WNYF, independent student TV station on the campus of SUNY Fredonia, in New York, recently installed a Broadcast Pix Granite 1000 video production system to help usher in a new era of HD production and file-based workflow.
According to T. John McCune, multimedia team leader at SUNY Fredonia, the Granite 1000 was installed in August 2010 in time for the fall semester. McCune said the students are still excited about the new system because it is easy to use and has improved the quality of productions.
Students produce a variety of original programming, including news, cooking and game shows, campus event coverage and PSAs. WNYF also offers live campus coverage of men’s ice hockey from Steele Hall, using a fiber-channel feed back to the station, and may expand live sports coverage to include basketball.
The upgraded control room is based on the Granite 1000 and includes a Yamaha audio board, two legacy tape decks, computer stations for prompter and automation control, and an Apple Mac Pro with a Blackmagic Design DeckLink capture card. Programs are shot with Sony HVR-S270U cameras, which are equipped with HD-SDI outputs that connect directly to the Broadcast Pix system, and archived to an Apple Final Cut Server.
McCune credits the Granite 1000 as a major factor in the station’s cost-effective transition to HD production. The system also features built-in Fluent workflow software, which provides a number of important tools. Using Fluent Multi-View, the control room monitor wall has been replaced by a single 46in Sony LCD monitor. A 24in LCD panel in the control room is used by the CG operator, who uses Granite’s built-in Harris Inscriber CG.
