Materials used in trials Material for encoding was selected from the Department's teaching program. A mixture of film and animation was used. All encoding was done through Siemens' Eikona system, developed at Monash University. The components of film studies teaching are the full length screening, the lecture and seminar which may include video excerpts, and student re-viewing of the films for seminar preparation, assignments and visual tests. The video on demand system was identified as being of most benefit to students in individual study of course material.
Digital video offers distinct advantages in terms of access and use.
In addition, the University main library generally holds only one copy of each video title, hence there is considerable reliance on students being able to obtain material from commercial libraries and watch it on players at home. To a certain extent, this restricts the material that can be used in courses and adds a financial burden to students who cannot access the material on campus due to high demand. Video on demand has the potential to solve some of these problems of access. One digitally encoded video can be used concurrently by many users. Assuming sufficient PC clients were available, the demand for access could be met more effectively.