New Video Studio Serves Students Well

Luther Rice University (LRU) recently built a new video studio suite on campus for
the primary purpose of recording professors’ lectures for online classes. These
videos and other online coursework will be delivered through the Blackboard
learning management system. Adding these videos to the online courses sets LRU
apart from other institutions and allows us to provide a high quality learning
experience for our students.

In an effort to serve our online students with the same level of excellence as we do
our on-campus students, LRU will also be producing videos for the student
development office. These videos will give directions on how to register for classes,
request transcripts, and take advantage of many other services the typical college or
seminary student might need from LRU. This will be an effective way to provide
orientation information to new students that don’t live close to the institution and
cannot attend the traditional on-campus orientation sessions held during the fall
and spring semesters.

“Since the majority of our students take advantage of our online programs, the
administration believes that it is important to deliver high quality content in our
online curriculum. Therefore, this new studio will be used by our faculty and staff to
create a variety of videos to complement their courses.” Says Ken Stokes, CIO, and chief architect of this new initiative.

The institution’s largest studio to date, this newly designed suite is a full 1,000
square feet. Existing space on campus was repurposed to create this state-of-the-art video production facility. The studio has multiple types of backgrounds for cutting-edge video production, including a raised stage area with scenes, a large green screen, and traditional portable fabric backdrops. Onsite technology includes multiple HD cameras, wired and wireless microphones, and an HD monitor for viewing footage. In addition, professors may use other visual aids such as a PowerPoint slide deck, a teleprompter system, and a camera crane. They will have an array of studio lighting possibilities to choose from as well.

One of the most popular features is the green screen. Using our green cycloramic
wall, through the video editing process, we can superimpose backgrounds and video
footage that will bring the final product to life. This is the same technology that is
used for news weathercasts, which allow the weatherman to be in view with maps
and radar images appearing behind him. All students and guests who visit campus
are invited to ask for a tour of our new studio.

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