Testimonials - Synergy 2

Calvin College Makes Easy Decision for New Facility: Ross Synergy and RossGear

Jake Bosmeijer
Chief Engineer
DeVos Communication Center at Calvin College
Grand Rapids, MI

The DeVos Communication Center is a one year old facility with an educational mission for Calvin College. As chief engineer, I am responsible for all the technical aspects of operation for the production center.

During the build for the new facility, we began our search for a vital central piece of equipment: the production switcher. It was quickly determined that a digital switcher would satisfy our requirements for layering video and would allow for future growth into the 16:9 aspect ratio in a 4:3 world.

As a college where funding plays a major role, we were glad to find a very nice affordable package: the Ross Synergy 2. Ross gave us many of the options we needed right out of the box with an incredible chroma keyer to boot. Ross was able to fullfil our students needs with features like Preview Overlay - a must-have feature making setting up a chroma key childsplay, 16 fully configurable inputs and a clean industry-proven interface.

Ross has some really great options too. At NAB 2003, we were introduced to Squeeze & Tease 3D. This option was and is very affordable and is quite an enhancement from Squeeze & Tease 2D. It offers tremendous flexibility, is very clean and the filtering is first class. The upgrade was undeniably easy. How do they pack so much power in this little piggy board? And adding an additional DVE channel would be just another piggy board.

We also selected Ross for the terminal gear. As there is always a need to convert from analog to digital and DAs are always needed for monitors and auxiliary rooms to be fed. RossGear is a good product line that covers all the bases for A to D, D to A, ect.

The setup of the switcher was intuitive and easy to accomplish. There was no adjusting of trim pots, and the fader calibration was without headaches.

The Ross training group are experienced! Within a half day, a fairly knowledgeable TD can become completely familiar with all aspects of the switcher. The afternoon can be spent preprogramming the custom keys to make life even easier.

Ross' sales support has been very helpful with our educational needs. The Chicago office has been able to accomplish some things that are really nice for us in education. Another bonus, some of the latest software updates are obtainable thru their website and their tech support department is very knowledgeable and helpful.

The Ross Synergy 2 in our facility is used to educate students in live video production. It is the central device that ties 4 cameras, 4 tape machines, a still store, character generator, 2 frame stores for wild feeds, bars and color background generators all together with an impressive package of wipes, DVE moves and superb multiple keyers.

In budget, on time, surpasses expectations, exceeds requirements, flexible for future growth are just some of the words to describe my experience with Ross and the Synergy 2 digital production switcher