VRC News

To learn more about the resources and services offered by the VRC, explore the links to your left

2012-2013

Equipment Circulation Software
This year we are implementing a new software system, called WebCheckout, for equipment circulation in the VRC Equipment Room. This will make reservations and checkouts much smoother and quicker. We are hoping to have the implementation complete before the end of the spring 2013 semester.

Document Scanning Pilot
During the spring 2013 semester the VRC is piloting a document scanning project for faculty. This is a service to help digitize materials intended for course reserves, such as those that might be shared on D2L. At the end of the semester we will assess the feasibility of the service in terms of staffing and faculty needs, and may go on to offer it as an ongoing service in the future.

Slide Collection News
The VRC will finish the culling process of the slide collection before the end of the spring 2013 semester, after which we will have a much smaller collection of 35mm slides to archive indefinitely. These materials include field photography from past faculty members, images of faculty and student creative work, images from the Visiting Artist program, and other items that relate uniquely to our curriculum.

CS6 on all computers
The VRC has upgraded the Adobe Production Premium software suite on all of our public computer stations to CS6.

2011-2012

Expanded VRC hours
The VRC is now open during the fall and spring semesters 8:00am – 7:30pm, M-F. See our home page for year-round hours.

Visiting Artist Videos in LUNA
The VRC continues to add videos from our Visiting Artist Program to our LUNA collection. As of September 2011, these date back to 2006, and we will continue the process of converting our entire collection to streaming format in the coming months. Please see our videos page for more information.

VRC Open Houses: Fall 2011
Art and Art History students, faculty, and staff are welcome to come by the VRC during our Open Houses to enjoy complimentary fresh-brewed coffee or Tazo teas, as well as pastries/cookies. Stop by, say hi, and learn what’s new this year!

Tuesday, 9/13, 10:00am – 3:00pm
Wednesday, 9/21, 10:00am – 3:00pm
Thursday, 12/1, 10:00am – 3:00pm

VRC Tea and Technology Workshop Series: Fall 2011
These informative sessions are designed to be of interest to faculty and students in both studio art and art history. Topics this fall include photographing 2-D and 3-D artwork and editing images of artwork using Photoshop. Complimentary Tazo tea and other hot beverages are provided.

OIT’s Introduction to Photoshop workshops, offered by OIT staff, complement the Photoshop training offered by the VRC in image editing. Areas covered are creating images, discovering and using tools, and saving and modifying files. The schedule is available at the link above.

VRC Offers More Equipment
The VRC now offers more equipment than ever. Visit our equipment page for a complete list with links to specifications. New equipment includes:

• Portable shooting kit: portable soft box with lights for photographing small works
• Voice Tracer digital sound recorders: one for classroom use; one for creative work and documentation
• Photography backdrops: red, white, gray, black, with stands available
• Elmo document camera: works with a data projector to display small, opaque, 2-D and 3-D objects
• Misc. peripherals: iPhone/iPod charger, memory card readers, Canon camera remotes, Mac laptop power adapter

New Portfolio Photography Room
Located in the VRC, the Portfolio Photography Room is for photographing small to medium 2-D and 3-D works. The room is equipped with a removable shooting table for smaller 3-D works. One wall is used for hanging framed 2-D works, and another has a magnetic surface for hanging unframed 2-D works.

• Nikon D300 Camera kit, shooting wirelessly to an iPad
• Nikon AFS DX 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 wide angle lens
• Bogen Tripod
• Bogen Still Life Shooting Table with Plexiglass
• Promaster Fluorescent Three-Light Studio Reflector Kit

New Software and Hardware at Imaging Stations

• All public scanning stations have been upgraded to CS5 (Adobe Production Premium suite: Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition, Flash Catalyst, Flash Professional, OnLocation, Encore, Device Central, Bridge, Media Encoder).
• Each station now features Acrobat X Pro.
• Memory card readers available at each station.

NEWS FROM PREVIOUS YEARS
See the VRC news archive.