Broadcast Pix Slate 3000 Installation Planning Guide - October 2008
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One of the unique features of all Broadcast Pix Slate switchers is control room operations are integrated
within the switcher, making it easily controllable by a minimal staff, or even one person. A technical
director can switch and control cameras, key on lower thirds, update guest graphics, change over-the-
shoulder boxes, roll in opens and packages, plus trigger audio commands, all from one control panel.
This tight interaction makes productions more efficient, while enabling a smaller staff to be more
productive.
Some productions require more than a ‘one-man-band’ operation. There are times when in addition to
having a complex switched production, multiple graphics and clips need to be updated and changed on
the fly. The Slate system is highly scalable, and can easily accommodate multiple users. A common
setup up for a Broadcast Pix studio is a technical director, switching and calling the camera shots plus a
second operator changing graphics and clips as needed. Both users are controlling the same Broadcast
Pix workstation, the technical director with the 1 M/E control panel, and the graphics operator with a
keyboard, mouse and dedicated graphics monitor. See below for diagram.
For even more demanding productions, where each device needs to have a separate operator, the
Broadcast Pix easily adjusts. The main workstation effectively has 2 control points, one is the 1 M/E
control panel and the other is the keyboard and mouse. When other users need access to a keyboard
and mouse, other workstations, of any kind, can easily be networked together to add more control points.
Through the use of SoftPanels, which are virtual control panels, users enter an IP address and have
access to any part of the control panel to assist the director in various show needs. Since SoftPanels are
Flash-based, users can easily right-click and zoom into various parts of the control panel for a custom
look. This not only focuses the user on their section, but also limits access to other parts of the panel,
that the director may not want anyone to control. You may have as many SoftPanel licenses installed on
your system as you wish, and they can easily be added on as an option. Each control panel, SoftPanel
and Scripts panel uses one license, the Slate 3000 comes with 4 licenses, but more may be beneficial. In
addition to more SoftPanels, users have the option to add more physical control panels, such as 1 M/E
control panel for back-up/redundancy or pair a 2 M/E control panel and have a 1 M/E control panel that
controls a specific M/E. This option is useful when driving multiple outputs where one TD is controlling
the record feed and the other TD is controlling a projector output Image Magnification (IMAG).
Team Operation
18
Technical Director
Graphics/Clips Operator
1 ME Technical Director
Graphics Operator
Clips Operator
Network
Switch
ME 1 Technical Director