The Material List is available here: GFC MSU Lightboard Material List
The GFC MSU Lightboard utilizes a 80/20 extruded Aluminum Frame with an added hydraulic lift to facilitate vertical movement of the setup. Using the 80/20 frame allowed for custom measurements to be used which allowed us to fit the space we were using and the hydraulic lift was added to accommodate height differences of faculty members based on a height range of 5' to 6.5'. We highly recommend identifying the space for the setup prior to allow for customization of the frame and glass. Low iron glass was used to maximizes the internal reflection of the light from LED light strips placed inside the frame which increased the contrast of the markers on the glass. It also decreased the visibility of smears and smudges on the glass on the video capture.
The frame was assembled on three side leaving the top frame open. The glass inserted was carefully inserted (it is VERY heavy) followed by the LED light strips which were fed down the aluminum frame. Using the strips allowed for custom lengths and only required a small amount of soldering to attach it to the dimmer switch. The top frame was added stabilizing the setup.
A Panasonic Lumix GH4 DSLR Camera with 4K video was chosen for the lecture capture because of the video file output. This camera allows for MP4 recording and does not require a conversion from a proprietary file type allowing for immediate upload of files to a repository or the campus learning management system. To link Audio and Video and to simplify syncing a Panasonic Interface was used to allow microphone input directly as well as to provide an audio level display monitor for feedback to ensure audio is connected.
A TV screen provides real-time feedback to the user so they can see in real-time what the mirrored image looks like.
Sound quality was a major consideration for our project as the room we are housed in has a fan running continuously and which could not be turned off as it runs part of the college's IT infrastructure. Finding a quality microphone which would be able to filter out ambient noise was very important. The room is also housed between a student gathering center and a large lecture hall. When large events are occurring external sounds are sometimes picked up by the microphone but overall the Sennheiser Camera Wireless Mic has worked well.
