Bergen Community College, in Paramus, NJ, has purchased three Hitachi SK-3020P HDTV studio/EFP cameras for its new production studio. Both the main production studio, control room and an adjacent student production studio and control room are located in West Hall, a new campus building designed to consolidate all arts and communications facilities under one roof.
While the three cameras are native HD, productions in the main studio are currently shot in SD because the switcher in the control room is SD-only. When full HD production is required, Bergen Community College has the flexibility to switch the cameras through a new Thomson Grass Valley Kayak HD switcher in the students’ control room. And a second Kayak HD switcher is on order for the main studio control room.
The new cameras are primarily used to produce public affairs programs for the local cable TV operators. The main studio and control room are also booked occasionally by outside entities, such as national networks, that want to rent the facilities, and this revenue helps the college defray capital costs.
The new cameras replaced four Hitachi Z-4000 SD cameras, which have since been moved to the student production studio. They are used to train the students in production skills as part of the broadcast
television curriculum. Also, students are often given the opportunity to operate the HD cameras in the main studio.
The school’s engineering team also just completed a 1500ft fiber-optic cable run between its production studio and the campus theater, enabling it to setup the new cameras at the theater, have the students run them and switch them remotely from one of the control rooms.
For more information, visit www.hitachikokusai.us.
