In order to train students for careers in Australia’s burgeoning media industry, Brisbane-based Queensland University of Technology (QUT) operates two separate departments that give students extensive training using industry-standard production technology. The Creative Industries Faculty teaches media, journalism and communication studies, while eTV—the university’s in-house production facility—provides students with hands-on broadcasting experience. Twice a year, in two four- to eight-week blocks, QUT students produce a 30-minute daily news program, which is broadcasted on local television station 31 Digital.

QUT recently embraced the Avid Everywhere vision for education, implementing a complete end-to-end workflow, utilizing solutions built upon Avid's MediaCentral platform—the industry’s most-extensible open platform. In training students on the same industry-standard tools used in leading production facilities worldwide, QUT is ensuring their students know the cutting-edge broadcast workflows they'll need to launch successful careers upon graduation.

Training tomorrow’s media professionals

Before the implementation, QUT set a clear objective for its next editing and journalist-training platform: find a future-proof solution that would enable the University to stay ahead of the competition and attract the best-and-brightest local and international students. To achieve this goal, the QUT needed to create an end-to-end "real world" newsroom, a high-end post-production facility, and multiple educational training labs. The workflow also needed to enable eTV, streamlined logistics, and the Creative Industries Faculty to manage costs.

Avid was an obvious choice for QUT, having a number of Media Composer seats and a Unity MediaNetwork system already. Working in partnership with local Avid reseller Videopro, the school decided to implement an Avid ISIS® shared storage system, managed by Interplay | Production. MediaCentral | UX, the cloud-based, web front-end interface to the MediaCentral platform, is at the center of the new workflow, enabling QUT students to login from a desktop computer, laptop, or mobile device—and work from any location.

“A post-production solution that uses industry-standard technology in a real-world environment and meets the unique needs of higher education is not the kind of thing you can buy off the shelf,” explains James Debenham, Technical Specialist at QUT. “From the initial systems design through multiple refinements to final installation and training, Avid was able to provide the technology to meet our needs and provide a cutting-edge environment for our students”

On the vanguard of media education

In order to best train future broadcast journalists, the University needed to replicate the urgency of a real newsroom. The new workflow enables journalism students—acting as newsroom anchors in a multi-camera studio—to take live feeds and send finished packages to playout. To meet these needs, the school deployed AirSpeed 5000, which allow incoming material to be used immediately by all contributors.

“Avid customized a solution to meet the requirements of three distinct production areas that was cost-effective and easy to manage,” says Debenham. “We worked with them at every stage of the project, matching technologies to needs with the system designers, making the system fit in with existing university infrastructure and resources, and developing workflows and management processes with the workflow consultant.”

By embracing Avid Everywhere, QUT is poised to stay on the vanguard of media education for many years to come. According to Debenham, the University will continue to look to Avid for industry-leading technology and support as its media program continues to evolve.

“Since installation in early 2014, any minor hiccups have been quickly dealt with by Avid, who have provided excellent remote support of the system,” concludes Debenham. “By teaching our students Avid, we are providing them with the advanced workflows they need to be successful in the industry.”