Assortment of Cameras Provides Hands-on Training to Prepare Students for Careers in the Broadcasting Industry
PUEBLO, COLORADO — For more than two decades, Scott Richards, media production coordinator at Pueblo Community College, has been tasked with overseeing the broadcasting and streaming of school and local events. To ensure smooth workflow, ease of operation and a professional result, Richards relies on a variety of camera equipment from JVC Professional Video, a division of JVCKENWOOD USA Corporation.
Through Pueblo Community College’s Broadcasting and Production Technology program, students are trained on the JVC equipment for careers in broadcasting. It also gives them the opportunity to get hands on experience as camera operators in a television studio and as videographers in mobile settings. In addition, the Center for New Media, a product of Pueblo Community College and CNM sports, enables students to work on various community related productions.
Among the school’s JVC inventory are five KY-PZ100 Robotic PTZ network video production cameras, one GY-HC900 CONNECTED CAM™, one handheld GY-HC500 CONNECTED CAM and one KM-IP4000S ProHD Studio sports production and streaming system for multi-camera switching. The school also utilizes several other JVC cameras, including a pair of GY-HM890U and five GY-HM790 ProHD Shoulder Camcorders. “We use several different types and generations of JVC cameras,” says Richards. “Knowing that all of the controls and information are the same on every model has made a big difference for us. Over the years, that’s been one of the greatest advantages for teaching. It has made it super easy to train new legions of students as we go along.”
Among the many productions the school coordinates is weekly services at Pueblo’s Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, for which they utilize KY-PZ100 robotic PTZ cameras. “We have been covering Bishop [Stephen] Berg’s service at the church every Sunday since last March,” adds Richards. “It’s a simplified, three- to five-camera show, which gets streamed to Facebook. We are also using the same studio setup for local university basketball games.”
As technology continues to improve, Richards has been able to take advantage of many great features from JVC. “One of the things that I’m really excited about is the ability to connect a Cat 5 cable to the camera and subsequently paint it; that is a really big advantage for us,” he continues. “Out in the field for football games, where we have significant distance from the truck, we have to put a media converter in the chain. We are able to put that signal back into our network so that we can paint that camera remotely and shade it, and do all of the things that we need to do. I love that we can control multiple cameras that way. All the cameras look the same; in a multicam production, that’s what you’re going for.”
Pueblo Community College also has a cooperative effort with one of the local area hospitals. According to Richards, “The school is taking over a six floor wing of the hospital, where we will install a three-camera studio to be used for training and evaluating nurses and staff. We will be integrating eight PZ100 cameras with light stands and wheels, so students and staff can move them into different parts of the hospital for additional production work. Doctors will be able to host demonstrations that we can record and distribute to the nursing students. By incorporating the GY-HC500 camcorder as part of the equipment at the hospital, we can take advantage of its 4K capabilities to produce high-quality content. We have a cadaver lab and an automized table, which is a simulation of different body parts. These cameras, and the associated larger 4K files, will enable us to zoom in to capture and present specific details for the students.”
In addition to the quality of the JVC equipment itself, Richards is also very happy with the customer support and service he receives from the company. “Kris Lang, my contact at JVC, handles all my calls and does a great job,” adds Richards. “I can call Kris and he will respond immediately to walk me through whatever questions we have until we find the solution. That’s the type of service I have come to expect from JVC.”