The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation "home" of the Emmy Award winning signature series "Electronic Field Trips" (EFT) has upgraded their studio operations around the acquisition of Panasonic AK-HC3800 HD Studio Cameras! The overall HD upgrade allows for the the world's largest living history museum the ability to provide HD delivery on PBS stations and Cable Channels across the country!
During the upcoming 2014-2015 school year, the VariCams and HC3800s will team up on pre-production and live broadcasts for the Foundation's Electronic Field Trips (EFT), a program which targets fourth through eighth grader's by participating with public broadcasting stations, educational and cable channels. The EFT program is designed for classrooms around the world to experience the rich American history of Colonial Williamsburg, VA. The EFT broadcast schedule features seven one-hour live programs airing October 2014 through April 2014 (Check your local listings!). Also, viewers can also watch via free online streaming!
Electronic Field Trips give students the opportunity to learn about a particular topic through national parks they may never get a chance to visit. Each EFT consists of two components: A televised broadcast from a national park featuring National Park Service Rangers and youth hosts and a website featuring downloadable lesson plans for teachers and interactive games for students. The broadcast and the website complement each other and teach with rich imagery and content in three different modalities. The extensive history resources created for the Electronic Field Trips are now available on-demand, year-round by subscription in HERO, the History Education Resources Online multimedia library and e-learning environment for teachers and students. Additional opportunities for interaction are also available to HERO subscribers. Learn more.
The Foundation's Director of Productions Bill Wagner explained that the HC3800s will be used to produce at least five live webcasts, beginning this September, as well as to support the institution's expansive educational mandate with video assets. 
"This year, our EFT program will be fully HD, and the HC3800s are certainly a linchpin of that transition," said Wagner. "Based on our superior experience with the VariCams, we were disposed to consider a Panasonic studio camera, and we were sold on the HC3800's attractive pricing and superb color handling, which is so similar to that of the HPX3700. We been doing preliminary work with the HC3800s and can immediately appreciate the depth of the camera's color space. And with its F11 sensitivity, we need less illumination in the studio," he added. "Our studio output has never looked like our VariCam field work before, but with the HC3800's precision 16-bit image processing, we are realizing that."
Wagner said that along with the four HC3800s, the Foundation also purchased four AK-HCU200 CCU units, which have two HD/SD-SDI output channels and two additional HD/SD-SDI output channels that can be used in conjunction with the picture monitor outs. Note: The AK-HC3800 is an high definition studio camera equipped with three high-sensitivity, high-quality 2/3-type 2.2-megapixel CCDs, a high-precision 16 bit A/D image processing circuit, and the latest generation 38-bit Digital Signal Processor (DSP). Compact and lightweight at only 8 lbs, it offers chromatic aberration compensation (CAC), scene file settings, and a sophisticated implementation of Panasonic's exclusive dynamic range stretch (DRS). The HC3800 achieves a high sensitivity of F11 at 59.94Hz (2,000 lx) and an S/N ratio of 60dB. The 16-bit A/D and 38-bit DSP utilize Spatial Offset Technology, and an advanced single transfer system to provide a high resolution picture (1,100 lines) with less moiré and a vertical smear level less than -130dB.
Since 2010, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has shot hundreds of field and studio assignments with the HPX3700 VariCams, ranging from single-camera interviews in the broadcast studio to the elaborate scripted, historic reenactments that are shot for the EFTs. "We love the HPX3700's image production and low-light handling," Wagner said. "Our field assignments are wide ranging and we use the VariCams on sticks, dollies, jibs and often shoot handheld. We're very comfortable with the P2 workflow." The HPX3700s are outfitted with Canon zoom lenses; Wagner shoots AVC-Intra 100 in 1080/30p, and edits in HD on Avid Symphony.
"Until now, we've been all-HD in the field, but with SD deliverable's," he noted. "With our studio and truck HD upgrades, we'll be all HD, including broadcasts of the EFTs this coming year. We're happy with our decision to stay with the Panasonic family of cameras."
For more information about the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, visit www.cwf.org.
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