Eldon TV Studios

Our Eldon TV Studios are where all of our television and broadcasting activities happen.

Whether it's undergraduate coursework, hiring our facilities and equipment, or being a part of the student-led TV channel, CCI TV, our studios have everything you'll need to learn the skills needed to work in video and audio production, and broadcasting.

We also have the equipment and cabling for production and broadcasts in outside settings. This includes over 1,000 metres of video, audio, power, and data cabling, which can be set up on location, and a Minicaster Portable Uplink Unit, which gives satellite connectivity to broadcast from anywhere.

Past outside broadcasts have been produced from Queen Alexandra Hospital, South Parade Pier, the New Forest Wildlife Park, Portsmouth Football Club, and the Mary Rose Museum.

Explore the Eldon TV Studios

Equipment and amenities

Our TV Studio Gallery is where all our video and audio sources are mixed for broadcasting online and around the University. The gallery can cater from a single camera recording to a 10+ camera multi-studio production.

The Gallery has over 20 screens to monitor the broadcast and is operated by a crew of seven or eight students.

Key equipment

Newtek Tricaster TC1—our video production and live broadcast system that can receive 16 video inputs at once, including studio cameras, external video feeds, Skype calls, and networked graphics
Newtek 2 Stripe Control Panel—configurable vision mixing control surface
Five media players—to provide video, graphics, and sound clip playback that can be combined in 4 mixed effects sources, like picture-in-picture, to offer a total of 24 visual sources
Nine Sony Wireless Lavalier, 2 wireless Sennheiser handheld mics, and a variety of other wired vocal, instrument or ambient microphones—so audio can be captured in candid and discreet ways
Sound control booth—including a Behringer X32 Compact audio mixer that is Dante enabled linked with the Eldon Broadcast Hub to offer 32 inputs
20 Person IP-based talkback system—so crew members can communicate between the gallery, studio and on-screen talent to feed instructions during live broadcasts
FLIP-Q Autocue Software—for displaying scripts on teleprompters
Blackmagic Design Video Router—for routing video signals between studio equipment

Our Eldon Broadcast Hub is a fixed studio area within a social learning space. This area and the space surrounding it provides a large open plan working area to produce live television in front of an audience with room for over five cameras. The hub has space for eight students, up to three presenters, and over 50 audience members.

The studio space has been used to broadcast all kinds of live TV segments, including acoustic music performances, interviews, live cooking, breakdancing, football skills, magic, first-aid demonstrations, and karate.

Key equipment

Four Sony PXW-FS7 video cameras—on Vinten Pedestals, three of which have 17-inch autocues for displaying text to presenters
Sony Z150 mounted on Libec Swift Jib camera crane—providing overhead and sweeping camera moves
Several deployable compact and Pan, Tilt, Zoom (PTZ) remote controllable cameras
Dante-enabled Behringer X32 Rack Mixer—with 16 physical inputs, which can be used to mix audio in the hub itself or in tandem with the TV Studio Gallery
Wireless tablet—used to mix audio feeds for the audience in real time
Eight AEQ Xplorer Wireless beltpacks—to handle talkback between presenters and crew, along with 3x iOS devices running XVirtual talkback software so crew can move freely during broadcast
LED lighting including Chauvet multi-coloured wash lights—to light the studio and backdrop in a range of colours
Portable battery-powered LED lighting and moving head LED PAR cans—to create more dynamic lighting during broadcast

You can use a green screen in a live production to place your on-screen talent in any scene or virtual television studio. For example, a presenter could be placed into a large newsroom, which gives the illusion they're in a studio 10 times the size of the area they're actually standing in.

The green screen studio can be hired on its own for filming and photography or used along with the TV Studio Gallery.

Key equipment

12m² green screen space—with a two-metre high screen for recording green screen material and placing talent into virtual environments during live broadcast
Two Vinten Pedestal mounted Sony PXW-Z150 cameras—fitted with 17-inch autocues to guide on-screen talent
Ceiling mounted KinoFlo Foto-Flo lights—used to scale lighting according to light the presenters on screen
Monitoring screens and talkback setup—for crew to communicate between teams and studios during broadcast
Virtual set capabilities
Green screen recording for post-production

The sound recording studio provides an equipped soundproof room for the recording of voiceovers, podcasts, and radio production. The room can also be hired by those wishing to bring their own microphones and recording equipment into a soundproof environment.

Key equipment

Sonifex portable radio production unit—with condenser microphones for up to four people
Voiceover capture setup—two Neumann condenser microphones for seated and standing voiceover recording
Myriad Playout software—for radio production as well as Skype integration
PC with Audacity and Adobe Audition for voiceover audio recording

Contact us

If you're interested in our broadcasting facilities – including hiring our spaces or using our outside broadcast capabilities – please email eldontvstudios@port.ac.uk.