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Best set up for taking part in online dance classes?


Confuddled

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I’ve spent a lot of time this week fiddling around trying to get a phone or laptop in the right position for all of dd to show up in the picture for online zoom lessons. The issue seems to be that we don’t have a big enough house to get the phone far enough away...

 

Has as anyone found a way to get a more wide angle view from a phone, maybe by blue tooth connection to a webcam with a wider lens? Or is there some other solution that gets the whole of a dancer’s body on-screen even if they move a step or two from their initial position? 

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I'm not sure it's possible in a normal sized house? My DDs' teachers get them to angle their screens down or up depending on the exercise. There is a lot of screen-down during tap! 

 

In my street classes I can't see my teacher's feet because the boxes with participant camera views are lined up across the bottom and I can't move them (Google hangouts). I end up asking so many stupid questions...

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Oh that’s a shame on my iPad the other participants are along the bottom too but if I press the minus icon in the little gallery piccies they disappear and I just keep mine in the right hand corner so the teacher can see what I’m doing if they want to. 
I only get 4 gallery piccies up for view at a time so have to scroll along to see everybody ...this is nice at the end of class to have 5 mins chat with  people. I know others in the group are using computers and laptops I can ask them if they have found a way of clearing the gallery 

 

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Well, certainly on Zoom you can arrange it so that you can get rid of the gallery and just have the teacher filling the whole screen.  As long as s/he has a nice big TV screen so that s/he can see each of the participants in sufficient detail.  Come to think of it, mine has a not very big lounge, and yet she's got it set up so we can see her full-length, so it must be possible somehow to get yourself completely on-screen - I just haven't worked out how to do it yet.

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8 hours ago, alison said:

Well, certainly on Zoom you can arrange it so that you can get rid of the gallery and just have the teacher filling the whole screen.  As long as s/he has a nice big TV screen so that s/he can see each of the participants in sufficient detail.  Come to think of it, mine has a not very big lounge, and yet she's got it set up so we can see her full-length, so it must be possible somehow to get yourself completely on-screen - I just haven't worked out how to do it yet.

My daughter uses her iMac for teaching her online Zoom classes which allows her to be seen in full length. She did start off by using her iPad and a tripod which also showed her in full length but finds the iMac has a wider angle lens and allows her to move around more. I think by clicking on 'pin video' this then selects whoever you want to focus on. 

 

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Yes we are told to pin videos and mute our sound once teacher is teaching. We can unmute to ask questions at the end of an exercise but if somebody forgets to mute themselves again their piccie sometimes flashes in if there’s a sudden noise from where they are practising ( somebody opening or closing a door etc) luckily once the music starts this is usually enough to keep the teacher on the screen!! 
On an iPad if you tap twice quickly on the person you want accentuated it usually works but muting is important. 
One teacher mutes everyone from her end and this works well.
 

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2 hours ago, Charliesmum said:

We ended up putting our computer on a chair rather than the table, I then use string to hold it in place as it needs to be sort of ballenced on the edge in order for the teacher and Charlie to get a good a good view

 

We’ve been doing something similar - phone is propped up on a stool with a mini beanbag (which is usually a microwave hot pack) so we can get the angle right.

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You can buy lenses to clip over a webcam or ipad that makes the angle wider... I bought a set off amazon which helps make the view from my ipad better.

 

For teaching I have a laptop connected to the computer which enables me to see the students in gallery view, then I also log into the meeting on my ipad in portrait view with a clip on lens which ensures the students can see me from top to toe. For younger classes I put myself in spotlight view so they can only see me and no-one else, but for older students they benefit from seeing the whole class including themselves.

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49 minutes ago, drdance said:

You can buy lenses to clip over a webcam or ipad that makes the angle wider... I bought a set off amazon which helps make the view from my ipad better.

 

For teaching I have a laptop connected to the computer which enables me to see the students in gallery view, then I also log into the meeting on my ipad in portrait view with a clip on lens which ensures the students can see me from top to toe. For younger classes I put myself in spotlight view so they can only see me and no-one else, but for older students they benefit from seeing the whole class including themselves.

 

Ooh, that gadget sounds interesting. Would you recommend that particular one? It’s hard to tell which might be best specifically for dance from the Amazon reviews.

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I’m really rubbish about tech... so, if a student clipped this over ipad or phone it would enable wider/longer/more full body view for teacher taking online class & also if using phone etc to record video/take photos? 

Could I be cheeky & ask if there is any way Dr Dance you could post a link to a demo photo/video - without then with gadget to see the difference it makes as I’m more confuddled than Confuddled!! 

Thanks in advance....

 

Edited by Peanut68
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3 hours ago, drdance said:

Confuddled: I bought this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N48IJ2M?ref_=pe_3187911_248764861_302_E_DDE_dt_1 and use it with the wide and macro lenses together and it seems to help!

I checked out & only £6! Quite low stock, so I’ve acted on your recommendation Dr Dance (in advance of a deluge of Balletic forum orders!) & have ordered 2 as think could help with online music lesson for son too...🤞🏻

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4 hours ago, Peanut68 said:

I’m really rubbish about tech... so, if a student clipped this over ipad or phone it would enable wider/longer/more full body view for teacher taking online class & also if using phone etc to record video/take photos? 

Could I be cheeky & ask if there is any way Dr Dance you could post a link to a demo photo/video - without then with gadget to see the difference it makes as I’m more confuddled than Confuddled!! 

Thanks in advance....

 

 

I clip mine over the camera and it does allow a bigger field of vision. It varies depending on whether you use zoom or ipad's own camera or for photos or videos etc but I can try to do a demo?!

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coincindentially   i have a Samsung TV  as well as a Samsung Galaxy S9 phone  

this means  i can easily  mirror  the phone screen to the tv  over wifi. 

I use  tripod / selfie stick   and keep the phone in portrait  orientation  because it allows the closest to a full length image 

output-onlinejpgtools.jpg

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15 minutes ago, Peanut68 said:

Length of room gonna be key here!! If only we had a ‘Long Gallery’ or Ballroom.....🤔

 

Yes, dd is sure everyone else has much bigger houses, proper ballet flooring, their own barres etc from looking at them in zoom lessons. It may well be true, but there’s a terrace-sized limit to what we can manage in our house.

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1 hour ago, Confuddled said:

 

Yes, dd is sure everyone else has much bigger houses, proper ballet flooring, their own barres etc from looking at them in zoom lessons. It may well be true, but there’s a terrace-sized limit to what we can manage in our house.

 

I think everyone is just making do with what they've got.  In class yesterday I was struggling not to kick the window in the grand battement one side and not to kick the coffee table the other.  Looking at people on the gallery view from zoom for my classes, I am far from the only one doing dance classes in an imperfect setting.  Also some people are using custom backgrounds I think which may look better or more like a ballet studio.  I was most amused by the person I saw in a non ballet context doing a class in front of the iron throne.  

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1 minute ago, drdance said:

I'll try and record something to show you my set up later on, once I'm ready to teach! I have classes from 3-7 tonight...

That would be great Dr Dance - thank you!

Good luck with classes & your empathy from a teacher perspective in another thread was much appreciated xx

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11 minutes ago, TYR said:

I have yet to find a way to get my feet in shot.

Definitely.  I can either show my torso and legs or my feet.  I don't have quite enough space or a wide enough angle lens to show both and I am not able to upgrade the technology  any further to accommodate this.  That said it doesn't appear to stop the teachers giving me corrections.  

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11 hours ago, Tango Dancer said:

 

I think everyone is just making do with what they've got.  In class yesterday I was struggling not to kick the window in the grand battement one side and not to kick the coffee table the other.  Looking at people on the gallery view from zoom for my classes, I am far from the only one doing dance classes in an imperfect setting.  Also some people are using custom backgrounds I think which may look better or more like a ballet studio.  I was most amused by the person I saw in a non ballet context doing a class in front of the iron throne.  

My husband and I regularly connect via Zoom (he's working overseas currently) and he often has the Golden Gate Bridge or the moon as his backdrop. I don't have the functionality to change mine so unfortunately he only gets to see the walls in our lounge or dining room as my backdrop!

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19 hours ago, drdance said:

Hi Peanut and Confuddled, and anyone else who's interested - I have done a little video demo for you all 

 

demonstrates the  process / kit  from a teaching point of view  

i'd stand by  my assertion that  *as a student*  if  your phone / tablet supports screen mirroring to  the TV / decent monitor   that is adequate 

 presumably by  having the  laptop connected to the TV  you can get a nice big gallery view of your students  ?

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19 hours ago, NJH said:

demonstrates the  process / kit  from a teaching point of view  

i'd stand by  my assertion that  *as a student*  if  your phone / tablet supports screen mirroring to  the TV / decent monitor   that is adequate 

 presumably by  having the  laptop connected to the TV  you can get a nice big gallery view of your students  ?

Yes the set up is designed for teaching - I have always made that clear. It was really a video in response to those people who asked about the clip on lense for my camera. 

 

Laptop to tv gives me a big gallery view of my students, yes. It's vital. I tried using my ipad alone and mirroring it to my tv but by having it in portrait view limited the number of students I could see.

 

As a teacher - I prefer my students to have portrait view from either a phone or ipad because I can see them better. Either that or their laptop needs to be a long way away!

Edited by drdance
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6 hours ago, drdance said:

Yes the set up is designed for teaching - I have always made that clear. It was really a video in response to those people who asked about the clip on lense for my camera. 

 

Laptop to tv gives me a big gallery view of my students, yes. It's vital. I tried using my ipad alone and mirroring it to my tv but by having it in portrait view limited the number of students I could see.

 

As a teacher - I prefer my students to have portrait view from either a phone or ipad because I can see them better. Either that or their laptop needs to be a long way away!

i agree that  portrait view is a must for the student 

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