly Elston, the film was choreographed
by Ellen Margrethe Rohr-Staff.
Crush utilised the Media Vault's Virtual TV Studio to
film the effect of the band being inside a glass bottle.
The video will now be used as a promotional tool for the
band. It will be sent to record labels and music TV channels.
It will play an important part in the process of securing
the band a record deal.
The Client’s Quote: ”To
deliver the illusion of the band being in the jar, a high
standard of blue screening was essential. The staff at
The Media Vault made it possible for me to reach this
standard and go beyond my expectations. They offered me
valuable advice and encouragement. They were extremely
helpful and consistent in their quality of work. I very
much look forward to working with them again.”
Jeremy Collins,
Crush Music
Lali Productions
:: Technical Equipment Support
New
British-Asian film and video producers, Lali Productions,
are committed to making both meaningful productions
and creating quality promotions.
Their latest 30-minute film, DEEVA, is a true-to-life
drama presenting a rare view of the drug lifestyle
amongst young men from ‘closed communities’
in the UK.
DEEVA’s refreshingly original script involves
strong character studies. Sukie Ghajminger, who played
a prominent role in last year’s British-Asian
feature ‘Triads, Yardies and Onion Bhajies’,
features alongside Ajay Dattan, currently acting in
new BBC radio-soap drama ‘Silver Street’.
Major support from tic’s Media
Vault saw Lali Productions use production equipment
including broadcast standard cameras and G5 Apple-Mac
editing computers. |
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Lali Productions achieved such a high production standard
it was confident to enter several film festivals; broadcast
on cable T.V is also expected.
The Client’s Quote: “The tic
has supported our project by providing us wtih a high
standard of broadcast quality production equipment which
enabled us to create strong quality visuals for our 30
minute film project. I’d recommend the tic
to other production companies out there to check
out the high standard of equipment available at the
tic “
Lalit Dadrah, Lali Productions
Sound Factory - www.sound-factory.co.uk
:: Digital Asset Management
As incubators of fresh musical composing talent for a
wide range of user industries - television, film, commercials
and computer games - Sound Factory required an online
presence to ‘showcase’ client-composers’
work. tic’s Media Vault team offered the ideal solution
through its Digital Asset Management (DAM) system.
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The
DAM system provides a comprehensive solution for
all components involved in digital media management.
Media Vault not only assists the client in creating
audio-visual content - sometimes in collaboration
with others - it then stores, catalogues and makes
accessible the created A/V assets ready for distribution.
It works seamlessly between unlimited users, regardless
of location. |
The material can be accessed
either via the Sound Factory’s or its client’s
website and enables end-user customers to obtain specific
material speedily.
Media Vault’s DAM system has enabled Sound Factory
to offer end-users a reliable and accessible archive of
all its client-composers - streamed online!
The
Client's Quote: “Given that our company
is based in the media sectors, the DAM provided an ideal
opportunity to better market our services. It was perfect
for our needs, providing a media storage facility we could
use to allow prospective customers to view simply and
quickly samples of the scores and soundtracks we have
in the past produced. The interface was intuitive and
the tuition we received was easy to understand and well
delivered. The DAM was offered to us without our having
to ask and the subsequent support was of an excellent
quality. It provided the final dimension to a perfect
package.”
Neil Emery, Sound Factory
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