Roland VR-3EX
In today’s day and age, more and more people are finding themselves online in attempts to stay up-to-date with family and friends. It’s not uncommon for people to discover the result of a sporting event, hear about the winner of a reality TV show or learn about the birth of a new family member through the Internet and social media. It’s not just the youth of today we’re talking about either. Parents, grandparents and family friends of all ages are keeping up with current events online.

For schools and other event organizers, this means it’s now more important than ever to be able to deliver multimedia events online in a way that is both easy to access and of course, easy to deliver. Luckily, creating mixed audio/video and then streaming it live to the Internet has never been easier thanks to the Roland VR-3EX.

The VR-3EX allows you to connect four video sources from nine input connectors. These inputs allow for devices such as DVD/Blu-ray players, video recorders, personal computers or tablets like the iPad. The input connection types include HDMI, RGB/Component and composite which between them cover the absolute majority of all serious audio and video devices today. Similar output types are available for you to manage your combined audio/video creations.

Input and output options on the Roland VR-3EX.

Microphone inputs on the Roland VR-3EX.

The VR-3EX is also an 18-channel audio mixer with four microphone inputs, a 3-band equalizer and mastering capability. With all of these audio and video connection types, it’s easy to start to visualize the opportunities the VR-3EX offers—opportunities that nobody else is able to offer in the one unit.

Perhaps the most important connection on the VR-3EX however is the USB 2.0 output connection (which can be seen in the input/output image above) that allows you to either record your audio/video or stream it to the web using one of many free web stream services available today. If you don’t want to live stream, you can use this connection to save your video to a personal computer for uploading to your own website or YouTube whenever you’re ready. For this feature alone, the VR-3EX is a multimedia game changer.

Consider the possibilities …
School sporting events could be filmed, recorded and broadcast all at once and managed from the one console. The same would be true for awards ceremonies, school concerts, dance recitals and any other event a school holds where a parent, guardian or loved one wants to experience the event at times they can’t physically be there.

For regional educators, the VR-3EX opens up the classroom to students in varied locations improving distance learning opportunities like never before. For the videos you record and upload to your school website or YouTube (as well as or instead of live streaming), you’ve provided the students involved in the creation or content of the video with something they can then keep as a memento and/or share with their friends using social media.

For multimedia students with an interest in audio/video mixing this is also an amazing opportunity to experience the latest technology presented in the simplest of interfaces. Before they know it, they’ll be adding video transitions such as cut, mix as well as wipe and video effects such as strobe, negative, colorize, find-edge, silhouette, monochrome, sepia, emboss, posterize, color pass and multi. The VR-3EX also allows users to create split screen, quad screen and picture-in-picture using onboard video effects. All of this when combined with a built-in green screen feature means videos can take on any number of possible looks. In fact, the possibilities are near endless with the VR-3EX and a student’s imagination.

And it’s all handled through the simple interface that includes a full-color touch screen for the four video sources and audio levels.

Roland VR-3EX console interface.

Utilizing the touch screen interface and a few simple buttons users will quickly be combining live video and audio with screens from various input feeds while overlaying text, incorporating picture-in-picture and/or video/audio effects.

No matter the situation or the audio/video equipment being broadcast, the VR-3EX can combine it all and deliver it in a professional format that can be delivered to more people in more locations than ever before.

If you’re looking for a way to make your school stand out to students and parents, the VR-3EX has what you need—all live, recordable and/or streamable.