Asbury College in Wilmore, KY, has completed work on a new 40ft high-definition capable mobile production van that includes a new Grass Valley Kayak HD 250 production switcher as its centerpiece. The truck is a complement to a new 52,000sq-ft television/film production facility that is currently under construction and is slated to be completed by November 2010.
The new HD unit with the Grass Valley Kayak HD switcher was officially unveiled at a special event on Oct.14 in Lexington, KY, at the Marriott Griffin Gate Hotel. Asbury’s media communications department produces a variety of sports and entertainment telecasts on campus and around the surrounding region.
Asbury College will use the van for college productions as well as for real-world educational instruction. Since 1984, the college has sent professionally trained students to the various Olympic Games around the world. For example, for the 2008 Summer Games, Asbury sent 56 students enrolled in its media communications department (and well trained on the Grass Valley production equipment) to Beijing, China, to support a number of commercial broadcasters there.
In addition to the new Kayak HD switcher, the school also operates two Grass Valley Model 200 switchers — one in a production control room attached to its on-campus television studios and another onboard a 24ft mobile production truck.
