QuickLink StudioPro Underpins New Era Of Student Media

Westminster Schools, a K through 12 school in Atlanta, Georgia with approximately 2,000 students, has revamped its student broadcasting and digital storytelling operation by installing QuickLink StudioPro, paired with the StudioPro Proton control panel.

The move represents a significant advance in production quality, workflow speed and creative scope for the school's media activities.

For more than a decade, Westminster’s student‑run broadcast club, WCAT, has delivered weekly news, sports coverage, podcasts and short‑form video projects. "WCAT started as a sports broadcasting club, but it grew into weekly news, podcasts and short films," said William Turton, WCAT Technical Director. "Before we constructed this new space, everything was filmed in a classroom studio using traditional, single‑camera workflows."

That changed earlier this year when the school opened the Blake Center, a purpose‑built media facility featuring a full studio with a 30‑foot LED video wall, lighting grid, three cameras, a control room and a dedicated classroom. Systems integrator FORTÉ led the studio’s design and installation, specifying capabilities such as multi‑camera switching, ISO recording, graphics, remote guests and video playback. "A member of the FORTÉ team asked if I had heard of QuickLink," Turton recalled. "He told me that its StudioPro basically did everything we were looking for, all in one unit. It sounded too good to be true, but it really had a full rack's worth of equipment in one chassis."

Following an on‑site demonstration, Westminster chose a QuickLink StudioPro‑3 as the central production engine for the new space. "It's really been the backbone and the brain of our new studio," Turton said. The system now powers Westminster's weekly news programme, regular podcasts and a growing slate of curricular and extracurricular video projects.

The transition from record‑then‑edit production to live switching has transformed efficiency. "Before, it was record and then five hours of editing for a kid to do," Turton explained. "Now, we're coming in, filming, switching through cameras, tossing to videos, putting up graphics while we're filming and then uploading it right after. It has significantly simplified our workflow."

Students have acclimatised quickly to the new toolkit. "It's super user‑friendly. You show it to them once, and they pretty much understand it. If they want to build a new scene or add graphics, it's easy; hit the plus, find your source, drag things around. They picked up on it pretty quickly."

While the studio is primarily operated by grades 9–12, middle school students also take part, and lower school classes have begun using the space for special projects. QuickLink's flexibility has encouraged experimentation with advanced production techniques, including remote guests, NDI sources, web inputs and dynamic integrations with the video wall. "With the video wall, we have aux channels going out of QuickLink into the processors, so we can put different graphics up on top of the wall and layer things," Turton said. "During March Madness, some kids wanted their bracket behind them. We routed a screenshare into StudioPro with a browser source, then into the video wall software, and they had it behind them while they picked it. It was cool."

Teachers have embraced the space as part of a wider digital storytelling push. "Instead of writing a paper, the final project might be a podcast or a short film," Turton said. "Kids would put something like the Roman Empire on the video wall and record their project. With QuickLink, they were done as soon as they finished filming instead of having to do green screen work later."

Operationally, the StudioPro Proton control panel has further smoothed live production for student crews. "The Proton panel has made switching even more intuitive for them," Turton said. "It gives them tactile control in a way that feels familiar but still ties directly into all the advanced features QuickLink offers."

The upgraded facility has impressed students, staff and visitors alike. "Our production quality has definitely gone up," Turton said. "When the upper school teachers toured the space, they were blown away. And the students were definitely enjoying figuring out all the different features and getting to implement them." For Turton, the bottom line is straightforward: "I really don't think this space would be as usable as it is now without QuickLink,” he says. “It's been super flexible, very helpful with the video wall, and it’s truly the backbone of this studio."

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