Glenn A. StilwellSAN FRANCISCO—Pac-12 Networks is the innovative TV and multimedia company of the Pac-12 Conference, incorporating one national and six regional television networks, plus extensive digital content accessible through social media, university websites and Pac-12 Now, our TV Everywhere service. Each year we provide live coverage of some 850 sporting events, making it one of the top live sports producers in the country. In addition, Pac-12 Networks creates extensive original programming, and provides visibility for marquee football and basketball events, as well as traditionally underserved sports activities.
Our production operations vary depending on the day, time of year and different sports in season at schools in our conference. On a given day, we might have only one studio production, or we could have nine halftime reports, three multicam remote productions, a full studio production, a podcast, and several digital productions going on.
LIVING IN A 5.1 AUDIO WORLD
However, one element is consistent: Everything we produce is in 5.1 audio, and being a fully digital 5.1 facility poses some distinct challenges. Creating a smooth workflow and training operators to work within the 5.1 environment will always be a work in progress. That’s why 5.1 creation, workflow, and integration are top priorities for us when it comes to audio consoles.
We’ve used Calrec Artemis audio consoles since we went on the air in August 2012, and just added a Calrec Summa to the mix. The ease with which we can configure the new console and bring our audio operators up to speed on it is a real plus. With the potential for up to 15 different production configurations on any given day, our Calrec boards provide the feature set and flexibility to move between different requirements and configurations quickly and efficiently.
The primary use for the Calrec consoles is in centralized production. Many of our live games are produced in-house instead of in a production truck. Our Artemis console drives all of our A-level studio shows with more than enough resources to make workloads simple and reliable. We use our second Artemis to run a majority of our multicam remote shows and also as a backup for our primary operation. The new Summa console will carry on the tradition of making great 5.1 mixes in connection with Olympic sports productions. The Summa also provides an operating surface familiar to our freelance audio operators who work in production trucks.
The Calrec consoles have one thing that truly sets them apart from a lot of other audio desks: they work logically. The ease and speed with which we can create new shows and make adjustments significantly speeds our workflow. Their layouts and logical signal flow also cuts the time required when troubleshooting problems and resolving issues, thus saving time and money in the long run.
We’ve had great customer experience with Calrec. From sales to service and support, their reps have been fast, dependable, knowledgeable, and truly concerned with our needs.
Calrec consoles give us a level of consistency between our control rooms and provide the sort of flexibility and speed that’s essential in our environment.
Glenn Stilwell has worked in the broadcast industry for more than 25 years and has been with Pac-12 since July 2013. He may be contacted atgstilwell@pac-12.org.
For additional information, contact Calrec America at 661-877-9775 or visitwww.calrec.com.
