| Module Code | CS7028 |
| Module Name | Audio Video and Sensor Technologies |
| ECTS Weighting[1] | 10 ECTS |
| Semester taught | Semester 1 & 2 |
| Module Coordinator/s | Jack Cawley, Andrew Holohan, and Gareth young |
Module Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
Audio Technologies (Jack Cawley):
- LO01. Understand the nature of sound
- LO02. Understand digital sound fundamentals
- LO03. Use portable digital recorders to capture location recordings
- LO04. Set up microphones for recording voice and sound effects
- LO05. Use audio editing software and effects to optimise audio recordings
- LO06. Explore sound synthesis to create new sounds
- LO7. Use DAW software and mix automation to create a soundscape
Moving Image for Digital Applications (Andrew Holohan):
- LO08. Assess the technical requirements for producing a video.
- LO09. Operate professional camera and apply shooting techniques.
- LO10. Produce professional quality video projects
- LO11. Recognise common terms and practices in the creation of a video
- LO12. Shoot/light an interview
- LO13. Editing video footage together
- LO14. Simple graphics and audio editing, keyframing
- LO15. Using microphones to capture sound for video, synchronising
- LO16. Understanding the language of film in practical context
- LO17. Understanding the why and meaning of filmic techniques
Extended Reality Technologies (Gareth W. Young):
- LO18. Explain the fundamental principles of extended reality (XR), including perception, rendering, displays, tracking, interaction, and spatial computing.
- LO19. Apply appropriate tools and techniques to create and evaluate interactive XR content, including immersive environments, augmented reality experiences, 3D assets, and embodied interactions.
- LO20. Design, develop, and critically evaluate an XR experience with reference to technical constraints, interaction design, user experience, and current developments in immersive media.
Moving Image for Digital Applications (Gareth W. Young):
- LO21. Describe and contextualize key developments in moving-image culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
- LO22. Analyze moving-image works using appropriate aesthetic, narrative, cultural, political, and theoretical concepts.
- LO23. Compare different moving-image forms and evaluate how formal and technological choices shape meaning and spectatorship.
- LO24. Research and critically evaluate appropriate sources relating to a selected area of moving-image culture.
- LO25. Communicate critical and research findings effectively through written, oral, and audio-visual forms.
- LO26. Reflect critically on the relationship between established moving-image practices and contemporary interactive, spatial, and immersive media.
Module Content
Audio Technologies (Jack Cawley)
- Introduction to Sound and Acoustics: Acoustic waves; Time and Frequency; Decibels and loudness; Inverse Square Law
- Room Acoustics and Psychoacoustics: Pitch, Loudness and Timbre; Impulse responses
- Digital and Analog Audio: Sampling Rate; Bit depth; AD/DA conversion; Sampling theorem; Dynamic Range
- Microphones: Dynamic microphones; Condenser microphones; Microphone Directivity; Proximity effect
- Mixing Console Workflow: Gain control; Equalizers; Panning, summing and master faders; Auxiliary channels; Phantom power; Pre-amplification; Pre- and Post-fader control
- Audio Signal Processing: Equalizers; Reverberation; Dynamic Range Processing; Modulation Effects; Distortion; Pitch Correction
- Mixing in DAWs: Panning; Equalization; Automation; Inserts; Sends
- Recording Techniques: Stereo Recording: Coincident/Spaced pair, Binaural Audio
- MIDI: How MIDI works; Basic MIDI commands; General MIDI; MIDI Interfaces; MIDI in sequencers; Quantization; Virtual Instruments (VST plug-ins)
- Introduction to Surround Sound: Overview of Multi-Channel Audio Technology
- Mixing for 5.1 surround sound: Surround Panning and Automation
Moving Image for Digital Applications (Gareth W. Young)
This component introduces students to key concepts, histories, and debates surrounding moving-image culture and its development across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It examines how moving images construct meaning through narrative, mise-en-scène, editing, representation, and modes of spectatorship, while also considering the aesthetic, cultural, political, and ethical contexts in which moving-image works are produced and experienced.
Students encounter a broad range of moving-image forms, including animation, narrative cinema, documentary, propaganda, experimental and postmodern film, video installation, projection design, and extended reality. Particular attention is given to works that challenge established conventions, expand the possibilities of the moving image, or reconsider the relationship among viewer, screen, space, and interaction.
Teaching combines lectures, short screenings, close analysis, class discussion, and reflective writing. Students are encouraged to relate historical and theoretical material to contemporary digital media practice and to consider how established moving-image conventions continue to shape emerging interactive and immersive media.
Moving Image for Digital Applications (Andrew Holohan)
- Narrative and narration
- Editing
- Camera Techniques
- Documentary Film and Video
- Motivated Filmmaking
- Interview techniques
- Moving Image
- Old Media, New Media and the Contemporary Media Landscape
- Camera, Lighting and Editing in Practice
- Digital Video Specifications
- Exposure Control & Colour Balance
- Camera Controls
- Audio Recording – including use of specific microphones
- Composition & Framing
- Lighting Techniques
- Post Production
- Audio Mixing in Post Production
- Digital Video File Encoding: data rates, frame sizes, compression rates, compression codecs
Practical topics include:
- Introduction to Digital Video (Introductions; Course Outline)
- Digital Video Specifications (Sensors: CMOS, CCD; Video formats;
- Aspect ratio; Frame rates; Resolution; Scan Method)
- Exposure & Colour Balance (Aperture; Shutter Speed; ISO / Gain; White
Balance)
- Introduction to Camera Systems (Controls; Functions; Operation; Tripod vs
Handheld)
- Audio techniques for video production (Diegetic, Non Diegetic Sound;
Types of microphones; Microphone placement; Room tone & Ambient
Sound)
- Framing & Shot Types (Shot Size; Head room &
Looking room; Depth of Field; Cutaways; Shot/Reverse Shot)
- Lighting (Safety; Hard & Soft Light; Colour Temperature; Gels & reflectors;
3 Point lighting)
- Editing with Adobe Premiere Pro (Creating a new Premiere project; File
formats; Capturing Footage; Editing; Colour Correction/Grading; Exporting Movies; Codecs)
Extended Reality Technologies (Gareth W. Young)
This component introduces students to the principles, technologies, and design practices that underpin extended reality (XR), including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). Students examine how perception, rendering, displays, optics, tracking, motion, and interaction shape the design and experience of immersive systems.
The component combines technical and conceptual material with practical content creation. Students gain experience with contemporary XR development workflows and with developing interactive immersive environments.
Later classes examine human-computer interaction in XR, approaches to content creation and immersive storytelling, and current and emerging developments in XR. Throughout the component, students are encouraged to consider how technical design choices affect usability, presence, embodiment, accessibility, and the immersive media experience.
Teaching and learning Methods
The components are delivered through a combination of lectures, demonstrations, hands-on laboratory sessions, guided exercises, and project-based learning. Lectures introduce the theoretical and technical principles underlying systems, while laboratory sessions allow students to apply these principles with contemporary development and content-creation tools.
Students progressively develop practical skills through structured exercises and assignments before applying them in a larger project. Teaching emphasizes connecting technical implementation to interaction design, user experience, and the critical evaluation of moving-image media.
Assessment Details
| Assessment Component | Brief Description | Learning Outcomes Addressed | % of total | Week set | Week Due |
| Semester 1: Audio Technologies | | LO01to LO07 | 33 | | Sem 1 |
| Semester 1: Moving Image for Digital Applications | | LO18to LO20 | 17 | | Sem 1 |
| Semester 2: Moving Image for Digital Applications | LO08to LO17 | 33 | Sem 2 | ||
| Semester 2: Extended Reality Technologies | LO21to LO26 | 17 | Sem 2 |
Reassessment Details
Individual coursework assignment (100%) addressing the learning outcomes for the overall module or the missing individual component.
Contact Hours and Indicative Student Workload
| Contact Hours (scheduled hours per student over full module), broken down by: | 66 hours |
| Semester 1: Audio Technologies | 22 hours |
| Semester 1: Moving Image for Digital Applications (Vivienne O’Kelly) | 11 hours |
| Semester 2: Moving Image for Digital Applications (Tom Burke) | 22 hours |
| Semester 2: Sensor Technologies (Niall O’Hara) | 11 hours |
| Independent study (outside scheduled contact hours), broken down by: | 72 hours |
| Preparation for classes and review of material (including preparation for examination, if applicable | 22 hours |
| completion of assessments (including examination, if applicable) | 16 hours |
| Total Hours | 116 hours |
Recommended Reading List
Students will be given recommended reading on a weekly basis and will also be
expected to read broadly beyond the topics covered during lectures.
Module Pre-requisites
Prerequisite modules: N/A
Other/alternative non-module prerequisites: N/A
Module Co-requisites
None