So my bff ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
annikusrex is going to be teaching soon, yayyyyyyy!! As such she had some questions about pandemic teaching via Zoom. For instance, what supplies/pieces of equipment are helpful? Eventually that made me think, "Aw heck, why not just list things in a blog post?"
So here we go.
Caveat: I don't particularly recommend getting these items from these retailers. If anyone has the bandwidth to track down alternative sources please do link them in the comments. You know my feelings about the retailers linked here; often these supplies are things that I've had limited bandwidth to shop for so I've had to just get them in spite of my feelings and life priorities.
Lighting: Put a "vanity light" behind your webcam to illuminate your face. Add something to work as a "diffuser" so you don't get harsh reflections. White tissue paper is fine, or a piece of white fabric. A paper towel might even work. Just use something on hand.
This one comes highly recommended by a colleague and ischeap inexpensive:
Sailstar LED Desk Lamp: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08B4MVF8T
(more detailed review: https://phaseportrait.blogspot.com/2020/12/low-cost-convenient-portable-lighting.html)
Here's the one I actually got: https://www.ebay.com/itm/303581331196
I don't love it. The tripod is tiny and it has to be plugged into a USB port to work. But it does what it's supposed to do just fine, so there's that.
Camera arms: Useful for angling and adjusting a camera to point at a table and more!
Here's a really nice one that I got for home use. It can clamp a smartphone or a webcam or any other kind of camera. It's a bit more pricey, but very sturdy and versatile.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/354220-REG/Manfrotto_196B_2_196B_2_Articulated_Arm.html
Here's a cheaper webcam mount type that I got for the office. I moved the Manfrotto back home at some point when I started wanting to be able to record lecture videos at home instead of being stuck at work until 9 pm every night in the fall.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TQSSTK8
Note that the camera attachment options are less versatile on this kind of mount vs. the Manfrotto. But I can attach my webcam to this one no problem, and it's perfectly good for my application.
Webcams: A second camera is useful for so many different things. It might be possible to use a smartphone but I wound up sucking it up and getting a USB webcam. I got this one because my work had gotten me one previously so I knew exactly how it worked:
Logitech C920s. It looks like this particular camera is still selling like hotcakes, so it may be necessary to poke through the websites of a couple of big retailers to find a place that actually has them to sell to you. I think I had success with Target. At one point during the pandemic these were selling for around $140 each but it looks like the prices have at least stabilized.
The focus mechanism on these sometimes sucks, especially for pointing at a desktop, so I also purchased a small software package that allows for direct manual control of the camera settings:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/webcam-settings/id533696630?mt=12
Analog Supplies
It can be nice and fun to have a tabletop whiteboard. 11 x 17" are good dimensions for this purpose.
Another alternative is a set of the fatter Sharpies (technically "fine point") in a range of colors. They produce the right line width to show up on a webcam. Apply to a piece of paper and you're in business. If you screw something up, switch to a new piece of paper. Added bonus: you have hard copy records of everything you just did.
Things I still want to get or am in the process of getting:
-Blue Yeti USB Microphone MFR# 988-000103
The reason why is apparently it is possible to set up this microphone to monitor, which means that you get auditory feedback about how loud you sound, which means that if you're me, you won't scream as much into the Zoom / computer. More information about this in this Tweet-machine thread:
https://twitter.com/samuelmehr/status/1309672535190102016
-More accessory lights for the tabletop webcam. These also need diffusers to produce an even, bright light without glare. The brighter the better. Otherwise, even the whitest, brightest whiteboard looks permanently dingy.
-I am also using some course funds to purchase a "basic" Fruit Company tablet computer and corresponding Fruit-pencil. I balked at paying out of pocket for these items because in addition to the above, I have also already twice-over purchased video editing software and computer storage space for pandemic teaching (one of each thing for the office at work; one of each thing for the office at home). I don't forsee myself using the Fruit-tablet for anything other than work and I already have too many electronic devices to babysit. But it could prove to be useful for grading papers NOT on a computer. So we shall see.
-You also have to factor in that I'm looking at paying out-of-pocket pretty soon here for some of the crucial supplies for my bicycling course. I'd like to get at least 2 bike stands, if not more, and even cheap ones of dubious quality are ~$50 each. Ideally I'd get the school to pay for them, but, you know, ideally. Also like how yeah, in theory I could build some bike stands, but you know, in theory. In reality, time is precious and limited.
Anyway, I think that's it for hardware right now.
annikusrex is going to be teaching soon, yayyyyyyy!! As such she had some questions about pandemic teaching via Zoom. For instance, what supplies/pieces of equipment are helpful? Eventually that made me think, "Aw heck, why not just list things in a blog post?"So here we go.
Caveat: I don't particularly recommend getting these items from these retailers. If anyone has the bandwidth to track down alternative sources please do link them in the comments. You know my feelings about the retailers linked here; often these supplies are things that I've had limited bandwidth to shop for so I've had to just get them in spite of my feelings and life priorities.
Lighting: Put a "vanity light" behind your webcam to illuminate your face. Add something to work as a "diffuser" so you don't get harsh reflections. White tissue paper is fine, or a piece of white fabric. A paper towel might even work. Just use something on hand.
This one comes highly recommended by a colleague and is
Sailstar LED Desk Lamp: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08B4MVF8T
(more detailed review: https://phaseportrait.blogspot.com/2020/12/low-cost-convenient-portable-lighting.html)
Here's the one I actually got: https://www.ebay.com/itm/303581331196
I don't love it. The tripod is tiny and it has to be plugged into a USB port to work. But it does what it's supposed to do just fine, so there's that.
Camera arms: Useful for angling and adjusting a camera to point at a table and more!
Here's a really nice one that I got for home use. It can clamp a smartphone or a webcam or any other kind of camera. It's a bit more pricey, but very sturdy and versatile.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/354220-REG/Manfrotto_196B_2_196B_2_Articulated_Arm.html
Here's a cheaper webcam mount type that I got for the office. I moved the Manfrotto back home at some point when I started wanting to be able to record lecture videos at home instead of being stuck at work until 9 pm every night in the fall.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TQSSTK8
Note that the camera attachment options are less versatile on this kind of mount vs. the Manfrotto. But I can attach my webcam to this one no problem, and it's perfectly good for my application.
Webcams: A second camera is useful for so many different things. It might be possible to use a smartphone but I wound up sucking it up and getting a USB webcam. I got this one because my work had gotten me one previously so I knew exactly how it worked:
Logitech C920s. It looks like this particular camera is still selling like hotcakes, so it may be necessary to poke through the websites of a couple of big retailers to find a place that actually has them to sell to you. I think I had success with Target. At one point during the pandemic these were selling for around $140 each but it looks like the prices have at least stabilized.
The focus mechanism on these sometimes sucks, especially for pointing at a desktop, so I also purchased a small software package that allows for direct manual control of the camera settings:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/webcam-settings/id533696630?mt=12
Analog Supplies
It can be nice and fun to have a tabletop whiteboard. 11 x 17" are good dimensions for this purpose.
Another alternative is a set of the fatter Sharpies (technically "fine point") in a range of colors. They produce the right line width to show up on a webcam. Apply to a piece of paper and you're in business. If you screw something up, switch to a new piece of paper. Added bonus: you have hard copy records of everything you just did.
Things I still want to get or am in the process of getting:
-Blue Yeti USB Microphone MFR# 988-000103
The reason why is apparently it is possible to set up this microphone to monitor, which means that you get auditory feedback about how loud you sound, which means that if you're me, you won't scream as much into the Zoom / computer. More information about this in this Tweet-machine thread:
https://twitter.com/samuelmehr/status/1309672535190102016
-More accessory lights for the tabletop webcam. These also need diffusers to produce an even, bright light without glare. The brighter the better. Otherwise, even the whitest, brightest whiteboard looks permanently dingy.
-I am also using some course funds to purchase a "basic" Fruit Company tablet computer and corresponding Fruit-pencil. I balked at paying out of pocket for these items because in addition to the above, I have also already twice-over purchased video editing software and computer storage space for pandemic teaching (one of each thing for the office at work; one of each thing for the office at home). I don't forsee myself using the Fruit-tablet for anything other than work and I already have too many electronic devices to babysit. But it could prove to be useful for grading papers NOT on a computer. So we shall see.
-You also have to factor in that I'm looking at paying out-of-pocket pretty soon here for some of the crucial supplies for my bicycling course. I'd like to get at least 2 bike stands, if not more, and even cheap ones of dubious quality are ~$50 each. Ideally I'd get the school to pay for them, but, you know, ideally. Also like how yeah, in theory I could build some bike stands, but you know, in theory. In reality, time is precious and limited.
Anyway, I think that's it for hardware right now.
