With the advent of Artificial Intelligence in the last year, along with the rapid implementation of new technologies in our school system, having an effective and affordable, yet high-quality broadcast studio on campus can enable a post-secondary school to reach a large audience, effectively marketing the program offerings of that school, all while engaging the community and making a case for an effective public-private partnership.
This is exactly where Paul Goulding, Instructor for Digital Video Technology, Photography, Drone Technology and Television Production at Florida Panhandle Technical College in Chipley, Florida found himself after years of building his media production programs, finding a measure of success in turning out highly-qualified prospects for well-paid jobs in radio, television and other electronic media, but then facing the question ‘What next?’
With shortfalls in funding, a changing educational climate and uncertainty in the job markets, Goulding searched for an opportunity to make a positive impact on his community, build job-ready potential employees and fill his classroom with receptive students, all while fulfilling his mandate to market the college and offer value-add to the other eight schools in Washington County, Florida.
‘My five-year plan, as of ten years ago, was to build and operate a teaching-environment broadcast television studio on our college campus’, says Goulding, ‘and obviously I am running a little behind’.
Part of the reason for the delay was COVID.
‘One of the positive aspects of the COVID debacle was that live streaming hardware was fast-tracked, and made available at much more affordable price points, due to the demand for online meetings and work-from-home scenarios’, says Goulding.
In addition, many improvements, plugins and advanced utilities were developed and incorporated into open-source (free) software packages which enabled this live streaming.
Seeing the huge leaps in advancement of streaming software and hardware, Goulding delayed committing to any specific hardware protocol for the broadcast project, and the gamble paid off.
‘We now see open-source software, affordable hardware solutions and a more savvy marketplace, and with little to no budget, we can now move forward in a cost-effective manner to start our buildout for the facility’.
Although far from starting from scratch, Goulding is always looking for funding solutions outside the scope of traditional educational institutions.
‘We enjoy an enormous public support of our programs, and that corelates to private and corporate funding of our needs, allowing us to stay thrifty but make strides toward our final goal of a broadcast facility’.
Here is Part 1 of a brief explanation of the roadmap Goulding is using with his students to overcome issues related to cameras and accessories, lighting, audio gear, live streaming equipment and public perception.
This project will allow a school system or individual school to finance, plan, build, upgrade and enhance a broadcast TV studio for school morning announcements, news programming, streaming and community engagement.
Unless your school already has a well-stocked Audio-Visual Department, chances are you’ll need to start from scratch when putting together all the equipment to outfit your broadcast television studio, so here are the essentials you’ll need to get things started.
Image quality, autofocus, low-light performance, lens selection and live streaming support are all crucial factors you should be considering when choosing the right camera for your school’s broadcast TV studio.
A camera that meets these requirements allows you to produce high-quality, engaging and informative content that captivates and informs the audience, making it an important investment.
Unless you have more budget than average (in which case you probably are not reading this information) you probably will consider starting with dual-purposed camera equipment, with today’s assortment of DSLR and Mirrorless Cameras allowing quality image capture in still image (photo) as well as moving image (video).
Image quality is essential for capturing clear and detailed visuals, and is a critical element when producing engaging and informative morning announcements and other video content.
Autofocus performance is important mainly because a school’s broadcast TV studio will likely be staffed by students, some of whom are not yet accomplished camera operators, and having good autofocus performance will help ensure that the subjects within your video content remain in focus.
Low-light performance allows a camera to capture clear videos with minimal noise, even under challenging lighting conditions such as dimly lit studio environments.
Lens selection is important when producing video content, as the lens dictates what your camera’s field of view is.
When choosing your camera, it’s prudent to invest in one that has a healthy selection of lenses available, from wide-angle for establishing shots to telephoto lenses for close-ups.
Live streaming support is necessary due to the popularity of live streaming, and choosing a camera with robust live streaming support makes it easy for your TV studio to broadcast live events, news or other content directly to remote students, interested parents, etc.
‘At Florida Panhandle Technical College we firmly believe that audio quality is more important than video quality’, says Goulding.
Poor quality audio will distract and challenge viewers to comprehend a broadcast or production, so when outfitting a broadcast studio, take care not to overlook the importance of having good audio recording equipment in place.
The most essential piece of audio equipment for a school broadcast TV studio is a good quality microphone, and you will probably need to lean toward a condenser microphone.
Condenser microphones come in a variety of form factors and sizes, ranging from desktop styles, mounted on boom poles or compact, wireless options that can be worn on the presenter, called a lavalier.
Any of them will do a good job over the built-in microphone included with your camera, and for the best results, you will want to connect the microphone to a mixer or audio interface in order to manage the gain levels, EQ and quality of the audio signal.
A soundproof studio is not a necessity, but a sound booth or treated room in which to do voiceover for commercials, etc. is a plus.
The location of the studio and the relative ambient noise present will determine your tolerance for a non-treated space, but a few packing blankets or simple bedsheets, hung from the ceiling and allowing space between the sheet and the adjacent wall will do wonders to allow a more controlled, professional sound.
In the next installment we will discuss live streaming software and hardware, grip and studio hardware and additional equipment which will make your broadcast studio life easier.
