SEATAC, WA — Founded in 1856, Providence Health & Services has grown into the fourth largest not-for-profit health system in the United States with multiple facilities across Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. While video has been part of its internal communication efforts for years, the Creative Services department recently opened its first dedicated production studio, which was designed and installed by professional video and audio systems integration firm Advanced Broadcast Solutions (ABS).
Housed at Providence’s headquarters in Renton, Wash., the new production space includes a 30×40 studio, control room, equipment room, two edit suites, and office space for the department. ABS completed the six-week install in early December, and Providence produced its first live program before the end of the year.
“When we started the process of designing a studiospace, I wanted to have a versatile system, one that’s future proof and that can help us reach and connect with caregivers throughout our system,” said David Solheim, senior videographer.
Through its videos, Providence shares messages from its executive team, as well as information about patient safety, financials, and strategic priorities to more than 80,000 employees. The department already produces at least one live program every month in the studio using a mix of staff and freelance crew, and Solheim expects to build up to four live or live-to-tape programs per month.
“ABS helped design an affordable and flexible studio solution that would allow Providence to produce live multi-camera programs and with the best possible production quality,” explained Mark Siegel, president of ABS.
The studio features two JVC GY-HM890 ProHD cameras with Prompter People prompters on Vinten Ped Plus pedestals, plus two Panasonic AW-HE130 PTZ cameras on Vinten tripods that are adjusted in the control room. The lighting grid is stocked with energy efficient Brightline fluorescent and LUPO LUX LED fixtures, all of which are controlled through an Elation Scene Setter 24-channel DMX console.
With regular air traffic over the building, as well as other employees sharing the floor, it was important to insulate the studio. “The idea was to make it as soundproof as possible,” Solheim said. “It’s a really quiet room. Very little noise goes either way.”
ABS also installed an InFocus Mondopad, a 70-inch interactive whiteboard with a built-in PC that can be used to display and annotate graphics, charts, videos, and more. “It’s a great way to make executive presentations more engaging,” Siegel explained. “We recommended it so Providence could move beyond simple, direct address videos and share information in a more visual way.”
A 12×12 green screen wall was painted to allow chromakey productions, and the studio has a 360-degree curtain track with black and gray backgrounds. Between video shoots, the area is used regularly for still photography projects. There is no window between the control room and the studio, so ABS also installed a compact Marshall camera in the lighting grid so the control room staff can have a constant wide view of the area.
Solheim said the new control room was designed to support everything from simple one-man band productions to complex four-camera projects. The system is anchored by a Broadcast Pix Granite 1000 1 M/E integrated production switcher, which includes a built-in multi-view that feeds two large Panasonic screens. Two 22-inch touchscreens are positioned near the switcher for additional control and monitoring options. Using Telemetrics technology, the Panasonic PTZ cameras can also be used in the conference center and connected directly to the switcher via fiber.
Positioned next to the Granite switcher is a Roland M-300 compact digital mixing console. The back row of the control room is designated for CG and prompter operations, with extra space for a producer.
Next to the control room is an equipment room, which houses an AJA Kumo router with Kumo CP control panel, plus two Ki Pro recorder/players. A 17-inch JVC reference monitor was also installed for shade monitoring and critical image analysis. Providence currently uses an outside vendor for streaming, but eventually plans to handle streaming internally via its new ViewCast Niagara GoStream streaming media appliance.
About ABS:
Based in SeaTac, WA, ABS (Advanced Broadcast Solutions) delivers customized, technologically superior solutions for broadcast, corporate, house of worship, entertainment, government and educational facilities – from design and integration to installation and support services. Since 1992, its experienced technical staff has installed more than 1,500 systems worldwide. For more information, call (206) 870-0244 or visit www.advancedbroadcastsolutions.com.
