8. Producing Sign Language Videos

Recommended Equipment for Studio Setup

• Camera format
  • The camera should be digital, because of its superior ease of use, quality, and edition.
  • The camera should have at least 8 GB of storage.
  • It should be a camera that can film in high definition, HD: The exact quality to be used is decided in post-production, but for editing purposes, it is crucial that the filming is as high quality as possible.
  • The camera should preferably have a manual configuration.
  • The camera should preferably have a manual lens.
  • The camera should preferably have an automatic or Manual White Balance.

Image showing the Camera format

• Lighting system

• Point lighting
  • The main light is positioned about 45 degrees right or left of the subject and 45 degrees downward, pointing to where the face and torso are located.
  • A filler light is located behind and opposite the main light, at the height of the camera,
  • Rear light that is slightly above the subject, shining back to the screen or chroma

• Flat lighting
  • Two lights are positioned behind the camera, in opposite directions, in order to cover the entire surface and eliminate shadows.

Image showing the Lighting System

• Sound Recording
  • The recording of the voiceover should be in WAV format, which provides the best audio quality
  • The recording should take place in a recording studio or in a controlled environment that is acoustically desirable and isolated to reduce background noise.
  • The microphone should be a high-sensitivity digital microphone, preferably unidirectional
  • Closed or semi-open headphones
  • Microphone stand: this makes the work easier and helps avoid vibrations
  • Editing software such as Audacity will be used

Image of the studio showing the necessary distances

• The camera and the signer 6 meters
• The reflectors and the camera 5 meters
• The green screen and the camera 7 meters
• The screen and the signer 3 meters

• Video editing
  • The video has a voice-over, which can be turned on and off.
  • The voice will accompany the sign language, not the text.
  • The duration of each film block is calculated and then used to time the voice recording, which should last about the same as the sign language block.
  • In the case of literary texts, the voice-over will accompany the written text.
  • In the case of storytelling, a voice-over accompanies the narrator.
  • The team will convene persons to put their voices to the text or story.
  • A detailed timeline will be developed by the reader and the sound engineer.
  • Each reader will practice reading according to the speed of the sign language narration.
  • The reader must agree to the use of his or her voice.
  • During the recording, an assistant will make sure that the reading of the text, the pronunciation, intonation, and timing are adequate.
  • The sound engineer edits the voices and sends the files to the coordinator, who checks them before sending them to the editor

• Packaging
  • DVDs
  • EPUBs - the template is located in Github
  • Online
  • Flash Drives

Image showing the end product: EPUB for the video

Image of the Signer, Background, and the text caption

• Signing Actor
  • The clothing used by the actors must be one color, either black or white, depending on the skin color of the presenter
  • The clothing or the hair must not interfere with the clear understanding of the signs and during editing
  • High contrast between the signer’s hands and the video background-color
• Caption text 
  • Make subtitles optional for the videos, i.e. that the videos can be watched with or without subtitles.
  • Color: White fill, Black stroke, and large font

Image from original PDF book

• how we take only the image and added it to the video
  • Open the PDF in Acrobat, and then choose Tools > Export PDF
  • Click Image and then choose the image file format that you want to save the images in.
    • JPEG
    • NPG
  • Click Save to save only the images from the PDF to the selected file format
  • Place the image in the video