Key Code Media Offers New Case Study With Pasadena Unified School District, Two Educational Opportunities

Key Code Media is staying busy this summer, and that includes an interesting case study with the Pasadena Unified School District and two chances for further education.

Pasadena Unified Builds Multi-Cam Flypack For Students and Community 

For years, Pasadena Unified School District has been a vibrant hub for arts, sports, and student achievement. Yet despite the strength of these programs, the district struggled to consistently share live events- such as performances, athletic competitions, and school board meetings—with the broader community. Accessibility, production quality, and equipment limitations made it difficult to scale efforts and provide students with real hands-on learning.

That’s when Pasadena Unified and its media arm, KLRN Pasadena, partnered with Key Code Media to design a purpose-built, mobile production system that would solve both community outreach and student training challenges.

Led by Beth Layden, Director of Telecommunications, the project transformed a patchwork of legacy gear into a fully integrated, professional-grade 4k-ready multi-cam flypack. This new flypack system was designed from the ground up to be easily transported across campuses, flexible for different venue setups, and simple enough for student crews to operate effectively- without sacrificing broadcast-level quality.

Each component in the system was carefully chosen not only for performance, but also for its educational value- giving students interested in journalism, communication, and live production the chance to learn on real-world gear.

Today, Pasadena Unified’s upgraded flypack is used to produce a wide range of live content: from football games and school concerts to district board meetings and local celebrations. The result is a new level of community engagement and a direct pipeline for students to gain industry-relevant experience.

Inside the Tech: Building a Broadcast-Ready Flypack for Student-Driven Productions
At the core of KLRN Pasadena Unified’s mobile production workflow is a rugged BigFoot Flypack, purpose-built to be transported between schools and venues with minimal setup time. The system supports professional live switching, graphics, audio, wireless camera feeds, and real-time streaming- even from locations without internet access.

Flypack and Infrastructure Technology Highlights:

• Ross Carbonite Switcher & TouchPanel – The flexible control surface enables single-operator directing and technical directing. The touchscreen panel allows students to take on additional roles, such as adjusting audio levels during live broadcasts.
• Ross XPression Graphics System – A professional-grade graphics engine used in pro sports and stadium environments. Integrated with spreadsheets and scoreboards, it allows students to manage lower thirds, stats, and score overlays with minimal training.
• Panasonic Camcorders with Canon Lenses – High-quality matched cameras ensure consistent image capture across productions, with enough inventory to provide flexible coverage for sports, performances, or panel events.
• LiveU Bonded Cellular – Enables streaming from both networked and remote venues without internet access, making off-site productions as reliable as on-campus events.
  Teradek Wireless Video Transmission – Untethers camera operators from fixed cable runs, giving crews the flexibility to adapt to last-minute venue changes and tight setups.
• Allen & Heath Audio Mixer – Dual-use for front-of-house and production audio, offering intuitive control for student operators and scalable I/O options for different event sizes.
• RTS Intercom – Keeps camera ops, directors, and crew in sync- whether they’re in the booth or out on the field.
  Working together, Beth and the Key Code Media team made sure each element of the system was chosen with student learning, portability, and production reliability in mind- empowering both professional staff and student volunteers to succeed in any environment.

Ongoing Support with Key Code Total Care
With productions led by a mix of staff and volunteers, the district knew that ongoing technical support would be critical. That’s why Pasadena Unified also engaged in a Key Code Total Care (KTC) managed service contract.

Key Code Total Care includes, on-site emergency support for live events, remote access to engineering expertise, pre-event planning and systems optimization, student training and technical onboarding

This proactive support model ensures that every event runs smoothly- while giving staff peace of mind that help is on-site for critical productions.

“When you’re working with volunteers and students, you need a safety net,” says Layden. “Key Code Media gives us that support to be confident going live.”

Key Code Education Launches New Hands-On Training Programs for Ross Video, Vizrt, EditShare, and SNS 

Key Code Education, a leader in instructor-led post production training for over a decade, is expanding its course offerings to address the growing needs of today’s production industry. The new programs include beginner and intermediate training for industry-leading tools: Ross Video Carbonite and XPression, Vizrt TriCaster, EditShare EFS, and SNS EVO.

As production companies nationwide struggle to find skilled talent and adapt to ever-evolving technology, Key Code Education is stepping in with a practical solution – live, hands-on training led by experienced instructors, available in-person, online, or on-site. These new courses go far beyond the basics of self-paced eLearning, giving attendees the real-world knowledge to operate systems efficiently and confidently. 

“For many companies, onboarding new staff or adopting new tools is a steep climb,” says Mike Cavanagh, President at Key Code Media. “Our instructor-led classes help teams quickly get up to speed, accelerating workflow transitions and improving performance.”

Key Code Education has long been a trusted source for advanced training in Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer, DaVinci Resolve, and engineering certifications like Avid ACSR. These new courses continue this tradition, offering production professionals and career switchers a strong foundation with tools widely used across the broadcast, post production, and audio-visual landscape.

Special Opportunity for California Media Organizations: Through California’s Employment Training Panel (ETP) program, qualified companies can receive radical discounts for their staff’s training.

The class listings include

• Vizrt TriCaster Live Production Operations & Workflow Integration
• Vizrt TriCaster Architecture & System Fundamentals
• SNS EVO Shared Storage Fundamentals
• SNS EVO ShareBrowser, Slingshot & Workflow Optimization
• Ross Video Carbonite Switcher Operation & Workflow Integration
• Ross Video Carbonite Hardware & System Fundamentals
• Ross Video XPression System Fundamentals
• Ross Video XPression Template Design, Data-Driven Graphics & Automated Playout
• EditShare EFS Shared Storage Fundamentals
• EditShare Flow, AI & Ecosystem Workflow Integration

To learn more about courses and schedules, visit keycodeeducation.com or contact Education Manager Veronica Warner at vwarner@keycodemedia.com.

Key Code Education Launches New Adobe Premiere Pro Engineer Certification

Key Code Education, the professional training division of Key Code Media, proudly announces a major update to its Adobe Premiere Pro Engineering and Advanced Operations Certification Course (PR400). The updated course includes a brand-new Adobe-approved curriculum and certification book tailored for engineers and technical operators focused on deploying, maintaining, and optimizing Adobe Premiere Pro workflows in collaborative environments.

Offered both virtually via Zoom and in-person classroom settings, the PR400 course is a 16-hour, two-day training that now reflects the rapidly evolving post-production landscape—placing a sharp focus on artificial intelligence tools, Open Timeline, and performance-based engineering practices.

What’s New in the Premiere Pro Engineer Curriculum:

• Official Adobe Certification – Graduates will receive the new Adobe Certified Engineer certificate and badge for LinkedIn and resume use.
• AI-Powered Tools – A full chapter dedicated to Adobe’s latest AI features, including Firefly, Text-Based Editing, and additional machine learning-driven tools that enhance editorial workflows.
• Open Timeline Integration – Deep dive into Open Timeline and its implications for multi-application, multi-format project interchange.
• Hardware & System Optimization – In collaboration with Adobe, the course provides an in-depth look at how Premiere Pro leverages CPU, GPU, RAM, and server architecture—giving engineers the insights needed to build and maintain high-performance environments.
• Adobe Productions & Teams Workflows – Updated training assets and use cases to support collaborative and scalable editorial pipelines.

This course is ideal for technical staff at broadcast facilities, post houses, schools, and enterprise media departments, and is especially well-suited for engineers who hold Avid ACSR certifications or equivalent credentials looking to expand their skills into Adobe workflows.

Key Code Education also offers this course as part of its Custom Training Program, which partners with media organizations to create bespoke training workshops covering a range of Adobe, Avid, and DaVinci Resolve topics, either onsite or virtually.

Career-Boosting Benefits:
Graduates of the PR400 course gain more than just knowledge — they’re connected to a network of employers through an exclusive job board, helping engineers land roles in media and entertainment.