iPad rig for mobile video won my SPJ9 presentation

iPad rig for mobile video won my SPJ9 presentation

Screen Shot 2015-04-24 at 6.40.13 PMToday I made a brief presentation about the importance of online video and strategies for success at the Society of Professional Journalist’s Region No. 9 conference.

The most popular example I brought with me was not the videos in my presentation. Instead, it was the iPad live kit that arrived at my office a few days ago — so recently that we haven’t yet activated its 4G service and I haven’t yet developed a plan for precisely how to use it in the field.

The kits came from my newsroom’s parent company, a sort of reward for developing and deploying other, smaller kits that enable reporter/photographers to go live or produce and send video from their iPhones. The iPads arrived earlier this week, in the midst of my trial preparations, and I’ve only barely had enough time to unpack them and try a few things (See the video on slide 2 in the presentation below).

After the formal presentation ended, I was asked several questions about the kit and even asked to pose in a photo with it.

In retrospect, the fuss over this not-quite-ready-for-prime-time gadget reminds me of the time I wrote a shopping list for a newsroom in a backpack. This new kit isn’t perfect, but it is certainly simpler and cheaper than what I had imagined back in 2010.

This kit involves an iPad Air 2, a Padcaster case, a directional mic, a lens, an LED light, a tripod and an adapter originally intended for electric guitars. I can only estimate, but the price must be around $1,000. We have no paid apps installed (but we did install 2 free apps to which the company has a license: TVU Anywhere and Videolicious).

In the iFrame below you’ll find the presentation I gave today, including recent video examples and best practice suggestions.