5 things I learned teaching immersive tech to journalists
You might have heard that we at McClatchy New Ventures Lab welcomed four Storytellers in Residence in June. Alongside tons of opportunity, we faced a unique challenge: We needed to teach AR production to four incredibly talented creators with varying levels of 3D experience.
The NVL tech team put together a survey course of sorts on some of the tools the storytellers could use for nonfiction, augmented reality stories. Here are some lessons we learned along the way.
1: Build a 3D toolbox early and often
It can be overwhelming for anyone to think about the massive amount of software needed to make AR content, let alone learning the details about how to apply it for the first time. Before getting into the finer points of how 3D modeling software, 3D capture tools and 3D engines all work, it’s important to build a solid foundation about that pesky third dimension in general.
Fundamental ideas like working along the Z axis and controlling a viewport or camera to see something from the appropriate angle can be new concepts for folks coming from 2D work. Before diving into the first 3D software you hope to teach, take some time to talk about working in 3D and give ample hands-on time for everyone to manipulate their point of view so they’re comfortable checking out different camera perspectives.
2: Use video analogies when necessary — not whenever possible
By following lesson one and building a solid 3D vocabulary, an instructor can avoid the dangerous pitfalls of the wild world of analogies. If you have a background in both 2D video creation (motion graphics, nonlinear video editing, etc.) and 3D tools, it can be very tempting to try to find similarities to 3D in software that’s more familiar to journalists. Find those similarities where they’re helpful, but don’t get reliant on them.
Comparing hotkeys and the use of keyframes in the game engine Unity’s timeline animation system with Adobe After Effects is helpful for learning it faster. Trying to match each tool in 3D sculpting platform ZBrush to one in Photoshop is inaccurate, confusing and probably a waste of your time.
The written word, audio and other mediums have different approaches and uses. 3D is no different, and should be treated as a medium of its own.
3: Focus on storytelling applications
VR and AR are fascinating, and I know I’m not the only person with a near-obsessive academic interest in them. But for content creators, usability is everything. If a software, technique or concept isn’t useful for creating content, why on earth are you even teaching it?
Consider building your entire teaching process around creating one story. Use whatever asset creation tools you’re teaching to make the assets, use your 3D engine to assemble it and ship it for whatever platform you’re working with. It might feel a little silly, but it’ll show your students how everything comes together in a production pipeline and will make any gaps in your teaching plan clear.
4: Categorize, don’t oversimplify
In this post, I haven’t listed many tools or software systems by name. Instead, I’ve given their general role: “capture techniques,” “3D modeling software,” “game engines,” for a few examples. While we specifically taught things like photogrammetry, Depthkit volumetric video capture and ZBrush, classifying tools helps explain what they do, how they fit together and how other software or techniques could be used in their place.
By doubling down on 3D vocabulary, you’re categorizing everything you teach and connecting processes to each other instead of just teaching a random smattering of separate softwares. It’s also an opportunity to explore the full capabilities of a technique or software outside of the way you’re using it (BRIEFLY — tech-jargon-filled tangents are enemy number one).
5: Use your students’ knowledge too
People are smart and different perspectives are valuable. Your students don’t have the years of tech-related baggage that you do, so they might see some things that you just assume aren’t possible. If you pay attention, chances are you’ll learn a thing or two from them too.
Follow their lead on examples and use cases, because you’re teaching for them. If there’s an example that sticks particularly well in their heads, build off it. If there’s a use case that keeps being brought up, teach to it. They may very well be planning ahead and thinking through how they’ll use the tech outside of the classroom, so make sure their actual uses are being taught even if it’s a little bit of a deviation from what you thought they’d need to learn.
The end goal is to get incredible storytellers to use incredible technology. If you keep that in mind, it’s tough to go wrong.
