08/11/2003 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • As a part of our recent franchise renewal, Comcast agreed to route all seven government channels through the new Media Center's master control. This was a significant agreement. Because of it, we will be able to independently route programming onto each of the seven government feeds. The cities will continue to be the originating source of programming. (Your live meetings, computer bulletin boards, any tapes you might want to play.) But, upon your request, whether it be occasionally or daily, the Media Center master control operator can put programming from our server onto your channel. Cities can maintain as much or as little control over the day to day programming as they desire. Those with larger budgets may choose to maintain a "mini headend" at city hall. Those with smaller budgets may want to utilize the Media Center master control service more regularly. It's up to you. Tapeless and Wireless This -is the ultimate long -term goal. While rebuilding master control puts us on the right path, it's only one step in the direction we'd like to go. As a part of the new building technology design we hope to include a networking system that links all offices, edit suites, studios, conference rooms and the truck to the main server. With this connection, programs can be edited on computer hard - drives and saved to the master server without copying the finished product to tape. For now, our cameras will continue to record using videotape, requiring us to download the images onto the hard - drive, but eventually cameras will record images digitally, without the use of videotape. A tape- less production facility is not far away. We also hope to move toward being a wireless facility. This would include intercom systems for the studios and the truck, telephone system for the building, microphones, and possibly studio and truck cameras. The amount of money, time and energy that goes into stringing cables for studio and truck shoots, and the amount of damage those cables and connectors sustain through set -up and tear -down could be hugely impacted by moving to wireless systems. We are currently researching wireless production tools and their reliability and costs. This isn't something that will happen in its entirety across one budget year, but it is an important long -term goal. 4 Sets Our plans for the new facility include two studios, one 40x40 the other 20x20. We will need a series of sets to make the spaces functional. Our goal is to have three permanent staff sets, one permanent public set, and one open space available for any type of set that would have to be set -up and torn -down after every shoot. The rationale for permanent sets is quite convincing, particularly in the area of staff production. Permanent sets maintain a consistent look, don't require lighting changes, last longer, and make for more efficient use of staff time. The three permanent sets we would like to build for staff programming include a news set, a sports talk -show set, and a general talk -show set. All three sets would have aspects, such as back - drops, furniture, and signage that could change to maximize use and insure as much variability in program appearance as possible.