audio project questions

Q: Where is the project description and the Janet Cardiff sound file?
A: To find older items on the blog, just do a search or look under the LABELS list on the side bar. Try "schedule", "project 1" or "artists".

Q: Can I convert an MP3 to a WAV so that I can use it in my project?
A: No. You can convert from a larger file (WAV) to a smaller file (MP3), but not the other way around. It's like trying to expand a sweater that shrank in the wash. Doing so is bad practice and just plain silly.

Q+A: How do I attribute my sources from Freesound?

Q: What are other sites where I can find sound clips?
A: Recording your own sounds is your best option, but you may also try these:
Find Sounds is a search engine that will allow you to search by file type and size.
Sound Dogs is an online sound effects library.
Archive.org is a giant library of all kinds of media, including audio, video, and text.

Q+A: What is Ogg Vorbis?

Q+A: What is FLAC?

Q: Can I use FLAC or Ogg Vorbis for my project?
A: No, because Audacity does not yet support this FLAC, and because Ogg Vorbis is a compressed file type (like MP3s).

Q: What can I check out from Media Services?
A: You can get audio, video and photo equipment, headphones, mics, adapters, and a lot more. Just be sure not to wait until the last minute, as other people might have things checked out.

Q: What is the lending policy at Media Services?
A: AV equipment may be checked out by any student with a college ID. All equipment is checked out for 24-48 hrs.

Q: What are the hours for Media Services?
Here are our extended hours with night shift and student workers for the weekend:
M-Th 8am-10pm
Fridays 8am-5pm
Sat 11am-7pm
Sun 1pm-9pm
You can pickup equipment anytime they are open, but they can provide more support and instruction during the hours the regular staff is in - weekdays 9-5.

Perception-Guided Image Editing

This event is eligible for one of the 5 cultural event blogs you need to do for the semester.

Thursday, February 1, 2007
at 4:10 in Schaefer Hall 134

Perception-Guided Image Editing
Reynold Bailey
Washington University in St. Louis

Traditional artists have developed numerous techniques for creating
interesting visual effects. Many of these artists had very little
knowledge of the inner workings of the human visual system. Instead,
they viewed the human visual system as a black box and through
experimentation they learned to exploit its features. In a sense they
have reverse engineered the human visual system to learn what type of
inputs elicit certain responses in the brain. Modern research from the
fields of Biology, Physics, Psychology, Physiology, and Neuroscience
has given us better insight into the functioning of the human visual
system. Although the visual system is far from being fully understood,
the knowledge we have gained, especially of the early stages of the
visual pathway, is quite substantial.

Modern image editing software is widely used by professional artists
and novices and alike for tasks such as photo retouching, image
authoring and image composition. Commercial software packages such as
Adobe Photoshop and even free packages such as the GNU Image
Manipulation Program (The GIMP) provide powerful image editing and
manipulation features. These features, while mathematically sound,
typically do not take human visual perception into account. In this
presentation, I will discuss a new class of image editing techniques
that are designed to exploit the features of the human visual
system. These techniques can be used to manipulate apparent depth in
an image, create an illusion of motion, and direct the viewer's gaze
about the scene.