Educational providers must prepare students for real-world careers in a very short space of time. To ensure success they must offer flexible learning environments that closely resemble real-world studios and invest in the technology that successful industry professionals use.

Helsinki’s Stadin Ammattiopisto is one of the largest vocational education and training providers in Finland. Owned by the City of Helsinki, it was formed in 2013 by the merger of the city's three former vocational institutes. 9,000 students—from 10th graders to young adults—attend Stadin Ammattiopisto, which offers a flourishing audiovisual curriculum. Ammattiopisto’s audio facilities were previously centered around a C|24 console, but with three new studios running simultaneously, the school needed a scalable and agile solution suited to various workflows, like music for films or game audio.

To meet these needs, Stadin Ammattiopisto decided to embrace Avid Everywhere by networking the whole school on the Avid MediaCentral platform. Key to this strategy is the implementation of industry-standard tools from the Avid Artist Suite and Storage Suite.

Planning for lifelong careers with real-world solutions

Ari Outila, who lectures on music production, live sound and sound technology at Stadin Ammattiopisto, explains, “In the professional world, there’s a big demand for people with a good ear and the right attitude, as well as in-depth knowledge of industry-standard tools.”

“From their first day in school, our students work together on collaborative projects using Avid Pro Tools,” adds Ilkka Väisänen, who lectures on sound for motion pictures and post production. “Our goal is to replicate industry workflows for recording, editing, mixing, and mastering.”

Stadin Ammattiopisto has invested in Avid Avid S6 consoles and Avid ISIS | 5500 shared storage as part of an ambitious redevelopment of its facilities. “The first stage is to ensure that the entire facility is connected through Avid ISIS shared storage,” explains Väisänen. “By networking the whole school we’re staying ahead of the game, offering centralized storage and a nonlinear workflow, and fully embracing the concept of Avid Everywhere. With this flexible workflow, we’re able to operate like a real-life facility.”

Smart design enabling Avid Everywhere

According to Outila and Väisänen, the teaching staff’s first impressions of the consoles were extremely positive. “It´s intuitive and easy to get to grips with,” says Outila. “It´s the easiest control surface to learn without having to read the manual.”

Väisänen appreciates the console’s modularity, visual feedback and ergonomics. “The modular design is great since you can design the desk according to your needs,” he explains. “The amount of visual feedback you get from sessions is amazing, with the touch screens, colors and ease of navigation. Good visual response and visual feedback is very important when creating sound for motion pictures.

Outila and Väisänen also point out that the Avid S6 reduces the time and effort involved in audio production, enabling students to focus instead on listening. “Working with Pro Tools | S6 also allows you to pay less attention to the mouse and keyboard, and concentrate on the most important things; listening and being creative,” says Väisänen. “It´s a cool concept, and definitely the way forward.”

“Pro Tools | S6 is a big time saver,” agrees Outila. “The ease of navigation allows you to spend more time listening. You can also access things that have been hidden in the menus, like plugin automation for example. It´s easier to use and you can map your functions; you don´t have to look through the menus or learn the shortcuts, as you’re able to customize it.”

Eyes fixed on the future

“Pro Tools | S6 is a tool for the future,” adds Outila. “It's great for our students to have skills and experience in this console when they graduate. Embracing Avid Everywhere has brought us closer to the way audio production should be taught, and created a new culture in the school by allowing students to focus on their listening.”

Väisänen concludes in praise,“Avid is educating the teachers, providing great support, and helping us develop our future curriculum,”