Unitube studios

There are three Unitube studios: One in Aleksandria on City Centre Campus, a second one in Exactum on Kumpula Campus and a third studio in the Infocentre building on Viikki Campus. The studios are equipped primarily for recording videos to be published in Unitube and live streaming through Unitube. Moreover, the audio and video from the studio equipment is also available via USB. Thus, the image and sound can be used in or recorded with software available on computer the USB cable is connected to. Use of the Unitube studios is a basic service and offered free of charge. The studios are designed to be used autonomously on a self-service basis. Thus a single person can both operate the equipment and appear in the recordings. Faculty members can book the studios for themselves as well as for their students. Students cannot make bookings in the Outlook calendar themselves but are welcome to use the studios as long as the use is closely related to University of Helsinki teaching, research or communication needs.

The Unitube studios are administered by the Educational Technology Services who also provide support and training for the users. Please schedule training and support in advance whenever possible as we are not always on call.

The location and streaming URL are listed below. You can reach us either via email edutech@helsinki.fi or by calling the custodian:

City Centre Campus, Aleksandria room 233, streaming page - Mikael Kivelä (away until end of 2024)
Kumpula Campus, Exactum room DK118, streaming page - Esko Kuittinen
Viikki Campus, Infocentre, room 2026, streaming page - Kristian Lindqvist

The caretakers at Aleksandria, Exactum and Infocentre Korona monitor the studios and only let in persons who have made a booking and use the studios within the opening hours of each building. See about booking and calendars below.

The studios can be booked only by University of Helsinki Staff members. Students are welcome to use the studios if it has been booked by their teacher or any other staff member. 

Please note the studios are available only during the opening hours of each building and caretakers only let in people who have successfully booked the studio. Unitube studios can be booked via the O365 calendar (click for instructions: Outlook, OWA).

The links below let you check the availability of each studio during the next three months or so. 

• Aleksandria, City Centre Campus (colloquially known as A-studio): calendar 
• Exactum, Kumpula Campus (K-studio): calendar
• Infocentre Korona, Viikki Campus (V-studio): calendar

NOTE! If you are logged in to Office 365 with the browser you attempt to open the calendar link in, the calendar might try to open in your personal OWA where it flickers and closes after a while. In that case, copy the calendar link and open it in another browser from the address bar.

• Familiarise yourself with the possibilities and limitations of the studio(s) by using the materials in the next chapter.
• Plan the pedagogical aspect of your video(s). We recommend checking out a number of different educational videos for both perspective and inspiration. 
• Book some time just for acquaint yourself with the studio. (Search "Aleksandria, 233, UniTube-studio", "Exactum, DK118, UniTube-studio" or "Infokeskus, 314, UniTube-studio". If you want guidance, see the contact information in the chapter above.
• Script your video (and practice). The script can be for example a storyboard containing both visual and written material of part of the video, brief presenter notes of the slides you are presenting or a literal script for a voice-over.
• Book one or more recording sessions. Try not to underestimate the preparation time or overestimate the capacity of the performers. For example 30-40 minutes per 15-20 minute video clip is quite a feat. Moreover performances tend to become stale after a couple of takes and not everyone can belt out clip after clip for several hours. So booking several one or two hour intensive sessions is often a better alternative than one marathon session. This is also a good way to avoid overbooking.
• We recommend having plenty of water available, in bottles. The studio air is dry especially during winter months. 
• When choosing your outfit remember the studio curtains are very dark graphite gray and densely textured fabrics can produce Moiré patterns.
• If you have presentation materials, bring either your own device or a backup copy on a memory stick.
• Remember to bring the card you use for printing in order to authenticate yourself. New cards need to be activated on the previous day in order to work with Unitube.

All three studios are operated on a self-service basis like all other Unitube-services. While a single person can operate the equipment and appear in the recordings, having an assistant may help immensely depending on the users and the intended use. 

We recommend reserving plenty of time when using a studio for the first time. In principle it is possible to be recording within a minute or so after entering the studio. In most cases, however, fifteen minutes is a more realistic set-up time. Studying these instructions will help, but as technology tends to always be more complex than one would think, we do recommend having a flexible schedule. The workflow and a number of possible uses are described in the videos and pdf-instructions.

• Control panel for the recording equipment. The panel requires authentication with your printing card. A new card needs to be registered no later than on the previous day in order to work with Unitube services.
• Two cameras controlled from the panel. Camera one is a fixed installation and camera two is mounted on a tripod. The tripod can me moved about and adjusted as necessary but otherwise panning, tilting and zooming are done via the control panel.
• One microphone on a stand and at least two more in fixed positions hanging from the ceiling. In Kumpula the microphones are selected based on the shooting option and can be turned on and off individually. In Viikki and City Centre an automatic mixer controls the microphones
• a standard University of Helsinki Windows workstation with a wireless keyboard and mouse.
• a screen and pair of headphones for monitoring the recorded or streamed video and audio.
• studio lights with preset settings for all available shooting options
• the Kumpula studio is equipped with a touchboard

Studio furnishings

• Lectern with height adjustment. The control panel is installed into the lectern.
• coffee table and four armchairs for group discussions. (Drinking coffee is not a good idea if the studio has a carpeted floor)
• graphite gray heavy curtains on all four walls
• green wall for Chroma key effects
• equipment rack
• Kumpula is equipped with a wheeled whiteboard

Instructions

Aleksandria studio user instructions.pdf (FI / EN)

Virtual visit to the studio in Kumpula
Kumpula studio instructions.pdf (EN)

Viikki studio 360-image with instructions (EN)
Viikki studio control panel quick instructions (FI / EN)