Overview

At first glance, the Studio structure might be overwhelming. The goal of this post is to go over what a studio is at first glance. We will talk about broad overviews, what you see when you enter a studio and basic navigation. For next steps, check out Creating your First Post or Creating your First Presentation.


What is a Studio?

At first glance, a studio is a collection of visual resources, text posts, embedded videos, assignments, portfolios and much more. Studios are the bread and butter of the NuVu experience. Our studio model is centered on visually-based media and content, and designed specifically for studio-based teaching and learning. A studio-based teaching environment is highly dynamic, with different phases and parts of projects happening simultaneously and also at their own paces. The platform is a tool that provides a structure for that process while also being flexible. Instructors can clearly communicate the intent and resources of the studio, and students can access and engage with these resources as needed.


What do I see in a Studio?

Refer to the picture above. Studios are split into Tabs. Each tab can be thought of as their own folder within the framework of the studio. When a studio is created, a preset number of tabs are created. This often includes tabs such as: Info, Calendar, Updates, Resources, Assignments, Projects, Feed. There are a few different types of tabs, each with their own type of content included inside. There are: 

Feed 

  • A culmination of all posts in the studio. Everything posted in the studio will appear in this tab. This tab is searchable using @'s, #'s and Titles of Posts

Assignments

  • An area to create sub folders. The assignments tab will typically host a variety of folders full of student work. This is a great spot to put introductory activities, small group exercise, or any work done before starting final projects. Each sub folder has sub tabs which can be configured in a studios settings. This tab is Coach-Access level and students can only post in the responses tab of each folder.

Projects

  • An area to create sub folders. The projects tab is similar to the Assignments Tab above with some slight differences. The most major of these is the type of work that goes here. The Projects tab should be used for Student Project Folders. Each project folder should have students added as co-editors, allowing them write access to their folders. These Student Project folders host all of a groups work throughout the studio.

Posts

  • A visually-based media and content feed of posts. The posts tab type is the most common and basic tab option. It is highly modular and can be catered towards many needs. It is a collection of visually-based media and text based content. The most common uses of it are Info, Announcements and Updates tabs. It is the bread and butter of the NuVu platform model. 

Calendar

  • An embedded Calendar for studio organization. The Calendar tab type creates a calendar that can be organized in Day, Week or Month view. All options are configurable and events are able to be added as Links or Assignments. 


Basic Navigation

From a first look, the name of the studio is prominently displayed in the center of the screen, Directly below it, the studio has a set of readily available tabs. Each tab contents unique information with the types of tabs listed above. Clicking each tab will open up our visually-based media and content feed. 

Image Editor


Top

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the height the content is from the top of the editor.


Left

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the height the content is from the left side of the editor.


Width

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the width of the selected content.


Height

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the height of the selected content.

Shape Editor


Shape

Clicking on the shape icon (the white box in this example, this will differ in every presentation) will bring up a menu where you can change the type of shape. Options include: Square, Circle, Triangle, Pentagon, Octagon and Star. 


Top

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the height the content is from the top of the editor.


Left

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the height the content is from the left side of the editor.


Width

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the width of the selected content.


Height

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the height of the selected content.


Color

Select the black circle (in this example, this will differ in every presentation) to bring up the color menu. Select a preset color or enter a new hexcode value to change the color of the content.

Shared Options

All three types of content share a few different options in their menu. These are more generic settings that are highlighted below.


Rotation    

Click on the number next to the percent sign (%) in the menu to use the Rotation tool. Type in a new value to have your content rotated.



Opacity

Click on the number next to the percent sign (%) in the menu to use the Opacity tool. Type in a new value to have your content changed.


Link

Click on the checkbox next to the Link section to begin Linking external content. A menu will appear below Link, with a “Target” option. Enter your external content link in the section below. 

    

Border

Click on the checkbox next to the Border section to begin adding a border. A menu will appear below Border, with a few different options. Use “Style” to change the appearance of your border. Thickness and Radius to change the respective px value of each (click on the number next to px to edit this value). Color will bring up a color editor, with preset options and a section to add hex code.  

    

Bring to Front

Select this button to move the selected piece of content to the front. 

    

Send to Back

Select this button to move the selected piece of content to the back.

 

Maximize

Select this button to maximize the current content. 


Center

Centers the media vertically and horizontally on the slide. Menu item is available only on Images and Text boxes.


Delete

Select this button to delete the current content.


Duplicate

Select this tool to duplicate the current content, creating an identical copy of it.


Lock/Unlock

Select this tool to lock your content in place, removing the ability to move it. Select the tool again to unlock the content.



Shape Editor


Shape

Clicking on the shape icon (the white box in this example, this will differ in every presentation) will bring up a menu where you can change the type of shape. Options include: Square, Circle, Triangle, Pentagon, Octagon and Star. 


Top

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the height the content is from the top of the editor.


Left

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the height the content is from the left side of the editor.


Width

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the width of the selected content.


Height

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the height of the selected content.


Color

Select the black circle (in this example, this will differ in every presentation) to bring up the color menu. Select a preset color or enter a new hexcode value to change the color of the content.

Image Editor


Top

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the height the content is from the top of the editor.


Left

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the height the content is from the left side of the editor.


Width

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the width of the selected content.


Height

Select the value next to the px. Editing this value changes the height of the selected content.

Text Editor


Align Left, Middle, Right, Justified

Each of the top options will align your text based on the selected button. From left to right, the options are: Left, Middle, Right and Justified.


Font

Select the font name to open up a menu for selecting a new font. Scroll up and down to select your font.


Font Weight and Font Size

Click on the weight of your font (Regular on the picture to the right) to change the font weight. Clicking on the numbered value will bring up a menu to select a new font size. 


Line Height

Click on the number next to Line Height and a menu will appear. Select a new Line Height from this menu.


Letter Spacing

Click on the number next to Letter Spacing and a menu will appear. Select a new Letter Spacing from this menu.


Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough, Bullet List, Numbered List

Each of these options appears in line, in the order listed above. Select each button to begin typing in that style, or highlight text and select a button to apply that style to it.


Text color

Selecting the black circle (in the example to the right) to bring up the color menu. Select a color from the presets or type in a #HexCode value to change the text color.


Background color

Selecting the transparent circle (in the example to the right) to bring up the color menu. Select a color from the presets or type in a #HexCode value to change the text color.


Center

Select this button to move the currently selected content to the middle of the editor. Centered both horizontally and vertically. 

The Feed is an aggregation of all posts in a Studio. No content should be directly posted to the Feed, but should be posted into one of the categories above. You can use “@Student_Name” to see all posts by a specific student in the feed. Useful for reviewing a student's progress and daily assignments. 

After projects are established, the Project tab is where default student deliverables are to be posted.

  • Documentation: Students create regular posts describing their project's progress (see below for posting instructions). Posts can have privacy settings which limit their visibility to project members or the studio as a whole. This is meant for ongoing updates, sketches, files, etc. Students can update this daily and include sketches and finished drawings and model photos. 
  • Precedents
    • Design Precedents 
    • Technical Precedents
    • Post requirements
      • A source
      • A reason why it is applicable
      • Analysis (if appropriate)
    • Writing
      • Outline
      • Revisions
    • Portfolio - All posts here (except for the script, should be made public)
      • Final presentation post w/ final brief as the body text
      • Video of project
      • Script 

Resources are information, lectures, or tutorials for students that do not have a deliverable.

The name of the resource should be addended with the day of the studio it was taught in parenthesis. i.e.- Conceptual Precedents (2), Interviewing Skills (6)


  • Precedents
    • A source
    • A reason why it is applicable
    • Analysis (if appropriate)
  • Technical Information
    • In class tutorials
      • General enough to be taught elsewhere
      • Easy to follow
      • Clear Goals
      • Able to be understood independently
    • At home tutorials
      • Free standing
      • Ideally NuVu generated but outside content OK
      • Able to be understood and having a clear goal
      • High Quality
  • Lectures
    • Have a clear scope
    • Be visually interesting
    • Should be on the platform. Prove Keynote, PPT, whatever source file