3ABN Australia streamlines production with Ross Video
Published: WORSHIP
AUSTRALIA: With postproduction taking up a significant portion of its time, Christian 24-hour television and radio broadcaster 3ABN (Three Angels Broadcasting Network) approached Ross Video local distributor Techel for help in speeding up the process. 3ABN now features a full complement of Ross Video equipment to aid in production, including a Carbonite 2M production switcher, XPression prime graphics system and an OpenGear frame.
The network offers a range of lifestyle shows and gospel music programmes, as well as a variety of inspirational themes from the Bible for children and adults. Having been born out of a cornfield in Southern Illinois, US in 1986, it has since grown to become the second largest Christian network in North America.
3ABN Australia also has quite unique origins, having only started to record church events as a means to cover its monthly satellite bill. Worship events taking place in Australia are recorded and subsequently aired on 3ABN internationally.
Prior to purchasing the Ross equipment, the 3ABN Australia postproduction setup consisted of a laptop with in-house software that created a Final Cut Pro multicam timeline. This was fed from a security camera quad-splitter deployed as a ‘multi-viewer’, into which they connected four cameras via composite video.
3ABN Australia’s technical director James Hope explained his reasons for selecting the new equipment. ‘Ross had the features we needed at the right price,’ he explained. ‘We also didn’t want to buy from other “affordable” manufacturers who advertised features that were never delivered. In addition, 3ABN in the USA had been using Ross Video Synergy 3 mixers and recommended Ross to us and they have since upgraded to Carbonite after seeing ours.
‘The Carbonite is the core of our studio productions,’ he continued. ‘We use it for mixing all of our programmes, and the XPression is used for all our supers and graphics. With some custom inhouse hardware, we can roll video from our hard-drive based VTRs and send tally to our CCUless ENG cameras.’
Instead of many hours spent working on broadcast content, the broadcaster is now required to do only minimal postproduction before the recordings can be sent out. Also key for the organisation, however, is the fact the system can be operated with little to no training or previous experience, as Mr Hope discovered first-hand.
‘I installed and set up the equipment myself and I didn’t have any training,’ he recalled. ‘I found the equipment very easy and straightforward to use and have become proficient enough on my own. This is from having almost no experience in live video production prior to having the Ross equipment. I really enjoy using it and would recommend it to anyone.’