Rudy Bernasconi
NEWBURY PARK, CALIF.—GovTV was started in 1995 by a group of network television professionals to help local governments improve public media access and disseminate public information. We stay current with evolving technology and our services now include cloud-based realtime streaming of local government television programming 24 hours a day.
Productions from our centralized broadcast operations center here in southern California include live coverage of government meetings, along with live or recorded news conferences. We also stream a variety of locally produced shows covering public services, facilities, employees, officials and events.
REMOTES WITHOUT THE STRINGS
All equipment and systems are leased to local governments with these services fully managed by GovTV. No additional staffing is required at the local level, nor is there any need for local governments to make capital investments in video production equipment and perform equipment maintenance and repairs. Local governments can enjoy state-of-the-art video production coverage with our cloud-based video control rooms and centralized staff for just a fraction of the cost of doing it themselves.
One item that we rely on heavily to help make all this possible is Telemetrics’ RCP camera control system. It’s a key piece of our automation and allows us to remotely control cameras and equipment from our GovTV broadcast operations center. The RCP is a very sophisticated piece of equipment, yet its layout and design make it very easy to operate. Camera control and functionality, as well as control of auxiliary devices, are managed through an integrated LCD touchscreen that also features a GUI that’s tailored for remote operation panel control.
Our operators use a joystick to control pan, tilt, zoom, and other functions, with focus control set up on an assignable knob. Another nice feature of the Telemetrics RCP system is that it allows us to customize production for each client by setting and memorizing scene presets and camera positions. While most of the proceedings we deal with need only two-camera coverage, if necessary, we can control as many as 16 cameras.
In connection with such multiple camera applications, we use the RCP system’s camera shading panel to remotely match cameras. It’s a very well thought-out piece of equipment for single operator use.
NOT TIED TO ONE CAMERA
We also like the fact that the RCP system is compatible with a variety of camera brands. We use it primarily with Sony’s BRC-Z700 all-in-one PTZ camera, but it’s good to know that it can communicate with other cameras should the need arise. The system supports RS-232 and Ethernet control and is compliant with off-the-shelf network infrastructures, allowing us to offer our services from virtually anywhere in the world.
GovTV’s business model for video meeting coverage is dependent upon reliable, flexible and cost-effective automation equipment. This is exactly what the Telemetrics RCP camera control system provides. We’re not looking to create artistic vignettes, but rather professional looking programming with smooth camera moves and spot-on head and scene shots. We’ve found that there’s really no other product on the market that works as well or meets our criteria better than Telemetrics’ RCP camera control system.
Rudy Bernasconi has been working in the broadcast and professional video post-production industry since 1986 and is currently a systems engineer with GovTV. He may be contacted atrbernasconi@govtv.us.
For additional information, please contact Telemetrics at 201-848-9818 or visitwww.telemetricsinc.com.
