It was the turn of the millennium when the Journalism production centre was first built; since then, it has seen some minor upgrades to resolve specific challenges – but nothing to the extent of whats happening this year.  By now, you’ve probably already heard of the tremendous changes that have been made to the NRCS (News Room Computer System); but that’s not the only thing that’s changing this year.  Sheridan’s Journalism Production Facility will undergo its first major technological facelift.  This summer, we will undergo a major HD Conversion project in preparation for production classes staring in September.  Since these types of projects take a fair bit of time to complete, you may find that some features that you’re used to now are temporarily offline until we can complete the install.

You may be wondering whats really involved in converting a production studio from SD to HD…

When preparing an upgrade from SD to HD there are a lot of things that need to be considered; the format and ‘flavour’ of the signal workflow needs to be decided, the cabeling infrastructure needs to be analyzed to determine whether or not it can handle the increased bandwidth of HD video, old equipment that can not be used any more needs to be properly recycled, and we need to determine how we can do all of this without breaking the bank, and without spending too much time on installation.

From an operators perspective, all you really see is the equipment in front of you, in the studio – what you don’t see is all the ‘stuff’ that goes on behind the scenes, integrating all of the equipment together, and passing the video and audio signals all over the place.  Thats one of the biggest challenges; figuring out what you have and what you need, then figuring out how to get what you need to where you need it.  Once we figure that out, then we can decide how best to implement that facility upgrade.

We have a plan, and we’re ordering equipment that will provide students with as close to an industry standard as possible, providing the most value for our students as we possible can.

Stay tuned for some more details on how it’s all going.  We’ll post some pictures of the work in progress.  Check back often to find some tutorial videos on all the new equipment.

It’s an exiting time for the Journalism – Broadcast and Journalism – New Media Programs; we have a lot of exciting changes in the works.  We’re excited, and we hope you are too!