Autor: Olaf A. Schulte

Update: Virtual events at ETH

Services department and ITS MMS have now established a cooperation announced in May (German only) to support virtual events for members of ETH: Starting point to any request is a form to gather basic information about the event, passing it through to the service providers in charge.

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Pilot: New loudspeakers for lecture halls

Using a shootout* event, ITS Multimedia Services tested various current solutions for sound reinforcement in auditoriums.

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Video conferencing: Do it yourself. But better.

ITS Multimedia Services has been offering video conferencing in specially equipped and supervised rooms for many years. These rooms are located both at the «Zentrum» (HG, LEE) and «Hönggerberg» (HCI, HIT) sites. A high-quality service that is used very actively.

However, video conferencing at the workplace is of great importance especially in the scientific community because it can be carried out more quickly and spontaneously. The laptop- and desktop-oriented «do-it-yourself video conferencing» is being used extensively as well. It requires participants to use their own laptops or desktop PCs with integrated or external cameras and microphones and individual software at a workstation or in a conference room. Weiterlesen

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Live streaming – professional or «do it yourself»

The demand for «live streaming» events has noticeably increased in recent years. Multimedia Services have therefore updated the service and the underlying technologies accordingly, and offer different solutions to meet different customer needs. Weiterlesen

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Search portal of the ETH Library extended to include the contents of the video portal

The video portal of the ETH is now also searchable via the search portal of the ETH Library, enlarging it by approx. 17,000 videos.

The video portal with the 17,000 recordings published there reflects a significant part of the scientific activities at ETH Zurich, ranging from recordings of inaugural and farewell lectures dating back to the nineteen seventies and current lecture videos to prominent individual lectures. Making this knowledge accessible, has always been a primary concern of the multimedia services of the ITS, as has ensuring the searchability of the recorded content with the aid of a usage-based system and the time-consuming allocation of metadata, as well as efforts to make recordings freely accessible (at the discretion of the authors) in the sense of «open access». Weiterlesen

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New tariffs for ITS Multimedia Services

Starting this fall semester, new tariffs apply for services provided with costs by ITS Multimedia Services.

Tariffs for services involving costs provided by ITS MMS remain stable with an hourly rate of 50.- CHF for simple tasks and 75.- CHF for challenging work. A couple of other changes will result in a reduction of costs for our customers, however: Regular tariffs will be charged from 6am to 8pm (compared to 8am to 6pm) which is beneficial to early evening event recordings in particular. Additionally, hourly rates from 8pm to 6am will be reduced (75.- and 100.- CHF/h instead of 100.- and 125.- CHF/h). Finally, event recordings will also benefit from a new production unit for mobile recordings. Weiterlesen

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From a single source ­– cheaper event recordings through a new production system

For five years, Multimedia Services› mobile HD production unit has been enabling the reliable recording of conferences, events and lectures in (almost) every room of the ETH and, on request, even outside of it. More than 2,000 videos from more than 500 events have been produced since then, ranging from multi-day conferences to individual evening lectures. As with all technical devices, after five years at the latest the time has come to invest in a replacement. With an output format of 720p (these days, 1080p, known as «Full HD», is customary), there was reason enough to replace the current production system, especially since a larger car and significant effort is required to transport it. Weiterlesen

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Video Conferencing: Presence, Telepresence and Telepresence Robots

Video conferences have long since progressed from fixed spaces to one’s own workstation and mobile devices. That’s why new devices are aiming to score points with different characteristics: these combine camera and screen in a tablet, sometimes even placed on a movable stand, and therefore enable mobility and allow the user to control them remotely. This means that not only can their position be changed within the conference room, but the perception and representation of absent persons can also be actively influenced. Weiterlesen

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Virtual Conferences with ITS MMS

ETH Zurich’s contribution to the fight against climate change is not limited to just research. The organisation’s own contribution to global warming is also being discussed, analysed, and reduced wherever possible. Sustainability is becoming the premise for all action, be it in the field of buildings, food, or energy use in a narrower sense. Weiterlesen

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