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Probably the biggest problem for university lectures right now is that video compression means you can't see what they are writing on the board. I thought this

Probably the biggest problem for university lectures right now is that video compression means you can't see what they are writing on the board. I thought this may have been a YouTube thing but it happens with iTunes video as well. Check out some of the Stanford CS video lectures, they are a great idea but mostly hopeless because you can't read anything that's on the board. If someone solved that seemingly minor problem video lectures would improve tenfold.

netcan 18y ago
That was sort of my point. How difficult would it be to take those lectures & work them to the point of being a lot more useful? sketerpot' comment is all over this.
- menloparkbum 18y ago
  Having made a video that was sold on DVD and been a TA for a university course, I'm pessimistic that any university lecturer would bother with the extra work to make the videos good. I had no idea before I did it, but video editing is hugely time consuming. I'm guessing to make a really good video lecture you'd have to spend about 10-20 hours per lecture. Hours prepping the slides, the room, coordinating 2 camera guys, syncing audio after the fact, editing the video, etc. sketerpot's comments are great, but I'm a pessimist. With current tools it would take too much work from the lecturer to make truly good videos. My point was that at a bare minimum if you somehow could make what's appearing on the board visible in the video, you'd at least make the experience as useful as being in the class. As it stands now, you're better off just listening to the audio. However, there's a lot of room for technical innovation. Software to help automate the production work needed to make good lecture videos would be a cool startup idea.
- mseebach 18y ago
  Touch-sensitive black/whiteboard and Twiddla replay? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=496331 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=496331

netcan 18y ago

That was sort of my point. How difficult would it be to take those lectures & work them to the point of being a lot more useful? sketerpot' comment is all over this.

menloparkbum 18y ago
Having made a video that was sold on DVD and been a TA for a university course, I'm pessimistic that any university lecturer would bother with the extra work to make the videos good. I had no idea before I did it, but video editing is hugely time consuming. I'm guessing to make a really good video lecture you'd have to spend about 10-20 hours per lecture. Hours prepping the slides, the room, coordinating 2 camera guys, syncing audio after the fact, editing the video, etc. sketerpot's comments are great, but I'm a pessimist. With current tools it would take too much work from the lecturer to make truly good videos. My point was that at a bare minimum if you somehow could make what's appearing on the board visible in the video, you'd at least make the experience as useful as being in the class. As it stands now, you're better off just listening to the audio. However, there's a lot of room for technical innovation. Software to help automate the production work needed to make good lecture videos would be a cool startup idea.
mseebach 18y ago
Touch-sensitive black/whiteboard and Twiddla replay? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=496331 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=496331