BOSTON—Emerson College has upgraded broadcast audio capabilities at its downtown main campus, equipping four of its TV production control rooms with Dante-networked Solid State Logic T digital audio platforms.

Powered by a TE1 Tempest Engine, each SSL T platform provides up to 256-path capacity and is controlled by an S300 surface and Tempest Control Rack (TCR) with Fade Tile, the company said. 

Three of the upgraded control rooms originally were built in 2003 and underwent a previous update in 2010. That installation include SSL C10 HD digital broadcast desks. 

“We were so pleased with the C10 that we wanted to stick with SSL,” says Tim MacArthur, director of technical operations for media technologies and production, which oversees use of the college’s production and post-production technology.

The college replaced the C10 with an SSL System T S300 surface in its Audio A Studio in the Vin Di Bona Television Studio in the Tufte Performance and Production Center (PPC). “We wanted to increase the flexibility of pooled resources among our facilities, and this summer we embarked on a complete central machine room initiative,” said MacArthur. “Previously we had three disparate machine rooms for our facilities but wanted to consolidate, so we invested in new fiber to make that happen.” 

The Tufte Television Studios also are home to the Teaching Studio and Control Room B, a classroom inside a standard television control room, where the audio facilities now incorporate a System T TCR—a 3RU PC enclosure that runs System T control software—as well as a Fader Tile control interface.

The TV studios are now interconnected with the nearby Journalism Production Center, Emerson Television Channels, the Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gym and Cutler Majestic Theatre.

The college also replaced its core Evertz router with a Dante hub. It enables embedding, de-embedding and other functions necessary to transport signals in a Dante environment and process them with System T. “Using Dante with multicast was just such an appealing promise to us; being able to grab a mic from a preamp in one studio and bring it to a control room in another,” said MacArthur.   

Besides the Dante workflow, the college was attracted to the solution because of the infrastructure flexibility the System T and Dante offer. “And logic is intuitive once you wrap your head around the new world of audio routing,” he said. “Plus, the power of the effects processing on every channel is just phenomenal.”

The college also deployed an SSL System T Fader Tile and TCR systems at the control room and studio facilities in the Journalism Production Center. “It’s largely instructional, so we’re teaching journalists and producing daily newscasts, whether they’re self-contained as a course resource or posted online,” he says.

A Fader Tile and TCR combination also was integrated into a control room in the nearby Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gym to support live coverage of men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball games. The onsite mix control system is networked to its TE1 Tempest Engine in the central machine room in the Tufte PPC.

Students find the upgrades particularly appealing, said MacArthur. “What’s interesting for us, with the generation of students that we have now, and especially with the TCRs, is the touch screen option,” he said. “So many of our students will intuitively grab a ‘fader’ with their finger and slide it.  It’s a very elegant display.”

The physical controller also meets the college’s requirements for solutions that stand up to the wear and tear that can be expected in an educational setting. “The Fader Tiles are so well constructed. We’re optimistic about their durability with novice users,” he said.

Diversified provided system integration services for the upgrade.

More information is available on the company’s website.

CHELMSFORD, MA.—Students attending Boston-area Emerson College are using a recently installed Broadcast Pix BPswitch GX integrated production switcher for live team sports coverage on campus, the company announced this week.

The BPswitch, installed during the 2018 winter break, was used to produce men’s basketball last season when the college team clinched its first NEWMAC championship title.

The BPswitch is the centerpiece of the control room in the Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gym where all men’s and women’s home basketball and volleyball games are played. Located one floor above the basketball court, the control room is designed with a traditional three-row setup.

Currently the college is considering using the BPswitch-based room as the production center for other campus sports, said Tim MacArthur, associate director for media technologies and production.

“The big draw for us was getting into BPfusion graphics [a software option for BPswitch] and the integration with the Daktronics scoreboard,” said MacArthur. “The all-in-one device was also very appealing to us. There is a real ease of workflow with Broadcast Pix.”

The BPfusion software option work’s with BPswitch’s integrated NewBlueNTX multi-layered 3D motion graphics CG. It helps to streamline production of graphics for sports, elections and other data-intensive applications.

The software enables users to create template-based custom graphics that can be updated automatically with data from IP sources, such as scoreboards and RSS feeds, without re-keying data.

“The graphics are a step up from what we’ve done in the past, with easily modified templates that look great,” said MacArthur, adding that the ease of using NewBlueNTX was a big draw for the college.

The switcher’s four outputs feed control room monitors, including two large panels in the front of the room and individual monitors for the technical director and audio station. The BPview multi-view is customized for sports production; however, there is a separate layout for an annual awards gala put on in the gym.

Setting up the switcher for a production is done via a macro that ensures a consistent look, said MacArthur.

Fans of Emerson College sports can access 720p coverage of the college’s games on the school’s Emerson Lions YouTube Channel.

Typically, games are produced using a three-camera setup, but at times up to six have been used. A play-by-play announcer calls game action and color commentators provide perspective. Instant replay is also part of the production mix.

Even when a single camera production is called for, camera inputs are run through the BPswitch to access BPfusion graphics.

Student volunteers run the cameras and switch the games. The school provides no formal instruction on how to use any of the equipment, so students teach themselves and each other.

MONTREAL—The Tufte Performance and Production Center at Emerson College in Boston recently upgraded its television production studio with the acquisition of Grass Valley’s LDX cameras and Karrera K-Frame S-series switchers. The equipment will be used to support student production of educational, sports and long-form programs.

LDX 86

The LDX cameras, which include four LDX 86 WorldCam and four LDX 80 Flex cameras, are currently being used in the Di Bona Family Television Studio at 1080p60 and in Teaching Studio B at 720p60. The Karrera K-Frame S-series switchers, featuring both a 3 M/E and 2 M/E switcher, offer students mid-range switcher performance. All equipment can be upgraded to UHD/4K, HDR, WCG and HFR capabilities.

This is the latest Grass Valley equipment installation at Emerson; its Journalism Production Center previously installed GV products, including the Kaledio-X mulitviewer.