Digital media Elements for Applications - Am i the only one who thinks this ?

I'm delivering the unit – Digital Media Elements for Applications.As you may or may not, the students are required to "aquire" a 30–60 second video AND audio track using a "device". It states using mobile phones as one option, but most mobile phones video use 3gp as a file format which doesn't import into Movie Maker or Premiere... (without codecs or converting it to something else first).

In the old Intro to video unit (D1D011) ... the students have to make a video and 'maybe' add sound as backing music.

In the old Multimedia Higher unit (DF32 12) they would have added video, audio, animation and graphics into an application...NOT into a video.

yet for the Digital Media Elements unit we are being asked to:

For part 3 –

Using appropriate software tools, create a short video clip of approximately 30 seconds which includes:

 o a MIDI sound file (file format isn't an issue as it would need to be converted, but this is a flaw in the ASP)
 o a 2D animation
 o a bitmap
 o a vector graphic.

then part 6

Integrate media elements into the application. At least one of each of the following digital media elements must be integrated:
 o audio clip
 o video clip
 o animation
 o bitmap graphic
 o vector graphic.

so effectively doing the job twice. The final product will be an application with animation, sound, vector and bitmap graphics AND a video that contains animation, sound, vector and bitmap graphics... put together in a web, flash or shockwave interface.... so in the remaining time left for the course, they'll need to learn:
– A video editing package (Premiere, Movie Maker, imovie etc)
– An audio editing package (Audition, Audacity etc)
– A multimedia authoring package (Dreamweaver, Flash, Director etc)... this would need to be covered in detail as the students need to demonstrate "an error free application" to the tutor.

I think its a lot of work for them especially for an Int2 unit.... not impossible but it will be a serious stretch on time, student ability and resources. I'm not sure about the other ASP's, but this unit just seems a bit out of touch with the level at which it is aimed.

Am I the only one that feels like this?

My solution would be:

Aquire a 30 second video, cut and edit it adding filters etc as required (nothing outside the realms of Movie Maker)...

Record 30 second (or so) of audio which could be used as voiceover or sound effects to the video

Plan, design and create a 2d animation (Flash or Image Ready etc.), save in an optimised format. Plan, design and create a bitmapped and vector graphic using appropriate software, save in an optimised format.

Gather all assests and combine into an application (web, flash or shockwave) then demonstrate the error free application to the tutor.

I think this would still stretch the students and ease up the workload some what.

Your views would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, I think this is a lot of work too – a lot of repetition.

It makes a lot of sense to combine different media – animation, vectors, bitmaps, sound and video into a multimedia application, but the part about combining animation, vectors, bitmaps and midi into a VIDEO seems a bit too much.

Maybe we could just build the application and set a video camera up to record the screen while the application runs! ;-)