USQ Media Services makes the switch to HD

Audio/Visual Services Manager Jeff Black and Senior Video Production Officer Eddie Flemming are preparing to make the move to digital end-to-end HD TV signals

Amazing high-definition (HD) images of USQ events, lectures, tutorials, interviews and promotions will be coming soon to a screen near you.

In an exciting leap forward in the ever-changing world of technology, USQ’s Media Services is poised to make the switch to digital end-to-end high-definition television signals.

From December 1, this major renovation and technological upgrade will be undertaken within the Distance and eLearning Centre’s video studio and video-editing suites located in Y-Block at the University’s Toowoomba campus. The audio studios will be unaffected.

Audio/Visual Services and Replication Manager, Jeff Black, said the new installation was a necessary step for the University to stay relevant and comply with current industry standards.

'The Federal Government has commenced its shutdown of the analogue system and many of the broadcasters and production companies will now only accept footage in HD,' Mr Black said.

'To meet these standards, we will be shooting, editing and sharing images in the new HD format, which has much brighter, more accurate and crisper pictures.'

Mr Black said the complexity of the cabling and the modification of the editing suites would result in the department operating at a reduced capacity during the upgrade, expected to be completed by March 1 next year.

'During this time specialists will be coming in to lay 30kms of the new cabling, the bench work on the editing suites will be modified and the team will undergo training in the new system,' he said. 'However, we will still be able to do filming on location and edit footage at a reduced capacity.'

Once operational, the new system will feature three HD cameras within the TV studio, two HD field cameras and HD editing equipment.

'We will also be one of the first production houses in Queensland with the Avid ISIS shared storage solution, which will enable us to capture all the footage to a shared area and save time that we would otherwise spend transferring footage from cameras to individual editing workstations.'

Mr Black said the upgrade would take place at quieter time in their booking schedule when they would normally carry out their routine annual maintenance. 'This is the only time of year when the reduction in departmental capacity will not be of major inconvenience to the University and our commercial clients,' he said.

Next year’s improved service and launch of the USQ’s Digital Media Facility will enhance the University’s reputation of providing quality learning resources to students and staff.

'The staff of Audio/Visual Services and Replication look forward to offering this new service to our existing and new clients in the New Year,' Mr Black said.