Education 
Broadcast Pix systems are used in educational institutions ranging from the largest universities to high schools. Applications include school events, distance learning, campus wide television shows, school sports, and teaching live production. Broadcast Pix combines a great switcher with leadership Fluent workflow tools to create compelling live video.
Broadcast Pix User Reports
SUNY Fredonia Student Station WNYF Installs Broadcast Pix
Granite 1000 for Transition to HD Production, File-Based Workflow
 For
more than 30 years, independent student television station WNYF has
been one of the staples on the campus of SUNY Fredonia, which is part of
the State University of New York. The station recently installed a
Broadcast Pix™ Granite™ 1000 video production system, which has helped
usher in a new era of high definition production and file-based
workflow.
According to T. John McCune, multimedia team leader, SUNY Fredonia, the
Granite 1000, which was purchased through Audio Video Corporation to
replace a Panasonic AG-MX70 switcher, was installed last August in time
for the fall semester. McCune said the students are still excited about
the new system, because it is easy to use and has improved the quality
of productions.
Students produce a variety of original programming, including news,
cooking and game shows, campus event coverage, and PSAs. WNYF also
offers live campus coverage of men’s ice hockey from Steele Hall (using a
fibre channel feed back to the station), and may expand its live sports
coverage to include basketball. McCune said some hockey games have been
streamed live on Ustream this season, which produced positive feedback
from fans not able to attend the games.
The upgraded control room is based around the Granite 1000, and includes
a Yamaha audio board, two legacy tape decks, computer stations for
prompter and automation control, and an Apple Mac Pro with a Blackmagic
Design DeckLink capture card for recording all programming. Programs are
shot with Sony HVR-S270U cameras, which are equipped with HD-SDI
outputs that connect directly to the Broadcast Pix system, and archived
to an Apple Final Cut Server.
McCune credits the Granite 1000 as a major factor in the station’s
cost-effective transition to HD production. He said the system delivers
high quality performance at a great price point, plus its built-in
Fluent™ workflow software provides a number of important tools. Using
Fluent Multi-View, for example, the control room monitor wall has been
replaced by a single 46-inch Sony LCD monitor. A 24-inch LCD panel in
the control room is used by the CG operator, who uses Granite’s built-in
Harris Inscriber CG.
McCune is particularly pleased with Fluent Watch-Folders, a built-in
file management system that allows clips and graphics to be sent
directly to the Granite system from separate workstations over a
network. “For the workflow to be very powerful, I think it has to be
intuitive – not just how you route files, but where you’re routing them
from and how they appear,” he said. “Granite makes it easy.”
 Costa Rica State Distance Education University Selects
Broadcast Pix for Classes, Live Event Production
The State Distance Education University (UNED) in Costa Rica is using a Slate™ 1000 video production systems at the heart of its new mobile video production unit, which is being used for distance education and other live productions.
According to Alejandro Astorga, audiovisual producer for UNED, the new mobile unit was delivered in March and is being used for at least five programs per month. “It’s been used on distance education classes and live event production,” Astorga explained. “Specifically, we´re producing a serial of lab videos for the Chemistry Professorship. Also, we´ve recorded conferences and debates at our auditorium, and provided coverage of our XV International Congress on Distance Education and Technology in November. We have several projects in development that will need the mobile unit to travel extensively next year.”
The mobile unit was designed by Sonivisión, S.A., and features three Sony cameras with Canon lenses, plus a Mackie audio mixer, in addition to the Broadcast Pix system. Video is produced in widescreen SD. UNED relies on the Slate’s built-in workflow tools during productions, including Fluent™ Multi-View and Clip Store, as well as its integrated Inscriber CG.
“Before the mobile unit, we only had portable ENG equipment,” Astorga recalled. “The Broadcast Pix system allows us to utilize virtual sets with multiple cameras through chromakey.”
Designed for small studios or compact production trucks, the 1 M/E Slate 1000 features a control panel with a classic switcher layout. It offers four live inputs (expandable to eight) and four outputs (expandable to five), and its innovative PixButtons include built-in displays that show icons for the device types and file names. Plus, the built-in chromakey offers exceptional performance for blue and green wall sets, and allows control over key softness and spill suppression.
 Georgia Southern University Reduces Clutter,
Improves Productions with Broadcast Pix 
The Department of Communication Arts at Georgia Southern University (GSU), a public university in Statesboro, Ga., has installed a Slate™ 5000 live video production system, which is being used to produce a weekly news program and other original student programming that airs on a local cable channel.
Kent Murray, assistant professor of Multimedia Communications in the Department of Communication Arts, said the new Slate system replaced an “ailing” Grass Valley analog switcher that was more than 30 years old. Murray chose the Slate 5000 after seeing it in action in Savannah, Ga., at the shared facilities for WJCL, an ABC affiliate owned by New Vision Television, and WTGS, a FOX affiliate operated by New Vision through a local marketing agreement.
The stations are using the Broadcast Pix system to produce local news in HD. GSU produces its programming in SD with three Sony studio cameras, but Murray knew the university needed to start moving toward an HD future. He said the Slate system was appealing because it positioned the facility for an HD workflow while accommodating current SD needs.
In addition, because of the Slate’s built-in Fluent™ workflow tools, GSU was able to eliminate three racks of equipment in the control room. “It minimizes the footprint for equipment space consumption,” Murray said. “It looks like we’ve downsized, but we’ve upgraded.”
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 Minnesota’s Eagan High School Uses the Broadcast Pix Slate 1000 Integrated Live Production Systems to Teach Video Production
Eagan High School in Eagan, Minn., is using the Broadcast Pix Slate™ 1000 live video production system as the cornerstone of its HD production curriculum. In the school’s video production control suite, adjacent to its dedicated television studio, the Slate 1000 is employed daily to teach production skills and support many academic programs through the use of video.
“Our goal is to mirror broadcast industry standards and workflows,” said Paul Saxton, video specialist at Eagan High School. “We also want our students to become very media savvy adults, with an understanding of how to communicate using video as well as how the medium is being used to communicate with them.”
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 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Upgrades Studio to HD with Broadcast Pix
The Slate 5000 integrated production system is the cornerstone of a complete HD studio upgrade for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication (JOMC). One of two television studios in Carroll Hall, the JOMC facility on campus, the updated area is mainly used for Carolina Week, a live news show that is produced twice a week for students by students.
According to Terry Hill, JOMC television and emerging media engineering manager, the Slate 5000 with Fluent workflow tools is a big step forward from the Sony DFS-700 digital production switcher it replaced. “It’s a lot of capability in one box, with 2 M/E and the ability to do multi-layer CG and clip stores,” he said. “It’s a very powerful switcher in a small box. You get a lot of bang for the buck.”
Hill first saw a Broadcast Pix system in action at WRAL, the local CBS affiliate serving the Raleigh-Durham market. He said the students have been quick to embrace the Slate 5000, and its ease of use allows them to focus on the creative aspects of producing a live newscast.
“The new switcher gives us the opportunity to be both more precise and more sophisticated with our news programs,” said C.A. Tuggle, JOMC professor and director of the journalism program. “Our students have really taken to the new system, and we think it will be an important component in our efforts to remain near the top of broadcast journalism programs in the country.”
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Westlake High School to Tackle Football Season in HD with Broadcast Pix
In Texas, high school football is kind of a big deal. When the season begins for the Westlake High School Chaparrals Aug. 28, student videographers from the Austin school will shoot the games in high-definition using a new Broadcast Pix Slate 5016Ghh integrated production system, part of a renovation of the school’s 25-year-old Westlake Community Performing Arts Center.
At football games, student members of the Westlake Technical Entertainment Crew handle all production aspects of the game coverage, from pulling cables to directing the show. Westlake students had been working with a makeshift control room setup at the stadium built around an old analog switcher and a basic graphics system. All video inserts, from bumps to commercials, were fed via a DVD player.
“It was pretty clumsy,” recalled David Poole, managing director of the PAC. “We were looking for something that was more inclusive but affordable. Broadcast Pix gave us a big bang for our buck.”
The new Slate 5016Ghh system was purchased through Omega Broadcast Group, a Broadcast Pix dealer based in North Austin, Texas.
The upcoming football season will be the team’s seventh with video coverage and its first in HD. According to Poole, the Westlake video program was developed after the school district renovated the football stadium and added a video board—and officials suddenly realized they needed to produce content for it. He said it took two seasons to refine the production process with his student crew, but for the past five years the school’s football coverage has been replayed on Sunday nights locally on Time Warner Cable.
One of the cable company’s conditions for airing the football games, however, is that Westlake shoots the team’s away games as well. As a result, the control room equipment has to be housed in flypacks that can be transported to other stadiums. “What the Broadcast Pix offered was the all-in-one functionality in a compact package,” said Jeff Strange, Westlake technical supervisor. “Plus, it has a rack-mountable workstation with a separate, functional control surface.”
Beyond the built-in HD Inscriber CG, clip and graphic stores and multiview, Westlake is taking advantage of the Slate 5016Ghh’s integrated router. Each game will be recorded to HDV tape, hard disk and Panasonic P2 solid-state memory, as well as three additional Panasonic P2 decks for slow-motion replays. A DVCAM version is also recorded for Time Warner Cable, because the game is still broadcast in SD (although it is presented in 16:9).
The recent renovation, funded by a local bond issue, also included fiber connectivity to the football stadium, which allowed Poole to move the control room to the PAC across campus and use the video equipment for other projects. “The mission was to bring the facility back up to current standards, but also prepare us for the next 10 to 20 years,” said Poole. “In addition to enhancing school and community productions at the PAC, the new system will benefit students by providing learning opportunities in a state-of-the-art performing arts venue and at sporting events, two settings that require different production skills.”
Football games will be shot using four Sony HDC1400R cameras with Fujinon lenses. Westlake also invested in two Sony PDW-700 camcorders that are permanently installed in the PAC’s auditorium, which has been renovated to support a six-camera production. A Yamaha digital audio mixer in the PAC handles audio for home games; on the road, the crew uses a small Mackie mixer.
Travis Favaron, a Westlake senior and president of the Westlake Technical Entertainment Crew for the upcoming school year, will lead the football video crew this fall. He also operated the Slate system for its first production last April, the annual recital of the school’s dance team at the PAC. “I ran that show without any formal training,” he said. “I was extremely impressed with how easy it was to use.”
 Union University Department of Communication Arts Rebuilds HD Studio Around Broadcast Pix Slate 3016 System Following Destructive Tornado
After a tornado severely damaged their broadcast facility last year, Union University students are back in business with a newly rebuilt HD studio that features a Broadcast Pix Slate 3016 live video production system.
The tornado struck Jennings Hall on Feb. 5, 2008, ripping off much of the roof and causing extensive water damage. Repair and renovation work began immediately, and the new TV studio was operational by the beginning of the Fall 2008 semester.
Nashville, Tenn.-based system integrator M/BITS worked with Broadcast Pix and the university to design and configure the new studio. Students enrolled in the Department of Communication Arts attend classes in Jennings Hall and produce a daily half-hour live program, Jackson 24/7, which was launched last October and airs on local cable system channel EPlusTV 6.
Prior to the installation of the Slate 3016, students had been working with an outdated analog switcher. Even before the tornado’s sudden and catastrophic effects, there was no question an upgrade was needed, according to Steve Beverly, Associate Professor of Communication Arts. However, given the changes in technology and limited funds with which to rebuild the facility, careful consideration went into the decision.
“We worked closely with M/BITS evaluating and examining other switchers that were available on the market. The Slate 3016 offered a really unique set of features that were well-suited to the needs of our program,” said Beverly. “The built-in features of the Slate 3016 stood head and shoulders above similarly priced switchers in a head-to-head comparison.”
The Slate 3016 includes a 16x16 router for more I/O and redundancy. It provides 12 live inputs, five channels of HD graphics and two clip channels, and eight outputs for program, preview, clean feed, or aux. Like all other Slate family switchers, it has a built-in CG, clip, store, multi-view, monitoring, and AutoAspect to enable mixing of 16:9 and 4:3 content without stretching video.
In the control room, a Sony KDL-42V4100 42-inch LCD monitor handles preview, program, and source monitoring for the Broadcast Pix operator, while audio is handled through a Yamaha LS9-32 digital mixing console. The new studio includes three JVC GY-HD250U cameras with studio packages, each outfitted with a Telescript FPS150F prompter.
The Slate 3016 works well for the Broadcast Journalism program, where news reporting, anchoring, and field reporting are primary components of the curriculum. An entire show can be produced by a team of students or just one operator, without sacrificing functionality or quality.
“While we serve a large number of students within our journalism program, we do have varying enrollment for the production side of the curriculum,” said Beverley. “Having the flexibility to roll several positions to a single operator was immensely important in our purchase decision.”
A former television news director, Beverly said live productions serve as the testing ground for emerging student skill sets. “What stood out to me throughout the whole evaluation process was that this product was a terrific teaching tool,” he explained. “The students are not intimidated in the least and are quickly mastering the complex task of technically directing half-hour shows within a short period of time, thus giving them the confidence to take on even more complicated assignments.”
Moreau Catholic High School Selects Broadcast Pix Slate HD Switcher to Produce Live News Program
Moreau Catholic High School of Hayward, California, has purchased a Broadcast Pix Slate 1000h system featuring full HD production capability for MCTV, its new film and television arts studio. The high school recently completed a multi-million dollar construction project throughout the campus that includes the new MCTV studio. Educators worked with systems integrator Snader and Associates to design and build a fully-equipped state of the art control room and filming space featuring two JVC GY-HD250U camcorders, Teleprompters and a Slate 1000 switcher at its heart.
The Broadcast Pix Slate 1000h comes complete with innovative and cost-effective features that dramatically streamline live HD productions, making high quality HD productions possible without a big team or budget. For a fraction of the cost of conventional HD control rooms, the Slate 1000h provides all the necessary tools needed to produce live HD HDproductions into a single platform.
Like all Broadcast Pix products, Slate HD systems offer a fast learning curve through ease of operation. Film and Video Arts teacher Paul McKenna says the Slate switcher exposes his students to high quality production equipment that is simple to operate. “When we were selecting a switcher for the new studio, we took great care to be sure the learning environment we were about to create was preserved. We were pleased to see that the all-in-one configuration of the Broadcast Pix switcher also was flexible enough for multiple students to be hands-on with the equipment.”
McKenna added that the ability to bring HD capability into the high school classroom factored into the decision to choose the Broadcast Pix Slate 1000h. “HDTV is the future of professional broadcasting, and the value of training our students on HD equipment now will be a tremendous benefit to them as they move onto college and into the workforce,” said McKenna. “The Broadcast Pix Slate HD system gives our students a leg up on their peers.”
Prior to the studio upgrade and installation of the Slate 1000 switcher, students were exposed to a predominantly post-production atmosphere in their film and video arts courses. Video shot by teams of students on location would be edited in Final Cut Pro and aired on the school’s closed circuit system to classrooms after announcements were read over the PA system during the morning homeroom period.
That set-up provided a satisfactory method of displaying student-produced pieces, but the piecemeal arrangement often created anxious moments during show times. “Whenever we’d go on air last year, I’d find myself distracted by minor details,” said McKenna. “The equipment X-Factor would detract from my ability to oversee the students in a real production scenario. While producing a live show this year is slightly more involved, I’m able to sit back and let the students run the show.”
Students now experience a more robust journalistic learning environment since the addition of the Slate 1000h. Students learn about story writing, reporting and even use the Slate 1000h to run b-roll that was shot the day before. Shortly after the start of the school year, MCTV II students produced their first live program. A pair of anchors read live announcements, and the broadcast included a piece on the football team produced by MCTV I students.
MCTV programming is currently shown to the student body only. However, McKenna says the Broadcast Pix Slate 1000h can potentially expand the reach of the student-produced programs. Airing shows on a local access channel or archiving programs online are no longer out of the question.
“We recognize the way in which the addition of this equipment has stepped up our game,” said McKenna. “The other day a teacher threatened not to turn on the TV during our show and the entire class protested. Can we produce for a larger audience someday? The answer is yes.”
NEELB Teaches Video from a Traveling Van
 We have been using Broadcast Pix system on the Truck for nearly two years now and we love it. It is equally at home in a training environment with our 360 kids or in a production environment. We have recently added satellite facilities to the vehicle and these will be fed from the output of the Broadcast Pix. This will allow us to webcast programmes to all our schools in Northern Ireland and beyond and send video to our broadcasters using MPEG4. An eight camera broadcast truck operated by kids is going from strength to strength as a result of your equipment....THANKS! Many many thanks for a great product.
- Peter Simpson, Assistant Adviser ICT
North Eastern Education and Library Board (NEELB) Northern Ireland
http://www.thetruck.org.uk
BUTV uses their Broadcast Slate 100 in it's TV Production Class
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- This is Nate Selvidio (Installed and trained studio in Brattleboro VT). You guys supplied us with the BP 100 Pro earlier this year and I though that you guys would like to see the final product. The installation of the control room and studio has been complete for several months now, the entire campus has been outfitted with over 200 LCDS, direct lines to all areas in the high school are complete to enable the students in the TV Production class to go live anywhere (class room, football field, gyms, etc.) to the entire school and the entire region of the state.I just finished
 training students on the system about two weeks ago, and they loved it. They system worked great for doing live daily newscast. Students write, prepare, direct, create all of the graphics for the live show after the class. During the day, they use the loop clip feature to show the previous days sporting event, play or anything that has been captured on tape and the background for the announcements that continue to scroll all during the day (the scrolling announcements are created in the main office, and since the entire system is networked bases, they are then sent and updated automatically to the control room) for students to see on the 52" plasma in the café or on any of the multiple LCDs in on the walls in the hallways. It is also broadcast during the day during different times during the day to the entire part of the state of Education Access LIVE.Just wanted to let you know that if you ever have anybody interested in the product and want to talk to someone about it, feel free to give them my contact information as the system far succeeded my original thoughts of it capability. I am in college now studying in this field, and in the future I am sure that I will be installing many more of these systems. (Your system was not a problem at all to install. It was the easiest thing in the entire control room actually.) With the entire project exceeding $100,000, the BP System was the best money spent out of everything. Thanks again for helping me with getting this product earlier this year. - Nate Selvidio College Student
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It can be a one-man show if we don’t have enough people. We love the switcher.”