II B. Personnel

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II B. Setting Up a Multimedia Production Department: Personnel
Ideally the person in charge of a multimedia production department would be a Multimedia Developer who has experience with all aspects of video, computer, print, and sound production. He or she should not only supervise production but also contribute in the tasks involved in production.

Skills of a Multimedia Developer

PRE-PRODUCTION SKILLS:

Planning: idea creation, scripting, storyboarding
Directing: scene selection, camera angles, continuity, and ability to direct people.
Teaching: All productions are trying to convey a message. Knowledge of learning styles, teaching techniques, barriers to learning, etc. are needed for educational and training productions.

PRODUCTION SKILLS

Videography

Camera skills: Knows camera operation, able to compose shots and smoothly move, zoom, & focus.
Lighting skills: Able to set up appropriate lighting in different environments for different effects for video or photography.
Sound recording skills: Able to set up in field or studio mics and mixers for getting good sound. Able to troubleshoot sound problems.
Music and sound skills: Able to select appropriate music and sound effects for a video soundtrack. Also able to digitize and edit voice, music, or sound effects. Ideally, able to compose music, sound effects, and musical rifts using computer based midi equipment.

Computer

Computer graphic skills: Able to either free hand draw, digitize, or use clip art to assemble computer illustrations for video or desktop publishing.
Computer animation skills: Experience in creating animations of characters, graphics, objects, text, etc. Knowledge of various shortcuts and techniques.
3-D Computer graphic skills: Able to either model or use existing 3-D objects and create 3-D scenes.
3-D Computer animation skills: Able to create animations using 3-D techniques.
Image processing skills: Experience in digitizing and conversion of images to various file formats, sizes, and colors. Also able to perform special effects on images.

POST-PRODUCTION SKILLS

Video editing skills: Able to meet all types of editing challenges; transitions, video or sound inserts, continuity, sound mixing, etc. Also able to interpret and use video diagnostic tools.
Digital video editing skills: Able to use non-linear editing software/systems.
Programming skills: Ability to program in authoring or programming languages.
Desktop Publishing skills: Able to assemble images and text into aesthetic and effective documents.
Multimedia presentation skills: Experience in making & doing multimedia presentations that integrate sound, image, video, and text through the use of a variety of equipment.

OTHER SKILLS

Technical skills: Some electrical and electronic troubleshooting skills needed to locate and fix common cabling and equipment problems.
General computer skills: Should be a power user of computer productivity software, such as, word processing, spreadsheets, and databases.

As you can see, a multimedia developer is a multi-talented individual and could be a one person production department. Unfortunately, these people are hard to find and a combination of people is usually needed. You usually find people who have video skills but no computer skills and vice versa. In large production facilities there is usually a different person for each of the 19 skill areas mentioned.

Other Personnel

Even though multimedia developers can do all the steps needed for a production, they are just one person and can only work so fast. The equipment and themselves are best utilized when there's additional personnel. For example, having someone with video skills can be delegated the video production tasks. A computer graphics person can handle artwork and image processing. A person with programming skills is also a great asset. There are also individuals who are somewhat skilled in both video and computers; I call them Multimedia Specialists. Plus we can't forget the help of student workers and interns.

Multimedia Production Team

Here are for some personnel arrangements and suggested starting salaries for a multimedia production team:

                     Multimedia Developer(40k+) 
                     /          |          \
 Audio/Video Tech Intern(10k+)  |  Computer Graphics Intern(10k+)
                                |
             2 Half-time student workers(5k each/yr)


                     Multimedia Developer(40k+) 
                     /          |          \
 Audio/Video Technician(22k+)   |  Computer Graphics Specialist(22k+)
            /                   |                  \
 Audio/Video Tech Intern(10k+)  |  Computer Graphics Intern(10k+)
                                |
             2 Half-time student workers(5k each/yr)


                     Multimedia Developer(40k+) 
                    /           |           \
                   /      Programmer(33k+)   \
                  /             |             \
                 / Multimedia Specialist(28k+) \
                /               |               \
 Audio/Video Technician(22k+)   |  Computer Graphics Specialist(22k+)
              /                 |                  \
 Audio/Video Tech Intern(10k+)  |  Computer Graphics Intern(10k+)
                                |
             2 Half-time student workers(5k each/yr)

Instructional Designers could be hired on a as-needed basis. If an Instructional Designer has good multimedia production skills, then he or she could replace the Multimedia Developer. Typically instructional designers are good at planning and evaluation, but not necessarily production.