|
The term "switcher" may or may not be familiar to you. Either way, you have probably seen those large panels full of buttons, levers, and switches at events or in studios. What are these devices and what do they do? How do you know what type of device you need if someone says you need a "switcher" for your production? You should know the answer if you want to organize a professional-level event. That is why you should find an AV company to provide video event production in Houston. With professional services, you can make a huge impact on your audience without the stress of selecting, setting up, and operating the proper equipment for the job. It would be helpful for you to know a bit about audio/visual equipment, even if you hire someone to set up a production from start to finish. Start with switchers. Here are the details. What They Do Switchers, also known as video/production switchers or vision mixers, are pieces of equipment used in video production. They are especially common for live video recordings and broadcasts. They are used to control different outputs and can even create effects, like transitions between media sources. Essentially, what they do is control the audio and visual media that comes in from different sources. For example, several cameras and microphones may connect to a switcher, where someone will control the output, or what is displayed to an audience. Note that in some companies, the term "switcher" may refer to the person operating the device. In these cases, the device will usually be called the mixer. How They Operate The central part of a switcher is a bus, or the path of video input signals feeding into one output. The bus is a row of buttons on the switcher. When the person operating the switcher presses one of these buttons, this selects that specific video signal that will be output. The switcher will usually be attached to a video monitor that displays which video signals are output. There are usually 2 buses on switchers, the program bus, or the main output feed, which is directly broadcast, and the preview bus, the preview of visual signals that is about to be displayed. Another part of the mixer is called the transition lever. Some people in the audio/visual industry may call this the fader or T-bar. This is used to transition between 2 different buses. Say, for instance, that you want to produce a staged presentation in a large venue. You may want a large video screen to display a close image of the speakers so that everyone in the venue has a good view of what is happening on the stage. You can set up several cameras to be pointed at the stage at different angles. The switcher will receive the footage from every camera and alternate the video sources and add effects to the footage. Their work will change what displays in the video monitors for the entire audience. Because this work is so complex, it is important for your event that you hire professional video event production in Houston.
Related Articles -
video, event, production, houston,
| 
