Training An Industry, Driving Its Development, Ryerson RTA is Now HD

It has hosted a number of firsts in Canadian broadcast history, and following a somewhat chaotic and rushed off-season, it’s done it again!

Ryerson University’s School of Radio and Television Arts is now training the next generation of broadcast media producers, artists and businesspeople, leading the way in broadcast innovation, education and research, having launched the country’s first academic HDTV studio.

As David Tucker, RTA Chair, explains, “RTA’s been at the forefront of innovation since it was founded in 1948. At that time, RTA broadcast the first television signal in Canada; now, we’ve come full circle with the launch of this impressive new facility for high definition broadcasting.”

Housed in Ryerson’s Rogers Communications Centre, the HD studio began full operation last fall; students have already produced live and pre-taped HDTV programming – including commercials, features, network IDs, bumpers, mini-dramas, and hosted in-studio newscasts.

“We only inked the final deal at the end of June,” Tucker recalls, “and we opened for business at the beginning of September! It was a fast turnaround; not just huge changes to all our studios, but also major renovations within the Centre itself. There was dust and debris everywhere!”

He pays tribute to his own staff, who were actively involved with all the renovations, construction and equipment installation, as well as the industry partners and suppliers they’ve worked with. “The fact that the suppliers and manufacturers went as far as they did means this project really enters the realm of a partnership, more than a conventional business deal. Off-the-rack, our acquisitions would cost a good three million dollars; our partners managed to bring it much, much lower than that – we could not have afforded it otherwise. Ted Rogers, too, has been phenomenally supportive and generous, as we explore the relationship with RCC and further opportunities in HD.”

The Centre itself is a highly-wired, fully interactive and very adaptable communications environment, with state-of-the-art computer labs, networked media and print facilities, and now the fully upgraded TV studios, all housed in its 140,000 square foot downtown Toronto structure.

It houses four TV studios, including the new HD facility. Embraced by a hard cyclorama and topped with a fixed lighting grid, the latter is equipped with three Panasonic AK-HC930P 1080i HD cameras with 8″ colour viewfinders and QTV teleprompter heads. The studio cameras are mounted to Osprey Elite and Quattro-S four-stage pedestals, with Vinten’s Vector 60 pan and tilt heads. Seven Panasonic 1080i AJ-HDC20A HD camcorders are available for field acquisition.

To support video editing, there are sixteen editing suites for either SD or HD material. Software tools include Apple’s Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas, and Avid; hardware encoders such as Aja’s KONA LS are used. The HD workflow involves pre-editing material in an off-line mode and then making use of one of two conform systems, with Panasonic AJ-HD150P HD VTRs and KONA HD cardsets, 23″Apple Cinema HD displays and Panasonic 1080i HD monitors. Students store HD content on local terabyte SCSI storage drives or on an X-SAN disc storage system.

The control room, high above the studio floor, is a clean, mean HD dream machine, as Richard Grunberg, assistant professor and technical producer for RTA, describes:

“The education configuration is a little different from other control rooms, and we do have to think down the road, as well, with our choices. Having talked to a number of people down at NAB, and having seen a lot of different gear, in my heart, I really wanted to pursue the Canadian option.”

As such, it’s not surprising to see a Ross Video Synergy 2 Multi-Definition Switcher, and an Inscriber Inca Studio High Definition Character Generator, in the configuration.

Customization is important, too; for example, on the wall, two Ikegami 20″ CRT HD monitors and two 45″ Sharp LCD monitors are used. The LCDs can be sub-divided on demand into a multi-input monitor wall, using four Avitech Media Command Centres. The control room contains two Sony HDCAM VTRs, and there’s a technical station with independent HDTV switching, a 15″ Ikegami HD monitors and a Tektronix HD waveform rasterizer.

The equipment list and technical environment is impressive, comprehensive, sophisticated – and not at all what every student wants or needs!

As Tucker sees it, “Not all of our students want to know everything about technology. We’re trying to cater to a range of interests. In addition to the facilities, we have rolled out a new curriculum, in which all basic disciplines – audio, TV, EFP, editing, new media – are addressed in the first year. Then, with a more educated sense of where they want to go, students can concentrate in the second year, choosing from a broad range of electives and options. Then, it ends with a internship and practicum experience.

“Sure, some are very technically focused, active in the crew environment and very hands-on. But a lot of students are looking at on-air opportunities, as well as business and finance, administration, marketing and advertising – there’s a lot of interest on the business side, and we address related topics like copyright issues, legislation and government regulation.”

Both a new MBA in Media Management and a Master of Arts graduate program in Media Production will be launched at Ryerson, taking advantage of its new environment in particular, and its deep connection and collaboration with the industry at large.

Despite the exciting developments, technical additions and curriculum changes within the RTA program, there is a strong realization that the industry’s business model and financial comfort level with high definition television broadcasting are as yet unclear and uncertain.

“How do we make HDTV a reality?” he muses when asked. “Without a hard date (for analog to digital transition), there is a struggle. It’s driven by consumer demand at the moment, and to take the next big step, we need to meet the demand for content. I expect it to happen reasonably soon.”

His perspective is fuelled by an active program advisory committee, the school’s many connections within the industry, and his own continuing work in the field. An award-winning filmmaker and documentarian, he is both professionally and personally intrigued by the artistic and business potentials of HD.

“Suddenly, you’ve got a whole rainbow of possibilities that have not been there before (with widescreen, high definition imagery and surround sound capabilities),” he says. “TV is an intimate medium, but now you have broad scale, theatrical impact as well. There’s a tension and aesthetic interchange going on, as one moves between real emotion and three-dimensional illusion; a psychological impact by distancing the viewer, then bringing them back in. We’re just in our infancy as we try to learn and apply these new ideas.”

Ryerson was instrumental in the birth of television in Canada; today, it’s helping the community through a new infancy, and looking forward to a mature and robust industry.