City of Victoria
Written by Max Gouette
The Challenge
Nestled between Lake Minnetonka and the fire department lies the City of Victoria’s city hall. Above the library was the city council chambers and their decaying AV system. Installed pre-covid, it was a collection of bandaid solutions that didn’t work for the council, the IT team managing it, nor the freelance producers that had to run the meetings’ broadcast on cable TV. They wanted a system that was easy to use, could run itself if need be, and had more clear audio and video. That’s when they called Z Systems to help design an AI camera tracking system that fits their needs.
The Solution
The cornerstone of their new system is the Datavideo Voice Tracks system. This new design allows for AI tracking PTZ cameras to automatically frame participants based on who is speaking into a specific microphone. This means that all 9 members that meet for the city council, can be captured by 3 Datavideo PTZ cameras. An additional PTZ camera was placed behind the dais to capture any guest speakers at a lectern, and a 5th static camera was placed in the center of the room as a wide shot. We utilized Shure gooseneck microphones for their ease of use and sleek profile to accompany the Datavideo system. All audio signals end up in a Symetrix Radius DSP that allows for full control of volume and tone. In case they wanted manual control of the broadcast, we used a Datavideo video switcher and PTZ controller that allows a producer to manually manipulate the cameras and video stream. For users, we added an Atlona control system with 3 touch panels. This allows meeting participants and producers to control audio levels, control video distribution, and turn the TV’s in the room on and off. We also added buttons to turn off all AV systems in case they needed to use the room for a private meeting.
The Outcome
The City of Victoria quickly put this system to the test, using it for a meeting at the end of the installation. After the users got acclimated to it, they have fallen in love with it. The council members enjoy the easy-to-use touch panels, and the new ability to share content via the new Clickshare. The producers enjoy the sharper image, clearer audio, and ease of use for broadcasting. The IT team enjoys the sleek user experience, and reliability of the system. Victoria uses this system weekly for meetings, and it has proven to be a great solution.
Partners
