Sacramento Production Services partnered with Symetrix to create a hybrid classroom to enable students to interact both in-person and via Zoom at the River City Christian Church in Rancho Cordova, CA. They called on the technical support of Symetrix's field applications engineer Quinn Klarer to help with this unique project installation.
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"He came in and really helped us with his expertise,” Sacramento Video Productions install tech and programmer Brian Webber. “This involved adding a Shure MXA910, a Datavideo PTZ camera and a capture card to the existing computer system. I needed a way for the control of all systems to be easy for the end user and this required a lot of programming. I also purchased a 12-inch touchscreen for control. I wanted the ability to integrate the Datavideo PTZ camera into the system and connected it to the Symetrix Prism 12 x 12 that sent control data over the network. I was having trouble getting this working on the Windows computer with just straight IP?commands and Quinn suggested I try the Bolen PTZ Intelligent Module that he had created. This module was perfect for my needs. Even though it was written for a different brand of camera, we were able to adapt it and make it work. This Intelligent Module includes pan/tilt control as well as preset recall which I copied all those buttons to the Symetrix SymVue touchscreen. I was able to integrate it with the Shure MXA910 microphone and have the camera recall the preset based on where the person was standing in the room talking. I routed all the individual Dante channels into the Symetrix Composer file and had each one route through an audio level detector and connected that to a remote-control number module. This then triggered the corresponding camera preset. It took some tweaking, but it works fantastic."
Better Than Your Average Classroom Switcher
Webber is also using five Visionary Solution encoders and two decoders in this project. He's worked with Chuck Larson, formerly of Symetrix, who has helped with the video integration in Composer. "With these," Webber said, "I'm able to create a preview of both input and output on the touchscreen, as well as have that preview be a button. I've got it set up so the end user can touch the source they want, then touch the destination they want. I find this so much easier to use and explain than a standard classroom switcher. The ability to have the picture/preview is so helpful. I'm able to send all these commands to the encoders/decoders with intelligent modules including the source select, HDMI CEC commands (on/off) and Bluetooth pairing."
Symetrix products are, Webber said, "easy-to-use, yet have the complexity to address all the needs at the same time. I absolutely love the ability to control every piece of gear on the network through the system; this was really important to me." The company recently began integrating Visionary Solutions products into its installations, "and the number of things you can do integrating these two products together is staggering," he said, adding: "Also, the 64 channels of Dante are wonderful. For me, I find the analog I/O to just be bonus for me as I'm trying to use Dante as much as possible. The ability to patch everything in the Composer file is great
Symetrix Delivers on Sound Quality
"I found the sound quality to be outstanding! I've installed three Prisms in this location alone as well as many others and I cannot say enough about how good they sound," Webber said. "I can always find exactly the audio module I need. I always use the feedback suppressor with LAV mics which works great. It's difficult to find a feedback suppressor that doesn't degrade the audio beyond intelligibility.
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"I feel like all projects we work on are somewhat unique," Webber added. "I try to identify with the customer what it is they need to accomplish in the room and design around that. In this case, this room was used for many different things so each of those needed to be addressed in the installation. One of my goals here was to have the average, non-technical user be able to walk into this room and do complex things in a simple way. The Prism was the central hub for letting me achieve this. The feedback I've received from this customer reflects that. After the training session, I've had no phone calls for help figuring out how to do something--they always manage to figure it out and I count that as a win."
