James Jackson

JRNL 2101
Grant
10/3/2014

In a small, quiet room littered with bits of technology, plaques, newspapers and
windows, Matthew Reid, a reporter for the Stallion at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural
College (ABAC), works diligently on a project to make studio filming much simpler.
Matthew, Matt for short, is an energetic, hard working, up and coming journalist, who
also knows his way around a joke. He speaks with a recognizable mid Georgian accent
and is able to complete his tasks quickly and effectively while assisting other stallion
reporters when the need it. Hes been working for the stallion for 2 years, and has helped
make Stallion TV a success around campus, an accomplishment he takes a great deal of
pride in. Since December, the Stallion has moved to its new home complete with studio
under the Carlton centers library. From moving equipment to setting up lighting and
sound to simply cleaning, it has been a long but rewarding process. Matt now found
himself tasked with installing Black Magic ATEM Studio Switcher hardware, which
helps broadcast videos as the professional level. The device itself is nothing more than a
slim black box with a name and many plugs that can run six to eight cameras at the same
time to catch the many different angles, which can be connected to a newer
Television(for simplicities sake) to view the different screens at once. As amazing as it
sounds, the task what not so simple, many obstacles had to be crossed in order for the
system to function properly. From the freaky cameras glitching all over the screen, to
audio connection issues, to the infamous rogue camera it all became a hot mess, and right
before the weeks deadline came creeping around the corner. But with swift
determination, fast hand and a lot of camera batteries, the problems met their matches.
James Jackson
JRNL 2101
Grant
10/3/2014

The setup for the switcher wasnt difficult, just required a lot of bending over and
untangling cords. Starting with a nice stretch, Matt leans over the edge of the case the
switcher is put in and begins connecting the cords, often finding his leg, or both, tangled
as a result. Once prying the last cord off his foot, he steps in front tv remote in hand with
a grin on his face, I declare this project opened. Did it ever, opened right up to a
confused screen with grid lines in it. Cameras were here, there and everywhere on the
screen, to place them on the same row was the goal but somehow that mark got missed.
There was a camera on the bottom right, another n the opposite side, and another on a
completely separate row. Matt once again leaned around the back, Huh, well this is
confusing; they should all be plugged side by side. After quick skimming the manual
Matt deduced that what we thought were numbers one through three were actually four,
two, and six, seems as though the developers decided to scramble the ports, that and they
forgot to include a power button, almost like theyre playing jokes on their consumers.
Ultimately Matt elected to shift everything to cameras four-six ports, once he found
which were where. This became due to the other ports being a different kind that the
cords we could use. In theory, Matt thought switching the cords over wouldnt take up to
much time, he couldnt have been more wrong, with a lack of moving room behind the
device and a constant bending position proved that theory false as it took far longer than
it should have. After a sigh of relieve, the cameras were in a relatively good spot where
they were easy to see, though actually switching them for filming takes a bit of practice
to get right.
James Jackson
JRNL 2101
Grant
10/3/2014

With the cameras stuck on their new home screens, another more persistent,
ongoing problem that is determined on acting out, the audio. Until the cameras were
placed, the audio was never tested and it was the next big step. Running the audio
through another converter unit, Matt silenced the room and turned on the devices power.
He reached for a pair of nice headphones, complete with a microphone, and put it in the
port. Having another person talk into the camera, he listened closely yet heard nothing
from the other person, nothing but a faint static noise, followed shortly by some over
head whirring coming from the floor above the office. After briefly questioning himself
on the whirring sound, he looked further into the audio connections and noticed the
problem was that the audio wasnt coming through correctly. He discovered this while
looking at the cables over the connected iMac that ran the AEM software. The audio
made it to the iMac fine but not to the other Mac that ran the actual editing software,
which is unrelated to the actual ATEM device. Unlike the rest of the problems, the audio
was simple fix but required a bit of money to do so because apparently there was a lack
of an update where audio can be converted directly. Since the switcher cant directly
convert analog audio into digital audio, the solution was to obtain something that could,
introducing the Behringer unit. The Behringer unit basically looks like two textbooks
side by side, with knobs, buttons, cords and plenty of plugs along the backy. Its an
expensive converter that doesnt take up much room and was the ticket to converting the
audio.

James Jackson
JRNL 2101
Grant
10/3/2014

One cord at a time, and an hour of reading later Matt successfully booted both the
systems, or so he thought. Shortly after installation and connection a small lock error
flashed on the Behringer. Not knowing what it meant, Matt reached for the manual across
the desk and proceeded to read it like it was going out of style. Despite his attempts to
find a phone number, customer service website, or anything to reach the company by any
means, he searched across the web on Google until he found a way to contact the
manufactures. Eventually he found a website with a number to call, pulling on this tiny
thread of hope he managed to reach a customer support representative. After an extended
period of time looking over the behringer for missing/faulty cords, or any broken or
misplaced parts only to discover that the problem may indeed be what Matt thought, the
lock error, or so it is believed. Even with help from the representative and unable to find
the correct solution, really speaks out when your employees dont know whats going
wrong, the ultimate conclusion is to send it back for a replacement. Though this has not
happened yet as Matt has to confirm it with his employer Tom Grant. With the audio
problem in the air, Grant told Matt a way to bypass the behringer unit though the sound
quality would be at a lesser degree than the desired results but for the time being it is
acceptable. This is to connect the wireless microphones and record from there until the
full problem can be fixed. This has been challenging, but it is simply a process of
putting the pieces of a technical puzzle together, no other words could possibly explain
just how hard Matt worked with the audio to go out and compare it to a puzzle.

James Jackson
JRNL 2101
Grant
10/3/2014

After the weekend break and completing the configuration for the audios
backdoor hot-fix, a particular camera decided to go rogue and refuse to work properly.
With the deadline for the fall terms first recording knocking on the door, literally, Matt
became annoyed by its rebelliousness and decided to re-swap the ports again to see if itll
straighten the problem, but it actually made it worse. Instead of two cameras with a
blank spot in the middle, there was a three screen gap between the two working cameras.
The problem was very persistent yet had an easy, while drawn out, solution. After
swapping the cords around about three times, a thought occurred, the only viable option
Matt could think of was the turn it off and pray it works plan. Shockingly that was all it
needed just like rebooting a computer its needs a break every once and a while. This,
however, is only a temporary fix, at least once every few days or so the power cord has to
be disconnected, due to developers not including a power switch, and itll start working
again without a hitch. Matt let out a cheer when he discovered that was all, being
completely thankful for nothing major to have gone wrong.
Finally after everything was said and done, minus the continuation of getting the
audio sorted out which is practically ready to reach a case closed, its time to get the
studio prepared for the last time before the shoot. To prepare for an interview on the set,
we have to adjust lighting as needed, adjust cameras to skin tones and heights of the
interviewer and interviewee, mic them up and prepare to role tape said Matt as he
looked into the slightly messy studio room. The overall process of cleaning, and prepping
the studio took anywhere between 15 to 30 minutes, but as the interview went by it
became easily apparent that the overall outcome was much greater and worth the work.
James Jackson
JRNL 2101
Grant
10/3/2014

Referring to the stallion as a whole Matt says I feel very proud of what we have
accomplished, but I know there is so much more growth still available showing his great
respect towards the Stallion and to his fellow reporters. Looking back on all the issues
Matt had then followed by watching the recording of the first interview with Mike
Chason and Allen Kramer makes it all worth the effort, it went off without a hitch, no
issues or anything which was all made possible because of the hard work Matt put into it.