Testimonials - Synergy 2

Iowa State U. Chooses Ross for Cutting-Edge Bang-for-their-Buck

Dennis Goodrich
Project Coordinator
Instructional Technology Center
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa

I have worked at Iowa State University for 27 years, tarting with WOI-TV in 1973 and moving to the Instructional Technology Center in 1987. In that time, I have gone from being a studio camera operator, to being in the first group of Electronic Field Production people, sports cameraman, video editor, equipment guru and studio installer.

The Instructional Technology Center provides a wide range of services to the ISU campus, including AV equipment in classrooms, check-out equipment, location video and sound, video program scripting, design, shooting and editing, CD-ROM project production, graphics and Instructional Design.

Until recently, the studios of WOI-TV were available to campus users, but after the station was sold and moved, the studios went dark. Through a partnership between ISU's central administration and four different departments, funding was obtained to refurbish the studios,

So, how far can you make $1-million go in setting up two studios and two control rooms? The short answer is, "Quite a long way!" But it takes a lot of planning, communicating and research. Part of that research was finding out just what we needed, and which equipment items would give the most bang for the buck. We came up with a laundry list of required attributes, which included digital video and 16x9 capability. The two studios are 95% redundant in capability. Among the products we chose were Ross Synergy 2 switchers and RossGear.

A longer description would show that our studios have a digital video backbone with ProBel Freeway 64x64 digital video routing, 48x48 stereo analog audio, 6 Hitachi Z-3000W cameras on Vinton Petrel heads and Matthews pedestals, Pinnacle Deko 500 CG's, Pinnacle Lightning 500 and Lightning 1000 Still Stores and a Pinnacle Alladin Pro DVE. Videotape duties are shared by two JVC D-9 decks, two Sony PVW Betacam decks, and two Panasonic MII decks. One JVC S-VHS and one Sony 3/4" deck round out the videotape area. RossGear takes care of all the DA's and digital conversion products, which includes 8 digital video frames, 3 analog video frames and 3 analog audio frames.

Why Synergy?
First and foremost, the Ross Synergy is at the beginning of its product lifecycle. Except for one possible choice, all the others in our price range were mature products. This means Synergy is at the cutting edge of today's technology and that it will be around for a long time, with even more R&D taking place. The Ross Synergy also offered a complete feature set and the most complete upgradeability path, as well as a very competitive price. We felt good about the Ross name, too, even though we had not previously purchased any Ross products.

A demonstration of the Synergy at our site gave us confidence that it would be useable by even occasional operators and that faculty could use and teach with it.

An outside consultant planned our renewed facility, but the installation was done in-house. Four people were largely responsible for the actual installation, which took place over about 4 months. Having a plan created by people who know how to do this was worth every penny of cost! We now have a known system that is easy to trouble shoot when the occasional problem comes up.

As far as reliability is concerned, I think only three of 140 boards have been returned to Ross for service, all within 6 months of turn-on. We also had trouble upgrading one switcher to the latest software, but the factory traded boards with us and the new one was all configured when we put it in. Throughout our process, from research to demonstration to product support, the people at Ross have been just great.

So here we are at the beginning of a new millennium and the dawning of the DTV Age, at one of the best Land Grant university's in the United States, with digital video production facilities that can make 16x9 pictures and equipment that has room for a lot of growth. Is this heaven? Well, it certainly is our field of dreams in Iowa!