Equipment List
We get regular emails from teachers setting up media departments asking about equipment. Below are some recommendations based on our experience, although it’s not a definitive list. If you’ve got any suggestions let us know using the feedback form we’ll add them (with a credit!)
Use Google and shop around. We’ve found these suppliers useful:
Moving Image
Canon MD101
This video camera is relatively cheap, but is one of the few lower priced camcorders with an external mic socket, although there’s nowhere to attach a mic so you’ll have to improvise!
FireWires
Prices range from about £2 to £15 (unless you’re going for really fancy ones!)
MiniDV tapes
Through local purchasing organisations these are usually around £2 each. Avoid re-using, especially if students have been storing them!
Blank DVDs
Buy these on a spindle and get some paper sleeves.
Headcleaning tape
MiniDV camcorders are delicate, and the fluff from students’ pockets can be a problem! Seriously, you’ll be glad you’ve got one.
Tripod
These range from very cheap to very expensive. Our local purchasing organisation offers some basic but perfectly usable ones for £25.
iMac
If you are starting from scratch, or if you’re upgrading everything, go for an iMac (or several). iMovie is great, it comes bundled with the iMac and with fairly cheap plugins can be usable right up to A level. Leopard ships with a new, but for our purposes inferior, version of iMovie, but you can download version 6 from the Apple website. For more advanced/vocational work Final Cut Express is probably more appealing (about £80 for educational institutions).
Never ever network video editing machines, except in circumstances where students can use the local hard drive as well as the network. (If you’ve got a fancy media server setup then ignore this; most schools and colleges haven’t.)
Portable hard drive
The WesternDigital MyBook range are easy to use, but so are most large portable drives. Go for around 500Gb or more – transfer from the iMac or PC will be much faster than most other means.
Rode Video Mic
A shotgun mic with a mini-jack connector and powered by a 9v battery. Can be handheld or attached to a boom.
Print work
Digital camera
Don’t pay more than £100 for a digital still camera, unless you’re going to splash out on a digital SLR (or several). The latter is unlikely to be a good use of budget, though.
Photoshop Elements
A cut down version of Photoshop, this will do practically everything students would need.
Serif PhotoPlus
Cheaper than Elements but it looks very similar.
DTP software
Don’t let students do page layout in Photoshop!
InDesign is probably the ‘professional’ choice, although a bit pricey.
Or QuarkExpress, but again expensive if you want it widely available on a network.
MS Publisher is pefectly usable, although it does create huge files which can cause problems on a network.
Scribus is a fantastic DTP package, and it’s open source so it’s available to download for nothing.
Printing
Access to a colour printer is vital. Photo printers are nice but not vital; colour laser printers will work fast enough for those occasions when whole classes are printing off work.
Website building
Dreamweaver is the industry choice of editor, although expensive and with a very steep learing curve.
NVU is an open source web page editor which we’ve used with some success with GCSE students.
If you want to follow the professionals, however, you’ll use a combination of Flash and HTML/CSS coding.
