Minnesota’s Eagan High School Uses the Broadcast Pix Slate 1000
Integrated Live Production Systems to Teach Video Production
Billerica, Massachusetts (May 4, 2010) Broadcast Pix™ today announced
that 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.”
Saxton was shopping at NAB last year to replace the school’s
GlobalStreams GlobeCaster system and advance to multi-format HD
production. The Slate 1000, which was purchased from Alpha Video in
Edina, Minn., arrived last fall.
“We couldn’t beat the price performance,” said Saxton. “Everything
is in one box—the Inscriber CG, transitional DVE effects, monitoring,
user-friendly interface, and the ability to handle a wide range of
input/output formats in a tapeless workflow. I was particularly
impressed with the Fluent workflow because our students can create
video packages in one of the six editing suites, drop them into the
Slate’s ‘inbox,’ and bring those packages to air just by hitting a
button.”
Eagan High School’s signature weekly news show, Eagan AM, can be seen at www.rschooltoday.com/eaganhs/eaganam
. Produced entirely by students, the 12-minute live show is designed to
have students write, shoot and produce stories. “We have the students
cover timely news and sports pieces, ranging from national headlines to
local stories and events at the high school,” Saxton said.
Students produce field reports, edit news packages on Final Cut
Pro, deliver the news with live graphics, and perform tasks ranging
from news anchor to technical director. They even produce live
interviews with newsworthy figures, such as recent Eagan High School
alumni Laura Osnes, South Pacific Broadway star, and Natalie Darwitz,
U.S. Hockey Silver and Bronze Olympic medalist. “One of our most
exciting live interviews was with a U.S. soldier stationed in Iraq,”
Saxton said. “Using a satellite feed, we were able to have an honest
and frank conversation with him. You could’ve heard a pin drop in the
school.”
Principal Polly Reikowski is a strong supporter of the video program,
but students help contribute to equipment purchases as well. “When we
want to buy a new piece of equipment, we need to raise the money for it
through creating business partnerships, shooting dance studios,
anything we can think of,” Saxton said. “It can take years to save up.”
Eagan High School’s video facilities rival that of many small to
mid-market broadcast stations. Besides the Slate 1000, the school has
three Panasonic AG-HPX500 P2 HD camcorders and several Canon AH X1 HDV
camcorders, plus prompters, IFB system and AJA KONA HD-SDI capture
card. An extensive network runs throughout the facility, with camera
hook-ups in the school gym, theater, and commons so students can run
live video back to the Slate 1000.
“We’re teaching our students top-flight HDTV skills using broadcast
quality equipment,” said Saxton. “And if they choose to go into
broadcasting, they’re very well prepared.”
About Broadcast Pix Broadcast Pix is the leader in
integrated live video production systems. Its Slate systems create
compelling live video, and they run unique Fluent software that
provides a file-based workflow that streamlines production and improves
functionality. With its integrated switcher, multi-view, CG, clip and
graphic stores, and aspect and format conversion, Slate is a fraction
of the cost of a control room to buy, staff and operate. Slate is
future-proof, as it is upgradeable to 3G 1080p. Broadcast Pix is based
in Massachusetts, with distributors worldwide. Customers include
leading broadcast, webcast, podcast, cable, entertainment, mobile,
corporate, education, religious, and government studios in over 70
countries. For more information, go to www.broadcastpix.com. Broadcast
Pix, Slate and Fluent are trademarks of Broadcast Pix, Inc. Patented.
Made in USA. Apple, iPad, iPhone, and iPod are trademarks of Apple,
Inc.
# # #
Robin Hoffman
Pipeline Communications
277 Valley Way
Montclair, NJ 07042
(973) 746-6970
cell: (917) 763-8069
|
Broadcast Pix went out of their way to make sure we were satisfied and the switcher suited our needs. There’s a big difference between a studio-in-a-box and a Broadcast Pix system.”