DiGiCo consoles help modernize Boston College

Two SD10Bs and one SD9B system DiGiCo make up a networked audio infrastructure that makes Boston BC one of the key nodes of the ACC's sports network.

As part of its ongoing modernization process, the Boston College You have installed two consoles DiGiCo SD10B.

Located in the central press room, Between the Basketball/Hockey Stadium, Conte Forum, with the capacity to 8.600 Spectators; and the Alumni Football Stadium, with the capacity to 44.500 Spectators, replace the two previously installed SD9B consoles and have become the main mixing and processing platforms for these centres' sports broadcasts through the Atlantic Coast Conference network (ACC), A channel that broadcasts hundreds of the league's sporting events each year from the league's member schools.

Each SD10B of 37 Faders is displayed as the main console of each of the two control rooms in the media suite. One of the SD9B consoles from 24 Previously installed faders are now located in a separate control room, known locally as 'The Eagle's Nest', in reference to BC's mascot, Baldwin's Eagle.

This third control room is typically used to produce the in-game experience at both venues, the Alumni Stadium and the Conte Forum. This is where the content for the video boards is produced Daktronics and for public address systems, Manufactured by local companies Fulcrum Acoustic for the Alumni Stadium and Bose for the Conte Forum.

“Despite having a smaller audio console, This control room is almost as capable as the other two, with just a few key differences, like the audio console isn't in a separate mixing room”, Says Adam Ferguson, BC Broadcast Engineer. “The Eagle's Nest control room can still be used to produce emissions, and in fact it has been used to simultaneously produce the broadcast and the show on site. The remaining SD9B solution is used as a spare when needed.".

There are two MQ-Racks equipped with madi for SD10Bs and a D-Rack for the SD9B. The multimedia suite and its control rooms were designed by the systems design firm Idibri, a company of O'Brien Rooms, and installed by the system integrator Diversified. Boston College's technical team chose DiGiCo tables from a very short list of consoles recommended by the ACC Network, which is associated with the sports television network ESPN.

The ACC Network is a partnership of 11 Colleges and universities united in a relay network that share their individual media facilities. Founded in 2019 as part of a $1 billion deal with ESPN and 12 years of allowances, Member schools have created space in the current structures, and in some cases have built new ones, to create and house state-of-the-art media facilities with multiple control rooms with screen-covered walls and studios with green screen backdrops. Designs varied, with the only basic requirement of the collective mission to ensure the ability to manage a linear broadcast.

DiGiCo consoles have been instrumental to this project. All three are networked via a loop Optocore, allowing for complete interoperability between control rooms, the venues and the ACC network.

DiGiCo consoles are connected to a native Optocore network via single-mode fiber, while the router uses MADI natively. This is due to a number of factors, such as the ACC network's recommendation to use baseband routers Evertz, that use SDI and MADI natively.

“With Dante devices such as the belt-packs of RTS intercom, Announcer Consoles Studio Technology and preamps ANI22-XLR de Shure, we can provide all the necessary power and signal to portable devices through a single Ethernet cable. Anywhere we can connect a device to our Dante network via Ethernet, These smart network devices will turn on by themselves and automatically remember all their designated routes, both inputs and outputs. This simplifies our workflow, It decreases the number of cables we need to connect frequently traveling devices and has been instrumental in expanding our connectivity across multiple remote campuses over fiber.", Ferguson adds

With all the necessary conversion between MADI, Dante & Optocore, BC also relies on the Orange Boxes by DiGiCo, What, when equipped with a DMI-Opto card, become routable I/O on all consoles in the Optocore loop.

Following the initial construction of the ACC Network control room in the summer of 2018, BC has its own terrestrial fiber network for the ACC Network's broadcast operations, which stretches for several kilometres and connects the Alumni/Conte complex, the baseball/football fields on the Brighton campus, the soccer and field hockey fields on the campus of the School of Law at Newton Center and, recently, the new Connell Recreation Center, which is where volleyball and fencing coverage moved from this year.

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