San Antonio, Texas, with a population of more than 1 million, has 16 school districts, more than 30 high schools, and even a few high-tech software companies. So, when San Antonio’s Northside school district needed live production tools, it was only logical that the district’s Media Specialist, Terry Whittle, would drop by NewTek World Headquarters in San Antonio to see how many tasks TriCaster could accomplish for what he had in mind. What Whittle had in mind was something big, since he coordinates production for the fifth-largest school district in Texas, with 82,000 students and more than 100 facilities.
One of the big challenges for any school district is recording and distributing the graduation ceremonies, as there are frequently back-to-back summer evenings covering the cap-and-gown event. Whittle says Northside is no exception, with 11 graduations to switch and record. “We have recorded it in the past, but we used to bring along cameras, switchers, audio mixers, DVD players and tape decks to coordinate everything. Once we got TriCaster, we enjoyed how incredibly quick it is to be able to plug in three cameras and immediately start working.” Whittle thinks it’s sometimes the little things that make a big difference, such as TriCaster’s internal time-base correction and genlocking of all incoming sources. “I like not having to genlock my cameras, which saves on cabling, saves on time and lets us get started so much faster. It’s SO easy!”
Since purchasing TriCaster, Whittle says this major task has become something he now looks forward to. “We do a 3-camera shoot with titles already done in TriCaster. We pre-produce the graduation opening, and roll that immediately prior to the ceremonies.” This means each graduation is ready for duplication on-site, instead of having to take back several tapes and perform a days-long multi-cam edit session for each graduation.
Working in the NISD Communications Department, an extension of the Superintendent’s office, Whittle and his producer, Julie Ann Matonis, are also responsible for producing a 30-minute television show, a 30 minute Radio show, and offers A/V support for the Northside Education Foundation (NEF). Each year a video is created for the NEF annual employee pledge drive, which also plays in all 9 of the NISD “Back to School”convocations. This is a major pledge drive, pep-rally and presentation for the district’s ten thousand employees. Accommodating that many people requires Whittle’s team to produce three shows daily, including a produced pre-show warm-up, and then roll in 7 supporting videos during the Superintendent’s presentation. Whittle says the logistics can get complex. Once things are back to normal, into the school year, “There is a Northside Education Foundation Banquet and gala with 1500 community leaders, live and silent auctions, three-camera shoot, graphics, Flash-based graphics coming in from external laptops through iVGA to TriCaster and numerous supporting videos simulcast on 2 large screens at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort location.” Whittle says the TriCaster is always up to the task!
One of NISD’s recent high points was a visit from Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, accepting the NISD invitation to dedicate his named High School. For the ceremony, three cameras and graphics in TriCaster were recorded for him and for the school. The next day, he spoke to 40 students in a library Q&A. That was archived as a 2-camera shoot that was simulcast throughout the school and streamed live to 3,000 students watching in 11 high schools for this historic moment. Whittle was pleased with his TriCaster for such an important event. “Not one hitch. We even recorded the .wmv file as it was streaming for on-demand viewing.”
"Once you do more, you’re expected raise the bar next time around." That is something Whittle’s team is fully prepared for, now that TriCaster is a core tool. “All of our events get bigger and bigger. We’re adding 4 schools each year and we need more presentation power. It’s become so much easier to produce it through TriCaster now”
Whittle’s advice to other school districts?
“Raise the level of your PR events with TriCaster”
Terry Whittle’s team can be contacted at terrywhittle@nisd.net
Northside Independent School District’s website has archived numerous events on-line at
http://www.nisd.net/communications/nisdtv/?video
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