Folks – a couple of preparatory notes for tomorrow’s live newsroom simulation. And to make things all the more fun, we’ll be joined in the classroom by our very own Dean Shephard tomorrow, who’ll be observing the class throughout much of the afternoon.

1) To save time, make sure to be prepared with details of your best couple of multimedia clips. If I ask you the best soundbite, you’ll know it. If I ask you about the quality of the audio, you’ll be able to describe it. If I ask you whether the subject had a good anecdote, you’ll be able to cite it.

2) To avoid a bottleneck during the simulation, please make sure you know how to transcode your video from your smartphone to FinalCut. This is especially important for those of you with Android or other non-iPhone smartphones. Remember – It is your individual responsibility to know how your phone works. We just can’t provide tech support for the many models you all have.

If you’re not sure how to proceed, here’s one suggestion that may work for Android phones – try the process used for transferring from the school’s Canon 60D camera (link – see Step 3, transcoding using MPEG Streamclip). If you’re still stymied, check your phone manual or online site for how to transfer video material. Or check with your peers who may have had success with such a transfer!

Good luck gathering and preparing your clips. See you at 1pm sharp!