Sony Pro Supports Montclair State University Student Education with First End-to-End 4K Studio
September 26, 2017 Robert Archer (As appeared in Commercial Integrator)
Keeping pace with the ever-changing state of media is a daunting task for just about everyone, including schools and universities. Helping the newly-opened Montclair State Univerisity School of Communications and Media meet the learning requirements of today and tomorrow’s students is Sony Professional and the integration firms KMH Integration, Control Concepts, Inc., and Commercial Technology Contractors Incorporated (CTCI).
The media school features one of the first Ultra HD 4K studio for broadcast and production and control rooms located on a university campus.
Sony Pro points out the school also features Ultra HD 4K production facilities, screening rooms, theaters and classrooms outfitted with its latest products.
A major point of emphasis for Montclair State University, Sony Professional, KMH, Control Concepts and CTCI was to ensure the investment made facilities enable relevant education for years to come.
Sony Pro Gear Used on Montclair State University Campus
According to Sony Pro, highlights of the Montclair State University School of Communications and Media include the first end-to-end 4K studio for broadcast production, and a control room in higher education.
“We don’t just want our students to get their first job, we want them to thrive in their first job,” emphasizes Keith Strudler, director of the School of Communications and Media, Montclair State University.
“Students enter the classroom today with an entirely new currency of knowledge and vastly different sets of skills than they might have had 10 years ago. When you build new production and learning spaces to meet these needs, you have to build to future standards, and we have. The control rooms, production labs, cameras and 4K studio technologies, thanks to our partnership with Sony, are beyond anything we could really even have imagined a few years ago.”
The 4K studio and control room are designed to reflect the same environments as professional studios that also utilize Sony Pro products. In the presentation hall there are six robotic BRC-H900 cameras that students control from a mini control room located in the back of the house.
Sony’s Optical Disc Archive stores student projects and a PWS-4500 4K server records and distributes student-produced content.
“Each space in the new facility is meant to give the most accurate representation of the media and communications workplaces students will encounter when they graduate with real-world workflows and production requirements,” notes Theresa Alesso, vice president, solution services group, Sony Professional.
“This new building delivers the right combination of technology needed for the future of education.”
Kevin Henneman, president of KMH Integration, adds that Montclair State University’s new communications facilities represent the future of media education through its flexible infrastructure that supports future upgrades.
“The nature of broadcast and production technology is that it is constantly evolving with advancements that deliver greater levels of integration, ease-of-use and immediacy,” says Henneman.
“For years we have heard about the convergence of IT systems and workflows with traditional broadcast and production. Montclair State’s new school of communication offers a true juxtaposition of these technologies, rendering an integrated and seamless experience for budding professionals and their audiences while deploying the very best of broadcast technology.”
KMH Integration Montclair State University Highlights
- Four broadcast-ready HD and 4K studio and control rooms that feature 4K infrastructure
- A modern, broadcast-ready newsroom designed to maximize collaboration between print and broadcast
- New multimedia labs enable students’ ability to learn to edit audio and video work. A shared storage network provides ready, collaborative access to 30 Avid editing suites
- A 197-seat presentation hall and a 40-seat screening room that includes Sony Digital Camera Projection and Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound
- A motion picture stage that handles larger motion picture lights for digital filmmaking
- An audio suite that features a Foley stage, performance stage and audio sound labs
- The school offers Internet Protocol (IP)-based radio control rooms
- The school incorporates interactive, collaborative learning spaces, including a classroom where, instructors can view students’ work on a large-screen display
- Montclair State also includes public spaces, informal learning spaces and team rooms that promote collaboration
