LSBU choose root6 for networked editing installation

The new nine-storey Keyworth Centre on the Southwark campus of London’s South Bank University (LSBU), scheduled for official opening in December 2003, houses a range of digital media production facilities including five Avid edit suites linked to a central lecture theatre.
The networked editing installation and the provision of a new Avid Adrenaline system was undertaken by the systems integration arm of Soho-based root6.
LSBU’s Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences currently offer a BA course in Digital Video Production from its Arts and Media Division. In addition to teaching the theoretical aspects of visual storytelling, half the BA course is based on practical experience, both in the edit suits and on location using DV and mini-DV cameras.
A unique aspect of the installation enables a lecturer in the theatre to access each of the five G4-platform Avid suites, as root6 Head of Systems Integration Phil Crawley explains. He said: “We’ve installed a Unity LANshare network and the necessary cabling to enable the lecturer to gain control of individual editing systems via a keyboard/mouse setup located in the central theatre.
“In addition to providing shared media storage across the five suites this also makes for an extremely efficient teaching tool for practical 'hands-on' demonstration as each student in the suites can see precisely how the lecturer is operating.” Each suite has been identically designed with ancillary equipment housed in a compact single bay.
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