Posted by William Davis on 02/04/06 23:11

In article <ds30u5$1ct$1@daisy.noc.ucla.edu>, Mark <nospam@nospam.com>
wrote:

> Hi,
>
> We are in a university department, and want to produce some good video
> of rats performing a task - good enough for the media.
>
> We are planning on using a mini-dv camera (that's the format they want).
>
> There are a number of concerns:
>
> * I know that lighting is critical, particularly when there is only
> artificial light available. Since this will be a one-off, we don't want
> to buy lights. What would the best lights be to use that we have hanging
> around. Are incandescent lights okay? What about fluros? Perhaps a
> combination of both? I think the lab is lit with fluros, but we can
> probably supplement this with globes. Are there particular incandescent
> globes that give good light for video?
>
> * We are thinking of using a PAL camera, and then converting to NTSC.
> Does software conversion do this okay? We do currently have Adobe
> Premiere. Does that do it with good results? Any recommendations for
> other software, hopefully free?
>
> * The camera can record in both interlaced and progressive scan. Should
> we use interlaced given that the footage might be broadcast? Or do the
> tv networks now prefer progressive?

Hi,

I'm a videographer in a studio and I'd like to produce an experiment
with rats that I could publish in a reputable scientific journal.

I'm planning on using white rats.

There are a number of concerns.

I know that there are particular breeds of rats that professional
scientists use for experiments. How can I get ahold of some. I don't
really want to study up on rats, or on science, or laboratory
procedures, I just want to generate a scientific study that will stand
up to public and professional scrutiny.

I'm thinking that grey rats would be best because I know that solid
white or solid black rats would be hard to light. Would grey rats be OK
for my scientific study?

Also, I'd like to make my maze complicated, but not too complicated.
Since I've never made a rat maze before, can you help me understand what
kind of maze professionals use and how I can make sure MY maze is
professional enough to produce the kind of quality study results that
can get my production taken seriously in something like the New England
Journal of Medicine?

Thanks.


;)

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