Your Participation is Requested

by Geffrey Belinfante, Chair External Relations

There are lots of reasons to attend this year’s JAG Conference and many of them are detailed in this newsletter, but I want to point out some elements that might also be of interest to our JAG members, but they will only be as good as you the members make them—that’s the four roundtables that need your participation.

Behind the Pixels: The Rise of Virtual Sets in Broadcasting

by John C. Morley, Independent Producer

Virtual sets are revolutionizing media production and they’re changing how TV shows, films, and events are created. This article, explores virtual sets, how they differ from traditional production methods, and why they’re becoming essential for modern broadcasters and filmmakers.

Spotlight: I’m an Independent Producer

by Richard Christopher Scuderi, 52 & Blue Productions

My name is Richard Christopher Scuderi. I fell in love with television at age 5 and always knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life. When it was time for college, I looked for a school that had a strong television program and its own station. Television production was much harder than I thought. Timing was crucial and there was a lot of pressure to be perfect

Spotlight: North Brunswick – New Era begins at North Brunswick TV with new and improved Control Room.

by Craig Yetsko, Station Manager, North Brunswick TV

A new era for North Brunswick TV began last summer with the completion of a project that included major improvements to the control room and a new sound system for the Municipal Building Courtroom and Council Meeting Room.

The origins of this transformation began in 2021 as the remnants of Hurricane Ida caused significant damage and closure of the Municipal Building. While the control room and meeting rooms were largely spared much damage, it became apparent that new and upgraded equipment would be needed.

In early 2023, the station began working with Varto Technologies on a plan to integrate high-quality video, audio and presentation display capabilities. Work on the project began in May 2024, with completion in late July. The new setup had its debut at the July 29 Township Council Meeting.

The control room also has six TV monitors connected to the TriCaster TC2 Elite, speakers and a utility computer, with two monitors used for Cablecast operations, audio control and video editing through DaVinci Resolve.

Feedback has been positive from viewers who tell us that video and audio quality is much improved. This improvement is due to the change from the previous analog composite video wiring to HD-SDI.

The components in the control room’s rack unit include new Cablecast VIO, live and VOD servers, TriCaster TC2 Elite server, Blackmagic Design Smart VideoHub Video, Router, Blue Stream Video Matrix, servers for the Shure wireless microphone system and two UPS battery backup systems.

The TriCaster2 Elite includes a Flex Control Surface. The control room also has six TV monitors connected to the TriCaster TC2 Elite, speakers and a utility computer, with two monitors used for Cablecast operations, audio control and video editing through DaVinci Resolve.

The Court Room and Council Meeting Room have Panasonic AW-UE80 PTZ cameras (4 in the Court Room, 2 in the Council Meeting Room) with a joystick controller in the control room. Two 55 inch TV monitors were installed in each room.

The township moved to a wireless microphone system in the two meeting rooms. A Shure Microflex wireless system was installed, which included 12 microphones in each room, two handheld microphones and charging bays in the control room. Previously, the Court Room had wired microphones while the Council Meeting Room had drop microphones from the ceiling.

An enhancement that really elevated the station’s live meeting production is the ability to control the audio levels in each room and the volume of each microphone. Through the Symextrix’s SymVue control screen, the speakers in each of the room’s zones (three zones in the Court Room, two in the Council Meeting Room) can easily be adjusted or muted.

Another item which will enhance presentation in both meeting rooms is the addition of two T-10 Glass touch screens. The touch screen is plugged into a HDBT port while a laptop is plugged into an HDMI port. The T-10 Glass has a control screen, just like the utility computer, that routes the laptop’s screen to project on to monitors in either room.

Since the return to the Municipal Building, the station has also worked with North Brunswick Township High School to receive videos of athletic games and a semi-monthly news show for broadcast. Another initiative that is around the corner is a video podcast with Mayor Francis ‘Mac’ Womack. The station is currently researching equipment to purchase for the setup. Last year, the township received a $10,000 grant from Altice for the podcast project.

With the upgrades to the control room as well as new equipment in the coming months, the future looks very bright for North Brunswick TV to deliver quality programming to the community.

Essential Guide to Video Frame Rates and Conversion Tools

Whether you’re a seasoned video producer and director like myself or just starting, having the right tools is essential for creating high-quality content. I’ve been a long-time fan of both the free and pro versions of DaVinci Resolve, but sometimes, you need to convert video or audio formats quickly and may not have all your professional tools at your fingertips.

JAG’s Annual Conference 2025: Sessions & Roundtables

The JAG Conference Committee has finalizing eight sessions for the Production/Management Symposium on the second day of the conference. Four of these will be panel presentations by industry professional and four will be roundtables that include both JAG members and vendors.