High school students in the US immerse themselves in audiovisual production with AJA equipment

More and more educational centers intend to bring the experience of a broadcast studio to the classrooms, including all the standard production equipment and counting on AJA as an ally.

For the past few decades, the school curriculum in the United States has focused on college preparation, but in recent years, parents, teachers, and school management teams are opting for more professional, skills-based training.

Their vision is quickly becoming a reality as more high schools invest in the technology and teaching staff to support more professional education, ranging from 3D animation to construction, robotics and more. According to the Texas-based integrator Digital Resources One of those fields that has aroused the interest of the educational community is AV live news and events production.

Year after year, the company continues to see new clients requesting sophisticated campus studios that incorporate media production equipment with the help of AJA Video Systems. Schools take advantage of facilities and equipment to train students in how to deliver daily newscasts from start to finish, with students serving as production crews, presenters and directors. In addition to learning the tools and roles of the trade, they are taught to write story scripts; to achieve the right voice quality, diction and rhythm; to perform performances and use rhythm techniques…

Secondary school Prosper Rock Hill High School in Frisco, Texas is one of many high schools adopting this methodology, and with the help of Digital Resources, recently built a state-of-the-art television studio that its students use to produce and broadcast a daily live news program throughout The Campus.

Similarly, Northwest Independent School District (ISD) in Fort Worth, Texas, is using its Creative Media Production Academy, built by Digital Resources, to train students in 3D animation, live event production, broadcasting and more. Some students in the program have gained such valuable experience that they have gone on to hold professional positions in college athletics broadcasting and other professional sports productions upon graduation.

A broadcast studio in the classrooms

According to Tim Bock, director of marketing and sales at Digital Resources, “Whether a student plans to go to college or enter the workforce straight out of high school, there is value in gaining on-the-job experience, and there is no better way to learn.” the tools of the trade than in a real-world scenario.”

“We are helping schools bring that broadcast studio experience to the classroom, including all the standard production equipment, and AJA equipment is always part of our designs. “It is a staple in most modern study environments, easy for students to learn quickly, and very affordable, which is ideal for schools on tight budgets,” she adds.

Several factors influence each of Digital Resource's designs, including space, budget, instructor knowledge level, existing architecture, and infrastructure. Although each setup varies, all studio plans feature a range of cameras, lighting, teleprompters and custom set designs.

Most equipment is located in a campus control room equipped with Gigabit Ethernet and fiber. There students can monitor every part of the production, from graphics to credits to switching. As most schools currently produce and deliver in 1080p, Digital Resources incorporates two recording devices AJA Ki Pro Ultra 4K/UltraHD y 2K/HD on each facility plan – one for master recording and playback and one for ISO recording. A streaming and recording device AJA Hello H.264 It is also standard for streaming content to the school website and social platforms such as Facebook Live, while a router is included AJA Kumo 1616 to route signals in and around the studio without any degradation.

Bock concludes by stating that “Flexible, reliable and plug-and-play equipment is our goal, which is why we continue to use the Ki Pro Ultra. Schools love being able to create, record, and deliver HD, 2K, and 4K, having files ready to edit instantly to pass on to students training in post-production with tools like Avid, Adobe Premiere, or Final Cut Pro Likewise, Helo packs a ton of functionality into a small box, as well as providing a simple backup recording to archive simultaneously to your live stream, and Kumo is ideal for testing and measuring signals. Our AJA team solves a lot of challenges in the production process, so schools and students have less to worry about and can devote more attention to making fun and creative content.”

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