Mills James Produces High-End Live Corporate Events with Broadcast Pix Granite

Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, and with additional offices in Cincinnati, Mills James is one of the largest independent video production companies in the region. It also maintains an active live event production and staging business, and uses a Broadcast Pix Granite 5000 live video production system for its most high-end corporate events.
 
Bryan Campbell, video director and engineer, said the company began using Granite in January, part of an overall upgrade to 1080i HD for live events that also included new cameras and projectors. Typically, the Broadcast Pix system is used for large, multi-camera HD setups with up to five projection screens. The system, purchased through Illinois-based Roscor Corporation, has already been used for several events.
 
Previously, Mills James used a compact Sony SD switcher coupled with a Folsom ScreenPro PLUS system for its more complicated projects. In an effort to save on equipment and personnel costs, Mills James wanted to avoid purchasing two separate systems for its HD upgrade. “Broadcast Pix allows one person to do all the switching. That’s a big advantage,” Campbell explained. “I also wanted to be able to integrate more of a camera-based production switcher into our live events.”
 
Campbell called Granite his “everything” switcher on location. Beyond typical switching duties, its multiple outputs are used to drive different screens. Not only does Granite deliver customized displays for backstage and front-of-house personnel with its built-in Fluent-View, but Campbell uses the 2 M/E functionality to simultaneously feed the video screens for the audience. “I use Granite to route all my downstage monitor feeds simultaneously,” he said. “It basically gives me all these different outputs from one switcher, which I can’t do with anything else at this price.”
 
In addition, Campbell keys external sources through Granite, and uses the built-in Fluent Macros to easily create presets. “I like the keyers,” he said. “It’s one of the main reasons we bought it. You don’t get that kind of flexibility on any other system.”