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We wanted a switcher that would help us with the transition to high definition. We wanted
one that had the power to do the complex newscasts that we do as a company. We wanted one that
was simple to operate, but had room to grow and give us additional capabilities that we
didn’t have before. Ross met all those qualifications.
I think it is very easy to harness the power of this switchers. We can have a 4ME switcher,
and on 1 ME we can set up 3 sets of double boxes, and still leave ourself three quarters
of the switcher to do anything else we need to, not having to recall anything in the middle
of a block, not having to set anything else up in a middle of a block.
With the configuration that we have on the switcher, 1 ME gives us the ability to do
three sets of double boxes, without having to do any recalls, its there at a touch of
a button.
The power of the QMDX letting us control all of, almost every other device that we use
in our news cast is a tremendous asset for us during the show. As a director I can sit
at the switcher, I can control all three channels of presets, with a push of a button, right
on the custom control row. I can control four channels of Chyron, I can even convert a router
that we have to make it either 4x3 or 16x9 depending of the satellite source that we
have coming into that router. And I can even control the audio board if we go to secondary
server on the presets. I can hit a macro that is going to trigger the audio board to go
to secondary as well so all of that in the course of a news cast gives me tremendous
flexibility in a switcher as a director.
The power of the switcher is just amazing. And the more power a switcher has, the more
the director can set up and have available the easier that newscast is.
Weather is a huge attention grabber here in South West Florida, whether it is the dry
season, or especially through the hurricane season. On our NBC set we have been able to
go from a green chroma key wall, that was good, to a blue chroma key wall, that with
the ultra chrome set up we have been able to dial in so nicely that the weather guys
good better and in all that looks, the weather guys do more of their weather from the chroma
wall being right in front of the chroma key set up in front of the weather graphics being
able to present that to the viewer so they can get all the information they need, especially
in a hurricane or a storm situation.
To try to limit what I like about the switch to a few words is tough, because it is a very
powerful, well thought out switcher that was made for a broadcaster.
The ease of use is also something that we really appreciate. Also training new directors,
to teach them a concept, to show it to them on the switcher is something that the switcher
is laid out logically, everything falls in place and makes sense for them when they are
learning something from the ground up without having any production or switcher experience
to begin with.
Doing 14 newscast a day, we can’t go in with 14 different set-ups, 14 different methods
of doing the same thing. That simply confuses the operators, it confuses the directors,
that type of operation opens it up for inconsistency. By having that custom set of memories and
procedures available, we bred consistency within the newscast. It takes any of the question
out of it, its there, when we know we push the button we are going to get this effect,
we know the switch will do, we know it will do it consistently, we know it will do it
exactly how we want it to.
I think the one feature of this switcher that I have grown to like the most are the Ox keys.
Its given us on top of the 4 MEs that we already have it has given us pretty much another additional
2 MEs, to either park some OTS shots on, park some monitor dissolves, it gives us that freedom,
that if we have a very busy newscast to set up an additional two effects ahead of time,
have them ready to go, have the rest of the power of the switcher at our hands. Gives
us a ton of freedom, a ton of flexibility, in our newscast.
I think it says a lot about the company when the president of the company comes in and
does the switcher demo. That tells me that they stand behind their product, that they
are concerned about the product and about how they help their customers achieve their
goals in their business. They understand that news happens late at night, early in the morning,
on weekends, on holidays. The support is there. Its not a situation of paying a crazy fee
to get a right to a recording that you might get a call back in a day or so. Its a question
of picking up the phone, making a phone call, getting a human being, getting someone back
right away, and getting the problem fixed.