A major undertaking in the Meadows School of the Arts has modernized and unified two separate facilities into a new studio to allow for the expansion of recording and streaming services that further promote the Meadows mission. After a six-month retooling from the ground up, we’re excited to show you the fruits of our labor!
For years, the video control room and audio control room for recording and streaming services for Meadows were located in two separate rooms. On top of that, the two rooms were very far apart and too small for their purposes. Both Meadows leadership and OIT saw a critical opportunity to improve this facility, and the Meadows Digital Arts & Services team was tasked to help make it happen.
The top priority was to merge the two separate control rooms into one studio, which is now located in a central location within the Owen Fine Arts Center. This was no small undertaking, with Recording Engineer Lucius Bradford working closely with our infrastructure team to relocate sophisticated equipment and to re-engineer complex network routing to bring all of the resources together and bringing it all into more modern specifications. This even included a major reroute of the HVAC system in the room to provide sufficient cooling to the area.
Now, every facet of the production process for recordings and live streaming can be controlled in just one room for the Caruth Auditorium, Bob Hope Theatre, and the O’Donnell Lecture-Recital Hall. Some equipment in the room includes both video and audio control stations, network storage for archival recordings, a NewTek TriCaster for broadcast-quality, on-the-fly live media production, and a controller for multiple remotely-controllable cameras for each venue. Network connectivity to all of this equipment was also re-vamped to provide enough throughput for ultra-high-definition video and sound for a truly immersive experience for viewers.
Both audio and video from each venue can be monitored, controlled, recorded, and live-streamed to audiences around the world from this facility – even all at the same time, if needed – and its already made an impact in simplifying the broadcast process while also increasing the public output of Meadows’ acclaimed programs.
This re-imagining of such a critical asset is just one example of how OIT partners with areas across campus to make technology work towards the missions of our institution. “I can’t speak highly enough of our team for all the work they’ve done.” reports Faye Hughes, Manager of the Meadows Digital Arts & Services team. “This project is a great example of the process improvements the Meadows Digital Arts & Services team has been able to deliver.”
Interested in finding out how OIT can help in furthering your mission? Reach out to us!
