[AG-TECH] camera position

[Roberts, Ian E]

At PNNL, we have two cameras on tripods raised to the level of the
bottom of the projection area, under the middle of the three screens
(where most of the remote windows are). I've found that the distance
from the screen (in our room, about 20 feet) is enough that the camera
does not need to be exactly next to the remote windows to facilitate eye
contact.

When we first set up the room, we had a camera under each of the three
screens, but upon watching how people used the room, I noticed you
really want eye contact when you are listening to someone who is
speaking directly to you (as opposed to someone who is presenting to
lots of people). I also noticed that for most meetings I only needed the
center display (which holds 6-9 medium remote windows, depending on the
resolution we use) for the remote video. I chose then to move the
left-most camera to the center and placed it directly next to the center
camera. This allows me to aim them side-by-side and get a whole view of
the room (like a wide-angle shot). It also means that no matter where
the people in the room are, they will be looking into the camera when
they turn to look at the remote people.

~ian




-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Zeeff [mailto:jzeeff at internet2.edu] 
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 6:43 AM
To: ag-tech at mcs.anl.gov


Research has shown that it's important that people be looking straight
into the camera.  Yet this appears to often not be the case.  For the
cases where it is being done, how are people positioning a camera in the
middle of a projection screen?