CHANNEL 6 COMPLETION SET FOR EARLY OCTOBER

Channel 6 is putting the finishing touches on their new television production studio in Stanley Russ Hall, and hopes to be completely finished by early October, just in time to celebrate Channel 6's twentieth anniversary.
 
According to Channel 6 Engineer Steve Cox the new studio "is a much more professional studio." Cox said the new studio is very similar to the ones students may work in after they graduate. "It 's going to be more like a working TV studio," Channel 6 Director Jack Swanstrom said. 

Cox said that all of the equipment for the new studio is on-hand, but crews are still setting up much of that equipment. "The studio itself is the hardest thing," Cox said. Setting up the recording and editing studios as well as the lighting in the studios are among some of the last major projects before the studio is complete.

Among the new features for the studio are a professional lighting grid, a new switcher for the control room and concrete floors. The old studio, which was housed in Schichtl Hall, had wooden floors that made it difficult for students to walk on without producing extra noise during production. The new studio is also virtually soundproof. "This whole building is amazingly soundproof," Swanstrom said.

The new studio will also have a large chroma key wall similar to the ones used by meteorologists at professional news stations. Cox said this would allow different backgrounds to be superimposed behind students. Students will also get experience working with non-linear editing machines, a tool that is used in professional television production.

In addition to the new studio, students will work with new state-of-the-art equipment such as nearly 20 digital video cameras. In the past students only had the use of two VHS cameras. "The digital cameras will enhance the quality of the material students produce," Swanstrom said. "Digital provides a better quality picture."

Channel 6 will also have a new broadcast system. "The old control system could only manage 16 hours of programming, but the new one can handle several hundred hours," Swanstrom said. 

A new satellite on the roof of Stanley Russ Hall will allow Channel 6 to have better programming. "We'll have a lot more options for our programming than we've had in the past," Swanstrom said.

Channel 6 will also partner with AETN who is also partially housed in the same complex. Swanstrom said the interconnectability of the buildings is one of the best features of the complex. "AETN can switch over and use one of our control rooms if they need to, or Channel 6 can go live to a performance at Reynolds Performance Hall," Swanstrom said.

When the new Channel 6 facilities are complete, it will be one of the most state-of-the-art facilities in the state. Swanstrom and Cox agreed that having good facilities makes their jobs very satisfying. "I'm amazed at the enthusiasm we are already seeing in students who are working in these new facilities," Swanstrom said. "I wish I had these facilities when I was in grad school."