Fourth Annual Excellence Awards
New studio technology - Non-broadcast nominee

As the church made plans for a new 7200-seat auditorium, the need for a new control room became a priority. The primary goal in building the new video production space was to serve post and live production requirements by centralizing tape operations and video engineering in one location. Other goals included sharing resources between post and live event productions and having enough space in the present with room for future growth. The church also wanted to put an infrastructure in place for expansion to HD. All this needed to happen within close proximity to the auditorium.

The church selected Ross Video to design the facility. It was built with 16:9 screens with the ability to easily feed overflow and other areas a 4:3 signal, using Ross’ Synergy 4 SD production switcher to handle dual aspect ratios. They chose options such as internal DVE squeeze and tease 3-D effects and the ability to run servers with VTR control to coincide with the production switcher. The Ross Talia routing system incorporates all SDI I/O and routes the signals through the facility. At the same time, RossGear terminal equipment distributes, converts and monitors audio and video.

One key factor in planning the new facility was to incorporate existing live production equipment while adding new technology. While the live production design allowed for nine cameras, existing Sony D30 and D35 cameras, and wiring for three rentals, there is room to expand to up to 18 cameras in the future. Post-production design required Discreet and Apple Final Cut edit suites.

They installed a virtual monitor wall using Miranda processors, plasma screens and LCD displays. Mitsubishi Diamond Vision LED screens were chosen for the main large-screen viewing in the auditorium. The flexibility of the LED screens allows for position and movement to accommodate the production. They are either placed separately at the sides of the stage or together in the center forming one large 14x48ft screen. The main auditorium also incorporates supplemental video displays. The team chose video projection, LCD and plasma screens for these viewing areas.