Terp Tech Tips - Tips for Sign Language Video Production and Live Streaming
Yes this is a collection of the best tech tips for terps hoping to up their remote interpreting game. Despite the title this blog post is for anyone producing sign language videos or live streaming. If you are one of the following you are at the right blog post:
A Deaf professional hoping to communicate important messages to the Deaf community and your hearing colleagues
Sign language interpreter trying to figure out what tech to buy and how to use it so that you can continue providing access to your Deaf colleagues
Crisis Situation
With so many cities in lock down, Coronavirus/COVID-19 is making on-site interpreting a challenge for many events. Professionals and teachers are scrambling to keep continuity for their businesses, conferences, and courses. Many are sending out video or audio recordings or hosting them as live streamed events. Deaf professionals are already miles ahead of most people since video conferencing is one of their main tools for communication. Interpreters who have been focused on community interpreting are now scrambling to help fill the gaps left by the coronachaos of city, state, and province-wide lockdowns.
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Maintain Confidentiality
As a CASLI, AQILS, CAD or RID certified interpreter or member, the first thing you have to consider is maintaining the confidentiality part of the code of ethics. You might not be the only member of your family who now has to work from home. What used to be my personal office has now turned into a shared office with my husband. Fortunately I also have a soundproof audiobooth for my voiceover work and was able to convert it into a confidential VRI booth. Previously I hadn’t put a lock on the booth mostly so that my son wouldn’t accidentally lock himself in there. But with the new situation I’ve added a lock.
November 2020 update…as the pandemic continued we felt we needed more space. We moved to the country to a house where my husband and I could have more individual office space. My new office features a big window that provides nice light and also a good view between gigs.
Just Say “No!” to Blurry Jittery Videos!
You show up to appointments well groomed, in appropriate clothing and on-time. Being the professional that you are, you don’t want to send a blurry seizure inducing video to your clients. Read on to find out how to carry your professionalism into the remote interpreting realm.
Picking a Camera
Most importantly you need a camera that can do 30 fps - that means 30 frames per second. Any less than 24 frames per second and your hands will be blurry. Unfortunately the Facetime HD camera on my 2015 iMac and my colleagues 2016 iMac can’t do 30 fps.
Hey Apple, what’s up with the junky Facetime HD cameras? We should not have to go out and buy a Logitech camera.
If you use Apple products your iPhone has a much better camera. With a nice Bluetooth headset you can use your phone to do calls. More on that later. The other option is to get a nice external webcam. A few years ago when I saw that my ASUS laptop webcam wasn’t able to do 30p, I bought the Logitech C920.
Logitech C920
Using the Logi Capture app I can control all kinds of features. See the tutorial video further down the page.
Make sure your webcam can be controlled with a trusty app. Some off brand webcams don’t have a good app. Features like face recognition are fine and all, but with flying hands you need to be able to disable the autofocus.
Also, look at the Field of View. The bigger the number, the wider the picture. Bigger is not better here. Try to keep it down around the 70 degree field of view. The wider the field of view, the more of your background you can see. Already a 70 degree field of view needs a 7 foot wide backdrop. This is one reason why I prefer using a live capture card to connect a DSL or camcorder. More on that later.
Read the specs:
Here are some specs from CNET from a very old webcam and look, it can still do 30fps. but unfortunately the Logitech Camera app will no longer recognize it.
I’m currently researching Webcams and putting my picks for best webcam for sign language video production and live streaming here.
Logitech Stream Cam - really any of the recent Logitech cameras - great all around for producing video and conferencing. But look for one that offers a smaller field of view. For example the C920 is 78 degrees, but the BRIO 4K is 90 degrees.
Microsoft LifeCam Studio for Business
Webcams that don’t make the cut(in my opinion)
Logitech BRIO - it will make great quality video, but since the field of view is 90 degrees you will need a really wide backdrop, around 9 feet wide. a field of view of 90 is also going to distort the perspective.
Vitade 960A - can’t disable autofocus
As of March 29th most webcams under $200 are sold out or on back order. If you can’t find an appropriate webcam, as mentioned before, try using your cell phone. You might be surprised at how good the camera is.
Do you have an old camcorder or DSLR around? You can pair it with a live capture card - the kind gamers use. Sometimes the dongle-sized ones overheat, so I got the Elgato HD60 S. I use this for live streaming and connecting my Fujifilm DSLR and my Panasonic Handycam.
Camcorder & Live Capture Card
Here you see my Panasonic camcorder(about 7 years old) and the Elgato HD60 S live capture card.
Don’t forget to get the right wire to connect your camera to the live capture card. The Panasonic camcorder has a mini HDMI output, but the DSLR has a micro HDMI output.
Tripod Support Options
Cell Phone Tripod Mount
I put my cellphone on a small inexpensive tripod with this cell phone mount I found on Amazon. I prefer this design over some of the other ones I’ve tried.
Too Wobbly!
Avoid using these gooseneck cellphone holders that clamp onto your desk. Whenever you bump your desk they wobble and shake.
Too Wimpy!
Unless you have nothing else avoid using very cheap flimsy tripods. First time you bump your desk…BAM…your super expensive webcam hits the deck and your Deaf client sees an earthquake.
Lighting for Sign Language
Video coming soon, already filmed it, just need to edit
Use what you have…
For lights you can probably use a light you already own, like this one I got from Ikea “AS IS”. Do you like my ghetto fab hanger solution? Get creative and get producing.
Best Desktop Set Up for Recording
I used inexpensive items I already had around the house for this setup.
Bounce Lighting is The Best
Notice what a difference in lighting the lamp and bounce card make. The image will have softer shadows since it’s indirect light.
You’ll get best results by getting a high output bulb and bouncing it off the wall or a white card. Direct light will cause shadows and increase eyestrain for you.
Simple Gooseneck Desk Lamp
I love these lamps for lighting my videos. Get a high wattage incandescent or Fluorescent bulb and you are good to go.
I don’t use daylight LEDs since the color characteristics cause a great deal of eye strain.
LED = Eyestrain
Notice in this image the level of blue light in natural sunlight. Now look at the blue light peak in the LED. Our eyes are not designed to process that much blue light. LEDs in the 2000-3500K color range are slightly better.
Incandescent light bulbs don’t tend to be as bright. The color pickup technology in cameras handles light in the 4000-6000K range better so you’ll have clearer video.
What about LED selfie light rings?
I don’t prefer these since you will be looking directly at them. You will look good but after several minutes your eyes will start watering and may be damaged over the long run. If you must use these, bounce them off the wall and definitely get the yellow light(2000-3500K) not the daylight one.
My light bulb recommedation:
High output, high CRI daylight Fluorescent bulbs in the 4000k-6000k range will make for a clearer video. Higher wattage may increase eye strain.
Best Bulbs
Bouncing light off the wall will reduce the output exponentially. You’ll need a high output lightbulb. I recommend a 5500k high CRI flourescent screw in bulb.
Looking for a light fixture and don’t want to hit the stores? Look around your home or garage. I’m sure you have something that will work.
Clamp on Shop Lights
These are great. Just clamp them to your desk and aim them at the wall.
If you really want to go with professional lights I highly recommend The CanadianStudio Light Kits. I have purchased 3 of these kits myself, and 3 of my collegues have purchased them as well and are quite satisfied. If you are doing bigger set ups you can get the 2 light kit - each light has 4 bulbs.
Or if you are just sitting at a desk the 1 bulb kit should work.
If you have a window, just supplement with the 1 light kit.
CanadianStudio Single Umbrella Light with Stand
Below is an excellent video that show what can be accomplished with lights from your local hardware store(did you know you can order items online and have them shipped to you within a few days?). Just remember bouncing light off of the wall or foam core will soften those beams and reduce your personal eye strain.
Don't feel like going to the hardware store?
Woods 2839 18/2-Gauge SPT-2 Tight Grip Clamp Lamp with Reflector on AmazonBackground Options
Video coming soon, already filmed it, just need to edit
Literally you can staple a microfleece blanket to the wall. Don't use the fuzzy fleece, use microfleece and you have exactly what Lasolite sells as a wrinkle free backdrop. $20 from Amazon. Grey works best. Light blue works too. The navy blue is too dark.
Select a Color that Works with Your Skin Tone
You can staple a microfleece blanket or king size bed sheet to the wall. Select a color that contrasts with your skin tone, but it’s substantially darker or lighter than your skin. This navy blue is too dark for my skin. The camera adjusts the exposure for the blue background and I end up looking washed out.
November 2020 Update: In my new office I stapled a blue king size bed sheet to the wall with good results. I recommend getting a lighter blue since I have to play with my camera settings to get the right look. Some cameras will adjust the exposure to the background. If the background is darker than your skin tone, your face will end up very very bright, even washed out.
Another option is to buy a collapsible blue/greenscreen background. These are great because they pull the fabric tight and don’t have any wrinkles. They also pack away in a nice carrying bag. But you will have to find a YouTube video explaining how to get the dumb things back in the bag.
For about $70 CAD you can purchase a collapsible blue/greenscreen background on Amazon. Slippers are required while working from home.
Another super big issue with greenscreen is LIGHTING! You need to get the lights just right to get a clean greenscreen otherwise it looks like this: image coming soon. Unless you have TIME to watch youtube videos, PATIENCE to adjust the lights and do lots of tests and a bunch of LIGHTS…just get the blue one.
If you are a techie dinosaur (you know who you are- I love you just the same) and are only looking at this blog because stupid COVIDchaos has forced you to get set up at home, just skip this paragraph, it’s not worth the read. If you love tech and do photography as a hobby read on. In my opinion the greenscreen fabric backdrop isn’t for everyone. You have to steam it after you hang it to get the wrinkles out and figure out how to clip it so that it doesn’t look like a curtain fluttering in the wind.
Greenscreen Fabric
I got the 9’ x 12’ Neewer Greenscreen fabric backdrop. I am very impressed with the quality of the fabric and had great success clamping it to my Ikea curtain rod.
They come in bigger sizes than the collapsible backgrounds - and sometimes bigger is better - specifically when you don’t want to have monkey hands. Ever see the “Man Hands” episode of Seinfeld? Ever notice how huge your hands look when filming with your webcam? I call that monkey hands. It’s perspective. Any lens that is wider than 50mm will distort the size of your hands as they get closer to the lens. Most cell phones and webcams are 35mm, and that’s probably what we’ll be using to make interpreted videos. That’s fine. But what if you’ll be live-streaming your interpretation for the press conference that will be shown on television? You might want to use a nice DSLR or camcorder and set the lens to at least 50mm. If you do, you’ll need the fabric backdrop.
Headsets
If you also need a set up for interpreting conference calls, you will need a nice headset with microphone. The microphone on the ones you normally use with your cell phone might not be good enough.
I use the Logitech H600 Wireless Headset and love them. They are comfortable and I can hear really well with various platforms. I bought them directly from Logitech.
https://www.logitech.com/en-ca/product/wireless-headset-h600?crid=1875
Bluetooth Headset with Swivel Microphone
Logitech makes some nice ones. The benefit of bluetooth is that they can be used with all your devices and your hands aren’t going to get tangled up in a wire. Also, you can use your iPhone jack to connect your phone to power.
My husband lent me his old logitech headset, but one day right before a VRI appointment they broke and I had to quickly grab another pair with a wire that was barely long enough. Since there weren’t many options on Amazon I started looking at the MPOW gaming headset. I have a bluetooth pair of headphones just for listening to music with my cell phone and was satisfied with them. I returned the MPOW gaming headphones because the “mute” button wasn’t a true mute button…its just a signal cut off switch. This means that it simply cuts the microphone signal, so some video conferencing platforms will switch to the next available microphone. Then everyone in the meeting can still hear you. In my case it would switch to the webcam microphone. So rather than having a handy mute switch, I still had to use the mouse to mute using the interface. I returned them and bought the Logitech H600 wireless headset directly from Logitech. They do not accept order cancellations under any circumstances so make sure you really want what you are ordering. I was disappointed that the boom microphone can only be used on the right side. As a right handed signer I hit it several times a day. I wish it would rotate all the way around the ear piece like some other models so that I could use it on the left side where I don’t often touch my face.
I’ve also used the following:
Plantronics Explorer 50 Bluetooth Headset I love the Plantronics. Excellent audio quality.
The Teotronics Trucker headset intermittently cuts out the audio while attempting to eliminate background noise. I don't recommend it. Also, my hair got caught in it.
Mpow H19 IPO Active Noise Cancelling Headphones, Bluetooth 5.0 Headphones with CVC8.0 Microphones, 35H Playtime - on Amazon These are ok too, but not as good as the little Plantronics one.
VRI Intepreting tips
Ok! Now that you are all set up it’s time to actually do a VRI call. Here are some tips. First is this Zoom Tutorial from my collegue Brigitte Giguere, an LSQ interpreter over at SIVET.