Overview

This article aims to provide general knowledge about the hardware in Emerson's Digital Post Production Editing Suites.

If you've ever wondered what purpose a particular piece of hardware serves in the workflow, this article is a great place to understand the basics! 

Suites

The Digital Editing Suites are designed for students finishing their editing, color correction/color grading, and motion graphics.

Mac Studios

Our suites run on 2022 Mac Studio computers. These computers feature Apple's M1 Ultra chips and 64 GB of unified memory, allowing for a lightning fast editing experience. 

Displays

All of our Suites have two computer displays, giving you plenty of space for all of your software windows. The Suites feature LG Brand 4K UHD displays with IPS Panels that can achieve 98% of the DCI-P3 Color Space.

Keyboards and Mice

Our suites feature LogicKeyboard brand keyboards with backlit Premiere Pro shortcut keys. 

We use Logitech M500S mice with an ergonomic design and a scroll wheel that toggles between normal and fast scrolling with the click of a button. 

Speakers and Audio Interface

Our suites feature Yamaha MSP3 speakers for a high quality audio experience. You can complete basic audio mixing in the DPL Suites, but the Audio Post Production suites on the 7th floor will offer more advanced tools and software. 

The Audio is run through a Radial Engineering MC3 Monitor Controller for easy, balanced audio control. The blue Radial Engineering box features a volume control and an amplified headphone jack so you can easily switch between speakers or your headphones. 

OWC Thunderbolt 3 Docks

We use OWC Thunderbolt 3 hubs to increase the number of available inputs on the computer. We have a lot of hardware connected to our computer and we are able to plug most of these items into the rear of the Mac studio or the rear of the OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock. On the front of the dock, users are able to plug in one extra USB-A device, one extra USB C or Thunderbolt 3 device, headphones, a SD Cards, and a microSD card. 

Blackmagic UltraStudio 4K Mini

The Blackmagic UltraStudio 4K Mini allows us to deliver a broadcast signal to the calibrated Broadcast Monitors.

Broadcast Monitors

The Broadcast Monitor is a calibrated display where you can view the timeline of your NLE (Premiere, Resolve, Avid Media Composer, etc.) without any additional processing. This is the best place to view decisions surrounding color correction and grading. 

We have a variety of Broadcast Monitor models throughout our facilities, including units by SONY, Flanders Scientific, and Lilliput. 

Suites A, B, D, F, G, I, and J feature 1920x1080 Broadcast Monitors. Because these monitors are designed to display an unprocessed version of your image, they do not support 4K resolutions without downscaling the image in your NLE. 

Suite C, E, and H feature SONY broadcast monitors capable of up to 4K UHD resolutions. Because these displays are more accommodating of high resolutions, we must configure settings to match your resolution and color space on the hardware.

Control Surfaces

Control Surfaces are designed to assist with color correction and color grading processes. These devices feature 3 trackballs and additional knobs that allow you to adjust the shadows, midtones, and highlights or your image without the use of a mouse. 

In the DPL Suites, we use Tangent Wave 2 devices because they are reliable and compatible with our most highly utilized software including DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro. 

Other Hardware

Some suites have additional hardware, as listed below.

Cintiq

Suite J features a Wacom Cintiq display. This extra display acts like a tablet. With the use of a tablet pen (available for checkout from the Annex) you can draw on the screen. For more information about the Cintiq, see our article: Using the Cintiq in DPL Suite 808J

Blu Ray Burner

Blu Ray burners are available in some suites and they are also available for checkout form the annex. These USB devices allow you to play DVDs or Blu Rays on the computers. You can also burn media to your discs with this hardware. 

Fiilex Lights

The Fiilex lights are designed to act as a bias light. The human eye is like a camera on auto settings; it will adjust to its surrounds. When color correcting, this means that our eyes may adjust to the colors on our broadcast monitor. In order to prevent this and prevent eye strain, colorists use bias lights. This gives your eye something consistent in the environment to adjust to and allows you to make more accurate decisions during color correction and color grading. The proper way to set up a bias light is to set your Fiilex lamp to 6500 K and place the head of the lamp behind your broadcast monitor so that it shines on the wall.