Complete broadcast mixing
solution includes Studer Vista V console, D23M digital I/O systems and Compact
Stageboxes.
NORTHRIDGE,
CA – Located on the San Diego State University campus,
KPBS Public Media operates three media organizations out of a single production
facility, including NPR radio station KPBS-FM, PBS television station KPBS and the
online news website KPBS-Digital. With so much media being created under one
roof, KPBS needed a broadcast mixing solution that would streamline production
and enable the separate news divisions to seamlessly share original content.
After careful
consideration, KPBS made the decision to replace its legacy digital mixing
console with a complete Studer by HARMAN broadcast audio mixing solution. The
new Studer mixing system enables KPBS to unify the recording and production
workflows across the entire facility, efficiently mix a wide range of
productions and quickly share media between the television and radio stations.
The new KPBS
broadcast mixing system includes a Studer Vista V console with a fully redundant Infinity
Core 400 processing engine, 5 Studer D23M I/O
Systems and 5 Studer Compact Stageboxes deployed
throughout the facility, enabling the different studios to record audio using
the system’s DSP processing. Finally, a Studer Vista
Compact Remote Bay is deployed as an extension of the Vista V, which provides
additional redundancy and allows KPBS staff to control the console from any of
the other studios or newsrooms.
“The Vista V mixing solution gives us
incredible production flexibility across all of our studios and newsrooms,”
said Leon Messenie, Director of Engineering at KPBS. “If the radio station
wants to record something in their performance studio, we can easily
accommodate the microphones directly into the Vista V system. The Studer system
also allows us to combine a wide range of audio sources on the same network so
that all of our media is available to all of our production teams—no matter
what surface they’re using. The flexibility and seamless networking between
studios was a big selling point for us.”
Studer solutions
are I/O agnostic, which enables the Vista system to accommodate any I/O
standard. At KPBS, the Vista V console is augmented by 5 D23m I/O systems with
with various I/O card configurations, including 35 embedder and de-embedders that
allow production teams to strip audio from up to 35 separate video streams. The
radio station can use audio pulled from a video stream to create soundbites for
radio show, and the TV station can use the embedders to combine audio clips with
a video stream. Media assets are shared instantly between the radio and TV
departments using audio over IP networking, which is facilitated by a Liveware
card in the D23m.
“The KPBS television station does a lot of
production for our radio station, and both departments are constantly sharing
audio soundbites back and forth,” shared Messenie. “With the Livewire
integration in the Studer system, the television station has access to all of
the KPBS radio sources, and the radio station has access to all of the KPBS television
sources. We could be on the air doing a story for PBS NewsHour, and radio can
use the audio feed to create soundbites. With the Livewire connection on the Studer
console, both stations can access the audio instantly—even from mobile
productions in the field.”
With a live televised nightly newscast and
multiple live radio shows, system redundancy is critical at KPBS. The Studer
system was designed with multiple layers of redundancy, so that even in the
rare possibility of catastrophic system failure, the station will not
experience any loss of audio. The Vista V features Quad Star technology, which
uses four processors to achieve aviation-standard levels of redundancy in the
control surface. Furthermore, CPU-based DSP makes it viable to provide two
completely independent DSP cores running in parallel, with instant change over
in the event of a problem.
“This is the only audio board for the
entire production facility, so we definitely wanted redundancy for the entire system,”
Messenie explained. “If we lost audio during our nightly newscast, it would not
be good to say the least. The Vista V gives us several layers of redundancy, so
that no matter what happens, the show will go on. Even in a worst-case scenario
where the entire console surface fails, we can still control one of the system’s
cores using the Vista Compact Remote Bay. The Studer system gives us confidence
that we can work around any potential issues really quickly.”
The KPBS facility is located on San Diego
State University campus, and student interns assist on numerous television and
radio productions. KPBS needed an intuitive mixing system with the flexibility
to accommodate users with a wide range of skill levels—from professional
engineers with decades of experience to student interns who are beginning their
careers in broadcasting. The Vista V features Studer's revolutionary Vistonics
interface, which provides fast and intuitive control for users of all skill levels.
In order to simplify productions for students, KBPS engineers create snapshots
for different shows that the students can quickly recall.
The Studer Broadcast Academy also provides
KPBS with a valuable teaching resource. Through interactive online courses,
students work through lessons and
follow along with the provided Virtual Vista software. Students are
tested at the end of each lesson, and after all courses are completed, they
receive official Studer Vista Online certification. This enables KPBS to ensure
that interns know how to operate and control the Vista V system before they
ever touch the console in the studio.
“We train students on very simple
productions that we create snapshots for,” concluded Messenie. “It’s easier and
less intimidating than it would be than if we placed them on a large production
with a complex mixing workflow. Plus, the Studer Broadcast Academy lets us train
the students on the basic operations of the Studer board before we even let
them mix on the board. The entire Studer workflow has been very helpful in our
student environment.”
Products Used:
ABOUT HARMAN
HARMAN (harman.com) designs and engineers
connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers, and enterprises
worldwide, including connected car systems, audio and visual products,
enterprise automation solutions; and services supporting the Internet of
Things. With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®,
JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles,
musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world.
More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN
audio and connected car systems. Our software services power billions of mobile
devices and systems that are connected, integrated and secure across all
platforms, from work and home to car and mobile. HARMAN has a workforce of
approximately 30,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In March
2017, HARMAN became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.
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