Digital Upgrade of Television Studio and Control Room Provides HD-Ready Foundation for Hands-On Learning at Hollywood Campus
SAN DIEGO -- July 9, 2007 -- Broadcast systems integrator TV Magic today announced that it has completed the digital upgrade of the control room and television studio at Columbia College Hollywood (CCH), an accredited liberal arts educational institution that has offered degrees in film and television production for more than 55 years. TV Magic worked with the college‘s digital media consultant Darren Doerschel to design and perform a complete rebuild of studio facilities, installing state-of-the-art, HD-ready digital systems that allow students to work with equipment like that used at any professional broadcast station.
“All of the editing systems in our building are HD-ready, and the upgrade of our aging television studio equipment was the obvious next step in preparing for digital HD production,” said CCH Director of IT and Production Services Ron Reeves. “Darren helped us identify our workflow goals and our needs over the next five to ten years and connected us with TV Magic. The results have been fantastic. I waited for things to fall through or budgets to double, but it never happened. It was amazing the way TV Magic handled the entire project.”
TV Magic worked with Doerschel and Reeves to identify an equipment list that matched the priorities of the installation and the budget for the project while incorporating any existing equipment still valuable in a digital production workflow. Presented with carefully researched product options and numbers, Reeves was able to make informed decisions about how CCH would invest in its new digital control room and studio.
The installation has allowed CCH to launch two new television production classes. Now working in a digital workflow, students can perform live switching into a drive and then take that drive to the edit facility for editing or to punch up and further sweeten audio. The installation includes a Ross Synergy switcher package; a JVC DR-HD 100-80 portable DTE recorder; a number of 15-, 17-, and 19-inch JVC CRT monitors; dual LCD monitors from Marshall; a Focus Enhancements media converter; a Compix LCG 5050R single-channel character generator; an Audiocom intercom system; and a Wohler AMP2-AMVU audio monitor.
Students are also working with newly released JVC cameras that can be switched between SD and HD operation. Along with the equipment provided by TV Magic, these cameras give CCH the foundation necessary for moving toward HD production. The installation puts CCH on the cusp of HD operations, which in turn makes for a uniquely sophisticated learning environment.
“Our school is unusual in that our students start shooting within the first quarter, and in the second and third are already working on their own projects,” added Reeves. “We encourage our students to test the waters and push boundaries, and with this digital upgrade, we are confident that students working within our facilities are prepared to walk into any television station.”
More information about TV Magic and its products and services is available at www.TVMagic.tv.
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About Columbia College Hollywood
Columbia College Hollywood (CCH) is a four-year film school of future filmmakers in which art, academics, and ambition all reinforce each other to create a powerful learning experience. CCH learning is hands-on and its professors and instructors are working film professionals. Along with their workplace know-how, CCH faculty brings students their academic credentials and their artistic drive. Students don‘t just learn to do what they do; they learn to do it at their rich level of understanding and motivation. That combination makes the CCH experience unique -- studying principle and theory gets students in touch with their deepest talent, while practical production work develops the skills that allow them to express that talent to its fullest. CCH welcomes students from across the United States and all over the world, and the school‘s graduates are working successfully in all aspects of the entertainment industry in Hollywood and beyond. More information is available at www.columbiacollege.edu.
About TV Magic
TV Magic is a California-based broadcast and A/V systems integrator and engineering company committed to providing its customers with the highest quality service in the industry. Regardless of size, scope, or sophistication of the project, TV Magic has the experience, the knowledge, and the talent to define and meet its technical requirements. The company leverages today's technology to deliver end-to-end solutions for a variety of applications and customers including broadcast facilities, HD production, installed A/V solutions, houses of worship, and many more. TV Magic prides itself on developing partnerships with customers and vendors that lead to successful long-term relationships. For additional information please visit www.TVMagic.tv.
