By Jack Crowell
This fall, the Current OC returns with an entirely different look. The upgrades come after months of long hours/hard work and will be the most dramatic change viewers have seen on air since the inception of the program.
Systems engineering/planning began several years ago. In 2008 a centralized storage system and editing infrastructure were created to support up to 4 streams of simultaneous HD video editing on each edit workstation. Then, a few years later, the entire fleet of field cameras was replaced with newer units capable of recording onto card media in both standard and high definition. That marked the move towards a digital workflow, away from tapes.
The control room (where all of the live programming comes together) was the first area upgraded. That is the hub, central to any television studio, where all of the signals are received and then assembled to make the product you see on air.
Upgrading the control room so it could be a multi-definition environment was one of the first steps taken. That meant installing HD-ready components that were also capable of handling and outputting a standard definition signal over the existing infrastructure. Solid state media and media server technology replaced traditional tape-based playback/recording operations. The audio mixing console was replaced by a unit featuring digital technology such as automation and Dante (audio over IP–a way of sending audio feeds over CAT5 ethernet cable).
Advances in studio camera technology provided a cost-effective solution for upgrading the array of studio cameras out on the studio floor. Our new studio cameras are capable of transmitting Ultra HD (4K) imagery to the control room, ensuring OC-TV is ready for the future in television. Lots of new wire was pulled and connected to updated routing and signal distribution equipment–all behind the scenes while the Current OC continued to broadcast.