Telemetrics’ software helps City of Aurora broadcast high quality City Council Meetings and Special Events
Mahwah, New Jersey (January, 10, 2017) - Telemetrics is pleased to announce its RCCP-1 (Robotic Camera Control Panel) and Legislative Software were selected for the City Hall upgrade in Aurora, Colorado. This will improve the production capabilities at the main Council Chambers and Aurora meeting room, Control Rooms A and B, and the award-winning Aurora TV television station.
Telemetrics proved to be a solid choice for the project. Its RCCP-1 Robotic Camera Control Panel and Legislative Software help streamline operations, improve functionality and boost production quality. For a small, results-driven facility that was also transitioning from standard to high definition, those are key considerations.
“We wanted a system that integrated tightly with our Ross Carbonite and Xpression CG. While there are other systems that claim to do this, we knew that Telemetrics had a solid, reliable and well-tested system,” explains Randy Simpson, Television & Cable Services Supervisor at City of Aurora, Colorado. He adds, “We’ve been using Telemetrics for several decades, and it’s been among the most reliable equipment that we’ve ever owned. Literally, we’ve never had a single issue with any piece of Telemetrics gear, and some of it has been running 24 hours a day for over a decade! Given this amazing track record with us, when it came to upgrading our system, why would we even consider another brand?”
The Telemetrics equipment controls the five Grass Valley LDX Compact 80 HD cameras in the main Council Chambers. Five cameras cover the 11 council seats and the audience, while the sixth is a dedicated document camera. An additional RCCP-1 runs the four Grass Valley HD cameras installed in the Aurora Meeting Room, where pre-council meeting study sessions take place.
The Telemetrics’ RCCP-1 provides a single, integrated control surface that enables unified command over camera robotics and camera shading. The RCCP-1 also allows access to all controls of broadcast cameras, which eliminates the need for dedicated camera control units or paint boxes. It allows operators to create a dynamic seating chart of the Chamber area using the touch screen GUI. Once the seat layout is programmed, the active cameras pan, tilt and zoom to frame the active speaker with a touch of the screen; the RCCP-1 controls the Ross Xpression CG so the speaker’s name and title can appear as a lower third after they start talking. Prioritized camera assignments select the best available camera for each shot. “Telemetrics helped us program the initial seat layout, and we took it from there. It was not hard at all. The system was intuitive and relatively easy to use,” explains Simpson. “It is so fast and lets us get our shots so quickly that it’s almost made us a bit lazy,” he jokes.
Telemetrics’ LGS Legislative Automation Software is designed specifically for use with the RCCP-1, and allows a single operator to produce live, high quality legislative and corporate meeting video content while decreasing operating expenses. An operator can caption seats, prioritize cameras, and set up wide, tight and cover shots in advance. This enables the operator to easily and instantly manage meetings from the control room using the touchscreen or automated microphone.
Aurora’s SD to HD transition took four months to complete. It required careful timing and lots of communication, as the facility remained live throughout the entire process. As for the finished product, “We could not be happier with our choice. Our fast-paced meeting and other special event coverage is now better than ever, with rapid shot & graphic retrieval. And best of all, I am completely confident that our Telemetrics system will still be fully operational ten years from now,” concludes Simpson.
About Telemetrics, Inc.:
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Telemetrics, founded in 1973, revolutionized the robotic camera control industry with the introduction of robotic camera control over Triax. Today, Telemetrics is a pioneer of innovative solutions used in Studio, Legislative, Military, and Education. Telemetrics offers the S4 line of Pan/Tilt heads, motorized columns with the Televator, ceiling or floor mounted Teleglide track systems and expansive software control packages with the RCCP-1 platform. Telemetrics is committed to making the most reliable, durable, and dependable broadcast ecosystem in the world…products that can be built on for decades not just years. |
About the City of Aurora:
With a population over 360,000, Aurora is Colorado’s third largest city and has one of fastest growing economies in the nation. Aurora TV serves the community with news and City Council meeting coverage through the web at AuroraTV.org and on Comcast cable.
