Introduction to "The Suitcase"

This is "The Suitcase".  It's called that because the box it comes in resembles a suitcase.  Using the suitcase & our three studio cameras, we can set up nearly anyplace in the school and produce a professional quality TV show.

Here's the contents of the suitcase as seen.

(2) 9" color preview monitors
(3) 6" b/w camera monitors
audio mixer
switcher
record VCR
character generator
The main video connections for the suitcase happen at the three circled locations on the bottom of the picture at the left.  The video feed from each camera (BNC end) connects to each B/W monitor.

The indicated connections on the color monitors are used in case we want to see our pictures on a bigger TV screen.  We almost always connect the CG preview to a bigger TV because it's very difficult to make graphics on that tiny 9" monitor.
The audio mixer is indicated in yellow.  There are 6 places to input audio signals.  For basketball games we generally connect 2 mics.   For events in the auditorium we usually run one mic cable up to the sound booth.

Pictured in blue is the back of the AV switcher.  We generally don't have to make any changes here during a normal production. 

This box is where all headsets connect.  Each of the 100' bundles has an XLR end that will connect here.  The director's headset will also plug in here.

You can see the VCR and the CG below.  During a normal setup we don't change any wiring here.

 
This is one of the 100' cable bundles that connects the camera to the suitcase. 
There are 4 wires in the bundle
  • orange power cable
  • video cable - BNC end
  • video cable - S-video end (we don't use this one)
  • audio cable - XLR end (for intercom)

 
This is the "power brick" for the camera.  Leave both cables  plugged into the brick.
The power connects to the camera as indicated in yellow.

Note:  Nothing gets connected to the inputs indicated in red.

This is the intercom headset.  It should remain on the camera.
Camera operators should turn their mic off unless they need to ask the director something.
The audio cable in the 100' bundle connects to the intercom, NOT the camera.
Here's the camera.  It's a complicated piece of equipment.
Here's some of the main settings we'll use.
  • Power (duh)
  • Gain
  • White balance
These are the audio controls of the camera.  These are only used when we use the camera independently from the suitcase with a mic connected directly to the camera.
Circled in red is the zoom control.

Circled in blue is the focus control.