CRAS Students Learn from Fred Aldous During NASCAR Race

AVONDALE, ARIZ.—Students from the Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences got a three-day crash course on mixing live audio and video feeds for a sports production. The subject matter was the Fox Sports broadcast of the three-day Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Ariz.; the students’ classroom was a 42-ft. remote production mobile broadcast trailer; and their teacher was Sports Broadcast Hall of Fame inductee Fred Aldous.

The students received the raw feed from Fox, which include all the behind-the-scenes audio discussions and directions between the directors, broadcast crews, producers, engineers and videographers. CRAS Administrator Kirt Hamm said this allowed the students to experience what a broadcast was really like. The students would then practice mixing the audio and follow the directions as they came in.

Three teams of 10-12 students each had the opportunity to train with Aldous during the three-day event.

CRAS is an 11-month program that is designed to train its students in a wide range of disciplines with professional equipment to better prepare them for their professional careers.

Tom Butts

Tom has covered the broadcast technology market for the past 25 years, including three years handling member communications for the National Association of Broadcasters followed by a year as editor of Video Technology News and DTV Business executive newsletters for Phillips Publishing. In 1999 he launched digitalbroadcasting.com for internet B2B portal Verticalnet. He is also a charter member of the CTA's Academy of Digital TV Pioneers. Since 2001, he has been editor-in-chief of TV Tech (www.tvtech.com), the leading source of news and information on broadcast and related media technology and is a frequent contributor and moderator to the brand’s Tech Leadership events.