JVC Professional Video Cameras Supplement Santa Monica College Center

JVC Professional Video, a division of JVCKENWOOD USA Corporation, announced Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, Calif., has added JVC GY-HM890 ProHD cameras to the production studio in its new Center for Media and Design.

JVC Professional Video cameras are the centerpiece of Santa Monica College’s Center for Media and Design.

The studio features three GY-HM890s paired with JVC FS-790 ProHD fiber optic system modules, which connect directly to the camera body via a hidden 68-pin connector. Each camera is mounted on a Cartoni pedestal and is equipped with a CueScript prompter.

Gail Fetzer, associate professor, says the cameras are used to teach multi-camera production, with students producing talk shows, music videos, and other content that is shared on YouTube and Facebook. “I like the picture,” she says. “It looks very clear and I’m very happy with them.”

“They’re awesome,” adds Brad Lemonds, media coordinator for Media Production. “I wouldn’t expect any different. I wanted something that would deliver bang for the buck and hold up for 10 years – and that’s why I picked JVC.”

SMC purchased JVC cameras in 2011 for its flypack production system, and later purchased the GY-HM650 ProHD mobile news cameras for student newscasts. Lemonds wanted to stay with the same user interface for the new studio cameras. “It was a no-brainer to go with JVC again,” Lemonds says.

Located in “Silicon Beach,” an area in Los Angeles’s Westside that includes hundreds of media firms and technology companies, the CMD provides a single facility for SMC’s media content development and design programs. According to Lemonds, classes moved to its new facility in phases. The first film classes began last fall, with radio classes following in the next eight-week session. Video production began in January, and students “walked in and had to pick up their jaws,” he says. “It’s a pretty awesome workspace.”

The control room and flypack are modeled after production facilities used by the Big West Conference. “Our students will either go directly to the job market or transfer,” Lemonds explains. “We wanted to emulate their systems. We’re trying to provide close to ESPN quality.”

While the CMD is still finalizing its workflow, SMC is already planning to expand its production schedule in the fall with an advanced track for sports production. The center is considering additional GY-HM890s to update its flypack, and recently received several JVC GY-HM170 4KCAM compact camera for its documentary classes.