Flagship TV Studio - Coventry University.

Coventry University recently cut the ribbon on its new flagship television studio, designed to give students practical, hands-on experience with industry-leading products. Ross Video partners Altered Images and Academia closed out a successful tender win for the studio design, equipment supply and installation.

As part of the deal, Altered Images supplied a Ross Video central core in the gallery, featuring the Carbonite vision mixer, XPression graphics and Clips and a Ross 72×72 router with openGear frames for the peripheral hardware. The gallery features a custom designed Custom Consoles operator desk with a second desk for students and lecturers to oversee the operation. Gallery wall monitoring was achieved utilising Custom Consoles Dual Monitor posts. The Gallery features full talkback and selectable exterior feeds to monitoring screens within the building. A Quicklink server over Skype ensures the gallery can receive external sources as well as uploading to assorted web platforms.

The three-camera “green screen infinity studio” was equipped with cameras from JVC and a prompting system from Cue Script. A fully automated lighting grid was installed to allow green screen lighting as well as required drama, interview and presentation lighting, with the additional options of 360 degree Green, Black and White backdrops.

One of the key issues for the new studio was acoustics, with glass walls running along two sides of the studio. In discussions with architects, the Altered Images Studio Design team agreed to secondary double-glazing and a uniquely designed deployment of acoustic curtains and drapes.
Craig Goddard, Senior Media Technician at Coventry said “This is a state of the art new studio and working closely with Altered Images we achieved a fantastic result and a superb installation that is, just as importantly, on time and on budget”.

Tim Cunningham Senior Regional Development Manager at Altered Images said, “This was an exciting project to be involved with and it was a joy to be able to work closely with the great team at Coventry. I believe this is one of the finest University studios that, with the range of top-end broadcast equipment supplied, will help the students at Coventry to achieve a very detailed understanding of equipment and production techniques, learning on the very equipment that they will encounter in the Broadcast industry”.

Sending his best wishes to students and staff at the opening event by video, David Ross, CEO of Ross Video, highlighted the importance of Universities funding the best possible equipment for their students. “We hear lots of talk about skills gaps in the broadcast industry and it’s vitally important that students leave higher education and enter the workplace armed with the practical knowledge they need to perform. Coventry University has taken a big step forward with this new studio and I’m sure the students and wider industry will benefit as a result”.