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Dealing with media formats is often a daunting process. While this page is intended to provide you with a beginner's understanding of media formats and conversion options, you may find it more beneficial to also talk face-to-face with a consultant about your particular needs and intentions. You can easily schedule a meeting with a consultant by emailing the Instruction Group at issinstruction@umich.edu.
Digitizing Media
The VHS video cassette recorder has been around since the 1970’s, but it has been in steady decline since the introduction of DVD technology. As of 2008, no major manufacturers produce stand-alone VHS recorders. As a result, we have begun to phase out VHS players in LSA classrooms. If you have educational material on VHS, we strongly recommend that you find DVD alternatives. If what you need is not available on DVD, or if the DVD release is inferior to the version you are using, LSA Instructional Support Services offers digital conversion of video for educational use.
How to request ISS digitization services
If you have several video clips from multiple sources, you may find it convenient to have the clips converted to digital format and burned to a single DVD.
- Make a list of the clips you need from each original tape or DVD
- Download a copy of the clip list worksheet here
- Create a digitizing ticket with this online form
- Upload your completed worksheet as part of the ticket
- Wait for an email confirmation from an ISS staff member with further instructions
The Deal with File Formats and Compression Codecs
Digital files are comprised of bits of information. A "file format" is the way a file is encoded for storage and is often denoted by an appendix of ".blank" at the end of the file name. Different kinds of files have different formats, and the same file type may be available in different formats (for instance, spreadsheet files may be .csv, .tsv, .xls, etc, but all are spreadsheets and openable in Microsoft Excel). Common media file types include .mov (Apple Quicktime), .wmv (Windows Media Video), .flv (Flash Video), .aiff (Audio Interchange File Format), .wav (Microsoft Wave) and .mp3 (MPEG layer 3).
Compression codecs are generally used to make digital files smaller by removing "unnecessary" information from a file. Because of this, there is usually a reduction in visual or audial quality, although depending on the file's usage, this may be minimal. Various codecs are often used for specific purproses. For instance, MPEG4 is used for iPod video and MPEG2 for DVD video.
Why Convert or Compress?
Why convert? The most common reason to convert a file to a different format is because some formats may not work or work well with some applications. For instance, the Windows version of Powerpoint doesn't always play well with .mov files. Or perhaps you want to post a file online but place it in a Flash wrapper; in that case, you would want to convert it to a Flash-based format.
Why compress? Most often, you'll want to compress a file to get it to fit on a certain medium, such as a CD, or in order to publish it online. Large files take a long time to load, download or view on the internet, and you'll also probably run into space limitations wherever you are hosting your files. Compressing the file makes it more web friendly.
Posting Media Online
There are a variety of things to take into consideration when posting media online. What type of file is it? How large is it? Do you want it to be publicly available? Do you want it to be downloadable? What do you want to do with it once it's up?
If you want only your students or a select few to have access to a file, try these options:
- iTunesU- This incarnation of iTunes is privately accessed through your CTools site. The file limitations are quite high, which makes it a valuable storage place for large files like video podcasts of whole lectures, rather than CTools' Resources section.. It can also handle audio files, video files and PDFs. Using iTunesU.
- YouTube- Nope, you're not reading that wrong. It is possible to host videos on YouTube privately by selecting the "Private" option in the video upload menu. By doing this, it will not show up on your channel or in search results. You can invite up to 25 people to view the video via a "limited access" link. YouTube is a particularly useful tool for longer videos, supports commenting and captioning, and is easily embedded into most blogs and sites. Using YouTube
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If you don't mind the file being public, try these options:
Additional Options
Media Conversion and Editing Applications
Available for Macs:
- Handbrake
- MpegStreamclip
- Switch
Available for PCs:
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