Establishment of a Community Media Access Center PurposeDespite the declining prices of consumer camcorders, the cameras, microphones, lights, studios and editing equipment necessary to produce quality video is out of the reach of most residents and organizations of Indianapolis. The purpose of a community media access center is to make such equipment and studios readily accessible to all members of the community, and to provide proper training on their use. The community media access center would also provide the site for the public access TV channel's playback equipment (head-end).
Site PAI's criteria for a site include a centralized location, nearby parking, and accessibility by public transportation. Preferably, such a site would already by outfitted with a studio, but in the absence of that, be able to be outfitted economically. The site would need to have a security system, and sufficient space for a studio, equipment storage, control room, two edit suites, four offices, a reception area, and a conference room. PAI is particularly open to any opportunities to partner with a local library, school or other community organization. The hours of operation would be 9 a.m. - 10 p.m. on Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. on Saturdays, and 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. on Sundays. Interconnection Per 851-403 (b) of the City Code, the cable operator is responsible for interconnecting its system with all other systems operating under a franchise granted by the city so that the channels designated for public, educational, and governmental access are transmitted on all cable systems simultaneously and on the same channels. This obligation includes the provision of all devices required to accomplish such interconnection. Staffing The primary purpose of the staff for the community media access center is to encourage and facilitate the use of it and the public access TV channel. Since the staff is small, PAI will also rely on the use of volunteers and student interns, and require staff members who are willing and able to provide back-up for each other's responsibilities. The initial five, full-time staff positions are: Executive Director Experienced manager with overall responsibility for day-to-day operations, program development, community outreach, staff development, budgeting, and personnel matters. Also responsible for the required monthly reports to the Indianapolis Cable Franchise Board and any to the City-County Council. Responsible to the PAI Board and primarily measured by success in meeting targets for utilization, outreach, and user satisfaction. Access Coordinator Primary facilitator for producers. First point of contact with potential access TV producers: provides orientation on rules, certification, and necessary agreements, schedules initial training class, etc. Designs, implements and teaches basic training classes. Programming Director Implements the scheduling and playback of programming. Assists in studio productions, scheduling, and equipment check-out/check-in. Studio Director/Engineer Responsible for maintenance of equipment. Teaches classes in studio direction, lighting, etc. Assists with studio productions. Administrative Assistant Responsible for all administrative/secretarial assistance; scheduling of training, studio, edit suites and loaner equipment; check-out/check-in of loaner equipment; and backup-up of LAN server. In mid-2000, PAI plans to add a programming and production assistant. Equipment PAI has developed an initial equipment plan that supports the needs of both novice and more advanced producers, the need for high quality at a modest cost with an eye toward the future, and the need to support a wide variety of media as input for editing. PAI has followed WCTY Channel 16's research and lead in basing its operations on DVCPRO technology, a broadcast quality digital format. In addition to providing high quality and a foundation for the future, this approach gives PAI compatibility with Channel 16. PAI also plans to acquire a satellite downlink for access to programming such as The Deep Dish Network. More advanced equipment, such as an animation suite, would be added later. Members would have to be trained and certified to use the various types of equipment. An initial, detailed equipment plan for budgeting purposes is contained in Appendix D. Playback and Master Control Head-End An automated playback system with seven DVCPRO tape players and a bulletin board graphics program for announcements and fail-over. The playback system supports up to eight additional tape players for growth and additional automation. A switcher is included to support live-programming. Field Production Equipment Twelve 1-chip SVHS camcorders, two portable studios, and an assortment of hand held and lavalier microphones, lights, batteries, and tripods for check-out, normally 24 hours. Linear Edit Suite This basic cuts-only edit suite for simple productions and less experienced producers includes Hi8, SVHS and DVCPRO tape players for input, a cuts-only, basic edit controller, a graphics generator, and DVCPRO output for playback. Nonlinear Edit Suite This more functional PC-based edit suite also includes an open architecture for input media (Hi8, SVHS, and DVCPRO players), and DVCPRO output for playback. Production Studio This full function studio features three 3-chip digital camcorders (instead of cameras only for maximum production flexibility) on camera dollies, flexible lighting, a telephone interface for call-in programs, and an A/B roll control/edit suite with Hi8, SVHS, and DVCPRO tape input, and DVCPRO output. Dub Rack This set of VCR's provides conversion to and from various tape formats, such as DVCPRO, SVHS, 3/4", Hi8 and VHS. |
